Man Bites Dog

Two news items today tell a snapshot story of the Middle East. First, consider the unusually bloody car bomb that claimed 125 lives in Iraq. Second, witness the 'Cedar Revolution' in Lebanon - which can claim partial victory in the wake of the resignation of the puppet, Syrian-backed regime. (Even France is behind this.)

The first story is tragic, but too familiar. We can understand the politics behind these attacks. But the second has the shape of something new, and along with the news of Hosni Mubarak's feint towards genuine democracy could signal that events in the Middle East are beginning to acquire internal momentum.

I'm thinking of the Berlin Wall, and the crowds of Romanians that finally dragged Nicoli Ceausescu before a firing squad. The transition in Eastern Europe wasn't always smooth, but the result has been a region filled with (mostly) stable democracies.

As many have been saying, it's too early to tell. But it's not too late for the Democratic Party to do what Thomas Friedman suggested on Meet the Press yesterday, and wholeheartedly support reform.

Make no mistake, if democracy succeeds - especially if it does with the force of 1989 - it will vindicate the basic tenants of the Bush Doctrine. But it still seems politically wiser for election-minded Democrats to appear vaguely supportive, instead of sullen and bitter. If reform fails they can grin privately, while outwardly claiming it was a good idea, but horribly mismanaged.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Egypt announces democratic reform

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Egypt announces democratic reform

Roundup

http://atom.smasher.org/error/
Error Message Gallery

Desperate Houseflies
http://www.desperatehouseflies.com/

Money-ology

IPAC
False Mathmatics of RIAA
http://ipaction.org/blog/2005/02/false-mathematics-of-riaa.html

Rolling Stone
Top 50 Earniners
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6959138/prince?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single2&rnd=1109355380468&has-player=true&version=6.0.11.847

Oakland and Tehran

Imagine if John Kerry, on the heels of a failed presidential bid, decided to become mayor of a small city with problems (say Springfield, Massachusetts), because he believed so strongly in public service that he wanted to create genuine change, even if this meant acting locally, and dealing with cops, criminals, and sanitation trucks.

That's essentially what Jerry Brown did when he became mayor of Oakland, California. Say what you like about 'governor moonbeam' - he's engaged in honest, progressive realpolitic. It should be no surprise that he's also a blogger, and a real one, not another politician supported by interns and hacks. A sure sign of credibility - he's already getting heat from local media.

But what caught my eye was a recent post that takes up the cause of Iranian dissident blogger Arash Sigarchi. Brown has guts to support this cause. Many on the Left are more afraid of a perceived victory for Bush than they are in favor of the downfall of the mullahs.

Shouldn't we be universally offended by a society that locks up it's citizens for practicing free speech - or publicly flogs teenagers for having sex?

folksonomy

O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2005: "folksonomy"

Japanese students can't find N Korea

Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk

Cowboys and Deaniacs

Bush's reelection must be agonizing to Europeans. No matter how polite his public remarks appear on paper, that Texas smirk and snicker are just below the surface. Then he ups and cracks jokes about Chirac becoming his cowboy.

Meanwhile Rove is out there claiming to have won 97% of the 100 fastest growing counties in America. These demographics trouble the progressive Left. They often claim that unregistered adult voters - the 'dark matter' of electoral politics, unseen and untapped - are intrinsically inclined to go progressive. They just need to be pushed with the right message. This wisdom is suspect. Both parties added voters in 2004. But Republicans added more. And the Republicans, when not attending services, are often reproducing.

Nonetheless, the GOP party is preemptively laying down cover fire. Frank Luntz has written a playbook for spinners and 2006 candidates that gives advice on how Republicans can frame notions of 'fairness' and 'opportunity' in pre-election discourse.

But blogger DailyKos already scored a copy of that treatise and released it into the wild. This allows Democrats to more furiously debate the merits of either taking a directly contrarian approach (responding with reasons why Republicans are full of malarkey) - or laying out a credible, positive, alternate vision for America.

I wish they would attempt B. But I fear they will reflexively do A.

The lure of 'medicine of desires'

Gently critical Enquirer editorial ...
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050222/EDIT01/502220304

News article with full comments from Catholic papaer ...
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500968.htm

Prima Materia

Like many adults I am unsettled by clowns.

