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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
The American Prospect offers a hatchet review of Take it Back, the new book by Democratic hatchet men James Carville and Paul Begala.
The review comes from a "more radically leftist than thou" perspective and savages the authors' more mainstream approaches to electoral politics. As such, it's not very enlightening. But I did find this critique right on the mark: It starts with the book's cover. The two of them are standing there in the photo, very seriously, attempting to look like a couple of gunmen and succeeding only at looking like the two toughest guys in Human Resources. Picture here.
You can't really call it a clash of civilizations since we are talking about monkeys here, but the infidels at Infinite Monkeys have certainly kicked up a Shiite storm with their recent series of posts daring to depict the Prophet Mohammed:
-All Your Image Are Belong To Us -The Left Hook is For Infidels Only -Moo-Hammad: Udderly Ridiculous (my fav) -Mo-HAM-med: The Porcine Prophet -Moo-Hammed? Reading some of the comments at the posts (assuming they are real), you have to wonder how "infinite" this group of simians will turn out to be. The Monkey's shrieking of course was precipitated by the real story of Jihad Against Danish Newspaper: Islam is no laughing matter. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten is being protected by security guards and several cartoonists have gone into hiding after the newspaper published a series of twelve cartoons (see them all here, halfway the article) about the prophet Muhammad. According to the Islam it is blasphemous to make images of the prophet. Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to bomb the paper's offices and kill the cartoonists. The newspaper published the cartoons when a Danish author complained that he could find no-one to illustrate his book about Muhammad. Jyllands-Posten wondered whether there were more cases of self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark and asked twelve illustrators to draw the prophet for them. Carsten Juste, the paper's editor, said the cartoons were a test of whether the threat of Islamic terrorism had limited the freedom of expression in Denmark. Intolerant Muslims? Who would have thunk it?
The state of the conservative union is strong. At least it is if you measure it's health by the number of nationally prominent speakers in town tonight spreading the good word:
Michael Medved in Hopkins Jonah Goldberg at the University of Minnesota Dinesh D'Souza up at St. John's University. Heck, we'll even throw in anti-political correctness agitator, Camile Paglia at the Edina Barnes & Noble. And of course, there's a little something called the State of the Union address tonight, by the President of the United Sates. For the liberals, options for watching their hopes and ideals articulated tonight appear to be slim. The best chance might be CSPAN reruns of the failed Alito filibuster attempt. Failing that, maybe Dirty Jobs, tonight on Discovery. That sounds like a good spot to catch failed judicial filibuster attempts as well. The Elder Adds: I understand that Atomizer is feeling very conflicted today. He had his heart set on live-blogging the State of the Union like its never been live-blogged before. He was going to live-blog the hell out of it and set a new standard for live-blogging that few could ever hope to emulate. But he's attending tonight's Patriot Forum with Michael Medved and so will miss the SOTU. Oh well, there's always next year. Those of you looking forward to Atomizer's ground-breaking live-blogging performance will just have to settle for Captain Ed.
Many on the left are getting excited over the prospect that there may be photos in existence showing President Bush standing next to discredited lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The chills and swooning they are experiencing is best summarized by this Time magazine teaser:
TIME has seen five photographs of Abramoff and the President that suggest a level of contact between them that Bush's aides have downplayed. While TIME's source refused to provide the pictures for publication, they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them. And that has been a fear of the Bush team's for the past several months: that a picture of the President with the admitted felon could become the iconic image of direct presidential involvement in a burgeoning corruption scandal like the shots of President Bill Clinton at White House coffees for campaign contributors in the mid-1990s. Maybe, maybe not. I doubt it, though Time can dare to dream. And while I don't support the guilt-by-association smear campaign being waged by Time, sometimes fire needs to be fought with fire. After all, what is truly the more odious social mingling - the President hanging out with a guy accused of purchasing political favors. Or a US Representative hanging out with a murderous dictator bent on world destruction? Yes, here is Rep. Betty McCollum laughing it up with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Or is it Betty McCollum laughing it up with St. Paul City Councilperson Debbie Montgomery? It's hard to say. Does this mean McCollum is complicit in facilitating the proliferation of nuclear weapons to rogue states? I doubt it. As we all know, sometimes you just end up full-body embracing a brutal tyrant at a cocktail party. No crime in that. In related news, Brokeback Mountain scores eight Academy Award nominations.
More on fact-checking in the publishing industry in today's Wall Street Journal (free for all this time):
Even though the scandal has rocked the book business, publishers and literary agents say that employing fact-checkers is impracticable. But all of the textbooks published by Pearson PLC's Pearson Education unit are fact-checked, said spokeswoman Wendy Spiegel. The Pearson unit issues several thousand new textbooks each year, she said. Textbooks are a particularly profitable segment of the book business. "We fact-check them because we stand behind the integrity of our content," Ms. Spiegel said. "We couldn't afford not to have fact-checkers." April Hattori, a spokeswoman for McGraw-Hill Education, the textbook arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., said all of its textbooks are fact-checked. "Our goal is to ensure accuracy, she said. The same goes for many other nonfiction books for kids. "Every book we publish is fact-checked," said E. Russell Primm III, president of Editorial Directions Inc., in Chicago, which produces an estimated 300 titles a year for educational publishers. Mr. Primm said his eight-year-old company creates series for publishers, hiring the writers, copy editing the books and providing the art. He employs a small army of free-lance fact-checkers. The books involved are relatively short, ranging from 120 words for a preschooler to 60,000 words for a high-school text. "The argument about not having enough time or money to fact-check is ridiculous," Mr. Primm said. At The Child's World Inc., a Chanhassen, Minn., publisher specializing in preschool through grade three, Mary Berendes, director of production, said that all 200 titles published annually are fact-checked. "We started using fact-checkers three or four years ago because librarians would call and say this or that date is wrong," Ms. Berendes said. One veteran full-time fact-checker, Peter Garnham, said that some publishers pay by the hour; others pay a flat fee per title. He rarely gets more than $500 to $600 per title. Mr. Garnham said he works for eight publishing houses, mostly vetting children's nonfiction. Though he has offered his services to major New York publishers of books targeting adults, he has so far been rebuffed. "In terms of the cost of publishing, it's not that expensive," Mr. Garnham said. People often say that you can't put a price on your integrity and reputation. Many in the publishing world apparently have done just that and decided that maintaining them are just not worth the cost. Monday, January 30, 2006
Don e-mails to report that while James from Folsom may know his prisons, his orienteering leaves a bit to be desired:
Great post... However, James from Folsom has led you down the wrong path. Windsor isn't north of Detroit - it's actually due south. So they are friendly neighbors to the south, not north. But, that might confuse other people who might then confuse Windsor with Mexico. Ahh, the problems with geography. (Just like how Miami is west of Pittsburgh and Reno is west of Los Angeles) Get the podcast up and running...can't always listen in via the net out here in "too blue" Seattle in "too blue" Washington.
To put a new spin on an old yarn...
If the world were going to end tomorrow, the headlines in the MSM would say: World To End Tomorrow. Reporters and Photojournalists Hardest Hit.
The next time you scurry off to pick up the latest gripping memoir recommended by The Dear One (her cult of personality following is rather Kim Jong-Il like), you might want to keep the following in mind. Today's WSJ (subscription required) reports that Publishers Say Fact-Checking Is Too Costly:
Indeed, many members of the publishing industry have rallied around Ms. Talese and Random House, saying that they would have published "A Million Little Pieces" as well and could have been duped just as easily. Unlike journalists, publishers have never seen it as their purview to verify that the information in nonfiction books is true. Editors and publishers say the profit-margins in publishing don't allow for hiring fact-checkers. Instead, they rely on authors to be honest, and on their legal staffs to avoid libels suits. "An author brings a manuscript saying it represents the truth, and that relationship is one of trust," says Ms. Talese. What was Reagan's line on such relationships? Trust but verify. There are two things that I find striking here. The first is that the publishing industry would use profit margins as an excuse for not delivering what they promised to customers (in this case a non-fiction book). Boo frickin' hoo. Every company must deal with profit margins. Can you imagine how this would explanation would fly in other industries? How about Halliburton? Sorry about sending rat milk instead of real milk to the troops in Iraq, but you know we have profit margins to consider. Or Northwest Airlines? We deeply regret having that engine fall off our airplane, but with the slim profit margins in the airline industry we just can't afford to maintain our aircraft. The other thing that is surprising is the apparently almost complete lack of fact-checking by publishers. While I would probably not expect a publisher to check every fact in a book, especially a memoir where I understand that some latitude is given, I would have thought that they at least check SOME of the facts. How much time and cost would it take to randomly fact-check? If an author was told before submitting their final manuscript that someone would be performing a random fact-check and that there was an expectation that what the author had written was true (a crazy concept for non-fiction), I have a hunch that most writers would keep it real. In high school, the mere possibility that teachers will check out the references that you cite in term papers is usually enough to ensure compliance. But now there is a growing chorus both inside and outside the industry calling for publishers to take more steps to validate the authenticity of works that are marketed as nonfiction. "This is a breach of ethics, and who addresses that, whether it's the editor, the agent, or the publisher's legal counsel, is yet to be determined," says Lorraine Shanley, a principal in the industry consulting firm Market Partners International Inc. Nice to someone addressing the ethics of the situation. Others think that the power and influence of television, especially forces like The Dear One, bear part of the blame: Other nonfiction authors say the James Frey incident illustrates that publishers in general are devoting far more resources to marketing books than editing them. "There's less editorial process now, dramatically, compared to 25 years ago," says David Halberstam, author of "The Best and the Brightest" and numerous other titles. "All the money goes into marketing to get books onto television." He says that publishers' desire to get authors onto broadcasts like Ms. Winfrey's has even changed the type of book that publishers want. "A fiction writer can't do that, but a memoirist can," he says. Now that Random House knows that "A Million Little Pieces" is in large part fiction rather than fact, surely they will step up and do the right thing by having nothing to do with further propagating Frey's fabrications, right? Surely you jest: Last week, the publisher issued a statement saying, "We bear a responsibility for what we publish, and apologize to the reading public for any unintentional confusion surrounding the publication of 'A Million Little Pieces.'" In an interview, Ms. Talese said, "We will continue to print the book as long as there is public demand for it." Never let the truth get in the way of incremental sales.
Last week, Lileks directed us to Louisville Courier-Journal and their so called "Public Editor" column written by Pam Platt. The subject, her reaction to complaints her paper received regarding their selective, therapeutic editing of Ray Naggin's racially charged comments about restoring New Orleans as "Chocolate City". In summary, the editors willfully changed a direct quote, changed the reality of the situation, in order to make it less offensive. By any "news" standard, an unpardonable sin.
But never underestimate the power of an MSM internal watchdog to pardon the unpardonable. And in Platt's column I recognized the familiar style of the Star Tribune's so called "Reader Representative" Kate Parry. That style, outlined and excerpted for your pleasure: 1) Cop to a lesser charge: It's not a monumental goof... We dropped a plate here; we didn't smash the china cabinet. Though the editor's personal sensibilities are to be admired, this time they did not serve the readers, or the newspaper, or journalism 2) Question and belittle the motives of the readers pointing out the error: but it's [an error] that fuels suspicions some readers have about the news media in general and this newspaper in particular. Also, his couching of the mayor's statements made the newspaper a target for familiar broadsides of bias In trying to address potential sensitivities of some readers by excising the controversial remark, it could be taken by other readers -- and believe me, it was -- that the newspaper was trying to cover or protect this particular public official from his own articulations. Finally, for those keeping score (and you know you're out there). 3) Mention how hard it is to work at a newspaper and characterize those who made the error as the real heroes of the story. One more thing about copy editors: They are the mostly unsung heroes and heroines of daily journalism. They spin a lot of important plates in a very short amount of time, and on deadline to boot. Theirs is a difficult job and their efforts go mostly unnoticed when they do the job right, and keep all those plates spinning -- which is most of the time. So they're not gatekeepers, they're plate spinners. That explains a lot. As does this candid photo of a recent Star Tribune editorial staff meeting. The similarities between the Louisville and Minneapolis public editors may seem astounding. (And for Parry's latest text book carbon copy, see her column from yesterday.) But less so when you realize that both were plucked from the same insular, conformist journalistic culture that produces the reporters and editors they are supposed to be watch dogging. By the volume of praise they relentlessly heap on their colleagues, it is a culture they admire and very much wish to sustain. So we shouldn't be surprised that the work they produce is more on the level of damage control and public relations than as good faith advocates for the concerns of the readers.
The second most frequently asked question about the Northern Alliance Radio Network concerns Podcasting. We get a lot of queries about Podcasting, usually along the lines of "Hey, when are you a-holes gonna set up Podcasts of the show?"
The answer is soon, very soon. The wheels are in motion and we hope to be able to have it set up in a matter of weeks. Archives of past shows will also be available. Oh, the answer to the first most frequently asked about the NARN? Yes, Saint Paul does look as sexy as he sounds. Labels: NARN (06-07) Sunday, January 29, 2006
It was a terrific experience interviewing the great Victor Davis Hanson yesterday and he was typically insightful and provocative in analyzing our enemies of today through the lens of history. For those who missed it, you have one more chance to hear it on the Northern Alliance Radio Network Replay - tonight starting at 9 PM (central) on AM1280 the Patriot and on the station's web stream.
