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Category Archives: News, Spin

Current national and global events.

Dixublican

Stereotypes are tough. Arkansas can move right along, minding its own business with no Huckabee or Clinton (either of them) feeding the 24-hour international news cycle in at least 168 hours, when a politico from my northwestern part of the state, prominent only here, opens his yap. State Sen. Kim Hendren, Republican of Gravette, a [...]

You Say Recession, I Say Tomato

The 24-hour news and/or business channels, which can’t fill the time with analyses and opinions — fresh information only takes a couple of minutes — more frequently use predictions to round out the cycle. Can you take their forecasts to the bank? Can your bank then take them to the Fed? Never mind the truth, [...]

Brace for Glace

The news media were not allowed in to the Capitol’s Statuary Hall for the inaugural luncheon, a traditional meal hosted by the members of Congress who organized the overall ceremonies. Bloggers didn’t make it past Secret Service agents wearing toques. Fortunately, there were flies on the wall, despite the January temperatures. They did not care [...]

Friendly Fire

The shoe bomber, that is the shoe thrower, launched his attack 13 days ago, Dec. 14, and the story still has news legs. It should be ignored but the “attention must be paid” (A. Miller), then it might go away. The success of the attack by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi (Associated Press spelling) should not [...]

Pleading the First

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock Last Friday, GOP vice presidential [...]

Hurricane Mahler

This very short essay was deleted by my hosting service, but its drafts aren’t to be found. It was the second of two about Sarah Palin with an allusion to Hurricane Gustav and just about three quick paragraphs. If a reader pulled off a copy, please send a copy to me — ben (at) benpollock [...]

Palin Comparison

Sen. John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate. Details are a click away, but here’s quick thoughts from the hour since the announcement. McCain just evened the Brick odds of winning. Once the primaries indicated the top candidates, I never saw him as beating Sen. Barack Obama, [...]

To Serve Dragon

(A reference to the Twilight Zone classic episode, “To Serve Man.”) At Shady Hills, we worry a bit about the cats’ diet since that canned-food scare last year. Most current pet food books recommend raw foods. After all, who cooked for Rosemary and Tiki in Fayetteville fields and alleys? Besides their finding handouts and garbage [...]

Strategic Lactose Reserve

Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY — The crisis in ice cream is one that should concern even those who dislike the confection, though that’s one smear of fudge sauce against them already. The price of ice cream and comparable cooling sweets has jumped so much, so quickly that the confection industry has begun [...]

Hey, Sweetie

As a youngster from the South, I thought cane sugar was the only kind there was. Then, four years at a California university didn’t change that. The Safeways of the area sold cane sugar in 5 and 10 pound sacks. In my first job, a news producer at KFJM-FM and KFJM-AM, Public Radio for the [...]