[blogfocus saturday] outrage and rhetoric at the keyboard

The little matter of Tony’s timing of his announcement dominated many posts this week, which can be loosely grouped under a number of headings. first off:

Saudis

1 Paul Linford, Belper boy, alleged Tory Blogger and guest at the party I wanted to go to, kicks off with the perils of old age:

I must be getting less cynical in my old age, but in retrospect I was far too kind to New Labour in yesterday's post on whether the Government might have been guilty of burying bad news under the cover of the Ipswich murders and Lord Stevens' inquiry in the death of Diana. It's now absolutely bleeding obvious that this is exactly what they were doing.

2 Shuggy provides backup with the key phrase which should strike terror into every heart:

The public interest outweighs the need to maintain the rule of law. Let's read that again: the public interest outweighs the need to maintain the rule of law. Then let's delete 'rule of law' and try it with 'democracy' or 'liberty'. I'm not one of these who thinks they know the inner-workings of intelligence services throughout the world but I can't think of a single Middle East commentator that doesn't agree that much of the money used to fund the Terror we're supposed to be at War with comes via Saudi Arabia

3 Oliver Kamm minces no words in stating his take on it:

The Saudis therefore clearly encourage an aggressive Islamist ideology, Wahhabism, to divert political dissent into the mosque and then outward to the world. There could scarcely be a more effective way of incubating the forces of fanaticism that threaten us, and the Saudis too. Pressing for political reform in Saudi Arabia is urgent. Mr Blair is not pursuing that course, but instead is acquiescing in corruption for reasons of state. It is an unprincipled decision, but worse, it is a stupid one.

More from the bloggers here …

[blogfriends' party] you know what ...

I'm very, very, very, very, very very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, jealous!

[jim morrison] flawed genius or second rate pretty boy

"There are things known, and there are things unknown, and in between - there are the doors." - Jim Morrison

Whether you feel that Jim Morrison was a brilliant and complex modern-day shaman or just a second-rate pretty-boy poet, who lost it to alcohol and narcotics, it's impossible to deny his influence down through the years.

This band recorded some of the darkest and most challenging music ever penned. What is so distinctive about them is how they successfully blended uncompromising rock, manic blues, jazz improvisation, funky edginess and apocalyptic angularity into dramatic settings for Morrison's baritone voice and acid-damaged poetry.

Jim Morrison described it this way:

“I was ideally suited for the work I am doing. It's the feeling of a bowstring being pulled back for 22 years and suddenly let go. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos - especially activity that seems to have no meaning - it seems to me to be the road towards inner freedom. The whole thing is like an invitation to the west, a new wild west, a sensuous, evil world, strange and haunting, the path of the sun, you know.”

More here …

[jelena dokic] girl with a weight on her back

Spare a thought for this girl. No, she wasn’t raped, she wasn’t brutalized in the Sudan, she wasn’t an Ipswich victim. And yet her story is tragic.

Nothing detracts from the horror which is life for a huge section of the world population but this story is still a tragedy in its own way, in terms of what could have been and what never happened.

Jelena Dokic has been racially abused by a group of Croatian men in an ugly confrontation allegedly linked to inflammatory remarks made by her estranged father, Damir. Jelena who? Former tennis world No.4 Dokic was jostled, was subject to a string of anti-Serbian comments and had fruit juice thrown at her, Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List reported yesterday.

Now here’s the thing: The taunts were reportedly made in reprisal for one of her father Damir Dokic’s famous rants against Croatia and his recent unfounded claim his daughter had been kidnapped by the Bikic brothers, who are Croatian. Dokic was said to have been uninjured in the incident, but traumatised.

Now wallowing at 586th in world tennis, she has repeatedly made moves to sever ties with her buffoon father, who emigrated with his family to Sydney in 1994. Jelena's stellar junior career peaked with a ranking of world No.1 and acclaim as the International Tennis Federation's world junior champion. Nurtured by former grand slam greats Lesley Bowrey and Tony Roche, as well as Kim Warwick, Dokic's game blossomed before her father dragged her down.

And this is the thing. For years, while her father was being thrown out of stadia and was making statements such as believing the Williams sisters’ father was a ‘fine man’ and that Tennis Australia had a vendetta against his daughter, his daughter was steadfastly defending him to the press, who were having a field day.

It’s a matter of speculation how far she could have gone and maybe N4 was her true peak and yet the extraneous issue of the sapping of her confidence by her father, his tirades against any boyfriend she tried to have, her break with Australia, her attempt to come back, the whole mess, it was another Mary Pearce.

Fathers. The bane of daughters’ lives or their very best friend and help in time of need?

[saturday quiz] 10 slightly easier ones this time

1 In Roman numerals, what number is CLI?

2 Which are the fire signs of the Zodiac? A, L & S.

3 After how many years marriage do you celebrate your Golden wedding anniversary?

4 From which country does the cloth denim, used in jeans, originally come from? Do you know the town it comes from as well?

5 Which is the third letter of the Greek alphabet?

6 The screwdriver cocktail is made with vodka. What juice is also used?

7 What is claustrophobia?

8 The winter solstice occurs when the sun is furthest from the equator (on December 22nd). What do we call the days the sun crosses the equator on March 21st and September 21st?

9 To the nearest whole number, how many revolutions does the moon make around the earth in a calendar year?

10 In which organ would you find the pineal gland?

Answers here …

[confidence] is this what women want the most

Sam Brett has raised an interesting one:

British studies reckon tall men and thin women are more attractive; the Germans assert redheads are better in the sack; the Americans deem geeks, nerds and smart men have what it takes, and blogger Mr Ben Darcy (along with 500 of you) suggest it's a good sense of humour (GSOH) that gets us going.

True, when it comes to being attracted to someone, everyone has their own personal preferences, checklists and no-nos. Yet after months of deliberating, debating, arguing and occasionally agreeing on Sam and the City, one common denominator has emerged: having confidence is damn sexy ...

Quick check of an official sort of site which deals with this sort of thing and “Vanessa” gives this list of what’s attractive in a man. After “looks”, she adds:

# you've got personality
# look good, smell better
# musical rhythm
# not so much size but how it’s used
# resisting a woman
# taking initiative
# you know what to do

Don’t think this needs further explanation. Delving into the treasure trove of saved and categorized pieces stored since the dawn of time, I found this, by “Dana Peach” [no link, sorry]:

I am now going to reveal to you what women want, have always wanted and will always be looking for in any man with whom they become intimate. It is a "Trump" attribute, which means that its presence is a more powerful influence than others and can tip the scales of emotional acceptance in your favor immediately. Confidence simply says: "I can deal with it... somehow... well at least I'll do my best". The attitude of confidence doesn't even have to be constant, just generally present in the face of most life challenges.

From what I find over here, I’d like to add one or two criteria. Confidence is one thing but if it’s misplaced, if you don’t ‘bring home the bacon’ which your demeanour leads the woman to expect from you, you’re nowhere. It’s more the feeling she gets that you can come through in any situation, at least it seems that way to me. Not giving a toss is part of it all and might help explain the ‘bad boy syndrome’ with women. You’d have to add genuineness, not caring for conventions and a shy smile somewhere in there as well.

What do you think?