WhatisNews?

War President

Blogger Joe Wezorek has created an amazing image of Bush, using the faces of hundreds of US soldiers killed in Iraq. You can view "War President" on a larger scale on Joe's blog American Leftist.

War President

Big Ron goes

Farewell, Big Ron. The football pundit's racist comments the other night have put an end (for a while at least) to Atkinson's "trenchant analysis" of the game. No regrets from whatisnews. Atkinson was born in Liverpool, but always seemed to be a Manchester United fan at heart (not surprising perhaps, bearing in mind he managed them - but unforgivable, nonetheless.) I grew up in a house where hatred of the jewellery-loving, plasticine-faced Atkinson was always palpable and I'll be happy to see him relieved of his duties.

It does beg the question of what, exactly, makes somebody a racist. Ron's comments (I'd blush to repeat them here) are not exactly post-modern or ironic. There's no wit there. Yet everybody who knows him says he's definitely not a racist. It's hard to square the circle. Two things leap out, though: first it's not the first time, apparently. And secondly, the argument that Ron can't be a racist because he was one of the first managers to employ black players is bogus. He employed those players because he judged they were good players. It was a calculated, professional decision made by a hugely ambitious manager. It doesn't render him incapable of being, on some other level, a racist.

Vanunu out

Mordechai Vanunu has been released from jail, 18 months after he was abducted by Mossad in Rome. Vanunu blew the whistle on Israel's "secret" nuclear weapons facility at Dimona. Most people with an interest in the Middle East already suspected Israel had the bomb, (or rather 100 - 200 bombs) but given there had been no public debate or sanction for the country's nuclear weapons programme, his disclosures weren't very welcome. Hence the kidnapping and 18 months in jail.

No doubt Israel's defenders will point out that had Vanunu been a citizen of an Arab regime with nuclear weapons, he wouldn't now be alive and celebrating his freedom. This misses the point a bit. None of the Arab regimes have nuclear weapons. Israel is the only country in the Middle East with weapons of mass destruction (in case you're still looking, Mr Bush). They're illegal and - even now, 18 years on - they're still technically a secret.

So it's impossible to view Vanunu as a straightforward traitor. He acted out of conscience. His capture and subsequent imprisonment was, at the very least, legally suspect. His treatment (lengthy periods of solitary confinement in a cell with bright lights permanently switched on) was, as he described it today "cruel and barbaric" (not to say maliciously punitive).

The Israel he encounters now is very different to the one he left behind in 1986. Then, it might have been possible to make an argument for it being a "shining light" in the Middle East: the only democracy in the region. Not now. And what happened to him is a large part of the reason why.

One final thought. I hope Vanunu is getting a few quid from Mr Murdoch. Had he been protected more efficiently by the Sunday Times (to whom he was telling his story at the time of his capture) none of this might have happened. They owe him.

Vanunu's message to reporters in 1986, revealing how he'd been captured.

Blair Grayson

Morrissey's on the cover of this week's NME and his interview is the usual value for money stuff. Best line has to be Mozza's observation that Tony Blair is starting to resemble Larry Grayson - the camp "popular entertainer" from 70s and 80s TV...

Larry Grayson

Tony Blair

Big If

I know I've moaned on about this before, but why are American novels so much more interesting and well written than British ones? Maybe it's because American writers aren't afraid to tackle big subjects, without losing sight of the minutiae of life. Think Updike, Roth, Franzen, Foster Wallace. Who have we got to compare? Amis once, perhaps. But Yellow Dog was pants.

Now Mark Costello needs to be added to the US list of big-hitters. The secret world of Presidential bodyguards, online gaming, insurance, conspiracy theories and invitation-only lingerie boutiques are just some of the subjects thrown into the air in Big If, Costello's second novel.

Watch the hands...

It's intelligent, beautifully written, laugh-out loud funny and genuinely gripping. You'll never look at the dudes who stare at people's hands in the same way again.

Back again

Back again after an Easter weekend listening to gunfire on the mean streets of my hometown and peering through my Mother's net curtains to make sure the car wasn't getting broken into...

Interesting article re. the Wales Millennium Centre in the Sunday Times.

Also interesting to read the comments on the post I wrote about the WMC. Think it's time I popped down there with a digital camera...

Unpopular estate agents

It's official. Estate agents are not only the second most unpopular profession in Britain (after MPs). They've also been voted the most overpaid. They beat lawyers, plumbers, electricians and even footballers. Of course, the estate agents themselves are up in arms about this. "It's the wide boys who give the profession a bad name," said one. "Lots of estate agents are just scraping a living."

Many estate agents can barely afford to buy lipstick.

Cheap opera tickets (but not for the likes of me)

The Royal Opera House has come up with a new wheeze to make itself appear democratic and inclusive and various other contemporary buzz words. It's selling off 100 of its best seats for a tenner each. The tickets - for seats that normally cost up to £175 - will be flogged 90 minutes before curtain-up on Monday nights, first come, first served. Sounds great, but really it's only any good if you can spend a day sitting on the pavement in Covent Garden. In other words, the people who get to buy these tickets will be students, assorted other layabouts and Japanese tourists who are prepared - and able - to queue for six hours. I suppose it's equality of a kind, but it doesn't seem fair to the vast majority of British people who a) live outside London and b) have to work in order to pay the taxes that go towards funding opera houses.

Condi's face

"Condi" Rice's face always reminds me of a bulldog that's been forced to lick its own puke from a thorn tree. I trust she'll be looking even less cheerful this evening. By then, I'm hoping the September 11th Commission will have at the very least forced Ms Rice to grovel for the American administration's failure to take Al Qaeda seriously.

Keep smiling.

Some cool sites

If you're a long way from home and yearn to see a real newspaper front page from back wherever, turn to the newseum - a brilliant site with today's front pages from hundreds of newspapers across the world. Server's a bit slow, mind you.

And if you're curious to find out more about how those front pages were designed, check out newsdesigner, a fascinating blog that goes behind the scenes in the print world. (Thanks to uber-blogger Stu Hughes for pointing out the latter...)