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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.
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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.
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.
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Daily Blah for... Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Tough Questions
More evidence that the present administration prefers scripted monologue to conversation: an interview Bush did last week with Irish television reporter Carole Coleman. Go to this page and click on the third link down to watch the video (requires Real Player). Bush appears flustered by Coleman's follow-up questions; he's trying to ride out the paltry ten minutes he's granted her by offering lengthy and uninspired answers, which Coleman is not afraid to interrupt. Bush is not used to reporters interrupting him. "Please, please, please, please, okay?" he says at one point, effectively shouting her down. His body language says how dare you?
This is not what he gets from the pliant, cowed White House press corps. Indeed, he hasn't had this kind of treatment since his impromptu international pop quiz during the 2000 election, the one where he haplessly named the leader of Pakistan "General ... General." For her troubles, Coleman does get an even more priceless quote: "my job is to do my job." The price she paid for her temerity was to have an interview she'd scheduled with Laura Bush suddenly withdrawn. This is a White House that likes retaliation almost as much as monologue.
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