Here's a Stupid Idea

There doesn't seem to be any way to solve the problems of the Middle East, so here's my totally impractical and unoriginal idea. Since people on both sides are so intent on living in the past ("My people were here first." "No, my people were here first.") I think we should really go back to those glory days of the Bible. Let's go back to David and Goliath.

I say we put Ehud Olmert and Sheik Nasrallah in a locked room, stripped down to jock straps, and whoever walks out of the room gets to make the rules for, ohhh let's say two years. It would be an Extreme Fighting match for control of the region. Then every two years we do it again. Maybe we have cameras covering the event and air it around the world. It could be bigger than the Super Bowl.

Then these guys who want to fight could maybe just kill each other. It would leave the common citizen on both sides, who only wants to get though his day, spend some time with the kids, maybe have a beer or two, maybe a little romance with the wife. Then get up the next day and do it again, the freedom to do that.

The Chicago Tribune Inhales Vigorously

I really don't know what to make of the Chicago Tribune. I've been reading it for as long as I've been able to read. But they just keep making it harder and harder to continue as a reader.

I understand they have financial problems, and the fact is newspaper readership continues to decline. But I think the Trib is trying to hasten its' own demise.

First I think I need to make a distinction between the news organization, which I think does stellar work, and the editorial board. If it was up to me I would fire every member of the board right now and start from scratch. It's not that I disagree with their positions. I've known my whole life that the Trib is a conservative paper, and I have nothing against conservatives per se. The reason I think they should be fired is because they are completely stupid. I mean S-T-U-P-I-D.

To a person, they have ceased to think. If you read the editorials, you will notice that these are not well reasoned ideas staking out and defending a conservative position. They are reprints from the White House press room. I think Tony Snow is ghost writing the Trib editorials. All you have to read is the series these hacks did back in November last year called "The Road To War". They wasted a ton of newsprint doing nothing more than justify everything this government did in the run up to the war in Iraq. It was a total embarassment to the profession. I wanted to post a link to it here, but I can't find it on the Tribune web site. It's possible that even they are too embarrassed, but I doubt it.

On the other hand. Last Sunday they printed "A tank of gas, a world of trouble", by Paul Salopek. If you haven't read it, you should. Do it right now, I'll wait.

Actually, this is one of the finest pieces of journalism it has ever been my pleasure to read. I wasn't familiar with Salopek when I started, apparently he has a Pulitzer on his mantle, but I think he deserves another one. I don't have enough superlatives to describe it, so I just use one. Stunning. Not only does he cover an important, complex subject in a clear way, but the quality of the writing is phenomonal. He manages to link everything that is happening in the Middle East to your favorite neighborhood gas station and shows the human cost on all sides. There are many little bits that stand out, but I'm just going to re-print one. This is describing the manager of a Maraton gas station/convenience store as she gasses up for her drive home after long day at work.

" She seemed worn and jittery. It was the end of an 11-hour shift. She was headed home to a house shared with two teen daughters and a 4-foot iguana--a place she would soon vacate because she couldn't make the rent.

The only perk for the station employees is free coffee. There are no discounts on gas. Vargo bought $40 of regular unleaded. She rubbed the heel of one hand tiredly into her eye sockets. With the other, clutching the pump nozzle, she touched a faraway sea. "

Did I mention this is stunning? "She rubbed the heel of one hand tiredly into her eye sockets. With the other, clutching the pump nozzle, she touched a faraway sea." I love the imagery. It makes such an elegant connection between the pump and the countries where we get our oil. The beautiful thing is the whole story reads like a screenplay. It's "Traffic", but about Oil instead of Drugs.

Please just do yourself a favor and read it. Tomorrow night WYCC is airing a companion documentary which may or may not be the same as the one posted on the Trib web site., but I'll be watching.