Media Bias!!!!!!!!!

Heading back for the various stripes of boodle troops

Joel, can we infer that these so so-called "editors" have been known to attempt to interfere with your work?

The nerve. The gall. The gall and nerve.

Shipley is my hero, my god. I worship at his feet. I want to bear his love child.

Now:

Oh, crap. A new kit. So I'm re-posting my last:

I don't care how many specialists or E-4s there are, Frosty; I just don't like the terms. "One" is too many. "E-4" is a ridiculous "rank" or form of address on the face of it.

When I was a copy editor on the Navy newspaper I regularly when ballistic having to convert standard military style rules to "proper" newspaper rules. Two in particular stand out: officer ranks were always all-caps and no periods, such as GEN, RADM (Rear Adm. in AP style), VADM, CAPT, LT, and so on. Ship names were also all caps: USS WASP, USS HORNET, and so on, rather than USS Wasp and USS Hornet. Both of these were 19th century holdovers from the days of teletype, when the teletype alphabet only HAD all-caps letters, and there was no choice but to write that way. But leave it to the military to hang on to a stupid style rule that was outmoded a century ago. I wound up completely writing a whole new style manual from scratch for our paper that was four pages (single-spaced) long. (This was in additional to the AP manual and supplemental to it.)

For instance, I'll bet 99% of you don't know that the descriptor for a Navy, CG, Marine or Army base goes BEFORE the geographical name: Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Naval Training Center Great Lakes, or whatever. And here's the easy pneumonic way to remember this: Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Apache, Fort Ticonderoga, or whatever; all the "Forts" go Fort-first. Ergo, so do Marine, Navy and CG posts. Only the Air Force is different: Edwards Air Force Base (name first, then type of installation).

Which is why we have Ice Station Zebra, not Zebra Ice Station.

But what the he11, I've thought one of the things our military needed were more lancers, hussars, currasiers, fusilliers, and so on. I don't know if we still have yeoman; at least Star Trek had the good sense to have them. Always thought Kirk was illegally fraternizing with Yeoman Rand. God knows, I would have.

Posted by: Curmudgeon | July 21, 2008 3:57 PM

"This is a fabulous opportunity for the McCain folks to declare that their foreign policy will not be dictated by the editors of The New York Times."

BWA HA HA! JA always manages to get in at least one hilarious, understated bit. Last week it was "sad but authentic selves." Man, I will use that one at every opportunity ... which will mean once, maybe.

Ahem. I hope I'm not the first here because I don't know the protocol. Sorry!

Mudge-you forgot that if it's in the US it's an Air Force Base, if it's overseas it's an Air Base. I happen to agree that Specialist is a stupid rank. They should just call all E-4s Corporals, but tradition dies hard.

From the last boodle-Plain Tim, with his Warrior critique, reminds us of why being called Rambo is not a compliment.

You know, I'd like to know how well both McCain and Obama can write without assistance. Instead of a debate, let's have timed essay test. Anyone who doesn't think it's an important presidential skill can just google "second inaugural" or "Gettysburg address."

*Nailing up my Lost Gnome leaflet *.

Er. Excuse me. I was purely just sniffing around. Say, have you seen the gnome around lately?

KPage, you gotta be really, really lucky or very nimble to hit first.

I can point to the time when I got over being miffed at having something I'd written changed as a moment of growing up. Really smart people listen to editors and invite others to edit their work. Generally, multiple eyes and ideas make for a much better product.

My first fire chief and I had a standing joke about how he ALWAYS made changes in stuff I wrote for him. Loved that man, he was a fabulous manager. I never worked for anybody else half as good.

I'm guessing Obama could write decently on a timed essay (see his bestselling books and GPAs). McCain, not so much. But yeah, that'd be fun to see.

Oh, here's the gnome.

You know, my memory says somebody promised a certain dog a walk 15 minutes ago.

Funny that, because I'm not seeing a leash out yet... ah. Good.

Ciao, boodlers!

Depend, frosti.. on whether they use a quill or a computer, who'd score better on that essay test.

KPage.. keep meanin' to say "howdy." Welcome aboard. Glad you've found the Submit button easier and easier to click.

McCain should just note that he didn't have the opportunity right after college to polish his skills in prose communication because he had other things to do at the time -- like SURVIVE TORTURE IN A NORTH VIETNAMESE PRISON CAMP! You know, you have to learn to play to your strengths.

To me the way out of this is to show something quantitative - like the average number of times a typical op-ed gets bounced. This might give a little context.

Or, barring that, they could point out which specific standards McCain failed to meet. Again, something that could be assigned a number.

Of course, it would be great if they could demonstrate that Obama's op-ed needed some work as well, although I am sure that if that really were the case they would have done so already.

But all of this explication is probably for naught. I figure this is yet another case where people will see what they want to see.

Hi, KPage. Welcome aboard. Mind the doilies; they're all over the *^%$#^%$ place. Please use a coaster. (grumble, grumble)

Wilbrodog, I was seriously LMAO at nailing up the Lost Gnome poster. One-liner of the week. No question. Seriously good.

Mudge - I thought it odd that in the text MacLean refers only to "Float Station Zebra." I can only assume that someone felt that "Ice Station Zebra" made a more memorable title.

Probably some editor.

Wow, you would think we wouldn't have to goggle David Shipley and find out he is a longtime PAID political operative, ala Karl Rove, and a speech writer for Clinton. He is a partisan hack. Doesn't the reader have a write to know. Actually, the WaPo editorial policy is to NOT edit opinion pieces, and most thought it was the NY Times policy. To acknowledge your friendship with a left-wing, agenda driven editorial censor at the NY Times just proves what we all know about the WaPo. Kind of goes along with the declining readership and fleeing advertisers.

It is sad that you would not acknowledge the obvious media bias. They said they wanted the editorial to "mirror" Obama's, as if this is the bible we should all work from, and worship. Just more deranged MSM hacks distorting, censoring, propaganda-ing this election for their chosen one.

Even if Barack wins, newspapers will die on this election. They have literally become toilet paper. Can't wait to see all the unemployed reporters asking Obama for payback with jobs.

Really, Padouk? I never noticed that. Not in a million years. (Of course, the movie verzion-- which really isn't half bad at all -- obscures all that.)

However, that editor was right. (Sometimes we know WTF we're talking about. Not often, maybe. But once in a while.)

The trouble with providing data points about the failings of the McCain article is that it generally turns into a no-win argument. And at some point a lot of it boils down to: "Because I'm the editor, and I SAID SO." (Meaning, "I have experience, demonstrated good judgment, a good ear, and know what I'm talking about, and you [the writer] have almost none of those." Which isn't really a winnable position. True, perhaps, just not winnable.)

Thanks for the info, slyness. I'll quit worrying about committing a faux pas.

Hey back atcha, TBG. Seems almost treasonous, Achenblog is now my first stop in the a.m. ... before Lileks, even! Soon you'll wish for a return of my reticence. Heh.

Plain Tim ... are you always this funny? ! ?

Oh ... and a million thanks to whomever sent me to Boodlefacts!

Um...are there TWO David Shipley's? I find it impossible to believe the NYT would hire a paid poliitical operator as its op-ed editor. Of course, the rest of Karen's post is seriously deluded, so...

But are we in fact talking about the same guy?

Mudge - I figured that the editorial process doesn't really lend itself to quantifiable metrics. Which is part of the charm of an all-powerful editor. Such people are free to remove things they find objectionable. Like the phrase "quantifiable metrics."

Karen may be deluded but she rights good.

(Is this a faux pas?)

At work we edit by committee. At least important stuff. Which means each and every word is agonized over as if it were Holy Writ. This is a long and tedious process, and if one word is changed afterwards, the doc must go through the maelstrom again.

It is exhausting to be part of.

Karen -- I note that the NYT's own web pages tell us about Shipley's prior employment history, so it's not like they're hiding it. His last "partisan hack" position ended 11 years ago. I note that other "partisan hacks" have had long and distinguished careers writing for the NYT, such as William Safire. Amazingly, it turns out that it is possible for a person to have a job with one political administration or another without necessarily being a "hack"; and, it turns out, journalists are people who have personal opinions but whose job requires them to set aside their opinions. Shipley's employment history is all about writing, albeit a lot of it was writing in support of a particular political viewpoint. It is a stretch to call this hackery. Perhaps the reason JA did not make a big point of Shipley being a partisan hack is because this a blog (an opinion piece) and his opinion is that Shipley is a professional who was doing a professional's job.

Plus, there's no way to quantify "You've got spunk...I HATE spunk!"

Running for the bus.

Somebody entertain KPage while I'm in transit. Lay out some tea and crumpets. And in 9 minutes it'll be 5 o'clock somewhere nearby, so maybe a tot of elderberry wine might be called for.

Achen blog, as in I got an ache and a blog, is just more left-wing media hysteria. How dare you criticize the press!! The first amendment doesn't apply to us simple folk! It only applies to important bloggers and radical liberal editorial writers with agenda and job insecurity!! I can see ACHENblog getting a whip, and screaming at McCain -- YOU VILL NOT CRITICIZE THE NEW YORK TIMES!! YOU VILL WORSHIP OBAMA!!! YOU VILL REWRITE YOU EDITORIAL AS DEMANDED BY SHIPLEY!

Of course, Shipley, the total idiot, actually asks for a timetable and troop levels!!! Uhh,that is exactly McCain's point -- it all depends on conditions on the ground, not what is being served at the radical extremist fundraiser in Hyde Pakr and what boas Code Pink will wear to scream at Marines!!

To defend Shipley ridiculous email -- is to deny that he wanted McCain's opinion, but wanted to have him agree with Obama. Even Howie Kurtz thought Shipley was asking the impossible and unrealistic -- but heck, he is a good friend to the other left-winger at the WaPo, so he must be right!

Can't make this stuff up. Beware the sleeping public. It likes used car salesmen better than the idiots at the NY Times and WaPo.

Isn't this fun?

I nearly laughed out loud reading Howard Kurtz's chat today when somebody wrote in a witty post about accusations of media bias.

Imagine that! David Shipley is an old friend! What a surprise! Hope you will help him out when the NYT's bites the dust (it's only a matter of time as they are turning off readers every day with their opinions masquerading as "news"). But, then again, he might just be able to find a job on Moveon.org, or the Daily Kos.

Oh come on everyone... don't you know that big time newspapers are supposed to hire editorial page editors who have NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE?!?