So it took me a few moments to appreciate this picture by local photographer Jason Geil. The motionless child in the background certainly doesn't help. But the lad in question turns out to be the sleeping son of a performer - who in the foreground is applying his colorful face paint before the show. The job of a rodeo clown must demand a peculiar mix of cowboy bravado, foolishness, and affection for angry wild animals. It's pretty hard to run in floppy shoes.

Watching your dad chase bulls while he wears make-up is either incredibly healthy or a Jungian nightmare. I can't rightly decide.

Speaking of Jung, there are news reports of a lion loose in the woods near the Ronald Reagan presidential library. Again I am not sure what it means, but it seems like a durable metaphor waiting to happen for any playwrights, painters, or poets in search of material.

Nerd A

On Saturday I became the owner of a certain small white consumer electronics device that plays music. These days I don't indulge a lot of impulse buys of gadgets and technology. This acquisition was due in part to the generosity of Rachel and my future in-laws on the occasion of my 34th birthday. It may be my last big bachelor purchase.

Saturday and Sunday I loaded it up with a humongous stack of CDs, and just for laughs, made my first purchase from iTunes: the soundtrack from The Life Aquatic, worth owning for both 'Ping Island' and the Portuguese Bowie from Seu Jorge. (Now here I go with the Wes Anderson. Two consumer-hipster name checks in one post. I feel incredible self-loathing.)

One of the curious things about this device is how much more I enjoy classical music. I only own a little Dvorak and Mozart, but they shuffle up nicely with their rock and alternative neighbors. I drifted off to sleep with the Camper's 'Come on Darkness' followed by Sanctus movement from Requiem - a pleasing (if grim) little sequence.

No, I won't be podcasting. I like to think I have some dignity.

The Observer | UK News | Why chattering classes have nothing to say

The Observer | UK News | Why chattering classes have nothing to say

knorsong.mov

knorsong.mov

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

Dan Rather is hosting his own tribute show. Don't let the door hit you on the ass.

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

Dan Rather is hosting his own tribute show. Don't let the door hit you on the ass.

Friday Roundup

WB seeks revitalized cartoon franchise with new look for Bugs Bunny and friends

What a bunch of crap.

The Bottomless Well

Last night my stepdad, Mark Mills, was on The Daily Show with John Stewart to discuss his book. I knew it was coming - I should have posted something, but I was sure he would be roasted alive.

See, the title of the book is The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy. Mark wrote it with Peter Huber.

Controversial? Yes indeed. But to my great astonishment Stewart actually had read the book, and asked good questions. Many "dust-jacket critics" argue poorly-understood pop science when they hear the basic premise. But Stewart is an impressive guy, and he knew the science and the basic issues.

I will be writing more extensively about this book in the next few days. It's thought provoking material, and I'm not going to reduce it to terse little web posts - especially when I can debunk some of the predicatable reaction right out of the gate. Meanwhile I am scrambling to obtain a digital clip of the interview. Great job, Mark.

Bully for Sarah Brady

Stephen Jay Gould’s books are an emporium of provocative ideas about natural history and biology. If you ever have a long weekend at a cabin in the woods I’d suggest a copy of Bully for Brontosaurus, or Dinosaur in a Haystack. Gould excelled at taking two apparently disconnected concepts and smashing them together to produce original and challenging notions.

And he fought against wongheaded ideas about evolution.

Some interpretations of Darwin suggest that nature selects traits over many generations, trying what works and what doesn't; one type of horned elk will be best equipped to much savannah grass, while others perish because they lack pointy incisors. And behold, over the generations, the right animals for the right environment evolve.

But it's bunk, at least in part. The geologic record says disaster intervenes: comets, earthquakes, tsunamis, and incidents of bad luck. The most virile elk at the door of breeding age - a creature with all of the right traits - gets suddenly crushed in a landslide. Gould says evolution is not a steady, graceful progression, but instead broken up with violent episodes.

I was reminded of Gould's ideas when I read about Sarah Brady. This preganant woman stabbed to death another woman who had planned to cut the baby from her womb. And on this past Wednesday Brady gave birth to her daughter. It's been a busy week.

