WarLog: World War III by Jeff Jarvis

From: Subject: WarLog: World War III by Jeff Jarvis Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 21:37:25 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0065_01C25F5B.944B4A20"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0065_01C25F5B.944B4A20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.buzzmachine.com/2002_01_01_crisis_archive.html WarLog: World War III by Jeff Jarvis

WarLog: World War III

War, Media, the Web & = Whatever=20 ... by Jeff Jarvis

Thursday, January 31, 2002 - Link=20

Blogger boy
: A Gua= rdian=20 profile of Blogger's Ev.

A monumental = oops
:=20 Thanks to the forum on F'dcompany, I'm led to a page that = someone=20 should have thought to kill off of Citysearch (no wonder = they're=20 laying= =20 off... again): The Top of = the=20 World/World Trade Center ad, complete with 360-degree view=20 from what used to be the top.

A fashion=20 statement
: The NY=20 Times explains Hamid Karzai's wardrobe. It's not just = about=20 looking dashing and different -- though he generally does = -- it's=20 filled with symbolism:
...a carefully assembled collection of = regional=20 political symbols, combined in a way that might look=20 swashbuckling to the West, but could be read as = something else=20 by anyone back home.
The chapan, or cape, Mr. Karzai = wears=20 with such =E9lan =97 he has sported two in America, one = in green and=20 the other in shimmering purple =97 is typical of clothes = worn by=20 northern tribesmen.
Mr. Karzai's hat is of an Uzbek = style=20 popular in Kabul. His tunic and loose trousers, called = peran=20 tonban, is typical of village people and fell out of = favor among=20 educated Afghans long before the Taliban.
"He is = from=20 Kandahar, the chapan is from Mazar-i-Sharif, the hat is = from=20 Kabul," said Rafi Habibi, owner of the Afghan Market in=20 Alexandria, Va., outside Washington. "He wears them all = together=20 because he wants peace between Pashtun, Kabuli, Uzbek. = He's=20 showing people we are the same, no more tribal = divisions, one=20 nation, no difference between us = anymore."
Howard=20 Stern says he dresses like a "waiter" or a "woman." I do = think the=20 latest green thing looked a little goofy -- like a coat = some=20 kindly but addled aunt sewed with arms two feet too long = -- but=20 otherwise, Karzai does pull it off with style and=20 dignity.

Proud moments in journalism, Part = II
: I=20 have many proud moments in my journalist career. Remind me = to tell=20 you someday about the time Frank Sinatra called me a = "bum." And=20 about my hate mail from Bill Cosby. The government's = warning this=20 week about a satellite = falling to=20 earth reminds me of my great moment of shameless = promotion. I=20 was a columnist on the SF Examiner. When Skylab was = falling, we=20 found out that that Chronicle, the competition with whom = we shared=20 a backshop, was going to offer subscribers Skylab = insurance in a=20 day. We beat them to the punch with a $10,000 offer for a = piece of=20 genuine Skylab delivered to our offices. I called NASA. = There's NO=20 chance it would fall on land, they assured me. NO chance. = But if=20 it did, would they authenticate? Sure, they said, because = there's=20 NO chance it would land on land. I assured the publisher = of this.=20 So we made the offer. And the next day, the Chronicle = offered its=20 insurance. We accused them of following our lead. We lied. = So=20 Sullivan me.
Anyway, the satellite did fall on land in = Western=20 Australia (Tim Blair: are you listening?). And a = 17-year-old=20 beer-truck-driver's helper named Stan Thornton picked up = pieces of=20 black stuff from his yard and with the help of a radio = station, he=20 flew to San Francisco in time for our deadline. We had to = send an=20 editor to NASA in Huntsville, AL, where he spent a week = waiting=20 while they analyzed the black stuffl. Meanwhile, the kid = was just=20 a kid, so he had to stay with the family of the managing = editor=20 while he had his 15 minutes of fame. For a time, NASA = honestly=20 believed it was astronaut poop, but they finally decided = it was=20 balsa wood from the spacecraft. We paid the kid.
I got=20 publicity all around the world; I still have a clip from = India,=20 even. I think this was my undoing in San Francisco; the = publisher=20 was jealous of the attention.
This, too, is=20 journalism.

This, too, is journalism
: = Two=20 debunked stories (aka memes, these days): The story of the = woman=20 stuck pneumatically in an airline toilet is fa= lse.=20 And the story of a bachelor being smothered by the size = 72D=20 breasts of a stripper is false. = Sometimes, journalism is about taking all the fun out of = life. The=20 truth is no damned fun.

Why Korea?
: Why = did Bush=20 add North Korea to his Axis of Terror? I certainly get it = that=20 North Korea is a bad place -- buying weapons as it starves = its=20 people, as Bush said. But it's hardly a hotbed of Islamic=20 terrorism. And is that the very point: We don't just hate = Islamic=20 terrorists; we hate bad guys of all ethnic = stripes?

From=20 the axis
: Iran reacts= =20 to Bush's State of the Union:=20
President Khatami evaluated Bush's remarks as=20 "intervening,
warmongering, insulting, a repetition = of his=20 past propagation, and
worse than all, truly = insulting=20 towards the Iranian nation."

The = she=20 terrorist
: A Times=20 of London profile of the female suicide = bomber.

We=20 are a tacky country
: Someone made 9.11=20 medallions from World Trade Center = steel.

Fed up New=20 Yorkers
: Matt=20 Welch quotes another New Yorker who's as fed up as I = am with=20 the thought of having to deal with the anti-everything = twerps=20 coming into town to protest, what, capitalism:=20
But the over-fed, white-boy, black-wearing = trouble=20 makers protesting instead of working, well, they can = stay home.=20 We have been through more than enough during the last = four=20 months. I have heard predictions that average New = Yorkers will=20 beat the shit out of the protesters if the boyz in black = even=20 get the slightest bit out of line.
I heard = some dweeb=20 lady on TV tonight say that they were just going to have = puppet=20 shows. Yes, that will change the world. Twerp. Dweeb. = Bozo.=20 Idiot.
: Matthew=20 Yglesias complains about fellow liberals being = associated with=20 the twerp-dweeb-bozo-idiots tormenting New York. = Agree.
. .=20 .

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - Link=20

And the winner = is...
:=20 Fark.com gets the bloggie. The camera pans my face. I try = not to=20 look disappointed. I applaud, tough half-heartedly, not=20 understanding.

Memories of the tragedy
: = Another=20 fine story by Jim Dwyer with Kevin Flynn in the New=20 York Times, this one taking interviews by the NY Fire=20 Department with people who were at the World Trade Center = and=20 piecing together some frightening scenes and facts. From = this, it=20 is now clear that the Fire Department knew from the first = minute=20 that they could not fight the fires in the towers. It is = less=20 clear when they knew that the buildings would fail -- and = how=20 catastrophically they would fail. It is also clear that=20 communications had problems that day. None of this is = about blame;=20 it is about learning. The Fire Department did a heroic job = -- and=20 these stories make that all the clearer -- but some lives = were=20 lost because no one knew just how bad this could get and=20 communications problems prevented some from hearing orders = to get=20 out. The essence of it:
"The potential and the reality of a collapse = was=20 discussed early on," Chief Hayden said. "But we were at = a level=20 of commitment. We also received numerous distress calls. = We=20 realized we had a lot of dying and fire up = there."
When [then=20 Fire Commissioner] Mr. Von Essen, and two of his top = deputies,=20 William Feehan and Thomas Fitzpatrick, arrived in the = lobby,=20 they discussed the approach.
"I specifically = remember=20 telling Commissioner Von Essen that we were not = attempting to=20 extinguish this fire," Chief Hayden said. "We were not = trying to=20 put this fire out. We had thousands of people coming = down the=20 stairs, and that was our focus."
Around the time that = the=20 second plane hit, a ranking chief, Joseph Callan, had = seen=20 enough.
"Approximately 40 minutes after I arrived in = the=20 lobby, I made a decision that the building was no longer = safe,"=20 Chief Callan said. "And that was based on the conditions = in the=20 lobby. Large pieces of plaster falling, all the = 20-foot-high=20 glass panels on the exterior of the lobby were breaking. = There=20 was obvious movement of the building, and that was the = reason I=20 gave the order for all Fire Department units to leave = the north=20 tower."
The communications, though, frustrated the=20 commanders....
The Times also gives us dramatic = excerpts from the interviews; this from one of the = FDNY=20 chaplains:
I remember a cop running along next to me. I=20 remember this. This is great. We were running along, and = a cop=20 is running next to me. He says, "Father, can I go to=20 confession?" I looked and said, "This is an act of war, = isn't=20 it?" He said, "Yeah, I believe so." I said, "Then I'm = giving=20 general absolution." I gave everyone general absolution, = and I=20 kept running.

Terror = City
: In=20 anticipation of the anti-global twerps coming to town with = the=20 economic conference, we are seeing cops everywhere on the = streets=20 of New York. Even blocks away from the conference center = -- at=20 Times Square -- they line the sidewalks. Some of them are = carrying=20 their riot helmets (not a comforting site, actually). The = Times= =20 reports that they are protecting symbols of American = capitalism=20 and, sure enough, on my walk to work, I saw a cop standing = in=20 front of every single Starbucks.

Frigging=20 idiots!
: So they stop a man at San Francisco's = airport and=20 find traces of plastic explosives on his shoes -- and then = they=20 let him put the shoes back on and walk away! Idiots. = Dangerous=20 idiots! I'm still not feeling safe, here, even with cops = guarding=20 our espresso machines.

Sign o' the Times: = Dot.com ads=20 yield to anti-terrorism ads
: The White House = create=20 anti-terrorism/anti-drug commercials=20 for the SuperBowl, says Ad Age.