That's the only way to keep biases from creeping in on editorial decisions.

LOL, KPage. You're catching on fast.

KPage asks "Plain Tim ... are you always this funny? ! ?"

I suppose it depends on who you ask. And what the definition of "this funny" might be. I aspire to evince the knowing grin, the self-satisfied smirk. I set my standards low, which leads to a surprising amount of disappointment. Failing to evince a guffaw probably would be a better plan. It's not so humiliating.

Op ed pieces are opinions of the author. Though,the McCain article is something between a whine, a rant, personal attack on Obama, the NYT should have run it and suggested McCain fire the writer. :-)

Karen, thanks for joining the discussion. Your interpretation of the word "mirror" is not one that I share. Shipley didn't want, nor would any rational and sane person expect, McCain to mimick or echo or in any way endorse Obama's view: Only that he submit something that, like the Obama piece, had something new in it. He can advocate anything he wants so long as he goes into some details and gets beyond the talking points that he's emailed to journalists and supporters for weeks and weeks.

Mudge, David Shipley is a journalist -- former editor of The New Republic, and, for more than a decade, an editor at the Times, first with the Sunday magazine and then with the editorial staff. He spent 2 years as a speechwriter in the Clinton White House in the mid-90s. Great guy. Smart, fair, thoughtful. I haven't seen him in a long time but am very much an admirer of him personally and professionally.

Karen, for instance, and her compatriot LH, are setting the humor bar high with their vigorous street theatre act. Raising the curve, they are.

Besides Tim, the McCain op-ed was a slapped-together POS filled with tired talking points. It's very 2006. Obama's was quite 2008, Colin Kahl might have to do something with it. Shipley called it like he saw it; Obama's was op-ed material and McCain's wasn't.

Grin, smirk, guffaw ... whatever. I wanna party with you, cowboy.

I'm off! Will bother y'all manana!

liberals stick together like toes and jam unless there is a personal interst to be nourished by breaking apart and tearing each other apart. remember whay you gusy did to hillary your former mascot. a word to obama, after the adulation wears off and you liberal rooting section, the media, find another star to swoon over, they will turn on you faster than they did on their beloved clintons

liberals stick together like toes and jam unless there is a personal interst to be nourished by breaking apart and tearing each other apart. remember whay you gusy did to hillary your former mascot. a word to obama, after the adulation wears off and you liberal rooting section, the media, find another star to swoon over, they will turn on you faster than they did on their beloved clintons

To clarify Karen's statement, Dave Shipley left the employ of the Clinton Administration in 1997. I wouldn't doubt that Shipley's politics are left of center (he wrote for The New Republic prior to coming to the Clinton camp), but I fail to see in this instance how his political philosophy somehow overcame his professional judgment (you're not alone in your contrived juxtpostion of political affiliations and current professional capacities; I see them everyday in political blogs and comment sections).

Was the McCain piece supposed to be a mirror image of the Obama piece? I didn't read the Obama op-ed (I just got back from vacation). But given that McCain's "plan for victory" in Iraq is as fact-filled as Nixon's "secret plan for victory in Viet Nam," perhaps it's reasonable for him to supply some details.

Connect the dots, we'll all be better informed. Isn't that the idea anyway?

Cheers.

SCC *sigh* I'll let the non-dislexic sort out my last. Others are SOL.
I like CK as an Iraq advisor. Good things might come out of that.

Threading together some recent kits and boodles:

If bc is the Jackson Pollock of the written word, then I aspire to be the Rabo Karabekian. But it's clear that George Bush is the J. Fred Muggs.

Having spent too much time on and around military bases, I used to memorize the charts that cross-referenced the ranks of the military branches. Quick, which is higher ranked, a petty officer first class, a master sergeant, or a staff sergeant?

LH writes:

"Hope you will help him out when the NYT's bites the dust (it's only a matter of time as they are turning off readers every day with their opinions masquerading as "news")."

Dear LH: I find it interesting that folks on both the right and left routinely assert that the financial challenges of the news biz are associated with being too (pick one: liberal, conservative). But in fact the business model hasn't seemed to track ideology at all -- it's all about technology, reading habits, Craigslist and whatnot. The Post, for example, has probably been, by your estimation (I'm extrapolating from your dyspeptic rant), a liberal paper for a long time, since the 1960s at the very least. Yet circulation and profits kept going up and up, peaking in roughly the year 2000. For decades the "liberal media" newspapers had profit rates of about 25 percent of gross revenue.

The bunker's open and the AC in on full blast. Looks like we're gonna have a PAR-TAY.

Whay you gusy?

What offends me is the notion that just because a person was ever employed by a politician (or any other entity with a point of view) everything said person does must be shamefully biased. As if there were no such thing as professional integrity.

Just to confuse things: That allegedly biased, liberal Op-Ed page editor recently added a regular columnist.

Bill Kristol.

Perhaps if John McCain spent more time actually convincing voters of why they should vote for him, and quit his have-it-both-ways when it comes to George W. Bush, his syncophants wouldn't be able to whine about "media bias." (Which in their eyes, is anything that doesn't equal puff pieces on their right-wing idols and unbridled worship.)

Perhaps if John McCain spent more time actually convincing voters of why they should vote for him, and quit his have-it-both-ways when it comes to George W. Bush, his syncophants wouldn't be able to whine about "media bias." (Which in their eyes, is anything that doesn't equal puff pieces on their right-wing idols and unbridled worship.)

Shipley sent the op-ed back to McCain, asking for timetable and troop levels. That is a direct quote. Shipley used those words.

McCain has said no timetable and no tipping our hand to al Queda. How is it fair for Shipley to demand timetables and troop levels? McCain's criticism was legit -- Obama published his Iraq plan before his concert tour/overseas visit. That is legitimate criticism that the media has refused to acknowledge.

I am sorry you are so unable to criticize the press, and attack others who know bias when they see it, but have no problem constantly criticizing McCain. Why is Shipley above criticism? IS he perfect? Do editors ever made mistakes? Don't they inject their bias into their editorials?

To give someone you haven't seen for 10 years legitimacy when it is obvious, after reading his email, he wanted McCain to do exactly the opposite of McCain's policy. We have watched Obama become the victim everytime an American opens their mouth to criticize him, yet we have to watch with our hands over our mouth while the left-wingers pretend they are fair.

Craig list didn't cause the NY Times to have declining circulation. But if it helps you to believe that, blame Bush, too.

If there was ever any doubt that the MSM is in the tank for Obama, this incident -- including this columnist acting as an apologist for his "old pal" at the NYT -- should make it clear that bias is at work. I am embarrassed for the Times. They make Fox News look fair.

McCain is running for President of the US. His op-ed piece should run as is. Don't the editors at the Times think their readers are sophisticated enough to read it critically?

Joel writes: "That allegedly biased, liberal Op-Ed page editor recently added a regular columnist.

Bill Kristol."

And dozens of rabid blog commentators immediately screamed that this was PROOF that the Washington Post was REALLY a front for the Republican National Committee, or in the alternative, that this was a desparate attempt to attract advertising revenue from General Electric and other capitalist agents of darkness.

I'm not sure we need a timed essay contest. McCain was 894 of 899 at the Naval Academy. Barack was the top of his Harvard Law class. I think we can extrapolate from there.

What a bunch of hooey.

The only media bias is the lack of tough questions and critiques of McSame.

You can't buy the free press he's been getting - and that the American people want NONE OF.

Maybe he forgot about that in one of his senior moments ...

Karen, yes editors make mistakes all the time, like when they try to tamper with my copy. Is Shipley perfect? No, but he's perfectish, which is really unfair to the rest of us.

WashingtonDame writes:

"McCain is running for President of the US. His op-ed piece should run as is. Don't the editors at the Times think their readers are sophisticated enough to read it critically?"

Dear WashingtonDame: How broadly would you distribute this privilege -- unfettered access to the Times op-ed page? If presidential candidates have the privilege, what about the president himself, and members of his Cabinet? Why, in fact, should we even have this dang "free press" thing? Let's let powerful people publish whatever they want whenever they want it! No editing allowed!

And the fact that Mr. Obama wrote his book long before he was remotley able to afford a ghostwriter, Yellojkt.

I'm assuming that Shipley is asking McCain to provide more "meat" and opinion, which is valid. I've had to write professionally, and they DO send the piece back to ask you to clarify various points that need more detail or is ambiguous as written. A good writer shuts up and listens to the editor. The editor knows the audience being written for, the reading level, and the appropriate style manual to use.

If you think an editor will just go through and pencil everything and never send it back to the author for revision, that's naive and usually done by editors for "letters to the editor".

Such a treatment WOULD be grounds for the McCain camp to howl about. Instead, by penciling and sending back and asking them to revise to meet or avoid the problem points, they can both receive input and maintain full control of what they want to say, now that the editor has said, "do you really want to say this and that this way on a national format such as the NYT?"

Of course, they don't actually have to do the Op-Ed if they don't want to.

Personally, if I had a chance to do an Op-Ed in the NYT, I'd do all the hoops with a smile on my face; I'd want to live up to the standard of the NYT and learn as much as possible. But nobody's asking me.

And what Achenbach said about "free press", too.

Karen,

Usually the Achenblog has a low troll ratio. Screaming in here is ill advised.

I read the McCain submission and it was drivel. An op-ed requires some thought and stated positions and that submission had nothing in it but talking points and "BHO is wrong, dead wrong" statements, but no positions of his own or benchmarks that define this upcoming "success". Is it biased to ask for plans or solutions to problems which are going to define the election?

I do hope he resubmits and next time he includes a plan of his own to be discussed. There's no way I would think of voting for someone because they said I should or somebody's going to kill me or my family. We'll know it when we see it is not a plan.

Hiring Kristol Meth was a stunningly clever give-'em-enough-rope ploy. The corrections section of his column is a regular feature.

As I am reading this boodle, I'm hearing a chant,

Jo-ull!
Jo-ull!
Jo-ull!
Jo-ull!

Anybody else hear it?

Achenbach:

Once the Times (or the Post or the WSJ) ONE candidate to publish an op-ed piece, then I believe it is obligated to print the other candidate's, without pre-conditions or editing. It's that simple. Apart from length requirements, McCain gets to rebut the piece however he wants, no rules, no demands, no editorial interference (he's not on staff anyway).

And really, mocking my comment by engaging in a silly "slippery slope" argument should be beneath you. Running for the Presidency is unique -- it's a head-to-head competition between two individuals -- and if large national newspapers want to be taken seriously, they need to treat both candidates fairly and not edit their op-ed pieces.

