This is why I have such a difficult time looking my journalism students in the eye when they ask about what their career is likely to be like ...
p.s. I've had the occasional oral encounter, and while many of them have been very nice, I don't think I'd call any of them "fateful" ...
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
breaking news, hillary was home
Just caught a special report on abcnews.com. Seems Hillary was home when Bill Clinton stained the blue dresss.
And I really get a kick out of the byline: By BRIAN ROSS and the ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE UNIT (see it at http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4482242&page=1)
Said investigation involved:
1. sifting through documents released by the National Archives to anyone who cared;
2. zeroing in on the most salacious parts.
Yea, it's nearly as much work as unveiling the Pentagon Papers. But no doubt technology helped; the docs probably came on e-mail or as a .pdf file, so you just search for 'oral.'
No doubt it makes the likes of Woodward and Bernstein proud.
And I really get a kick out of the byline: By BRIAN ROSS and the ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE UNIT (see it at http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4482242&page=1)
Said investigation involved:
1. sifting through documents released by the National Archives to anyone who cared;
2. zeroing in on the most salacious parts.
Yea, it's nearly as much work as unveiling the Pentagon Papers. But no doubt technology helped; the docs probably came on e-mail or as a .pdf file, so you just search for 'oral.'
No doubt it makes the likes of Woodward and Bernstein proud.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
this is what McCain gets for listening to Bush
What's that country lyric about not knowing the difference 'tween Iraq and Iran'?
John McCain, GOP candidate for president, traveled to the Middle East yesterday and showed once again he has no more clue than the current administration.
McCain said several times during his visit that Iran was training Al Qaeda in Iraq. Oops. Iran is a Shiite theocracy that the U.S.. claims has been training Shiite extremists in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq is a Sunni insurgent group that blows up lots of people, but particularly Shiites. The two groups don't like each other.
You'd think McCain, who has based his presidential run on being the best man to handle the war in Iraq, would know that.
Yet asked about it, McCain said: “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”
Senator ol' Joe Liebermann, who was with him, then whispered in McCain's ear. "I’m sorry,” Mr. McCain said, “the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda.”
Guess we can only hope that Joe is in bed with McCain when that 2 a.m. call comes and he has to decide whether to bomb Iran or Iraq to get Shiite terrorists or Sunni terrorists.
Of course, confusion has been the Bush policy thus far in Iraq, and McCain's position is to continue Bush's policy. And of course, "Al Queda in Iraq" is no more the Al Queda group that attacked us than Indiana boys who listen to rap and wear red bandannas are really insane crips.
But Bush and Cheney have consistently told us this war is us and Iraq vs. Iran and Osama. I think down deep they know better. But they have McCain convinced.
Is confusion a policy we want to continue for the 100 years McCain says we'll stay in Iraq?
John McCain, GOP candidate for president, traveled to the Middle East yesterday and showed once again he has no more clue than the current administration.
McCain said several times during his visit that Iran was training Al Qaeda in Iraq. Oops. Iran is a Shiite theocracy that the U.S.. claims has been training Shiite extremists in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq is a Sunni insurgent group that blows up lots of people, but particularly Shiites. The two groups don't like each other.
You'd think McCain, who has based his presidential run on being the best man to handle the war in Iraq, would know that.
Yet asked about it, McCain said: “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”
Senator ol' Joe Liebermann, who was with him, then whispered in McCain's ear. "I’m sorry,” Mr. McCain said, “the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda.”
Guess we can only hope that Joe is in bed with McCain when that 2 a.m. call comes and he has to decide whether to bomb Iran or Iraq to get Shiite terrorists or Sunni terrorists.
Of course, confusion has been the Bush policy thus far in Iraq, and McCain's position is to continue Bush's policy. And of course, "Al Queda in Iraq" is no more the Al Queda group that attacked us than Indiana boys who listen to rap and wear red bandannas are really insane crips.
But Bush and Cheney have consistently told us this war is us and Iraq vs. Iran and Osama. I think down deep they know better. But they have McCain convinced.
Is confusion a policy we want to continue for the 100 years McCain says we'll stay in Iraq?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
I see the China Olympics are underway...
and really, should the world be surprised that China's demonstration sports include Tibetan-protester bashing and the security-police biathlon (they run to where protesters are gathered, then shoot guns)?
The tank-catching event will be held in Tiananmen Square this summer.
The Dalai Lama has said he'll have to step down if protesters get violence, but really, he had to say it. Truth is, no one would have listened to Ghandi until it was clear his nonviolence was the only alternative to a lot of very real anti-British violence.
Besides, he was picked to be Lama when he was 2 because he was someone's reincarnation. How exactly do you resign from that?
