Balls We Had A Ball -
Alan Ball Those of us who were privileged (i.e. old enough) to see England win the World Cup in 1966 will always treasure the memory of all the eleven, but some have lingered longer than others. The little ginger haired lad half back, full of running and irrepressibly happy is one.
Ball remained the kid - despite everything that happened in the intervening years. Right to the end he was the red-haired pocket dynamo, his voice still unbroken, his enthusiasm undimmed.
There will be a minute's silence at football grounds nationwide this weekend ~ or will there? A new custom has risen of applauding, not talking, just
applauding in memory of the goodness we feel for someone recently departed.
Alan Ball, in spite of his unbroken voice,
was a beacon of talent, industry and honesty, traits we Brits possibly admire the most.
We Have A Balls Up - A Wolf At The Door
Honesty, or the lack of it, personifies
Paul D. Wolfowitz, currently (but for how much longer,eh?) President of the World Bank (WB). That he advocated the invasion of Iraq before 9/11 while he was in his previous post as Deputy Secretary of Defense is well known and a major reason for his having become everyone's pet figure of hate.
He has always been in a position of influence even though he has never been elected to that position. Hence his tenure as US Ambassador to Indonesia from 1986 to 89.
After Suharto stood down in 1998 Wolfowitz stated that the General was guilty "of suppressing political dissent, of weakening alternative leaders and of showing favoritism to his children's business deals, frequently at the expense of sound economic policy" while ABC News clarifies that "at the time, thousands of leftists detained after the 1965 U.S.-backed military coup that brought Suharto to power were still languishing in jail without trial."Ah, but the irony is that
during his 32-year reign, Suharto, his family and his military and business cronies transformed Indonesia into one of the most graft-ridden countries in the world, plundering an estimated $30 billion, much of (which)
is believed to have come from Wolfowitz's new employers, the World Bank. And while he was here, Wolfowitz "
never alluded to any concerns about the level of corruption or the need for more transparency."
That Wolfowitz should target corruption in developing countries and make its eradication a pre-condition of World Bank aid should, presumably, be applauded.
That he is not Mr. Clean, having awarded
his girlfriend, working at the WB when he took office at the behest of George Bush Jr., a massive pay and promotion package without due transparency is rightfully deplored.
There are
deeper concerns about the role of the World Bank and this controversy may yet see poorer countries being better represented in the formulation of economic policies that benefit them rather than the good ol' paternalistic USA.
A fellow graduate at Cornell University,
Max Sawicky says this:
It is not because of his ridiculous bad forecasts about Iraq and smearing of critics. It is his blatant corruption and hypocrisy when he is supposedly battling corruption. It is certainly his getting cushy deals for his (Iraqi Shi'i, not Tunisian Sunni) girlfriend, which is what will probably do him in, but (also)
his hiring of a bunch of his incompetent cronies from the DOD as inside advisers at way off the wall salaries to help him go around World Bank rules to stick it to countries the Bushies don't like and favor countries the Bushies like. For many, many reasons, PWD must go.Here, here, but preferably anywhere but here.
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