[living] writer on sunday - gene weingarten

Gene Weingarten is a journalist and writer who runs a column called Below the Beltway in the Washington Post on Sunday. To access his pieces online, you need to go to the site, find the little panel to the lower left, scroll down until you find him and click.

He could also be described as a sort of blogger, in that he hosts a forum on Tuesdays at the Post Online.

He’s described as a humour writer and he certainly follows that prime directive, his Sunday articles being a must read with the early morning coffee. This, below, is from a piece called Eau de Toilet, describing his terrifying experience alone in a high end perfumerie, trying to select a gift for his wife:

Calling French perfume "pricey" is a significant understatement, like calling a tsunami "moist." Your typical ounce costs a C-note. I decided that I was going to shop intelligently and not lose my head.

Immediately, I lost my head.

I blame it on the fumes, but it may also be because perfume saleswomen tend to be young and lovely and will frequently, without warning, offer you their necks to smell.

The fact is, after about half an hour of perfume shopping, I was cheerfully looking at $150 liquids in quantities that could fit into a contact lens case.

Fortunately for me, everything stank.

He deviates from such fare from time to time to comment on the political scene and describes here the run up to the election in which Michael Dukakis was the Democratic candidate:

During the 1987-88 year, Nieman curator Howard Simons took all of us Fellows to meet a man who was running for president. Michael Dukakis … Dukakis was terrific, we said. Impressive. Commanding. Presidential. We were falling all over each other to find adequate superlatives.

Howard heard us all out, then shook his head and said: "Won't win. No sense of humor."

The Post sent him to Israel to ‘live’ what it was actually like under the threat of constant death and the result was a long piece entitled Fear Itself. Now widely acclaimed and available on the web, it put him in, as I wrote to him, ‘Great danger of losing the ‘humorous’ tag and being taken as a serious writer of note.’

This is from the introduction:

So here's a question: Would you ride a bus in Jerusalem? Right now? Here's your 5 1/2 shekels, go take a bus to market, buy some figs. Pick a bad day, after the Israelis have assassinated some terrorist leaders and everyone is waiting for the second sandal to drop. There are lots of buses in Jerusalem -- the odds are still long in your favor. Do you take that dare?

A few weeks ago, I did just that: boarded a bus on just such a day, and rode for nearly an hour. I did it because I wanted to better understand the psychology of terror. Not the psychology of the terrorist -- the psychology of the terrorized.

After 9/11, Americans are concerned enough by terror to be waging a costly war against it. But, by and large, the fear of terrorism has not seeped into our bones. We are new to this thing. The Israelis are not. Terrorism creates a hierarchy of fear; theirs is greater than ours.

Hence, this trip. Call it a scouting report.

Maybe these two commenters sum him up better than most:

Thanks for your excellent article. It was particularly gripping for me, because I felt that I lived what you described. I was in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001, and was just two blocks from the Sbarro restaurant when I heard the loud explosion. In fact, had my wife not changed her mind so that we stopped at another pizza store to grab a bite instead of continuing on our original plan to eat at Sbarro, we might have been among the victims of that attack.

And another:

A great article. We sometimes forget that you're not "only" a writer of humor, and this is an excellent reminder.

Today, if you click on the Post site, you’ll get the more humourous side.

[living] blogger of the day – samantha brett

Controversial? But of course. A phenomenon? Undoubtedly. Any woman who can get 600 or 700 comments on one of her postings is a phenomenon and it appears she’s now taking the world by storm:

"Sam and the city blog" 11 July 2006 Hindustan Times, India

"Stewth mate! We love this blog" 07 July 2006 Iol Technology, South Africa

"Sex and romance blog rides Australia's Internet dating explosion" 06 July 2006 Yahoo! News International

"At 22, Sam Brett, is one of Australia's most widely read writers." 06 July 2006 Antara News, Indonesia

"Sydney's very own Carrie Bradshaw" - Daily Telegraph.

So who is she?

Author, journalist, reviewer, text messager extraordinaire – this is Samantha Brett. Born in South Africa but moving to Sydney, Australia, she has carved out a career, speaking on matters of love, text and sex.

What’s all the fuss about? Look at one of her postings and you’ll get the idea:

That said, perhaps next time you reach in for the kiss, remember a few golden rules: have moist lips (although too much lip gloss is a definite turn off), keep your tongue soft (find a good balance between not too much action, but not too little), and always have slab of minty gum on hand.

For this reason alone, I wan't sure at first but gradually modified that view as I saw what she was really about. There is a lot more going down than the above.

