Author: Brian Carnell

Salon.Com – Bush Is Like a Klansman

Whatever will we do once Salon.Com finally shutters its site (after the requisite party at my place that is). I mean, how will journalism go on without rambling nonsense by Anne Lamott like this,

I am going to pray for George Bush’s heart to change, so that he begins to want to be a part of the human family. . . . He’s family. I hate this, because he is a dangerous member of the family, like a Klansman.

Apparently Salon.Com’s goal is to make Al Sharpton’s anti-Bush rhetoric look moderate in comparison.

Source:

Good Friday world. Anne Lamott, Salon.Com, March 28, 2003.

Kenya Requests $800 Million In Aid to Cover Corruption

In March the new government of Kenya reported that its treasury had all but been drained by the former government of Daniel Arap Moi and that the country would need $800 million in aid from the international community.

The incoming National Rainbow Coalition thought the government deficit would be in the neighborhood of $400 million, but Kenya’s Finance Minister David Mwiraria told the BBC that it would end up being closer to $850 million, forcing the African nation to ask for money from international donors.

Mwiraria claims any Kenyan need for such aid would only be for the short term, but whether or not the National Rainbow Coalition will be able to tackle Kenya’s widespread corruption remains to be seen.

Source:

Kenya needs $800m of aid. The BBC, March 11, 2003.

Life Expectancy in United States Hits New High

The Centers for Disease Control reported this month that life expectancy in the United States reached a new high of 77.2 years.

For men, average life expectance is now at 74.4 years, and for women at 79.8 years. Broken down by race, the average life expectancy for whites is 77.7 years and for blacks 72.2 years.

Statistician Elizabeth Arias who was the lead author of the CDC’s study of life expectancy told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that changes in behavior played a major role in increasing life expectancies,

For instance, the decline in smoking — from 50 percent of the population in the 1950s to about 25 percent now — has a lot to do with decreases in heart disease and cancer.

Source:

Life expectancy climbs to record high in America. M.A.J. McKenna, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 15, 2003.

Dave Winer on NBC

Somehow I have a feeling that Dave Winer is not going to be too happy with the story NBC ran that included a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” quote from him. If you missed it, the feature Winer’s been talking about on Scripting News for the past few days was pretty much exclusively about warblogs (and likely gave the impression to the uninitiated that Winer is a warblogger or a fan of warbloggers.)

Why didn’t they just interview Glenn Reynolds since he’s doing a weblog gig with MSNBC anyway? Weird.

Finally Some Honesty Out of Mugabe

Henry Hanks links to a story in which it turns out Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe is capable of telling the truth. Here’s how Mugabe chose to describe himself at the recent state funeral of one of his cabinet ministers,

I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people, and their right to their resources.

If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for.

For once, Mugabe is absolutely right. He’s even using Nazi-style tactics, deploying elite units of his army openly to assassinate and sexually assault key members of the opposition party according to the London Daily Telegraph.

One other thing Mugabe shares with Hitler — thanks to spineless multilateralism by the usual suspects, he and others in his government are free to move as they want across Europe. Ah, the fresh smell of appeasement.

Source:

‘Hitler’ Mugabe launches revenge terror attacks. Peta Thornycroft, Daily Telegraph, March 26, 2003.

Wonder Woman Gets a Hair Cut

Yahoo! Entertainment actually has an entire story devoted to Wonder Woman’s new haircut. Superman had to die to get mass media interest, but Wonder Woman just has to cut her hair?

Is there any gimmick DC won’t try to improve their sales? And with a lineup that includes books like Aquaman Secret Files can you blame them?