the western world is in an uproar and it's an interesting time for an american to be in europe. it seems as though the two super-powers -- assuming that the EU counts as one -- are getting angrier at each other by the day. summing up the rage, from one side, is a polemic from the spectator (via mefi and worth reading, even if you don't agree). others are trying to just calm everyone down.

is this just the hyper intellectuals shrieking at each other because that's what they do best? are they out of touch with the man on the street? yet, wasn't it the man on the street who shot holland's openly-gay openly-rightist (do those cancel each other out? or was one or the other that made the man a target?) politician? if, as tinka told me yesterday, september 11 isn't what sparked this craziness in europe, what did?

at the risk of sounding cold blooded, i appreciate the complexity of the situation. from a writer's perspective, it makes for good narrative. so many different motives, no easy answers. the killer, apparently, was a white male with a shaved head. nowadays, who the hell knows that what means.
also interesting, though more specific to the u.s.: an examination of the textures of the left (via arts and letters)
(krissy: "ester, don't you have class right now?" sometimes the world[wideweb] is too damn fascinating.)