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05/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Valley of the Geeks"

Yeah tho' I walk through the Valley of the Geeks...that's a website featuring "high tech humor served fresh occasionally." Especially fun is the article "Jayson Blair Witch Hunt", which "reports':

"Mr. Blair had written over six hundred stories for the New York Times since he joined as an intern in 1998. Further investigation by a panel of editors, reporters and several prominent smokers at the newspaper revealed that his deceipt included thirty-six national stories ranging from an interview with Elvis Presley published this spring to a lead story on the New York Mets 2002 World Series victory, despite the fact that they were eliminated by Anaheim in the first round. "We all felt bad about that," said New York Times chairman and publisher Arthur Schmaltzburger, Jr. "I thought it was odd that he was able to tell such a dramatic story when no other paper seemed to be covering the Mets." The editors assumed it was just another scoop for the Times and never questioned the details of the story or why the photos were from a 1973 world series against Cincinatti." Ouch!

Iran, Iran, Iran...the name is popping up in the media with the same frequency as Iraq, Iraq, Iraq did in past months. It is shocking how blantantly and without euphemism the US considers the destabilization of Iran -- an issue on which senior Bush administration officials will meet for discussion tomorrow. It makes me long for the days of covert action, when politicians had the sense of decency -- or, at least, the sense of shame -- to cover up their political manipulation of other nations. Now "Pentagon officials are advocating trying to foment a popular uprising to topple Iran's government" and they are announcing it in press conferences. The US demands of Iraq, "Hand over al-Qaeda members!" -- the charge of harboring them being the pretext for the US's aggressive stance. (I guess Weapons of Mass Destruction won't fly twice.) Iraq replies, "We've been fighting al-Qaeda longer than the US has!" Meanwhile, as the US considers destabilizing one nation, it is sending 20,000 more troops to stablize another, namely Iraq. The troops are needed if the US is to live up to the "responsibilities" of an occupying power, a label it has now openly adopted because it does not control the streets of Baghdad. "Baghdad is being carved up by armed gangs. Towns in the south - apart from the port city of Basra, under British control - are even more dangerous. In the city of Hilla, near Babylon, the poor quarter of Nada, where scores of civilians were killed by cluster bombs during the war, is out of bounds to strangers and US troops alike. Both The Observer and Human Rights Watch were warned not to enter without an armed escort."

I am turning off the news and getting on with my life -- which is a remarkably good one -- for the rest of the day. See you tomorrow.
mac