January 2005Vote, what vote?“Many of my friends will not be voting. Some don't know which list to vote for, because there hasn't been enough campaigning on what they stand for. Some think that because the United Nations isn't supervising, it won't be fair or honest.” – Sayed Mudhaffar, Basra official of Writers' Union. Before the Iraqi ‘election’. 24 January 2005.
Believing in human compassion“Humbled first by the power of nature, we have since been humbled by the power of humanity: the awesome power of nature to destroy, the extraordinary power of human compassion to build anew.” – Gordon Brown, UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer. A lecture in Edinburgh, in which he proposed a plan to help the developing world out of poverty. 6 January 2005.
Back to the golden rule“We are one moral universe. And the shared moral sense common to us all makes us recognise our duty to others.” – Gordon Brown, UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer. A lecture in Edinburgh, in which he proposed a plan to help the developing world out of poverty. 6 January 2005.
Getting it straight“[In 2005, there is] a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver for our times a modern Marshall plan for the developing world—a new deal between the richest countries and the poorest countries; but one in which the developing countries are not supplicants but partners.” – Gordon Brown, UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer. A lecture in Edinburgh, in which he proposed a plan to help the developing world out of poverty. 6 January 2005.
And what of human violence?“Besides the victims of the tsunami, we should also remember those who have died during the last 12 months as a result of human violence…We should especially recall the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians who have been killed since the end of the war, especially since the United States and its allies have not considered it worthwhile to record or enumerate them officially.” – Karen Armstrong. In an article in ‘The Guardian’. 1 January 2005.
The scale of US failure“[The American economy is caught] between massive household and government debt and the demands of fiscal and monetary policy; and [economies everywhere are caught] between America's failure to use the world's scarce natural resources wisely and its failure to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.” – Joseph Stiglitz. In an article in ‘The Guardian’. 1 January 2005.
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