Reality is what I blog, not what you blog.

Political bloggers hunt in packs, gain momentum, pick enemies, vent spleen, and never, ever, hold back.

The Insider's Insider, Getting It Out on the Web. Vulgarians are thick on the ground in the nation’s capital.

Max Hastings tells us how he had never listened to a big international tycoon discussing a deal until Conrad met Kerry. Kerry's monologue was packed with antipodean colour other than black: 'Right, Conrad. We're all agreed, then. I shall take a back seat on this one. You'll lead the band. I'll fix Canberra. I'll deal with the State Government. I'll square the banks. All I want out of this one is to see certain people's heads so deep in the shit that the tops of their heads will only be visible through a powerful microscope!"'

Dame Marjorie Scardino, the high-flying chief executive of media giant Pearson, has accused journalists of failing to work hard enough to ferret out stories. 'If journalists were better at reading balance sheets, some of these things would be discovered sooner. We could have done a lot more digging. But business journalists often don't know a lot about business. It's a shame, but that's the case.'

Her remarks echoed the words of former Financial Times editor Richard Lambert, who, following the WorldCom and Enron fiascos, asked a seminar at London's City University: Where were the media while all these scandals were brewing.'

The world in statistics downloadable data on 28 indicators (like GDP, health, transport, geographic data) for all countries. The number of countries is 241 and themes 248. From Statistics Finland.

E-government survey The survey found that states are increasingly charging for data online (including a charge to see a legislative bill in Kansas).

If you feel a blogwatch on your shoulder and the touch of a world that is harder to read contact thousands of international affairs experts who will explain what makes some cultures tick.