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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
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Daily Blah for... Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Geek Chorus
Chris: At least Bush knows the meaning of "is."
I think some (especially Oxbridge and Ivy-league) journalists resent Bush types because, despite lesser scores on spelling tests, the Bushies have gone on to accomplish historic things and the laude journalists have ended up hot air generators in the white-collar minimum-wage zone. It's just so darn unfair, isn't it? I should be the one making a state visit to Tokyo!
I also think the intelligence/grades/studiousness charges are largely trumped up by lefties to discredit politicians they can't attack on policy--because the policies are popular or hard to take simplistic swipes at. It's a tired technique, this trolling through old grade books and lexicons. It mirrors the 80s conservative strategy of investigating Democrats for past instances of softness on crime. Instead of looking for death-row pardons, you look for Cs and incorrect vocabulary word usage.
Bush does seem prone to the verbal faux pas, but I don't see the deeper meaning you do. Even Tony Blair commits linguistic errors, and the Queen is not grammatically perfect either--and it's her English.
What interests me about Bush this morning is--what did he have to do with the Saudi proposal on Israel (Arab-world recognition in exchange for Israel's withdrawal to pre-1967 borders)? Although the Bush administration surely didn't author the proposal, I wonder if they aren't behind Saudi Arabia's apparent desire to get involved.
--Mac
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