It is interesting to note that VDH is currently a Senior Fellow at Stanford University. The same institution of higher learning responsible for producing VH1 smirk meister and LA Times columnist Joel Stein. As you may recall, Stein was responsible for producing the now infamous column where he attempted to bring VH1 level sarcastic petulance to the subject of whether or not the people on the home front should support our soldiers in fighting in Iraq. With hilarious intended consequences: I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on. The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying. I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea. All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades. Seriously, the traffic is insufferable. Ha! The sarcastic, above-it-all tone of this column makes me wonder if Stein was using it to audition for a new VH1 series, I Love the Liberals. You could get Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, and for laughs, throw in that that guy who looks like Martin Zellar (or maybe Martin Zellar himself). It could be a big hit, at least in certain sniffing sectors of the urban core. It is bittersweet to speculate on how it might have all worked out differently, if only Joel Stein as a pimply, pompous undergrad could have taken a class taught by Professor Victor Davis Hanson. For then he might have learned something about war and sacrifice and the honor earned by the men who serve and fight for us, whether we approve of them or not. But, luckily for Stein (and for us products of public schools), it's never to late to learn. And VDH's new book is a good place to start. Relevant excerpts on supporting the troops from A War Like No Other: For a writer who is supposedly interested in power rather than tragedy, Thucydides misses no occasion to note how heartbreaking the losses of particular armies were. What seems to capture the historian's attention is not, as is so often claimed, the role of force in interstate relations but the misery of war that is unleashed upon thousands, the subject of this book, who must fight it. Thucydides sometimes opines that a particular campaign was wise or foolish, but he nearly always adds enough detail and editorializing to convey to us that the soldiers who believed in the cause for which they were dying deserved commemoration in term that matched their sacrifice. Whereas historians search for messages about the "lessons" of Thucydides embedded within his text, the general reader has no problem in sensing immediately what his history is about precisely from those memorable passages that will never go away, reminding us of the passions and furor that are unleashed on otherwise normal men when they go to war. Such recognition is not necessarily cause for pacifism, rather, to Thucydides it calls for acceptance that thousands will end up rotten in little know places ... But between emotion and logic resides the fate of thousands of mostly unknown ... who will surely then and now be asked to settle through violence what words alone cannot. Remember them, for the Peloponnesian War was theirs alone. And, of course, the same can be said for America's experience in the Iraq war. A little less time with VH1 and little more with VDH might help Joel Stein and the rest of the non-troop supporting Left understand this. Labels: Iraq Saturday, January 28, 2006
Mark Yost had a piece in yesterday Wall Street Journal on the economic impact of hosting the Super Bowl that asks Will Detroit Be the Loser?:
Indeed, Detroit natives are watching in amazement as their city, long the poster child for urban decay, has undertaken a massive effort to clean itself up for the 100,000 out-of-town guests expected for Super Bowl XL. Major highways have been repaved, long-abandoned buildings have been demolished, and there's a plan to get the homeless off the streets for Super Bowl weekend, Feb. 3-5 -- all at a cost of about $100 million in public and private money. The NFL and the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee put the projected payoff at about $300 million, which would make the investment seem reasonable. But that's a fiscal Hail Mary that's never likely to result in a touchdown. Or so say a bevy of sports economists who argue that the economic impact of the Super Bowl is as hyped as the halftime show. "The NFL says $300 million, but I'd say it's closer to $50 million," says Allen Sanderson, a University of Chicago economist. What's a couple of hundred million dollars between friends? Another problem with measuring the true economic impact of the Bowl is figuring out how much money actually stays in the local economy. "The athletes, the chain hotels and restaurants receive money from the Super Bowl and take the money out of the area," notes King Banaian, economics chairman at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. "This reduces the impact on the local economy." [Spicoli] I know that dude. [/Spicoli] "They swipe the credit card in Detroit, but that's about all Detroit will see of that money," says Prof. Porter. Furthermore, he argues that higher hotel rates and occupancy have more of an impact on hotel investors in Riyadh than on taxpayers in Detroit. Let's at least hope that visitors to Detroit will patronize the local working girls. Those of us in Minneapolis know all too well what a blow to civic pride it can be when out of town talent is imported for such pursuits. Yes, I'm looking at you Fred Smoot. UPDATE--James from Folsom e-mails to report that while the Super Bowl may not help Detroit economically, the sex trade in Windsor, Ontario is primed for a surge in business: Apparently, nearby Windsor, Ontario, has some of the finest strip clubs in North America, and they are bringing in "out-of-town talent" to supplement their, um, talent. With Windsor just a short drive over the Ambassador Bridge or through the tunnel, I can see a lot of Super Bowl money boosting the economy of our friendly neighbors to the north. Not sure that seems right. James was also kind enough to send along some links as well. Super Bowl, meet Super Sin City: According to the Windsor police, the city could see more than 100,000 visitors over Super Bowl weekend. And no sector is more prepared than its vice peddlers: its casinos, its escort services and, in particular, its renowned strip clubs, collectively known as The Windsor Ballet. It's a bounty of riches that has led newspapers south of the border to dub the town "Sin City." Windsor hopes Super Bowl can show it's more than just sin: Prostitution and gambling are legal, naked ladies dance in strip clubs and Cuban cigars are for sale in shops along the main street. It's hard to dispute that many of the 100,000 Super Bowl fans expected in Detroit next month will visit this border city for some sinful delight. 'Detroit News' Report on Border Town as 'Sin City' Upsets Mayor: Windsor, Ontario's mayor and downtown business officials are upset with a Detroit News article that pointed out something well-known to many male visitors with an expense account: The Canadian border town permits sex-for-money escort services, sells Cuban cigars, and is home to some acclaimed strip clubs. The object of their ire is a Jan. 1 report by News business writer Louis Aguilar headlined, "Is Windsor the Super Sin City?/Canadian town's sex trade may lure game revelers to cross border." "The testosterone-charged throngs of Super Bowl XL may temporarily turn this pleasant border town into Sin City North," Aguilar wrote. "There are things you can get in Windsor that you cannot legally get in Metro Detroit. Cuban cigars. All-nude strip clubs. Sex for money." In anticipation of Super Bowl crowds, the story reported, Havana Heaven and other retailers are stocking hundreds of extra Cuban cigars. The News said the all-nude clubs known in the region as the "Windsor Ballet" are also gearing up for a big week: "Clubs like Cheetah's of Windsor say women from around the world have been applying in droves to bare it all and dance during Super Bowl week." Escort services reported that they received requests for reservations beginning more than a year ago, according to the News. While street solicitation of prostitution is illegal, sex-for-money arrangements through "escort services" is legal in Windsor. The article quoted the owner of four all-nude clubs as saying Super Bowl week is "like a dream" for his and similar vice businesses. Windsor super for sin, U.S. fans told American sports fans are beginning to talk up the perfect weekend in a foreign city--football, Cuban cigars and sex for money. Hell, why not just cut to the chase (and save the tunnel ride) and have the Super Bowl in Windsor?
Today's local broadcasting on AM1280 the Patriot promises be as stimulating as ever - and I'm not just talking about the Paul Rubin ads for the White Bear Lake Super Store.
Once again, the Northern Alliance has expanded to 4 full hours, now running from 11 AM - 3 PM (central time). The first two hours will feature Chad the Elder, John Hinderaker and myself, discussing (tentatively) the latest developments in the so called "domestic spying" by the Bush administration and updates in the Alito confirmation hearings. In the noon hour, we're honored to be joined by Victor Davis Hanson, the distinguished Classics professor, National Review columnist, and author. We'll be discussing his latest book, A War Like No Other: How Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War and the lessons history can teach us about modern military and foreign policy challenges. From 1 - 3 PM, it will be King Banaian, Captain Ed Morrissey, and Mitch Berg. And don't forget the new lead in broadcast for the Northern Alliance, called the Patriot Insider. this week it is hosted by Craig Westover of the Pioneer Press and Patrick Campion. And it will feature the Doctor Evil of the St. Paul bar and restaurant scene, smoking ban architect and City Council Person Dave Thune. The complete schedule (all times Central): 9 AM - 11 AM The Patriot Insider 11 AM - 1 PM NARN Volume I 1 PM - 3 PM NARN Volume II Catch it locally at AM1280 the Patriot and world-wide on the Web stream (link available on the station web site). Don't you dare miss it! Labels: NARN (06-07) Friday, January 27, 2006
Air America Minnesota Radio host Wendy Wilde, commenting at the recent Blue State Ball:
"[It's] the opportunity for people feeling overwhelmed by right-wing domination of the media, it almost seems like a takeover of thought in America, to refuse to give in and to get together and celebrate that not only are [liberals] coming back, but we're going to take both Minnesota and the United States back from the extremist right-wingers." Alas, she should have spent less time worrying about the extremist right wingers and more time worrying about the extremist mold spores. Breaking news, her show is off the air: So that misinformation doesn't go around, I want to tell you why I decided to leave the show to look for other opportunities. The studios are located in a mold-infested basement, and management had a construction crew tear out the moldy basement walls and carpet, but that actually threw mold spores into the air and the mold dust is everywhere. Hepa filters helped some but I continue to get sick. For the first 8 months my office was in the same moldy basement so I was spending 8-9 hours a day in the moldy air, and I have developed an extreme allergic reaction to mold. Sounds like right-wing allergies to me. In any regard, we wish Wendy Wilde the best. The airwaves won't be the same without her. Recalling this quote: And I'm not really White, I'm beige At the very least, they'll be more colorful.
Tomorrow's local broadcasting on AM1280 the Patriot promises be as stimulating as ever - and I'm not just talking about the Paul Rubin ads for the White Bear Lake Super Store.
Once again, the Northern Alliance has expanded to 4 full hours, now running from 11 AM - 3 PM (central time). The first two hours will feature Chad the Elder, John Hinderaker and myself, discussing (tentatively) the latest developments in the so called "domestic spying" by the Bush administration and updates in the Alito confirmation hearings. In the noon hour, we're honored to be joined by Victor Davis Hanson, the distinguished Classics professor, National Review columnist, and author. We'll be discussing his latest book, A War Like No Other: How Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War and the lessons history can teach us about modern military and foreign policy challenges. From 1 - 3 PM, it will be King Banaian, Captain Ed Morrissey, and Mitch Berg. And don't forget the new lead in broadcast for the Northern Alliance, called the Patriot Insider. this week it is hosted by Craig Westover of the Pioneer Press and Patrick Campion. And it will feature the Doctor Evil of the St. Paul bar and restaurant scene, smoking ban architect and City Council Person Dave Thune. The complete schedule (all times Central): 9 AM - 11 AM The Patriot Insider 11 AM - 1 PM NARN Volume I 1 PM - 3 PM NARN Volume II Catch it locally at AM1280 the Patriot and world-wide on the Web stream (link available on the station web site). Don't you dare miss it! Labels: NARN (06-07)
Once you turn off the highway, it's easy to lose your bearings. There aren't many landmarks other than the surrounding mountains. The partially washed out roads and scattered buildings are almost indistinguishable. As we bounced along in a Suburban whose shocks had long since ceased to absorb, I finally realized that Alex was using the overhead power lines to guide us to the Casa Hogar Misericordia Orphanage outside Chihuahua, Mexico.
We arrived just before dusk last Thursday, having learned the hard way on our last visit that you don't want to be looking for it after dark. The truck was packed with supplies that we had picked up earlier in the day. Included among them were a few items that you might not find at your typical Wal-Mart in the States: crates of tomatoes crates of potatoes crates of onions crates of fruit cilantro beans 80lb bags of sugar large boxes of eggs mayonnaise cheese shampoo soap rubbing alcohol disinfectant band-aids aspirin anti-diarrhea medicine a ton of other prescription medications too numerous to list vitamins toothpaste tooth brushes lotion bleach crayons coloring books markers notebooks sticker books The Chronicles of Narnia series (en Espanol of course) candy jump rope soccer balls footballs volleyballs play balls air pumps Sorry, got a little carried away there. Suffice it to say that we brought a lot of stuff with us. All told it was around $1400 worth of goods. We also donated $600 for them to use for heating fuel. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible. Right now the orphanage is paying close to $500 a month to heat their water and keep the buildings warm. Because of the cost, they try to minimize the heating as much as possible. A recent donation of a fleece blanket for every bed helps them in that regard. But for the foreseeable future, paying the fuel bill will be an on-going challenge. Another challenge is keeping the clothes clean. With nearly one-hundred kids, ranging in age from five to eighteen, they have a lot of dirty laundry to deal with. And right now the orphanage is down to one working washing machine. It is one of those commercial models that can handle large loads, but, just to keep up, they need to have it running pretty much around the clock. This is an specific area that we may try to assist with in a future effort. One of the most critical needs facing the proprietors, Fidel Rubio and his wife Marianna, is to get a clinic set up. With close to one-hundred children in close quarters, you can imagine that containing the outbreak of various illnesses is a constant problem. When many of the children arrive at the orphanage, they have been living without adequate food or shelter for months (and years) and suffer from a variety of physical ailments. Fidel would like to devote space in the clinic to nurse these children to health before they join the general population. They would also like to have a place to store and dispense medicine and carry out check-ups when doctors come out to the orphanage. Construction of the clinic has begun as you can see from this picture:  But they still need windows, flooring, a roof, and electrical work before it can be used. Fidel estimates that the cost to complete the clinic is roughly $5000 (US). There are a number of areas where the orphanage has made improvements since our last visit. They managed to acquire a newer (although certainly not new) and much more reliable school bus. One of the boys dorms has a new tile floor and roof. And the bathrooms throughout the facility have been redone. There are more books in the library and study center and they even have a few very old PCs for the kids to work on. As I have mentioned before, there are a number of churches in the U.S. that support the orphanage. For the first time, I noticed a quilt that hangs on the library wall. If you look closely, you can see that it was from the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arvada, Colorado. But the most impressive thing that you notice when you visit the Casa Hogar Misercorida Orphanage is not physical. It's the faith, spirit, love and commitment to the children displayed by the Rubio's and the staff. You can witness the way that their efforts have paid off by the organization and cleanliness of the facility and the behavior of the kids. The children are playful and usually happy, but also disciplined and well-behaved. When we pulled up with a truck full of goodies and the kids helped us to unload, I expected them to immediately break out the new balls and dip into the candy. Instead they did exactly what Marianna asked them to do with the supplies. With the exception of a couple of coloring books that she allowed a few of the younger girls to peruse, everything else was carefully stored. Toys, balls, books, cleaning supplies, and medicine went into the office to be sorted and dispersed later and the food went to the kitchen. All this was done with little or no whining from the kids and without Marianna ever having to raise her voice. I suppose that when you're trying to raise one-hundred children in a confined space, the only way to survive is with organization, routine, and discipline (and a healthy dose of love), but it's still striking to see it for yourself. Another memorable moment from this visit was when we had the privilege of hearing one of the older children, a girl of fourteen or fifteen, recite a couple of speeches that had won her a top spot in a state forensics competition. I could not comprehend most of what she was saying, but her flawlessly delivered, passionate performance broke through the language barrier and was truly moving. She appears to has a natural talent for the stage and I could imagine her becoming quite an actress some day. I was told later than one speech dealt with a criminal's pleading in court and the other was a lamentation asking where the hands of God (las manos de Dios) were in a world so full of pain suffering. At the end of the speech, the answer emerges that the hands of God are our hands and it's up to us to see that his work is done in this world. An appropriate message indeed. Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage
Jay Nordlinger, from National Review, is once again attending the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. His commentary on the meetings is, as always, insightful and delightful. Here's his latest dispatch on a speech by Angela Merkel:
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been an amazing performance. Again, all of this may sound elementary to you--but it's astounding, in the context of Davos, and of "Old Europe" generally. As a (right-leaning) buddy of mine remarks, Merkel, in her speech, said "freedom" about a hundred times. And she was amazingly self-critical--critical of her own country, critical of countries that have pursued a similar path. She didn't blame America once, for anything. There was no self-pity, no excuse-making, no self-congratulation. No resentment, no whining, no petulance. Just clear, sweet thought. Watch this lady, and see if she can get creaking European machinery moving, just a bit. Day One Day Two
We had a meeting at work today for people who travel internationally to discuss what might happen if there was a widespread outbreak of avian flu. The bottom line is that if you happen to be in another country when the pandemic levee breaks, you could be left high and dry and not be allowed to return to the US. Possibly for an extended length of time. Be sure to throw an pair of underwear in your bag.
