[quiz] do you know your countries

Each of the descriptions below refers to a country. Which country? Answers are at the end - don't peek!

1 It’s mainly desert and grassland, with tropical rainforest in the north - a large country with a small population and a dry sense of humour. One of its animals is the quokka. People mainly live in two cities.

The other nine are here.

[around the blogs] what the bloggers are saying

Today will be a Blog Roundup instead of a focus on one issue. Let’s start with Bryan:

Bryan Appleyard on gun control: Mark Steyn pointed out that there were large areas of America that were burglar free simply because most householders possessed guns. Here, of course, burglaries happen all the time and our wondrously rude and inept police force can't be bothered to do anything about them …But the truth is, whatever law and order benefits flow from US gun ownership are vastly outweighed by the routine horrors perpetrated in a land flooded with firearms, not to mention the thousands of accidental shootings that happen annually.

More blog-round-up here.

[hillary on webb] he just loves women … believe me

Women? Best soldiers in the world...

Hillary the Phoenix endorsed James Webb yesterday in a high profile appearance at a fundraising lunch in Old Town Alexandria, blunting Allen’s criticism of him, re his past attitude towards women in the military. Allen himself has had problems with racial sensitivity. Clinton told reporters: "I've watched and analyzed what Jim Webb has done when he was in the Pentagon, opening up positions - thousands of them - to women when previously they had not been available. We have women serving with valor and distinction because the battlefield has changed." Well that’s all right then. Hillary has spoken and Va. is Webb's. Or not.

[nfl] bears not quite good enough for top

Pete Prisco of CBS writes: I was tempted. Really, really tempted. I thought long and hard about moving the Bears into the top spot of the CBS SportsLine.com Power Rankings, taking over for the Indianapolis Colts. After Chicago's impressive destruction of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, I was leaning that way. The Bears, known for their defense, showed the rest of the NFL they can play offense, too. Rex Grossman was zipping passes to a good receiving group -- Bernard Berrian might be the most improved player in the league -- and the Bears hung 37 points on the Seahawks. The defense did its part, too, making Matt Hasselbeck look jumpy in the pocket and forcing him to throw three interceptions. That was impressive. But after thinking on it for a couple of days, it wasn't good enough for the top spot. Part of the rationale is that knee-jerk decisions usually don't make a lot of sense in the end.

[young bradman] the slips catch which went begging

Of Grace and other matters … today ... Selby Jeffrey

Bill O’Reilly recalls the day a chance from Don Bradman went up in a puff of smoke. Selby Jeffery was a railway fettler. He had worn the Australian uniform which proudly displayed the big brass 'A' denoting the fact that he was present on the Sunday morning of 25 April 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand forces went into action at Gallipoli in their attempt to open up the Dardanelles. Selby was an Anzac, and as such held the unbounded respect of every man on the field. He sported a fairly robust black moustache. His face was rosy with blatant good health and his persistent good humour was heralded by the most pleasant smile one could wish to see. More here.

[love & all that] 10 signs it’s not quite right

It’s happened to everyone: You meet someone for whom you fall. She [in this case it’s a she but it could easily be reversed] seems interested, but something makes you question her behaviour. That’s the best sign of all to drop it. Here are some others:

1. She only calls if she wants something or wants to go somewhere, never just to idly chat. She e-mails or texts you far less than lovers have a right to expect. When she does contact you, the charm is impeccable but not effusive.

2. People warn you. If friends and family think she is playing with you, at least listen and then sort out what their motives are later.

… continued here.

[woodward] shifting ground in a shifting washington

These sorts of revelations don’t help: # then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice brushed off warnings from the CIA two months before September 11, 2001, that al-Qa'ida was planning a possible domestic attack. CIA chief George Tenet and his counter-terrorism chief Cofer Black met Rice on July 10, 2001, hoping to "shake Rice" with a "strategic warning". But they both felt "the brush-off". # a classified document presented to the administration on May 24 this year charted how the insurgency would get worse in 2007. But two days later the Pentagon released a public report to the US Congress saying violent action would begin to wane in early 2007. The US is just five weeks out from congressional mid-term elections in which Democrats could take back control of Congress for the first time in 12 years and then all hell will break loose in Washington. The Democrats are expected to try to prosecute the over the Iraq war and even impeach Bush for misleading the American people. Some say Woodward is positioning himself for the new power balance in Washington.

[australia] howard names top three of the 20th century

Baroness Thatcher

= 1st: Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. Their moral clarity "punctured the nonsense" of left-wing apologists for communist dictatorships and resisted the "stultifying orthodoxies and dangerous utopias" of the Western intelligentsia. He said Ronald Reagan branded the Soviet Union "the evil empire", the sort of talk "that sends diplomats the world over into panicked meltdown", Margaret Thatcher "as well as anyone grasped and articulated the essential connection of personal, political and economic freedom" and the late pope "inspired millions" behind the Iron Curtain to dream.

[cricket] tim's quick sketch of richie benaud

Tim de Lisle says: Cricinfo held an opinion poll asking readers to name their dream commentary team and the runaway first choice, at 74, was Richie Benaud [10,000 votes from 12,000]. Benaud is the Bradman of the microphone and when he says “Morning everyone”, he is merely addressing his fan club. He never forgets the pictures are the thing and that his job is to add to them, not tell us what we can already see and he uses silence like a dot ball. He insists Test cricket has been more entertaining than ever in the past two years and he should know. Crisp, succinct and unobtrusive, he is proof that less is more even when it’s out of fashion. In a sports culture that increasingly runs on hype, Richie never gets overheated. Jansev Jemal said: “Richie Benaud [is] a legend and I wish he was my grandad.” “I hope they legalise cloning,” wrote Neil Marshall. “I can’t watch cricket without him.” Second was Michael Holding. “A voice like liquid chocolate,” said Geoff James. Third was David Gower.

[colour schemes] the culture of red

Here are some aspects of the symbolism and culture of the colour red:

# it's "the colour of colours"
# in some languages, the words "red" and "coloured" are synonyms
# in other languages, "red" and "beautiful" are synonyms.
# excites senses and activates blood circulation. It is the colour of passionate love, sensuality and desire.
# child-oriented products
# triggers pleasure like fruit jam, candies

More on red here.