Blog my wedding dress!

Not content with simply listing her wedding dress (never worn: the engagement was broken off) on eBay, one enterprising New Yorker has even set up an entire blog devoted to its sale. What this means, of course, is that the more successful the blog is, the sooner it will become obsolete and stop being updated. Weird.

Papologist

God, Peggy Noonan can really get on my tits sometimes. Nevermind the signature whine of every aging columnist at the start of her piece — how kids these days aren't what they used to be; let's go straight to the bone she picks with us atheist Europeans:

Filling the Memory Hole

A week late, and apropos of the banner cross the top of the site, I thought I'd mention the newly-dedicated World War II Memorial here in Washington DC.

Two weeks ago I walked around it with a college roommate, and, despite the bad press the memorial has gotten during the course of it's construction, (like Timothy Noah) I think the memorial is a fitting tribute that fits in well.

Possible problems with microsites

Gawker launched a microsite for Nike yesterday, and is now advertising it on the bottom of all of its posts. Even, say, this one from Wonkette. A screengrab below:

Infidel apparel

Preparing your journey to the Middle East? Want to make a bold statement? This website can meet your needs.

The Arabic translates as "Don't mess with Texas". A find courtesy of Sterling.

Jersey Girls

In what may be the dumbest legal decision since McDonald's was penalized for serving hot coffee, a New Jersey civil rights official declared ladies' night pricing at bars discriminatory and has thereby made the practice effectively, if not yet technically, illegal in the Garden State.

This is sheer pap. Bars do not discriminate against men on such occasions any more than a movie theater, say, discriminates anyone under the age of 55 by offering discounted tickets to seniors, or an airline discriminates against adults by giving discounts to children. And to put the social climate of a ladies' night in a civil rights context, which is to compare it to lynchings of black men and Jim Crow laws, is an insult to the battle for equality.

This is an abuse of the civil rights office's powers, which really ought to have more important things to do - a point subsequently made by New Jersey governor James McGreevey.

Why can't Stockholm be more like NYC?

Stefan's put one of his Swedish posts up again, but this time without a little sidebar telling us in English what on earth he's talking about. So I've decided to provide a translation.

George Tenet defenestrated!

In a shock move which has rocked the world of Washington beltway types to the very soles of their $450 Gucci loafers, the White House has, in the politest possible of terms ("he's done a superb job"), informed George Tenet that he is no longer welcome as a member of their club.

Suddenly, Dubya's May 10 press conference is imbued with retrospective pathos:

"You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job. You are a strong Secretary of Defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."

The whole thing seems utterly stupid to me, a bit like expelling Paul O'Neill from the Treasury because he admitted that enormous deficits were a bad thing. For one thing, Tenet's taskmaster, Donald Rumsfeld, is, as far as I know, still free to feed Dubya whatever made-up "intelligence" he likes. And Rumsfeld will hardly be hardly the only one: I should imagine that dozens of other neocons are going do the same thing now that they know Tenet is gone.

Choire Sicha defenestrated!

In a shock move which has rocked the world of Manhattan media types to the very soles of their limited-edition $350 sneakers, the Soho House has, in the politest possible of terms, informed Choire Sicha that he is no longer welcome as a member of their club.

Suddenly, Choire's Gothamist Interview is imbued with retrospective pathos:

Where do you summer?
This year marks my retirement from summering, as a matter of fact. If I haven’t yet become the first member to be expelled from Soho House, I will spend Summer ’04 upon their roof. I’ll be the bloated one. No, the other bloated one.

The whole thing seems utterly stupid to me, a bit like expelling Toby Young from the London branch because he admitted to doing cocaine there. For one thing, Choire's publisher, Nick Denton, is, as far as I know, still a member, and is free to feed Choire whatever gossip he likes. And Denton will hardly be the only one: I should imagine that dozens of other members are going to start ramping up their SH gossip emails to Gawker now that they know the club doesn't want them to.

Hélène

Hélène De Beir, SAIS (and BC) class of '99, was murdered in Northwest Afghanistan yesterday, working for Médicins Sans Frontières. Hélène and four MSF colleagues were setting up a new clinic when they were ambushed in Badghis province. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. The MSF has put out a press release, and both Bloomberg and the BBC (Real Video) have reports on the first fatalities in MSF's 33 years of existence.

Hélène was a beautiful, wonderful woman with one of the sharpest wits you'll ever come across (too sharp, said some, but what did they know?). Hers is a great loss for all of us, no matter where we stand on other issues.

My heart goes out to her family, and especially her loving boyfriend Lucas, who she met in Bologna.

UPDATE: Marianne Stigset has a reaction in tomorrow's Lebanese Daily Star. MSF has a page up remembering all five members of the team.

Torture - it's great!

To Sterling, with love.

Rocket

I'm not a fan of the Houston Astros, nor particularly a follower of Roger Clemens, the 41-year old pitcher, of Yankees and Red Sox fame. But he has just won, again, making his record this year a remarkable 8-0, and tying Phil Niekro (of knuckleball fame) for 14th place among games won in Major League Baseball history.

When the Rocket left New York for Houston, a lot of people sniggered that the move reeked of desperation for an aging star who couldn't let go. The heat thrown from Clemens' mound has effectively put the naysayers in their place.

As Astors general manager Jimy Williams put it, "I think we have to appreciate--those of us who really like baseball, whether you pull for the Astros or not--just to see what he is doing."

Greed

The invasion of Iraq was not, contrary to pinko Eurotrash anti-American conspiracy theorists, about oil or done merely to line Halliburton's pockets. Nonetheless it is becoming increasingly clear that, while the decision to go to war was done for other reasons, the well-connected weren't shy about taking advantage of the situation.

The non-partisan General Accounting Office of the US Congress says Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary illegally won a $7 billion contract that was not put to tender; this despite objections within the Army which Rumsfeld's office overruled.

Condi Rice for veep, anyone?

Doomed

Among the reasons for the US occupation's failures in Iraq to restore security and basic services must be included the Iraq Governing Council, which despite being loaded with pro-US exiles (or maybe because of it) proved to be completely ineffective in implementing policy.

Now we have the first formal Iraqi government post-Saddam, in a tiered process toward elections that I confess I do not understand. What is the point of this step, particularly if Bremer packed it with the same group of cronies? Consevative pundits in the US like William Safire had spun the line that Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN rep, had Bush's support and would get his way. That didn't turn out to be the case and Brahimi hasn't been shy in saying so. What makes us think that Iraqis will see this government as any more legitimate than the ICG? Or makes us think it will prove any more effective as an executive body?

The only way out of this is to give this government real sovereignty, which means influence over how the US deploys its military in Iraq. The timetable for elections remains January. The way Bremer pushed his favorites for the new government and the US' refusal to provide it with a say over the use of American troops doesn't bode well for those elections, either in terms of creating an environment stable enough to hold them, or giving the voting process legitimacy by convincing Iraqis that it won't be rigged.

My lackadaisical contribution to illit crit

Oh Francophilistinism! First, La Disparition, and its translation, A Void, both lipograms of a book, without a basic, crucial glyph found in many words. Now, again a voluminous tract, but this wholly without action words: My wish: Missing authors, not plots. A Void, at all costs.