Although I have to say that the Times did McCain a huge favor by shooting itself in the foot like this -- Drudge posted the original McCain piece and that means it'll reach more potential McCain voters than anything in the Times.

Martooni, Life isn't fair some times. You waited and still got 'new kitted.'

So, Shipley's point is that McCain should write a more lucid piece of work that cogently expresses McCain's viewpoint rather than using all its space to decry "the other guy." Whereas the point of McCain's adherents is that he should simply be able to publish whatever he wants on the NYT's Op-Ed page -- you know, like an advertisement, but at their expense -- and please don't interfere by editing for readability or quality. It seems to me that if there were a media bias in favor of Obama, they would have just published McCain's piece without the services of a professional editor who is trying to help him improve the quality of his writing.

Ooooh, now I hear,

Mi-ike!
Mi-ike!
Mi-ike!
Mi-ike!

WashingtonDame:

I apologize if I sounded like I was mocking you. I was just caught up in the moment.

I think your point is not entirely unreasonable and in fact one of my colleagues here who ponders such things shares that view -- that once you let Obama have the platform, you have to let McCain respond (and I alluded to this in my post). But I disagree: I think it's reasonable to ask McCain to come up with a better, more detailed piece -- and not run off to Drudge with the rejected text.

Well, I went back and read the piece, and I must disagree with WashingtonDame. Having the piece in the public arena will turn more voters off to McCain than otherwise.

If there was ever any doubt that the MSM is in the tank for Obama, this incident -- including this columnist acting as an apologist for his "old pal" at the NYT -- should make it clear that bias is at work. I am embarrassed for the Times. They make Fox News look fair.

McCain is running for President of the US. His op-ed piece should run as is. Don't the editors at the Times think their readers are sophisticated enough to read it critically?

Posted by: WashingtonDame | July 21, 2008 5:22 PM

-In this day and age I say no way. Positions must be well defined and clear, because if you leave wiggle room it gets mauled by attack dogs on both sides. Misspeaking is bigger news than governance these days. Obama laid out a pretty well defined position and it'll gain or negate votes based on the said position. Writing an opinion piece that doesn't say anything isn't worth the ink to print. Most Americans would read the attack language and say hmmmmm yea I don't like that Obama character; he was wrong. But did they get to think critically about McCain's plan and make an informed decision? No....they were just fed an attack and nothing more.

This is why we have the officials that we do. This was a stand up move for journalism and it should happen more often and with the mighty cable giants too......

From the Op-Ed editor at the Times of London:

'...political pieces by elected officials or candidates can often be very boring - safe, unrevealing and tediously partisan. In general I required such pieces to jump over a pretty high importance barrier before I ran them.

'Obama's piece vaulted that hurdle. It outlined his views, pretty much avoided point scoring, and dealt with the issue.

'McCain's piece, on the other hand, knocked the hurdle over. It wasn't about Iraq. It was about Obama. If I received it I would have done exactly what the NYT did - send it back and ask them to redraft it so that it was about Iraq and was more, well, interesting.'

http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2008/07/the-new-york-ti.html

Seems like candidates are supposed to be afforded equal time? I heard that someplace. Anyway, if MC's thingie for the NYT was an anti-Obama rant, so be it. May as well see what the MC machine thinks a QUALITY editorial looks like.
Who knows? It might have even put some folks off.
On another note... normally, this blog seems like a pretty nice place populated by folks who like Joel; appear to think for themselves; and don't harbor a lot of malice in their posts - did somebody accidentally leave the door open today? There's some poisoness scree happening here...
Too bad.
Joel: ya know I love ya baby, but the whole dead-tree-thing-in-the-hand hand-wringing thing has got to stop. You've gotta know in your heart of hearts that it's over (or should be). Traditional, large-outlet newspapers are commuter fodder. Anybody else who's gonna read the "paper" will do it on-line. Otherwise, how whould you know you have this fine fan-base? Would we have to write letters to the editor to let them know how much we like your stuff?
Yikes! We'd all have to buy typewriters!
Can you still buy a typewriter? A NEW one, I mean... Oh yeah! and stamps?
Yeeesh.

So, the upshot of all this is that Republicans will complain that the NYT is biased toward liberals? And this is new?

Isn't the McCain strategy currently to attack Obama's stupid policies instead of broadcasting his own stupid ideas that other people can attack?

So isn't it probable and even likely that the NYT editorial board is aware of this? Doesn't it stand to reason that the NYT editorial board is really taking sides here? By asking McCain to elucidate his ideas instead of attacking Obama's ideas, aren't they intentionally trying to render ineffective his campaign strategy?

I think this one is a pretty clear case of the NYT taking sides while pretending not to.

Achenbach,

Apology accepted. Now that I've thought more about this, I think that Times would have been better off not rejecting the McCain or requesting edits, but simply published it as is AND publishing its own editorial criticizing what the Times sees as weaknesses in McCain's response (assuming that other members of the editorial board agree with Shipley). To me, that better fulfills a national newspaper's responsibilities to candidates and voters during a presidential campaign.

Dmon, it happens sometimes. Think Rovestorm, what a day that was. Anyhoo, that's why we have the bunker, and why the door is open for those who wish to join us there.

Joel seems especially passionate about this, and well he should be. The ability to control what appears on the editorial page of a newspaper should be absolute.

Joel writes: "The sausage making of the op-ed page isn't always pretty."

1. Once again, the WaPo's food bias is on flagrant display. Bah!

2. Sausage is kind of conservative for the WaPo, isn't it? I always thought the Post's op-ed pages were more of a liberal wild, unshaven, hairy scrapple.

bc

Equal time was an incumbent protection feature of the FCC that applied only to broadcast media and has never been a requirement or tradition of the printed press.

With the advent of cable television, the scarcity of media time became a moot argument and 'equal time' policies were abandoned. Which resulted in the rise of the Rush Limbaugh era. While it might be tempting to go back to that time, the Pill-Popping Ego-On-Loan-From-Nobody Excellence-In-Bloviating Guy is a small price to pay for a free press in all media.

ZZim wrote: "By asking McCain to elucidate his ideas instead of attacking Obama's ideas, aren't they intentionally trying to render ineffective his campaign strategy?"

Ouch! You have a cynical view of the McCain campaign strategy.

Maybe the NYT editorialists want the op-ed page to have some integrity. You know, express ideas, not just rants.

Apropos of nothing, but my wife has signed us up for a Hyundai Genesis test drive event at Fed-Ex Field. I'm wary. Neither of our current Hyundais are paid off and you don't hold a puppy if you aren't thinking about taking one home.

Wow. I land back on earth, pop on in looking for some levity in my day (none so far) and find this. Not the usual fun and games, to say the least.

I don't know why so many people don't know this (don't they teach this in school anymore?)...by being the one doing the writing, by definition you are not able to do the editing. Even an editor needs an editor. You'd think someone in the McCain camp would know this, *take advantage of it,* and work to create something better. Sheesh. Going public with the fact that your position piece isn't really a position piece wasn't the brightest move.

Further, seeing as how McCain isn't a majority shareholder of NYT, he doesn't get to dictate what they print. This could provide yet another angle for this snafu to turn into a set of giant teeth aiming to bite him in the butt. You don't expect rookie mistakes from someone who isn't a rookie.

It seems to me that if the NYT doesn't take federal money (and this wasn't a question of selling ad space to a candidate), they're not obligated to give him equal space at all.

Off to find a giggle elsewhere. DC is usually pretty good for that. Have a happy evening all.

You mean, people don't hold me because they like me, but because they want to kidnap me?

That's... scary. No wonder the gnome gets cranky about me being petted. Brr.

If you back boodle two kits, you will learn that The Prince of Darkness was channeling highly placed Republican operatives that claim attacking Barack relentlessly on Iraq is McCain's only hope. If the focus is on McCain, he is done for. And Bob should know.

When did "General Petraeus" become "General David Petraeus"? Just asking. And don't say "at birth."

Did anyone read the McCain draft. It reads like an off-the-cuff dictation by McCain to his secretary, typed into an IBM typewriter.

McCain sounds like an Annapolis flunkie, and Obama sounds like a President of Harvard Law Review and U of Chicago Law professor.

McCain might be well-advised to avoid calling attention to these comparisons. Or, hire someone like Gerson or Krauthammer to write it for you, for Chrissake.

yellojkt: Maybe you could buy her a beret and take her to a Vespa dealer? Or one of those really cute, realllly tiny SmartCar thingies???
Oh no! Not another Hyundai!
Just thinking in type...

LiT,

Come back. We can work around the trolls.

Dead parrots. African swallows. Doilies and anti-macaroons. Racially charged astronomical phenomenon.

Please...

Got a call from the Obama campaign a few minutes ago and donated more money. Just thought I'd mention that fact.

Had to check for a conspiracy, but it seems Shipley's degree is from Williams College. Which reminds me, just how many Tigers work at WaPo?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071802560_pf.html

Easily the most interesting Op-Ed piece in WaPo this weekend.

Thanks for the update on Shipley's bio, Joel. Of course, I couldn't believe for a second that the NYT would hire as its op-ed editor anybody who could remotely fit Karen's description of him.

Imagine the cheek of the NYT: asking a contributor to do better. This whole "asking for excellence" thing sounds like it's getting out of hand. Just think what would happen if the Dubuque Register and Silo did the same thing.

"Hardball" is having a field day showing the clip of Obama draining a three-pointer in a B-ball court in Iraq.

Ahem...

Op-ed submissions get edited, no matter who the submitter might be (or want to be). The op-eds get trimmed for space constraints if nothing else, even if the writer adheres to posted guidelines on word count.

It's actually rare when op-ed authors are given a chance to do any rewriting.

:-)

Dmon... you crack me up! Your 5:50 got an out-loud reading at the G house just now.. as did beezer's.

Sometimes Rovestorms also bring out the best of the boodle lurkers.

The Times asks McCain "to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq" and tell us how he is going to achieve it. A McCain spokesman implies that this is equivalent to a demand that McCain change his position.

The logical conclusion is that McCain's position is to have no definition of victory and no plan for achieving it.

Doesn't that pretty much say it all?

This whole McCain thing seems to me to be much ado about nothing.

