Yet another hiatus…
I'm afraid blogging is likely to be even lighter than usual this week as I'm going to be in Turkish Cyprus, attending the 33rd edition of "Peace and Freedom Day". Should be fun.
Alex Massie
Monday
Friends, eh?
Ah, Facebook... No sooner do I announce that I'm off to Cyprus than this harsh but fair note appears: I look forward to you being kidnapped by Turkish Cypriot terrorists, and the video clips of Massie after 50 days in a makeshift prison cell. And all his mates saying "He looks better than he usually does, doesn't he?
Sunday
Dispatches from the Front Line
It's been going for a while now, but do check out this blog. It's a collection of letters written by Private Harry Lamin to his brother and sister in England. Each letter, scribbled in the trenches of the Western Front, is being published 90 years to the day after Pvt Lamin wrote them. Collectively it's a moving and illuminating project.
Saturday
The wages of spin…
Mr Eugenides reminds one that, appallingly, you're better off trusting Muammar Gaddafi than Tony Blair.
Ah, la belle France…
Happy Bastille Day, mes amis!
Why I hope Conrad Black wins his appeal
I carry no candle for Conrad Black and I've never worked for him. But his conviction on charges of fraud (albeit for raking in a comparatively trivial $3m) has occasioned another one of those interesting and illuminating differences between British and North American journalism. Without exception every British journalist I've talked to feels rather sorry for Lord Black of Crossharbour; without exception every American or Canadian hack seems pretty pleased that he's come a cropper. Doubtless there are exceptions to this general rule (after all, my sample size is pretty small in the scheme of things) but it's striking nonetheless. The case for Black's defense is simple: he's a newspaper man.
Friday
Lionel Messi, Superstar
Meant to post this earlier. Right now, I doubt there's a more exciting footballer in the world than Lionel Messi. His goal against Mexico in the semi-final of the Copa America is a thing of rare and exquisite beauty. Enjoy!
From the annals of the “Special Relationship”…
This is how a "No Spin" government works. Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development and Gordon Brown's long-time Mini-Me, comes to Washington to bravely speak truth to power. Choosing a suitably establishment venue such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Mr Alexander tells the United States that: "In the 20th century a country's might was too often measured in what they could destroy. In the 21st century strength should be measured by what we can build together. And so we must form new alliances, based on common values, ones not just to protect us from the world, but ones which reach out to the world.
Giuliani waves the bloody shirt of 9/11?
Glenn Reynolds suggests that the New York City firefighters' attack on Rudy Giuliani are proof of, well, something: Between this and the silly stuff about Fred Thompson, Democrats are looking more nervous about 2008 than you'd expect. Sure. Right. Would Professor Reynolds argue that Republican attacks on, say, Hillary Clinton demonstrated "nervousness" or would they be a commonsense warning of horrors to come should America be so foolish as to elect her President? As for the merits of the IAFF's case against Giuliani, well, you can probably argue it both ways. Whether Giuliani could have done more for the FDNY isn't really the point. But there is something exploitative and unseemly about Giuliani's apparent belief that 9/11 and its memory is enough to gain him the nomination.
Jings, crivvens, whatever next? Groundskeeper Willie?
Groan. Ana Marie Cox* links to an interview with Bill Clinton at the Aspen Ideas Festival in which he says that if Hillary wins the Presidency: "My Scottish friends suggest I should be called 'First Laddie.'" There are plenty of more significant reasons for being less than wholly comfortable with the prospect of a Clinton Restoration. But Bill just added another one to the pile. * You do read Swampland don't you? If not, you should. It's good.
Thursday
Mr Brock in Basra…
Quote of the day, courtesy of a British army spokesman in Basra: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-easting badgers into the area.
How much would you pay to end it now?
A friend on Capitol Hill has had enough: We really need to offer a buy out package to Bush and Cheney. I say $100 million each to end their term early. Totally worth it. It's about 60 cents per American.
Biden on Bush
Sometimes Joe Biden is actually pretty good: "This progress report is like the guy who’s falling from a 100-story building and says half-way down that ‘everything’s fine.
Wednesday
HMQ Not Amused
My impression is that Annie Liebowitz is used to getting her own way. Not all portraits are equal however... From a documentary titled A Year With the Queen comes this: In one scene... Liebowitz is photographing Queen Elizabeth II when she suggests that the Queen remove her crown for a portrait. “I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so…,” Annie tried, but then the Queen interrupted. “Less dressy? What do you think this is?” the monarch hit back, pointing at what she was wearing and giving her an icy stare. The queen then walked off, with an official carrying the large train of her blue velvet cape, and telling another: “I’m not changing anything.