Der Spiegel are running a story that about equates with my idea of the only place where democracy actually has room to be ...
Authoritarian states like China, Iran and Egypt are having trouble dealing with the burgeoning number of critical online diaries. These blogs, which multiply by the second, expose news about incidents that many regimes would prefer to keep hushed up. In many countries, blogs are giving people their first real taste of democracy.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Vote for the 2006 Word of the Year
Merriam-Webster is an American publisher of language-related reference works and they're calling for submissions for the 2006 word of the year ...
They write: We're trying something a little different this year. Instead of reviewing millions of searches in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary to find our most frequently looked-up words, we're asking you to submit your choice for the one single word that sums up 2006. Which one of the hundreds of words you've encountered this year do you think best represents the year now quickly drawing to a close? Maybe it's one you've seen again and again in the headlines of newspapers and magazines, or one that seems to be a particular favorite in the blogosphere, or maybe it's a word you've heard bandied about ad nauseam by various TV and radio pundits. No matter where you've seen or heard it, every word is eligible to take the top honors for 2006.
You can find out more here .
Thanks to David, at Public Address
They write: We're trying something a little different this year. Instead of reviewing millions of searches in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary to find our most frequently looked-up words, we're asking you to submit your choice for the one single word that sums up 2006. Which one of the hundreds of words you've encountered this year do you think best represents the year now quickly drawing to a close? Maybe it's one you've seen again and again in the headlines of newspapers and magazines, or one that seems to be a particular favorite in the blogosphere, or maybe it's a word you've heard bandied about ad nauseam by various TV and radio pundits. No matter where you've seen or heard it, every word is eligible to take the top honors for 2006.
You can find out more here .
Thanks to David, at Public Address
Peter has an interesting post titled Is Microsoft Vista “Policeware"?
He begins: Although Microsoft will do its utmost to make you believe otherwise, its new VISTA operating system is actually disempowering the user. You no longer decide what can be done with your “Personal Computer”, VISTA (ie Microsoft) decides. Not convinced? Let me give you a couple of url’s to relevant articles.
He begins: Although Microsoft will do its utmost to make you believe otherwise, its new VISTA operating system is actually disempowering the user. You no longer decide what can be done with your “Personal Computer”, VISTA (ie Microsoft) decides. Not convinced? Let me give you a couple of url’s to relevant articles.
Orhan Pamuk, Writer
You can skip this if you like but I love reading of Orhan Pamuk and The New York Times has a lovely article on him here .
I like what he has to say about his life, lived inside and out of his beloved Istanbul ... “As I waver back and forth,” he wrote in his memoir, “sometimes seeing the city from within and sometimes from without, I feel as I do when I am wandering the streets, caught in a stream of slippery contradictory thoughts, not quite belonging to this place and not quite a stranger.”
Thank you Erkan .
I like what he has to say about his life, lived inside and out of his beloved Istanbul ... “As I waver back and forth,” he wrote in his memoir, “sometimes seeing the city from within and sometimes from without, I feel as I do when I am wandering the streets, caught in a stream of slippery contradictory thoughts, not quite belonging to this place and not quite a stranger.”
Thank you Erkan .
Pulitzer Prize and Blogs
As usual, Erkan is posting interesting things ...
He linked to Bloggers Blog.com where you can find the latest news on the Pulitzer Prize and bloggers.
New guidelines for the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes allow the submission of a blogs. A press release from the Pulitzer Board discusses the widening of the range of online journalims to include blogs and other online content.
The purpose of the new category is to encourage and honor exemplary local journalism, marked by strong reporting across a spectrum of potential subjects. "The Pulitzer Prizes have long valued such reporting," Gissler said, "but this makes our interest much more explicit."
While the local category replaces the Beat Reporting category that was created in 1991, the work of beat reporters remains eligible for entry in a wide range of categories that include-depending on the specialty involved-national, investigative, and explanatory reporting, as well as the new local category.
