This is getting a little stale, but just for the record, here’s a nice picture that illustrates the Korean Kamikaze in action. If this isn’t a deliberate take-down, I’ve never seen one.
This is getting a little stale, but just for the record, here’s a nice picture that illustrates the Korean Kamikaze in action. If this isn’t a deliberate take-down, I’ve never seen one.
— A lot the the discussion about America’s enemies in the Middle East since 9/11 has revolved around Islam, and whether it’s an inherently defective religion or not. Since most of the hatred comes from Arab countries, and isn’t evenly distributed around the Islamic world (most Muslims are not Arabs), it’s occurred to me that … Continue reading “Arab tribalism”
— A lot the the discussion about America’s enemies in the Middle East since 9/11 has revolved around Islam, and whether it’s an inherently defective religion or not. Since most of the hatred comes from Arab countries, and isn’t evenly distributed around the Islamic world (most Muslims are not Arabs), it’s occurred to me that the problem isn’t Islam or anti-Zionism as much as it’s Arab Tribalism. Islam adapts itself to local beliefs and mythology. One of the people Tom Friedman talked to on his recent trip to Saudi Arabia echoes this notion (
A Traveler to Saudi Arabia)
“The tribal mentality here is very strong, and in the desert, when the tribe is attacked, you’d better stick together or you’re dead. People know there are problems with our [Islamic] education system, and part of them is glad you’re raising it. But they feel under attack, so they won’t talk frankly to you [or want to be seen as making] changes because you demand them. The real problem is not the books, but the preachers who use their Friday sermons to tell [young] people that America wants to destroy Islam.
This link came from the VodkaPundit.
— Writing in The Sunday Times, Andrew Sullivan describes blogs to his readers as a new form of journalism: Blogging is the first journalistic model that harnesses rather than merely exploits the true democratic nature of the web. It’s a new medium finally finding a unique voice. Stay tuned as that voice gets louder and … Continue reading “A new form of journalism?”
— Writing in The Sunday Times, Andrew Sullivan describes blogs to his readers as a new form of journalism:
Blogging is the first journalistic model that harnesses rather than merely exploits the true democratic nature of the web. It’s a new medium finally finding a unique voice. Stay tuned as that voice gets louder and louder
This isn’t surprising given that Sullivan is himself a journalist, and he writes a personal story highlighting the Enron/punditgate story with which he was so obsessed for so long. The blogger/journalist connection is also a given for anyone whose knowledge of blogs is limited to the selection of new voices promoted by Fox News this past week.
But I think this misses the point. As the Far Eastern Economic Review points out in a piece quoted by Sullivan, blogs are an evolution of the Internet, not of the newspaper:
?Weblogs are where the real action is. They are the creation of individuals, usually musings on national, local or personal events, links to interesting articles, a few lines of comment or discussion collected and presented by one person. Weblogs are a milestone in the short history of the internet.?
For every journalist, former journalist, or free-lancer with a blog, there are hundreds of civilians. And while journalists delight in the freedom to express without the mediation of the tyrannical editor, civilians delight in the ability to reach an audience without the space and content constraints of the Letters to the Editor section, as well as the ability to get the inside dope on any manner of things straight from an insider without the mediation of an enterprise whose primary skills are sentence structure and ad sales.
If many blog postings are stimulated by news and opinion features in the press, the better ones go far beyond the superficial and provide insider’s perspective and detail, without the space constraints and mannerly concerns that govern all journalistic enterprises, in print or on the Internet.
The Internet’s first applications enabled engineering researchers to communicate with each other about matters of common interest, typically their work on government contracts. With the advent of the accessible blog, we’re finding it enables citizens to communicate with each other regarding larger matters of common interest: our culture, our politics, and our government. This is way beyond free-lance journalists with computers.
