Fun and Games With The New York Times
DIH hates to ask such a tedious question on a Monday morning, but did anyone read the New York Times yesterday?
If you're not snoring already you will be when you see the headline:
"Broken Supply Channel Sent Arms for Iraq Astray."
zzzzz....
whah? Huh? oh yeah, I was blogging.
The article was on the front page, it was loooong and dull, about an Iraqi businessman named Kassim al-Safar. Mr. Safar is suspected of selling arms intended for Iraqi forces to anyone who would pay.
OK, now for the fun part! It's time to play Find the Most Fun Phrase!
And the nominees are:
"co-workers say he also turned the armory into his own private arms bazaar"
" with the seeming approval of some American officials and executives."
"his dealings were murky" ['murky.' Love that word. Wish I could have used it more often, back in college, say. Saves an awful lot of study time.]
"Nearly a half-dozen American and Iraqi workers say his gun business was an open secret" [DIH has to ask here: how many is "nearly half a dozen"?]
"Already there is evidence that some American-supplied weapons fell into the hands of guerrillas" ['there is some evidence' is another good one. Man, where were theses guys when I was writing my term papers?]
All of the above is just the windup. The good stuff doesn't come in until midway through the article.
And heeeeeere's the pitch:
"Many of those weapons were issued when Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the top American commander in Iraq, was responsible for training and equipping Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005."
Ah-HA!!! So when some Iraqi may or may not have been stealing stuff ( his dealings were "murky," after all- note to self: check criminal code for penalty for "murkiness"), Genreal Petraeus was in charge of the entire Iraqi security force! That makes him a corrupt official, doesn't it?!! GOTCHA, BETRAY-US!!!
Or at least that's the charge we can expect from the Times--eventually. The whole "Petraeus is a lousy commander" line is clearly as bust,so they're going to try for "Petraeus is corrupt." That could take a little buildup. Better to start on that one right away- it's only , what, seven weeks to the Iowa Cacus? Oops, make that "more than half a dozen."
My personal favorite part: if you go to the Times Archives to find the article you also get "Related Ads:"
» Iraq War
» Vietnam War Documentary
» Vietnam DVD
» Vietnam History
» Vietnam Lessons
Yeah, the Times likes to keep things orderly.
DIH has a suggestion: Let's start a pool. How long before the Times puts that in the lead paragraph? Before the Iowa Caucus? After? The books are open, everybody.
If you're not snoring already you will be when you see the headline:
"Broken Supply Channel Sent Arms for Iraq Astray."
zzzzz....
whah? Huh? oh yeah, I was blogging.
The article was on the front page, it was loooong and dull, about an Iraqi businessman named Kassim al-Safar. Mr. Safar is suspected of selling arms intended for Iraqi forces to anyone who would pay.
OK, now for the fun part! It's time to play Find the Most Fun Phrase!
And the nominees are:
"co-workers say he also turned the armory into his own private arms bazaar"
" with the seeming approval of some American officials and executives."
"his dealings were murky" ['murky.' Love that word. Wish I could have used it more often, back in college, say. Saves an awful lot of study time.]
"Nearly a half-dozen American and Iraqi workers say his gun business was an open secret" [DIH has to ask here: how many is "nearly half a dozen"?]
"Already there is evidence that some American-supplied weapons fell into the hands of guerrillas" ['there is some evidence' is another good one. Man, where were theses guys when I was writing my term papers?]
All of the above is just the windup. The good stuff doesn't come in until midway through the article.
And heeeeeere's the pitch:
"Many of those weapons were issued when Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the top American commander in Iraq, was responsible for training and equipping Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005."
Ah-HA!!! So when some Iraqi may or may not have been stealing stuff ( his dealings were "murky," after all- note to self: check criminal code for penalty for "murkiness"), Genreal Petraeus was in charge of the entire Iraqi security force! That makes him a corrupt official, doesn't it?!! GOTCHA, BETRAY-US!!!
Or at least that's the charge we can expect from the Times--eventually. The whole "Petraeus is a lousy commander" line is clearly as bust,so they're going to try for "Petraeus is corrupt." That could take a little buildup. Better to start on that one right away- it's only , what, seven weeks to the Iowa Cacus? Oops, make that "more than half a dozen."
My personal favorite part: if you go to the Times Archives to find the article you also get "Related Ads:"
» Iraq War
» Vietnam War Documentary
» Vietnam DVD
» Vietnam History
» Vietnam Lessons
Yeah, the Times likes to keep things orderly.
DIH has a suggestion: Let's start a pool. How long before the Times puts that in the lead paragraph? Before the Iowa Caucus? After? The books are open, everybody.
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