Also this summer in China, the smog-choked runner's marathon; the pollution-choked waterway individual medley; and a special gymnastics event in which the little girls on the US team will challenge Chinese children in making toys for Mattel.
There's some buzz about a boycott, which would be pointless. The world decided the Olympics should be held in a Communist dictatorship which values basic freedoms almost as much as the air we're now worried the athletes have to breath. Is any of this really a surprise?
Just because you have 'free trade' with it doesn't mean a country is free.
The tank-catching event will be held in Tiananmen Square this summer.
The Dalai Lama has said he'll have to step down if protesters get violence, but really, he had to say it. Truth is, no one would have listened to Ghandi until it was clear his nonviolence was the only alternative to a lot of very real anti-British violence.
Besides, he was picked to be Lama when he was 2 because he was someone's reincarnation. How exactly do you resign from that?
Also this summer in China, the smog-choked runner's marathon; the pollution-choked waterway individual medley; and a special gymnastics event in which the little girls on the US team will challenge Chinese children in making toys for Mattel.
There's some buzz about a boycott, which would be pointless. The world decided the Olympics should be held in a Communist dictatorship which values basic freedoms almost as much as the air we're now worried the athletes have to breath. Is any of this really a surprise?
Just because you have 'free trade' with it doesn't mean a country is free.
Sometimes the Bear eats you
Here's what no one's said about the Bear Stearns sweet deal:
Last Friday, thousands or millions of everyday investors, people counting on 401(k)s and IRAs for their future, owned shares of Bear still worth more than $30.
If JP Morgan had decided Monday to try a buyout, it would have had to go to the market, and those folks might have gotten, oh, $27, $25, $21 -- something.
Instead, the Fed and JPM cut a deal over a weekend and decide the shares will be worth just $2. That adds up to a couple hundred million for those shareholders. Bear Stearns' building alone is worth much more than that.
Is this the way the market is supposed to work? Because if it is, we shouldn't put a dime into stocks, because the Fed can decide to write your stocks off tomorrow and hand the company you own to someone else for pennies on the dollar.
Simply amazing. The government didn't act this fast to bailout Katrina victims.
Last Friday, thousands or millions of everyday investors, people counting on 401(k)s and IRAs for their future, owned shares of Bear still worth more than $30.
If JP Morgan had decided Monday to try a buyout, it would have had to go to the market, and those folks might have gotten, oh, $27, $25, $21 -- something.
Instead, the Fed and JPM cut a deal over a weekend and decide the shares will be worth just $2. That adds up to a couple hundred million for those shareholders. Bear Stearns' building alone is worth much more than that.
Is this the way the market is supposed to work? Because if it is, we shouldn't put a dime into stocks, because the Fed can decide to write your stocks off tomorrow and hand the company you own to someone else for pennies on the dollar.
Simply amazing. The government didn't act this fast to bailout Katrina victims.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Middle Class Need Not Apply
From the AP:
After days of denials that it had liquidity problems, Bear was forced into a JPMorgan-led, government-backed bailout on Friday. The arrangement, the first of its kind since the 1930s, resulted in Bear getting a 28-day loan from JPMorgan with the government's guarantee that JPMorgan would not suffer any losses on the deal.
And the government wants me to worry about gay marriage?
After days of denials that it had liquidity problems, Bear was forced into a JPMorgan-led, government-backed bailout on Friday. The arrangement, the first of its kind since the 1930s, resulted in Bear getting a 28-day loan from JPMorgan with the government's guarantee that JPMorgan would not suffer any losses on the deal.
And the government wants me to worry about gay marriage?
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Me Too!
I can't help it. I wanna bag on Elliot, too. It's just too easy.
Actually, we're OK with married men hiring hookers. That Repub in Louisana did that and he's still on the public's payroll.
We're not OK with:
- Laziness. Jesus, take a lesson from organized crime; USE CASH! Is it that hard to do?
- Unsafe sex. THAT was the thing that was so emotionally disturbing.
The real hero here?
Kristin.
An 18-year-old hooker was ready to tell the Governor of New York, "Look, you either wear a condom, or take your hardon and walk."
Prosecute her? Hell no! Kristin for President, I say. She'll have the same background, ethics and do the same thing as McCain, but at least she'll be nicer to look at.
Actually, we're OK with married men hiring hookers. That Repub in Louisana did that and he's still on the public's payroll.
We're not OK with:
- Laziness. Jesus, take a lesson from organized crime; USE CASH! Is it that hard to do?
- Unsafe sex. THAT was the thing that was so emotionally disturbing.
The real hero here?
Kristin.
An 18-year-old hooker was ready to tell the Governor of New York, "Look, you either wear a condom, or take your hardon and walk."
Prosecute her? Hell no! Kristin for President, I say. She'll have the same background, ethics and do the same thing as McCain, but at least she'll be nicer to look at.
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