If the World Cup final had been played between the nations with the best soccer writers, England would have faced Brazil. I haven’t been reading the Brazilian press, but I assume the scribes from Rio are as entertaining as their players and fans. There’s no doubt about the quality ...
Author: Peter Maass
I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.
A Yoga Story, Only In New York
I occasionally practice Bikram yoga, which is done in a studio heated to 100 degrees. Yes, it sounds insane, but it’s not, as long as you don’t mind the heat. Yoga studios strive to be peaceful places, with everyone pretending to be kind and gentle, and saying, at the end of class, “Namaste,” ...
Why India And Pakistan Did Not Go Nuclear
War between the two rivals was avoided when Gen. Musharraf promised to stop, permanently, the infiltration of Pakistani-sponsored guerrillas into Kashmir. As The Washington Post explains, Musharraf made his vow in a June 6 meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage:
A veteran diplomat ...
Third World Vs. First World–In Soccer
It was nearly 4:00 a.m. and the English soccer fan standing next to me at the Coffee Shop in Union Square knew the final score, even though ten minutes or so remained in the World Cup match between Brazil and England, which Brazil was leading 2-1. “England always break your heart,” she ...
Sudden Death In Korea
A fantastic soccer match is underway between South Korea and Italy. The score is tied 1-1, the second half of overtime is about to begin; Italy just lost a player to a red card on a horrible call by the referee. World Cup at its best. Watch it if you can.
UPDATE: South Korea wins 2-1. Amazing.
Sleep: Why Bother?
Modafinil is a little-known drug that staves off sleep without the side effects of amphetamines; it may join Prozac and Viagra in the lineup of pharmacological adjustments to the modern life. As The Washington Post ...
“Brother, this is the American Embassy?”
Kamran Khan, who is the Washington Post‘s correspondent in Karachi, was in the U.S. consulate when a car bomb exploded outside it yesterday, killing 10 Pakistanis. His first-person story in today’s ...
The Newest Weapon in the War on Terrorism: Privatization
Flashy events grab our attention, or at least the media’s attention; terrorist bombs, nuclear threats, elections, political scandals, etc. Yet the events of greatest import, in terms of the change they cause, often have no flash and hardly draw our notice. What was the most significant event ...
North Korea=East Germany?
The collapse of communist East Germany began, informally speaking, when thousands of East Germans sought asylum at the West German embassies in Budapest and Prague in 1989. That was the East German regime’s emperor-has-no-clothes moment, and five months later the Berlin Wall was opened. Is the ...
Reading Material
Two ironic novels, related to America and Eastern Europe, that I hope to read one day soon:
Everything Is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer.
The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, by Gary Shteyngart.