Friends, Romans, Anyone who'll lend me even one ear....

Well it seems like all the cool kids are on Blogspot, so here I am: UKplc relaunched, reinvigorated, reinvented for 2004. Hopefully by channelling my ranting tendencies in to one specific location, those who know me will be spared (some) of the less welcome outbursts that are sprinkled liberally over my day...

Anyway, to business:

Arafat's illness, then death has been dominating the headlines for the past couple of weeks. I think the important matter that's been missed is the fact that his successors, Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) and Ahmed Querei(a) have nearly no popular support, as revealed in surveys done by An-Najah university
Not entirely surprising then, that militants shouting that Abbas is an agent of the Americans (a not entirely groundless assertion, it must be said) started a gun battle at a mourning ceremony for Arafat attended by Abbas - "not an assasination attempt" - he says.