21 March 2003
NY Times bias watch
I commented on the substance of this editorial in The Spectator [source], but there's even more interesting stuff behind it. After it was written an editor for the NY Times objected to some of the language.But I started to get a floaty, out-of-body sensation when he said that he had made a change to a sentence about donations of US overseas aid to key members of the UN Security Council. I had said something to the effect that you don’t make international law by giving new squash courts to the President of Guinea. This now read “the President of Chile”. Come again? I said. Qué?“Uh, Boris,” said [NY Times editor] Tobin, ”it’s just easier in principle if we don’t say anything deprecatory about a black African country, and since Guinea and Chile are both members of the UN Security Council, and since it doesn’t affect your point, we would like to say Chile.” In the end, I gave way on this, since it was getting cold and I was worried about the battery of my mobile. But my views of the NY Times were starting to evolve.
[...] I began the piece with the words, ‘Gee, thanks, guys,’ and Tobin wanted those words removed. For the life of me, I couldn’t see why.
“OK, Boris, I’ll tell you what the problem is. Our problem is that ‘Gee’ is an abbreviation for Jesus. For a century this has been a Jewish-owned paper, and we have to be extremely sensitive about anything that might offend Christian sensibilities.”
I try to be cynical but it's hard to keep up
William Saletan lays down the smackie on the latest UN Security Council meeting. [source]The council was meeting to discuss the latest update from weapons inspector Hans Blix. [...]“The Security Council has not failed,” [German Foreign Minister] Fischer told fellow council members. “The Security Council has made available the instruments to disarm Iraq peacefully. The Security Council is not responsible for what is happening outside the U.N.”
Wait, let's hear that again. The Security Council is not responsible for what is happening outside the U.N.
And to think some people said the United Nations was useless.
Go to the experts to get it done right
[source]
The Sun brings out the heavy artillery in that distinctive British way. Nobody bashes the French like they do. A couple of staffers went to Paris to hand out copies. Some excerpts:Sadly but predictably, the poor, misled French people backed their spineless president to the hilt.That's right, Emilie, you've got Black Jacque Chirac and the poor Brits have only their own small forces and the pitiful US military to watch over them.Emilie Lamotte, 19, said “All Chirac is doing is protecting us. You English have no one to protect you. If I were English I would be very scared”
France sends troops to Iraq
I have heard several independent reports of this quote from NPR. This source has a link to the audio.[source, source]Journalists were taken outside Baghdad to see a group of Muslim fighters from France, Algeria, Morocco, and Libya.
Iranian students' view of the Iraqi invasion
"It will be a good thing to have American troops in Iraq. Perhaps that will bring change to Iran," said Namin, a lanky engineering student strolling to class.[source]