I am highly uncouth!

Watching the story of a Marion County boy who was abducted by a convicted sex offender unfold has led me to a cruel theory about why this happened. It's simple: This entire family is stupid.

First, the father, Ivert Kirkirt LETS THIS GUY (Frederick Fretz) STAY IN HIS HOUSE with his wife and son and actually allows the guy to drive his son to and from school. Kirkirt was unaware of Fretz's sex-crime record—so you meet the guy in prison and don't check him out? As we will see in a second, the look of the guy alone should set off some alarms in anyone's head.

Second, the son repeatedly gets into a car with Fetz, who looks like this.

In even the most primitive creature, a face like that should alarm the self-preservation instinct.

Third, the mother looks pretty fucked up in TV interviews and the way she talks suggests she's not all there:
" It was very, very scary. But today was nothing but cake."

They all want cake.

Today's NYT columnist rundown

Because I'm bored and no one reads this goddamn thing anyway. Two of today's three op-ed columnist lack real analysis.

William Safire is officially turning into a cheeseball. By which I mean someone who's way too easily impressed. He seems to overlook the fact that the president's second inaugural speech—while understandably heartening to many, I'm sure—just isn't that original or profound. Inspiration isn't inspirational if you don't freshen it up once in a while. Appropriate attendee reaction: He talked about spreading freedom as opposed to tyranny. Great. Now lead me to the free booze.

Paul Krugman continues his critique of the Bush Social Security plan. I think his column today implicitly raises a question that needs to be raised: Is there really much of a difference between a government screwing and a corporate screwing? No one ever asks that.

Bob Herbert, not unlike Safire, remains eloquent but fairly generic in his arguments. He's a convincing voice for the left, but lately is more like an orator than a journalist. He and Safire both need to do some more digging, and then maybe this page will be consistently strong and interesting.

Vindicator strike: an unexplored angle

No story I've read so far about the strike at The Vindicator in Youngstown, OH, has looked into the management's efforts to recruit new staff from journalism schools. I've seen it mentioned once or twice, only in passing. It'd be very interesting to look into this practice and see how students respond to it. What do possible recruits think about being involved in this kind of thing?

Most recent story on the strike

PR/Drugs

It's pitiful but not surprising that the Office of National Drug Control Policy was able to pass this off on willing TV news broadcasters.

The Post reports:
Shortly before last year's Super Bowl, local news stations across the country aired a story by Mike Morris describing plans for a new White House ad campaign on the dangers of drug abuse.

What viewers did not know was that Morris is not a journalist and his "report" was produced by the government, actions that constituted illegal "covert propaganda," according to an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.

We're so used to hearing lies about drugs that it hardly seems to matter. Hence, the following evidently did not set off many viewers' bullshit meters:

In one video, titled "Urging Parents to Get the Facts Straight on Teen Marijuana Use," news stations were provided a script for the news anchor. It reads: "Despite the fact that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among today's youth, many parents admit they're still not taking the drug seriously. Now, the nation's experts in health, education and safety have joined the Drug Czar to speak directly to parents about the very real risks of teen marijuana use. Mike Morris has more."

So: Government volunteering to help the press is just as scary as government trying to hurt the press.

Good omens for 2005

The perfect combination: Religious teenagers, stupidity, danger, injury, New Year's Eve.

CNN.com finally gives greater headline attention to the actual residents of South Asia. As bad as tourists were hit, they're in a small minority. The more important story is in the thousands whose homes and lives have been wrecked, the people not favored by infrastructure or technology. The focus needs to be on those things, those huge problems that not even the most effective relief efforts can really touch upon.

Linkin Park turns out to be good for something after all (seriously). "We are also going to appeal to our musical peers by asking them to donate as well," says one band member, begging the question whether the really goddamn awful bands of the world actually have as much money as I think people are willing to give them. Strange way to test a cynical theory.