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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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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... Wednesday, January 22, 2003
All We Are Saying ... Is Give Garlic Mashed Potatoes A Chance
Like every other conscientious San Franciscan (there were around 100,000 of us, apparently, although this being San Francisco the official numbers are being officially disputed), I dutifully clocked in for a few hours at the big anti-war protest down Civic Center on Saturday. I've been to a few of these things now, and I'm starting to feel a little let down by the routine nature of it all.
I don't know what I'm expecting; the romantic dream of 60's-style protests with all their beautifully angry energy is, I suppose, still clouding my vision. It's just: why were the police so stand-offish and, dare I say it, bored? Why were most of the signs mass-printed? (Even the handwritten ones were mostly using the same tired old "no blood for oil" slogans). And most importantly, why was the whole thing so damn well catered?
There must have been a dozen food tents on Civic Center plaza, with fish and chips, hamburgers, BBQ chicken and garlic mashed potatoes. It seemed like half the crowd, at one time or another, were in those long snaking lines of people eager for deep-fried goodness. Far be it from me to suggest you can't eat and protest at the same time, but you have to ask yourself: what is the point of the march? Is it not a public relations exercise to promote peace? Should we not therefore try to make it look as much like the spontaneous explosion of democratic disagreement that it truly is, and a little less like a Jazzfest barbeque tent?
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