With its new rules for online submissions, the Pulitzer Board will require each online element to be a single, discretely designated presentation, such as a database, blog, interactive graphic, slide show, or video presentation. Each designated element will count as one item in the total number of items, print or online, that are permitted in an entry.
The 'How to Submit a Entry' PDF File can be found here
He linked to Bloggers Blog.com where you can find the latest news on the Pulitzer Prize and bloggers.
New guidelines for the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes allow the submission of a blogs. A press release from the Pulitzer Board discusses the widening of the range of online journalims to include blogs and other online content.
The purpose of the new category is to encourage and honor exemplary local journalism, marked by strong reporting across a spectrum of potential subjects. "The Pulitzer Prizes have long valued such reporting," Gissler said, "but this makes our interest much more explicit."
While the local category replaces the Beat Reporting category that was created in 1991, the work of beat reporters remains eligible for entry in a wide range of categories that include-depending on the specialty involved-national, investigative, and explanatory reporting, as well as the new local category.
With its new rules for online submissions, the Pulitzer Board will require each online element to be a single, discretely designated presentation, such as a database, blog, interactive graphic, slide show, or video presentation. Each designated element will count as one item in the total number of items, print or online, that are permitted in an entry.
The 'How to Submit a Entry' PDF File can be found here
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Dental Visit 3, Belgie
The numbing injection is taking so long to wear off and I'm not meant to eat until I can feel my mouth again ... I'm starving, and so ends another dental appointment.
It was better this time, no root canal but worse because she realised that a crack in the tooth next to the one she was working on was causing the pain. Needless to say, I have to go back next week.
She told me an interesting thing ... those black fillings I had put in over the years have a tendency to expand with hot drinks and food, causing cracks in the teeth and it was this that contributed to me losing points on 3 different teeth over the last couple of years.
It is exacerbated by the fact that I grind my teeth while I sleep but mmmm, all the best people do ... she hopes to repair the tooth crack she discovered today, before it snaps off and then there's the final known snapped point to work on on the other side of my mouth.
It's lovely to have found a dentist I trust but still ...
It was better this time, no root canal but worse because she realised that a crack in the tooth next to the one she was working on was causing the pain. Needless to say, I have to go back next week.
She told me an interesting thing ... those black fillings I had put in over the years have a tendency to expand with hot drinks and food, causing cracks in the teeth and it was this that contributed to me losing points on 3 different teeth over the last couple of years.
It is exacerbated by the fact that I grind my teeth while I sleep but mmmm, all the best people do ... she hopes to repair the tooth crack she discovered today, before it snaps off and then there's the final known snapped point to work on on the other side of my mouth.
It's lovely to have found a dentist I trust but still ...
Istanbul Wanderer
I was going through some of the Istanbul images I had stored on cd and found this one.
My Australian friend and I spent the day wandering through the streets of Istanbul - she was saying goodbye to the city that had been her home for awhile and I was saying bye to her.
It was a magical day in terms of results ... I took some of my best photographs in the city that day.
We stopped for a coffee in Taksim ...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Signandsight.com - Let's talk European
I enjoy the online version of Der Spiegel but today they led me to a new online news source called signandsight.com
Signandsight offers an informative view of cultural and intellectual life in Germany. In Today's Feuilletons summarises the highlights of the cultural pages of the major German language newspapers.
The magazine roundup seems interesting and it's only a small selection of what is on offer there: Merkur testifies to the eccentricity of Europeans. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco reads the Koran and Tertullian. The Weltwoche interviews Ahmed Scheikh of Al Jazeera. In Figaro, Alain Finkielkraut protects Robert Redeker from his "Yes, but..." defenders. The TLS is fed up with political moral apostles and writings from the new politics of values. The British are buying Bulgaria, says Przekroj. And Nepszabadsag longs for capitalism with a human face.
Signandsight offers an informative view of cultural and intellectual life in Germany. In Today's Feuilletons summarises the highlights of the cultural pages of the major German language newspapers.