IIRC "op-ed" was short for "opposite of the editorial page," meaning the opinion pieces by non-staff writers were placed on the page opposite of the paper's editorials. "Op-ed" does *not* mean that those opinion pieces do not require editing. [i.e. the opposite of editing]

LiT and others are far more cogent about the need for editing than I am, mainly because I am one of those Desperately in Need of Severe and Prolonged Disciplinary Editing myself.

Of course, the Times is within it's rights to ask the McCain folks for something more substantial than a cut 'n' paste from their past press releases.

bc

So far, I like "perfectish" quite a lot. I offer in return "mnemonic plague" and will throw in one from my nephew who said he didn't want to get "sidetrapped."

SCC: "Of *course* Shipley and the NYT op-ed editorial staff are within their rights to ask the McCain folks for something more substantial than a cut 'n' paste from their past press releases."

Proving myself Desperately in Need of Remedial Editing, time after time.

bc

Now this deserves some umbrage.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_en_ot/savage_autism

Betcha he'd tell me to stop ignoring him. Nah, not happening.

You're right, Wilbrod... He'd probably also say that 99% of deaf people just aren't listening. And blind people just need to open their eyes.

Must be a vast left-wing conspiracy.

Ah, Jumper, you warm the cockles of my heart. I've been waiting for hours for someone to spot pneumonic.

OK, here's an idea. I'd like all you bizarros to go home, and you reasonably sane newbies are welcome to stay, but basically I want all my friends back, and talking about poetry and yarn and tomatoes, and fairy doors and saw dust, and important stuff like that. What's the haps, Yoki? How's work been treating ya? CP, you finally doing some healing? (Please? For me?) Hey, Cows. Glad you're back. You've been missed. You too, Ivansmom.

Woefully out of order...

"Troop" remains a sub-sub-unit in armoured regiments with cavalry traditions in the Commonwealth (the sub unit being a squadron). Soldiers holding the rank of Private in such units are called "Trooper".

Check the fridge in the bunker, Mudge, you should find something you'll like. Don't worry, we're all here.

Now if I could just say the same for my tomatoes...

Thanks, slyness. I'm contemplating what to make for myself for dinner. Can't make up my mind. Something simple, something basic, something bachelor. Maybe make some tuna fish and boil some Kraft Mac & Cheese and just put some butter on 'em, and save the cheese for a future day. Eat over the sink while watching the "House" re-run.

Had a bratwurst-and-vegetable pilaf with walnuts, olive oil, spices and canned bean sprouts, Mudge. Surprisingly tasty, if carbo-rich.

But then, when alone, lazy, and tired, I always cook rice and something.

Other people vastly prefer pasta, so enjoy your mac n fish.

Sadly, the McCain Campaigns puppy is never coming back.

Yeah...we might expect you and other liberals to agree with the fascist New York Times...a liberal icon that chooses to censor and keep views from the public, and then criticize Bush and Republicans for doing that same thing. What a bunch of two-faced phonies....that want to control the United States. Liberals like the NY Times are hypocritical in their criticism of the current administration, in that they do and say everything they claim is bad on the other side. I have no faith in liberal liars, regardless of how bad things have gone or are going. It's ok for liberals to censor. But then they cry out for the First Amendment.

Mudge, you forgot to mention Boko. I really want him to come back to the real world here.

That sounds goood, Wilbrod. I had a warmed-over bison burger. Mr. T has discovered ground bison, and I will say it makes an excellent burger. I'm not going to let any of it go to waste, at $6.99 a pound at Earth Fare. Another grocery store for me to have to shop.

We still have trolls, I see. Oh well, they won't find us fun or enlightening.

Gimme a break. The claim of pro-Obama media bias is simply teh bizarre. At least since the primary season began over a year ago, progressive blogs (See the archives in Bob Somerby's "Daily Howler" for starts) have been documenting non-stop McCain-biased coverage from the MSN, but nary a peep of reflection from the halls of Serious Journalism. He's not called "St. McCain" for nothing. The MSN pays more attention to whether they've provided him with the right kind of donuts than genuine character issues like calling his wife a "c*nt" or his little humorous ditties like "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran."

What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public?

Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq.

London's Sunday Times called it "the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror." A terrorist force that once numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200 fighters, backed against the wall in the northern city of Mosul.

The destruction of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) is one of the most unlikely and unforeseen events in the long history of American warfare. We can thank President Bush's surge strategy, in which he bucked both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington by increasing our forces there instead of surrendering.

We can also thank the leadership of the new general he placed in charge there, David Petraeus, who may be the foremost expert in the world on counter-insurgency warfare. And we can thank those serving in our military in Iraq who engaged local Iraqi tribal leaders and convinced them America was their friend and AQI their enemy.

Al-Qaida's loss of the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis began in Anbar Province, which had been written off as a basket case, and spread out from there.

Now, in Operation Lion's Roar the Iraqi army and the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is destroying the fraction of terrorists who are left. More than 1,000 AQI operatives have already been apprehended.

Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, traveling with Iraqi forces in Mosul, found little AQI presence even in bullet-ridden residential areas that were once insurgency strongholds, and reported that the terrorists have lost control of its Mosul urban base, with what is left of the organization having fled south into the countryside.

Meanwhile, the State Department reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has achieved "satisfactory" progress on 15 of the 18 political benchmarks, a big change for the better from a year ago.

Things are going so well that Maliki has even for the first time floated the idea of a timetable for withdrawal of American forces. He did so while visiting the United Arab Emirates, which over the weekend announced that it was forgiving almost $7 billion of debt owed by Baghdad, an impressive vote of confidence from a fellow Arab state in the future of a free Iraq.

But where are the headlines and the front-page stories about all this good news? As the Media Research Center pointed out last week, "the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 were silent Tuesday night about the benchmarks" that signaled political progress.

The war in Iraq has been turned around 180 degrees both militarily and politically because the president stuck to his guns. Yet apart from IBD, Fox News Channel and parts of the foreign press, the media don't seem to consider this historic event a big story.

Totally off-topic, is anyone familiar with the book "Red Land Black Land" about daily life in Egypt? It is by a woman named Barbara Mertz who, I am told from the cover, writes a lot of fiction under various pseudonyms.

Anyway, even if one doesn't give a rat's posterior for ancient Egypt, the charm of this confident woman (born in 1927) shines through the pages.

Fun way to spend a late evening.

JP, I think you are being just an eensy weensy bit too optimistic there. Yes, the situation in Iraq has gotten better. Yes it is worth taking this improvement seriously and studying the reasons why. But the idea that AQI has been defeated is silly. Al-Qaida is an amorphous movement, not a gang. If things start to get bad there you will find that movement gaining brand new recruits.

Hi'ya Mudge. I'm here. I kind of enjoy some of the new people. KB is amazing.

It was great to see JA pop in and *argue.*

I'm cooking up something special in Yoki's Kitchen (but it won't be up until next weekend) so check in come Saturday.

I've been off line because we have Blue Max the Siamese, and #1 got accepted at McGill for her graduate studies. Montreal, #1, McGill! Happy happy days. I now call her McGilligan.

Maggie, hahaha. I love Boko999 too. He's amazing.

While you guys are disscussing KD and politics, I am going to go back and backboodle all the things I missed.

And then I will have a 'kubie' burger. I have no idea what a 'kubie' burger is but it is in my fridge and goes klunk when I tap it against the shelf.

Wikitionary says it is a variat of kubasa. I'm still going to worry.

My congratulations to #1 fantastic news.

Dunno but it sounds to me like censorship.

McCain should be free to write what he wants without editorial interference - even if it is mean to the messiah.

Trying not to feed the trolls, but:

"Saint McCain" - 5,330 hits
"Saint Obama" - 15,100 hits

Seems that no matter what, we are getting a fully beatified president.

Fabulous news, Yoki! I know you are all thrilled.

Pass on my congratulations to McGilligan.

Boy that name is going to stick.

Just like the poor little tyke whose mom I know, (tyke won't be born till nearer Christmas) who is saddled with the name of Harry and a surname which just makes the Harry part impolite. I think I will hope the babe is a girl.

E-mail flaming?
Where can I look that up. I've got an idea, but I'd like to see a definition.

Yoki, please tell me what McGilligan means. Congrats to #1. what is her area of study?

Do you have a way to get in touch with Boko? If so, tell him we love him and want him back (if he's in a fug).

Yes, heartiest congrats to McGilligan. Also on the catquisition.

Yes, Maggie, I want Boko back, too. I never wanted him to leave, and I'm over my snit.

McCain IS free to write whatever he wants, Bandmom. But why does the NYT have to publish it if it is crap? Warmed over talking points? Not what was requested?

Yoki! Excellent news about McGilligan! So happy she's coming East to the school of her choice. Please pass along my best wishes!

Thanks for this kit, Joel, and the related comments. I ran into one of the fits of rage that you described on a conservative blog earlier today. Would like to refer them here to read your reasonable reaction, but don't want to introduce all that marginally literate meanness.

Politics aside, it just is not reasonable for an author to expect that anything is going to be published w/o the intervention of an editor. In years of academic and other publishing, I've never seen it happen. Thanks for making that clear.

Now, having defended Shipley, perhaps we could take up the idea of hiring Kristol . . .

Congrats, Yoki! I hear that Harvard is considered the McGill of Lower Canuckistan.

Heading to bed in a moment. I've got a lab rat appt. early in the morning, so am going to miss morning muster. Scotty, yello, take 'em up. Got my semi-annual fun diabetes glucose tolerance test, during which I drink a pint of cola-flavored glucose and then, over 3 1/2 hours, they draw 37 tubes of blood (no exaggeration) in sets of three at 15-minute intervals, while I read a book and my blood sugar level gets dialed up to 11. No food allowed from now until about noon tomorrow.

'Night, Boodle. See yins about 1300 hours.

I'm sure you'll be in the mood for a M&S burger and an antiscorbutic after your doctor's ordeal.

That, or you'll be seeing double and ranting like Shatner (another fine McGill graduate, isn't he?).

Check a thesaurus, oh cranky complainers. I believe that you will NOT find editing given as a synonym for censoring, nor vice-versa. They are not the same thing. The NYT has only the power of one press among many, and is free to choose what to print with their own privately-owned press. They have no power to influence the owners of other presses. The government, on the other hand, has the power of the state with which to influence the use of all presses within the country. That is why government censorship is a bad thing, but newspaper editing is a good thing -- it aims to make the writing better, but if you don't like the way you have been edited, you have the option of seeking another press (in this case, Matt Drudge's web site) in order to publicize your maunderings.

