lebanon links
In The New Yorker's online edition, neatly absconded between flashy adverts showing how beautifulhappysmart you could be, lies a gem of a column, Watching Lebanon: Washington's interests in Israel's war. The sources are a bit weak, but the story is believable.
An exceedingly rational and legalistic Stephen Shalom explains how a principled person should react to the situation in Lebanon, at least as it was a week ago. I finished the article feeling clarified. I have a tendency to side with the oppressed in any pair, to the point of concealing their crimes; Shalom transcends that. Nonviolence is a hard path. update: fixed the link to point to a full version of the article.
and a bonus
Guardian journalist Rory Carroll writes How I never quite fell for South Africa. The fellow's account is true and distressing in many ways. Life among South Africa's poor, yes; but the class distinction is what bothers me. Namibia is similar, in some places.
the next movement
I think I'm going to inflict myself on Paris this weekend, meeting up with a fellow wanderer on our third continent thus far. Provided that the train station still has some tix.
hacks
I moved guile-gnome to bazaar, away from arch. Arch is just too complicated. I never want to have to register an archive again.
The move is still experimental, awaiting a bit of feedback before I update the web site and such, but from the little time I have had with bzr (bazaar), I can say that it is much, much easier. I just don't think like Tom Lord does.