The magazine roundup seems interesting and it's only a small selection of what is on offer there: Merkur testifies to the eccentricity of Europeans. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco reads the Koran and Tertullian. The Weltwoche interviews Ahmed Scheikh of Al Jazeera. In Figaro, Alain Finkielkraut protects Robert Redeker from his "Yes, but..." defenders. The TLS is fed up with political moral apostles and writings from the new politics of values. The British are buying Bulgaria, says Przekroj. And Nepszabadsag longs for capitalism with a human face.
MEPs to shame 11 EU states in final CIA report, EU Observer
The EU Observer is running an interesting article ... The European Parliament in its final report on alleged CIA kidnappings and prisons in Europe is set to name and shame 11 EU member states with Poland coming in for some of the heaviest criticism, Polish press agency PAP reveals ahead of the study's Wednesday (29 November) publication date.
Italy, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Austria saw terrorism suspects snatched on their territory the report by Italian socialist MEP Claudio Fava will say, while the UK, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Poland hosted hundreds of secret CIA flights.
The density of the flights - suspected of being used for "extraordinary renditions" or transfer of prisoners without trial or legal redress to sites such as Guantanamo Bay or Uzbekistan - was the greatest in Germany (336), the UK (170) and Ireland (147).
... EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini has in the past clarified that any EU member states caught violating "fundamental human rights" could face suspension of EU voting privileges under articles six and seven of the EU Treaty.
Italy, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Austria saw terrorism suspects snatched on their territory the report by Italian socialist MEP Claudio Fava will say, while the UK, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Poland hosted hundreds of secret CIA flights.
The density of the flights - suspected of being used for "extraordinary renditions" or transfer of prisoners without trial or legal redress to sites such as Guantanamo Bay or Uzbekistan - was the greatest in Germany (336), the UK (170) and Ireland (147).
... EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini has in the past clarified that any EU member states caught violating "fundamental human rights" could face suspension of EU voting privileges under articles six and seven of the EU Treaty.
Amy Gahran, Content Strategist, Info-Provocateur
An intriguing post over at Amy Gahran's Poynter Online column ... Smart Blogger or Photo Vigilante?
There are other bloggers who have snapped their attackers in action ...
It's a subject that raises interesting questions.
Amy writes: On Nov. 24, Jackie Danicki (an American blogger and social media consultant living in London) was physically and verbally assaulted by two men in the London Underground. She reports, "The assault took place on the southbound Bakerloo line platform at Baker Street, and the abuse continued from there to Piccadilly Circus." She also noted that this abuse went on for 15 minutes before anyone tried to intervene.
Danicki went one step beyond what most people -- probably even me -- would have done in that situation. She took a photo of one of her alleged assailants. After she returned from making a lengthy police report, she posted that photo to her weblog along with a description of what happened, and asked people to identify this man to the British Transport Police. In the comments, she also included a description of the second alleged attacker.
There are other bloggers who have snapped their attackers in action ...
It's a subject that raises interesting questions.
Amy writes: On Nov. 24, Jackie Danicki (an American blogger and social media consultant living in London) was physically and verbally assaulted by two men in the London Underground. She reports, "The assault took place on the southbound Bakerloo line platform at Baker Street, and the abuse continued from there to Piccadilly Circus." She also noted that this abuse went on for 15 minutes before anyone tried to intervene.
Danicki went one step beyond what most people -- probably even me -- would have done in that situation. She took a photo of one of her alleged assailants. After she returned from making a lengthy police report, she posted that photo to her weblog along with a description of what happened, and asked people to identify this man to the British Transport Police. In the comments, she also included a description of the second alleged attacker.
Neal, Nowhere To Go But Up
Coming in as Point I on Neal's About New Zealand post was: I) Kiwis are nice, almost to a fault. I never saw a kiwi get so much as agitated. Granted, most of the people that I dealt with were in the tourist industry, so it's their job to be nice. Even when I stayed with the locals, they were just really positive and happy.
I guess when you live in paradise, it's hard to find a reason to get annoyed.
