Do we need an inquiry on inquiries
Inquiries for opposition politicians are a bit like Chinese food – all very well but thirty minutes later you fancy another one.
Anthony Zacharzewski
MUMMEEEE!
The Scared of Santa photo gallery.
Rights? Who needs them?
From the “only the guilty have anything to fear” department: almost 1/2 of Americans polled for MSNBC believe that Muslims living in the US should have their rights restricted. Interestingly, the (to me) less atrocious idea of infiltrating of civic and voluntary groups (something I’m sure MI5 do
The OSCE's media freedom guide
The OSCE have published a Media Freedom Cookbook.
Advice for the budding writer
John Scalzi’s “Utterly Useless Writing Advice” isn’t.
The wisdom of markets
Crooked Timber looks to squash a spreading error – the idea that electronic markets predicted the US election better than the polls did. The actuality – that the markets were as inaccurate as the polls – indicates to me both the reliance of markets on available information and common wisdom, rather than anything
Citizen journalism - Dan Gillmor speaks
An interview on OhMyNews International with Dan Gillmor, who recently quit regular journalism to start a citizen journalism venture. (via Power of Many)
Ukraine again
A writing project is bringing me back to Machiavelli again, particularly the Prince and the Discourses, and this passage from the Discourses made me think of the Ukraine, and possible futures for Russia:
For the degree of corruption to which the kings [of Rome] had sunk was such that, if
Ars est celare artem
A woman is sitting opposite me on the train. For about 15 minutes she has been putting on various creams, perfumes, mascaras, etc. The latest package she has taken out, presumably to finish off the confection, is called “natural look”. Well, quite.
Viz Top Tips
A selection (via MeFi).