Word: downer
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...Office's comedy of quiet desperation will probably need tweaking for America, where we prefer noisier desperation in our workplace satire. (A sublime example of that style is the movie Office Space, from Daniels' Hill co-producer Mike Judge.) But The Office finale isn't a downer; it offers the characters some hope and a chance at redemption--even David. At one point he shows up at Wernham Hogg, asking his ex-employees to go out for a drink--begging, really--in the mistaken belief that they love him. Only Tim accepts, to break the awkwardness--but also, perhaps, because...
...Labor side wary of getting too close. "Following a U.S. President who's got the wrong strategy in the war against terror is very, very dangerous for our country," said Latham before the Iraq war. Sending troops to Iraq "has made Australia into a greater terrorist target," says Rudd. Downer disagrees. "We cannot expect to have a meaningful alliance with the U.S. if we are not prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with it in the war on terror," he says, and the project to build democracy in Iraq is a crucial component of that...
...government would "accelerate, broaden and deepen the engagement of our police, intelligence and security agencies" in the region, Rudd says. In sending troops to Iraq, he adds, the government "diverted resources away from the war against terrorism here in our own region." But "terrorism is a global problem," says Downer...
...links with terrorist organizations beyond our region. To think you can simply focus on the region and get away with ignoring all the other challenges the war on terror brings us is mistaken." Ending Taliban rule in Afghanistan reduced the flow of al-Qaeda-trained terrorists into Southeast Asia, Downer points out. On the other hand, Labor's Christmas troop pullout from Iraq "would give an enormous propaganda victory to the terrorists, not just in Iraq but elsewhere, including Southeast Asia." Abu Baker Bashir, the alleged leader of J.I., said last month that "it would be better if Australian troops...
...ties with Asian nations and believes Australia can help. The U.S. has listened to Canberra, says historian Edwards, on issues like Indonesia's financial crisis and East Timor. And it welcomed the government's decision to send troops to restore order in the Solomon Islands. In August, Foreign Minister Downer visited North Korea at Washington's request to urge the regime to continue talks on its rogue nuclear program. If the U.S. and China ever reached the brink of war over Taiwan, Australia - with its lucrative financial ties with China - would "be doing everything it could to negotiate a settlement...