He's an American who has been blogging on Nowhere to go but up down in the South Pole for the last year. Who can resist reading a person who writes in little 'about me' piece that I used to just be a nerd, now I'm an action nerd.
Meanwhile, an old friend called Paul has just arrived at the South Pole and doesn't yet realise that regular updates will be expected ...
I guess when you live in paradise, it's hard to find a reason to get annoyed.
He's an American who has been blogging on Nowhere to go but up down in the South Pole for the last year. Who can resist reading a person who writes in little 'about me' piece that I used to just be a nerd, now I'm an action nerd.
Meanwhile, an old friend called Paul has just arrived at the South Pole and doesn't yet realise that regular updates will be expected ...
I was reading Expatica this morning and noticed an odd story about a rather odd little man who has set up a group to deny the Holocaust happened.
Reynouard moved to Brussels in 2002 to create a neo-Nazi group, 'Vision historique objective' (VHO) or objective historical perspective. This group, which principally aims to deny the Holocaust and the existence of concentration camps during WWII, is the French-speaking branch of the 'Vrij historisch onderzoek' a neo-Nazi group created in 1985 by the leaders of the Vlaams Blok, renamed the Vlaams Belang from November 2004.
What does he hope to achieve?
Will his next group be established to deny that the sky is blue?
This affair is likely to have repercussions for Reynouard's contacts in Brussels, who supported him and helped him propagate his writings. Reynouard was housed by a catholic community in Ixelles, the same community who took in Olivier Mathieu in the 90's, another French neo-Nazi.
Reynouard moved to Brussels in 2002 to create a neo-Nazi group, 'Vision historique objective' (VHO) or objective historical perspective. This group, which principally aims to deny the Holocaust and the existence of concentration camps during WWII, is the French-speaking branch of the 'Vrij historisch onderzoek' a neo-Nazi group created in 1985 by the leaders of the Vlaams Blok, renamed the Vlaams Belang from November 2004.
What does he hope to achieve?
Will his next group be established to deny that the sky is blue?
This affair is likely to have repercussions for Reynouard's contacts in Brussels, who supported him and helped him propagate his writings. Reynouard was housed by a catholic community in Ixelles, the same community who took in Olivier Mathieu in the 90's, another French neo-Nazi.
Monday, November 27, 2006
This is why I want to go home ...
I grew up living with nature.
Bare feet were commonplace in summer, the beaches and rivers were places we ate and sunbathed between swimming. Horses, dogs and cats lived on an open-door policy ... an inside pet was unimaginable and my dogs always had some kind of swimming area close by.
The people are some of the friendliest in the world, the air is so clean I almost cry everytime I go home.
What am I doing out here in Europe ...?
You know what, sometimes I really don't know.
Bare feet were commonplace in summer, the beaches and rivers were places we ate and sunbathed between swimming. Horses, dogs and cats lived on an open-door policy ... an inside pet was unimaginable and my dogs always had some kind of swimming area close by.
The people are some of the friendliest in the world, the air is so clean I almost cry everytime I go home.
What am I doing out here in Europe ...?
You know what, sometimes I really don't know.
Jeff Derosa, Astute Bloke
Jeff Derosa wrote this superb description of New Zealand's South Island ... otherwise known as Di's Place.
He wrote, But New Zealand’s beauty is in a league all by itself. Another way to describe the South island is if you took an area the size of the state of Maine and then picked out the best of the Maine Coast, Colorado’s mountains, Ireland’s country side, tropical-looking water, and placed a cool city like Charleston, SC in the middle of it all … that would be New Zealand’s South Island.
In terms of both culture and natural beauty, is there a more attractive country on this planet? If so, let me know!
Well Jeff ... I don't think there is any place more attractive actually.
He wrote, But New Zealand’s beauty is in a league all by itself. Another way to describe the South island is if you took an area the size of the state of Maine and then picked out the best of the Maine Coast, Colorado’s mountains, Ireland’s country side, tropical-looking water, and placed a cool city like Charleston, SC in the middle of it all … that would be New Zealand’s South Island.
