by Ethan Johnson
September 8, 2008

If nothing else came out of this year's Republican National Convention, it was the chant of "drill baby, drill!" Because nothing solves an energy crisis like drilling for a finite resource. Incredibly, a writer for The Economist agrees:

by Ethan Johnson
August 9, 2008

It's time for the "silly season" in US politics, which means this year the candidates are spewing sound bytes and similar bumper sticker-ese in hopes of swaying the voters. An example of this is direct from a recent bumper sticker sighting around town: "Drill here, drill now, pay less." Sure, maybe in 10 years, assuming that the oil/gas market mirrors current conditions, rather than being a last-ditch effort to placate "demand" with "supply". This is apparently a new Republican meme. On the "eco" side of things, which tends to skew left, a common refrain is "[whatever] will save the planet." Cut/paste/replace with any of the following: CFL bulbs, "green" grocery bags, wind power, solar power, geothermal power, SIGG™ water bottles, etc etc ad infinitum. I don't disagree with the assertions that many (and more) of these things can be good decisions, and yield positive benefits, but "save the planet"? What is this, Marvel Comics?

by Ethan Johnson
August 6, 2008

There are days I hover over the "unsubscribe" button for a blog called PressThink, as I'm not in the journo biz, and can probably read Romanesko if I really want to stay abreast of how many layoffs are happening domestically at the big newspaper outlets. Jay Rosen tends to be flogging his latest "citizen journalism" experiment, and I just don't have the calories for that stuff anymore. Have fun, I say, to those who do. But I keep the feed in my rotation because items like this one come along once in a while: Three Vital Questions for ABC News About its Anthrax Reporting in 2001

I have one vital question: Where has everybody been?

by Ethan Johnson
July 6, 2008

The New York Times went two-for-two this weekend with stories about high US gas prices and what is being done now to cope with them, and what could have been done to minimize their impact. Fair warning: NYT online articles tend to require free registration.

by Ethan Johnson
June 16, 2008

The facts are these: The Dallas Morning News is a conservative newspaper. The op-ed section features a conservative columnist. I am not a conservative. But I check out the Sunday "Points" section whenever possible, as the DaMN does a pretty good job of taking a snapshot of the political mood locally/nationally, despite the unabashed rightward slant. I will note here that I'm not one of those people who requires layers of virtual bubble wrap to isolate me from differing opinions, unlike some on the left or right who hyperventilate at the first sign of a link to the National Review Online or the Huffington Post. But I freely admit that the political right wing is too far to the right for much hope of me finding much to agree with. Which made this most recent edition so shocking: I agreed with Rod Dreher!

by Ethan Johnson
May 31, 2008

Headline of a recent Christian Science Monitor story:

Europe balks at $8 a gallon gas

They might be balking at high gas prices, but what might be worse is the sin of omission committed by the Monitor.

by Ethan Johnson
April 9, 2008

Back in the days when I had ready access to WSCR AM (Chicago), someone was about to ask Norm Van Lear (former Bulls player) about college basketball, and then stopped short, assuming that he'd only want to discuss pro teams. "Basketball's basketball," he replied, and the conversation resumed.

by Ethan Johnson
December 31, 2007

Various thoughts and linked items to close out the year: