Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Satire recognition training may be in order An officer with the crack police department in my boyhood home of Battle Creek, Michigan came upon an article on the satirical web site, The Onion, and unfortunately took it seriously. The Onion spoof asserted that Al-Qaeda was now running telemarketing scams in the U.S. to generate money. That was enough to put the B.C. men in blue on the case. Now aware that they were duped, the Battle Creek police force is free to once again retrieve cats from trees. 6:09:41 PM

No longer a punch line Excellent interview in Salon with author, Salman Rushdie. You'll recall that Rushdie ran afoul of Islamic fundamentalist several years back -- including former pop singer turned devout Muslim -- Cat Stevens. It lead to jokes in many a late night talk show monologue. The fundamentalists put a bounty on Rushdie's head for publishing "The Satanic Verses", a fictional novel that included some passages that were unflattering toward Islam. Now nobody is joking because the world has seen the dark side of Islamic fundamentalism unleashed against a much broader target. 5:57:23 PM

Now that's moxie! Ohio House Representative, James Traficant, was infamous for the world's most heinous and obvious toupee and a wardrobe that only a thrift shop could love. Were that not enough, there was the little incident of his being convicted for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion in April. So that means he's out of politics, right? Au contraire. He's running as an independent in a newly created congressional district. I can only guess as to the thrust of his campaign promises (more conjugal visits? more time in the prison yard?). 5:28:55 AM