So there's software out there which can filter out comments from unwelcome visitors? I like the sound of that.
Just to reiterate: I'm not going to print comments which are discourteous or exhibit an unhealthy obsession with immigration and/or Muslims. As I've said before, there are plenty of political sites where cranks can talk to themselves for as long as they wish. Some people also don't seem to understand that I like to run items which might contradict something that's appeared earlier. That's part of the pleasure of blogging, as far as I'm concerned. My truism of the week comes from David Brooks's column on the Baghdad surge:
Life is complicated. The reason we have democracy is that no one side is right all the time. The only people who are dangerous are those who can’t admit, even to themselves, that obvious fact.
Police resort to drastic measures against the public school teens who've been making a nuisance of themselves in Cornwall's "Sloane-on-Sea". Next step, tear-gas?
Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to homes and businesses with locals complaining of littering, fighting, vandalism and binge drinking. The pupils have come to be known as "snob-yobs" because of their antics.
One thing that's striking about this dispatch from Ascot's class wars is that both sides appear to have alcohol problems:
Tensions are rife - not least among the organisers. Worried that standards were tumbling downmarket, last week they issued stricter diktats on the dress code. Knickers must be worn (but not seen) by all women.
Of course, the conflict took a slightly different form in Eliza Doolittle's day.
"It seems to me that the left-wing blogosphere is as knackered as Gordon Brown’s poll ratings..." POLIS director Charlie Beckett experiences a Judean People's Front moment as he watches left-of-centre bloggers at a meeting. Just in case conservative scribblers feel too smug about all this, Beckett can't help asking himself whether "the blogosphere is a place where political activists go to play instead of to effect real political change." A fair question. He adds a mildly sceptical footnote about the American netroots as well.
It's not just the smog. James Fallows - a friend of China who wants the Olympics to be a triumph - senses that something's amiss. He outlines a long list of symptoms, from visa restrictions to airport delays and online banking snafus:
One way or another, the Chinese government that has worked so hard to make these Olympics happen is now perversely working to screw up their international effect.
Joe Klein has a behind-the-scenes post on a strategy briefing with Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe. Well worth a look. Building a "persuasion army" is going to be a prime goal. It's an idea modelled on the Dubya's campaigns, apparently.
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