And it looks like natural selection is at work (in all it's violent glory) in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Shaking Like Tremolo

On the way into work today I spotted a turquoise Ford sedan with a rusty paint job. One wheel was so far out of alignment that the vehicle was wobbling madly at 50 miles an hour. The back seats were stuffed to the windows with trash, clothes, and odd toys - I caught glimpse of 'Boggle'. In the front seat was a large, ruddy-faced man with complicated facial hair who seemed to be panting.

As I drove alongside and observed, I was listening to the sinewy thump of The Cars' "Moving In Stereo", which happened to be blasting away on my in-vehicle Hi-Fi. (If you can hum the song you might see why this is memorable.) I imagined this traveler was taking flight from his demons - but yet they seemed to be in pursuit.

On a completely unrelated note - you may see some changes to the site. I can move out posts by cell phone if I spend stupid amounts of time typing with my thumbs and squinting at the screen. So keep an eye out for nonsensical items with peculiar capitalization. I am also enlisting the proofreading skills of my unsuspecting lady companion. She will be given strict instructions to only edit for errors, and to leave the salty commentary intact.

On Boxing Day in Canada she will be allowed to make exactly one post.

Midnight Cowboys

Bloggers are getting credit for finally exposing a conservative fraud. A guy named Jeff Gannon is a non-credentialed journalist who gained easy access to the White House and curried favor by asking softball questions at press conferences. But even better - he's a former male prostitute, with dirty pictures to boot. (Don't worry, the link goes to the Washington Post.)

Needless to say, this gets the folks at the NYT very excitable. Maureen is beside herself in today's column. Frank Rich joins the fun, but takes care to spin it towards how major media dropped the ball - instead of how bloggers picked it up. And, of course, big Leftie blogs are chattering with glee.

If you're keeping score, that's Eason and Rather in one column, Lott and the gay conservative fake-journalist hooker in the other column.

But if you're keeping score you're missing the point, and consumed with the public art of gotcha, and "taking people down". There's a line between holding people accountable and hunting for scalps. I'm a huge fan of this new media, but I hope the future lies in the type of activism like we saw in the Dean campaign, or in promoting liberty in closed societies, or even in offering distinct personal narratives. This potential remains hidden behind the big, glitzy stories.

Big Pimping

The chickens have come home to roost.

Bloggers are getting credit for finally exposing a conservative fraud. A guy named Jeff Gannon is a non-credentialed journalist who gained easy access to the White House and curried favor by asking easy questions at a press conferences. But even better - he's also a former male prostitute, with dirty pictures to boot. (Don't worry, that link goes to the Washington Post.)

Needless to say, this gets the folks at the New York Times very excitable. Maureen Dowd is beside herself in today's column. Frank Rich joins the fun, but takes care to spin the story towards how the major media dropped the ball - instead of how the blogosphere picked it up. And, of course, big Lefties in the political blogosphere are chattering away.

If you're keeping score, that's Eason and Rather in one column, Lott and this new guy in the other column.

But if you're keeping score, you're missing the point, and too consumed with the public art of gotcha, and "taking people down". There's a fine line between holding people accountable and hunting for scalps. I'm a huge fan of this new media, but I hope the future lies in the type of activism like we saw in the Dean campaign, or in promoting liberty in closed societies, or even
adding unique, personal dimensions to major news stories.

Mirror Mirror

To move along the plot in her first book, J.K. Rowling invented a magical whatzit called 'The Mirror of Erised' - which, when gazed upon, reflects the object of our heart's desire. The famous young magician looks into it and sees the image of his dead parents.

Cue up the English major analysis. That's heavy for a kid's book. Of course, the wise fatherly wizard shows up, and explains that the mirror is really a cruel trick. People who peer into it are left mooning away, and they eventually drift into sadness.

French scientists have created the reverse scenario, literally, using high technology. This mirror collects information about your lifestyle - how often you sit on the sofa, how many Cheetos you stuff into your mouth, and your drinking and tobacco habits - and reflects back the physical condition you are on your way to attaining. Using advanced algorithms and biometric 3D whizbangery it shows you a picture of your fat, wrinkled self a couple of years out.