No one who read Saint Paul's widely-heralded tale of free burrito fever would be surprised to learn that Chipotle Mexican Grill's IPO sizzles:
The debut of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.'s stock yesterday was spicier than a three-alarm hot sauce, overshadowing strong openings by two other new issues. The burrito chain opened at $45 and was at $44 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, double its initial public offering price of $22. From his stomach to your portfolio. What's for lunch today, Saint Paul? UPDATE--A man who knows a thing or two about greed and gluttony, The Nihilist In Golf Pants, e-mails to lament missing a chance to climb aboard the burrito bandwagon: I heard about the IPO on my drive in this morning. I had no idea they were doing an IPO. I'm not saying I would have bought, but I sure wish I had been aware so I could crunch some numbers. I have talked to dozens of people about Chipotle and I can only think of a handful that don't absolutely love the place. I believe they could sell their burritos for an extra buck or two without losing many customers. Another missed opportunity. Or perhaps another Krispy Kreme? Only time and the ravenous appetites of men like Saint Paul and The Nihilist will tell. Thursday, January 26, 2006
Today Oprah Winfrey reportedly addressed the James Frey situation, and the overall quality of her programming:
"I feel duped," she said. "I don't know what is true and I don't know what isn't" On the bright side, with qualifications like that, she may be getting a call from the Star Tribune when they decide they need a few more layers of editors. To be fair, you have to give credit to Ms. Winfrey for standing up and taking responsibility for her most public of mistakes. That's something you'll never see from the likes of Mary Mapes, Jim Boyd, Kate Parry, etc. Oprah even gives an apology, sort of: I gave the impression that the truth does not matter," Ms. Winfrey said. "I made a mistake." To all of the viewers who called and wrote to her telling her she was wrong to allow Mr. Frey to maintain that his book reflected the "essential truth" of his life even though substantial details were falsified, Ms. Winfrey said, "You are absolutely right." We accept her apology. And as long as she's opening up the veins, maybe a few more overdue apologies will be on their way for other broadcasting frauds: The Police Chief of New Orleans on babies being raped in the Superdome Leonardo DiCaprio on global warming Presidential candidate Al Gore, on being a successful, sensitive, middle-aged professional who really, really loves his wife Oprah's Book Club Fleece Throw (Although that last one sounds like an appropriate premium for anyone conned into buying Frey's book based on Oprah's recommendation). I'll also accept an advance apology for tomorrow's show, summarized on her web site as: A passionate affair. Two gorgeous men in love. It's the movie everyone is buzzing about. Ah, James Frey, if you'd only have added a couple of gay cowboys to your story, you'd still be the toast of day time TV.
The Dear One, (Oprah Winfrey) now says she was duped by author James Frey and his outrageous lies in the book "A Million Little Pieces".
"I made a mistake," a somber Winfrey said at the opening of the live show, "and I left the impression that the truth does not matter, and I am deeply sorry about that because that is not what I believe." But what about when Oprah called into Larry King's show a few scant weeks ago to defend Frey. Saint Paul wrote at the time: A second caller: James, I love your book and I fully support you. Do you think Oprah will support you, too? This was a theme throughout the show, anxious speculation on how Oprah would react to the fact that she was conned into personally perpetrating a fraud on the American public. Never one to miss out on a chance for drama, right as the show was ending, the grand dame of emotional infotainment called in: KING: I'm going to hold the show a little longer because I understand we have Oprah on the phone. Let's see what she has to say. Are you there, my friend? WINFREY: Hello, Larry, how are you? KING: Hello, dear one, how are you doing? After King removed his lips from the studio camera lens, he got around to asking Oprah for her opinion on the matter at hand. Amid the rationalizations, blaming of others, excuses, and general gushing, she assured her audience: ... we support the book because we recognize that there have been thousands and hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been changed by this book. And, you know, one of the things James says in the book, for all the people who are going through any kind of addiction, is to hold on. And I just wanted to -- you know, I have been calling this number and it's been busy, trying to get through to say to all those people out there who have received hope from reading this book, keep holding on. So what of that call Oprah? The Chicago Tribune piece says: Oprah, who had helped the book reach 3.5 million in sales by choosing it for her book club in September, defended Frey during his Jan. 11 appearance on the Larry King Show on CNN. Today, she opened her show by saying, "I regret that phone call." Amazing. Guy lies. Oprah uncritically supports the lies. Irrefutable evidence is then presented that the lies were, well, lies. Oprah then supports the liar telling the lies in no uncertain terms. Then later, after some presumably taking some heat in focus groups for her complete lack of ethics, she turns around and says "Whoops, I made a mistake."
Compared to what's going down with the Liberal Party in Britain, the Jack Abramoff brouhaha seems rather tame. U.K. party hit by sex, lying and alcohol scandals:
Liberal Democrat leadership contender Simon Hughes acknowledged on Thursday he had had homosexual relationships, after twice having denied to newspapers that he was gay. "I am perfectly willing to say that I have had both homosexual and heterosexual relationships in the past," party president Hughes, 54, told the Sun. "I hope that does not disqualify me from doing a good job in public life and I propose to carry on doing that with the usual enthusiasm and determination," he told the tabloid. A little of the ol' usual enthusiasm and determination. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Know wot I mean? Last weekend, Mark Oaten, another one-time leadership candidate, quit as Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman after revelations of a relationship with a male prostitute. Hughes' announcement was the third major blow in the space of a month for the party. Something tells me the writer had to be smirking when scribbling that last line. Earlier in January, party leader Charles Kennedy resigned after admitting a drinking problem he had previously denied. At least no one can accuse the Liberal Party of not living up to their name. Hughes' acknowledgement of his homosexual past came just a week after he had denied being gay to The Independent newspaper. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday, Hughes said he was sorry for his comments to the newspaper. "I apologize if misled people, I apologize if I unintentionally gave the wrong impression. ...I had relations with women and men so stereotyping and pigeon-holing is not actually that easy," the MP said. Indeed. It is apparent that pigeon-holing Mr. Hughes is not easy at all. Hail Britannia.
Brewery looks forward to new rule:
It took a change in state law and an amendment to Duluth's city charter, but it appears that Lake Superior Brewing Co. will begin offering its microbrews directly to consumers by the growlerful in a matter of weeks. A growler is a 64-ounce container filled from a brewery tap, then sealed and sold for off-premises consumption. Although the Duluth City Council approved an off-sale malt liquor license for Lake Superior Brewing earlier this week, the brewery needs the blessing of the state liquor control board before it may proceed with its growler plans. Don Hoag, one of Lake Superior Brewing Co.'s owners, hopes selling growlers will increase the profile of his business and encourage more people to tour its production facilities in Duluth's West End/Lincoln Park neighborhood. He said the brewery has no intention to steal business from distributors of its bottled products. Minnesota has a lot of archiac liquor laws on the books and we should raise a glass whenever one of them is amended to reflect present day realities rather than the immediate post-Prohibition world when many of them were enacted. Lake Superior Brewing Co. produces a number of quality brews, my favorite being the Special Ale. If you get a chance to swing by the brewery, take a tour, and pick up a growler or two, I'd strongly encourage you to take it. Wednesday, January 25, 2006
A rather revealing photo essay from the March for Life held in San Francisco on Saturday.
Make sure you go all the way to the side-by-side comparisons on page 3. For a moment, forget the logical arguments and morality of the issue. Based on empirical criteria alone, who's side are you on?
A coupla weeks back, after I told my priest that I subscribed to First Things, he offered this revealing response:
"Almost all the priests and deacons I know read First Things. Well, at least the ones that I still speak to."
Is anyone else freaked out by Little Dick Enrico, the pint-sized protege for Second Wind Excerise's ad campaign?
Look at this. That just freaks me out, man. Here's another. What the hell is going on? And one more just in case you aren't weirded out yet. The sight of an infant with a fake mustache and toupee may be a little off-putting, but company President Dick Enrico knows what he's doing. A couple years ago the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting piece on him. He's had quite a go of things in his business life. Mr. Enrico was never short on ideas, but it took a long string of failures for the 64-year-old entrepreneur to learn how to create a lasting success. Throughout his 46 years as an entrepreneur, he has started about 20 businesses that have folded or been sold at fire-sale prices, including a water-bed retailer, a parking-lot striping service and a franchise that helped people quit smoking. One business, United Crane, sold vending machines with tiny cranes that picked up stuffed animals. In another, Mr. Enrico sold kits to make backyard-storage units through a company called Handihut. The pitch: "The storage solution to garage pollution." His water-bed stores, called Aqua Knight, promised customers that "a knight on water is a night to remember." All of the companies went under. This guy has wrecked more businesses than the smoking ban. But like a good American, he kept at it until he came upon the idea of selling used exercise equipment (he later added new equipment as well). This idea has now grown into a company that does $50 million a year in sales. Not bad for a former loser. But Little Dick still freaks me out. Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Mpls-St. Paul Magazine has conducted a survey of local hipsters. It's tough to decide which one of these folks you'd least like to have to spend ten minutes with. Pretentiousness? You're soaking in it.
Dreckless is the newest kid on the local political blogging block. Its contributors are Jonathan Blake and Corey Miltimore. I first met Corey years ago through SD44 activities and his name should be familiar to state Republicans as he recently completed a stint as Executive Director of the MN GOP.
Meanwhile, the newest member of the MOB (Minnesota Organization of Bloggers) is Dare2sayit. We haven't been able to confirm rumors that Luther Campbell is one of their contributors. Check out both sites when you get a chance. Monday, January 23, 2006
It seems like only yesterday we were all caught up in the excitement of the Star Tribune's marketing promotion for naming the new baby dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo. We are sad to report, that promotion now sleeps with the fishes.
Over the weekend, little Harley leapt to his death. Investigators are no doubt looking into the cause. Maybe it was an accident, as preliminary reports indicated. But could it have been a suicide? The pressure of being the Star Tribune dolphin must have been immense and we know the sad downward spiral of child stars in this culture. Or could foul play have been involved? Does anyone know the whereabouts of Pioneer Press columnist Craig Westover at the time of death? It seems to me a guy from a competing newspaper using the alias "Captain Fish Sticks" might have an interest in several hundred pounds of free fish meat. As CNN's Jack Cafferty is fond of saying, who knows? We'll let the authorities figure that one out. But we do know the need to promote newspaper sales never ceases, even in death. And what better way to market the usefulness of the Star Tribune than by wrapping Harley in copies of the front page from the last 6 months of before he is lowered into the ground? I can see that image in the TV commercials now. Voiceover: "The Star Tribune, serving you from cradle to grave." I think I smell a Clio award.
An article on the dearth of organ donations appeared in the Friday edition of the Wall Street Journal:
Despite years of publicity about the virtues of organ donation, the number of people who need transplants has been growing about five times faster than the rate of donations. Most new suggestions for closing this gap are controversial, particularly among professionals who administer or advise the national listing and matching program of the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS. But nobody denies that there is a tragic shortage of organs. In a way, the imbalance between supply and demand reflects a positive development. Before medical advances made more transplants of all kinds an option, many of those on a waiting list today would have died without hope. So far, however, scientists have not found a way around the basic imperative that organs be taken undamaged, and quickly, from their donors. And only about 15,000 people a year die in circumstances -- such as brain death after a car crash -- that make them suitable donors for life-saving transplants. Yet that number is not as small as it looks, because each of those people may have organs of use to several recipients -- including two separate kidneys. In any given year, there might even be enough organs to prevent the 6,700 or so waiting-list deaths that occur annually now. The real problem, experts say, is that many of the 15,000 do not become organ donors. No matter how often Americans tell pollsters that donating an organ is a wonderful thing, less than half the population has signed up -- say, on a driver's license -- to actually do so. When it falls to a family to decide after a loved one's death, only about 50% give permission. By some estimates, 20,000 transplantable organs are buried or cremated each year. I've never understood why people don't agree to have their organs donated. The idea that your death, as much of a bummer as it might be for you personally, could help prevent the death of another person would seem to make it a no-brainer. It's selfish to hold on to organs that aren't going to do you any good anymore. When you're dead, you're dead and that spleen ain't going to be of much help. Not only is the captain going down with the ship, he's taking the life rafts with him. In order to encourage more organ donors, one group is offering a practical reason to sign on: It's statistics like those that have led more than 3,500 people to join a nonprofit organization called LifeSharers. Each has signed a legal document authorizing the donation of his organs and -- this is the significant part -- requesting that they be offered first to another member of LifeSharers if a suitable recipient is on the UNOS waiting list. Kindness aside, each member's goal here is to increase his chances of receiving a transplant, should he ever need one, by giving other people an incentive to sign up in the hope of increasing their chances. This is called a directed donation, and directed donations are not popular at UNOS, where the watchword is "fairness." Somebody's willingness to donate is not supposed to count when scarce organs are rationed out. The principle of equality among sick people is morally attractive. An even greater good would be saving more lives with more transplants. Dave Undis, who heads LifeSharers, may sound harsh when he says that the current system "seems to be more interested in the equal distribution of death than in preventing deaths." Yet his incentive-based organization is at least offering a strategy for boosting the organ-donation rate -- at a time when appeals to disinterested altruism are no longer enough. I have mixed feelings on this approach. On the one hand, it does offer an incentive for people who may have hesitated about agreeing to be an organ donor. And the more organs available, the better. But it does seem to be a little cold-blooded, especially if the potential recipient just happens not be a member of the particular pool. But, no matter what you feelings about groups like LifeSharers are, the bottom line is that there is no good reason why everyone should not be an organ donor. If you need to put a face on the need, look no further than Captain Ed's First Mate. Sign up to be an organ donor. Today. UPDATE--David J. Undis, the Executive Director of LifeSharers, e-mails to share his perspective on the issue: Thanks for mentioning LifeSharers on Fraters Libertas today. You said LifeSharers "does seem to be a little cold-blooded". Perhaps. But what's really cold-blooded is burying or cremating your organs when your only other choice is donate them to save lives. It boggles the mind (my mind, anyway) to think that someone who won't donate his own organs deserves to get an organ that a registered organ donor needs. But about 60% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. So LifeSharers is making the organ allocation system fairer as we expand the number of organs available. Giving an organ to a non-donor when there's a donor who needs it is like giving the Powerball jackpot to someone who didn't buy a ticket. I hope you'll decide to join LifeSharers. It's free. It could save your life. You can sign up at http://www.lifesharers.org/enroll.asp Saturday, January 21, 2006
Please tune in to the new, improved, and expanded Northern Alliance Radio Network. Remember, it now starts an hour earlier than before, 11 AM yet still lasts until 3PM. A full 33% more radio goodness.