She sometimes has upwards of 400 commenters on any one posting and testimonials are common and regular. Simply reading other people’s stories of heartache, related to your own situation, can be amazingly cathartic, something I can attest to.

There also seems to be a dating scene based around her Sydney blogs. She’s no agony aunt – that’s not her purpose - but the lady certainly has something going. What that something is, I’m still not absolutely sure about.

I’ve never seen a journo/blogger before who so assiduously answers e-mails, encourages feedback to the extent she does and who charms you to this degree. She has her detractors, to be sure, her vilifiers, and they can be found on the internet; and their vitriol convinces me they’ve never dealt with the lady on the personal front. Does she worry? She has too many other things to do.

This is one serious achiever.

[general] another scoop from iceland

A study in Eurostat report that Icelandic women are the most fertile in Europe in 2004. The birth rate per woman in Iceland is 2.03. Irish women come in number two at 1.99 and French women number three at 1.90. Morgunbladid reports on this.

All these fertility rates are too low to maintain a steady population number. To do that the rate has to be 2.1 per woman. The birth rate is lowest in Eastern Europe. Slovenian women have 1.22 children on the average and Czech women only have 1.23 children on the average.

In some countries the benefits for families have been increased to encourage women to have more children. Increase child allowance was part of the economic agreement announced in Iceland last month, but the stated purpose was not to increase the number of children but rather to meet the needs of big families.

[world] the interesting logic of political correctness

I think I need to lose weight, and the only person who would dare say anything to me is my trainer at the fitness club and I think he’s right. If he said anything to me in the US, I could take him to court for "severe induced stress, occasioning psychological damage".

I could do with the $10 000 payout, I can tell you.

So what are you allowed to call the person with the thickening waistline? Officially - "person of substance" - and that, in linguistic terms, is euphemistic claptrap.

The slow but methodical scrutinization and expurgation of anything ... read more here.

[world] look back over your shoulder

Peter Hain says the IRA has ceased its criminality; that individual IRA members may still be involved in criminal activities, but that this should not prevent political progress from being made.

Nigel Dodds said Mr Hain was living in fantasy land. "This latest assessment from the secretary of state lacks credibility … [and the] comments that the IRA is not engaged in criminality fly in the face of the recent Northern Ireland Select Affairs Committee report on organised crime."

Mr Hain countered by saying that "an absolute state of perfection" from the IRA was not realistic. There probably is still some localised individual criminality... What there is not, is organised 'from the centre' criminality any more. To that extent the IRA are delivering on their commitments made last July."

Richard Waghorne, in siciliannotes, says: The question of IRA criminality is intrinsically political because the question of whether individual crimes collectively constitute a conspiracy against the state or unrelated incidents can only be settled as a matter of political judgment exercised by the government of the day.

The Irish Anti-War organization add: Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, a veteran IRA commander who denies ever being a member, has repeatedly said IRA activity cannot be described as crime. At his most recent party conference in March, Adams said Sinn Fein would "refuse to criminalize those who break the law in pursuit of legitimate political objectives."

While the devolution and criminality questions are being debated, meanwhile we have this: Sinn Féin's International Affairs spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has called on members of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs to come together behind a motion calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides Israel with favourable conditions when trading with EU member states including Ireland.

The Irish have the gift of the gab, to be sure but I was in Newry myself years back, two hours before it was bombed and I know the type we’re dealing with here. I was also caught up in the Canary Wharf and Euston Station bomb threats and these things were not funny either. The son of one of my army mates went back to Northern Ireland and spent the holiday in the corridor of the house. Is it all over?

2002 was a year to note in the annals of Ireland and for the record, I'm half English and half Irish myself. Now all eyes are on Israel and Lebanon but mine also glance anxiously back over my shoulder at the same time.

[general] latest news from iceland

Seagulls Targeted in Reykjavík

The environmental committee of Reykjavík City Council has announced that it will take action on seagulls in Reykjavík and neighboring areas, as they are very prevalent in the city at the moment and many people have complained about them over the last few months, the Icelandic State Broadcasting Service reports.

Pest control officers, who will be given the responsibility of reducing the gull population, say that there have never seen as many seagulls in Reykjavík before. The gull population will be reduced by consultation with specialists and informing the general public about what to do (and not do) when near the birds. In addition, there is to be greater cooperation between local authorities on limiting the gull population.

[living] blogger of the day - clive davis

Clive Davis was first described to me, by one commenter, in this way:

You can get tons of comments simply by saying something inflammatory about the Middle East - but almost all those comments will be worthless or worse. By contrast, a good post that conveys interesting facts might get no comments at all. Clive Davis and Tim Worstall, for example, get far fewer comments … but they're much better bloggers.