Does = unemployment=20 count as community service
: Famed L.A. party = thrower Brian=20 Linse on Bush's head-scratching call for 4,000 hours = of=20 community service from us: "Easy for GW to suggest this = since most=20 of his own family has already been ordered to do Community = Service=20 by a Judge at one time or another."

Ha!=20 HaHaHaHaHa!
: Saudi Arabia wants us to send them = the Saudi=20 terrorists at Gitmo. Ha!

Remember = anthrax?
:=20 I missed this story earlier: A report from New=20 Scientist says that the two mysterious and fatal cases = of=20 anthrax may have been caused by wind carrying spores from = Trenton,=20 N.J. to New York and Connecticut. It says that the wind = that day=20 was traveling in exactly that direction. It further says = that it=20 can take just one single spore -- not the tens of = thousands we=20 were told -- to cause illness and, ultimately, death. =
This=20 does not make me feel good. I live in the very path of = that wind=20 from Trenton (whose stupid slogan is "Trenton Makes, The = World=20 Takes"). And one spore? I fear we have not heard the end = of=20 anthrax terrorism (even though we haven't heard a damned = thing=20 about it lately).

The State (applause) of the = (standing=20 ovation) Union
: Artie Lang on Howard Stern's show=20 yesterday said the State of the Union address drives him = nuts.=20 It's like Arsenio -- nothing but = applause.

Glass=20 houses
: Sullivan won't drop is Krugman fetish and = so=20 others won't stop looking at it and Jay=20 Zilber summarizes a piece by Sullivan bete noir Michelangelo=20 Signorile looking at the tobacco-lobyist contributor = to=20 Sullivan himself.

Fear 101
: I'm so = proud. I read=20 the NY=20 Post today and see that my star student when I taught = briefly=20 at NYU's journalism school is the guy who picks all the = disgusting=20 things people have to eat on Fear Factor. And who = says=20 journalism school isn't useful, huh?
. .=20 .

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - Link=20

I'm OK, you're = offended
: Holy Weblog points = me to an=20 essay in the LA Times on the era of "nonjudgmentalism." I = say this=20 is an ill of the time. It is the basis of political = correctness --=20 the orthodoxy of not offending anyone, the lowest common=20 denominator of safe opinions. Yes, it is probably what led = to the=20 downfall of John Walker Lindt, for no one would judge his = stupid=20 ways and now he is behind bars, a traitor.=20
Nonjudgmentalism--the practice of and belief = in=20 suspending judgment of others for the betterment of self = and=20 society--has inspired, comforted, confused and angered = Americans=20 as few other "isms" have. It has commanded praise for = everything=20 from transforming business problems into "opportunities" = to=20 promoting a more diverse, tolerant and multicultural = society....=20 "When you are nonjudgmental, you totally accept the = other person=20 exactly as they are," said [Jon] Schreiber, [director of = the=20 Breema Center, outside Berkeley], who offers a workshop = called=20 "The Nonjudgmental Treatment," which through touch and=20 relaxation techniques promises to give balance to a = person.=20 "Most people have never experienced even a moment of = that=20 because they are too closed off and fearful of being=20 judged."
Still, nothing raises the hackles of some = people=20 faster than nonjudgmentalism. To them, it symbolizes the = threadbare moral condition of the nation and threatens = to rob=20 citizens of their ability to make clear ethical = distinctions--a=20 skill of fundamental importance to a tolerant democratic = society.
Nonjudgmentalism is a bugaboo of sorts for = modern=20 times. In recent weeks it has been blamed for the = traitorous=20 behavior of an American Taliban soldier and, in part, = the Enron=20 scandal.
"As a society, we seem increasingly = incapable of=20 sitting in judgment of each other," wrote Robert Bartley = in a=20 Wall Street Journal article about Enron. "What kind of = behavior=20 can an 'I'm OK, you're OK' society expect from its = professionals=20 or business leaders?"...
Boston Globe columnist Jeff = Jacoby=20 wrote: "Devout practitioners of the self-obsessed=20 nonjudgmentalism for which the Bay Area is renowned, = [his=20 parents] appear never to have rebuked their son or = criticized=20 his choices. In their world, there were no absolutes, no = fixed=20 truths, no mandatory behavior, no thou-shalt-nots. If = they had=20 one conviction, it was that all convictions are = worthy--that=20 nothing is intolerable except = intolerance."
Thank=20 goodness no one can accuse blogdom of=20 nonjudgmentalism.

Still tolerant
: That's = not to=20 say that tolerance is a bad thing, mind you. Tolerance is = a=20 hallmark of Western civilization. In moderation and with = wisdom,=20 tolerance is a good thing. And note that tolerance is our=20 instinct. Even after being attacked by Islamic = fundamentalists, a=20 Beliefnet/ABC=20 poll says we still tolerate the religion:
: 41% of Americans view Islam favorably, = compared to=20 24% whose views are unfavorable.
: 42% of Americans = believe=20 Islam teaches respect for the beliefs of non-Muslims, = compared=20 to 22% who believe it doesn't.
: 57% of Americans = don't=20 believe Islam encourages violence, versus 14% who view = it as a=20 violent religion.
: The percentage of Americans with = an=20 unfavorable view of Islam has been dropping. In an Oct. = 9 poll=20 47% had a favorable view, 39% said unfavorable and 13% = said they=20 didn't know. Today: 41% said favorable, 24% said = unfavorable and=20 35% said don't know.

But on TV, = we are no=20 longer kinder, gentler
: Via Rotten.com, word = that the=20 BBC is going to recreate an infamous=20 '70s prison experiment as a TV show. Just where will = reality=20 TV end: hijackings, hockey-dad beatings, Gitmo=20 prisons?

Shucks
: Many thanks to my blog = friend=20 Thomas Nephew for his kind=20 words on the occasion of our Bloggie=20 nomination.

. .=20 .

Monday, January 28, 2002 - Link=20

Sex clicks
: = Nevermind=20 everything I said in the long post below on buzz, fame, = and the=20 Web. If we just add sex=20 appeal to weblogs, they'll be huge, I tell you,=20 huge.

Terrorists-in-arms
: After the = first female=20 suicide bomber, Muslim=20 Pundit asks how far away we can be from kid bombs: = "Sadly, if=20 the Palestinian terror groups think it will add value to = their=20 insidious PR campaign, I wouldn't put it past them. = Palestinian=20 kids are already programmed, and heavily brainwashed from=20 childhood, to hate Jews and Israel. At the very least, = would there=20 be any shortage of them willing to go out and do the dirty = deed?"

Buzz
: There has been much buzz = about buzz=20 lately, thanks to the death of Talk magazine, not to = mention=20 America's newfound priorities after 9.11 -- and, by the = way, the=20 rise of weblogs (even as we witness other sectors of the = Internet=20 falling into a sinkhole the size of Enron's = shame).

So what=20 does it all mean? Well, I'll tell you.

There are = really two=20 related but distinct forces at work: buzz and celebrity. = Both are=20 cornerstones of our culture -- not just the pop sort of = culture in=20 People but our economic culture; celebrity and buzz are = our chief=20 exports; they drive marketing of damned near every product = except=20 perhaps steel and soybeans; they even try to set the = course of=20 politics. They will not go away, no matter how quiet Tina = Brown=20 may be or how serious our concerns may become. Celebrities = are too=20 powerful and too important to fade away.

I was = lucky=20 enough to watch a major cultural shift when I worked for = People=20 magazine in the '80s. I was there when the stars learned = the true=20 value of their names and faces; they sold magazines. And = at that=20 moment, the balance of power and economics shifted: = Journalists=20 were no longer the gatekeepers to the audience; PR people = became=20 the gatekeepers to the stars; they managed access and thus = managed=20 the message; they got the power. The power of celebrities = will not=20 die. They define the big time.

But I believe that = our=20 relationship to celebrities will change -- or already has. = We will=20 still love to watch them and gossip about them and buy = what they=20 buy. But as a result of 9.11, I do think we'll be less = likely to=20 listen to them when they think they have something to say = (Richard=20 Gere: just be quiet). I said this in the very first=20 day of this weblog: "Now that we know what real heroes = look=20 like, it's real hard to take seriously all the heroes we = in the=20 media and America created before the terror: that is,=20 celebrities."

Buzz is a different matter. Buzz is = what=20 we talk about. Editors, journalists, pundits, = producers,=20 stars, and flacks all like to think that they create buzz = and=20 often, they do -- but in the end, it's up to us what we = buzz=20 about. And in the arena of buzz, I've been lucky a second = time in=20 my career to witness a fundamental shift of power. The = Internet=20 created that shift. It is the place where we the audience = -- we,=20 the people -- create buzz. It is -- note the address above = -- a=20 buzzmachine.

And that is what is giving the = bloggers such=20 a, well, buzz: With the sheer force of opinion, we create = or find=20 a critical mass of like minds. We telegraph what's hot to = each=20 other ahead of everybody else. We buzz.

But make no = mistake=20 about it: this is not the big time. Celebrities play to = audiences=20 of millions, weblogs to thousands. That's not to say one = is=20 better, just bigger.

So we are seeing shifts in the = landscape of fame: The opinions of the stars probably do = matter=20 less; the opinions of the audience do matter more. But = this is no=20 earthquake.

