Grand Irish Olympic sailing commentary by Hardy Bucks.

Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Translating the British, 2012” is good, but so are some of the Twitter parodies.

Olympic medals per head of population.

“I just witnessed the single greatest moment in human history” other than the Olympics.

The Castaway’s Guide to Making a Home a long way away from the Olympics.

Yekaterina Samutsevich’s closing statement at the Pussy Riot trial.

Speaking of trials, and rewinding a bit: some interviews with Paul Chambers’ legal team and Chambers himself after his successful Twitter joke trial appeal. Great earlier comment on the whole mess by Charlie Brooker.

A nice observation by Clive James in a book review about Robert Hughes, who died last week:

In Australia, class divisions, though widely believed not to exist, are certainly present to the extent that there are people who feel superior. Very few people, however, feel inferior: a pretty good measure of the prevailing egalitarianism.

Why long-time resident Mark Kitto is leaving China (via Mefi).

How Apple and Amazon security flaws led to an epic hacking.

Everything You Need to Know About Mitt Romney in One Graphic.

11 August 2012 · Weblog