All the news I feel like posting, when the mood strikes me, or when a news event grabs the attention of my obtuse, twisted mind, and I can think of a relevant, or witty, or sarcastic, or skeptical, or off-color, or paranoid comment to attach to the headline/blurb.
j jackson, editor-at-large
(nope. they haven't caught me yet.)
j jackson, editor-at-large
(nope. they haven't caught me yet.)
KILL THE MESSENGER A northern Nigerian state announces a fatwa decree encouraging Muslims to kill a reporter because his story about the Miss World pageant led to death-causing riots. [CNN] {Some clever wannabe reporter somewhere should issue a press fatwa urging non-Muslims to kill the Mullah who issued the fatwa urging Muslims to kill the reporter. That's a sure claim to posthumous fame. I wonder if the U.S. would protect one its citizens like Britain protected Rushdie. I doubt it. Maybe if it were Tom Brokaw they might. But what about a more equivalent writer, like Norman Mailer?}
FAMOUS QUOTES Bill Clinton (Remember him?) "There are old scores to settle, Mrs. Clinton - about a million people who have died at the hands of the Butcher of Baghdad...This isn't a back-alley fight between two kids. This is for real, and there isn't time for a listening tour to make up your mind on where to stand."Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) {Yeah! We don't want to pollute our minds with all those facts we might get before we rush off to kill people. There just isn't any time for that kind of silly stuff.}
ANOTHER BROTHER "The U.S. government moves closer to one of the largest overhauls it's seen in 50 years as the Homeland Security Act sails through the House of Representatives." [Wired News] {Let's see. First we had the FBI and the CIA, and then we had the NSA. Do we really need another agency whose "mandate" will result in a further threat to our individual freedoms? They only want it because the other agencies are too entrenched to function properly or get rid of. Bush needs the Homeland Security Agency to counteract those who would interfere with his authority. It's a power trip, nothing more. Let's combine all these agencies into one, streamline it, and be done with it.}
ARMCHAIR GENERAL "The ugly idea that non-soldiers have less right to argue for war." (Hardball Newsletter) [Slate] {The logical extension of this idea is that only politicians who have been in the army should serve as President or on the various committees dealing with the armed services. And the logical extension of that idea is that the military should run the government. But I have a better idea. No one who has ever been in the military should be allowed to serve as president or on those committees. That might better effect the intention of the framers of the constitution who wanted control of the government and the military in civilian hands, George Washington notwithstanding. After all, he was reluctant to become president for fear of the power issue.}
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Martin Frost, Texas Democrat, while announcing his candidacy for the top House Democrat spot, criticizes his opponent (Pelosi): "I think that her politics are to the left, and I think that the party, to be successful, must speak to the broad center of the country. " [Wash. Times] {This is exactly the error that has cost the Dems the last two elections. Aren't they ever going to learn that (at least the appearance of) integrity is more important than politics? The GOP may be generally wrong, but at least they (look like they) adhere to their principles. The Dems look like they're waffling for votes by staying in the middle of the road (especially in the person of Gore).} |
Copyright (c) 2002