Now read what Andrew=20 Sullivan said in The Wall Street Journal about the = cultural=20 meaning of the death of Talk and the end of the Tina Brown = era:=20
In the 1990s, the key political word was spin, = and=20 the parallel media word was buzz. Mr. Clinton was the = master of=20 one; Ms. Brown was the mistress of the other. Between = the two of=20 them, the word substance struggled for relevance. And = that's=20 why, in the end, Talk failed....
What did her in was = the=20 changing culture. By the turn of the millennium, you = could feel=20 a shift. The burst of the dot-com bubble, the slowing = economy,=20 the election of George W. Bush, the retreat of Hollywood = from=20 Washington, the emergence of Internet media--all these = began to=20 generate a new, more substantive mood....
Sept. 11 = was the=20 watershed for Tinaism--not because of what it did to the = economy, but because of what it did for the culture. = That day=20 reminded us that there are more important things than = winning=20 the news cycle, that the old virtues still matter, that=20 substance counts, and that the opposite of "hot" is = sometimes=20 true. This culture is here to stay for the foreseeable = future=20 and it is one in which Tina Brown, as epitomized by = Talk, has=20 simply nothing to say.
Smart quotes but I'm = not so=20 sure I buy it all. What killed Talk was primarily (a) = spending too=20 much money and (b) getting too little revenue and, = perhaps, (c)=20 not finding its voice, its place in life soon enough (I = was never=20 a faithful reader; it didn't yet hook me). And though = Sullivan is=20 quite right that we are a more serious nation today -- = look=20 around; we are -- I'm not sure that's what did in Talk. = Business=20 basics did. That's what did in the half of the Internet = that's=20 already dead. That is what did in Enron. Business=20 basics.

All in the family
: One of the = stupidist=20 PR moves I've ever seen came this morning on Today=20 with the appearance of Ken Lay's wife and family. They are = utterly=20 blind . Mrs. Lay is trying to bid for sympathy because she = says=20 she's now facing bankruptcy; all their hundreds of = millions were=20 in Enron stock. Awww, poor boobala. She also makes noises = about=20 the facts coming out in an investigation -- yes, they = will, honey,=20 and who do you think was in charge of this mess: your = husband. The=20 buck stopped with him and was quickly squandered. Whether = or not=20 Lay and his lieutenants did anything illegal, they clearly = pushed=20 the limits of good sense and blew billions of dollars and = along=20 with that the livelihoods and futures of thousands and = thousands=20 of families. So we are supposed to have sympathy for the = Lay=20 family? Their PR advice is every bit as good as their = financial=20 advice.
. .=20 .

Sunday, January 27, 2002 - Link=20

Rossi saves = Broadway
: = Rossi=20 has a new rant:
We met at the discount ticket kiosk that = generally=20 has a line of tourists wrapped around its dividers like = a giant=20 multi-colored sausage.
How can anyone wear that much = color?=20 I'm not saying I'm opposed to colorful clothing; black, = gray,=20 dark green, beige and off-white are fine, but these = folks look=20 like they walked through a crayon factory.
Anyway, I = was=20 saddened to see only a few folks in line, but when we = got to the=20 board, we saw why. There were only two big shows on = sale. Les=20 Miserables and The Full Monty. This was good news for = Broadway=20 -- meant things were sold out -- bad news for=20 us...

Rudy: We blew it
: Rudy=20 Guliani says we blew it in not seeing the warnings of = a=20 terrorist attack. From the NY Daily News:
"In the 1930s, Hitler told us what he was = going to=20 do, and we ignored it for years and years and years. In = the=20 1990s, the terrorists told us what they were going to = do. And we=20 ignored it."
Giuliani, who was introduced yesterday = as=20 "America's mayor," lambasted U.S. handling of = Palestinian leader=20 Yasser Arafat and Iraqi's Saddam Hussein.
"We = glorified=20 Yasser Arafat when he was training terrorists in = Palestine,"=20 Giuliani said. "We allowed Saddam Hussein to build = weapons of=20 mass destruction as we removed inspectors. And we = ignored =97 I=20 can't say the handwriting on the wall, but maybe the = handwriting=20 just in the desk drawer that just needed to be = opened.
"We=20 should never do that again."

He also = softened his=20 stand on the World Trade Center memorial; see my 9.11 Memorial = blog.

Watch out, bozos
: If the anti-world-trade=20 bozos coming to New York cause me the slightest = inconvenience=20 or fear as I head into the city, I swear, I will bite = their noses=20 off and spray them with mace and spit on them and find any = way I=20 can to humiliate the little twerps. The last thing New = York needs=20 is trouble and we will not tolerate it.

This = makes=20 profiling tougher
: Last night, friends told us = about=20 flying and seeing 65-year-old little old American ladies = being=20 given the complete search at airports and you have to = admit that's=20 absurd; it's just an effort to say, "see, we don't = profile; we=20 search old ladies, too." The attacks have been made by = young men=20 and it's young (Arab or suspicious) men who should be=20 searched.
Uh-oh. But wait. Now it appears the latest suicide=20 bomber in Israel is a woman.

History, = made
:=20 Many are pointing to the Washington=20 Post series ticking the hours that led us to war. It = is a good=20 and gripping account.

Tom Ridge, Inc.
: = Tom Ridge=20 and George Bush have begun to release details of their = homeland=20 security plan -- see the Washington=20 Post story and the = White=20 House fact sheet.
I can't make sense of it yet, = which is a=20 problem -- part of what we need here is a decisive = strategy=20 outlined with laser clarity to we the potential victims. = Still,=20 this is a start. The highlights:
: The $37 billion = budget=20 includes, the Post says, "$6 billion for bioterrorism = prevention,=20 including medical research on vaccines; $5 billion for = aviation=20 security; $1 billion for intelligence systems and more = than $11=20 billion for other programs, including making structural=20 improvements and shoring up security at government = buildings.
:=20 Ridge and Bush emphasized the $3.5 billion being proposed = to help=20 "first responders" (police, fire, et al). This includes, = the White=20 House says, "$105 million to support state and local = governments=20 in developing comprehensive plans to prepare for and = respond to a=20 terrorist attack;" $2 billion to buy equipment, including = personal=20 protective equipment, chemical and biological detection = systems,=20 and interoperable communications gear; $1.1 billion to = "train=20 firefighters, police offices, and emergency medical = technicians to=20 respond and operate in a chemical or biological = environment;" $245=20 million to "support a coordinated, regular exercise = program."
:=20 And there's other talk about involving "all Americans in = programs=20 to make their homes, communities, states, and nation safer = and=20 stronger."
I don't mean to keep harping on Ridge but = see what I=20 mean -- it's still about vague generalities and big = numbers. Let's=20 hope that Bush gets down to the brass tacks of what this = means for=20 our protection in the State of the Union address.:=20

Memorial
: Some new posts today at my new blog on = the 9.11=20 memorial in New York:
: Stories about the saving = of=20 artifacts from the destruction of the World Trade Center = for=20 future memorials and museums -- molten lumps of the = building, the=20 TV tower, mangled art.
: A good essay that argues that = we=20 should not turn lower Manhattan into a city of the=20 dead.

Denton returns
: Nick Denton was = quiet while=20 he traveled to Thailand, Mexico, London, and New York = (what am=20 I doing wrong?) but now he has settled and he's a = blogging=20 boy again. If you haven't checked out NickDenton.org = lately, get=20 back in the habit now that it appears he's back in the = habit.
:=20 A scene from his current hometown of San Francisco (I = tried to=20 convince him that he belongs in New York: "young guy, = disturbed,=20 white, weaving across a street in the Financial District, = emptying=20 piles of the Bay Guardian onto the street, throwing the = newspapers=20 violently into a puddle as if they'd done something to = annoy=20 him..." Actually, I have it on good authority that that = was a=20 crazed weblogger screeching about media bias and print = dinosaurs.=20 Unconfirmed reports suggest it could be Andrew Sullivan or = any=20 number of others.

. .=20 .

Saturday, January 26, 2002 - Link=20

A new weblolg: The=20 memorial
: I'm going to try to start a new weblog = devoted=20 to the New York World Trade Center memorial, for there = will be=20 much debate and angst on the topic in the months and years = to come=20 and I believe it is vital that we create an appropriate=20 memorial.
The weblog is at: http://www.buzzmachine.com/= memorial/

Saudi=20 snipers: Ready, aim fire!
: Two galling stories in = the=20 Sunday Times of London: One says that the Saudis with the = help of=20 the FBI just broke up a big bin=20 Laden cell in Saudi Arabia that would have attacked = the=20 kingdom itself. The other tells of Saudis edging=20 away from America.

Sontag snipers: Ready, = aim,=20 fire!
: Have fun, bloggers: UCLA=20 buys Susan Sontag's archives for $1.1=20 million.

Whining Aussies
: So Australians = are whining = about their Taliban on the barbie at Club Fed. Tough. He = went to=20 fight with the Taliban against us. He's not a citizen of = the U.S.=20 He's a foreigner who fought us. That's the way the cookie=20 crumbles. Besides: You can bet that he'll get off a lot = lighter=20 than Walker; he's not a traitor to us, just a bloomin'=20 idiot.

Do bloggers party hearty?
: I'm = jealous of=20 the blog party in L.A., as reported by Ken=20 Layne. There shouldn't be such a critical mass of = bloggers in=20 L.A. Don't they all know that New York is the center of = the=20 universe?
. .=20 .