In terms of both culture and natural beauty, is there a more attractive country on this planet? If so, let me know!
Well Jeff ... I don't think there is any place more attractive actually.
Poi E and the Patea Maori Club
I am beginning to love Public Address , a community of New Zealand-centric weblogs.
Graeme Edgeler posted this youtube over there as a kind of blast from the past ... it's dated but full of memories for people like me.
There's an interesting 'how it happened and what it all means here .
They write, The whole Poi-E concept was born in 1982 after linguist Ngoi Pewhairangi asked musician Maui Dalvanius Prime how he would teach the younger generation to be proud of being Maori and Kiwi. He told her he could do it by giving them their language and culture through the medium they were comfortable with.
Poi-E became a huge hit and was 22 weeks on the NZ hit charts in 1984, charting at number 1 for 4 weeks. It was also a big hit overseas, Dalvanius taking the Patea Maori Club on a tour which included The London Palladium, the Edinburgh Festival and a Royal Command Performance.
Graeme Edgeler posted this youtube over there as a kind of blast from the past ... it's dated but full of memories for people like me.
There's an interesting 'how it happened and what it all means here .
They write, The whole Poi-E concept was born in 1982 after linguist Ngoi Pewhairangi asked musician Maui Dalvanius Prime how he would teach the younger generation to be proud of being Maori and Kiwi. He told her he could do it by giving them their language and culture through the medium they were comfortable with.
Poi-E became a huge hit and was 22 weeks on the NZ hit charts in 1984, charting at number 1 for 4 weeks. It was also a big hit overseas, Dalvanius taking the Patea Maori Club on a tour which included The London Palladium, the Edinburgh Festival and a Royal Command Performance.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
24 hours in Antwerpen
It's been frustrating moving to Belgie, I might have mentioned it once or twice ... and every now and again I've ask myself ... would I do it all again if I knew how it was going to be?
Lately the answer has been yes.
I still get angry about the ridiculous paperwork and time wasted in arriving but ... if it hadn't taken so long, I wouldn't have developed as a blogger and photographer, I wouldn't have had time for the projects I'm working on with all kinds of interesting people, and I simply wouldn't be living the kind of life that involves me singing the Antwerp football supporters song at the top of my lungs in a smoke-filled pub with the family and friends of an Alderman celebrating his 40th birthday, then picking myself up the next morning to take photographs at a cultural exhibition and breakfast ... two completely unrelated events that allow me to see how it is to really live in this city I'm coming to love.
For me, travelling in other countries has to be about people ... without people, the experience feels one-dimensional. When I went to Rome, I was fortunate. Marco took me home to his family on the back of his scooter, his wife cooked Roman food for me and their family made me feel welcome in a country that wasn't my own.
I met two Paolo's, an artist who took me to coffee and a tour guide friend of a friend, who took me to lunch and showed me some of the city. And then there was Enzo, my waiter for the evening ... the man who made my last evening hilariously memorable by showering his attentions on me, that blushing kiwi woman trying to work out how to be less visible alone in a restuarant in Rome.
Turkey was superb ... the people, the people and the people. The Turks are surely amongst the kindest and most hospitable people in the world. I still miss them today and am happy to be moving in circles that will bring me in contact with the ones who live here.
Australia and my brother's friends and family there welcomed me in ... how I loved it, such a surprise after years of 'friendly' traditional rivalry.
Fiji and a taxi driver took us under his wing, showing us the island while we were stranded there on the way home once.
Belgium has been more difficult. Belgians don't rush in and embrace the foreigner, that's how it is here. Sometimes I have despaired, wanting out, wondering what had made me so unpalatable in this new world ... but slowly, give them time and there are moments of people magic to be had in this country too.
So, reporting from Belgium today ... I'm saying 'Alles goed' and 'tot straks'.
Lately the answer has been yes.
