Internet Dim Sum

Blogging is hard work for me. I read much and post little, mostly because I don't like to post anything without first understanding what I am writing about. Too often I come across bait-and-switch soundbites that are long on cute and short on content. I love cute, but content is really what's important. Having said that, this morning I will skim, link and move on...something of a dim sum approach to surfing the net.

Tabula Gaza is a new source of reading for me. Journalism works blindfolded there within and without. Any crack in the darkness is worth studying. This latest post may or may not be intended as political metaphor but it works as one.

Young Anabaptist Radicals is still short of a year old but I have been watching them grow and learn almost from the start. Their latest post publishes a statement of purpose for this dedicated and enlightened group of young Christians as they find their way into the wilderness we call the Internet.

Coming Anarchy links to an informative video from Slate that reviews the latest in fashion statements for the properly attired global terrorist. Quite an interesting approach to one of history's most toxic trends, don't you think?




Nur al-Cubicle is keeping an eye on Turkey while the rest of the world hand-wringings about reality tee-vee, celebrity justice and the antics of the US presidential race. Her translations of foreign news sources are essential reading for anyone who cares to stay informed about the image of America abroad. The Ugly American may be a forgotten book but the concept is more alive and well today than when it was written.

So if you think I'm off to the edge of the lunatic fringe you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm old enough to know extremism when I see it and smart enough to learn about it before I start shooting off my mouth. I made it through the Sixties without becoming a Communist but I knew what they were all about. I made it through the military without being ordered to kill anyone, but I knew very well why I was there. I have learned in life that reading about enemies is a non-violent but powerful approach to resolving conflict. To that end I do read and try to understand the thinking of people with whom I never expect to find common ground. That's why my blogroll is so eclectic.

A case in point is today's post at "friday-lunch-club" which I began tracking a few weeks back. Thierry Meyssan is a name I have heard by know little about. He appears to be in the conspiracy-theorist camp, but his influence (like many conspiracy theorists...listen to your local right-wing radio talk show host, whoever he happens to be) is widespread. His report on the byzantine complexity of Lebanese power struggles adds little to my understanding of the issues there but I come away from the translation with yet another layer added to the already complicated thicket of tensions that Lebanon represents.

Not all the posts from this blog are that abstruse. But all are decidedly worth reading. The blogroll is a Who's Who of sources from the thinking Left...Well, mostly.

...Well the tempus has fugited and I have to leave for work. Another two or three hours shot. And I had to slow down to blog, so I didn't get to read anything like I would have without linking and commenting. Hope the reader had a good trip. You can be sure it took longer to put together than to read.