Friday, January 25, 2002 - Link=20

Will Warren's neat / His is = no mean=20 feat / It even beats a bleat
: Will Warren of Unremitting = Verse=20 -- the weblog with rhythm and rhyme -- is the bravest of = the=20 bloggers. Any good blog -- like any good column -- = requires the=20 writer to put him or herself on display: the real you, = nearly=20 naked, ready to be embraced or shot at. Warren just = started his=20 blog in poetry and he puts himself on the line with every = line.=20 This is risky to do. It could flop like a stand-up comedy = routine.=20 Every time I start reading I get nervous for him. But = every time,=20 he wins me over. His latest is an LOL hit and will surely = get him=20 lots of hits (because it's about blogs). With OJR's Tim = Cavanaugh=20 in the role of Hiawatha, Warren sends him on a journey to = our land=20 of legend and mystery:
Filled with fear and fascination
Went the=20 trembling Hiawatha,
Went to find the savage = Bloggers,
Went=20 to find the fearsome tribesmen,
Went to find the ones = who=20 dared to
Offer up their rude and savage
Postings = while=20 completely lacking
Institutional = umbrella.
He comes=20 upon many of the bloggers (thanks for my stanza, Will) and = hits=20 them with bullseyes:
Then he saw the Layne-and-Welch man,
Saw = the=20 weasel whipper walking,
Walking on four legs instead=20 of
Two like everybody else=92s;
Then he saw the = fearsome=20 creature
Was composed of two men = fastened,
Fastened by a=20 thousand tiny
Sutures made of links=20 back-atcha....

Sitting in the clearing=92s = center
Sat=20 the largest of the Bloggers,
Sat the fiercest of the=20 Bloggers,
Sat the one called InstaPundit,
And the=20 fearstruck Hiawatha
Saw that he was typing = faster,
Typing=20 many times as fast as
All the other fearsome=20 Bloggers;
With his left hand he drank coffee,
With = his=20 right hand he sent faxes,
In each ear he wore an=20 earpiece:
In his left ear NPR played,
In his right = ear it=20 was C-SPAN;
On his desk sat two computers,
One for = input,=20 one for output;
He was writing, at the same = time,
Four new=20 posts for rapid posting.
Bravo

The = Gating=20 factor
: I didn't used to read Paul Krugman in the = New York=20 Times but after all the fuss that Andrew = Sullivan caused=20 around him, I just had to start. And I'm glad I did. = Today, Krugman=20 speaks on Enron and the attacks and he concludes:
Why is Enron a problem for conservatives? Even = if=20 the Bush administration turns out to be squeaky clean, = which=20 we'll never know unless it starts to be more = forthcoming, the=20 scandal threatens perceptions that the right has spent = decades=20 creating. After all that effort to discredit concerns = about the=20 gap between haves and have-nots as obsolete "class = warfare,"=20 along comes a real-life story that reads like a leftist = morality=20 play: wealthy executives make off with millions while = ordinary=20 workers lose their jobs and their life savings. After = all that=20 effort to convince people that the private sector can = police=20 itself, the most admired company in America turns out to = have=20 been a giant Ponzi scheme =97 and the most respected = accounting=20 firm turns out to have been an accomplice.
You might = think=20 that the shock of the Enron scandal =97 and it is = shocking, even=20 to us hardened cynics =97 would make some conservatives = reconsider=20 their beliefs. But the die- hards prefer to sling muck = at=20 liberals, hoping it will stick.
They're both = wrong=20 trying to paint this as a political scandal, another=20 what-did-he-know-and-when-did-he-know-it? = Nixon/Reagan/Clinton=20 scandal, a *Gate.
No, this is a business scandal, a = moral=20 scandal. And unlike all those political scandals, this is = a=20 scandal with victims: employees and stockholders and = customers and=20 suppliers and the entire U.S. economy.
This is a = scandal of=20 greed, of course, of people who thought they were big = enough and=20 smart enough to skirt rules and sense and get away with = it. We've=20 seen it before.
What we need our political leaders to = do now is=20 to look toward protecting us from the next one. And that = is not=20 accomplished with extreme right-v-left sniping. This isn't = about=20 extremes. All business is not evil. All regulation is not = evil. We=20 need appropriate freedom to run a business under = appropriate=20 regulation to protect the rights of the victims in this = scandal.=20 We need moderation. It worked after Sept. 11. It can work = after=20 Enron.

Aw, shucks...
: This humble 'log = is=20 nominated for a Bloggie!<= /U>=20 as a political site. Mom is proud. I'm amazed and = flattered. Here=20 I am, the new kid on the block, and I'm nominated = alongside the=20 amazing Andrew Sullivan (whom I do, in fact, respect and = admire=20 even if I have been tweaking him these past few days = hoping he'd=20 unplug from Enron) and the generous Little=20 Green Footballs (note that I link to them even if they = don't=20 link to me... I should win as Mr. Congeniality) as well as = Kill Your TV and = Fark. Vote early, vote=20 often.

Porky the Rat
: Were we all amazed = at how=20 John The Rat Traitor Superdoofus Walker Lindt has porked = out,=20 based on the pictures of his shaven puss in the papers = yesterday?=20 He sure won't be able to argue that he was tortured and=20 starved.

Papa, can you see me?
: A small = cultural=20 difference revealed in a Guardian story about Camp Fed = (they call=20 it a Carribbean gulag, among other slaps):=20
"People are asking after their fathers. If = they want=20 someone to know where they're at its their father, not = their=20 mother," said Colonel Terry Carrico, the head of the = camp's=20 internal security force.
Cultural mysogony = runs deep.=20
. .=20 .

Thursday, January 24, 2002 - Link=20

Images
: A wise = essay by=20 Marianne Hirsch on the photographic images that will last = and=20 become the icons of our memories of Sept. 11 [in the Chronicle of=20 Higher Education... via Reductio Ad=20 Absurdum:=20
Every major historical event since the = beginning of=20 photography has bequeathed an iconic image -- in the = 20th=20 century, the picture of the little boy with his hands up = in the=20 Warsaw ghetto, or of prisoners in striped uniforms, for = the=20 Holocaust; the picture of the naked girl running down = the road=20 after a napalm attack for the Vietnam war; the picture = of birds=20 in an oil spill for the Persian Gulf war.
What will = be the=20 icons for September 11? What elements determine this = process of=20 reduction and iconization? And in what ways will the = process be=20 determined by aesthetic factors? It was fascinating to = me that=20 the four photographers interviewed by Charlie Rose = agreed that=20 the icon would be the picture of the three firemen = raising the=20 flag on top of the rubble, because it echoes the famous=20 photograph of American GI's raising the flag at Iwo = Jima. In=20 their search for the one lasting image, the panelists = were=20 looking for the conventional, not the new.
In the = aftermath=20 of an event as monumental as this one, we may need, = eventually,=20 to reduce the number of available images to just a few = lasting=20 ones that will structure our cultural memory. But we are = not yet=20 at that point.
All very true. I keep staring = at the=20 photos -- once I've danced around them to make sure = there's=20 nothing there that is too difficult. I don't look = often,=20 but when I do, I stare. I stare to remember. I stare to = find=20 context. I stare to create memory.
I have every book = of photos=20 and have been meaning to write reviews of them here but I = still=20 dance around them.
Like Hirsch, I went to the Here Is New = York gallery=20 and stared. I bought a half-dozen photos that meant = something to=20 me, that touched my memory, but they sit in an envelope on = a high=20 shelf upstairs.
Hirsch is right: We need time to find = out what=20 the images and icons will be. As much as I admire the = photo of the=20 firemen raising the flag -- and argued with others that it = should=20 not be mangled by committee for a PC statue -- I know that = that is=20 not the image; it is the obvious one; it tries to find = context in=20 earlier images instead of this event. No, there will be a = new=20 image that means Sept. 11 to us. We will know it when we = see it,=20 when we stare at it long enough and see our memories and = meaning=20 in it.

Worldwide BlogBlogs
: While poor = Thomas=20 Nephew recovers from the flu, send some hits his way by = looking=20 down the page at his reports on German=20 blogs.
Made me think that it would be great to have = more=20 international reports on blogs. I'd love to see what's = happening=20 in tech-forward Scandinavia and we have two great = candidates to=20 give us those reports in Bj=F8rn = St=E6rk and Frederik = Norman. What=20 about Eastern Europe (Nick=20 Denton)? France? Spain? Wherever.
We have great=20 English-language blogwatches now with Tim Blair and = my home in=20 blogwatchdom, Quasipundit.. Let's=20 act like the imperialist pigs we are and take on the = world.=20
. .=20 .

Wednesday, January 23, 2002 - Link=20

Excuses, excuses
: = So John=20 The Rat Traitor Superdoofus Walker (Lindt) is coming back = to the=20 Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave today.
I've=20 been thinking: When he was discovered in that fetid, = death-stench=20 basement in Afghanistan, if he had half a brain -- which,=20 obviously, he doesn't -- he would have shouted at the = sight of a=20 fellow American: "Thank God [note: God, not Allah], you've = rescued=20 me! I was held by these crazy terrorists. My God, do you = know=20 they're the ones who attacked America? I had no idea we = were going=20 to fight you. I thought I was going to be a Muslim social = worker.=20 I tried to get away but they kept threatening to shoot me. = Please=20 take me home!"
Now if he had said that, some would = have=20 believed him and some wouldn't and we'd be arguing here in = blogdom=20 over the question, "Is he a traitor?" But at least he'd = have a=20 chance of convincing people he was some sort of idiot = victim=20 instead of a terrorist. And besides, who would testify = against=20 him: other terrorists?
As the door slams shut on him = today in a=20 Federal prison, I just wonder whether any of this will be = going=20 through his mind: "Oh, what a frigging idiot doofus I = am!"
: I=20 also fantasize about Walker becoming a character on = Oz.=20 Imagine if Verne and his boys got hold of him. The black = Muslims=20 wouldn't take him as one of their own. He'd be shish kebab = in no=20 time.
: Fantasy update: When crazy Mike Tyson goes to = jail for=20 (a) biting his opponent or (b) rape or (c) whatever he = does next,=20 maybe he should room with Walker.
: In New York, we = have the=20 honored tradition of the "perp walk," in which alleged=20 perpetrators are walked from one point to another where = news=20 cameras just happen to be so the world can see the guy. I = don't=20 want just courtroom sketches of this guy. I want to see = his=20 face.
: Email update: A reader named Jim writes: "The = other=20 thing Lindh should have done to save his own ass... = Stopped=20 talking in that fake accent. 'My har-dt h-went out to the=20 peeples...' Whatever, Latka."