This 'Mirror of Daerd' (so to speak) could get you back to the gym.

Thanks, French scientists! I've got an idea. Maybe now you can invent a mirror for your public officials that will observe the diplomatic uselessness, socialist philandering, and legendary cowardice, and reflect back the picture of a society in slow decline.

Valentine's Post

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
It's wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care.
-- Billy Bragg, 'A New England'

On Valentine's Day I am inclined to take sides with the cynics and naysayers who would stay at home, single and unloved, awash in their own pathos. But that probably just tick those people off, because I've got me a somebody, and I would be faking it.

The unhappy and lovelorn might enjoy this bizarre gallery of twisted and disturbed valentine images from yesteryear. Whereas those of you with a sunnier mindset should read and contemplate this short story by (one of my favorite writers) Haruki Murakami. It's the literary equivalent of a crystalline pop song.

Blocks Populi

My knowledge of local Cincinnati politics is limited. But I do know that local elected officials do not appear to lose any sleep over Cincinnati's national reputation as a backwards, reactionary town. They continue to answer 21st-century problems with 19th-century solutions.

The latest example? Blocking access to political blogs from the City Hall internet connection. "Productivity" was cited as the reason. Our government officials are working so tirelessly at finding solutions to the crime problem and taking a savvy new approach to neighborhood-friendly development that they can't be distracted by listening to an increasingly powerful voice of people.

Nick Spencer, Nate Livingston and Cincinnati Blog have been posting extensively. Not all of them appear to be on the "block" list.

Let's be clear: I do think local bloggers sometimes go for the easy, knee-jerk opinions over more thoughtful commentary. But I firmly believe they should not be censored. Will they now ban magazines or newspapers at city hall? Like many approaches this city government takes, this one is short-sighted, ass-forward, and motivated only by ignorance and uncertainty.

BG: frankenstein, chase, genocide-slash-9/11

three formulas mixed together

Fake Plastic Trees

In Chicago a couple of weeks ago I took a picture of this display in the window of an Asian restaurant in Evanston.

When I was a kid, I remember a piece of cheesecake in McLean, Virginia. It was spinning slowly on a pedestal, unchanged, in a hyperbaric chamber near the checkout register. Every time we visited that restaurant I checked for signs of decay. I finally decided that somebody must have the job of creating ultra realistic rubber food.

I Park Like An Idiot - You suck at parking! Let the world know it!

I Park Like An Idiot - You suck at parking! Let the world know it!

Sable Night

Friday I usually put up more lighthearted material. Check back later for that. For now, a more serious thought.

When servicemen and women are killed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them leave behind families and children. The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) supplements the work done by veteran’s agencies helping people through that impossibly difficult time. If you aren’t able to donate, at least take a look at their site to learn about their charitable work. Regardless of politics, this is an organization that any reasonable person can and should support.

Just ask Rosemarie Simmons, of Clarksville, Tennessee.

Elevator Ideology

It's an ominous sign when The American Prospect magazine needs to sponsor a contest to try and define the core principles of liberalism.

Conservatives frame it this way: They believe in equality of opportunity, but their liberal counterparts want equality of outcome. A level playing field is a good thing, they suggest, just don't expect that there won't be winners and losers.

But how is opportunity measured? Genetics, education, values, natural disasters and blind luck - each one of these has influence on our lives. Only a few of these can be managed by taxation, law, or policy. More importantly, do conservatives want to actively create opportunity, or offer a more clever justification of laissez-faire?

A "that's-the-way-the-ball-bounces" approach eventually runs up against the ethics of Christian compassion, ostensibly the soup-du-jour for conservatives. But J.C. wasn't known for splitting hairs between poor people "with credibility" and those who got there by blowing their chances.

Lies and Propaganda

Between broadcasts of patriotic songs, biographies of their leader, and entreaties to support the national campaign of songun, people in North Korea might have been told by the state-controlled media that their struggle with the American oppressors has reached a new apex.

We don't know, exactly, how the news will be conveyed of Pyongyang's dismissal of the six-way talks. In all likelihood it will be spun as an unfortunate reaction to the stepped-up aggression of the U.S. administration. Their nuclear capability is described as a heroic last line of defense against bloodthirsty GIs chasing children down the streets with bayonets.

