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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, January 28, 2003
Smoke and Mirrors
Two of the worst Superbowl ads this year came from the White House Office of National Drug Disinformation -- sorry, Drug Control Policy. With about as much scientific legitimacy as was contained in Ari Fleischer's recent statement that Bush is as good for the environment as Teddy Roosevelt, these spots claimed that marijuana was responsible for teen pregnancy, and that some clean-cut guy on the subway was to blame for six or so deaths from beatings and bombs. Presumably the White House was trying to say he bought a dime bag sometime in his past. Or maybe he just worked for the CIA.
Anyway, I was pleased to see both ads neatly skewered in today's New York Times. "Don't hold your breath waiting for the Superbowl ad that blames beer binges for teen pregnancies," it said of the first. And to the second ad's slogan -- "Drug money supports terrible things"-- the Times responded: "as does antidrug money, apparently." Touche.
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