Little Green Shoots

I will be first to admit that the world all too often resembles a darkling plain, where ignorant armies clash by night, to borrow shamelessly from Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach. Lately, however, I have been encouraged by a number of little green shoots that have popped up. Not those "green shoots" cited by optimistic economists with respect to the current financial mess -- that will continue for some time -- but rather others somewhat less obvious. To wit:

1) The proposed Asian Song Festival. This surfaced in that austere and fact-checked magazine The Economist, and hence has some validity. It is, of course, a riff on the Eurovision Song Contest, and is a much sounder (sorry about that) way to push national rivalries than shooting, beheading or bombing. Good on Asia, although I do recall that, in the Eurovision thing, the French are still mightily pissed off that Abba won the contest with their song Waterloo. On the other hand, no one went to war.

2) The advent of the mobile phone and its ability to effect monetary transfers is doing wonders at cutting down bribery and graft, particularly for those less well off. The cash actually goes where it was meant to, without being interrupted by various and venal government officials or third party parasites looking for a cut.

3) Finally, where my work in international intelligence is concerned, I have been promoted. Sir Harry has informed me that I am now in charge of a unit entitled "Special Circumstances". Does the name Pavlov ring a bell, I thought, because this term certainly did, resulting in this exchange between Sir Harry and myself.

"Yes, Simone," he said. Did I detect a faint note of trepidation?

"First, the promotion is welcome, along with the salary rise. But the term "Special Circumstances" -- Harry, have you been reading Iain Banks again? I warned you about that. His world view, his "Culture", is not ours."

"Worthy goal, though."

"Moot," I replied. "And I understand this is more an analytical job than field work. What of replacements --"

"Several are being trained as we speak. One in particular shows promise, but we shall see. Oh, and your advice to Hamid Karzai about power sharing was well-received by all."

"Yeah, but not by Hamid himself. Silly man is going for a second election."

"Doesn't detract from your thesis." Hah! I thought. This is typical Sir Harry, who once thought an agent's entry into a country was super brilliant. The guy had parachuted down in the middle of a soccer game in Bolivia, landing right in the centre of the pitch. Of course, the guy was apprehended immediately, but Harry had given him full marks for imagination. As SNL's Amy Poelher and Seth Myers would say: Really?

"Still," I said, "a pity. Another election won't really do the job."

"But Simone," Harry replied, "you're forgetting an adage you once hurled at me."

"And just what adage might that be?"

"From Will Rogers. 'No matter who you elect, the government gets in.'"

All right. So occasionally Sir Harry wins one.