Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
Wow. So Italy and Germany play to a scoreless draw for about 94 minutes of regulation time. They go through another 15 minutes of OT (plus stoppage), and then, about two minutes before penalty kicks would be called upon, Italy breaks the deadlock with a terrific shot by Fabio “Louganis” Grosso, drilling it with his [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
I liked this passage from a Greil Marcus speech reprinted in Salon: There’s a way in which you can see every American story as a version of the Declaration of Independence: every story an attempt to make it true, or prove it a lie. In 1941, Henry Luce called the 20th century “the American century”; [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
Nick Denton, one of the first people to try and make a business of blogs, has put two sites up for sale, reorganized others and sent some of his journalists packing. What does he know that others don't? An excerpt from the David Carr column in the NYT: THE blogging bubble has been taking on [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
From the NYT: A Chinese draft law that threatens to fine the news media for reporting on “sudden incidents” without permission applies to foreign as well as domestic news organizations, an official involved in preparing the legislation said Monday. The law, now under consideration by the legislature run by the Communist Party, calls for fines [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Almost exactly 30 years ago, militants with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Baader-Meinhof gang hijacked an Air France jet, eventually ending up in Entebbe, Uganda. The Israeli military pulled off what was seen as a miraculous rescue. For a look back, see this BBC story.
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page » Comments Off
Beeb analyst Paul Reynolds takes a look back at the “Great Game” of the 19th century between Britain and Russia in Afghanistan. An excerpt: The 19th Century is not particularly useful if you are looking for lessons to be learned from previous British encounters with the Afghans. There is one lesson from all foreign interventions [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Seems like World Cup mania has affected the ability of some Buddhist monks in Thailand to attend to their more spiritual duties. An excerpt from the BBC story: Like billions of other people around the world, 25-year-old Phra Prawit is avidly following the World Cup – and especially his favourite team, France. On the other [...]
Tue, July 4 2006 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
T.O. photog Joseph Michael did some World Cup tourism and assembled a Web-based photo gallery: 32 Nations, One City. Each photo represents the nationality of fans cheering for one of the participating teams. He invites you to guess the nationality and promises one clue in each photo. While his web design skills need a tune-up (sorry, [...]