The New Year

I've been unable to post recently due a severely pinched nerve in my neck that has rendered any motion in my left arm and hand excruciatingly painful.

In lieu of posts from me, and probably a far better exchange, I recommend reading the articles of the most recent New York Review of Books. The edition is solid from top to bottom. Among my favorites:

• Where do we go from here? Paul Krugman and Robin Wells repeat the call for a primary opponent to Obama, providing the political and economic rationale for it to happen. Their theme of delinking is one I have tried to work with recently, but have been held back by the nerve problem.
• Why Wikileaks Changes Everything - Christian Caryl delves into many of the same themes I raised early on, particularly the political implications of the indiscriminate release of government data. I particularly like the evaluation of Assange as an incoherent twit, which has been my estimation all along.
• The Concealed Battle to Run Russia - Amy Knight makes excellent use of some leaked diplomatic cables in her review of a book on Russian politics. You want a picture of a truly criminal state? Cheney could only dream of this level of power.
• The Beleaguered Cambodians - Margo Picken provides a look at another criminal state. This one goes into the ways in which imperial & colonial powers have abetted a local elite to rob the nation blind. 
• China: From Famine to Oslo - Perry Link discusses two new novels by Chinese writers in the context of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Liu Xiaobo. As with the articles on Russia and Cambodia, the author goes into life in a repressive, authoritarian state, discussing the reality of life for people who truly are oppressed, spied upon, imprisoned, tortured and murdered by their governments, and how they respond to this condition. These articles individually and together serve as a useful corrective to the denizens of the Left blogosphere wringing their hands and bemoaning the horrible, horrible behavior of the US Gubmint against Our Hero Julian and who might just be coming after poor little ME next! Get a grip, people.
• Curveballs - Joseph Lelyveld's review of Bush's account of his administration. Cool, almost cold, it eviscerates W's self-exculpation. The final paragraphs on exchanges between W and Bush 41 are particularly good.
• No Thanks for the Memories (access for NYRB subscribers only, but first few paragraphs are available) - Gordon Wood provides a much needed counterpoint to professional liberal pundits' mocking dismissal of the Tea Party by talking about the difference between fact and meaning in cultural memory.

Anyway, I hurt and don't know when that will change. I hope your new year is starting out better than mine.

Anglachel

I Figured it Out

Can you?

Abstruse Goose presents a story in mixed up panels and asks readers to put them into order.

If you figure out the key, it's very simple, but even without it you can probably put things more or less in order.

Anglachel

Damn Interesting

In my internet quest for the weird, wacky and wonderful, I came across this site which truly lives up to its name:

Damn Interesting

Medium length blog posts on a host of topics, from nuclear disasters to crab parasites to Uri Geller. Use the "Random Article" selection under the "Sections" menu to see the widest variety.

Almost as much fun as Wikipedia.

Anglachel

Box Lunch

From one of my favorite food writers, a new web site:

Just Bento

Great recipies/assembly instructions for Bento box lunches that are fast and easy to make. Hmm, I migfht do a few of these for dinner...

Anglachel

It's in the Cards

All of life on a 3x5.

Indexed

Anglachel

Cool Maps of the World and US

Looking for a little relief from the smoke and heat, I came across this site:

Shaded Relief

Here you can find some incredible relief maps of the world, including a knock out focus on the US. There are also a bunch of articles and resources for cartographers who do relief maps.

Anglachel

Wild Optical Illusion

Which way is the woman turning?

I can see her spin both directions, but I mostly see her turn clockwise (i.e., right-brain), which totally shocks me, given that I think I'm better described by the left-brain function list.

Not Work Safe, But Oh So Beautiful

Incredible models sporting nothing but body paint (nipples and pubic hair observable, but not offensive, imo) and showing off the zodiac. I really can't pick a favorite.

Anglachel

Will it Blend?

Continuing my search for the weird and wonderful.

Will this IT infrastructure blend?

Work safe, and loads of fun.

Anglachel

The Wild is Wild

First off, a site with many color photos of the bizarre creatures that live deep in the ocean:

Clair Nouvian: The Deep - Gallery

There is an octopus in there that I want to take home, it is so cute.

Now, for something completely different, a video shot by safari tourists in the Kruger National Park. It starts out reasonably normal, with a herd of Cape Buffalo stumbling upon a pride of lions at a watering hole (or perhaps river, I can't tell) and the lions attack the herd and try to bring down a calf. After that, well, you just have to watch. It's about 8 1/2 minutes long.

Battle at Kruger - You Tube

Anglachel