A-List

Perhaps I just don't get out enough, but I hadn't even heard of a third of the names on this list of the world's "most powerful" blogs. The Huff Post comes top. Petite Anglaise somehow comes out ahead of Andrew Sullivan. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, Instapundit doesn't even rate a mention. Very odd.

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Earthquakes, past & present

If there's any sliver of hope to be salvaged from the terrible events in Sichuan, it's that the Chinese media seem to be giving out much more information than used to be the case. I mean, how many people ever heard of one of the great natural disasters of the last century, the Tangshan earthquake of 1976? About a quarter of a million people died then:

It took 12 hours for the central authorities in Beijing to discover that Tangshan... had been completely leveled. Mao lay dying, and his potential successors were engaged in a fierce power struggle. They learned of the scale of the disaster only because a Tangshan coal miner, Li Yulin, drove a red ambulance for six hours along dirt roads to reach Beijing... It took days to mobilize the army and start relief operations. The Tangshan residents

Continue reading...

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The big issue

I love the oddball questions that crop up at Lucy Kellaway's office life blog. Today's example, posed by a manager who's on a panel of judges: "Should an award for female entrepreneurs be given to someone who used to be a man?"  Answers on a postcard, please.

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The DDT myth

Was Rachel Carson, renowned environmental campaigner, really the ecological equivalent of Hitler and Stalin? Or has she been the posthumous victim of a mischievous whispering campaign? John Quiggin and Tim Lambert attempt to sort truth from propaganda in an essay for Prospect's online edition. TNR's environment blog adds more detail.

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Life with Dylan

The girl who appeared on the cover of the "Freewheelin'" album (and who inspired a classic song or two) has now reached the McCartneyish age of 64. She has some affectionate stories to tell.

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