We might hope the people in North Korea, beneath their fear, suspect that they are subject to a totalitarian veil of lies. And we might hope when Americans read the news they don't take it for granted that they enjoy a much closer realtionship with the truth than people with only one channel, literally and politically.

Now back it up, hard Lefties: I'm not saying that our media IS the truth. But I am saying we enjoy much more liberty than people who live in a place like North Korea. Tell me, is that really a radical, partisan statement?

Maps and Legends

The new Google Maps are wicked cool. Now real places can be hyperlinked. Google is already an mind-boggling index of virtually everything in the world. Now that this information has been physically mapped, words like 'cyberspace' don't seem so strange.

Add this together with wireless networks and the widespread avaiablity of GPS-enabled devices, and we may be interacting with our digital environment at every step. The engineers have already envisioned the implications.

White Headphone Mafia

Now that blogs have become more familiar to middle America, all of the technology-crazed alpha geeks need a new fixation. "Podcasting" is the heavy new favorite for the next big thing.

If I were podcasting this message (instead of simply posting it on my weblog) I would have spoken all of these words into a microphone attached to my PC. An MP3 audio file would be made available on the Internet. This morning, before work, school, or whatever you spend your time doing, you would have plugged in your iPod (of course you own an iPod, right?), downloaded the sound of my melodious voice, and then played it back, while presumably dancing maniacally down the street like the silhouettes in the Apple commercials.

Podcasting is now being covered by the big media, after being touted by people like former MTV DJ Adam Curry, and hero-among-nerds Dave Winer. But I'm lukewarm to the idea.

First, the idea of millions of jackasses braying into microphones is even less appealing than weblogs full of rants, which at least have the virtue of being typed out deliberately. Some editorial mechanism sometimes asserts itself between the brain and keyboard. Second, blogs offer hyperlinks. This draws together sources of information across divergent media, and creates feedback between the blogger and others. I can't click on Adam Curry's voice.

The form has merits for people who have a gift for oratory instead of written literacy. The next Spalding Gray, or Garrison Keillor, or Richard Pryor might emerge as a podcaster. Pryor's best work, incidentally, is said to be the not-so-funny "underground tapes" that were made during his retreat from show business.

More likely, podcasting could be used by the first prodigiously talented musical group that foregoes the idea of "getting signed", and speaks directly to their fans. They may need to make money with live shows -- but they will own their music, their business, and a revolutionary means of delivery.

Juice Box Hero

Jean Welsh, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has bravely come forward with a study that finally stands up Big Juice. Her detailed research concludes that making the kids drink heavily sugared water - get this - actually increases the risk of obesity and diabetes. And it makes them run around shrieking like nitwits.

Much beloved cartoon alcoholic Punchy was unavailable for comment.

Chattering Lorries

Headline writers in Cincinnati have been blessed by one of those perenial crooks-are-stupid stories involving the theft of exotic birds. Five lorikeets and one chattering lory were among the victims.

The two crooks were captured while trying to offload their contraband at an exotic bird show in Sharonville, Ohio. The creatures had been snatched from the bird room at the Newport Aquarium, while the staff had been busy giving a demonstation to a tour group. A videotape showed the crooks "struggling with something under their coats".

But even without the videotape their plan was eventually doomed. Lorikeets are a type of parrot, and there are some very strict comedy rules about acts of crime that take place around birds that talk.

My Charm Offensive

The selection of good mate involves some interests and values in common, and other characteristics that make a nice contrast.

My fiancée, for example, is a friendly person. I am not. I'm not mean, or rude, or unforgiving. I wish nothing but a giant blast of sunny happiness for the rest of humanity. I'd like to think that, were there only enough inflatable swimming vests for the children, I'd be at the rail, waving at the life boats, drinking a Guinness, and making dark comments as the ship sank ever lower.

Friendly just isn't my bailiwick. So my fiancée, whom I adore for countless reasons, has been enlisted in part because she is insanely friendly, and pulls it off in a way that I don't find irritating.

