Council Winners
The latest round of winners has been posted. The voting was spread wide, and the winner within the council got it by a mere third of a vote.
I'm pleased to see it went to a newcomer (I always root for the rookies), They're Not What You've Been Told, They're Our Neighbors' Kids by AbbaGav, an Israeli voice trying to push through the smothering mattress of the mainstream media's narrative on the current war.
Also getting votes was More on Doha by The Glittering Eye. I'm thankful to him for taking on a subject few generalist bloggers seem interested in tackling: the attempt to forge global free trade agreements. I recognize its importance and I wish someone would take the time to explain it. Dave's done so.
Also getting votes were three posts built on the civilian deaths in Qana: The Qana Strike... the Making of a Hezbo-wood Production by Joshuapundit; Guilt vs Shame by ShrinkWrapped; and Qana -- And Why It Doesn't Matter by Rhymes With Right.
Just to show we don't always agree there, the last-named post includes this thought:
But in fact, I have argued just that and I like to think I still have an ounce of decency somewhere in the cupboard.
Outside the Council, the winner was A Difficult Lesson by Treppenwitz. This is a story well-told; a fine piece of writing. Whether it's the right image for the current situation in the Middle East is a matter of your point of view.
Also getting votes, including one of mine, was L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can't Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews” at Patterico's Pontifications.
One of my disastrous early blogging experiences was as a fill-in at Patterico's place while he was out of town. I wasn't nearly hard-right enough for his commenters, and I've never been invited back. But he's proven you can make a blogging career out of catching the media in its biases and laziness and blindness, and you can do it with just one newspaper. In fact, you can do it better with once source if you get to know its tendencies and nuances. Sometimes he overreaches, or hears echoes. But this one is dead-on.
Votes also went to Milking It? by EU Referendum, which looks at the European positioning on the Mid-East war, and European Appeasement -- A History Lesson at The Plank, which, though it bears Martin Peretz's tagline is largely a reprint of an article by Mathias Derfer in the German magazine Die Welt. It's a barnburner, for sure, and it says a lot that needs to be said for once by Europeans, not Americans:
Also getting votes was Why Hezbollah Is Winning at One Hand Clapping, in which Donald Sensing sees it pretty much the way I do, and is as unhappy about it as I am.
I'm pleased to see it went to a newcomer (I always root for the rookies), They're Not What You've Been Told, They're Our Neighbors' Kids by AbbaGav, an Israeli voice trying to push through the smothering mattress of the mainstream media's narrative on the current war.
Also getting votes was More on Doha by The Glittering Eye. I'm thankful to him for taking on a subject few generalist bloggers seem interested in tackling: the attempt to forge global free trade agreements. I recognize its importance and I wish someone would take the time to explain it. Dave's done so.
Also getting votes were three posts built on the civilian deaths in Qana: The Qana Strike... the Making of a Hezbo-wood Production by Joshuapundit; Guilt vs Shame by ShrinkWrapped; and Qana -- And Why It Doesn't Matter by Rhymes With Right.
Just to show we don't always agree there, the last-named post includes this thought:
Germany suffered the loss of over 10% of its population, including many to the relentless bombing campaigns of the Allies in places like Dresden. And yet no one with an ounce of moral decency would argue that those deaths were unjustified, unnecesary, or disproportionate. Indeed, they were tragic, but they were also a necessary part of bringing about a speedy victory with far fewer casualties on both sides than would otherwise have been needed.
But in fact, I have argued just that and I like to think I still have an ounce of decency somewhere in the cupboard.
Outside the Council, the winner was A Difficult Lesson by Treppenwitz. This is a story well-told; a fine piece of writing. Whether it's the right image for the current situation in the Middle East is a matter of your point of view.
Also getting votes, including one of mine, was L.A. Times Editors: “We Just Can't Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews” at Patterico's Pontifications.
One of my disastrous early blogging experiences was as a fill-in at Patterico's place while he was out of town. I wasn't nearly hard-right enough for his commenters, and I've never been invited back. But he's proven you can make a blogging career out of catching the media in its biases and laziness and blindness, and you can do it with just one newspaper. In fact, you can do it better with once source if you get to know its tendencies and nuances. Sometimes he overreaches, or hears echoes. But this one is dead-on.
Votes also went to Milking It? by EU Referendum, which looks at the European positioning on the Mid-East war, and European Appeasement -- A History Lesson at The Plank, which, though it bears Martin Peretz's tagline is largely a reprint of an article by Mathias Derfer in the German magazine Die Welt. It's a barnburner, for sure, and it says a lot that needs to be said for once by Europeans, not Americans:
These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house.
Also getting votes was Why Hezbollah Is Winning at One Hand Clapping, in which Donald Sensing sees it pretty much the way I do, and is as unhappy about it as I am.