Flashing blue = light=20 special on plastic explosives
: Via Holy Weblog: ABC=20 reports that coupon fraud helped fund the Sept. 11 = terrorist=20 attacks.

Tom Ridge's to-do list
: The Washington=20 Post says this is what Ridge has been up = to.

Rhymes=20 with Ridge... uh, Fridge? Smidge?
: Will = Warren has a=20 great new verse on his site about one of my very favorite = subjects=20 Tom "Do Nothing" Ridge (aka Tom "Remember Me?" Ridge):
Now anthrax has all gone away; I didn=92t have = to=20 budge.
It won=92t be coming back, it seems (as best = as I can=20 judge).
When people started fretting =91bout the = Games in Salt=20 Lake town,
I said, =93We can=92t make promises=94 and = that sure=20 calmed =91em down.
A young Osama wannabe flew right = into a=20 bank:
Said I, =93He=92s not a terrorist, with such a = little=20 tank.=94

(Chorus:)
=91Cause you don=92t panic! = You=92re not=20 volcanic!
You sure don=92t have much = zing,
It=92s pure=20 serenity you bring.
You=92re just not manic! You = ain=92t=20 galvanic!
And that=92s by far the most important=20 thing.

I go to lots of meetings and I = build=20 bureaucracy;
The more we sit in offices, the more=20 security.
From me the people of this land will rarely = hear a=20 peep:
I wouldn=92t want to say a thing that might = disturb their=20 sleep.
My soporific policy is working as it = ought:
The=20 nation=92s doing fine while I=92m not doing=20 diddly-squat.

Even more frightening = than The=20 Chair
: BBC2=20 is going to scare the scones out of Brits with a = docudrama,=20 Smallpox 2002 -- Silent Weapon, killing off 60 = million=20 people with a biological attack starting in London and New = York.=20 The Day After: the biological sequel.

Just a = biased=20 opinion
: Andrew Sullivan is getting boring.
: = Alan=20 Keyes' new MSNBC show is even more boring.

. .=20 .

Tuesday, January 22, 2002 - Link=20

Psst. Instapundit sent = me
:=20 Scroll down=20 to yesterday for the Arab/Olympic post.

Fine,=20 leave
: Robert Altman, crackpot director (I always = hated=20 Nashville; nonsensical and overrated) fumes about = America=20 to the Times= =20 of London [via Drudge, NY Post] and once again tries = to blame=20 terrorists on Hollywood (as if they were watching Bruce = Willis=20 movies in Kabul):
=93I am a political person,=94 Altman says, = =93but I don=92t=20 have to put a strong debate into a film. This present = government=20 in America I just find disgusting, the idea that George = Bush=20 could run a baseball team successfully =97 he can=92t = even speak! I=20 just find him an embarrassment. I was over here when the = election was on and I couldn=92t believe it =97 and = I=92m 76 years=20 old. Then when the Supreme Court came in and turned out = to be a=20 totally political animal, the last shred of any naivety = that was=20 left in me has gone. When I see an American flag flying, = it=92s a=20 joke.=94
An enraged Altman suddenly checks himself, = aware that=20 he is on sensitive ground in our post-September 11 = world. But,=20 controversially, he thinks that Hollywood may have = inspired the=20 World Trade Centre attacks. =93We gave them the ideas = =97 it was a=20 movie,=94 he fumes. =93We should be ashamed of = ourselves....
"If=20 you asked would I live in London the rest of my life, = yeah, I=92d=20 be very happy to stay here. There=92s nothing in America = that I=20 would miss at all.=94

It'll take = more than=20 barbed wire to keep us apart
: The British press = keeps=20 looking for the moment when we do something to split up = the=20 alliance. Remember (I'm too lazy to find the old links but = you'll=20 recall) when they shouted that all our bombing would split = apart=20 the alliance with Britain et al. Didn't happen. Now=20 they say that our prison on the beach will do it. = Don't=20 believe it.
: There is no unified view of our = treatment of the=20 prisoners; just look at Tim=20 Blair's excellent compilation of confusion.
: The = Red=20 Cross complains about our prison. Yes, the Red Cross = is an=20 organization with great credibility these = days.

Or just=20 stay home under your blanket
: If you were starting = to feel=20 normal again, just read this report from an antiterrorism = class in=20 the Times = of London. Handy tips include:
If your plane gets hijacked, you will have one = and a=20 half minutes to take action. Prudent passengers will do = the=20 following:
- Once on board, ensure you have an = airline=20 blanket, can of Coke, pen, magazine and keys within easy = reach.=20
- If the plane is hijacked, these become instant = weapons.=20 The blanket is to smother the terrorist, the belt to = garrotte=20 him. The belt can also be swung buckle first.
- Pens = and=20 keys can take out eyes and be used on pressure points. =
-=20 Roll up the magazine and jab it at the hijacker=92s eyes = or solar=20 plexus, or aim it at an artery.
- Placing shoes on = the hands=20 offers some protection.
- A can of Coke can either = be thrown=20 at the hijacker or used at close range to give force to = a blow=20 on the head or neck.
Or just hope = there's an air=20 marshall on board!

Rightie media bias, = cont.
:=20 Andrew Sullivan, still playing his one-note, keeps going = after=20 Krugman but handles Bill=20 Kristol with cashmere-lined kid gloves. Kristol = revealed that=20 he was paid by Enron. "Good for Bill," says Andrew. The = details?=20 Oh, Andrew's patient. Looks like a case of media bias to = me.
:=20 Even Opinion Journal's Taranto=20 says Sullivan is over-reacting.
This man needs = intervention.=20 Call Redbaiters Anonymous, quick. He needs a sponsor. 12 = steps=20 back to the middleground.
: Update: Sullivan=20 has checked himself into rehab: "NO MORE KRUGMAN: I = promise. Point=20 made. But keep your eyes peeled for any other = Enron-sponsored=20 pundits on their high horses."
. .=20 .

Monday, January 21, 2002 - Link=20

One-note Sullivan
: = Tonight,=20 in his never-ending screed on Krugman, Sullivan=20 ask, "AM I CRAZED?" If you ask to ask...

Boycott Saudi skiing
: An = intriguing=20 proposal from a story in LA=20 Weekly [via HolyWeblog]: Ban = Arab=20 nations that mistreat women from the Olympics. In the = story,=20 Parvin Darabi says:
They won=92t allow women to participate, and = then they=20 say they have Olympics for women. Where? In their = basements=20 where no one can see?... We watch Iran beat women, and = we watch=20 Saudi Arabia put women in jail for driving cars, and we = won=92t=20 come out and criticize Islam. I say it=92s time to = criticize=20 Islam. And it=92s time to say that had we done something = about=20 women in Afghanistan sooner, we would not have had the = disaster=20 that we did.
Not a bad idea, actually. South = Africa=20 was banned from the Olympics because it subjugated blacks = and did=20 not treat them as equal citizens. Why should Arab nations = not be=20 banned for subjugating women and not treating them as = equal=20 citizens?
There was a time when I objected to = politicizing the=20 Olympics (as when President Carter canceled our = reservation over,=20 ironically, the Soviet war in Afghanistan). But the = Olympics have=20 long since lost their virginity; they are politicized and=20 exploited by economic interests at every level.
So why = not=20 treat these nations the way we treated South Africa? Why = not set a=20 world-wide standard of civility that at least demands the = equal=20 treatment and rights of all citizens? Why not?
Oh, = yeah:=20 Oil.

Whatcha wanna Talk about?
: Andrew=20 Sullivan argues, with typical eloquence, that Talk and = Talk's=20 and Tina's era died on Sept. 11:=20
September 11 wasn=92t therefore just a = financial=20 disaster for her; it was a cultural disaster. What = seemed merely=20 tired and exhausted in 2001 felt almost offensive and = irrelevant=20 in 2002. Like Clinton, Brown will be remembered in the = future as=20 an emblem of an era of profound shallowness and great = fun. But=20 that era is now over.
Ah, but at the same = time, Knowledge=20 Networks, a research firm, releases a panel studying = saying=20 that we're getting back into trivia [via Inside.com]:=20
...post-September 11th shifts in the topics of = greatest interest to magazine readers may already be = giving way=20 to old habits, with sports, movies, and = people/personalities all=20 regaining appeal. Conducted in December as part of = ongoing=20 magazine research among the national KnowledgeNetworks = panel,=20 the new study indicates that the proportion of consumers = who are=20 very interested in reading about people and = personalities has=20 increased significantly since October, from 11% to = 16%.
In=20 addition, when asked to compare their current reading=20 preferences to those of 12 months ago, consumers are now = less=20 likely to report waning interest in sports, movies, or = travel.=20 In October, for example, 15% said that they were less = interested=20 in articles about movies; but in the new study, that = figure=20 dropped to 10%.
=93What may have seemed less = important in the=20 immediate aftermath of September 11th appears to be = making a=20 comeback, perhaps even as a kind of =91comfort food=92 = for the=20 mind,=94 observed Jay Mattlin, Vice President, Client = Service.=20 =93The changes of this fall have not been undone =96 = interest in=20 news is still up significantly; but we may be seeing the = beginning of a return to familiar = preferences.=94
It's=20 not as if the celebrity culture is going to die; this = morning, we=20 all watched what Nicole wore last night on the = Golden=20 Globes. But I think we are now less likely to care about = what=20 Nicole said.