She could take a 20 minute ride on a city bus, and by the time she got off at her stop she would have shared several meaningful stories with strangers (with whom she'd be on a first-name basis), helped somebody better understand their relationship with a spouse, and brightened the day of the elderly and differently-abled. Small kids would burst into tears as the bus pulled away. Years later she would still receive thoughtful Christmas cards from half the passengers.

Maybe I exaggerate. But only slightly.

She likes me for my curmudgeonly self. But I want to make some modest changes, and learn the powers of charm. My east coast veneer has remained un-cracked by years of breezy Ohio bonhomie. So I have resolved to try to become better at small talk, and saying that important, dumb friendly crap.

Yesterday I tried it out, while at the grocery store buying a pie. I was asked by the checkout lady if I found everything without any trouble, so I blared back at her: "WELL, I SURE FOUND THIS PIE!" A silence ensued, during which we stared at one another awkwardly.

I realized I'd blown it. I've got to keep trying.

Ride the Cluetrain

The book and the idea for the "Cluetrain Manifesto" came out in the sunset days of the dot-com boom, so it's easy to dismiss the wisdom, or worse, reduce it to platitudes. The notion that "markets are conversations" has already bubbled through business literature.

The '95 Theses' are really an indictment of antiquated notions of control. They re-define the corporation as an "artificial person" - one who needs some therapy, to learn how to speak much more clearly and authentically to the market it serves, and to dispense with paranoia, empty mission statements, and doublespeak strategies.

Because it trades in the currency of information directly, big media may has already felt the effect, from political bloggers. CNN producer Eason Jordan is the latest offender. His mug shot may be appearing soon next to Dan Rather and Trent Lott - people who have crossed the new invisible line.

The dynamics that govern the "blogosphere" apply to markets and corporations. Rapid exchange of information makes it impossible to hide behind falsity. Attention and investment are attracted to those who are responsive, transparent, and inventive. Hierarchies are subverted by hyperlinks in many different forms.

I'm usually stubborn and resistant to hype - but this makes too much sense. People have an incredible innate tendency to act like things won't really change. But just like Monty Python reminded us in 'The Galaxy Song', the the ground never stops moving.

Jong-il Communication

Read this article from the Sunday Times about North Korea, especially if all you know about the country has been learned from pop culture. It's a rare glimpse behind the veil of a country so obsessed with control that it tells people how to wear their hair.

Kim Jong-il was banking on John Kerry. Now he's forced to deal with West Texas. The generals are scheming, and the crackpot himself hasn't been seen for months. Some developments track closely with events that also preceded the implosion of the eastern bloc: Foreign intelligence agents are cashing out, and a robust underground has sprung up to spirit refugees safely across the border.

If this mad dictatorship goes under, something worse could replace it. Insofar as the "axis of evil" goes, I would have expected Iran next, pulled by the weight of an Iraqi Shia leadership. One thing is certain, world events do not break in the directions we expect.

But there may be some wisdom in giving better odds to democracy.

Banh Xeo

Cincinnati has pockets of international flavor, if you know where to look. Squint your eyes downtown around lunch, and with just the right cultural array of passers-by, you can imagine, briefly, you are in a major metropolitan area.

Not far from my house is a Vietnamese joint called 'Song Long', located in one of the more exciting neighborhoods in town, Roselawn - known for the local game of Three Car Monte. The owners are a Vietnamese family with a great recipe book that recently connected with nationally-acclaimed chef Jean-Robert de Cavel to create 'Pho Paris', a much more upscale situation.

I haven't eaten at the new place. But Song Long has definite credibility. The ambiance includes fish tanks, embroidered pictures, and a faint soundtrack of high-pitched trilling. In the middle of a slow afternoon it's easy to imagine a nearby table full of hard-bitten British journalists making acidic comparisons between the Americans and colonials, or a GI saying a tearful goodbye to his girl.

Of course, there are always safe, corporate alternatives.

Speaking of which, I hope to have a post up soon about the crop of blogs that recently began through the local publishing conglomerate.

It has that faint whiff of managerial approval, as if it sat in some vice president's inbox for several weeks before the meeting was called, some ground rules were laid out, and approvals were given. But I don't want to dismiss it out of hand, since I'm sure the blogging impulse afflicts those "on the inside" of big journalism. And I like this picture.