My finger is still bandaged and I’m stuck in the waiting room of the VW dealer for the better part of the morning. Fortunately, they have high-speed internet available, which makes it more like Purgatory with bad coffee, rather than Hell itself. So until later today, please accept these tasty morsels of bloggage:
Someone please tell me what the difference is between your garden variety, Tony Soprano-type extortionist and the American Family Association? Because I really don’t know.
The Duke lacrosse scandal in two takes: Because that’s what lacrosse players do, in Slate, and because coddling university administrators let them get away with it, in the NYT.
Just when you think a business has no conscience, along comes a case that shows you it has no heart, either.
American Sharia: Christians sue for the right to be intolerant. Because Jesus would want them to.
In all my years in the newspaper business, there was one segment of the newsroom I reserved special sympathy for — the copy desk. It seemed that in my 20-year arc in Fort Wayne, their workload increased far more than the writers’ did. As space for news shrank, space for copy-editor busywork grew. It was not uncommon, when I was editing, to write three or four headlines for the same story — main, lead-in, “overline” and jump page. Plus a cutline, frequently. Plus a bunch of other stuff. Well, copy editors, get ready for yet another chore: the Google hed.
brian stouder said on April 10, 2006 at 9:53 am
“Just when you think a business has no conscience, along comes a case that shows you it has no heart, either.”
That was a darkly humorous article. The following one shows that business also has no more brains – and certainly less common sense – than your average garden slug
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12247590/
here’s the lead –
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a U.S. $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up within 10 days or face prosecution, a newspaper reported Monday. Yahaya Wahab said he disconnected his late father’s phone line in January after he died and settled the 84-ringgit (U.S. $23) bill, the New Straits Times reported.
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Joe Kobiela said on April 10, 2006 at 10:05 am
N.
In America you are innocent until proven guilty right?
Lets see what happens with the investigation before we blame any one. I am not defending them in any way I just think we need to get ALL the facts before we assign guilt. If there guilty, hang em, but if they are proved not guilty, I HOPE they get an apology.
Agreed??
Hope the finger is better.
Joe
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John said on April 10, 2006 at 11:51 am
From it’s a small world department: Ted, the engineer upstairs and a Duke graduate, lived in that party house for his junior and senior years. It was a privately owned rental property then (3 to 4 years ago) and he claims that having a 40 person party would be near impossible. Of course, he also claims that his DNA isn’t splattered around every room.
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Kath said on April 10, 2006 at 1:34 pm
The story about the property management company doesn’t surprise me in the least.
I volunteered for a tenant hotline when I was in law school and I got a call from a guy whose brother committed suicide in his apartment. The brother went over to the apartment while the paramedics were still there removing the body. In comes the owner of the building with a document he wants the brother to sign that would make him responsible for the rent for the remainder of the lease. Unfortunately, the brother signed. The landlord then started to try to collect the rent from him.
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danno in indy said on April 11, 2006 at 6:48 am
Wal-mart is selling ‘Brokeback’ and Meijer is not? What’s up with that??
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wade said on April 11, 2006 at 7:30 am
I like that the NYT writer chose the word “shun” rather than “boycott” in the Brokeback article. Fitting.
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