April 30, 2004
Gag
Here is one reason the prospect of media consolidation frightens me:
The country's largest owner of television stations announced yesterday that it has ordered its eight ABC affiliates not to carry tonight's "Nightline" broadcast, in which the names of hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women killed in Iraq will be read as their photographs appear on-screen.
It's wonderful that there are 6.02 x 1023 cable channels, but how does that help someone in Columbus, Ohio, who would like to watch tonight's Nightline?
What about the Dish Network? Do they provide access to non-local network affiliates?
Bye, Bob
Well what do you know: I choked up when, for the final time, I heard these words: "This is Monring Edition from NPR News. I'm Bob Edwards."
April 27, 2004
A Blog by Any Other Name
I've decided that the King of Pointland will now be called a web journal, or "bjournal."
April 22, 2004
Timing
Driving home from the David Cross show last night, I caught a bit of To the Point with Warren Olney. One of the guests opined that the recent suicide car bombings in Basra required an enormous amount of sophistication, because they occurred simultaneously.
My first thought was, "Ah, good point, expert number two. Right you are." My second thought was, "Wait, what exactly is required to achieve simultaneity? They would all need to have . . . wristwatches."
Cell Leader: OK, all set then? Good. Now, before -- *sigh* what is it, Abdullah? Abdullah: I'm sorry, I kind of drifted off there for a second. I didn't sleep well last night. Anyhoo, it's the big hand on the two, and the little hand on the twelve? The other way around? Of course it is. Stupid stupid stupid!
Is it wrong to joke about suicide bombings?
Kantroversial
I would like to take this time to welcome my good friend
Kan to the blogsmosphereverse.
The Intarwebz will never be the same.
April 20, 2004
NADAQarter
|
Today, the NASDAQ Composite closed at 1978.63, which works out to August 18th, 1978. Here is what Jimmy Carter did on that day. |
April 19, 2004
For the Record
According to washingtonpost.com and NOAA, the temperature at 11:50 PM on April 19th, 2004, is 80 degrees fahrenheit.
April 17, 2004
Yellowtastic!
The following is true.
I haven't watched MTV since the tampon commercial. I have some ironing to do, and I thought, hey, I'll watch the MTV2 whilst I iron. Guess what I tuned into? Yes, the same Yellowcard video.
Are these guys huge or what?
April 06, 2004
We're Not Just KP Anymore!
Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters:
An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government's headquarters in Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight commandos from a private security firm, according to sources familiar with the incident.
Before U.S. reinforcements could arrive, the firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, sent in its own helicopters amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition and to ferry out a wounded Marine, the sources said.
Voluntary Regulation
Blackout report faults toothless rules:
WASHINGTON - Disregard for voluntary rules intended to ensure the flow of electricity opened the way for last summer's blackout in eight states and Canada, investigators said yesterday in their final report. They urged government standards with teeth to ward off future outages.
April 05, 2004
Foreign Aid
An article from today's Post on the attempt to eliminate Elephantiasis.
Treatment costs from 10 cents to $2 per person per year, depending largely on how well organized the program is and whether the pills are distributed by volunteers or paid workers. The cost is so low in part because GlaxoSmithKline is supplying albendazole and Merck is providing ivermectin free for an indefinite period.
GlaxoSmithKline expects to donate more than $1 billion in medicine and cash over two decades. Merck is already providing ivermectin for a similar program against river blindness.
The article mentions the Army Medical Museum, for you fans of the Army Medical Museum.
April 03, 2004
Adbustersbusters
By way of metafilter: Adbusters has published a list of the top 50 neoconservatives, and has helpfully indicated the Jews among them with a little dot next to their names. The piece is titled "Why won't anyone say they are Jewish?"
We're told that "[the] point is simply that the neocons seem to have a special affinity for Israel that influences their political thinking and consequently American foreign policy in the Middle East." What about the gentiles among them? What about the Christian Right?
I'm not an objective observer, of course. Still: fuck you, Adbusters.