An evening out with an escort in Edinburgh.

Doonesbury on Blogs. Cheeky chuffer.

There are a couple of almost throwaway lines in this George Monbiot piece that leave me slightly bewildered. If local people had been alerting the West to to the presence of militant Islamicists and the arrival of Al Queda sympathisers, why, in this time of heightened sensitivity, was nothing done? Also, if the Indonesian army, which has an inglorious history anyway, has been colluding with terrorists, why has nothing been done? How come Indonesia always seems to get a free pass? Aside from that it is a pretty good article which has pertinent things to say about how we percieve exotic places such as Bali but deny ourselves opportunities for deeper understanding.
Advice from National Geographic on visiting exotic places.
I don't think I'll be going to Burma anytime soon.

Jimmy Carter recently won the Nobel Peace prize, as everyone knows. Less well known is his own record on combatting human rights abuses when he was president. It isn't impressive. Funnily enough, Indonesia gets a mention.

Noam Chomsky on Iraq. Funnily enough, Suharto, former president of Indonesia gets a mention alongside Saddam as an evildoer of the highest order.

Chowhound

Christopher Hitchens continues to whip himself up into a shrill frenzy as he consolidates his position as a warmonger.

10 songs to help you through a war.

Pessimystic Meg

Rubiks cube

Bloody chuffing difficult football game. I am so crap at it I have just allowed Man City to beat Blues.