I hope you guys are all watching The Daily Show.

The reporters have given Obama a new nickname. I can't say it here or my post will likely be held for review.

Barack O'Boner?

Went through just fine.

Good night all.
I'm gratified that no one has resorted to name (gnome) calling.
Thank you.
Curmudgeon: I hope your morning goes well and that you have a good book...
yellojkt: hope I didn't put you off? However, the beret thing still could be a cool accessory: even in a Hyundai!
As for me: I'll crawl back under my rock now.
Dmon

Dmon.. come out and play another day, won't you? That rock must be kind of uncomfortable--isn't it damp and muddy under there?

Yeah! What Tim said!

The whole liberal media bias thing just seems so old and tired in this information superhighway age.

Yoki - wonderful news...I love hearing boodle good news.

Missed the Daily Show, drat.

Ahhhnn, I just love the Boodle!

dmd, slyness, TBG, thank you. I'm very proud of the firstborn. How wonderful are you people? Very.

Maggie, McGill University is the Canadian equivalent of an Ivy League school (along with the UofT and Queen's from which both Himself and Yoki took a couple of degrees). Himself and I are just trilled that our young lady made it from a provincial red-brick to the equivalent of Oxbridge. She gets all the credit for that.

Her undergraduate degree was in English Literature and Japanese Language. Her new course of study is an MBA in International Business.

Congrats to Yoki's #1.

Kim-the Frostrents should be touching down in Norfolk about now, you don't have to hold down the Tidewater VA anti-wingnut fort all by yourself.

Someone offered me a campaign contribution today. After I picked my chin up off the floor, I declined since I'm not sure I'll run. I think I can afford the $2 filing fee anyway.

Error in '08 boodle, and sweet dreams.

Headline on wapo home page says "Pro Bowler Joins Redskins" and I'm thinking "Gus Anthony?"

(Am I showing my age? my nerdiness?)

It's going to be a long campaign, isn't it?

Congrats to #1, Yoki. Omedetou (or something like that).

Glad to hear they've got Karadizc, the Serb leader who looks like a werewolf:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102047.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008072102222&pos=

There are things from previous Boodles I was going to respond to, but danged if I can remember what they are. Sigh.

because i have deep connections to both red and blue america, it always amuses me when people make assertions and refuse to admit their own biases or worldview, whatever part of the spectrum they're on.

as a centrist wingnut, i interpret it as a good sign when a paper or journalist gets criticism from both the right and left.

yoki, congrats to #1.

TBG, are you still at work?

A werewolf? Ha! It's the same guy Dr G is compared to, hair-wise, when he first gets up in the morning.

Nah.. that's tomorrow night.. I'm just up late watching TV. (I've been doing this all summer... I've got to get back into a normal schedule.)

At least I'll be prepared tomorrow night when we do work late.

mostly... we need to plan for a BPH next week, don't we? You'll be in town and available next Tuesday?

Yoki,
I knew that about McGill, and I knew the reference was about McGill, but I don't know about the -igan part. Is it a reference to Gilligan's Island, which I gather was about a screw-up named Gilligan (I never saw it). I'm just curious because my mother was a Gilligan, and all my cousins have been annoyed by people making jokes about the name.

You must know by now that I totally missed the 70s and 80s and I've totally forgotten the 90s and am working on the 20s, so I'm totally clueless.

This just in: Apparently, both The WaPo AND the NYT have blocked/rejected/cast a blanket of censorship upon the first draft of MY editorial.

[grumble, grumble}

Come on Joel, this is embarassing for the Times -- they blew it and got exposed as arrogant jerks. There is pretty palpable anti-GOP / anti-military bias there constantly, and if you care about the idea of an independent press, it's just sad.

Oh, and before you start in with me... NO, I did NOT double-submit! One was about a mildly inebriated night in Ciudad Acuna, and one was about a vaguely disoriented evening in Piedras Negras. Completely different stories!

Loose border controls, terrible working conditions in businesses primarily subsidized by American interests, terrible good guys, loose bad girls, business-like good girls, REALLY terrible bad guys -

I'm telling you, the editorial pages of America's most respected newspapers need this stuff!

Wassup Bob S.?

Oh, just gadflying about, y'know?

Yes, I'll be in the DC area next Tue - hope to have a fine BPH!

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, morning, friends. In regards to the kit, John McCain is too, too, old to be President. I know that is unkind, but so is my being fat, but it's the truth.

Morning, Mudge, hope everything goes well with the test. Scotty, Martooni, Slyness, the Dawn Patrol awaits you, and good morning to all.*waving*

I read an open letter to Rev. Jackson that is circulating on the Internet, and boy, did it burn him. They drag up the old and the new, and none of it pretty. It was written by an artist, but can't remember the name.

It is suppose to be exceedingly hot today. It felt that way yesterday. At the Center yesterday, we had a visitor that brought chickens and a bunny rabbit. I thought about the folks here that have bunnies. The children were afraid of the chickens. I don't think many of them had ever seen a live bird, only the KFC variety. They were nervous about the bunny too, but warmed up after touching.

Well, almost time to swim. I'm drinking the coffee, but I think I need another cup. Have a great day, folks. And for those of you near the hurricane, be safe. Remember to check on the elderly.

Hmmm, cassanadra. Lots of things float around the internet by e-mail. Here is what a Google search found:

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur45155.cfm

Never heard of the alleged author Najee Ali. Not sure what to make of it, even if it is legitimate. In fact there seems to be more than one open letter, they aren't hard to do.

http://www.shauninthecity.com/blog/2008/07/an-open-letter.html

Here's another one:

http://parlourmagazine.com/blog/2008/07/15/politrix-an-open-letter-to-jesse-jackson/

He sure is getting plenty of advice.

SLUUUURRPP.

Loaded with coffee. Good morning Boodle! *Waving*

This woke me up. In the NYT article

..."Good Morning America" on ABC, Mr. McCain talked about securing the "Iraq-Pakistan border," . . .
(NYT News analysis)

Morning, everybody! Cassandra, I'm working on my cup of tea. I just never learned how to drink coffee, so it's tea for me, first thing in the morning. After that cup, then the tea is iced for the rest of the day.

I'll be thinking about Mudge this morning, hoping that he has some blood left when he's done with the tests. No fun, those.

Tomorrow we go to the mountains for several days, so today I have to get my act together. The project in the morning will be to dig out the caulking around the bathtub and replace it, to give it time to cure while we're gone. I'm tired of looking at the permanent mildew on the current caulking, which is 15 years old anyway. I hope I can do this by myself. I managed to regrout the floor of Mr. T's shower, so I'm gonna give this a try.

Alexey, I'm weak on geography, but even *I* know that one!

Now if we could secure the Afghanistan Pakistan border, that would be a neat trick.

Morning all. Beautiful morning today. I woke up feeling in an unusually good mood. But don't worry. It'll pass. For based on my in-basket it is going to be one of those days when I earn my outrageous salary, I fear.

And best of luck to Mudge! Not a fun way to spend the morning.

Trouble brewing in Fallujah?

http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG23Ak02.html

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2008-07-20\kurd.htm

Azzaman In English, the online newspaper, had this denial of plans for an attack on Fallujah on the 20th. Earlier this month, they'd reported the possibility of a new attack.

Good morning, all.

For once, I think I can make a Tuesday evening BPH. Yay!

Yoki, congrats! McGill's a very good school, and has an excellent reputation down here in Americastan.

Kane, see the comments above - as pointed out by Joel, LiT, Scottynuke and others above, the right to a free press means the right to not be dictated to run anything the paper's editors do not want to, for whatever reasons they see fit. If the GOP wants a dedicated media organ (having trouble resisting jokes...), I'm sure someone over there can buy USA Today... (ahem)

Love the idea of securing the Iran/Pakistan border. Had to slap my knee over that one.

And of course, I'm glad Karadzic will be brought to justice. Hopefully, we Americans will be ready to accept the results of the trial, whatever they may be. It isn't always about us.

bc

*faxin' 'Mudge some plasma cleverly packaged in several large tapered-neck-and-corked bottles with the labels hastily scraped off*

I can't recall what all the Kit's fuss was about, so let me share a particularly good so-inside-that-perhaps-only-the-Boodle-can-get-it-joke I read riding the train this morning:

I'm reading Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age," and overall it's delightful. But there's one part where a character (a doll dinosaur "animated" by stories from a hyper-intelligent interactive book) is talking about the time he and three other 'saurs that survived the comet are wandering the wasteland. The one remaining plant-eater looks mighty tasty to the meat-eaters, so they encourage the herbivore to chow down, and ask how the meals were.

The herbivore always says, "Hmph, tastes like iridium."

My fellow passengers DID look around to see where the guffaw came from, I have to admit.

*back-to-the-grind-while-scrounging-for-Diet-Pepsi Grover waves* :-)

BPH today?

Yoki, congratulations to you and your daughter. Mudge, hope it's a really good book, time just creeps in a hospital.

A bit less humid today which figures because we struggled in the heat for over an hour last night to fit a really big a/c unit into a just-big-enough window opening. I am in serious need of a vacation, I'm getting grumpy and emotional. It will be at least 3 more weeks before we can take a few days off, so I'm hanging by a thread in the meantime.

I don't know how McCain has any credibility left with all the gaffes he's made. And I agree with Cassandra, he is too, too old.

Noooooooo! This food shortage madness has to stop!

"Hops shortage worldwide threatens to drive up price of beer

Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
REGINA - Summer suds may soon cost a pretty penny more for customers wanting to quench their thirst with an ice-cold beer.

The price of hops, an ingredient used for flavour and as a stability agent in beer, has gone through the roof as supplies in Canada and throughout the world have dwindled in recent months. "

Oh yes, silly of me to forget...

CONGRATS McGilligan!!!! *confetti* :-)

Last night Jon Stewart was making fun of the McCain gaffe. He showed a big map with the countries labeled and said the Iraq-Pakistan border is also known as **Iran**.

Both Stewart and Colbert showed Obama's three-point swoosh. That sure erases any 39 bowling scores for street cred.

Sounds like us. "If you have a problem, ask everyone."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/science/22inno.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Yoki, please convey my congratulations to #1. Excellent, just excellent!

shrieking, I know people who grow their own hops; apparently they're easier than 'maters. Shaking those tomatoes must have made a difference. I've got dozens of green ones. :-)

Alexey... not tonight.. BPH next Tuesday night. Mostlylurking will be in town! Yay!

