Mark Steyn on the links between anti-semitism and anti-Americanism "Resentment of US cultural imperialism is merely a supersized version of the charges levelled at ’tween-wars European Jewry: the anti-globalisation crowd, droning on about interlopers interested only in profits and swamping local cultures, are singing a very old song. Indeed, the savvier Aryans can claim to have seen it coming. As Werner Sombat wrote in The Jews and Economic Life (1911): ‘One can rightly say that the United States owes what it is entirely to the Jews: that is, its American nature. What we call Americanism to a large degree is nothing other than the influence of the Jewish spirit.’"#
India and Pakistan: Okay, guys, this isn't funny any more BBC: "The Taj Mahal, one of India's most famous landmarks, is to be covered with dark cloth as protection against possible bombing raids in the event of war with neighbouring Pakistan, officials say. Local tailors in Agra were reported to be stitching more than 400 metres of khaki, black and green cloth, to be strung across the celebrated monument to love."#
Tuesday, December 25
John Varvatos on eLUXURY I've just found out that Varvatos, my favorite clothesmaker, sells on eLUXURY. Beautiful stuff, but *so* expensive. Maybe there's a sale - a deep sale - on at the SoHo flagship store. The downturn has its consolations.#
Boingo Wireless Wi-Fi internet access - high speed, no wires - across multiple networks. Coming early in the new year. You can sign up here to be alerted when this network of networks goes live.#
Review of the year: on Google 2001 in internet search terms: these were the biggest risers: 1. nostradamus 2. cnn 3. world trade center 4. harry potter 5. anthrax 6. windows xp 7. osama bin laden 8. audiogalaxy 9. taliban 10. loft story 11. afghanistan 12. nimda 13. american airlines 14. american flag 15. aaliyah 16. fbi 17. kazaa 18. lord of the rings 19. jennifer lopez 20. xbox#
Fellowship of the Ring Sounds as though the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of those rare blockbusters that meets expectations. The reviews are generally glowing.#
Weblog awards Okay, so Dave Winer's awards promote his own agenda, he has made the nominations personally, and most of you don't know or care about weblogs or Dave Winer, but the initiated can still vote for best personal weblog and weblog utility.#
Tuesday, December 18
That shitty little country An extraordinary dinner party story about the French ambassador to London. "The ambassador of a major EU country politely told a gathering at my home that the current troubles in the world were all because of 'that shitty little country Israel'."#
Monday, December 10
Politicalcompass.org Test your politics with this online quiz. Rather than assign a simple position on a spectrum of left to right, Political Compass separates economic and social beliefs. In case you're wondering, my scores are +2.88 and -3.95, which unsurprisingly makes me a right-wing libertarian, but a rather mild one. I'm outflanked by, among others, Andew Sullivan, who scores + 6.25 (right-wing on economics) and - 4.10 (socially liberal). Damn, I thought I was more clearcut than that.#
Wednesday, December 5
The Nation: Bringing the Holy War Home "There are many things to be learned from the shock of September 11; surely one of the more important is that culture is not only a political matter, but a matter of life and death. It follows that a serious, long-range strategy against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism must entail open and emphatic opposition to theocracy and to the subjugation of women, backed up by support for the efforts of secular and religious liberals, modernizers, democrats and feminists to press for reforms in Middle Eastern and South Asian societies."#
