how the hell do the good bloggers write useful shit quickly? witness my musings of crap:

from front-page Angola piece in the Wednesday NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/international/africa/18ANGO.html):

Rosa Ngunza, who had two sons fighting on opposite sides of the war in Angola, gives a very bland quote: “I would like them to come back, because it’s been a long time.” It reminds me of the quote I got from a 9-11 victims father when I was doing my slapdash-wrote-it-in-an-hour story (http://www.msnbc.com/news/806823.asp) on anniversary bagpipers. I asked him about bagpipes, and he said, “I associate them with mourning.” Lame I thought, but the tragedy of it all does get across to the reader just fine. It’s just not as evocative and tear-jerking as it could be.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday's A13, a bare bones Agence France-Presse story (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/international/africa/18BURU.html) reports on the cold blooded murder of 183 civilians in Burundi on 9-9. Article reports that there have been 250,000 deaths in the civil war since 1993.

Thursday front page NYT points out that oil is the key to (West) Africa becoming relevant strategically, which theoretically helps prospects for the Wolfowitz goals of peace, stability, happiness, and goodness.