Author Archives: ken

A few dissenting words at last…

Posted on June 8, 2004 by ken

It’s about time a few people in the media broke away from the chorus of unthinking praise being heaped on Ronald Reagan. (Anyone with any remaining illusions about the “liberal media” must have missed the NPR segment on Saturday that … Continue reading →

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Speaking of usage errors!

Posted on May 21, 2004 by ken

Here’s one I just committed myself: maelstorm. There’s no such word. It’s maelstrom, the name of a whirlpool in Norway, also known as Moskenstraumen, and as the reference points out, brought to us primarily by Jules Verne and Edgar Allen … Continue reading →

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Other encouraging news…

Posted on May 21, 2004 by ken

Fox News leads CNN in ratings, but is having trouble charging as much for ads as its rival, according to yesterday’s WSJ. This partially has to do with Fox’s strategy of undercutting on price when it was started, and with … Continue reading →

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“Piggy-eyed wonder”

Posted on May 21, 2004 by ken

Conservative columnist (and novelist) Mark Helprin continued The Wall Street Journal’s hammering on the Bush administratin’s conduct of the war with a genuinely thoughtful column on Monday, saying that the present mess is “the consequence of a fiscal policy that … Continue reading →

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Further Persnicketing

Posted on May 13, 2004 by ken

In support of Silvertide’s language campaign, I’d like to howl for a moment about “uninterested” and “disinterested.” I saw this in yesterday’s New York Times (it’s a quote, so the Times is not necessarily culpable): Fox is completely disinterested in … Continue reading →

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Hybrid Hype?

Posted on May 13, 2004 by ken

Between the fact that they can turn your rescuers into additional victims, and some evidence that they don’t get the mileage that’s claimed for them, I’m beginning to be glad I never bought a Civic Hybrid or one of its … Continue reading →

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Things ain’t like they used to be…

Posted on May 10, 2004 by ken

I finally got Peter Tosh’s two best solo albums on CD, and listening to his first one (unfairly remembered nowadays only for its pro-drug title track, “Legalize It,”) I found myself missing him. Released in the early 70s, the album … Continue reading →

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Further comment unnecessary…

Posted on May 7, 2004 by ken

“Who in fact handles public relations for the Bush administration? Michael Jackson?” —Daniel Henninger in today’s The Wall Street Journal.

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Meanwhile, in other alternate realities…

Posted on April 29, 2004 by ken

My attempts to have a rational conversation with my right-wing acquaintance the other night failed utterly, of course, running inevitably into the glazed stare of the True Believer. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a new book, Debunked, which is a … Continue reading →

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The Liberal Media

Posted on April 28, 2004 by ken

I had a depressing and stressful conversation last night with a former co-worker who is now a rabid fan of Dubya and a big supporter of US policy (if you can call it that) in Iraq. And eventually we got … Continue reading →

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