The "New York Times" lead editorial is a rehash of their position on the Pal/Israel problem. "Oh, if only the Israelis would listen to reason!" Dowd's column is such a good biting version of what the Dems think of the present ME situation that I thought John must have written it. I will leave him the pleasure of posting it. Friedman goes off again on his liberal dream of us lowering the use of oil by climbing onto Mopeds like mine, I guess. He is still "lost in the 90s" on conservation.
Only the "Washington Post" has the story about us getting tough with the "Mad Mullahs" in Iran. It must have been a leak and maybe a "Trial Balloon" from DOD. They had an interesting Op-Ed by Snyder on Maryland test scores. Seems the only way they can figure out how to pass the tests is to go back to basics and teach the "R&Rs" in a "Fundamental School" way. He is horrified by this. The little darlings won't get all the Social Science they need! Hey, if the School system is so bad that they have to concentrate on the basics to get the kids up to speed on Math and Reading, that will be a huge improvement over what they have now! washingtonpost.com
The other interesting story was about "Good, Clean Fun in Virginia." They have set up two "niceness" squadrons to help Virginia Beach police enforce a public decency campaign. So don't parade around in a thong, and no cussing or screwing on the beach, please! Some conspiracy theorists allege that it's all a plot engineered by the area's most famous resident, conservative televangelist Pat Robertson.
washingtonpost.com
Sullivan says there is
"MORE ON BRAGG:" Jack Shafer is shaken out of his counter-intuitive spin-for-Howell mode by the Bragg story. He has the goods on other Bragg misdemeanors. Bragg has a long history of faking by-lines, and ripping off unpaid stringers. It turns out that he merely spent a total of two hours in Apalachicola for that elaborate, evocative, deeply reported story. He never even met any of the people quoted. Why is this any better than Jayson Blair? Bragg is unrepentant . And he gets suspended for two weeks. More evidence of Raines favoritism. This blatant attempt to bury this news, highlight only one story of Bragg's, and give him such a light punishment could only serve to intensify the anger that many ethical journalists, who aren't Raines suck-ups at the Times, now feel.
Here is Jack Shafer's story:
slate.msn.com |