Taking the helm for the first two hours will be John Hinderaker of Power Line and myself. Among other topics, we'll be discussing the week in Democratic rhetoric. How low did they go? We'll find out and take your nadir submissions. And we'll take a look at modern gatekeeping techniques, as exhibited this past week by the Star Tribune, the New York Times, and CNN. At noon, we'll be joined by Peter Schweizer, author of Do as I Say, Not as I Do: A Profile in Liberal Hypocrisy. It focuses on Al Franken, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, and their ilk and analyzes how their social engineering prescriptions for the rest of us match up with their own behavior. (Hint: not well.) Following that, on NARN Volume II from 1 - 3PM, Mitch Berg, Captain Ed Morrissey, and King Banaian serving up their patented blend of wit and wisdom (which I understand is being copied with impunity in boiler rooms and warehouses all over China). Once again it all starts today at 11 AM Central, locally at AM1280 the Patriot and around the world on the Web stream (access from the station Web site). Post Script: Mitch reminds me to mention the new show immediately preceding NARN. At 9 AM Central, The Patriot Insider. It's hosted by Mark Yost of the Pioneer Press. Each week you can tune in and find out why reporter Chuck Laszewski is embarrassed to call him a colleague. Also featured is Craig Westover of the Pioneer Press ( and his own blog), whom the Gorton's Fisherman is embarrassed to call a colleague. Also hosting is savvy radio veteran Patrick Campion, Patriot operations manager (and a blogger himself) who is no doubt embarrassed to call radio neophytes Yost and Westover colleagues. It's red faced radio all around. The full schedule for today: Patriot Insider: 9 - 11 AM NARN Volume I: 11AM - 1 PM NARN Volume II: 1PM - 3 PM Don't you dare miss it! Labels: NARN (06-07)
Later this morning, I'll be heading out to play in the inaugural U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, being held on Lake Calhoun. Based on the number of former Gophers and other guys who played D1 college puck on the team rosters (you'll recognize quite a few names), the chances of our squad bringing home the coveted Golden Shovel are probably not good. But that's not why we play game. It's all about having fun playing the greatest sport in the world (sorry Hugh, cribbage is not a sport). Did I mention that there's a Summit beer tent as well? It really doesn't get much better.
If you happen to wander down to the tourney and see a team sporting some of the ugliest yellow sweaters in the history of hockey, that's us. I'd tell you to look for the guy with the missing tooth, but that probably wouldn't narrow the field much. As our beloved governor might say, "Drop the Labels: Hockey (06-07) Friday, January 20, 2006
 A complete write up on the trip to the orphanage and more pics when time allows. Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage
Please tune in to the new, improved, and expanded Northern Alliance Radio Network tomorrow. Remember, it now starts an hour earlier than before, 11 AM yet still lasts until 3PM. A full 33% more radio goodness.
Taking the helm for the first two hours will be John Hinderaker of Power Line and myself. Among other topics, we'll be discussing the week in Democratic rhetoric. How low did they go? We'll find out and take your nadir submissions. And we'll take a look at modern gatekeeping techniques, as exhibited this past week by the Star Tribune, the New York Times, and CNN. At noon, we'll be joined by Peter Schweizer, author of Do as I Say, Not as I Do: A Profile in Liberal Hypocrisy. It focuses on Al Franken, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, and their ilk and analyzes how their social engineering prescriptions for the rest of us match up with their own behavior. (Hint: not well.) Following that, on NARN Volume II from 1 - 3PM, Mitch Berg, Captain Ed Morrissey, and King Banaian serving up their patented blend of wit and wisdom (which I understand is being copied with impunity in boiler rooms and warehouses all over China). Once again it all starts tomorrow at 11 AM Central, locally at AM1280 the Patriot and around the world on the Web stream (access from the station Web site). Post Script: Mitch reminds me to mention the new show immediately preceding NARN. At 9 AM Central, The Patriot Insider. It's hosted by Mark Yost of the Pioneer Press. Each week you can tune in and find out why reporter Chuck Laszewski is embarrassed to call him a colleague. Also featured is Craig Westover of the Pioneer Press ( and his own blog), whom the Gorton's Fisherman is embarrassed to call a colleague. Also hosting is savvy radio veteran Patrick Campion, Patriot operations manager (and a blogger himself) who is no doubt embarrassed to call radio neophytes Yost and Westover colleagues. It's red faced radio all around. The full schedule for tomorrow: Patriot Insider: 9 - 11 AM NARN Volume I: 11AM - 1 PM NARN Volume II: 1PM - 3 PM Don't you dare miss it! Labels: NARN (06-07) Thursday, January 19, 2006
With a Name Like That, It Has to Be Good
Don't miss the latest brilliant red carpet reporting from Katie, at Yucky Salad with Bones. It's entitled Golden Shower for Brokeback Mountain. It's scary to think how famous and widely read this girl could be, if only she had a better sense for writing titles that didn't repulse. Remember, advertising is the Wonder in Wonder Bread. And Yucky Bread with Mold hasn't been popular since the Middle Ages.
We're heading to the orphanage later today to make our drop. And we're going to be picking up the goodies at Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart's tentacles of evil have extended to Chihuahua (in fact, I believe there are at least two of them here). The funny thing is that most of the people I know here don't really seem to mind having access to Wal-Mart's huge selection of goods at bargain prices. Poor peasants don't even realize how they're being repressed.
Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage
Bow Down Before the One Who Brings the Mail on Time
During my lunchtime jaunt through the streets of Stillwater today, I do believe I had a divine vision. Or a vision of reliable parcel shipment services. It's hard to say which, but it looked exactly like this. Suggested company tagline: Embracing the First Amendment and ignoring the Second Commandment since 1984. If nothing else, that bold commercial statement gives me the confidence to go ahead and purchase that new, acronym branded semi-truck trailer for the latest Fraters Libertas business venture: Allied Lubricants Linguine And Handlebars. As sala'amu alaikum! Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Look Folks, No Gatekeepers
If you're looking for an example of the danger posed by renegade bloggers operating without editors and gatekeepers, you need look no further than the man oft regarded as the My actual comment was: "Hugh Hewitt is the Jack Abramoff of talk radio and the blogosphere." Where are the gatekeepers, editors, and fact checkers (not to mention spell checkers) when you need them? It's also interesting to note that during Hugh's recent appearance on CNN's "On The Story" (I liked the use of the web cam for Hugh-in his case the blurrier the better), he stressed the fact that bloggers ALWAYS provide a link to the source they are citing. Yet, in the case of this erroneous quote, no such link is provided. The next time Hugh prepares to launch one of his tirades against the MSM, he might just want to pause and take a good hard look in the mirror (assuming it doesn't crack). Physician heal thyself.
I want to weigh in with a hearty "Amen" to JB's post on BYOB when flying. One of the key lessons learned from Monday's travel nightmare (beside the obvious one that Continental Airlines is run by lying pig-dog wreckers) is to be self-sufficient when it comes to your drinking supply. Maintaining a SAR (Strategic Alcohol Reserve) at all times is critical, especially when on the road when you might run into a situation where the airport bars close at 9:30pm (thanks again Houston) or you get to your hotel too late to procure your pre-sleep nightcap. JB gave me a nice pocket flask for Christmas and I considered filling it with a little single malt before this most recent trip. My decision not to take pursue such a prudent course of action has haunted me ever since.
UPDATE--Nick e-mails to report that flasks do not pose a threat to Homeland Security: I flew out to Vegas last year from St. Paul. When I was going through security they spotted a flask shaped object in my inner jacket pocket. I confirmed their identification of my stockpile and didn't have to deal with it at all beyond that. Point being, at least on the ground end there's no problem slipping a flask onboard a NWA flight. They didn't even demand that I take a swig to prove its contents. Labels: Travel
In the Elder's travel travails yesterday he probably missed an article in the WSJ about how airline perks are drying up. Important perks. Booze, for example.
Starting Feb. 1, Northwest Airlines--the last remaining US carrier to give out free booze in international coach class--will phase in a $5 per drink fee on Asian-Pacific flights. But what's that you say, you have enough miles or prestige to ride in bidnez class where the beer flows like wine? Also, some frequent travelers say they have noticed that the drink cart rolls through less often, and the pours are less generous, even on flights and parts of the plane where drinks are still free. "They generally wait for you to ring if you want a refill, even after meal when you're in business class," says David Balcon, a 55 year old documentary filmmaker from Toronto. So, given that those of us who can handle our drink and like to throw back a few on boring flights are now being denied one of our most cherished constitutional rights, what are we to do? One fine American, Richard Brklachich from Orange County CA, brings his own half liter bottle of vodka onto flights in his briefcase because he doesn't like the airline's selections. He pours the liqour when the flight attendants aren't watching and sometimes shares with his seatmates. "I haven't had any trouble with flight attendants. I keep it to myself and they don't bother me." I see no other recourse to enjoy a little sauce in the air without having the approval of our nannies in the sky. Labels: Travel
The Gathering Gloom
If the concept of a future with a nuclear armed Iran hasn't gotten you overly concerned yet, let me refer you to the opinions of three of the finest historians and foreign policy analysts in the business. All serious men, using the lessons of history to look forward as if they were looking back: Wretchard from the Belmont Club, reminding us of what we missed along the way: ... the mixture of smug amusement with which the Western intellectual elite watched the growing number of Wahabist mosques, the photography of landmarks, the application for flying lessons and the attendance at courses of nuclear physics by students from older worlds. They laughed, for nothing could threaten the dominion of Western Man, supreme in his socialized state at the End of History. Even after September 11 the only question for many was how soon history would return to normal after a temporary inconvenience. Little did they imagine that the expansion of the European Union, the Kyoto Agreements and Reproductive Rights -- all the preoccupations of their unshakable world -- might be the least of humanity's concerns in the coming years. Victor Davis Hanson, with the grim assessment of where we find ourselves today: When a supposedly unhinged Mr. Ahmadinejad threatens the destruction of Israel and then summarily proceeds to violate international protocols aimed at monitoring Iran's nuclear industry, we all take note. Any country that burns off some of its natural gas at the wellhead while claiming that it needs nuclear power for domestic energy is simply lying. Terrorism, vast petroleum reserves, nuclear weapons, and boasts of wiping neighboring nations off the map are a bad combination. Finally, the public must be warned that dealing with a nuclear Iran is not a matter of a good versus a bad choice, but between a very bad one now and something far, far worse to come. Niall Ferguson, on that far, far worse choice to come and where we might be 5 years hence, if we follow the present course of wishful thinking and appeasement: The devastating nuclear exchange of August 2007 represented not only the failure of diplomacy, it marked the end of the oil age. Some even said it marked the twilight of the West. Certainly, that was one way of interpreting the subsequent spread of the conflict as Iraq's Shi'ite population overran the remaining American bases in their country and the Chinese threatened to intervene on the side of Teheran. Yet the historian is bound to ask whether or not the true significance of the 2007-2011 war was to vindicate the Bush administration's original principle of pre-emption. For, if that principle had been adhered to in 2006, Iran's nuclear bid might have been thwarted at minimal cost. And the Great Gulf War might never have happened. Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Made it to Chihuahua this afternoon safely but hardly soundly. At least I've got a couple days free of air travel now. It's going to take a lot of cerveza (and no doubt years of therapy) to make up for yesterday's hell.
Labels: Travel
Where Have All the Gatekeepers Gone?
Gone for proofreaders, one by one. At least according to reader George from Excelsior. He comments on yesterday's post about the Star Tribune's Gearin/Gaertner follies: As a former journalist (1961-1968), I can't figure out where all of the editors have gone. That is ... editors who could edit ... as opposed to those who merely are proofreaders. I remember editors who had a fundamental understanding of reporters' jobs, because they had been in those shoes, and would question whatever in an article didn't ring true. In other words, they had a nose for anomaly. And it certainly stands out as an anomaly that a judge would risk prejudicing a case by making contact with a victim's family. But you need to know that might be out of the ordinary. It's not as if they didn't have enough gatekeepers. I imagine the editing process is about the same today, albeit the technology has advanced from pastepots and No. 1 pencils to advanced computer systems. That article would have followed this path ? to an assistant city editor (at least), a news editor who assigned space and headline, copy editor who was responsible for style and content and a copy chief to review the copy editor's work. When I was an ink-stained wretch, we had a copy chief who was an astute investor. With his knowledge of the market, every now and then, he'd catch an error, just because of his special understanding. An editor like that saved my buns when I was working at a small newspaper part-time during my senior year of college. I had gotten the pallbearers transposed in a pair of obituaries. An editor of long standing in the community--hell, lets be honest, she was a proofreader--knew enough about the locals to spot my error, because she recognized some of the names and knew who likely would have been associated with whom. I suspect one problem is editors who are not grounded in beat reporting. That may explain why nobody in the editorial chain had enough of a nose for anomaly to sneeze when he or she read what the judge was alleged to have done. Every newspaper used to have reporters on police and/or courthouse beats; I don't think that's the case any longer. If you want an example of what good can come from turning an experienced city-hall reporter into a columnist, read John Kass in the Chicago Triune. (Registration required but worth the trouble.) Kass knows city hall inside and out and does a great job of following corruption and Mafia issues in the city. There's nobody local to compare with him, let alone measure up. He also writes about the White Sox and other issues, but really comes into his own when he's tracking corruption to the mayor's office, whom he often calls "Little Big Man."
With the Elder lost somewhere between Houston and the Bermuda Triangle I had hoped to take up some of the blogging slack with some witty entries of my own. Unfortunately, a mysterious pinched nerve in my arm has left my right hand unusable since Sunday morning (though I do believe my wit has survived intact). I'm typing this with my almost equally useless left hand and, occasionally, my nose.
If I were conspiracy minded, I'd think someone was trying to silence us. Labels: Fraters Inc
8:22am and I'm STILL in Houston. After spending a night in a seedy Ramada Inn near the airport, I will be flying to Chihuahua at 9:30am this morning. Allegedly.
Last night, our flight was cancelled shortly after 11pm. By the time we got done running Continental's "customer service" gauntlet, were able to wrangle hotel stays out of them (barely-more on this later), and were actually in our rooms it was after 1am. I'm wearing the same clothes that I spent 22 hours in yesterday and other than a shower, my personal hygiene routine missed several critical steps today (brushing my teeth, applying deodorant, etc.). Why? 'Cause we couldn't get our bags back last night. I'm just lucky that I stuck an extra pair of boxers in my carry-on backpack. We don't like to engage in the use of gratuitous profanity here as we strive to maintain our family friendly image, but the only words that even begin to describe what occurred yesterday is A FUCKING NIGHTMARE. A FM of biblical proportions. More later as time and sanity allows. Labels: Travel
The More Things Change ...
