I don’t normally do this.
My serious political writing may not appear in national publications, but I still follow the rules of journalistic ethics as best I can. Verification is two independent sources; direct quotes are desired; hard evidence is necessary before I go to press. As a result, I’ve achieved a curious distinction, somewhat unique in this age: I’m not often mistaken, and when I’m biased I tell you.
In this case, I’ve got no (more…)
It’s January 16, 2020, and I’m calling the election. It’s Trump, God help us.
I had this revelation not during the debates on the 14th, when it became apparent CNN’s production staff was attempting to provoke a fight between Warren and Sanders by asking carefully orchestrated questions. It wasn’t on the 15th when they released a private hot-mike conversation that immediately followed the debate. No, it’s when (more…)
No meme is safe.
“So in the middle of the Civil War,” it says, “someone was like, You know what this country needs? A delicious steak sauce.”
And therein hangs a tale.
See, back in the day, the armies didn’t generally carry enough food (more…)
And, because we’ve already “broken the seal”, as Brittany might say, here’s The Not Fake News Update for 12 January 2020 — a Sunday, no less.
All the things you haven’t heard about:
– Protests in Haiti are starting up again after the holidays. You might not have heard about them before the holidays; that’s because they’ve been going on for years. I blame the United States, and specifically Bill Clinton. (more…)
Chicago.
Home of the Cubs, Harry Dresden, deep dish pizza, and hot dogs dragged through the garden. The city where Al Capone became a folk hero. A place where you can visit Sue the Dinosaur, Inez at Graceland, and the oldest tobacconist in America; where the river runs backwards, guns are banned, and shootings are everywhere. Ten percent of the country lives within a hundred miles of here, and the graveyards all vote Democrat.
We joke about it because what’s the choice? There’s (more…)
It’s lovely winding down through the Cumberland Gap in the wee hours, and when the train’s slightly behind schedule you might be fortunate enough to have the sun coming up as you do. Some of the best sunrises in the world can be found here, overlooking the narrow stream from halfway up the side of one of the adjoining ridges. The sun sparkles off the icy waterfalls coming down the sheer rockface; it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen, a view reserved exclusively for us.
Another of the fellows in the Lounge likes the sunrise in Jamaica, and who am I to argue? After all, he’s been there and I haven’t. We’ve been up half the night talking food trucks and pizza and native (more…)
The United States has the most powerful conventional military in the world by a factor of three; measured in terms of effectiveness, five. We have state-of-the-art aircraft carriers, missile platforms, AEGIS anti-missile systems, and the M1 Abrams main line battle tank. We’ve got stealth fighters, Hellfire-equipped drones, and some of the best-trained and best-equipped ground troops in the business.
So why exactly would we be worried about taking on Iran, a nation whose navy consists of speedboats with machine guns, whose air force dates from the 1970s, and whose top-performing battle tank is a slightly up-armored Russian T-72? Their infrastructure is sub-par; their command-and-control systems have little to no redundancy, and their government is wildly unpopular (more…)
They tell me you can’t go to Chicago and not try the deep dish pizza. Well, you know me; I’ll gladly go the extra mile for the cause of enlightenment. Actually, with half a dozen locations, I only had to travel six tenths of a mile to get to the nearest Pizano’s, which is on upper State Street (stay out of the Loop if you can, people).
So walking in the front door was an adventure in itself; (more…)
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Dateline: Chicago 06 Jan 2020
Byline: The Not Fake News, Actual
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The fix is in, boys and girls. Chicago is as crooked as always. I know, I know; that’s not actually news. But it’s what I’ve got, so read it and shaddap.
It’s dead on the downtown Chicago streets today. The weather’s turned off nice and there’s a few people walking, but the normal traffic is… well, it’s downtown Chicago, so the traffic is deadly. Pedestrians, look both ways crossing one-way streets, and don’t jaywalk (more…)
It’s the Not Fake News Update, 04 January 2020:
More Things You May Have Missed.
I’m your Not Fake News reporter, and this…. is 2020. (I’ve been waiting all year to say that.)
– In retaliation for multiple attacks on Americans, a U.S. drone strike killed an Iranian general and (arguably) terrorist. In reply, Iran shouts “Death To America” again — but this time they might mean it.
– Australian bushfire season has passed the acreage burned last year by 27%, and there’s still months yet to go. On the plus side, the land already burned (more…)
The Not Fake News 
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