The SLA days
: The = SF Chronicle=20 reports that Kathy Soliah was a leader of the SLA and then = talks=20 to her nonradical siblings in a family that produced three = terrorist kids.
: James = Lilieks=20 on Soliah going to jail.

Media bias
: Matt=20 Welch says it better than I could:=20
People who shriek until they are blue in the = face=20 about the =93liberal media bias=94 or the = =93conservative media bias=94=20 strike me as obsessive weirdos. Sure, there=92s always = bias, but I=20 would argue that it=92s more cultural, and professional, = than=20 ideological. That is to say, story ideas and execution = are=20 frequently told through the prism of the social = positioning of=20 the writers and editors.

. .=20 .

Sunday, January 20, 2002 - Link=20

Re right-wing = Sullivan
: I=20 have mail on my complaints regarding Andrew = Sullivan's game=20 of ideological paintball; his latest target being media = blogger Jim = Romenesko (see=20 yesterday's post, below).
Ken Layne sees = Sullivan's=20 point and as evidence says, among other things, "I mean, = just look=20 at the deeply insulting way Romenesko has dealt with Matt = Drudge."=20
Ah, but that goes to the point I've been trying to = make=20 (badly, apparently): Though I happen to enjoy Drudge, I = could see=20 many reasons why someone doesn't like him. Could be = because he's=20 conservative... or because he's new media... or because he = offends=20 certain journalistic standards with his tabloid (and = sometimes=20 sloppy) ways.. or because he is -- even he'd admit it --=20 obnoxious. If Romenesko criticizes or ignores or even = insults=20 Drudge, it's not necessarily because he's "left-leaning," = as=20 Sullivan assumes. Motive matters and to assume the motive = and base=20 an attack on that assumption is worse than lazy, it is=20 manipulative and essentially oppressive: If I criticize = George=20 Bush and you call me a leftie (or unpatriotic), then you = are=20 trying to shut me up, not deal with my criticism. You're = trying to=20 make me the issue rather than deal with the issue. You're = making=20 it personal.
That is the problem I have with Sullivan. =
I=20 also got mail today from Matthew = Yglesias, saying=20 he is "glad to see someone criticize Andrew Sullivan's=20 increasingly hysterical tone; I've been a longtime reader = of his=20 and have been disappointed to see his site garnering more = and more=20 praise as it gets worse."
Right. I, too, have come to = respect=20 Sullivan even though I come from a different side of the = prism; I=20 sometimes disagree with him and often agree with him and = that=20 doesn't make me a leftie or a rightie; Sullivan should = hope that=20 just makes me smart or right. Sullivan is too smart to be = off=20 leading the torch-bearing villagers on his ideological = bitch-hunt.=20 That is the issue: He's not dealing with issues then. = Sure, it's=20 entertaining and an easy way to whore for clicks but it's=20 insulting to the audience and, ultimately, himself.=20

Hitch speaks the truth
: Bush has been = in office=20 a year now and Ch= ristopher=20 Hitchens brilliantly expresses the surprise that = awaits us on=20 his anniversary:
Mr Bush is still one of the most unqualified = people=20 ever to have run for the highest office, let alone to = have=20 attained it. There will never come a time when he reads = for=20 pleasure or takes a serious interest in another country. = But the=20 oldest political joke in America has a double-edged = point to it.=20 In this society, anybody can be President. And this = particular=20 anybody has happened to match an hour in which it is = precisely=20 the ordinary people of the country who have behaved with = distinction.

Britain: Breeding = ground for=20 the 'binmen'
: The Observer=20 says Britain is thick with terrorists, many now under = arrest.=20
The lesson now appears clear. There are = al-Qaeda=20 links from Brighton to Bolton, from Scotland to Slough. = The idea=20 that Islamic extremism was limited to a few loud-mouthed = polemicists in north and west London has been shown to = be=20 nothing more than a comforting fallacy.
'For years = the=20 intelligence community has tried to play down the levels = of=20 activity and the threat from Islamic extremism in = Britain,' one=20 London-based security expert said yesterday. 'But they = can't do=20 that any longer.'
In Washington, Paris and capitals = across=20 the Middle East and Asia, officials charged with winding = up=20 al-Qaeda are pointing to the UK. They say that Britain = is more=20 than just a haven for Islamic dissidents and a centre = for the=20 dissemination of extremist propaganda. The French and = the=20 Americans maintain that the UK has played a key role as = a=20 logistics base for al-Qaeda itself and was critical to = the 11=20 September attacks.

People in glass=20 prisons...
: Without irony, the Observer notes the = same day=20 that (1) Tony Blair warns=20 us to treat our prisoners better while (2) Britons complain=20 about the treatment of all the terrorists Britain played = host to.=20

Who pays whom?
: Cheeky Afghans start = presenting=20 us with bills=20 for their reconstruction. We were planning to help but = let's=20 remember that this nation harbored and nurtured the = terrorists who=20 attacked us. Let's try billing them before they think of = billing=20 us.
. .=20 .

Saturday, January 19, 2002 - Link=20

The labelmaker
: = Andrew=20 Sullivan devalues his considerable intelligence when he = engages in=20 the inane=20 name-calling:
It will be fascinating to see whether any of = the=20 usual left-liberal journalist watch-dog magazines or = bodies say=20 anything about Krugman. The flagship left-liberal = media-zine,=20 Jim Romenesko=92s MediaNews, routinely recycles smears = against=20 conservative journalists, but hasn=92t mentioned this = one.=20 Figures.
That's a ridiculous smear on = Romenesko, who=20 does a very good job of providing links to media stories = quickly=20 and reliably with very little opinion.This statement = reveals far=20 more about Sullivan than Romenesko. It is shallow,=20 one-dimensional, and stupid; it is a sympton of the = conservative=20 paranoia I've been talking about, the tendancy to see = commies=20 (oops, that's out of date: I mean lefties) under every = rock ready=20 to cause landslides that never happen. This insults the=20 intelligence of the speaker and his audience.
: = Sullivan strikes=20 again. Dog: Meet your bone.

The Bin Laden=20 Label
: An idiot Saudi sibling of bin Laden was = planning to=20 start a binladen=20 line of clothing and accessories, though the Swiss are = now=20 trying to revoke his trademark on moral grounds. And now = the Times=20 of London reports that in Afghanistan bin=20 Ladenmerchandise -- bin Laden turbans and gym bags and = snacks=20 -- are all the rage. Says a shopkeeper: "=93Many people = here worship=20 Osama... You must understand, the way he has stood up to = the=20 Americans, the way he has made them suffer and the way he = has=20 managed to escape them, despite all their guns and men, = only=20 increases the worship.=94

We did it our = way
: A=20 fascinating column by Matt= hew=20 Parris in the Times of London. He loves America, he = supports=20 America, yet he says he make a bad partner because we do = things=20 our way. Right.=20
America has simple gods and likes to keep her = satan=20 simple, too. Every populace has a tendency to see for a = while=20 evidence of a single demon=92s fiendish plans beneath = every stone,=20 but Americans take this to extremes. In Salem it was = once=20 witches. In Senator Joe McCarthy=92s heyday it was = Commies. Now it=20 is al-Qaeda. And September 11 offered tremendous=20 provocation.
He tries to argue that we've made = al-Qaeda bigger, fiercer, and smarter than it really is so = we can=20 have our way (the latest quibble: how things are run at = what=20 someone -- wish I knew who -- named Club Fed in Cuba). So = read his=20 column from the British perspective but then turn around = and read=20 it from the American side of the prism. Yes, we're going = to set=20 the rules. We were attacked. We had to go to war. We = remain a=20 target. We are the biggest and most powerful and with that = comes=20 the responsibility and the risk and the authority. We're = doing a=20 good job of creating and joining in coalitions -- for = American --=20 but in the end, his is where the buck has stopped. So, = yes, we'll=20 do it our way.

Maxwell Stupid
: = Investigators=20 find email=20 Richard "Maxwell Stupid" Reid sent before trying to blow = up a=20 plane. After not getting on his first flight, he asked = someone for=20 instruction on whether he should go again and he was told, = yes.=20 Can't wait to track down the handler.
. .=20 .

Friday, January 18, 2002 - Link=20

Melt-down
: The PC=20 statue is no more.

But seriously...
: = Read Ken=20 Layne's controlled rant about the story behind the = story in=20 OJR (see yesterday, below). It's getting = personal.

Roses=20 are red, quagmirists are blue...
: I got email = tonight from=20 a new weblogger, Will Warren, promising something = completely=20 different: a blog=20 in verse. I have to admit, I rolled my eyes. I clicked = with=20 fear and trepidation. He sent it to me with fear and = trepidation=20 because I had whined about a bad PBS special of post-9/11 = poetry.=20 But click I did and the first verse I read -- a tribute to = a loser=20 leftist column by Heather Mallick in the Globe & Mail = -- won=20 me over:

Heather Mallick, Heather Mallick,
Do = you have=20 a hole cephalic?
Is your cranium still = clicking?
Have your=20 brain cells ceased their ticking?
Are your neurons = all=20 a-twisty?
Is your vision foggy, misty?
Is your = mind=20 becoming cloudy
From your efforts to be=20 Dowd-y?

He takes on Ted Rall's most = ridiculous of=20 statements: =93Conspiracy theories are funny things: the = wackier=20 they
sound, the more likely they are to be true."

...And yet I can=92t get round a stumbling = block:
One wacky theory isn=92t worth two = cents:
If it were=20 proven true, oh! what a shock:
That Rall could write = a=20 sentence that made sense.