Al Gore, yesterday, endorsing pointed (and anonymous) political commentary by the average citizen: The intricate and carefully balanced constitutional system that is now in such danger was created with the full and widespread participation of the population as a whole. The Federalist Papers were, back in the day, widely-read newspaper essays, and they represented only one of twenty-four series of essays that crowded the vibrant marketplace of ideas in which farmers and shopkeepers recapitulated the debates that played out so fruitfully in Philadelphia. Al Gore, in 2004, condemning pointed political commentary by the average citizen: "The administration works closely with a network of rapid-responders, a group of digital brown shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors and publishers and advertisers and are quick to a accuse them of undermining support for our troops." So which is it, vibrant and fruitful or fascist and destructive? I suppose that depends on (cheap shot alert) what the meaning of the word "is" is. I know, the guy took the initiative in creating the medium. I should know my place and just shut up. (Cue the chill wind sound effect) Monday, January 16, 2006
It's almost 10pm and I'm still
Labels: Travel
We begin with the ceremonial reading of the gospel of media according to U of MN professor Larry Jacobs:
Along with partisanship, credibility is another problem for blogs. There's nothing in the First Amendment about the need for an editor. Bloggers can write anything they want; they can spout fact or fiction. Jacobs advises readers to beware: "There's no gatekeeping here." And now the latest demonstration in modern gate keeping techniques at the Star Tribune (from last week): Star Tribune mistake prompts call for mistrial Whoops-a-daisy! No, this mistake wasn't in regard to the trial of Isaac Asimov for murdering the credibility of the Super Quiz. This was a far more serious situation. The trial of the alleged murderer of St. Paul police officer Jerry Vick has begun and the Star Tribune published on its Web site a report that the presiding judge was seen comforting the wife of the victim - a rather serious accusation of judicial misconduct. But, it never happened. Despite layers of editorial review, this fiction was published by the Star Tribune. How can such a thing happen? According to the offending reporter: Paul Gustafson told the Pioneer Press that during a break in the trial Wednesday, he dictated information to another Star Tribune employee for posting online. During that process, he said, his description of [Ramsey County District Attorney Susan Gaertner] approaching the widow mistakenly got reported as Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin taking that action. Gearin, Gaertner; tomato, to-mah-to; judicial misconduct, entirely appropriate consoling by the DA; let's call the whole thing off! Interestingly, the reporter Gustafson blames "another Star Tribune employee" for the error. But where were the editors in this process? According to the Star Tribune's internal investigation: The error occurred as the online report was being dictated from a reporter to an editor and there was a misunderstanding involving the names Gaertner and Gearin. Hey, thanks for that oversight, Ben Bradlee. As you may recall, during a previous installment of Poor Gate Keeping Theater, the publishing of falsehoods on the front page of the Star Tribune were blamed on the editors not being woken up in time to work their magic. All things considered, I guess sometimes it still pays to let sleeping dogs lie. Labels: Media-Local (05-07)
Oh, that flight that was supposed to leave Minneapolis at 5:40am this morning? Well, the first officer wasn't feeling so hot, so he called in sick. Which meant that the flight was delayed by almost two hours. Which meant that we missed our connecting flight to Chihuahua in Houston. Which means that we are faced with a TEN HOUR layover in Houston, since the next available flight to Chihuahua leaves at 9:10pm tonight. Which means that I'm sitting in a Barnes and Noble at the Woodlands Mall outside of Houston trying to kill a
And unless it turns out the first officer had Dengue Fever, I don't see that attitude changing anytime soon. How's your Monday going? Labels: Travel
It's 12:23am and I just got home from hockey (Skating ban? What skating ban?). I'm in the process of downing a couple, two three beers as part of my post-game cool down. Tomorrow morning I leave for Chihuahua. At 5:40am. That's not when I have to get up. And it's not what time I have to be at the airport. That's when my flight actually departs. Which means I'm probably looking at a solid two, two and a half hours of sleep. If I'm lucky.
Great news on the orphanage fundraiser. We had hoped to collect $1000 of donations to use to purchase medical supplies and various other items. But, with money raised here and money collected at work, we have over $2000. Thanks to all those who chipped in, especially to a couple of very generous donors. Rest assured that your money will be put to very good use. It looks like I'll be able to get out to the orphanage on either Wednesday or Thursday this week. I'll have a complete report with plenty of pictures after that. Adios. Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage Friday, January 13, 2006
The upheavals in the local talk radio market schedule are by no means over. The latest news that still has tongues wagging is not the demise of the Chris Kroc show (didn't see that one coming), but rather last Saturday's announcement that the Northern Alliance Radio Network is expanding to four (yes four!) hours. Starting this Saturday we'll be kicking off the festivities at 11am (set your alarm clock Atomizer). As Mitch Berg has mentioned earlier, this means that you get to enjoy 33% more NARN for the same low price. You asked for more NARN and now we're giving it to you. Well you might not have, but you're getting it anyway.
Tomorrow's show will include at interview with Stephen Hayes at 12pm. You may have heard of Mr. Hayes. He wrote a book called The Connection : How al Qaeda's Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America that was published in 2004. More recently, his blockbuster article in The Weekly Standard on captured documents providing evidence of Saddam's Terror Training Camps has landed him on Fox's Hannity and Colmes and was the focus of the lead editorial in today's Wall Street Journal: It is almost an article of religious faith among opponents of the Iraq War that Iraq became a terrorist destination only after the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein. But what if that's false, and documents from Saddam's own regime show that his government trained thousands of Islamic terrorists at camps inside Iraq before the war? Sounds like news to us, and that's exactly what is reported this week by Stephen Hayes in The Weekly Standard magazine. Yet the rest of the press has ignored the story, and for that matter the Bush Administration has also been dumb. The explanation for the latter may be that Mr. Hayes also scores the Administration for failing to do more to translate and analyze the trove of documents it's collected from the Saddam era. The Northern Alliance Radio Network can be heard on Saturdays from 11am-3pm central time on AM1280 The Patriot. Listen live on the net here. Labels: NARN (06-07)
We're very close to our goal of raising $1000 for the trip to Chihuahua next week. If you would like to make a donation you can do so via PayPal or drop me an e-mail if you want to send a check:
Here are some excerpts from a 2003 story on the orphanage by Gary Perez that originally appeared in The Pueblo Chieftain: At a glance, the children appear to be like most of their peers. They love to sing and dance. They enjoy drawing and jumping rope. They love eating potato chips and candy bars, fresh fruit and ice cream. Their favorite subjects in school are math and writing. And some of them aspire to be teachers and others doctors. As much as they appear to be like their peers, though, the children who live at the Casa Hogar de la Misericordia orphanage have very different lives than their friends. A discarded shoe sits on the playground at Casa Hogar orphanage. The orphanage works to feed and cloth about 100 children with meager means. Despite the picturesque backdrop of Mexico's central mountains, the drive from the city of Chihuahua to Cuidad Aldama where Casa Hogar is located is not pretty. The stench of the nearby sewer plant is almost unbearable, especially on a hot, muggy day. From the highway in Aldama, there is no indication that an orphanage exists there. Without knowledge of it, the orphanage would be impossible to find. There are no buildings visible from the busy highway lined with a variety of food stands, fish restaurants and several gas stations. There are no road signs to show that the dirt cutoff leading to the orphanage is a road. Many residents of Chihuahua don't even know the orphanage exists. But those who frequent Casa Hogar know of the small, unkept, bumpy, dirt road off of the highway that leads to the complex that more than 100 children call "mi casa" - my home. **************** Orphanage director Fidel Rubio Alvarado and his wife, Mariana, are doing their best to help these children who have been abandoned and abused, orphaned or have run away from their homes. Alvarado doesn't have much in the way of luxury or material items to offer the children, but he does tout that Casa Hogar provides a safe environment in which the children may grow up. He receives only a little money from the Mexican government monthly (400 pesos or $40), so Alvarado has used much of his family's income as well as the generosity of others - including several people from the United States - to make ends meet. ******************** When Fidel Rubio Alvarado stands on his front porch and glances across at the Casa Hogar de la Misericordia, he realizes his dream has come true. "My dream always has been to take kids from the trash and offer them a safe place to live," Rubio said in his native Spanish. "When I look out and see these kids, I know my dream has come true." It was the goal of providing poverty-stricken children living on the streets of Chihuahua, Mexico, with a safe place to live that prompted Rubio to open Casa Hogar orphanage nearly 12 years ago. A troubled youth himself, Rubio said he felt that after God offered him a second, third and fourth chance at life, he decided to dedicate himself to helping others receive those same opportunities. Twelve years ago, while serving as a missionary in the mountain communities near Chihuahua, Rubio got the inspiration to start an orphanage. "There were two kids from Chihuahua that came to my church who had been living on the streets and they were scared," he said. "They didn't have any food or any clothing." At the time, Rubio said he and his wife, Mariana, felt compelled to help them. "We really didn't quite understand what God had in store for us," he said. "But we knew these kids were in crisis." Thanks to Bryan Kelsen, the photographer who accompanied Perez on the visit, for making the story available. You see pictures that Bryan took at the orphanage here. I can report that things have improved at the orphanage since their 2003 visit. A new septic system was installed (thanks to a donation from the company I work for), a greenhouse has been built to improve the variety of food and make the orphanage more sustainable, and a program has been set up to teach the older boys carpentry skills (thanks to a donation of tools from a US church). But the needs are still great and the resources are meager. Your support is much appreciated. Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage
He's Tryin' To Quit (But He Just Quit Tryin')
Atomizer's post yesterday on the lyrical hijinks of The Reverend Horton Heat (aka Shel Finkelstein) reminded me of a song I heard recently that brought up images of our beloved A-Dog. From Jesse Dayton's fictitious "Banjo and Sullivan" (Banjo and Sullivan are not real, the music is) album, the song "Tryin' To Quit (But I Just Quit Tryin'): (btw, this album contains mature content and is not suitable for those who don't think crime is a problem in MPLS): Atom you like having a drink or two Sometimes twenty if you're feeling blue Sometimes one in the morning so you can get out of bed You like Jim you like Jack you like Makers Mark Drinking in the daytime drinking in the dark Drinking with a crowd or drinking alone Drinking in the shower drinking on the phone Well I'm trying to quit but I just quit trying Tried to hide it but I'm bad at lying Well I'm still drinking if you're still buying I'm tryin to quit but I just quit trying More of this madness can be found here, but you've been warned of the R-rated content.
Oprah's Book Clubbed
I blame Mary Mapes. Before "fake but accurate" became an accepted journalistic standard, media scandals took a logical and predictable path. A con artist whips up a fresh batch of BS and a compliant or gullible outlet to run with it. It breeds more headlines and notoriety, bringing fame and wealth to the principles. Then someone with a little bit of knowledge or personal insight debunks it, the author apologizes and throws himself prostrate on the court of public opinion, where by he is mocked and driven from society in disgrace, and maybe does a stint of time jail for fraud. It was quick and neat and reaffirmed the essential values of truth an justice in society and darn it we liked it! Those simple days appear to be over. The final chapter has not yet been written in saga of James Frey and his book A Million Little Pieces. I saw him on Larry King Tuesday night and it shows no sign of ending soon. Despite irrefutable and still mounting evidenced that he has engaged in multiple deceptions, he was unwavering in standing behind the "essential truth" of the book and insisting that very little of is actually "in dispute" and that because it was somehow doing good for people, the specific facts are not all that important anyway. It was the parsing language, misdirection, and shameless performance of a practiced liar. And an effective one at that. Every person brought on the show, as a guest or caller (all women, incidentally), rushed to uncritically support Frey. From the CNN transcript, a sampling of codependence in action. His mother: The fraud story is very sad for us. So many people stand behind us, our friends, James' friends, disappointed that it happened. I don't believe it. I believe in James... But the book stands on its own. ... it's making a wonderful difference. So I have to put the other thing aside and believe in all those people who it has made a difference for A caller: Hello. I would like to know why The Smoking Gun focused on such a small, insignificant portion of the book and completely ignored the tremendous and wonderful accomplishment that James made by recovering from this terrible addiction? A second caller: James, I love your book and I fully support you. Do you think Oprah will support you, too? This was a theme throughout the show, anxious speculation on how Oprah would react to the fact that she was conned into personally perpetrating a fraud on the American public. Never one to miss out on a chance for drama, right as the show was ending, the grand dame of emotional infotainment called in: KING: I'm going to hold the show a little longer because I understand we have Oprah on the phone. Let's see what she has to say. Are you there, my friend? WINFREY: Hello, Larry, how are you? KING: Hello, dear one, how are you doing? After King removed his lips from the studio camera lens, he got around to asking Oprah for her opinion on the matter at ahdn. Amid the rationalizations, blaming of others, excuses, and general gushing, she assured her audience: ... we support the book because we recognize that there have been thousands and hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been changed by this book. And, you know, one of the things James says in the book, for all the people who are going through any kind of addiction, is to hold on. And I just wanted to -- you know, I have been calling this number and it's been busy, trying to get through to say to all those people out there who have received hope from reading this book, keep holding on. I second that advice. For the people who are basing their recovery on the example of a guy making things up, that ledge is getting awfully thin -- hold on! In truth, I don't care what happens to James Frey and his career. I suspect he will recede into the crowd of pop psychologist hustlers and self-help gurus and soon be forgotten. If, by some miracle, he is able to help people by misleading them, then more power to him. But I do hope this episode finally brings a critical eye to the blinding aura created around Oprah Winfrey. Her superficial chat show has been bleeding into the realm of public policy and politics for years. Her whims decide the NYT Best Seller's list. Presidential candidates routinely seek her blessing. When a natural disaster hits, she charters a private jet with Julie Roberts and Jamie Foxx to make personal appearances in front of victims. And her reports influence the course of the national debate. All this despite the fact the quality of her content is exemplified by this report from hurricane ravaged New Orleans: During the interview with New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass that followed, he wasted no time in revealing what may have been the ultimate horror last week in the hellhole that was the Superdome. He began to cry as he talked about babies being raped inside and the helplessness he felt not having enough men to stop such unspeakable violence. Winfrey could only scream in horror: "No! No! No! Nooo!" The first hour ended with Winfrey asserting, "This country owes these people an apology." Of course, that story was entirely fictitious as well. No! No! No! Nooo! But to all those babies considering going to the Superdome who have received hope from that report, all I have to say is ... hold on! Now that Oprah has been exposed to be a repeat offending dupe maybe we can agree that her product is of no more value than the Jerry Springer show. And can we also stop pretending that she'd be a good candidate for President? We have enough problems already with competent Presidents being duped by phony CIA reports. Post Script: Regarding Frey's appearance on Larry King, I neglected to point out the highlight: KING: You keep saying that, but a memoir is accepted as fact. I mean, if I see memoir, I accept it as a person's memory of incidents or things in their life. I wrote a memoir. I may not have been exactly right, but it was my memory of incidents. FREY: I don't think -- I think you could probably find people who would dispute every memoir that was ever published. And a lot of them have been disputed. When Jerzy Kosinski's "Painted Bird" came out and became a big success several years afterwards, people said, "You know what? Jerzy Kosinski never went through the Holocaust." It's happened with a number of recent memoirs. It tends to happen with a lot of the more high-profile memoirs. KING: And Jerzy killed himself. I'm not suggesting -- Mondovi, Wisconsin, hello. Funnier yet was Frey's reaction, which was a puzzled look like "what are you suggesting?" Which prompted King to suggest he wasn't suggest anything. No matter King's intent, I think I'm going to adopt his strategy as my verbal get-away next time I stumble the wrong way down a line of conversation: Mondavi, Wisconsin, hello. Thursday, January 12, 2006
I've Got A Whole (Lotta Music) In Me Pocket
I have a new obsession (no, it's not gay cowboy movies). This particular obsession began last weekend when I finally caved in and bought myself an iPod. I know, I know...I once vowed to never succumb to the fad but I simply could resist it no longer. The idea of having my entire CD collection in my pocket was just way too compelling. And that's what I've been doing with practically every free moment at home for the past five days. Since Saturday I have downloaded 3,809 songs from my collection, and I'm only about three quarters of the way there. I have, in fact, dealt a serious blow to the available memory level of my PC; serious enough that I may be forced to feed even more money into my new hobby to buy an external hard drive. This is after, of course, I've purchased several iPod (I STILL feel stupid typing that word) accessories including an FM transmitter attachment that allows me to use my new toy in the car. This particular purchase couldn't have come at a better time since the current state of morning drive time talk radio is a vapid and vacuous wasteland of unspeakable craptacularity. So this morning, instead of flipping around the AM dial I plugged in the iPod and drove to work listening to songs from CDs that I forgot I even had. I even rediscovered a Reverend Horton Heat song with lyrics that always crack me up: I wanna go two steppin',Nothing gets a laugh like a song about gay cowboys...even if the lyrics are real.