A high percentage of my friends and relatives are growing hops this year. Join in, be a hophead too.

The other nephew has a dog who has become permanently paralyzed from the waist down because of a ruptured disc. I would like some opinions from others on this matter.

Tropical storm rain should arrive tomorrow. Hoping for 1-3 inches, but other areas could get much more. Tropical Storm Dolly has wobbled--well, actually taken an undulating path across the Gulf. The storm was on a westward path last night, now on a more northwestly path this morning, expected to be a category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall. If we get the 1-3 inches of rain here in town that is anticipated, it will be just what the doctor ordered, and will do much to revive seared lawns, wilted plants and droopy leaves on smaller trees such as our crape myrtles, and prevent leaf drop and stress on others such as the loquat. I thought I could hold off hand-watering parts of the yard until the storm arrives, but my plants, in sad, desperate chorus, say otherwise.

Apparently, Wachovia dropped the first shoe (or news) through the press this morning--to make 6,350 job cuts. Hoping crossed fingers squeezed tight don't cut off circulation.

Just got a call from husband. Apparently he/we have dodged the latter bullet, so to speak. Now let the rains come!

Every time I want to cash a check at Wachovia, they make me pay a $5 fee. I noticed that lots of people take their paychecks in there every time, not just occasionally. They tend to be poor. I see it as them being forced to pay a penalty right off the top. The crime? Needing cash today (being poor). So I am mad at them. Hope the crossed fingers, however, works. And I hope all banks develop more sense in general. I will continue to maintain that all the signs of bubble popping were in place 36 months ago.

My rescued myrtle decided to withhold flowers this year, except for just a few at the top. Half of other people's on the street are acting similarly. Drought. My other transplanted one I brought here from my old apartment is in full glory.

The Bethesda Cinema'n'drafthouse closed in 2001 and reopened as a new venue for touring Off-Broadway style musicals.

http://www.potomacstages.com/Bethesda.htm

Jumper, if it were one of my dogs, I'd look to their overall comfort first, but if they weren't in pain, I'd get a cart (of course, my house is ideal for this situation).

A local rescue has a very large, white, German Shepherd they bring to events, s/he uses a large cart to get around. If you'd like, I'll see if I can get you a contact name.

The dog seems totally adjusted to and comfortable with the cart. No problems with turns, thresholds, playing, etc. I found these:
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=dog+%2B+paralyzed+%2B+cart

http://www.k9carts.com/

On the other hand, I'm well aware that solutions which seem practical in the vet's office sometimes are just too difficult and time-consuming to be done at home. Given the overall quality of the dog's life, sometimes our best still isn't good enough.

Yoki, I hear congrats are in order. Well, congratulations, then.

Boss, got an idea. Can you get a copy of the Wall Street Journal's editorial standards manual?

I know a Bernese who uses a wheel chair because of advanced arthritis. He's a happy guy.

Jumper: Good morning.

Hops. My in-laws are raising them. They've erected two telephone poles and strug a cable between them. Then they dropped hemp line to the ground for the hop plants to climb. Works like a charm, but takes a lot of room (but then, they're on a farm).

The problem with hops is harvesting them. I don't know what professionals use, but I've helped pick hops, and they're very sticky. It's a messy, tedious business. Are you planning to make your own beer? Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dog. In-laws' german shepard was kicked by a heifer and broke his spine at the pelvis. He lost control of his, um, waste management system and had to be kept outside. He was in constant pain and was miserable (he had been a very active dog, great with the farm animals and gentle with humans). After waiting for three weeks to see some improvement, the in-laws had him put down. A very sad day.

Naturally, your dog's prognosis depends on his pain and discomfort level. If he's happy but can't walk, perhaps you can improvise. But if he's in constant pain, well, do what's best for your dog.

Here is an NYT guide to ethical reporting and editorial writing. It does not actually address quality of work, just conflicts of interest.

http://nytco.com/pdf/NYT_Ethical_Journalism_0904.pdf

Here is an excerpt from an article by Shipley about what it takes to get on the Op/Ed page:

"Our decisions about which essays to publish aren't governed by a need for editorial variety alone. Among other things, we look for timeliness, ingenuity, strength of argument, freshness of opinion, clear writing and newsworthiness. {snip}
"Does it help to be famous? Not really. In fact, the bar of acceptance gets nudged a little higher for people who have the means to get their message out in other ways -- elected officials, heads of state, corporate titans. It's incumbent on them to say something forthright and unexpected. Op-Ed real estate is too valuable to be taken up with press releases."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/opinion/01SHIP.html?ex=1216872000&en=2809c2b01c65fa80&ei=5070

It's my opinion that the McCain piece did not rise to that level.

Congrats to McGilligan! Oh Happy Days.

Quite the bit of storm we've been having lately. Last night at about 11 pm we had the power in the entire city of Fort Saskatchewan knocked out. I stayed up for about an hour hoping it was just in my area, but methinks a transformer got zapped. They got it fixed shortly after 4 am this morning.

Started again just 30 minutes ago. Stuck waiting for the storm to pass.

Uhh gotta go we've sprung a leak. Women and children first. Head to the lifeboats in an orderly fashion. Hey no shoving. I said orderly!

Just when I decide to put lauundry on the clothes line, Kerric tells me about storms in Ft. Saskatchewan.

Maybe I'll just batten down the hatches instead.

Good, Mo.

Good Morning all.I didn't boodle for a day and missed 1 and half kits. Nice stuff that you folks write.

I have a fish story,well it is more of a worm story.I went to the river last evening to be "healed" and only had 4 worms left for fishing. But I ended up catching 30 fish on the 4 worms.It sure was a lot of fun.

Rain last night and this morning,all the plants and animals are happy today.

well out to enjoy a day off. Enjoy your day people and look out for storms.

I see this as a good thing, too...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/business/22ford.html?_r=1&hp&oref=login

The photo gallery on the washingtonpost.com homepage is worth checking out for the first photo, at least. English convict art--selling for more than $855,000. Apparently this prisoner--or former prisoner--got hold of a big disc of silver and etched the Charlotte (three-masted schooner?) arriving at Botany Bay in Australia in 1778. This particular photo of Aussie art reminds me that I saw used books recently that were tempting: "Fatal Shore" and "The Girl from Botany Bay."

The second photo of a severed foot is gruesome--be forewarned. The third, an exhibit of London bones looks interesting. Wish it had an accompanying article. Here's something from London, under the arts and entertainment section--the article says the bones currently on display indicate the owners' diets and diseases:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4308484.ece

Yay for Ford, I hope it works for them.

Gasoline is down about a nickel here, to $3.99. I'm conflicted; sure I want the pain at the pump to pass, but we'll never make the changes we must if the pain goes away.

I've been tracking my fuel economy for about a year and a half. I should check to see if I'm using less than I did a year ago. No complaints about fuel use in the RAV4; I average 22.5 mpg in the city and 25.5 on the road. The best I've done so far is 27.4 mpg during a week we had to go to Mr. T's hometown for a family funeral. Of course, I was driving.

exponential worms
are a real blast, suddenly
it's raining fishes

This New York Times article struck me as something Joel might write in jest, but it is for real. Seems backyard gardens are trendy now (as witness the boodle, for example) but the real trendsters prefer not to get their hands dirty, so they have minions to do the actual (ugh) planting and (ew) weeding and even the harvesting (wouldn't want to sweat, would we).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/dining/22local.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

GWE, 4 worms and 30 fishes. Sounds like a miracle of Biblical proportions, kinda. Just how does one get a fish to spit out a worm, anyway?

Pity the poor city dwellers, for they know not what they'd do...with a worm, for example. But they mean well...

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=1022

Yeah, Kbert. My wife has one of those minions.

Obamamania is like brangelina, a whirlwind free of impedement. Thnk bowling alley, ministers, magazine covers...all those little things. Journalism has always been unruly, McCain is more like a really smart and fun grandpa whose taking it all in stride. Hum... comforting that editors send him (or his) red inks like they do people I know. I'm with publish original, and publish objections, then publish changes. That would make good reading..Achenbach, so glad you're on top of all this. McCainamate, next, just for the sake of balance.

Don/270, must I spell this out for you?

8 Snips x 4 worms = 32 pieces of fishie food.

Fishing, like nature, can be red in tooth and claw.

Who IS that cloaked haiku-ist? Apparently GWE is a muse. Paging Mudge: muses come in many varieties.

Scottynuke, slyness, I have some friends at Ford who worked on previous attempts to bring versions of the european Focus models as well as Fiesta and Ka over here, to no avail. I guess $4 a gallon gas did what logic could not.

Speaking of which, a few years ago I had a discussion with an exec at what was then Daimler Chrysler about ideas I had for a line of 4-cyl. small cars (gas and diesel), utilizing off-the-shelf production hardware they had on hand and were planning to discard.

When I suggested that they would be ahead of the curve (and in a niche by themselves, due to a unique angle I had on the idea) when gas went up to $4.00 a gallon, he pooh-poohed me and said that the forthcoming Caliber crossover would be small enough, and that they were more comfortable developing new versions of their large car, truck, and SUV architectures by themselves and partering with other companies for what he referred to as "small car stuff."

I see that production of the vehicles he'd been developing have been cut, and a couple of them will be discontinued entirely soon (not all have been announced publicly yet).

I am not a genius, but I did read the writing on the wall a couple of years ago.

bc

If you're pretty good at fishing (ahem), you set the hook *before* the fish swallows the worm. If the fish swallows the worm, chances are he swallowed the hook too. Then ya gotta get out the pliers. And hand them and your fish/line/pole to the nearest man.

kbertocci - I fear my wife is one of those people who likee the idea of gardening, just not the dirt.

Much more to do today, in part because I will be heading down to beautiful Myrtle Beach tomorrow for our week-long annual family vacation where we have fun together. As a family. Or else.

This will be the first year we are staying with my in-laws in their new home instead of just squatting in their vacant condo. The dynamics after a few days might get dicey.

On the upside, I will be able to do some sporadic boodling without having to steal somebody's unprotected WiFi because my in-laws will soon have their very own wireless router. Just as soon as I set it up.

So I hope to check in now and again. But be warned that my posts might be a bit more incoherent than normal (if such a thing is possible) because, you know, my mother-in-law mixes up one darn tasty Mojita.

