Clipfile - May 5, 2011

“I am tired of my government adjusting its policies in... inane attempts to placate the triggers of rage among unstable people -- as if it’s our fault for provoking them.” - Jim Geraghty (via Andy)

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Well, we know *somebody* got him...

Over at The Telegraph, the juxtaposition of this pair of Melbourne, Australia, newspaper posters not only proved impossible for Tim Blair and his merry band of commenters to resist, but also inspired me to visit The Newseum’s collection of daily front pages, just to see how similar headlines were being handled here in America.  Not with intent to make a big deal out of what I might find, you understand; just to establish a few... um... data points.

(Yeah, that was the reason.)

Anywho, the Newseum offers images of the front pages of 484 U.S. dailies, and on Tuesday, May 3nd, 30 American papers had a “Got Him” (or similar) headline on their front pages. The breakdown?

If you were anticipating an excuse to snark about un-American American media, I’m afraid that this time you’ll have to look elsewhere.  Because of the 30 papers, 19 of them headlined their stories “How We Got Him.”  Only four opted for “they,” but I’ll forgive the Boston Herald on grounds of bellicosity (see below).  Another five used an alternate construction - mostly “the U.S.,” and the remainder get special mention.  And I didn’t notice any particular regional pattern: The Bakersfield Californian and the San Jose Mercury-News both used “we,” in Chicago they split the difference (The Sun-Times: “How We Got Him.” The Tribune: “How the U.S. Got Bin Laden”).  Same in the Sunshine State: Gannett’s Florida Today: “We.” The St.Petersburg Times: “They.”

The flag flew high in Georgia, with both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Savannah Morning News in the “How We Got Him” camp.  Perhaps the cold and rain muted the celebration in Kentucky, where the Herald-Leader opted for “They.”

And never underestimate the Minnesotans!  The Pioneer Press stepped up firmly with “How We Got Him,” only to be topped by the Bemidji Pioneer, which headlined its story “Face of Evil Eliminated.”  Brrrr!

Eastern papers were also heavily in the “we” camp.  Although the Post-Standard in Syracuse opted for “They,” down the road the Buffalo News offered “Strike Against Evil.”  As expected, the coastal tabloids were reliably bellicose, making the whole operation sound like a mob hit: “How They Took Him Out” (Boston Herald), “How We Did It!”- with exclamation mark (The New York Post), and, of course, the Daily News: “How We Nailed Him.”  The jovial atmosphere even managed to elicit a sigh of relief from Rhode Island’s Providence Journal: Well, give thinks that we FINALLY got him!


Lastly, a couple of special mentions: First the Bend (Oregon) Bulletin,
whose “How we pulled it off” left me suspecting some editorial feelings that this time we got lucky.


And making a strong showing in the Tepid Subhead category was the Meridian, Connecticut, Record-Journal, who (after quotes from the President, the CIA, and an “al-Quaida commentator,” managed to come up with: “Many rejoice at al-Quaida leader’s demise.”



Gee, do you really think so, bucky?



Below the break, the papers and their headlines...
more...

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First step...

W. Joseph Campbell:

The Washington Post ombudsman invokes in his column today the defining conceit of American journalism: That without truth-telling reporters and editors, democracy would be imperiled.

Or, as he puts it, rather simplistically:

What we do is report, write and edit stories.  We take and publish photographs (and now video, too).  We publish the stories and images as news through compelling design and graphics.  And, in columns and blogs, we analyze the news.  Through this painstaking process, we reveal truths.  The country cannot long survive as a democracy, or as a capitalist economy, without this kind of independent journalism.

Of course, if you’re gonna be a truth-teller, the first thing you’ve got to do is, y’know, start by telling the truth.

Elsewhere, related:  Lie in it.

(HT:  Insty)

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Clipfile - April 30, 2011

“In order for a man to love his country, his country ought to be lovely.” - Jerry Pournelle, reflecting on our latest “patriots”-working-for- the- Department-of-Homeland-Security outrage.

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73-note keyboard, 8-bit sampling, floppy memory: Only £27,000

Excellent reminiscence of the 80s-vintage Fairlight synthesizer.

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Trump for Speaker

Glenn Reynolds:

So I was at the gym when they finally caved and released the birth certificate – and on both the Fox and the CNN monitors I saw Donald Trump, who quickly started talking about . . . gasoline prices.  See, he knows how to keep the pressure on.  Other GOP candidates might want to take a lesson.

Beltway Confidential:

According to projections made by the Energy Information Administration in April 2010, the Gulf of Mexico should have produced 1.84 million barrels of oil a day in the fourth quarter of 2010.  Instead, according to the most recent EIA estimate, due to the Obama permitorium, the Gulf only produced 1.59 million barrels.  That is 250,000 barrels a day in lost production.  Overall, since Obama instituted his drilling moratorium, oil production from the Gulf is down more than 10%.

Fox News:

EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans

Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska.  The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits...

Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby ...[is] especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area...  The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska... 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.

The Wall Street Journal:

The Environmental Protection Agency will more closely regulate the use of diesel fuel in a drilling process used to recover natural gas...

Midland Reporter-Telegram:

A three-inch lizard that thrives in desert conditions could shut down oil and gas operations in portions of Southeast New Mexico and in West Texas, including the state’s top two oil producing counties.

Called the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, it is being considered for inclusion on the federal Endangered Species listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

The Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Obama urged Congress Tuesday to immediately eliminate what he called “unwarranted” tax breaks for oil companies...  The White House move came a day after House Speaker John Boehner said oil companies were partly to blame for high gas prices and cutting their tax breaks was “certainly something we should be looking at.”

Boehner==Hopeless.

 

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Yet another anniversary...

Related:

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Reports from Sunday’s Blog•Meet...

...here, here, and here (with a few extraneous comments here).

Executive summary:  A Good Time was Had By All.

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“Conclusion: We take children far more seriously than we do adult Democrats.”

In the first comment, in response to this:

Why do these people, many of whom are professionals, feel no fear in expressing such death wishes in the open?

(Via: IP)

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Demonstrating their “love” for animals

Frank James:

One of the sad facts and a direct result of the work done by PETA and various Humane Societies is there is no longer a good or satisfactory way of deposing of a horse if you can no longer afford to feed it.  It used to be a horse could be sold for slaughter to be used in pet-food, but that was deemed politically incorrect and both federal and various state legislatures have outlawed the practice of horse “slaughter.”

Now, if you have a horse and want to get rid of it..........YOU CAN’T!

...The end result is always the same....starving animals that no one wants.

Also applies when a horse is too old and feeble to be kept.  Read the whole thing.

LATER (110423 22:00):  Mark has some thoughts.

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