Stardate 20020214.1611

(On Screen): When things seem difficult, I can always get a lift by observing the antics of the UN Security Council. New member Syria is living up to expectations; it introduced a measure regarding an Israeli attack which happened to do damage to a UN office in the Gaza Strip. After careful diplomacy and debate, the Security Council decided that it was "dismayed" by the attack. That word was chosen as an alternative to the word "deplored". Syria was not satisfied:

"Dismay is not enough. It should really be deplored," Syrian Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe said of the attack

No comedian would have had the nerve to write such a line.