The Washington Post gives Billy Hoffman the Quote of the Day.

DID YOU HEAR? . . . (washingtonpost.com)

] Golden feces wipes smile
]
] on Japanese faces

Golden Feces anyone? WORK SAFE

A mortal decision made: Journalistic objectivity is casualty of firefight

by Jules Crittenden
Sunday, April 13, 2003

...

Down the broad avenue, the column halted in front of a Versailles-like palace, topped with four gargantuan and very bizarre busts of Saddam in an arabesque war helmet that caught our attention briefly, but the fire coming from the ditches under roadside hedges distracted us.

It was here I went over to the dark side. I spotted the silhouettes of several Iraqi soldiers looking at us from the shadows 20 feet to our left. I shouted, ``There's three of the (expletive) right there.''

``Where are the (expletive)?'' Howison said, spinning around in his hatch.

``The (expletive) are right there,'' I said, pointing.

``There?'' he said, opening up with the 50. I saw one man's body splatter as the large caliber bullets ripped it up. The man behind him appeared to be rising, and was cut down by repeated bursts.

``There's another (expletive) over there,'' I told Howison. The two soldiers in the crew hatch with me started firing their rifles, but I think Howison was the one who got him, firing through the metal plate the soldier was hiding behind.

Some in our profession might think as a reporter and non-combatant, I was there only to observe. Now that I have assisted in the deaths of three human beings in the war I was sent to cover, I'm sure there are some people who will question my ethics, my objectivity, etc. I'll keep the argument short. Screw them, they weren't there. But they are welcome to join me next time if they care to test their professionalism.

A mortal decision made: Journalistic objectivity is casualty of firefight

John O'Farrell
Friday April 18, 2003
The Guardian

The Baghdad branch of Neighbourhood Watch has been completely overwhelmed this week. "If you notice anyone behaving in a vaguely suspicious manner, please contact the police immediately," say their little signs on the lamp-posts, but these were all brazenly nicked, along with everything else in the city that wasn't nailed down.

As the war stumbled to a confusing and chaotic end, lawlessness swept across the country as thousands of people helped themselves to computers, stereos and other electrical goods. Such is the state of anarchy in the country that many of them haven't even sent off the little guarantee postcards yet.

Western leaders have been reluctant to condemn the looters, perhaps because the clamour for material goods is partly what this war was all about: bringing western-style consumerism to a former Islamic "socialist" republic. With sufficiently aggressive advertising, within a few weeks the rioters will become vaguely dissatisfied with that Sony Playstation they seized and will feel the urge to go out and loot Playstation 2 with integral DVD player.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | John O'Farrell: The thieves of Baghdad

] Washington - House Judiciary Chairman F. James
] Sensenbrenner Jr. said Thursday that he would fight any
] effort now to make permanent many of the expanded police
] powers enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks as part of the
] USA Patriot Act.

Some good news from Washington.

JS Online: Sensenbrenner says he'll enforce sunset of police powers

] "We are all suffering from low-level
] depression," a friend of mine said the other night.
] I didn't have to ask him why. "Yes," I
] said, "the events of the past month have been
] traumatic, and we are all anxious to see what the future
] has in store for us."
]
] "God only knows," another friend commented.
]
] "True," my friend answered, "but God helps
] those who help themselves. What have the Arabs done to
] help themselves over the last 40 years?"

A great editorial in the Arab News. Nice to see someone thinking with a clear head and a vision towards the future.

ArabNews: It's Not Too Late to Face Reality

Get invited to pot lucks and never know what to bring?

Tons of easy "white trash" recipes to check out.
Impress folks with your Oakie-Fied Culinary Treats!

Recipes include: Ambrosia Salad (aka White Trash Whip), 7-Up Cake, Corn Dog Muffins, Cherries in a Cloud,
Spaghetti Ramen, Tater Tot Casserole, Twinkie Torte, Deep Fried Mars Bars and more!

yum! - White Trash Recipes

This would be funny if it wasn't so serious. These things are just so sensitive.

Turtle with beacon causes major sea search - Apr. 18, 2003

I really don't know how to describe this. It's just really strange. Strange flash entertainment.

Warning: very psychedelic!

flashback

] APRIL 16--While all news organizations prepare obituaries
] in advance of the deaths of famous individuals, the folks
] at CNN inadvertently gave the Internet-surfing public a
] chance to preview how the network's web site would note
] the demise of Vice President Dick Cheney, Ronald Reagan,
] and a few other prominent figures. Until earlier this
] afternoon, a CNN server housed mock-ups of web pages
] announcing the yet-to-happen deaths. The CNN pages, which
] were discovered by the intrepid folks at fark.com, were
] yanked about 20 minutes after being exposed (though TSG
] was able to grab a few of the pages for posterity's
] sake). The premature obituaries, which were housed in a
] publicly accessible area of the CNN server, were
] apparently the work of Peter Rentz, a senior multimedia
] designer at CNN. The mock-ups are virtually identical to
] the obituary design currently used by CNN when a notable
] person dies (click here to see how CNN covered the Queen
] Mother's death). In fact, elements of the Queen Mum's
] obit template can be seen in the below Cheney mockup. In
] addition to Cheney and Reagan, CNN has also prepped
] online farewells to Fidel Castro, Bob Hope, and Nelson
] Mandela. (4 pages)

The Smoking Gun: Advance Obituaries