That’s the starting point for this mini-profile of Clive Davis. On his own site, under ‘About’, he gives this as the reason he blogs:

Because I'm opinionated, hate pitching ideas to editors over the phone and love the wide open, un-cliquey spaces of the blogosphere.

Here he is in action:

For one thing, conservative bloggers still tend to be more tolerant of dissent than their left-wing counterparts, many of whom are about as much fun as superannuated members of the Militant Tendency. More importantly, if American bloggers often take a superficial view of Europe (we all sit on street corners begging, apparently) Europeans must take some of the blame. There simply aren’t enough of us out there working the internet.

Clive Davis has seen the future … and it blogs.

[society] voodoo chic

This is a long, rambling speech given to a Seminar on Humanism in Education on September 6th, 2005. It does meander to a conclusion, if you can wait that long. Feel free to lift any part you like for your own purposes but please attribute.

Let’s start with Credit

Everything is on credit – the home, car, refrigerator and mobile phone. Even petrol is paid for on credit. Almost all ... read more and comment here.

[editorial] 10 things not to do in a blog

Clive Davis brought to our attention this:

Jean-Remy von Matt, the CEO of a German advertising agency … called blogs "the toilet walls of the internet". "What on earth", he asked, "gives every computer-owner the right to express his opinion, unasked for?"

If it was meant to be smiled at, this comment, alas I think, in my case, it may be justified. Yesterday in my enthusiasm to get off the ground, I committed ... read more and comment here.

[focus] blogger of the day - oliver kamm

Oliver Kamm needs no introduction to readers of these blogs and, together with Iain Dale, there scarcely seems any point doing profiles and yet there are readers outside the UK who might be less familiar; so here goes.

He appears to be currently semi-resting from blogging and instead engaged in writing his current book and a discussion of his Anti-Totalitarianism: the Left-Wing Case for a Neoconservative Foreign Policy appears on his blog-site. For a more complete profile, you can't go past ... read more and comment here.

[middle-east] three views of the UN

These were recently posted on a forum at the Melbourne Age:

For the UN to even be relevant two member states must be involved in conflict. I am having trouble finding the second state. Certainly Israel is a legitimate state but Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation not a state.

Lebanon has brought this upon itself. It had 20 years to remove Hezbollah. It did not have the balls to do so. It then blames Israel for protecting itself and doing what it should have done in the last 20 years - remove the terrorists from Lebanon. Supporters of terrorists are just as bad as the terrorist themselves.

There also seem to be a few brain dead people who continue to write in this forum. Hezbollah are pawns of Syria and Iran. They are being used to divert attention from their own problems. Iran is the country that will (if it ever get them) provide terrorists with nuclear weapons. And these weapons may find their way onto your doorstep.

Read more here:

[iceland] earth shattering

In our current time of turmoil, Iceland Review continues to add its own in-depth analyses of earth-shattering events. Here is an abridged version of two of their current major stories:

Salmon Fishing is Better compared to an Average Year

Salmon fishing in Iceland's rivers has fallen short of last year's phenomenal catch but despite this, fishermen have still been pleased. Reykjavík has its own salmon river, Ellidaár. The city's mayor, Vilhjálmur Th. Vilhjámsson, caught the first salmon this year and the catch so far has been satisfactory. 

However, Morgunbladid reports that fishing without a permit has increased in recent years.Curators say that the culprits are usually of foreign origin and claim ignorance. Language difficulties often make it difficult to explain that the river is not open to all. Similarly, some people have been caught hunting ducks at the local pond in Reykjavík.

First Excellent Weather in Reykjavík of Summer

The heatwave from Europe may not exactly be here, but the weather in Reykjavík has finally turned sunny. It was rainier this June than it has been for many decades. July has been worse, that is until today.The heat is now 17 degrees centigrade, which is excellent for Reykjavík. Many people have taken the day off. 

This explains why not much is happening in the country, as you can see from the lack of news.

I adore http://icelandreview.com/ and the Icelanders, except in the matter of cod. Wish I hadn't mentioned that - now I want some cod and chips and mushy peas. Sigh.

Behind the name Nourishing Obscurity

The name came from an article on China, written in 2006, which quotes Deng Ziao Ping:

According to Deng Xiaoping, in order to eventually overcome, China should adopt the ancient maxim of "hiding brightness and nourishing obscurity," and Beijing adds, "to bide our time and build up our capabilities" and again - "to yield on small issues with the long term in mind."

I quite liked the idea of remaining obscure, particularly in this day and age but preparing to switch to all out attack once the time is ripe.