$700m Buys A Lot Of Fart Jokes
I have a feeling there are some fairly unhappy Howard Stern fans out there right now. As everyone knows, Howard left "terrestrial" radio last year and started broadcasting for Sirius satellite radio this past Monday. Since I have been a subscriber for over a year I decided to tune in over the past few days to hear if the revolution was indeed on. My first impressions are that the show is not much different than Stern's old show: lots of stripper talk, fart jokes, celebrity gossip--all of which I admit can be entertaining--but I have the feeling his hard-core fans (many of whom signed up for Sirius and bought the hardware specifically for Howard) will be disappointed that he isn't swearing more and being even more lewd than he was before. But the biggest reason Stern's fans will be upset is that Sirius gave the impression that there would be no commercials. There are. As many as his old show and this is radio that people have to pay for. I call BS on this. The technicality that Sirius is employing here is that the music is commercial free, but the talk and entertainment channels are not. And since Howard falls into the latter category, his listeners will have to put up with both the live ads that Howard himself does (which are considerably less painful since he can crack jokes while doing them), but also with the maddeningly annoying canned ads for TV shows and internet gambling. As well, this very morning they played an entire Nine Inch Nails song right in the middle of the program (?). Presumably Howard needed to use the can or something and they don't yet have enough advertisers yet to fill the gaps. The amazing thing is that Stern worked out a stunning contract with Sirius that allows him to cash in $200 million of stock RIGHT NOW. From Forbes: Last October, Sirius offered Stern the sky, in the form of a 5-year, $500 million deal--with a bundle of stock thrown in. Now the deal ripens. On the third day of the jock's half-decade to come in Karmazin's employ, Stern is making a move. Sirius had disclosed last week that it was giving Stern and his agent, Don Buchwald, 34.4 million shares post-haste--because the firm had already reached certain undisclosed goals for subscriber growth. Goals met, it is likely, thanks to Stern's wildly publicized--and popular--move to the uncensored broadcaster. And the celestial radio firm issued a regulatory filing on Wednesday, saying that entities controlled by Stern and Buchwald would enjoy the proceeds of the stock sale--which could occur at any time. But no sale date has been set yet; nor has any amount to be sold been disclosed. Buchwald did not return an Associated Press call seeking comment. Buchwald received some 10%--standard agents' percentages--of the shares, a wedge valued at nearly $20 million. The genius of this contract is that if customers don't renew because they don't appreciate paying for commercial-laden radio (however uncensored it might be) it won't matter at all to Howard. He will collect his yearly salary and will have the stock sale dough in the bank. Sirius however, will probably go out of business. $700 million ($500m in the contract plus the $200m stock) is a lot to pay for fart jokes and stripper interviews. GATEKEEPER UPDATE: It's no wonder that Howard's fans were lead to believe that his show would be commercial-free considering our editor-approved, gate-kept MSM wrote false articles this one from Krysten Crawford from CNN/Money: Stern is not the only shock jock eyeing satellite radio, a subscription-based, commercial-free medium that, like cable television, is largely unregulated.
Oral Testimony Continues In Senate
Mike e-mails to submit the following picture and speculate that her husband must be a very lucky guy.  UPDATE: We have since learned that Mr. Feinstein was not such a lucky guy after all. He died of colon cancer in 1978. Diane Feinstein is presently married to Richard C. Blum. No offense was intended and we hope none was taken. This post has been updated based on this knowledge. Bertram Feinstein R.I.P.
The End Of The Beginning?
(From my kitchen table at 5:03am) In regard to my post yesterday on the latest travails at KSTP AM-1500, Dwight e-mailed at 8:32pm last night: With performance like what we have seen recently from Willie and the chicks, I don't envision the program manager (what's her name?) lasting long. My close friend who works indoors at the building on University has informed me that everyone is shaking their heads. I guess a call was placed recently to a couple of interesting personalities... no idea of who those folks are, but, that advertisers are NOT happy. There will be major shake-up in the near future... If another e-mail titled "Kroc - episode #493" from an anonymous reader (received at 9:26pm last night) is to be believed, that future came very soon: Last episode - right now - I really hope one of you guys from NARN calls in the last half hour. He announced it at 9pm. Is it really true? Is this the end of the Chris Kroc era? I haven't been able to get independent confirmation yet. If you can verify that last night was indeed the swan song for Chris Kroc, drop me an e-mail. If it really is true, we can then start reminiscing about our favorite Kroc Talk memories. UPDATE(8:32am): John aka Policy Guy, e-mails with a second-hand report confirming Kroc's farewell: My wife had the radio on last nigt during the Crock show. I wandered by the room and heard "My Way." I stopped long enough to get the idea that he was leaving. After a while, she told me that Crock had talked about getting a great offer. I thought of "offer I can't refuse," Mafia style, but I don't know what went on. But it was definitely his last show. Meanwhile, Andy from Residual Forces is ready to get the Kroc tributes rolling: I had someone comment it on my site this morning. Don't know if it is true, but let's reminisce anyways. My favorite Kroc memory. Dead air. Yes, sadly I preferred the 15 second dead air pauses to his voice. Sure it stopped any and all momentum he had, but again, it was better than the drivel he was saying. And there sure was enough during every show to keep me satisfied. Good times, good times. UPDATE II: From the KSTP Insider e-mail: In case you missed his announcement Wednesday night, Chris Krok has decided to leave AM1500. He has accepted an as-yet disclosed position elsewhere. We thank him for his hard work and lively contributions to AM1500 the last two years. We look forward to saying "we knew him when..." as he continues to excel. Assuming the 7:30pm-10pm weeknight slot will be "The Dave Thompson Show" hosted by an as-yet disclosed AM1500 weekend/fill-in talent. It will be a hard-working, intelligent, articulate attorney with a likeable style and infectious passion for the day's events and maybe even an intermittent sports discussion on Vikings, Twins, new stadiums and such. Congratulate Dave when you see him. This will bring a couple new voices to our weekend schedule. Perhaps they will develop into the next big weekend/fill-in personalities... Wednesday, January 11, 2006
JB Update
Due to the vagaries of the music business (I'm pretty sure Clear Channel is somehow at fault) I WILL NOT be performing this Friday in Fridley. However, for those of you who reside in Eau Claire, I will be at the Finish Line on Saturday. Unlike Mitch, I only play about 3 instruments, so set your expectations low.
Throwing Boat Anchors To A Drowning Man
Our local radio poll is complete and over 90% of you would rather repeatedly jam a rusty knitting needle into your ear for twenty-four hours than listen to either the Willie Clark or the Chris Kroc shows on KSTP. In fact, poor Willie only garnered three votes. His recently launched morning show on KSTP AM-1500 is obviously in trouble and management has decided to act. Apparently in the radio business, the worst thing you can hear is, "I'm from management and I'm here to help." And "help" they did by supplementing Willie's show by adding the Twin Towers of Babble otherwise known as the Polichicks, usually heard in the coveted 7am-10am Sunday morning time slot. That's like parking a gas tanker at a railroad crossing in hopes of stopping the runaway train. I didn't think it was possible, but after listening to a bit of the show this morning, I actually feel sorry for Willie. Talk about emasculating. If Willie had any stones at all, he'd tell KSTP to take this job and shove it, pack up his cat, and make for South Dakota without delay. But I don't see that happening. Willie's more like Gil from The Simpson's, willing to suffer almost any humiliation and degradation just to hold on to his job a little bit longer. The wolf may soon be at ol' Willie's door once again. (More on KSTP's latest fiasco at The Kool Aid Report) Tuesday, January 10, 2006
If this state had a real hockey commissioner instead of an AWOL paunchy pretender to the throne, he no doubt would be on hand to drop the puck at the opening face-off of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, which will take place on the frozen surface of Lake Calhoun on January 20th-22nd.
As I true citizen of the "State of Hockey," I will be there playing with a team called the Minneapolis Millers. I understand that Governor Pawlenty will also be on hand for the festivities. Maybe I'll have a chance to chat with him about the possible political implications of having a hockey commissioner who lives in California and thinks a wrist shot is what the doctor gives you after you trip over the curb and fall while jogging. Labels: Hockey (06-07)
I'm Asking You Sugar, Would I Lie To You?
The Smoking Gun looks into James Frey's "true life" stories as told in the Oprah-hyped A Million Little Pieces and finds A Million Little Lies. Their report is exhaustive, devastating, and lengthy, but well worth the read. Looks like some editors and gatekeepers in the publishing world have been snoozing on the job. Police reports, court records, interviews with law enforcement personnel, and other sources have put the lie to many key sections of Frey's book. The 36-year-old author, these documents and interviews show, wholly fabricated or wildly embellished details of his purported criminal career, jail terms, and status as an outlaw "wanted in three states." In hindsight, it's amazing that people were so willing to swallow this guy's incredible tales with little or no scrutiny. It appears that members of the fairer sex were especially likely to ignore their natural BS detectors when it came to Frey: Winfrey clearly recognized the book's appeal to her largely female audience. When he's not banging hookers or having a gal snort cocaine off his penis, Frey shows a deep, and often sweet, reverence for the women with whom he is involved. At turns volatile and vulnerable, chivalrous and brutish, Frey is a true reclamation project, complete with puke- and snot-stained clothing. What's a girl not to love? Pursuing Frey documents, we were struck by the number of people TSG contacted who were either reading, or had already read, "A Million Little Pieces" as a result of the Winfrey endorsement. When we sent copies of the book to a pair of male cops, the volumes were quickly commandeered by their respective significant others. When a Michigan sheriff's aide sent us an old Frey mug shot, she enclosed a handwritten letter noting, "And by the way, I am reading his 1st book "A Million Little Pieces" & can't put it down." An Ohio police chief told us that his dispatcher had finished the book two weeks before we first called. Friends and relatives, too, were reading Frey, with one acquaintance reporting that she bought the book after seeing three other women reading it in her Metro-North railroad car. Something for the gals out there to keep in mind: when a guy is feeding you a story that sounds too good (or in this case too bad) to be true, it probably is. (Via the Eater of Cake) Monday, January 09, 2006
New Year's Question
You think people will still be using napkins in the year 2006? Or is this mouth vacuum thing for real? UPDATE III: Over $500 so far. More than halfway home. UPDATE II: Bumped to the top We realize that it's been a demanding year on the charitable front with the Southeast Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and any number of other urgent needs. And you're probably feeling a little tapped out in the aftermath of the holidays. But this is a very worthy cause and you can make a donation safe in the knowledge that your money is being put to good use. There are no overhead costs (other than what PayPal skims off the transactions) involved. Every dollar donated is directly used to purchase goods that are delivered directly into the hands of the children at the orphanage (in the case of toys, we mean that quite literally). Unfortunately, your donation is not tax deductible. We have been looking into getting a foundation set up in the US to support the orphanage, but that effort is still in the development phase right now. If you have any questions about the orphanage or this fundraiser, please don't hesitate to contact me. You can read more about it here and more about the February 2004 visit here. If you're not comfortable using Pay Pal, but would like to make a donation, drop me an e-mail at rightwinger23@hotmail.com and I'll let you know where you can send a check. We would like to raise at least $1000 so that we could really make a difference with our effort. Thanks in advance for your support. Labels: Chihuahua Orphanage
Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, and JB Doubtless
Name three people likely to oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito on philosophical grounds. Alito Is a Springsteen Fan Strange bedfellows indeed.