I still get angry about the ridiculous paperwork and time wasted in arriving but ... if it hadn't taken so long, I wouldn't have developed as a blogger and photographer, I wouldn't have had time for the projects I'm working on with all kinds of interesting people, and I simply wouldn't be living the kind of life that involves me singing the Antwerp football supporters song at the top of my lungs in a smoke-filled pub with the family and friends of an Alderman celebrating his 40th birthday, then picking myself up the next morning to take photographs at a cultural exhibition and breakfast ... two completely unrelated events that allow me to see how it is to really live in this city I'm coming to love.
For me, travelling in other countries has to be about people ... without people, the experience feels one-dimensional. When I went to Rome, I was fortunate. Marco took me home to his family on the back of his scooter, his wife cooked Roman food for me and their family made me feel welcome in a country that wasn't my own.
I met two Paolo's, an artist who took me to coffee and a tour guide friend of a friend, who took me to lunch and showed me some of the city. And then there was Enzo, my waiter for the evening ... the man who made my last evening hilariously memorable by showering his attentions on me, that blushing kiwi woman trying to work out how to be less visible alone in a restuarant in Rome.
Turkey was superb ... the people, the people and the people. The Turks are surely amongst the kindest and most hospitable people in the world. I still miss them today and am happy to be moving in circles that will bring me in contact with the ones who live here.
Australia and my brother's friends and family there welcomed me in ... how I loved it, such a surprise after years of 'friendly' traditional rivalry.
Fiji and a taxi driver took us under his wing, showing us the island while we were stranded there on the way home once.
Belgium has been more difficult. Belgians don't rush in and embrace the foreigner, that's how it is here. Sometimes I have despaired, wanting out, wondering what had made me so unpalatable in this new world ... but slowly, give them time and there are moments of people magic to be had in this country too.
So, reporting from Belgium today ... I'm saying 'Alles goed' and 'tot straks'.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Final Score
New Zealand 45 - Wales 10
I hope never to have to listen to a BBC commentary again ... the French was so much better. I don't understand French.
Running out to an Alderman's birthday party.
Tot ziens.
I hope never to have to listen to a BBC commentary again ... the French was so much better. I don't understand French.
Running out to an Alderman's birthday party.
Tot ziens.
Welcome to the PC 21st century in Welsh Rugby
Halftime score: New Zealand 28 - Wales 3.
But there was no haka at the start of this weekend's All Black's rugby match against Wales ...
Stunned, I googled it and discovered some silly little men felt menaced by the throat-slitting gesture at the end of the latest haka ...
The same gesture that made me laugh when I saw it.
New Zealanders are known the world around for their peaceful natures.
We don't have rugby fans acting out in deadly fighting during and after matches.
What are these pc idiots talking about?
Okay, so I'll come down off my soapbox and report coherently. Wales great Gerald Davies has become the latest leading rugby figure to say the All Blacks should drop the "throat-slitting" haka pre-match ritual, insisting it was "unworthy of New Zealand rugby" and had "no place on the playing field."
"We await with interest to see which one of the two hakas the All Blacks will perform on their tour of Europe," Davies, one of the outstanding wings of his generation and a star of the victorious British and Irish Lions side which triumphed in New Zealand in 1971, wrote in his column Thursday in The Times.
Well Gerald, they decided to perform behind closed doors so as to not psychologically traumatise those forced to watch this traditional pre-match display.
"It is devoutly to be hoped that they have left behind closed doors the one they chose to offer us last year.
"The one, that is, with the somewhat-menacing slitting-of-the-throat gesture," added Davies ahead of Sunday's match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham.
In New Zealand, this kind of nonsense would result in dear Gerald being addressed as 'Girl's blouse'.
The New Zealand newspapers are already reporting that The move wasn't warmly accepted by the 74,000-strong crowd at Millennium Stadium, with boos ringing out when it became clear there would be no haka performed.
But there was no haka at the start of this weekend's All Black's rugby match against Wales ...
Stunned, I googled it and discovered some silly little men felt menaced by the throat-slitting gesture at the end of the latest haka ...
