onfocus

Andrew Stroehlein at Poynter.org asks, May We Have Independent Journalism Back Now, Please? [via sotd] An interesting quote: "CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson sent a memo to his staff asking them to downplay Afghan civilian casualties, saying it was 'perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardship in Afghanistan' and demanding that when viewers see civilian suffering in Afghanistan, 'it's in the context of a terrorist attack that caused enormous suffering in the United States.' That is, take sides and bury bad news." This obviously shows that CNN feels it has to "dumb it down" for their audience, but I don't recall seeing any reports of civilian casualties or any estimates of the number killed in Afghanistan...on any newscast or in any publication. Is it unpatriotic or perverse to know what exactly happened over there?

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The pain, the pain of it all! I went for a good hike this weekend after months of non-training. (Non-training isn't the same as not training. It is the opposite of training.) My muscles are a bit upset today, but it was a good wake up call. It's time to get out and hit the trails again so I can enjoy days like Saturday without the hiking hangover.

After some initial trouble finding the trailhead, it was a spectacular day at Point Reyes. I've never felt the temperature so warm at the coast. We didn't see any whales as we hoped, but we saw fantastic views of the ocean. I took some pictures.

Matt posted his pictures from the hike too.

I bet the President is hoping for a big distraction to come along, because the heat is on. [link via rc3.org] This Enron debacle makes his recent sweeping actions in curtailing government accountability very suspicious. This isn't a matter of private vs. public life or something that happened 20 years ago as it was with Clinton. This is about serious recent policy decisions that directly affect the public. Also check out: Joined at the Hip and Bush and Enron's collapse.

Defecating Figurines Part of Holiday: "When it's degrading, everybody knows it except the spin doctors who run the museums." For some reason this line made me laugh out loud. It paints an image of a vast army of lying, evil museum curators. You know, that society of art stewards secretly pushing their degenerate agenda through degrading art. [via FYI]

Some haunting night photos at Sylloge.

I've been without hot water for about a week, and without heat for a few days while they're putting in a new gas line. I'm trying to keep this Chinese proverb in mind:

Heat belongs to all; cold varies with the clothing.

You can't shower with proverbs, though.

I might just go ahead and get all of my 2002 news consumption out of the way in January. That'll free up considerable time in the year for other activities. All it would require is a subscription to Future Events News or Advance Media Information. Unfortunately, I don't have the resources of a corporate media outlet to get the scoop on the future. I'll have to settle for this summary of the future by The Economist. (Where I found the services.)

This AP photo was a familiar scene in the game last night. Crouch played his heart out for Nebraska, but he couldn't do it alone. Miami was just too quick on the field. On the way home from a party, our spirits down because of the loss, we wondered why we were watching football in the first place. There would be no debate if our team had won, though. We'd be in streets turning over cars, lighting them on fire. The usual celebration. Oh well, it's a new year, time to start thinking about a new football season...in eight months or so.