That didn’t stop the Washington Post from pleading for a federal bailout. They even cited Barack Obama, saying he used to teach Constitutional Law, to make it clear that there would be no legal problems in the feds bailing out the media. I got a huge laugh out of that one, however, since Obama doesn’t even regard the Constitution as relevant. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he produce his (Kenyan) birth certificate? (I can’t wait for the Supreme Court to rule his health care mandates unconstitutional.)

Anyway, the Post folks make a fool of themselves with their editorial and, worse, make their whole profession tawdry by begging for a handout. (I, by the way, am a trained journalist and former executive editor of two newspapers, and I say, "Get on with your life and find a new business model if you want to stay in journalism" to all those who want taxpayers to fund their publications.)

Read this and judge for yourself!

Poor print media. Hit on one flank by the cyber-reality of free competition and the concomitant loss of paying readers, and on the other by the flight of classified advertisers to free sources like Craigslist and display advertisers to online resources, they hardly know what to do. Why not turn to the guy whose elected they mandated through their pages?

Obama, of course, is more than willing to oblige. He’s having trouble silencing Fox News and other critics through the traditional Democratic devices of mockery and demonization, so why not own a few newspapers and magazines here and there, at least figuratively speaking? (Probably a waste of money, though, since the traditional media are already his lapdogs.)

Argentina has a long history of supporting its print media through the purchase of advertising. Problem is, as government ad dollars rise, the print media’s watchdog goes to sleep and critical stories recede from the pages of the newspapers. This is what a study by the Neiman Journalism Lab showed:

Their analysis found a ‘huge correlation’ between, in any given month, how much money went to a newspaper and how much corruption coverage appeared on its front page. For example, if the government ad revenue in a month increased by one standard deviation — around $70,000 U.S. — corruption coverage would decrease by roughly half of a front page.

Many people today probably take newspapers for granted, but it was once again Thomas Jefferson who summed up the correlation between press and freedom best: "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

Of course, it was also Jefferson who foresaw our nation’s eventual Frenchification: "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."

Sacre bleu! 

No byline accompanied the article, but it was written in the first person. The commentators seemed to know the author by name, though I never discerned who was who in the back and forth of the dialogue. Names didn’t really matter, though.

The article I read was entitled "The Rise of the Stupids and the Fall of Rome," and in it author guy posits that stupidity reigns in Rome, i.e., the United States of America. (I agree.) In fact, author man goes on to personify this trend as a ruling deity named Stupid.

I won’t go into more detail but will quote a couple of paragraphs from toward the end of the article, which I hope all of you read. Here goes:

The impressive and indomitable force of stupid, [sic on the comma] reigns supreme over the land. Stupid is genius. Stupid is God. Stupid is as stupid does and stupid does what it pleases. Stupid will kill itself before you day after day and then rise from the dead to lead the legions of stupid to the place where stupid rests.

They have not yet opened the gates of the chittering worlds that wait behind them, in the coliseums where you have been marched, at the behest of Stupid. There is still a semblance of order and the highways of hope are constructed by the hour and woven out of the words of the liars who have led you to this place. The true beauty of Stupid is that it will never occur to Stupid what it cost and what was lost. Perhaps Stupid is indestructible and is the heir to a kingdom that only he can see. Some certain and profound confidence motivates Stupid and only Stupid knows what that is.

For full results by age, region and education, view the chart.

Those are just two of the phrases that I remember, but he was definitely not faint about the use of American military power–or in his descriptions of a simulated air-land assault.

FYI: The Miramar Air Show is held each year at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Miramar, Calif. just outside San Diego. It features spectacular aerial demonstrations, including the Navy Blue Eagles, the Canadian Snowbirds, the Army Golden Eagles (parachutists), the F-16 Falcon soaring into the heavens and also a couple of hundred feet off the ground, Fat Albert (you have to look this one up), the vertical take-off and hover-capable Harrier, and much more.

One last thing: Though the Marine announcer was graphic and martial in his descriptions, he had a sense of humor. After speaking of drinking the enemy’s blood, for instance, he would add, "For further information, visit Marines.com."

Okay, I’m waiting for my letter!

After Judge Joan Lefkow ordered a new trial for four convicted drug traffickers when she determined a government witness had lied, federal prosecutors have asked her to reconsider since the witness’s testimony was actually "truthful, but innacurate."

Try that the next time a judge accuses you of false testimony.

I’d like to believe the studies he’s posted, but I taught English at the university level for almost 12 years, and I found precious few who knew how to correctly construct sentences, paragraphs and essays–the majority of whom could’ve cared less that they were butchering English and making themselves un-understandable.

Anyway, I guess the debate will continue, but as Masnick points out, with the advent of the Internet (which he consistently misspells by not capitalizing) and the social media, at least young people have a reason to write.

Thank heavens for little favors, eh?

In China, however, authorities are worried about their public displays of English translations (example shown), especially since the world came to the Forbidden City for the 2008  Olympics.

The BBC on its Web site has done a cute job of aggregating some examples. Go take a look.