Most of it is = satire;=20 one, about Flight 93, is serious. Take a click.
And = this=20 inspires me to wish for more blog genres: The country blog = or=20 better yet, the hip-hop blog, RapBlog: "Justin Raimondo, = you my=20 bitch"

Terrorist hygiene
: Good thing = terrorists=20 have bad personal hygiene. They had to be taught where to = put=20 deodorant and thank God that Richard "Maxwell Stupid" Reid = didn't=20 put any Dr. Scholl's powder on his sweaty feet: The London=20 Times reports that his own perspiration doused his = fuse.=20
. .=20 .

Thursday, January 17, 2002 - Link=20

Bloglash
: It's = typical blog=20 behavior to point out that Matt=20 Welch found this first: The blog backlash continues, = this time=20 from ex-Suckster Tim=20 Cavanaugh in OJR. And you have to give it to him that = he does=20 capture the blogsters' endearing habit of praising each = other like=20 ladies at a tea lunch (and then snipping behind each = others'=20 backs) as well as our utter dependence on real reporters = in real=20 media getting real facts for us to blog and blather about = and,=20 finally, our uncanny ability to spread like kudzu.
The weblog is not the most useless weapon in = the War=20 On Terrorism. That title is still held by the nuclear = submarine.=20 But it is precisely their unconventional methods that = make the=20 war bloggers enemies to be feared. Like Al-Qaeda, the = war=20 bloggers are a loosely structured network, a shadowy = underground=20 whose flexibility and compulsive log-rolling make them = as=20 cost-effective as they are deadly. Kill Glenn Reynolds = and a=20 thousand James Tarantos will rise in his place. Try to = apply the=20 Powell Doctrine and the war bloggers will elude our = grasp.=20 Ignore them and they'll use our own weapons against us.=20
Of course, ego gratification being the = primary goal=20 of any blogger, I'm pleased as punch that Cavanaugh = includes me in=20 his broadside. Just so long as they spell the url=20 right.

Happiness is a warm gun
: The FBI = released=20 tapes=20 of five would-be suicide terrorists today. Crackpot = creeps. One of=20 them is highly dramatic, sinking his head in his arms, = then=20 fondling, hugging, and kissing his big gun; this is what = he thinks=20 a Jihad fighter looks like. Then, when he believes his 45 = seconds=20 of fame are over, he breaks character and grins like a = ninny: a=20 bad actor in a home video. Death is a game to them. Sick = fun, sick=20 f's.

Terrorism: domestic and imported
: = The=20 timing of the arrest=20 of four former SLA members is likely coincidental (I = rarely=20 see conspiracies; I believe the world is rarely = well-organized=20 enough to conspire) but it is illuminating, nonetheless, = given our=20 current war on foreign terrorism. This takes me back to = the '60s=20 and '70s to recall our own domestic terrorism: the SLA, = various=20 '60s radical groups, the Black Panthers, the FALN. There = are=20 differences: The issues allegedly being fought over were = American=20 issues; most of us were not targets and thus did not live = in fear;=20 the scale and scope was much smaller; the criminals were = not so=20 alien. The biggest difference is that that terrorism of = old was=20 aimed at dividing us; these acts of terrorism today have = united=20 us. Yet the essence of all this terrorism is the same: = This is=20 violent fundamentalism, committed by people who believe = they are=20 so right that they will commit any wrong, people who will = utterly=20 abandon civilization as they purportedly fight to save=20 civilization from itself. None of these people are freedom = fighters. They are criminals.
. .=20 .

Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - Link=20

Blogs on blogs
: Ken=20 Layne brushes away that guy from antiwar.com like so = much=20 dandruff.
: And Matt=20 Welch warns that he won't tolerate reading the suffix = "gate"=20 on the prefix "Enron." Spot on. The mere thought of it -- = another=20 scandal with the whole, predictable script that comes = along just=20 as surely as "City Digs Out" comes along on the front page = of any=20 newspaper after a blizzard -- gave me a terrible case of = media=20 ennui. Enron is a scandal to be sure, a scandal of = giga=20 proportion and mega shame. But it's a financial scandal -- = think=20 junk bonds, not Monica; S&Ls, not Watergate -- not a = political=20 scandal.
(By the way, let me be the last to welcome = Welch back=20 ... at frigging last. Nick Denton, whom I had dubbed the = Laziest=20 Blogger, at least managed to find cyberbeachbars in = Thailand to=20 post the occasional post; Welch couldn't find a single = cafe to=20 post to us from France? We all felt so neglected.)
: Quick=20 gets very sensitive. Skin thin?

Left ... = Right=20 ... Wrong
: A month after the world changed, Ken=20 Layne wrote, "Something weird is happening in this = country,=20 and it's not just Anthrax and suicide hijackers. The = rational=20 people on the Right and Left are finding -- surprise! -- = that we=20 have very much in common. We like it here, and we like the = world."=20
Ah, the good old days.
We knew they wouldn't last. = And=20 they didn't. Today, three short months later, we're back = to=20 right-v.-left bickering and backstabbing and bitching. = We're back=20 to politics for politics' sake. We're back to the = bullshit.=20
Look around you here in Blogdom and you see it = everywhere:=20 people snipping and sniping at each other because of the = their=20 political clique -- Andrew Sullivan on one end, = AntiWar.com on the=20 other, and lots of people lobbing spitballs inbetween. = There's a=20 lot of nya-nya in the air.
I confess that I partook in = -- and,=20 yes, enjoyed -- my own binge of reactionary = conservative-baiting=20 in the last few days when I had started suffering = repetitive=20 stress syndrome reading the monotonous whining about = alleged=20 liberal media bias. I snapped back. And it was fun because = it got=20 reaction and it got links but it was stupid. Such bitter = banter is=20 all meaningless, unproductive, inane. Stupid. =
Politicians do=20 it. Media people do it. And now we're doing it.
But = the people=20 don't. The people don't give a rat's rump about political = sniping,=20 politics for politics' sake, the game for the game's sake. = Go sit=20 in a Denny's for an hour and you won't hear that. You'll = hear=20 their real concerns.
They're concerned about safety and = security, especially now; about keeping their jobs; about = their=20 health care; about their kids' education; about their = retirement.=20 They're concerned about real things. Politics is not = real.
Now=20 I'm not naive; I know that politics is necessary; it's how = a=20 society balances needs and resources. Playing politics to = do what=20 you think is right, to get what you think the people need, = is a=20 means to an end.
But playing politics just because = it's fun to=20 nya-nya, well, that's at best dumb and at worst = destructive. Let=20 us hope that blogdom lives above that.

Stupid=20 is...
: Now take this incredibly numb-nuts=20 piece in the Guardian. You could say it's a sign of = liberal media=20 bias. I say it's just stupid. Simon Tisdall argues that = the war=20 against terrorism has led to a "strategic power grab" that = is the=20 modern equivalent of "imperialism" and "colonialism" = because we're=20 now dealing with Russia and China and all the Xstans. You = could=20 look at it that way. Or you could see this as newfound = harmony and=20 common purpose. What's so wrong with getting = along?

Fear=20 of flying
: Howard Stern said this a.m. that he = refuses to=20 fly commercial; he's scared since Sept. 11. Me, too. =
. .=20 .

Tuesday, January 15, 2002 - Link=20

More media
: Will=20 Vehrs takes me to task for my conclusion on media bias = (below)=20 and he's right that I'm answering one ludicrious=20 oversimplification (liberal media bias) with another = (liberal=20 stoicism v. conservative paranoia). But it's so much fun, = Will.=20 And the conservatives are always baiting the liberals, = sometime's=20 it's fun for the fish to go fishing, too.

PC set = in=20 stone
: Both Thomas=20 Nephew and Tunku=20 Varadarajan take the other side in the debate over the = WTC=20 flag statue (in which, you'll recall, St= even=20 Den Beste complained about plans to turn the three=20 firefighters in the famous photo into an ethnically = diverse=20 bunch). Today's contrarians argue that statues are = symbolic and so=20 they should be representative of the department rather = than the=20 photo.
Ah, but there are the rubs: Once you start = mucking with=20 reality, you get in trouble: Who's to say what this mix = should be?=20 Why just men? Why not women? African American? Hispanic? = Asian?=20 Arab? Where does this end?
And once you start mucking = with=20 art, you also get in trouble, too. You can't create art = according=20 to quotas. You can't create art by committee. You can't = create art=20 according to a list of PC rules. Then it isn't art. Then = it's a=20 mess. I have this same problem in the entertainment = busienss:=20 Telling movie or TV or novel writers that they should be = giving us=20 X percent more women or black or gay or Hispanic = characters is=20 absurd; writers write what they should write, what they = know, what=20 they feel, what they need to say, not what someone else = thinks=20 they should say. You can't tell Richard Pryor to have more = whites=20 or Jerry Seinfeld more blacks -- or start requiring = sermons about=20 drugs or smoking or the poor or whatever the cause de la = moment=20 happens to be -- just because you think they should. Then = it's not=20 their art.
So when it comes to this statue there is a = clear and=20 simple choice: Either (1) recreate the photo and the = memories it=20 instills in all of us OR (2) create a more abstract,=20 representative memorial that evokes the character and = heroism of=20 the entire department. But don't try to smoosh both = together. It=20 ruins both. It's not art. It's not reality. It's not a = memory.=20 It's not a memorial. It's a mess.
: Photo info here.= =20 Note that the paper that owns the picture is stopping = people from=20 putting it on T-shirts and even cookbooks (?). They're = right to do=20 so.

