Last Newsweek of 2007

I’m not a big fan of Newsweek for reasons that should be obvious, but the final copy of 2007 at least displays some items of interest, good and bad.

On the really sick side, their list of celebrities in their “Newsmakers Madness” section had photos of 32 individuals, most of whom are from the entertainment world and even among this nondescript group they truly represent the dregs of humanity. I am happy to say I only recognized a few names. I probably knew them only because their names and faces have been emblazoned across TV and radio news on nearly a daily basis for a number of ridiculous reasons by a fawning media that thrives on repugnant happenings of all kinds. Of the eight individuals whose names I did recognize there was only one that I know anything about beyond hearing their names tied to some completely nonsensical or ridiculous action. That most of these dismal excuses for humans seem to have much in common, at least morally, with the creature from the black lagoon is patently obvious to any sensitive mind. Fanism and celebrity worship seems to be a contagious disease now of epidemic proportions among the mindless boobs currently trying to pass themselves off as adults in our present culture.

On a much more intelligent level was their list of 34 “Famous in Life, Noted in Passing” with tiny bios. (Newsweek was gracious enough not to include any such bios about those on the newsmaker list.) This list of those who died in 2007 was a much broader and more significant group. Though still primarily from the entertainment world, most had at least something of significance in their life even if it was nastiness. Of course, celebrity status is far more apt to be granted those with attributes they were born with, money or prestige they had, often inherited, or fame garnered by outlandish public acts than any demonstration of intellect or excellence. Isn’t it strange that fame is more apt to be gained by those who play-act being another person, that is being a complete fake and lie than by those they pretend to be—even some very ordinary people? Apparently, being a fake is more to be admired and valued than being the real thing. How difficult it must be for those who act to have a genuine original thought of their own without reading a script.

If you get a chance, read George Will’s The Last Word at the very back of the issue. Here’s the first paragraph:

In 2007, CAME THE REVOLUTION, determined to end the war in Iraq and begin the reign of justice in America, Democrats took over Congress and acted on the principal, “ready, fire, aim.” They threatened to tell the Ottoman Empire (deceased 1922) that it should be ashamed of itself (about Armenian genocide) and raised the minimum wage to $5.85, which is worth less than the $5.15 minimum was worth when it was set in 1997. Onward and upward with compassionate liberalism: The Democrat controlled Senate flinched from making hedge fund millionaires pay more than a 15 percent tax rate. (Too many of them on the Democrat side of the aisle in the Senate?) At the year's end, there were more troops in Iraq than there were at the year’s beginning. Although it was not yet possible to say the war was won, it was no longer possible to say the surge wasn’t succeeding. (Harry Reid please note.) The McClatchy Newspapers, with the media’s flair for discerning lead linings on silver clouds, offered this headline: AS VIOLENCE FALLS IN IRAQ, CEMETERY WORKERS FEEL THE PINCH.

George Will continues filling the page with salient bits of news the main stream media usually hides among ads in the back pages, if not completely ignoring them. Among the most significant was this story from in Seattle, USSR:

A Seattle based day-care center banned Lego building blocks because the beastly children “were building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys, assumptions that mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society.” The center reinstated Legos but allowed the children to build only “public structures” dedicated to “collectivity and consensus.”

Do you suppose maybe old line communist Chinese, driven from their homeland by the new business and profits movement there, have moved to and taken over Seattle? The lead article on China in this issue indicates this could be a possibility. Just a thought.

So all you liberal Democrats out there, READY! FIRE! AIM! or is it, FIRE! AIM! READY!