Before everybody who’s ever had a drink with a reporter jumps up and screams that I’m being mean to journalists, let me just toss out this observation: the journalist as we know him today is a creation of a certain form of technology, a generalist with an ability to quickly ferret out information using a limited set of tools (a telephone and a Rolodex,) made necessary because high-speed web printing presses are a scarce commodity to which only a few have access. Now that every computer is a press capable of reaching more people than the New York Times dreams of on their best day, journalists will have to reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant. Blogging, to be sure, is part of that process, but it’s also much more than that. And as a non-journalist who’s had plenty of contact with political reporters for several years, it’s the “much more” that interests me.
an article in the on-line edition of the Atlantic Monthly (linked by InstaPundit.Com) concludes with this wild claim: “the big ‘problem cult’ of the twenty-first century will be Christianity.” When will these idiots learn?
an article in the on-line edition of the Atlantic Monthly (linked by InstaPundit.Com) concludes with this wild claim: “the big ‘problem cult’ of the twenty-first century will be Christianity.”
When will these idiots learn?
Continue reading “Blurring an important distinction”
were: “Yes I am a Jew and my father is a Jew.” See Men’s News Daily
were: “Yes I am a Jew and my father is a Jew.” See Men’s News Daily
— Here’s a humble prediction: in the Olympic short-track speedskating competition tonight, one or more Korean skaters will crash, taking one or more American skaters down with him. Kim Dong-sung will not be the Krashing Korean Kamikaze;
— Here’s a humble prediction: in the Olympic short-track speedskating competition tonight, one or more Korean skaters will crash, taking one or more American skaters down with him. Kim Dong-sung will not be the Krashing Korean Kamikaze;
Continue reading “Krashing Korean Kamikazes”
— Mr. Green links to this story on French efforts to ban a coercive cult: French court asked to ban Paris $cientology church. The French prosecutor pleads: “The methods of $cientology, its deceitful promises of results which call for large donations of money, amount to a form of mental manipulation,” Forey told the court. “The … Continue reading “Cult of $cientology in trouble in France”
— Mr. Green links to this story on French efforts to ban a coercive cult: French court asked to ban Paris $cientology church. The French prosecutor pleads:
“The methods of $cientology, its deceitful promises of results which call for large donations of money, amount to a form of mental manipulation,” Forey told the court. “The aim of this organisation is purely commercial.”
I’m with the Froggies on this one,
Continue reading “Cult of $cientology in trouble in France”
— Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
— Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the
time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his
feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather
frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath.
This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by
halitosis.
with the base as we countdown to the California Republican primary. His strategy is to look beyond the primary to the general election, but Gray Davis’ attack ads, carping by the party faithful that he’s not conservative enough, and a spate of ads by well-heeled challenger Bill Simon add up to bad news for the … Continue reading “Riordan’s in serious trouble”
with the base as we countdown to the California Republican primary. His strategy is to look beyond the primary to the general election, but Gray Davis’ attack ads, carping by the party faithful that he’s not conservative enough, and a spate of ads by well-heeled challenger Bill Simon add up to bad news for the former LA mayor: (As GOP Primary Looms, Riordan Feels the Heat)
But that strategy of looking past his GOP opponents to the November election has always been a risky one. Now, analysts of all persuasions agree that it could end up keeping a Riordan-Davis matchup from ever taking place.
The major development is that the right wing of the party, which used to be split between Simon and Jones, is consolidating between political rookie Simon.
Countdown to death wish – only 10 more days.
— Celebrity blogger Matt Welch suggested that it might be fun to Google some the “1,355 jackasses across the globe” who signed the “Free Slobbo Milosovic” petition. Here’s my contribution: no. 1353, Illarion Bykov, Web Designer, USA. This luminary has penned a number of articles asserting that the events of 9/11 were the caused by … Continue reading “Slobbo petition”
— Celebrity blogger Matt Welch suggested that it might be fun to Google some the “1,355 jackasses across the globe” who signed the “Free Slobbo Milosovic” petition. Here’s my contribution: no. 1353, Illarion Bykov, Web Designer, USA. This luminary has penned a number of articles asserting that the events of 9/11 were the caused by a conspiracy of Bush, Myers, and Rumsfeld. See: Guilty for 9-11: Bush, Rumsfeld, Myers.
Continue reading “Slobbo petition”