Oh, yeah, $200, and you boys drank $300 worth of beer
Rumor has it that our own JB Doubtless will be performing (playing bass, guitar, and cowbell) with Lazy Ike and the Daredevils this Friday, January 13th at the Fridley Crab House Music Cafe in always friendly Fridley. The set list hasn't been posted yet, but there is a possibility that this may be the premier of the long-awaited Springsteen tribute show that's been in JB's hopper for some time now. It might look something like this. Sunday, January 08, 2006
No Catholics Need Apply
Front page article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal on a college professor at an evangelical Christian college who was recently relieved of his duties by the school. His offence? Becoming a Catholic: Wheaton College was delighted to have assistant professor Joshua Hochschild teach students about medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas, one of Roman Catholicism's foremost thinkers. But when the popular teacher converted to Catholicism, the prestigious evangelical college reacted differently. It fired him. The story goes on to detail the rational for the firing. It does not appear to be an isolated occurrence: Mr. Hochschild's dismissal captures tensions coursing through many of America's religious colleges. At these institutions, which are mostly Protestant or Catholic, decisions about hiring and retaining faculty members are coming into conflict with a resurgence of religious identity. Historically, religious colleges mainly picked faculty of their own faith. In the last third of the 20th century, however, as enrollments soared and higher education boomed, many Catholic colleges enhanced their prestige by broadening their hiring, choosing professors on the basis of teaching and research. As animosities between Catholics and Protestants thawed, some evangelical Protestant colleges began hiring faculty from other Christian faiths. But now a conservative reaction is setting in, part of a broader push against the secularization of American society. Fearful of forsaking their spiritual and educational moorings, colleges are increasingly "hiring for mission," as the catch phrase goes, even at the cost of eliminating more academically qualified candidates. Addressing faculty at the University of Notre Dame, the school's new president, the Rev. John Jenkins, recently expressed concern that the percentage of faculty who were Catholic had fallen to 53%, compared with 85% in the 1970s. Today's level is barely above a line set in 1990 by the late Pope John Paul II, who decreed that non-Catholics shouldn't be a majority of the faculty at a Catholic university. Notre Dame is compiling a database of candidates who can contribute to the university's religious mission. Administrators say that instead of reducing quality, Notre Dame's religious identity has lured some premier faculty, such as associate professor Brad Gregory, who left a tenured job at Stanford in 2003 for an equivalent, higher-paying position. "Notre Dame's Catholic character wasn't only a factor, it was the factor," says Mr. Gregory, a Catholic, who specializes in the history of Christianity. "By any ordinary measure, you'd be crazy to leave Stanford for Notre Dame." I don't begrudge a private religious college hiring and firing their faculty based on religious faith. But I have a couple of problems with this decision. The first is practical as Wheaton has discovered: Meanwhile, Wheaton hasn't replaced Mr. Hochschild. One obstacle: Most scholars of medieval philosophy are Catholics. More importantly, at a time when Christianity in America (very possibly the last best hope for the future of Western Civilization itself) faces ever increasing pressure from secularism, applying religious purity tests to your faculty seems a bit absurd. Christians of all denominations (and Jews as well) should be looking for ways to find common ground rather continuing to pick at differences that are really rather insignificant in the bigger picture. As Benjamin Franklin once succinctly put it, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Friday, January 06, 2006
I Have To Admit It's Getting Better
I set out to write a post ripping women's hockey the likes of which would have made even the Nihilist blush. So I went out to the Gopher Women's Hockey page and was expecting to see pictures of a bunch of squat, angry gals that more closely resembled 15 year old boys (kind of like the MPLS fire chief). But instead I was pleasantly surprised to find that these gals were a group of rather fetching lassesesses. I don't doubt for a minute that each and every one of these corn-fed and hand-spanked cuties will be able to win themselves a husband when they work this little sports thing out of their systems after they graduate. My fave was one Ashley Albrecht a little sweetie straight outta South Saint Paul. Dig them cheek bones and she even looks cute in the helmet! Is it just me or is she wearing makeup under her mask? Love it. (Quick aside: why does it list the gals' height, but not weight? Hmmm....) For those of you who prefer brunettes, I present Miss Chelsey Brodt. A sprite young defenseman out of Roseville. Somebody raised these dames right. And what program at the U would be complete without a little diversity? Esto señorita pequeña se fundiría hielo de 50 yardas. Adoraría gozar un burrito de carnitas con ella. A chi mama! The phillies are an amazing 25 and 1 this year and are leading the WCHA by 6 points above the hated Bulldogs of Duluth. I just may have to catch a game or two. SAINT PAUL CHIMES IN: I don't speak Spanish, but I don't want to miss an iota of the wit and wisdom of a JB Doubtless post. So I Babel Fish translated his sentence on the lovely Latina Gopherette. The result: This small young lady would be fused ice of 50 yards. She would adore to enjoy a young donkey carnitas with her. To chi she sucks! I couldn't have said it better myself. And probably no worse. JB DOUBTLESS CLARIFIES: It actually means "This little lady could melt ice at 50 yards. I wouldn't mind enjoying a carnitas burrito with her."
Waiter, There's a Tight End in My Soup!
You can get anything you want at the Vikings' restaurant, at least according to the crew at Nihilist in Golf Pants. Check out their Top 11 Menu Items from the new Vikings-themed restaurant. My advice, stay away from Onterrio Smith's Original Weinerator. Stay very far away. Thursday, January 05, 2006
Even by North American standards, this is a heck of a nice little scrum. Look for the bald dude to employ a few headbutts at around the three minute mark.
(Courtesy of da Cake Eater) Labels: Hockey (06-07)
The Straw Trumpet (coined!) is out of touch in so many areas it's almost hard to believe. But if there is one consistency throughout the paper it is that the weirder and more hateful toward normal society something is, the higher it will be praised by the paper and the higher it will be from the fold.
One of the paper's favorite little games is to try to normalize the heretofore un-normal: gay marriage, crime (hey--it's part of living in the city, deal with it!) women in combat, etc. I guess the hope is that by acting like the weird AREN'T weird that they will cease to be so and we can all then drink the free Bubble-Up and eat Rainbow Stew like happy little diverse leprechauns (or something). This fascination with and promotion of the antagonistic, juvenile subculture can be plainly seen in the music that the paper tells us were the Best of 2005. Chris Remenschneider and some of his pals picked the following as some of his favorites this year: ATMOSPHERE-- He takes on alcoholism ("Pour Me Another"), fatherhood ("Little Man") and the murder of a fan ("That Night"), all the while not losing his own warped, self-deprecating outlook. CHARLIE PARR "ROOSTER" ...full of death, poverty, injustice, God and other things you meet when you're down and out. THE STNNNG-- Rock's answer to Tourette's syndrome, the five-piece band dutifully demonstrates on its debut CD how it is liable to blow at any minute, whether it's the band's sonic bombast or singer Chris Besinger's apathetic rants Let's see: death, poverty, injustice, Tourette's Syndrome, apathetic rants, murder--I can see why substance like this would make a year's best list. Because after a long day of dealing with death, poverty, injustice and murder (and that's just walking down Nicollet Avenue during your lunch break) that's exactly the kind of thing that most normal people would like to plop on their Ipods when they hit the gym. And another point: who the hell are these bands? Why is the paper paying someone a professional salary to talk about obscure little hipster bands that sell no records, have no following and that no one has even heard of? I guess the City Pages isn't handling this beat sufficiently? Was market research done suggesting the key to improving the numbers was to reach out to semi-employed record store clerks and clothes-sorters at Ragstock? I would surmise that there are maybe, maybe 50 people in the entire readership population of the paper that have heard of these bands (Yes, Mitch Berg is one of them--that goes without saying). Blogs are often accused of writing for other bloggers. What else could this little exercise in cooler-than-thou be called? Labels: That's Entertainment
He The Mensch
Michael Medved is coming to town and you can purchase tickets now to attend an event with him at the Hopkins Center for the Arts (no, that's not an oxymoron) on Tuesday, January 31st. If you've never heard Mr. Medved in person before, you should plan to come out to this affair. He'll be speaking on the 2006 elections in Minnesota and, if past experience is any indication, he will deliver the goods. The doors open at 6:30pm with a cash bar and the main event begins at 7:30pm. Tickets are a mere twenty-five bones, which is a bargain. Now I'm sure some of you will dismiss this as nothing but shameless shilling for AM1280 The Patriot, the sponsor of the event. But in order to be truly considered a shill, you have to receive some material gain from the outfit that you're shilling for. And believe you me, there ain't any of that goin' on here. This is about an evening of fun, good conversation, a drink or four, and excellent political commentary. And that's just ten minutes at the cash bar with Atomizer! Get your tickets today.
I promise, at some point I'll cease heralding the failures of the MSM in executing their gate keeping mission of ensuring the truth appears in their news reports. Believe it or not, even I'm growing bored with it. But their their recent follies and continuing arrogance have been too extravagant to ignore.
I'm now convinced you could spend all day, every day, documenting these errors which appear prominently in the paper and on TV. Once news consumers realize the level of unreliability delivered by the institutions of media, they might seek out better options and the monopolistic journalism trusts will be broken, for the benefit of us all. But, since not everyone is yet convinced of this unreliability, it's on with the show ... First, let's recall one more time the warnings about blogs from the Pioneer Press and U of M Professor Larry Jacobs: Along with partisanship, credibility is another problem for blogs. There's nothing in the First Amendment about the need for an editor. Bloggers can write anything they want; they can spout fact or fiction. Jacobs advises readers to beware: "There's no gatekeeping here." And now a couple of breaking stories from the last 24 hours: Baltimore Sun columnist resigns in scandal. A longtime columnist for The Baltimore Sun resigned Tuesday amid allegations of plagiarism from other newspapers, The Sun said early Wednesday. "I made mistakes," Olesker said as he cleaned out his desk in the newsroom, according to an article in The Sun's editions published Wednesday. In addition to plagiarism, those "mistakes" included incidents like this: The [Maryland governor's] staff had complained about a November 2004 column in which Olesker described a meeting that he did not attend. Olesker acknowledged that he did not attend the meeting and apologized. Of course, this isn't the first time a rabble rousing, tenure-for-life columnist has gotten caught letting laziness or partisanship introduce fiction into his reporting. Every town has these self-styled community consciences lurking around, needing drama three times a week for their column to work. Forget blogs, of all the media voices out there, precedent suggests it's these guys the reader should beware most of all. Also, yesterday we had the Dewey Defeats Truman moment for on-the-spot disaster reporting. This review of the coverage of the deceased miners, from Editor and Publisher, seems to have it about right: In one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of its kind in recent years, television and newspapers carried the tragically wrong news late Tuesday and early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners in West Virginia had been found alive and safe. Hours later they had to reverse course, often blaming the mix-up on "miscommunication." Tim Blair has a good round up of links and the denials and finger-pointing among the gatekeepers who allowed these falsehoods to be spread worldwide. Excerpts: Some editors blamed officials, including the governor, for misleading reporters. Anderson Cooper, the CNN host, ripped the coal company at 3 a.m. for not correcting the wrong reports for so long, but did not explain why CNN went with the good news without strong confirmation. It is unclear why the media carried the news without proper sourcing. Some reports claim the early reports spread via cell phones and when loved ones started celebrating most in the media simply joined in. So, according to the media, their erroneous reports were the fault of government officials, the coal company, and/or the victims' families - take your pick. Now that's accountability. In their defense, with a conspiracy like this arrayed against them, it's no wonder they were forced to publish fiction in scream headlines on their front pages. The Star Tribune also joined the screaming chorus, but they have a unique excuse for their front page falsehoods. The gatekeepers had fallen asleep, literally: Star Tribune Managing Editor Scott Gillespie said senior editors didn't learn of the new developments until morning. "Senior editors weren't alerted. Had they been, we would have stopped the presses and remade the front page." I guess all we Twin Cities news consumers can hope for is that the next breaking story happens during business hours. UPDATE: At this hour, the editors may be lost in blissful slumber, but the academic apologists for the paper never rest. From the Star Tribune article on the tribulations and upcoming trials of MDE, this from U of M professor Jane Kirtley: "Bloggers, by their very nature, are not expected to adhere to the same standards of accuracy that those in the mainstream media would be." I think I'll take that as a compliment. Labels: Media-National (02-06) Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Paul Mirengoff Is Smiling
Mooning deemed 'disgusting' but legal in Maryland: Acquitting a Germantown man who exposed his buttocks during an argument with a neighbor, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that mooning, while distasteful, is not illegal in Maryland. "If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty," Judge John W. Debelius III said after the bench trial, reversing the ruling of a District Court judge.
Meet The New Dan
So Dave Letterman has now officially outed himself as a leftist buffoon. I'm talking about Letterman's treatment of Bill O'Reilly last night on Late Night where Letterman exposed his true colors as a typical coastal leftist with a templated mind. I'm not a huge O'Reilly fan, but he's at least fighting the good fight most of the time and exposing the less sophisticated news connisewer rats to what could roughly be called conservative ideology (albeit with a populist spin). O'Reilly isn't exactly one of the top guys to us conservatives, but to coastal leftists he is the Enemy and Letterman saw his chance to make A Stand and be heralded at cocktail parties for years. Here he plays the liberal-approved were-you-ever-in-Vietnam? card: Letterman: "Have you lost family members in armed conflict?" O'Reilly: "No, I have not." Letterman: "Well, then you can hardly speak for her, can you?" [applause] Here he refuses to answer a direct question from O'Reilly, showing his intellectual laziness and entertainer's arrogance: O'Reilly: "This is important, this is important. Cindy Sheehan lost a son, a professional soldier in Iraq, correct? She has a right to grieve any way she wants, she has a right to say whatever she wants. When she says to the public that the insurgents and terrorists are 'freedom fighters', how do you think, David Letterman, that makes people who lost loved ones, by these people blowing the Hell out of them, how do you think they feel, what about their feelings, sir?" Letterman: "What about, why are we there in the first place? [applause] The President himself, less than a month ago said we are there because of a mistake made in intelligence. Well, whose intelligence? It was just somebody just get off a bus and handed it to him?" Here, Letterman channels Mitch Berg: O'Reilly: "No way. [waits for applause to die down] No way you're going to get me, no way that a terrorist who blows up women and children." Letterman: "Do you have children?" O'Reilly: "Yes I do. I have a son the same age as yours. No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a 'freedom fighter' on my program." [mild audience applause] Here he tries to show that he's above all this silly debating stuff, but he feels that O'Reilly is wrong. He knows what he knows, even if he has never watched O'Reilly's show: Letterman: "I'm not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap. [audience laughter] But I don't know that for a fact. [more audience applause]. Paul Shafer: "60 percent." Letterman: "60 percent. I'm just spit-balling here." O'Reilly: "Listen, I respect your opinion. You should respect mine." Letterman: "Well, ah, I, okay. But I think you're-" O'Reilly: "Our analysis is based on the best evidence we can get." Letterman: "Yeah, but I think there's something, this fair and balanced. I'm not sure that it's, I don't think that you represent an objective viewpoint." (ED NOTE: Earth to Dave--O'Reilly is a commentator, not a news anchor. Is this a tough distinction to make?) O'Reilly: "Well, you're going to have to give me an example if you're going to make those claims." Letterman: "Well I don't watch your show so that would be impossible." O'Reilly: "Then why would you come to that conclusion if you don't watch the program?" Letterman: "Because of things that I've read, things that I know." O'Reilly: "Oh come on, you're going to take things that you've read. You know what that says about you? Come on. Watch it for a couple, look, watch it for a half hour. You'll get addicted. You'll be a Factor fan, we'll send you a hat." Letterman: "You'll send me a hat. Well, send Cindy Sheehan a hat" O'Reilly: "I'll be happy to." What incredible hubris Letterman showed last night. What disdain for the values of half of the people in the country. Amazing that a popular entertainer would go so far out on a limb like this. I know there are a sizeable portion of what I call the Thank-You-Sir-May-Have-Another-Conservatives who don't want to hold entertainers responsible for their BS rhetoric and will gladly suffer any slight, diss or direct kick in the nuts and just throw up their hands and say "Oh well, I don't like him because of his politics". Well, I think that has to change. Letterman needs to become persona non grata to thinking conservatives. He needs to be the butt of jokes. He needs to be mocked, scorned and ridiculed. He needs to become the new Dan Rather.
The Man Behind The Mask
Breaking news over at Minnesota Democrats Exposed. The exposer exposes himself: My name is ******* ******** and I am Minnesota Democrats Exposed. What? You thought I was going to make it that easy? Follow the link to find out who MDE really is. No fooling around this time.
