If you’re interested in Japanese attitudes to WWII, Western and Chinese attitudes towards the Japanese, and the difference between national generalisations and racist invective, go and read this. Long, but worthwhile.

The greatest song of the 1990s, rendered in graphic novel format by Tank Girl and Gorillaz creator Jamie Hewlett. Could you ask for more? No. So don’t.

From here (top geeky fandom), via here, via here. Damn, that’s circuitous.

Anti-Muslim writer Oriana Fallaci is a liar, a charlatan and a crazed conspiracy theorist, as I’ve said before. However, taking her to court for this is even more stupid and wrong than she is in the first place. Bad Italy.

Via here, which may well not be a sensible place.

"There are two opposed principles in Bush’s moral universe: Life and Freedom. Whenever he talks about Life, he’s looking to expand the powers of the state, deny civil liberties, and so forth. Whenever he talks about Freedom, he’s planning to kill somebody" – Jonathan Korman at The Poor Man

A site named Textfiles.org archives pretty much every text file posted to BBSes in the pre-Web, pre-broadband days when H3XX0Rz were real H3XX0Rz, and women were rumoured to exist.

It includes such delights as How To Fuck The Dead, How To Make A Letterbomb, Why The US Is A One-Party Jewish Democracy, and How To Survive The Coming Apocalypse.

Overall, I’d tentatively conclude that the level of sanity in online discussion has actually improved since the early 1990s. Which, given its current state, is shocking.

"Do you think Oliver Kamm or I make this stuff up?" – Gene at Little Green Soccerballs.

Answer of the day: "yes, probably. By the way, how have you managed to induce quite so many demented right-wing paranoiacs to infest your comments section?"

Following the surefire Tory winning strategy taken from an insane blog commenter last week, we have a followup: the Liberals should become a horrible bunch of fascists like the other two parties if we want to keep gaining seats.

Sadly and disgracefully, I think this one might actually be accurate. The logical conclusion, presumably, is that most of my countrymen should go and fuck themselves…

Our Word Is Our Weapon utterly skewers some ignorant bollocks from Stephen Pollard on ‘free trade’, aid and third-world debt.

While it’s always agreeable to stick it to a buffoon, the post is more notable for being one of the most succinct, well-sourced and well-argued explanations of why the hardline dogmatic free traders are unequivocally, factually and morally wrong. Read it, whatever your views. Although should you be a hardline free trader, I’d be especially interested to see a rebuttal…

Charles Clarke should be shot.

Via Kevin Drum, "books you’ve started and are embarassed not to have finished":

1) Ulysses

2) La Peste

3) Tom Jones

…actually, that’s it. I occasionally feel like I ought to finish Le Morte D’Arthur, but then remember that it’s boring childish wank (incidentally, I’ve lent Ulysses to this chap; I’m not sure what terrible consequences this will have for the literary world…)

Via me, more interestingly, "books you’re embarrassed to have read".

1) Riders

2) Rivals

3) Polo

4) Prudence

5) Harriet and Octavia (although I read it in the form of two separate books. "Harriet" was marginally worse).