Sunday, May 26, 2002

10:38:12 PM     Comments[]

I Couldn't Agree More Simply put, the season finale of The West Wing was the best single hour of television ever. [Scripting News] 9:27:27 PM     Comments[]

I agree with every comment about today's powerful journalism in the New York Times. What I'm having a little difficulty with is the notion or inference that Memorial Day has become or is becoming a time to remember those victims of Oklahoma City's bombing or 9-11-01 or other "tragedies." I'm still a believer in the notion that Memorial Day has been, is and should be about those members of this nation's military who died defending our freedoms and beliefs. 05/26/02 21:21 CEST. Some powerful journalism in the NY Times today: Fighting to Live as the Towers Died. It's an account of the people who didn't survive the attack on the WTC, pieced together from frantic phone calls and emails to friends and family. The Web version includes some well-done interactive pieces (a chronology and detailed annotated maps of the interior of the buildings) as well as full transcripts of the interviews and email texts used in writing the story (North Tower transcripts, South Tower transcripts). [Kottke.org] 9:22:45 PM     Comments[]

With a daughter leaving for Australia on June 17th, this isn't the kind of news I need. Opposite coast and unique motive provide some small comfort! SUICIDE BOMBER IN PERTH, AUSTRALIA! James Morrow has the scoop on a guy who seems to be imitating Palestinians, though with a different agenda. [InstaPundit] 9:05:56 PM     Comments[]

Ice Oceans Found on Mars Water-ice has been found in vast quantities just below the surface across great swathes of the planet Mars. [BBC News] 10:11:58 AM     Comments[]

Oscar Wilde. "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." [Quotes of the Day] 9:12:12 AM     Comments[]

Nuclear weaponry has no out if we guess wrong! STRATEGYPAGE says that a Pakistani-Indian nuclear war will be hard to avoid. Here's a thought -- I don't know if it's right or not. But it occurs to me that while the United States is busy doing its (probably inadequate) best to prevent a nuclear war there, it's much of the rest of the world that has the most to lose. The United States' nuclear power is a huge military ace that it can't really play, mostly for diplomatic reasons. But if there's a nuclear war between two more-or-less Third World countries (Pakistan more, India less) will that lower the threshhold? If I were, say, an Iraqi, or a Saudi, or for that matter a French diplomat, this would worry me. If I were Israel, on the other hand, I might see some value in the loosening of nuclear restraints. I wonder if anyone's thinking about this sort of diplomatic repercussion? [InstaPundit] 9:09:50 AM     Comments[]

Remedial History (or understanding the issues) I have to admit that at this moment I don't know why these two countries are fighting. Concentrating on our war on terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict uses a fair amount of my bandwidth. As a country, what's our role in all of this? Do we have a dog in this fight? It seems we always do. Or, is our concern the risk of nuclear escalation when Pakistan and India go at it? Pakistan conducted the second in a series of missile tests amid growing tensions with neighboring India. In a meeting in Russia, Bush and Putin urged the South Asian adversaries to ease tension in order to avoid war. [Wall Street Journal] Reading more carefully, I find these two phrases: disputed border Islamic incursions If you look at The Bible as a history book, you see just how far back the trespassing laws go! 8:44:36 AM     Comments[]

"Falling Coconuts Kill More People Than Shark Attacks" [Daypop Top 40] This story is an example of a couple of things. First, it calls attention to the lack of media integrity in some past reporting. Second, the innumeracy of reporters and readers alike is so often exposed when they are alarmed by headlines or statistics that have no relative reference. Shark attacks were not "up" in 2001, they were the same as 2000. (Coconut deaths also remained relatively "flat.") 8:34:07 AM     Comments[]

William Bennett is logically consistent as well! On moral clarity. William Bennett, Moral clarity isn't simplistic (as published in The Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2002): Moral clarity has worked. It worked in Afghanistan, where [Jonathon Delacour] 8:17:32 AM     Comments[]

© Copyright 2002 Steve Pilgrim.