The same gesture that made me laugh when I saw it.
New Zealanders are known the world around for their peaceful natures.
We don't have rugby fans acting out in deadly fighting during and after matches.
What are these pc idiots talking about?
Okay, so I'll come down off my soapbox and report coherently. Wales great Gerald Davies has become the latest leading rugby figure to say the All Blacks should drop the "throat-slitting" haka pre-match ritual, insisting it was "unworthy of New Zealand rugby" and had "no place on the playing field."
"We await with interest to see which one of the two hakas the All Blacks will perform on their tour of Europe," Davies, one of the outstanding wings of his generation and a star of the victorious British and Irish Lions side which triumphed in New Zealand in 1971, wrote in his column Thursday in The Times.
Well Gerald, they decided to perform behind closed doors so as to not psychologically traumatise those forced to watch this traditional pre-match display.
"It is devoutly to be hoped that they have left behind closed doors the one they chose to offer us last year.
"The one, that is, with the somewhat-menacing slitting-of-the-throat gesture," added Davies ahead of Sunday's match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham.
In New Zealand, this kind of nonsense would result in dear Gerald being addressed as 'Girl's blouse'.
The New Zealand newspapers are already reporting that The move wasn't warmly accepted by the 74,000-strong crowd at Millennium Stadium, with boos ringing out when it became clear there would be no haka performed.
Dervla Murphy, Stories from Siberia
The Independent is an interesting paper to wander through ...
Today I discovered this article about what draws the veteran travel writer Dervla Murphy to this coldest of places?
Nick Coelman asks: Its vastness, the quality of the silence, the sheer beauty of the landscape ... a few of the reasons why she chose it as the subject of her new book.
Today I discovered this article about what draws the veteran travel writer Dervla Murphy to this coldest of places?
Nick Coelman asks: Its vastness, the quality of the silence, the sheer beauty of the landscape ... a few of the reasons why she chose it as the subject of her new book.
Alexander Litvinenko
Paris Parfait wrote on the death of Alexander Litvineko.
Pointing her readers in the direction of an Independent article
They wrote Alexander Litvinenko was a man who could be taught little about the seamy side of modern Russia. A KGB agent for 18 years, he occupied a world where intrigue, betrayal and ruthless trickery were the tools of working life.
But even a man whose job was to fight organised crime and counter subversion in the name of the Kremlin would have been surprised at an event as mired in low chicanery, high drama and cold-blooded cunning as his own passing. The spy novel saga of the life and death of the 43-year-old secret agent turned vehement critic of Vladimir Putin entered its most extraordinary phase yesterday when it was revealed that he died from exposure to a radioactive poison.
Last night, the Government was dealing with a public health alert and diplomatic crisis after traces of polonium 210, a by-product of uranium, were found at Mr Litvinenko's home as well as a sushi restaurant and London hotel he visited on 1 November.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that traces of the heavy metal, which is lethal if ingested in tiny quantities, were found in Mr Litvinenko's urine.
Pointing her readers in the direction of an Independent article
They wrote Alexander Litvinenko was a man who could be taught little about the seamy side of modern Russia. A KGB agent for 18 years, he occupied a world where intrigue, betrayal and ruthless trickery were the tools of working life.
But even a man whose job was to fight organised crime and counter subversion in the name of the Kremlin would have been surprised at an event as mired in low chicanery, high drama and cold-blooded cunning as his own passing. The spy novel saga of the life and death of the 43-year-old secret agent turned vehement critic of Vladimir Putin entered its most extraordinary phase yesterday when it was revealed that he died from exposure to a radioactive poison.
Last night, the Government was dealing with a public health alert and diplomatic crisis after traces of polonium 210, a by-product of uranium, were found at Mr Litvinenko's home as well as a sushi restaurant and London hotel he visited on 1 November.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that traces of the heavy metal, which is lethal if ingested in tiny quantities, were found in Mr Litvinenko's urine.
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