The Weekly Retrospective

Good morning, and welcome to the Retrospective. Contrary to perception, I have not died, and any rumours to the contrary have been greatly exaggerated. Rather, I have had quite a bit on my plate over the past week at the critical times of posting.

But enough excuses. What's new? Well, two weeks work is.

To begin with, I'm sure you may have heard that yet another Afghan soldier went rogue and shot at his erstwhile Australian allies. Words fail to describe this level of strategic incompetence and thick-headed stupidity, and while I know the soldiers want to do the job they have been given and volunteered for, I cannot think that this is worth all that blood and treasure.

While on the topic of Afghanistan, it would appear that the Afghans have no idea how to use the equipment that we give them. Words once again fail to describe my dismay.

Moving around the Muslim world, it appears that Libyan militias are still fighting, though this time they're fighting each other, with violence erupting on Sunday around Tripoli. In Egypt, security forces have begun to arrest Copts in a post-facto attempt to justify their brutal repression of Coptic protesters, which has recieved international coverage (though has yet to recieve high-level condemnation from those who have power. In Turkey, the Church that was used as the base for the last Ecumenical Council of a united Christendom is once again prepared for use as a mosque, following up on a similar report regarding the Hagia Sofia Basilica.

In Malaysia, common sense has prevailed and a book published by the notorious Islamic Wives' Club has been banned. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the mayor who has been blocking construction of the Yasmin Church has been rebuked by his own party but holds firm in his attempts to prevent the church's completion.

In other international news, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy have both agreed that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is a liar. And then they both apologised to him. So much for principles like honesty, I suppose. Or even just manners.

In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has been forced into retirement, along with his Greek counterpart George Papandreous. Both have been replaced by EU Commission preferred appointments, though their ability to save the Euro is decidedly slim to a layman like me. But letting it die would require an admission of failure, and such is unthinkable for the technocrats of the EU. They can never be wrong, right?

Alas, it appears that news is already getting away from them, with France beginning to falter, and even the Netherlands considering a return to the Guilder, which, while rejected swiftly, is still an enormous development, all things considered.

But they still believe in themselves, at the very least. Their friends in Malta have declared their country to be insufficiently multicultural. Might I just ask - what about Saudi Arabia? China? Japan? Oh, right, not European. And dear Aunty in Britain has pondered the thought of other ways to "enforce" diversity onto the House of Commons.

One should not think that the UK is completely unaffected though, having a border security scandal unfolding as we speak. The head of the UK Border Agency ordered that no passports be checked on private flights into Britain, and he claims he acted on police orders. Theresa May's run as Home Secretary may be coming to a close if the scandal ends up being linked to her.

In America, a Christian prayer summit in Dearborn, MI, has unnerved the Muslims of that city, fearing that their prayer services may be interrupted and boosting their security. I can assure them that, at the very least, they will not be interrupted by bombs. A pity they don't share our distaste for such unseemly interruptions.

They needn't be worried about prayer much at all, considering that invocations of Jesus' name at any public gathering was recently declared unconstitutional. The American flag has also been censored, specifically on occasions that might lead to harm for those who wear it (as in an Old Glory t shirt) or fly it. I believe it was the Holy Spirit who said in the Bible that "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Methinks a few more should read The Book then.

However, in brighter news, a Muslim member of Westminster Parliament has suggested that the UK should rediscover its Christian heritage and be more Christian. Surprising but welcome words of wisdom, especially considering that it's coming from A - A muslim and B - A Member of Parliament.

The good news continues in Sweden, with men suing in firefighting and policing cases where there was a bias towards ethnic minorities and women which the plaintiffs said discriminated against them. And they won. Perhaps we might see some restoration of the idea of equality of opportunity, rather than this absurd idea of equality of outcome.

However, in a curious twist of fate, in Croatia, the Catholic Church has been given a former school that Communist apparatchiks attended. A sign of the great reversal that is to come, perhaps? We shall indeed see.

In news of science, India and China have begun working on thorium driven systems. I know a bit about thorium systems, given that the head of my research group at Uni, Reza Hashemi-Nezhad, has been advocating for this for a decade (and in all his undergraduate and postgraduate lectures as well).

Additionally, in theoretical fields, scientists believe that it may be possible to spot alien cities on alien worlds. I guess we'll have Superman's eyes in no time. Additionally, aliens may also have no need for a moon the size of Earth's. You may be aware that a moon of the size that we are lucky enough to have here on Earth is actually quite rare, almost freakishly so in fact. However, scientists have found that it may not be necessary for life to develop.

And in a simple case that belongs on Good News Week, a Russian man is suing the UK Metropolitan Police for assault after two "dwarfs" supposedly took samples of his DNA at a bus stop. Surely this Russian knows that any dwarfs would be Scottish, no?