Good move
: Kevin Whited's Reductio = ad=20 absurdum has moved to a new = address and a=20 new format that is even more satisfying than the last.=20

Pretzel nightmares
: Seriously, what = would have=20 happened if the President had died from a pretzel? No = joke. We=20 have endured an attack from terrorists and a war and a = near=20 economic collapse and the head of the Western world -- = hell, all=20 the world -- is taken down by a damned pretzel?!? Imagine = the=20 impact on the economy, worldwide. Imagine a snickering = Osama.=20 Imagine the shame. This can't happen. It damned near = did.
We=20 need systems to monitor the commander in chief: He has to = be with=20 someone and when he's not, he has to wear a remote monitor = that=20 checks on his heart and breathing. And I don't just mean = Bush, I=20 mean all presidents. This is a matter of national security = in all=20 senses of the word. No joke.

Does size = matter?
:=20 Glenn=20 Reynolds, in his argument that blogs help cause a = media=20 reformation, reminds us that the legendary Izzy Stone was = about as=20 influential as a journalist gets with a newsletter that = served=20 only 1,500 or so subscribers.
I've had to remind = myself of=20 this, too. On one end of the scale, I used to write for = People and=20 TV Guide, serving audiences of up to 25 million. That made = a blog=20 audience look small and me even smaller. But then I looked = out one=20 Sunday on the congregation of my little church, where lots = of=20 people devote their hearts and, yes, souls to serving an = audience=20 of about 100. The older, bigger churches around us serve a = couple=20 of hundred. Well, our congregations in the Church of the = Holy Blog=20 are many times that. And that made me feel better. =
Influence=20 never equals audience size; neither does attention. Fewer = people=20 go see every movie in every theater in the country all = week long=20 than go to a hot sitcom, yet movies get far more attention = (and=20 respect). Books get tiny audiences next to even a cable = show or=20 radio show but books get the heat. Blogs may be small but = they are=20 getting more respect by the day. Size doesn't always=20 matter.

Media more
: I got lots of good = letters=20 on media bias Ray Eckhart, Kathy Shaidle, and a guy named = Bruce=20 about media bias (below) and Rand=20 Simberg and Dunca= n=20 Fitzgerald take me on, too. If I weren't tech-crazed = moving to=20 my new domain from Blogspot, I'd create a letters page and = show=20 them to you. But I'm tired and so I'll unfairly and = inaccurately=20 summarize instead (demonstrating my own media bias, of = course).=20 They say that the bias hounds are merely arguing that most = reporters are liberal, rather than being part of liberal=20 cabal.
But I still say that is an indication of a = conspiracy=20 mentality, of paranoia.
I still say that is a = simplistic view=20 of the world that does not take into account the = intelligence,=20 sincerity, professionalism, independence, and stubbornness = of both=20 reporters and their audiences. It is essentially insulting = to=20 both.
It is an assumption without basis.
Which leads = me to=20 another old-war-horse story. When I was a columnist in San = Francisco -- and, as a columnist, I was allowed to have = opinions=20 -- I covered then-Mayor Feinstein when she took office in = the=20 horrible days after the Jonestown massacre and the murders = of=20 Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. I think = that=20 Feinstein did a great job and often said so. But once in a = while,=20 I did criticize her for a specific action or statement and = whenever I did, she declared that I was her enemy. There = was no=20 gray there, only allies or enemies. She and her husband = even=20 complained to the then-publisher of the paper about me. = And I=20 supported her! But to her, criticism was a sure sign of my = enemy=20 status. Or is that liberal bias?
Face it: The media = were a=20 helluva lot tougher on Clinton and Carter than on Reagan = or Bush I=20 or Bush II. The media neighborhood is crowded with = conservative=20 bastions once you get past the NY Times and Washington = Post:=20 Tribune Company, Dow Jones, Time Inc., News Corp., Hearst, = to name=20 a few. And look here on the Internet where most of the = blog-talk=20 I'm hearing is conservative. The media are chock full of=20 conservatives. But you don't hear liberals whining about = that. You=20 only hear conservatives whining.
In the end, liberal = media bias=20 is still a conspiracy theory and it is born out of one = simple=20 fact:
Conservatives are by nature paranoid. =

. .=20 .

Monday, January 14, 2002 - Link=20

Moving day = approaches
:=20 Here's the deal: I'm going to double-publish for a few = days but=20 then cut off to www.buzzmachine.com; go there and = bookmark now,=20 if you'd be so kind. I'll leave the old stuff on Blogspot = for any=20 old links to old posts. The archive pages will be at = buzzmachine.=20 I hope this works!

Media = bias? That=20 assumes media efficiency
: There's been a = zeppelin's worth=20 of hot air being manufactured lately about the alleged = media bias;=20 this weekend's warm wind brought with it Andrew=20 Sullivan weighing in on Bernard Goldberg's bitter = ex-employee=20 expose.
As a practitioner of both old and new media, = I'm=20 amused by all the bluster on the topic.
I don't buy = the=20 contention that there is concerted media bias for one = simple=20 reason: The media are not that well-organized.
To = believe that=20 there is media bias, you have to believe that the media = are=20 well-managed and that reporters and editors take = management well.=20 Both assumptions are laughably wrong.
In my 30 years in = the=20 business (ouch, that hurts to calculate; I started = very=20 young), I've worked for allegedly liberal and conservative = publishers -- Time Inc., TV Guide and News Corp., the San=20 Franciscso Examiner and Hearst, the Chicago Tribune, the = New York=20 Daily News, most of them usually accused of leaning right = (my=20 present company excepted from analysis).
And I have to = say=20 that only once -- once -- have I ever seen an = attempt to=20 influence my work or those around me politically. That one = incident occurred on behalf of Whittaker Chambers and = Richard=20 Nixon, hardly left-wing heroes. And the motivation wasn't = really=20 political; it was personal. When I started criticizing TV = for=20 People magazine, I gave a glowing review to the miniseries = Concealed Enemies about the Alger Hiss case. In it, = I said=20 that Hiss-hunter Chambers came off like doughy dope. The = then-top=20 editor in Time Inc. -- whose mentor at Time happened to be = none=20 other than Chambers -- with the help of his right-hand = henchman,=20 tried to rewrite my review entirely, making it a negative = review=20 (though they'd never seen the show) and inserting = right-wing bias=20 aplenty. I threatened to quit and my editor, the sainted = Pat Ryan,=20 stood by me. The boss backed down and I won. Bias erased. = When I=20 created Entertainment Weekly at the same company, some of = the same=20 players (all gone now) tried to get us to be nicer to=20 entertainment product just as Time Inc. became Time = Warner, an=20 entertainment company. This time, I did quit, But that = wasn't=20 political (beyond corporate politics, that is).
My = point is=20 that journalistic integrity -- or bias -- is the product = of the=20 consciences of individuals far more than of the = conspiracies of=20 institutions. Individual writers and editors have to look = at=20 themselves in the mirror in the morning and make their own = judgments, some good, some bad. And it is not easy to tell = these=20 people what to do; I know, I've been a top editor at some = of these=20 companies; reporters are stubborn passive aggressives, = every one.=20 Beyond that, if you are a media executive and you tried to = inject=20 bias, you stand the immediate risk of exposure, for = reporters are=20 also gossips by nature.
I've not read Goldberg's book = but I=20 have to wonder (a) why he didn't cause a stink at the time = and (b)=20 why it took so long to cause it.
So I find all this as = boring=20 and out-of-touch as an Oliver Stone movie. There is no = great media=20 bias conspiracy any more than there is a government = conspiracy to=20 hush-up UFOs; the government isn't that well-organized, = either.=20
The truth is that everyone -- reporters, editors, = executives,=20 newsmakers, and most especially readers -- has a = perspective (a=20 nicer word than bias) and inevitably view the world = through or=20 around that perspective. That is not bias. That is the = free=20 give-and-take of democracy and individual = expression.
So just=20 as I decry the PC fundamendalists, I decry the MB (media = bias)=20 inquisitors; they all assume that we, the audience, we the = people,=20 are too stupid to be able to judge on our own what is true = and=20 what is sensible and what we believe. That is a bias = shared by the=20 media and anti-media alike, by left and right alike; that = is an=20 undemocratic and essentially insulting bias.
But I have = some=20 hope that Blogdom is inching us past that, for on blogs,=20 individuals' perspectives are easy to spot (I certainly = know where=20 Sullivan stands) and the accusations of bias or stupidity = or just=20 sloppiness in the media are less sweeping and more = detailed (and=20 even joyous as a blogger cuts apart the latest dispatch = from this=20 columnist or that). Blogdom is a disorganized collection = of=20 individuals keeping watch on the media and each other and = so far,=20 it works pretty well.
But I know it won't be long = before=20 someone accuses us all of left-wing or right-wing blog=20 bias.
(And just to prove that I have absolutely no = bias, I=20 won't make a single Presidential pretzel joke today. Not = one.=20 Besides, Tim=20 Blair has plenty already.)

The stripped-down = business model
: Off topic: The Donkey leads us to = news that=20 an Internet company coming out of bankruptcy plans to buy = Howard=20 Stern's favorite strip club, Scores, and make it national. = Now=20 that's a business.

. .=20 .

Sunday, January 13, 2002 - Link=20

Pssst. Instapundit sent = me
:=20 Click he= re=20 for the end of the PC era.

Death or = Cuba
:=20 You think the Afghan prisoners in Cuba have it tough? Ha!=20 Afghanistan now says it would execute= =20 even bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

PC set in = stone
:=20 Tim=20 Blair takes the PC statue ruccus (below) to the = next step,=20 with his nominations for liberals in relief, e.g., Keiko = the=20 killer whale, some crack babies, and a Chevrolet Corvair = or Diana,=20 Princess of Wales, Enron, and the ozone layer. .=20

Video
: I've just watched a remarkable = video,=20