Dubya Wins

Kerry has conceded defeat to Bush. I guess Kerry winning would've been a Deus Ex Machina. So we have another 4 years of Dubya. Good or bad? My head tells me it's the latter, but my heart wishes it'll be the former. Many things have happened in the 4 years Bush was in power. The non-discovery of weapons of mass destruction. The alienation of the Muslim world with the West. The breakdown of the Kyoto agreement. Unilateralism in almost every aspect. The scary thought is that not only did Bush win, but he won big. He's not only the president, but the Republican have a majority in both houses, something that hasn't happened in 1896. Who's to stop their propaganda now? The majority of Americans, in their finite wisdom, has thrown their support behind him primarily 'cause he's firm and he doesn't change his stance. Whether his point of view is good or bad seems rather immaterial. When Clinton lied about Monica giving him a blowjob, there was an uproar. Bush lied and got his country involved in an illegal war, he lied and abolished the sovereignity of 2 countries, he lied and killed many innocents. And he's a hero.

And you know what? I'm actually scared.

And to cap off a rather forgettable night, AC Milan lost to Barca. But then again, that was a superb game, and Ronaldinho's skills are a feast for sore eyes. Barca is definitely among the better teams this year and it's a delight to watch them. They're a heck of a lot better than Madrid at this stage and I won't be surprised if they make it to the Champions' League finals. At which point, they will hopefully lose to Milan. =)

I finished reading The Watchmen last night. Couldn't put it down once I got started. I can't believe I've never read it before, and heck, it's one of those things you're gonna read again n again. It's a graphic novel by Alan Moore that won the Hugo Award, which is not an insignificant achievement. The common and widely held opinion is that WATCHMEN constitutes one of the finest works of comics to ever be published - the very pinnacle of the form. It has different levels of narrative, a sort of political thriller with a sci-fi twist. It starts with the homicide of a retired superhero, and the investigation plunges the protagonist into a rather surreal conspiracy. Various topics are given insight - science vs religion, psychosexual neuroses, the fear of left-wingers, man's obsession with weapons of mass destruction etc. One main theme which was debated is if mankind deserve to be saved in the first place. In a planet where many billions of dollars are spent on weapons made to kill each other, there are billions of lives living right on the edge. Random killings, muggings, rapes occur on a daily basis. What has made society stoop to such a level? Although this comic was published in 1985, it is as relevant today as it was during the height of the Cold War.

On a more personal note, it's been a LONG day. Sort of needed to come over here and type some stuff to relax my mind. Had a session in the morning which was quite fun. It was titled 'How not to kill a breathless patient at 2 o'clock in the morning'. I think I can now safely say that I won't kill a patient who's out of breath in the wee hours of the morning! Noon was filled with a rather pointless lecture by the founder of docters.net.uk about the importance of the internet in teaching, and Helen and I were in Dr Orgee's clinic this afternoon.

The clinic lasted 'till 530pm. Most clinics start at 2 and tend to finish around 5ish, and the longest I've been to lasted 'till 6. That clinic involved a total of 29 patients. Today, we saw a grand total of 4. Four bloody patients. She took a full 100 minutes to complete her session with the first patient, a huge difference from the average consultation length of 7 minutes. We were both brain dead by then. While it may be thorough, it could have been speeded up. And luckily there weren't that many patients...or we would've been in clinic 'till 8pm I'm sure.

I'm off to eat now. Only had a scone and a brunch bar so far, and I'm itching for something more substantial.