Congrats to the McGilligan

Meant to add earlier: cassandra & Mudge, I'm thinking of you this morning.

bc

BTW - A Majita is like a Majito but much better.

Yeah, that's it.

A little bird told me that we, the boodle, have access to Hello Kitty cookies.

I say we fax them to

Mudge and Cassandra for various ills
Yoki Dot 1 (and 2) for achievement
RD for vacation sustenance
GWE as fishing prizes
bc for prophetic-like stances of staggering automotive genius
TBG who works late this evening
DR who is gnashing her teeth at laundry being foiled by the weather
(Me, as I clean my basement)

and anybody else.

i think we could have them on hand for Rove (insert new buzz-generating front-page kit) storms.

Any second on the motion?

RDP, yer not DRIVING to the beach, I hope... ;-)

CP, that's...

GENIUS!

:-)

RD P, When I think of a Majita, I think of a Mojito with a little pink umbrella

Nice to drop in and enjoy the genteel arm-waving rants from the armchairs. I'm on the side of light and decency on this one (although I appear to be many hours late) - writing is such a pain unless you're doing it for fun, and editors must surely be one of the most under-paid and under-appreciated class of people around. Baseball umpires and lawyers probably give them a run for the money, though. I've always felt about 'media bias' like I feel about corruption in politics: it's pretty much impossible to eradicate, but as long as it's plainly stated up front I'm OK with it. That's one of the reasons I despise Fox, but enjoy the NH Union Leader.
On a lighter note, is it just me or is the butterfly population on the east coast really down this year? (In numbers, not emotionally)

Thanks, SN, for correctly presuming that Abc, our AUTOMOTIVE bc deserves caps.

Mudge, please place this note in the Boodle Style Manual:

bc is lowercased, so as to not confuse said boodle with either 1) the uneven comic by Jonny Hart called B.C.; and 2) the epoch known as Before Christ, or B.C. or BC......

ALSO, all references to genius and boodler bc must be in all caps.

This makes me recall that in the food of pain meds I saw the newish PBS cartoon featuring the Click and Clack brothers. I was very confused....apparently 'tis a cartoon and they solve mysteries other than automotive....

JohnR, I LOVE this phrase:

...genteel arm-waving rants from the armchairs...

Stay and rant genteel-like with us.

My garden, a long term butterfly haven -- I plant for caterpillars and adults -- is not at all full.

I am used to lots of swallowtails (three or four types) and scads of monarchs....hey, even the small cabbage mothies things are down.

Another death knell sounding and STILL we do not listen.

:-O

Chatwoman's Wirty Dird Filter failed over at Gene's chat!

:-O

Howdy y'all. I am back from a week of conference with a little vacation thrown in. It was very nice. However, these folks managed to cram a two-day conference into 3 1/2 days. Had it not been in a location I like, with lots to do, I would have been seriously annoyed.

I lurked last week, did one drive-by post but missed a couple of Kits. I've enjoyed the last three though. Y'all said wonderful things about the necessity for editing, the reasonableness of the NYT request, etc. Howdy to all the lurkers who came out. Nice to meetcha.

Congratulations to McGilligan.

Loomis, I did cross my fingers for LoomisSpouse and hope all goes well.

RD, enjoy the beach and have a mojito for me.

It has finally hit 100 degrees here and looks like staying there the rest of the week. Faugh. We have to water, just to keep a firebreak around the house. However, we are saving gas and avoiding contributing to global warming by allowing our ecosystem to flourish.

Second the motion! Add CP to the list twice (one for her ribs, one for her Lellespontsman swimmer for a boost of extra energy before his next meet).

'Morning, Boodle. I am here, unblooded (almost). The first attempt at getting the IV line in failed (hence the wee dab of bloodshed), and then theyd ecided due to my infection last week and my heavy dose of antibiotics to bag the entire visit. So I am finally discharged at the end of four years of being a lab rat.

Don, I suspect your wife got her minion the same place my wife got hers. Must have been a sale that week. (Or in our cases, a sail that week.)

I gratefully accept all Hello Kitty donations, faxed or otherwise. I know I'll have Hello Kitty litter all down my shirt, but it's a snmall price to pay.

Carry on.

*faxin' everyone their own fax so we can spread out the Hello-Kitty-cookie-faxing load*

:-)

Mudge! Between pokes, so to speak.

In case the guys here think that Hello Kitty, that pink girly franchise by Sanrio does not cover boys (and men), well read this:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4059875

I am sooooooooooooooooo jealous. Kerric apparently lives in Fort Saskatchewan, birthplace of Evangeline Lilly. Kerric, have you been to her shrine there? If I fax you my tears, will you carry them to the shrine and place them in the Sacred Bowl of Admiration? Will you forge my signature in the Guestbook of Ultimate Submission?

A news report says Izvestia has reported plans to station Russian bombers in Cuba.

//A news report says Izvestia has reported plans to station Russian bombers in Cuba.//

Didn't we live thru this back in 1962?

I have not been to the Shrine of The Lilly, though I hear tell it's nice. I shall forge your signature in the book, though the gods may strike me down. But no way will I touch your dirty tears, or go near the foul bowl of drips...

DotC, wasn't that report about Venezuela, in "retaliation" for the European missile shield stuff?

*SIGH*

Re: doggie discs. It's all a question of pain ... but you have to know how to see it.

My neighbor's dog got hit by a car a while back. Horribly broken leg ... and KPage is the only one around to deal with it in the dead of night. Drag him out of the mesquite, pack him into the trucklet, and make the long drive in to the Austin Emerg Vet. Dog doesn't make a sound through any of this.

Pain shot administered first thing at the EV. Shortly thereafter, dog started crying. I told the vet he seemed to be in more pain after the shot. Vet said, "No. It's just that the narcotic erodes their instinct to keep quiet when they're injured."

Is that not sad? Wrecked me. Poor damn thing had to be euth'd ... or "knocked in the head" as we say out here in the middle. Ah, life in the country!

So anyway, pain is a funny thing in dogs and you just really have to tune in to figure out when enough is enough. Best wishes for all involved.

ok - y'all are making me sad with this talk of hurt puppies!

i wanted to comment on an older kit about the yough... i've done the class V rapids in the upper yough several times! very very fun! only fell outta the boat once... once i was pushed out but that's another story. also, ohiopyle has a very very nice camp ground up the hill from the river in a state park. LOVE camping up there! i highly recommend laurel highlands as an outfitter - great guides (cute, fun, strong and cute - oh, i mean, safe, yeah... that's it...)

Poodle Barkian was bit two summers ago by a giant, unleashed chow-grizzley bear (used to country living and no boundaries). PB wore a cast on the crunched leg for six weeks (Hot pink and hysterical once she got the hang of it.). RE the pain-o-mom-eter: look at the eyes, for that reveals all.

PB wanted to be carried to special spots and then she would lie still. She whimpered when she needed to be moved.

If a dog whimpers when you hold her, well that is a bad sign. Just saying from 40 years of doggies. I've been very lucky to have serial dog-omeny like this:

Boots (12 years)
Chrissy-belle (17) (inherited the name!)
Rosie O Grady (12 years) OVERLAPPING with
Marley, Ziggy (14 years)
Poodle Barkian 3 years and counting

OK, I was a bigamist for about 7 years; sue me.

Now shall commence the naming of dogs, cats, bunnies and other furried friends.

To lurkers and drive-bys, please forgive us this indulgence. Shortly, JA will post a new kit of scientific significance or political intrigue.

We will volley-back, dodging where we must, and then we will talk of

cabbage (read cars and machines; hello kitty cookies)
kings (read knitting)
and other very important things.

Fort Saskatchewan also has big railyards, shining petroleum refineries and lots of fine loading docks for hydrogen sulfide, carbon sulfide and sulfuric acid. Got to use that "sour gas" that boils out of sour crude oil you know. Ah the memories...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/07/22/ST2008072200062.html

Cuban Bomber Crisis in the making?

Really, shriek? I'm sad to hear that. In my mind's eye it was a kind of Northern Exposure idyllic sort of place. You make it sound like South Philly down around Passyunk Avenue. *sigh.*

Another illusion shot to hell.

CP, didn't that make you a dogamist?

My own rule goes not by number of dogs, but by weight. I can cohabit with <= 175# of dog(s). So that means 1 reallllly big dog, or maybe 10 little ones, or anything in between.

Emma & Cutter are each about 70#, so I could get a third pup as long as s/he was under 35#. But a dog that small could squeeze under the fence, so that's totally out of the question.

I second you on watching their eyes. Sometimes, though, quality of life encompasses more than pain, just as it does with people. Constantly in and out of the hospital, unable to do things they've enjoyed their whole life, restrictions--it can all add up.

Just got back from a sweltering, sweating, lunchtime hike. And I do this for my health? I stopped by the impromtu farmers market right outside of Mudge's office building. A tomato seemed like a good, healthy choice. Found a nice one, but not monsterous. Two bucks!!!??? No wonder you guys are kvetching 'bout not growing any this year. Hope this justifies an extra large elsupremo pizza for dinner tonight.

CP, I bow, nay grovel, before your mathematical superiority. You oughtta be, like, a teacher, or sumptin.

I had no idea that there were naked short sellers prowling the floors of our venerable financial markets. In any case, the SEC says they can't do it anymore.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102455.html?hpid=sec-business

don - you went WALKING in this heat? you are a brave brave man! mid-afternoon stroll in DC in July... not even if you paid me... with a juicy tomato...

mom said her mr. stripey is showing signs of bloomage... YIPEE!

Verticaly challenged stock brokers without any clothes on . . . . Eeewww!! Please pass the mind bleach.

Don, my office window looks out on that market. You were about 50 feet from my digs. Ya shoulda waved! East Building (the one closest to you). First set of windows to the left of the doors. (i.e., behind the third or fourth stall down from the t'maters.)

They've got some good stuff out there (the breads and pastries are to die for) but yes, pretty expensive. I almost never buy anything out there--too expensive for my blood.

btw - anyone see dark knight yet? i saw it on sat - all i'm gonna say is WOW!!!!

Florida orchards are yielding "Hardee" avocados right now--pear shaped fruits that turn red when ripe.

Hey jack.. nice to see you again. How are things going?

mo, my son saw it last night (went without me, the ungrateful whelp). Said what everbody else has said: wow. Ledger stole the movie. Darker and more serious than other Batmovies. Less camp (I had to explain to him what "camp" is/was, but then he sorta got it).

