This column by James Lileks is a cogent piece on the same topic as my post, Thank You, Jayson Blair! from 5/15.

A funny pic from The SUN, this one's under Top Ten Viral Emails titled "The Bravest Man on Earth"

THANK YOU, JAYSON BLAIR!


Sure, he made up stories. Sure, he manufactured facts. Sure, he plagerized other writers and falsified his expense reports. He was just a pretend journalist. And now he's the Whipping Boy of the Notorious Raines, the Sacrificial Goat of the New York Times---and he's already reported to be negotiating a 6-figure contract to tell his story. He deserves every dime, because finally people will (just maybe) start to realize that the media is all ABOUT deceit, and made up stories, and manufactured stats and "facts". The mainstream media lies through it's collective teeth most of every day, and if the odd piece of truth should emerge it's just an accident. You might think this is a harsh judgement, but let me explain that our language allows many shades of meaning, colored with emotion and known to give certain reactions. Consider this recent headline:


House Won't Renew Ban on Assault Weapons

"The Republican-controlled House will not renew the federal ban on Uzis and other semiautomatic weapons, a key leader said yesterday, dealing a significant blow to the campaign to clamp down on gun sales nationwide," reports The Washington Post.

Let's look at the headline first. First of all, you'll notice that we have "Assault Weapons" which is a term used by the left to make you think you're dealing with machine guns, which have been illegal since 1927. Even the quote following tells you you're talking about semiautomatics, most of which are rifles. Second, you might think, and reasonably so, that these weapons have been banned and that suddenly they'll be legal again. However, what really happened was that the weapons themselves could still be sold in the U.S., provided that they were manufactured prior to 1994. So really they've been available all along---from licensed dealers. This is just one recent example and I'll be looking at some others in more depth---but I think the point that you are being fed a load of hooey along with your news is made in this instance. Must go now, back soon.

Running Dogs or True Patriots?


"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."
Mark Twain


Texas Democrats are on the run! Sure sounds like good news, but apparently they are required in Texas, if only to lose various votes on re-districting which will lead to losing more votes, and so on. They know, these democrats, that their enemies will stop at nothing. So they will do nothing, in hopes that their enemies will stop. The Texas Republicans, meanwhile, have REALLY got their panties in a bunch.


"There are a lot of bills here in Texas that are dying, bills that affect every part of our community, that affect the elderly, the young, that affect our industry, that affect our efforts against terrorism," said Rep. Ruben Hope, R-Conroe.

Poor bills....dying...gasping for breath...having their heads run over by tuna delivery trucks and shot-gunned by hunters looking for snipe...you could ALMOST feel sorry for them, if the images weren't so amusing. If one band of democrats can run away, why can't all of them? And if the democrats can run away, WHY NOT the republicans? Pretty soon the streets would be safe again, except for the roaming vigilantes, looking for congresscritters.

You were probably wondering about this. I know I was....(from Best of the Web)


Lost in Space
Over the weekend, the Associated Press reported that a mental hospital in Portland, Ore., was hiring a "Klingon interpreter" to speak to mental patients who refuse to speak in any tongue other than that of the "Star Trek" aliens. But Kuro5hin.org, a technology-news site, finds that this is a case of bureaucratic, not clinical, insanity. The Oregonian reports that "in reality, no patient has yet tried to communicate in Klingon." The advertisement for a Klingon interpreter was a preventive measure, in case a "Klingon" patient shows up. The AP omitted this fact, leading to the impression that Oregon had been invaded by self-styled Klingons.

When I read about Modern Drunkard Magazine via Tim Blair's blog, well...turns out I need another t-shirt after all! Funny, very.

“They never expected it to be easy. They knew they’d have to haul the computer equipment through miles of dense bamboo forests populated by poisonous snakes and prowling guerrilla fighters before they could even begin setting up the network. They expected the suffocating clouds of red dust followed by monsoon floods...” But they were geeks, and their vacations were always like this. Real rollovers, they had never developed even the rudiments of sales resistance that you and I take for granted when dealing with sharp, cigar-smoking travel agents. (From Wired, via Idealist.org

The Left hates Daniel Pipes. So do various islamofacists. Therefor, you should read this Editorial. The logic is flawless, eh?