Send in the Gatekeepers
On Monday I wrote about an error appearing in the Sunday the New York Times regarding their characterization of a 30% decrease in the number of US military wounded in Iraq between 2004 and 2005 as being "much higher" in 2005. In the off chance the public editor doesn't read Fraters Libertas (except for the Atomizer posts), I also sent an email pointing out the discrepancy and requesting a correction. Within seconds I go an automated reply with these assurances: Thanks for your message to our Reader Comment mailbox. Your e-mail will reach the appropriate editor promptly. We are grateful to readers who take the time to help us report thoroughly and accurately. Ordinarily a comment about news coverage will receive a further reply. And we do pay respectful attention to all messages, even those that are part of organized letter-writing campaigns, for which we are not staffed to reply individually. A correction generally takes two or three days to appear on Page A2, after fact checking. I never got a personal reply to my inquiry (which means I'm now officially an organized campaign), but I do see the correction has been printed. And it looks like the damage runs deeper than I thought: An article on Sunday about American military casualties in Iraq misstated figures in some copies for the American service members wounded in 2005 and 2004 as reported by the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a nonprofit group that tracks American service members killed and wounded in Iraq. According to the group, 5,557 American service members were wounded in 2005, not 9,157; and 7,989 were wounded in 2004, not 7,956. This is actually a different error than the one I pointed out. In my edition of the NYT, the casualty numbers were reported correctly, it was their news summary on page 2 that gave them an exactly opposite characterization. Now they're saying that the actual numbers reported in some editions were incorrect. Apparently by the time my edition went to print, those numbers had been corrected in the article, but they forgot to fix the summary. So post correction, yet another correction needed to be made. Which brings up the inevitable question, with gate keepers like this, who needs circus clowns? Curious as to whether the post-correction correction needed a further correction, I Googled the source the NYT is blindly quoting as the definitive tabulator of US military casualties. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count indeed does list the number of US military wounded in 2005 as 5,777 and for 2004 as 7,987. Although there are numerous tables and charts listed on the main page, it's easy to identify this information from the site, and cut and paste into a spreadsheet to confirm the calculations. Which makes me wonder how the NYT reporter, Dexter Filkins, and his gatekeepers produced the erroneous numbers in the first place. I ran a few other combinations but couldn?t come up with the 9,157 wounded in 2004 that was originally cited. Any enterprising bloggers who have time to figure out where they went wrong might uncover some hilarious insight about what part of "wounded" or "2005" the Times doesn't understand. But, with that truncated, buried correction, I'm sure the editors and their apologists now feel that they've done their jobs. Wrong has been righted, and they can breezily moveon.org to other stories that reinforce their beliefs. In reality, the error and bias linger on. The facts of the story they were pursuing should have produced the following headline and plot summary: Casualties in Iraq down sharply in '05 I haven't seen that article yet. As the gatekeepers have demonstrated, in their judgment, good news like that isn't fit to print.
We all know the boys and the girls are doing it
From today's Grand Forks Herald comes news of an interesting match-up on the ice: The U.S. Olympic women's hockey team faces off against the Warroad High School boys' hockey team tonight in Warroad. A capacity crowd of nearly 25-hundred is expected for the game at The Gardens Arena in Warroad, a hotbed of hockey near the Canadian border. The game will count as one of the Warriors' regular-season games. It'll be played under Minnesota State High School League rules, with one exception -- no checking allowed. That is one very important exception. While playing the body is still part of the gal's game (no check most certainly does not mean no contact), there's a big difference between angling someone off into the boards and full check hockey. I would imagine that this will be a tough adjustment for the Warroad boys and I would expect them to come out playing tentatively. With their speed and stick handling skills, this might allow the Olympic women to open up a lead early on. Playing on a smaller rink under the Minnesota high school rulebook should help Warroad. Since the game does count, they will have an incentive to win. More than just not wanting to get beat by a bunch of girls. The puck drops at 7:30 tonight. Tuesday, January 03, 2006
He Ain't Heavy? Why You Mother...
Talkers magazine lists their Heavy Hundred of 2005, which they claim to be a list of the "100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America." The list includes a slew of hosts that I've never heard of (Blute & Scotto???), some baffling selections (Randi Rhodes???), and a few names that local listeners will recognize (Joe Soucheray and Jason Lewis). But it's probably most notable for a couple of critical absences. No Hugh Hewitt and no Dennis Prager. Huh? Are they really trying to claim that Arlene Violet from Rhode Island (described as a "household name in the Ocean State" and lauded as a "consistent performer") is more important that either of the nationally syndicated Salem talk hosts? Puh-leaze.
A Herd, Not A Pack
The lack of creativity and original thinking among the Twin Cities major media outlets was amply demonstrated in the wake of the recent firing of Vikings head coach Mike Tice. On Sunday, the day that Tice's pink slip was rather awkwardly delivered, I watched the coverage on the local news at 10pm. All three of the network affiliates had dispatched reporters and camera crews to Bunny's Bar in St. Louis Park, an establishment that Tice was known to frequent. They were all there looking for sober reflections from the Bunny's regulars on the news that Tice had just been canned. I've been to Bunny's (both the old and the new digs) on more than a few occasions myself and the words "sober" "reflections" and "Bunny's regulars" are not usually associated together with good reason. Let's just say these interviews did not make for the most compelling news reporting. I found it amusing that all three TV stations came up with the same lame approach to the story. I imagine that some producer at each station was sure that they were the one with the unique angle and were quietly congratulating themselves on their brilliance. "I've got it. We'll send a crew out to that bar that Tice hangs out at. What's it called? Oh yeah, Bunny's. Get over to Bunny's right away." Imagine their disappointment when they found out that the Bunny's parking lot was jammed with news vans. Today, because we apparently just can't enough of the Tice-Bunny's connection, we get to hear even more about the fallout at the bar over the firing, this time courtesy of Saint Paul's favorite sports scribe, Patrick Reusse: There was more than Tice missing from Bunny's on Sunday night. During the evening, the sign that declared a prime parking spot as belonging to Tice was removed from its post. Probably one of the news guys bringing back a souvenir. Round up the usual suspects. Most of the local media.
As New Years comes and goes we return to business as usual here at Fraters Libertas Industries. We look forward to another prosperous and productive year, which will be our fourth in the blogging game and our fifth overall as a web site. During that time we've been proud to tally over 93 million hits and 37 unique visitors.
But in order to maintain the high quality product that our readers have come to expect, we realize that we can't simply stand pat and rest on our laurels. We knew it had to happen. We felt the tables turnin'. So we promise to turn some pages so that we'll be here when you're ready to roll with the changes. The problem is that the four of us come up with these things, we know they're gold, but nothing happens. You know why? Time. It's all this meaningless time. Laundry, real jobs, drinking, going to Keegan's to play trivia. Do you have any idea how much time Atomizer wastes at the bar? Anyway, we've all got a lot of things in our hoppers. Oh, we've got hoppers. Big hoppers. We're ideas men without the time to follow through on all the petty details required to bring those ideas to fruition. And so we would like to announce a new opening here at FLI. Intern. Unpaid of course. Television has 'em. Radio has 'em. Newspapers have 'em. Politicians have 'em (sometimes literally). Why not us? We believe that this is the first blogging internship to be offered and expect it to generate quite a response. All you'll need is a telephone, internet access, and a positive attitude. Qualified applicants should be web savvy, have an ear for baloney, know how to mix an excellent Manhattan, be proficient in Photoshop, have a well-honed BS detector, and live for research. You'll enjoy the prestige of working behind the scenes for one of the world's most mispronounced blogs. This is also an excellent opportunity for J school students looking to gain an understanding of what blogs are really all about. Without editors or gate keepers! But you should be aware that it's not all sunshine and chocolate. Working for Atomizer is not unlike a day in the office with Buddy Ackerman. Atomizer: What I am concerned with is detail. I asked you go get me a bottle of Sapphire. You bring me back Tanqueray. That isn't what I asked for. That isn't what I wanted. That isn't what I needed and that shit isn't going to work around here. Get your resume in today. Labels: Fraters Inc Monday, January 02, 2006
Temperance Tantrum
Since I've spent most of the last day or two either drunk or hung over, I'm just now getting to the stacks of recent newspapers covering my kitchen table. What I have found there makes me a very un-happy boy. Saturday's St. Paul Pioneer Press featured this piece on the front page detailing an 18 year old Wisconsin law allowing bars to stay open past normal hours on New Year's Eve. Since all of this keyboard clacking is wreaking havoc with my already pounding headache, let's all just read an excerpt: The law dates to 1987, when the Legislature offered it as a concession for making bar closing times a uniform 2 a.m. across the state, (Pete) Madland (executive director of the Tavern League of Wisconsin) said.Sounds reasonable, don't you think? No sane human is in favor of drunk driving and if staggering bar closing times reduces the drunk driving threat on New Year's Eve by even a hair, who could argue? I'll tell you who...the Mad Mothers themselves: Kari Kinnard, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Wisconsin, wasn't aware the law existed. She fears it could cause trouble.I nearly spit my morning Irish whiskey all over my bowl of Cheerios when I read that little nugget. In one single sentence, Kari exposes M.A.D.D. for the frauds that they really are. Their mission has nothing to do with ending drunk driving. They seek the resurrection of the eighteenth amendment, pure and simple. Kari, and those of her ilk, have already succeeded in blackmailing states to adopt the national .08 standard that makes criminals out of people who have two glasses of wine with dinner while people like this drive freely. It is now painfully obvious that their ultimate goal is to criminalize the mere act of having a drink because you and I are just too stupid to know how to do it responsibly. At least they're now being honest about it. Sunday, January 01, 2006
Yesterday on the Northern Alliance Radio Network, we were discussing a series of new laws for Minnesota that would take effect with the coming of the New Year. One of these new laws concerned the cap on dental benefits available under state provided medical care:
More Low-Income Dental Care: A $500 annual benefit cap for dental care has been removed under the Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare and General Assistance medical care programs. We joked that this bill was no doubt pushed by the "Big Dentistry" lobbyists at the legislature. Near the end of the second hour of the show, we received a call from a dentist who explained that contrary to our comments, dentists in the state were not benefiting from treating patients under these state plans and, in fact, most dentists had stopped seeing such patients because the state was only willing to reimburse 43% of the charges incurred. Our caller said that costs made up 70% of his charges, so he was losing a good chunk of change by treating patients on these state supported plans and would no longer continue to do so in 2006. My wife, who has experience in the medical insurance arena, e-mailed me during the show to back up the dentist's claims: I am glad the dentist called your show. That's exactly correct. The MA reimbursement rate is so low that most dentists don't want to take MA patients. We had a hard time finding dentists in the network that will take them. If they do take them, they are usually at their max....like the dentist said, they don't want all MA patients. Shows why the legislature is out of tune as to what is going on, increasing the cap is not going to help the persons on MA. Also, most private dental plans have caps....look at ours, for example, has a cap of 1500-2000 per yr. I am sure someone had concerns that MA persons not getting the dental care they need, not looking as to why, just increase the cap....typical political move! The dentist also made a good point that a lot of the MA patients don't show up for the appts, that is true across the board when it comes to medical care.....we had to develop incentives for MA patients to go to their appts (i.e. gave them Target gift cards if they went to x amount of appts in a row). So let's recap what we've got going here. The state program is supposed to provide dental care for people who can't afford it on their own. But the state reimbursement rate is so low that dentists refuse to treat the patients. Bad situation for all involved: those who need the care, the dentists, and the taxpayers of the state. The solution from the legislature? They raise the caps, which does nothing to address the root of the problem and, in fact, makes it worse as our dentist caller explained that all that raising the caps would do is cause him to lose even MORE money. Your government at work folks. Labels: Health care
The first issue of my 6-month subscription to the Sunday New York Times arrived this morning. It was a requested and welcome Xmas gift and I suspect it will prove to be the gift that keeps on giving. Right out of the box, it doesn't disappoint. From the page 2 "News Summary" of articles that appear elsewhere in the issue (not online, transcribed by me):
At least 844 members of the American military were killed in Iraq in 2005, nearly matching 2004's total of 848, and the number of wounded in 2005 was much higher than in the previous year, according to information provided by the United States government and a nonprofit organization that tracks casualties in Iraq. I'm not sure who writes these summaries and how many levels of editorial control go into proofing and approving them, but it appears they need to add at least one more level. The facts from the article written by the unfortunately named Dexter Filkins: From Jan. 1, 2005 to Dec. 3, 2005, the most recent date for which numbers are available, the number of Americans military personnel wounded in Iraq was 5,557. The total wounded in 2004 was 7,989. A 30% decrease reported on page 6 and summarized on page 2 as "much higher." I'm not sure if the New York Times needs another layer of gate keepers or maybe just a good book keeper to teach the staff some basic math. Either way, it's another good opportunity to remind ourselves of the warnings from U of M professor Larry Jacobs on the dangers of blogs: Along with partisanship, credibility is another problem for blogs. There's nothing in the First Amendment about the need for an editor. Bloggers can write anything they want; they can spout fact or fiction. Jacobs advises readers to beware: "There's no gatekeeping here." And for that, perhaps we should be thankful. With gatekeepers like those we find in the MSM, who needs barbarians? Labels: Media-National (02-06)
Make Sure That The Arrest Warrant Says THE Ohio State University
Clarett wanted on robbery charges: COLUMBUS, Ohio - Maurice Clarett was wanted by police on Sunday after he was accused of using a gun to rob two people in an alley behind a bar. The troubled former Ohio State running back fled when the bar owner or manager, who knew Clarett and the victims, came into the alley and identified him shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. According to police, the 22-year-old Clarett left the scene in a white sport utility vehicle with two other men and took only a cell phone from his alleged victims, who weren't injured. He was wanted on two counts of suspicion of aggravated robbery. The Vikings could use a running back next year, couldn't they? Hmmm...
* Star Tribune Letters from readers Saturday, December 31st:
A COUNCIL PAY RAISE Bad timing I wish to thank the Minneapolis City Council for voting itself a pay raise (Star Tribune, Dec. 24) while -- through its smoking ban -- turning my business from profitable to unprofitable and eliminating paychecks for four former employees. TERRY KEEGAN, MINNEAPOLIS ** 2006 predictions for the local airwaves at freedomdogs.com: Bob Davis will be offered anything he wants and move to 7-11 am since he is the only listenable and marketable talent left on the station. Jason Lewis will move back and take the evening drive slot back on 1500. In an effort to be "fair (mushy) and balanced (liberal)," KSTP will give the noontime slot to "centrist" Al Franken who will use his show as a vehicle to launch his Senate campaign against the dark lord Coleman. On Saturdays, Strom will purchase a full 9 hours and read from the classics, smoking the finest cigars in his pajamas. *** Via e-mail news comes that ConservaTV is on the air: I've recently launched a website, ConservaTV, which is a C-SPAN for conservatives. The site contains links to speeches by Republican presidents, interviews with conservative authors, and rants from a few loony leftists. The site will continue to grow as I find more audio and video links of interest to conservatives. Labels: Media-Local (05-07)
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