|
|
The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
Oh My God, the RSS Feed Actually Works!
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.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
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.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Tuesday, January 28, 2003
A Belated ANSWER
A few blogs back, someone asked if I was a card-carrying member of ANSWER, an organization whose name apparently stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. The answer is no, I'd actually never heard of them, although their eponymous aim sounds like something I'd be hard-pressed to argue against. Who doesn't want to stop war and end racism? The same anonymous correspondent then asked if I agreed with ANSWER's "party line" that "Bush is roughly on par with Hitler." No, I do not agree with that. Bush is no Hitler, just as Saddam Hussein is no Hitler, and just as Hitler himself was no Napoleon. No national leader in history is an exact copy of any other. You have to deal with each according to his record, and you do yourself a disservice if you start bandying around simplistic comparisons.
I think the implication of my anonymous correspondent is that I must agree with ANSWER, since ANSWER apparently helped organize the antiwar protest I attended the other week. I can't actually verify his (or her) assertion that the Bush statement is indeed ANSWER's party line; it's found nowhere on their website, and the only evidence he (or she) provided was a link to one rabidly right-wing Washington columnist. But that's beside the point.
Any attempt to lump peace protestors together under one simplistic heading -- oh, they're all ANSWER people who have this nutty view about Bush and Hitler -- is ostrich behavior, pure and simple. You can bury your head in the sand if you wish, but you're missing your chance to understand the true complexity of the situation. We're a broad church, we people who prefer peace to war. There are millions of us, from all walks of life; from all faiths, or lack of them. We range from the hardliners who think Iraq should never be attacked under any circumstances -- another point of view I disagree with -- to those of us who simply believe the United Nations should be given more than two months to inspect the whole damn country. What unites us is a feeling that the United States should not swagger around the globe like a loudmouthed, half-cocked cowboy. That such arrogance brings unintended consequences. And most importantly, that we would prefer solutions that do not involve body bags. Wouldn't you?
|
|
|
|