Radio commentators ladies on station that used to be WaPo radio were saying it is also better than "3:10 to Yuma," which they liked.

Cost $9.50. *sigh* (Although in five weeks I'll be eligible for my senior discount, I think.)

I saw 'Dark Knight' over the weekend and have to say that Christian Bale just slaughtered "S.O.S." Worst singing superhero ever.

"Will you forge my signature in the Guestbook of Ultimate Submission?
"
Let me! Let me! :-b

Boy, I would surely pity the Russians who had to go to Cuba with bombers, especially in July and August. Let's not have another missile crisis, please.

Not too far from here is a large vegetable garden. I've stopped a couple of times to buy tomatoes. They are currently $2.50/lb., which is a bit rich for my blood, especially in July.

I have used Mr. T's grinder to get out the old caulk around the bathtub. My hands are twitchy and my ears are ringing, but the process went fairly well. Now, gotta clean so it will be ready to recaulk when he gets home.

wall street canaries
stripped nekkids hit the skids, ouch
the fruits of abuse

Boko!!!!!!!!
:-)

Boko, you had me at "Let me!"

Welcome back.

Bokko! If you back boodle, you'll see that you were missed.

A good part of Fort Sasquach is residential and fairly nice. But there is that gimongous chemical/petroleum/industrial complex just outside the limits of the city that is hard to ignore.
Using the metric system and all, I can take about 100kg/220lbs of dog. I hope it's true because we are getting there. We are still under the number because the Ancient Giant Black Lab has slipped to about 90lbs.

Ah, Russian bombers to Cuba.
Good for the morale of the troops. Quality beachtime. Cigars, senoritas and cabrito al horno. Especially good around January when Russians are fed up with winter.

No wonder Poles are reluctant to sign up on the missile deal. They get to stay in Poland. Flight crews would defect to join the tanned cigar smoking Russians.

Of course, if Bush would lift the stupid trade embargo, he could support our troops by sending them to Cuba for R&R. Then there won't be any room left on the beaches for the reluctant Poles.

Brag

Hi Boko... that may be your funniest post ever.. and you have set that bar very high.

Glad you're back.

RIP Estelle Getty...

"LOS ANGELES--Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica."

*SIGH*

Recent lighting has screwed up my phone line so that it drops my connection every few minutes. The nice man in Bombay is sending someone out Friday.
No banking.
No poker.
No online dogfighting.
Difficult boodling.
The good news is that the nice wireless salesman in Brockville On is sending someone out to do a site inspection tomorrow.
I'll have to download an eye chart to memorize.

I tried to comment last night Mags but, well, see above.
Yeah #1. I remember one night at McGill U back in the sixties. Kinda.

No online dog-fighting, Boko? That is serious hardship. I don't know how I'd survive without internet connectivity.

Hint: if you browse your internet temporary files, you may find enough pictures from the tranny granny sites to tide you over until service is restored. As long as you haven't cleared your cache lately and don't mind reruns.

Boko... I meant that you have set that bar high with your past posts.

you just HAD to go there didn't you yello?

Scotty... this paragraph in the article cracks me up...

//"She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents," her son said. "She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived."//

Yes.. Estelle Getty comes to mind when I think of "one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived."

Paralyzed dogs... what a cheery topic.

My old dog had to be put to sleep after she couldn't get up one day and didn't improve with medicine. She had normal reflexes in her hind legs, she just couldn't get up-- back or hip issue. Never did find out if it was a disc or cancer. At 83ish pounds and at 10 years old, the prognosis was not good.

Let's say I hope Wilbrodog never winds up in that situation due to arthritis or other issues, even if wheelchairs and such could make him comfortable.

I can lift him at 75-78 pounds, but not on a regular basis... another good reason to look at somewhat lighter dogs in the future.

Nah sd I almost never remember the place exists. It's really easy, just stay to the east side of town and you'd never know. Fort Saskabotch is actually quite... quaint for a city these days. Nice people, quiet, friendly residential areas. Pay no mind the occasional emergency warning siren letting you know of toxic chemical spills and major explosions and you too could experience this utopia.

Joking with the last point there.

I'm still not quite over my dog. I'm just glad for him and me everything went quickly. I catch my wife surfing rescue sites and we seem to keep going past the pet store in the mall. Not that I would get a pet store dog, but it's not helping things seeing all those pooches needing a home.

mo,
We all have our vices. I'd rather have boko 'fess up to what I was hinting at than admit that the online dogfighting sites were real.

In the last couple of months, my rather light (35 lb) dog no longer had the oomph to jump on the bed, so we were giving him lifts. We had bought him doggie steps two days before it was all over. He never even learned how to use them.

true yello... i watch animal cops way too much - i can't believe how ppl can treat animals!

i volunteer regularly for lost dog and cat rescue foundation http://www.lostdogrescue.org/
problem is i'm always tempted to bring home one of those dogs! good thing my condo doesn't allow pets or i'd prolly have many!

Okay,thanks,sorry.

It took me too long to use F5 for refresh (MS). Now I know. Practice now: 1 2 3 refresh!

On the water again today, using borrowed pc with dreaded touchpad.

I took 11 years to get a dog, yellojkt... financial and life stability came first.

When I got Wilbrodog I realized that I could have gotten another one sooner... somehow, the mourning was more complete with another dog, which was not what I expected.

If you're not ready to commit, but don't mind working with dogs, fostering for a shelter might be the way to go before you get back into all that heartbreak.
http://www.washhumane.org/adopt/adoptfosterdog.asp

dude! you guys are killing me! too sad, yello!

i had to put down my cat, gomez, several years ago when he developed a weird skin disease that made his skin/fur fall off - no cure...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers-Danlos_syndrome
that was one of the hardest things i'd ever had to do. he was 11 years old and had traveled with me to nyc and LA... i loved that little stinker...

Ehler-danos syndrome is hereditary, Mo.

It can cause arthritis too, because the joints are so hyperflexible and the tendons too loose. I know of some people with it who are wheelchair bound by age 50 or so.

I've never heard of it in cats, and had to look it up. Sure, does sound like the same thing, with fragile skin and lots of scarring. Gomez had good care to make it to 11 years with it, Mo.

I bet he was the original boneless cat, eh?

and wilbrod - you are right - i did end up getting another cat about 6 months later. i didn't want to but he was given to me. aristotle definetly fills the whole that gomez left... (just don't tell my condo association that i have a cat!)

ScottyNuke - yep we will be driving down. Seven and a half hours of mobile fun starting early in the AM. ( About 100 bucks worth of gas, I figure.) We've been doing this trek for almost twenty years now, so I am numb to it.

Hi, all.

Estelle Getty - good night, ma'am, and thanks for the laughs.

LiT, your 11:50 made me LOL.

After said hook is removed the man keeps the pole and plyers, and hands the fish back for cleaning and cooking? After a swallowed hook has been removed, most fish are going to be dinner soon anyway...

Gee, d'ya think that the Russians can wait until Obama's in the WH before staging those bombers there. If we're going to do a second take on a Cuban crisis invoving nuke delivery systems, we might as well wait until we have the Youthful President in there: Call it Camelot II. Or something.

The Bombers of [insert month here].

bc

Two words:

barbless hooks

Commandment 3A of the reluctant fisher(gal)'s bible.

Russian bombers? Are we talking old Bears here or that swing-wing B-1 clone? Either way, I'm surprised they can get them to Cuba.

Please. Bombers are too big and slow to be a modern threat. I'd be more scared if they announced they were ferrying backpack nukes across the Florida Straits on Zodiacs. That's a real threat.

Welled, you'd think a box cutter on a passenger jet was too small and relatively non-lethal to be very dangerous!

Dogfighting in my Oscar on Microsoft's "Combat Flight Simulator2" site, yello.
For Dawn Patrol I would use my SE5 mod.
Youse guys can have your Spads.

wilbrod - not only hereditary, in cats you can't predict/diagnose it and once it starts there's no cure. he didn't have any of the symptoms they list for humans, no hyper extended joints... one night he's totally fine, then at around 11 pm he comes out the bedroom with a funny cry and i notice a huge patch of his skin is missing! i completely freaked out and called my mother - we took him to the emergency vet and they said there wasn't anything they could do. his skin was too fragile to suture so i only had one choice. he was gone by around 2am. the whole thing was soooo sudden...

OK ENOUGH! i'm starting to get depressed...

HAPPY THOUGHTS! HAPPY THOUGHTS!

Here I am thinking Boko is really Michael Vick. Boy, am I embarrassed. Mucho apologies. My hint is still valid though.

Back from the river without much of a fish story,more of a lazy day for swimming and floating and watching the beautiful clouds float by.I saw a Razorback,a seahorse,a dog running and a Klingon Bird of Prey float by.

Cp,I was just very lucky with the fish last night and they were gracious enough to give me the worm back most of the time. I usually only break them in 2 or 3 pieces.

And Don when i mentioned to my mother about my adventure last night,she spoke of the fishes and loaves too.

Gonna chill for a bit,but may take the next batch of worms out for a test spin later.

bc, cooking I can do. But if I can't get the hook out of the fish's belly, the chances of me cleaning the fish are nil. nada. zilch. aint gonna happen my friend.

Speaking of bombers, I grew up on Commando comics back home; I knew what Boko meant.
Nifty stories, awesome black and white drawings, and an adorable easy-reading ~ 7x5 inch format.

Were they available in the US?

LiT, you need to get yourself a Popeil's Pocket Fishing Minion.

I sent this link to Son of G and he replied, "That made me so happy."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew

ok tbg - that was cute! that cheered me right up! tx!

sky water true blue
warships floating seahorses
thundering hogs too

Pines prick at smooth sky
Vats of blue smeared above
Dog buttered on grass

....

Nose knows many things
Coffee, steaks, motor oil, cats..
But not haiku scribe?

me too tbg that was great....I thought I would try it with my cat...he just yawned and started begging for food,he just hates to be picked up.

Thank you

another funny cat video - BE WARNED - IT'S A LITTLE RACEY! (and some bad words...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhSTvPtBkMw&feature=related

anonymous love
o mutt o' many talents
is flamenco, no?

New kit.

Off to swim.

Loud and lewd lolcats
Caught on Youtube video--
But not punished. Bah.

Anonymous poet--
Flamenco teasing's not nice
I have two left feet.

Hey... new kit! Come on over...

72oYsK gfjtujk jtryh e6hghdgfd gfjgfj dyrjydtrjgn dgjf

?

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