Need another unseasonable chill, San Franciscans? Here's
one, apropos nada. If you eat your veggies and don't cancel
cable you may live to hear this: "Hi, I'm your host, Harry
Smith. Tonight on 'Biography,' the man, the music, the legend
-- Moby."
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Cut to: apocalyptic scenes of flame and destruction.
Considering how many additional fires were sparked by the Santana Row blaze Monday afternoon, it's a
mystery the house across Winchester avoided destruction.
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If you were asked to guess which photos got the most
traffic on the Gate Monday and Tuesday you might suggest one
of the many San Jose fire spectaculars. That seems logical so,
naturally, it's wrong. In fact these photos of counter-terrorist planners
at Sandia Labs got so many more hits than any
of the fire pix that the wireheads in the Gate's engine room
wondered if al Qaeda had those pages bookmarked. Turned out to
be nothing so sinister. In fact, much of the traffic came via
a guy writing in a thread at slashdot.org who posted a direct
link to one of the pictures. Put down your slingshots,
Webmasters. But remain vigilant.
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Now, about those al Qaeda training tapes CNN obtained in
Afghanistan and broadcast all week. Fox News spent a bundle on newsprint ads that
questioned how much money CNN paid (and to whom) for their
exclusive.
Golly, Fox, how public-spirited of you to investigate
questionable practices by your dear friends at CNN. Maybe if
you spent some of that effort, y'know, in the field,
you could get your own scoop, too.
Regardless how the tapes were acquired, they're a powerful
reminder that the "War on Terrorism," no matter how adeptly or
ineptly you believe it's being prosecuted, is a necessary
defensive response to an evidently well-planned "War on
Civilization" this army of terrorists has been fighting for
years.
Yao sir! Thursday, hoops fans in Oakland got a glimpse of Nike's
(oops, we're supposed to refer to that company as "the NBA,"
aren't we?) next big franchise player, and we do Ming "big."
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Would you have guessed that parrot behavior consultants
charge $100 for a personal session? For that matter, would you
have guessed that there were parrot behavior
consultants?
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Hey, them guys at Maaco sure do a great job!
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Can you explain why the Chronicle didn't count Kelly St.
John's heartwarming story about Craig Harmon
(who followed the Lincoln Highway across America carrying a
lock of Abraham Lincoln's hair while driving a vintage fire
truck) among the installments of their "American Portrait"
series? Ah, it seems other papers along the way had previously
reported that story.
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As for news that Ely, Nevada is a long way from a big city
and may not be much of a terrorism target -- Page One!
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We're all for an expanded ferry fleet, the more routes the
merrier. Can we also perhaps request more frequent departures
on each of those routes?
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Like a scene from a "Simpsons" episode, a bad guy tries to
carjack a minivan in L.A. and -- whoops! -- it's carrying the
Florida International University judo team. Ha! It was a story news disseminators loved so much
they've been reporting it day after day. By week's end, even
the producers of NPR's "Morning Edition" had heard about it.
