"Politicks are now nothing more than means of rising in the world. With this sole view do men engage in politicks, and their whole conduct proceeds upon it."
Dr Johnson, quoted by Boswell in his Life Of Johnson

11:45:44 PM  #   your two cents []

Shakespeare and Today [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] "I told him of my worry that the Digital Age might be presenting choices that are disturbingly binary -- that there may be issues, full of nuance, that ultimately boil down to un-nuanced choices at the extreme positions."
11:24:11 PM  #   your two cents []

The NYTimes review of William Trevor's Booker-nominated novel, The Story of Lucy Gault:

''I'm a short story writer,'' he once said, ''who writes novels when he can't get them into short stories.'' In fact, before he published in either form, Trevor worked as a sculptor, and one still does well to circle some of his paragraphs, like three-dimensional objects, rather than simply read from top to bottom. He is a master at burying the lead, and of letting the reader infer an important event only through a glimpse of its aftermath.

Trevor, at 75, is the bookie's favourite to win.

11:20:07 PM  #   your two cents []

Unsigned music for the masses. <<Radio giant Clear Channel launches an online service to give new and promising artists a place to showcase their music.>> [CNET News.com]
5:24:25 PM  #   your two cents []

Amazon agrees to change privacy policy. Change is reaction to customer scrutiny [InfoWorld: Top News]
5:22:53 PM  #   your two cents []

From UDA hero to traitor in five months.  <<As fears grew of all-out civil war between loyalists, the Guardian has pieced together the true story of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair's downfall.>> [Guardian Unlimited] Many people outside of Ireland think 'terrorism' rhymes only with 'IRA'. Not only are the Loyalist terrorists an equal part of the problem, but they continue to be a major cause of deaths in the North -- not least because of internal fighting such as this article outlines. The Provisional IRA remains on ceasefire (that's who most of the world thinks of as the IRA, though they split off from the original IRA decades ago. Now there's another splinter group from the Provos, which calls itself the Real IRA. aka 'dissident republicans' (this does not mean people annoyed with George W). Still following? They're the main ones causing much of the republican [aka nationalist] violence, and are responsible for horrors like the Omagh Bombing. I know. It makes us dizzy as well).
5:18:23 PM  #   your two cents []

NTK in suit-busting apparel shocker. 404/shirt/tie not found [The Register]
5:10:02 PM  #   your two cents []

Women to Take Seats in Morocco Gov't "A host of problems await the winning lawmakers, who for the first time were to include at least 30 women." [AP World News]
5:07:47 PM  #   your two cents []

Wired News: "We need to impress upon girls that engineering is creativity, it's curiosity, it's common sense and it's cool stuff," said Ride, who was the first American woman to blast off into space. "It's not just geeks with pocket protectors." Sally Ride Toys With Engineering.
5:07:17 PM  #   your two cents []

Worst and Best Predictions on Technology [Slashdot]
5:04:48 PM  #   your two cents []

In the wake of government scandals and fury over financial cutbacks, Fianna Fail, the main party in Ireland's coalition government, has slumped 8 per cent and satisfaction with the government, an incredible 25 per cent since the last poll taken, according to today's Irish Times (front page story access is free). I just spoke to a very senior political figure this afternoon, who says the word is there's lots of anger in political circles with the Taoiseach (prime minister), Bertie Ahern, as well. His own ever-amazing popularity has slumped 19 percentage points -- could it actually be the end of the Teflon Taoiseach? Still, the opposition parties are pretty toothless, with (for my money) only the Greens ever saying anything really interesting. None of this bodes well for the people campaigning to get Ireland to vote yes on the Nice Treaty -- find out more here (in a Reuters story written by my good friend Kevin Smith [grin]).
4:58:14 PM  #   your two cents []

For anyone interested in flying to the US from Ireland, or visiting Ireland from the States, the Aer Lingus website has some incredible fares that I hadn't seen advertised -- the best in ages. Only good to travel through March, but I am going out to California in Feb. for €124 each way (they're charging $124 for Amercians for the same route, Dublin/LA), plus tax. I've got to pay for a linking flight up to the Bay Area but even so it's still extremely cheap (and less than ringing Aer Lingus and having them do both LA and the California segment). You need to dig around with dates to find the best prices but if you're flexible, it's great stuff (and I don't even work for the airline!).
4:47:44 PM  #   your two cents []