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I love that Sarah Palin not only cannot backup her foreign policy experience with Russia. It shows a level of evasiveness we haven’t seen in politics in a long, long time. Commentators have tried to call her out on this, late-night humorists have mocked her. Now, she has gained a new enemy: Russia.

Turns out, the Russians aren’t buying this claim, either. They are attacking not only this claim, but her entire qualifications to serve in office. One outlet has even dubbed her “Mrs. Nobody Know-it-All”.

If she thinks the NY Times hates her, wait until she feels the wrath of media outlets who could care less about winning her approval. She’s losing credibility at home; abroad, it seems, it’s already gone.

[From SAIS Next Europe: PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com]

Apparently, your location determines how you party in Holland. Also a surprise: going out in my old home of Rotterdam means spending more. I always went out for 2-for-1 night at Concordia, so I don’t know anything about spending big.

[From Amsterdamned if you do, Rotterdamned if you don't - Radio Netherlands Worldwide - English]

A fun infographic from the French newspaper Le Monde describing the different types of computer malware.

[From Le Monde.fr : Les différents types de cyberattaques]

I love that flickr is so friendly.

PBS’s FRONTLINE program, which always achieves an incredible level of journalism, recently ran a program on healthcare systems around the world. The premise of the program is whether the U.S. could learn anything from other modern, post-industrial, capitalist societies. The answer, of course, is “yes, the U.S. has a lot to learn.”

[From FRONTLINE:sick around the world | PBS]

Colonial Williamsburg has undertaken a new ad campaign to try and attract visitors. “I am Williamsburg.” It’s a very inspirational campaign, making an attempt to connect the visitor to the location.

The problem is, it has been done before.

The city of Amsterdam has already marketed this idea that “I am Amsterdam” for some time. As you can see from the photo above, they have gone to great lengths to market this concept. It is an internationally recognized brand immediately recognizable around the world. The ad firm that stole this idea should be exposed for the plagiarist that it is.

To plan your visit to amsterdam, visit www.iamsterdam.nl. To plan your visit to Williamsburg, well, you can go somewhere else instead. Perhaps Holland; it’s lovely.

I didn’t take a photo of the “I AMsterdam” sculpture, so I had to go find one on flickr.com. Image courtesy show³.

The Economist has a very poignant obituary for Lazare Ponticelli, the last French veteran of the first world war.

[From Lazare Ponticelli | Economist.com ]

Microsoft has been fined (again) by the European Union. This time, the Commission brought down the hammer, fining Microsoft € 899 million ($1.35 billion) for failing to comply with a previous decision on patent licensing fees.

While the fine may only be a fraction of the company’s revenue, the fine represents about 10% of the company’s 2007 revenues, putting it towards the maximum end of the fine allowed. Under EC competition rules, a company may only be fined a maximum of 10% of its previous year’s turnover.

[From European Commission Competition Authority ]