“It’s brown-black, sticky, comes in a small jar and smells rancid to the untrained nose. More than the royal family (other countries have them), or tea (there are other cultures based around that), Marmite is the quintessential British thing.” Flak Magazine

“The Fox News Network is suing Al Franken, the political satirist, for using the phrase ‘fair and balanced’ in the title of his new book. In claiming trademark violation, Fox sets a noble example for standing firm against whatever.

Unreliable sources report that the Fox suit has inspired Paul Newman, the actor, to file a similar suit in federal court against the Department of Housing and Urban Development, commonly called HUD. Mr. Newman claims piracy of personality and copycat infringement.

In the 1963 film ‘HUD,’ for which Mr. Newman was nominated for an Academy Award, the ad campaign was based on the slogan, ‘Paul Newman is HUD.’ Mr. Newman claims that the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called HUD, is a fair and balanced institution and that some of its decency and respectability has unfairly rubbed off on his movie character, diluting the rotten, self-important, free-trade, corrupt conservative image that Mr. Newman worked so hard to project in the film. His suit claims that this ‘innocence by association’ has hurt his feelings plus residuals.

A coalition of the willing — i.e., the Bratwurst Asphalt Company and the Ypsilanti Hot Dog and Bean Shop — has been pushed forward and is prepared to label its products “fair and balanced,” knowing that Fox News will sue and that its newscasters will be so tied up with subpoenas they will only be able to broadcast from the courtroom, where they will be seen tearing their hair and whining, looking anything but fair and balanced, which would certainly be jolly good sport all around.” NY Times op-ed [via everyone in the world who is linking to this]

Eternal damnation for those you choose.

“Giving subsidies to farmers was a brilliant idea that transformed the food shortages after the second world war into a surplus. But it has grown into an institutionalised nightmare preventing developing countries from fulfilling their potential in one of the few areas where they enjoy a natural advantage – agriculture. Europe and the US are the main culprits. It is economic and social madness for Europe to be growing, for instance, subsidised sugar beet when its average cost of production is more than double that of efficient exporters such as Brazil and Zambia. It is only possible thanks to ludicrous subsidies, including protective tariffs of up to 140%…

There is only one way to deal with this. Make it simple and effective. Abolish all agricultural subsidies so that every proposed reform doesn’t generate new escape routes that negate its primary purpose. To this end, the Guardian is starting a new website today, aimed at kicking into oblivion all agricultural subsidies (http://kickaas.typepad.com). This is one of those rare topics that unites right and left. It is also one of the few remaining free lunches in economics from which practically everyone gains. It would galvanise developing countries’ agriculture while freeing more than $300bn currently being spent by governments – over $200 per capita – every year on subsidies for other purposes. There will inevitably be transitional problems for some western farmers but nothing like the structural change other industries have experienced. And in the long run it will be of benefit to them, too. They will be able to grow crops they are good at rather than those attracting subsidies. All that the developing countries are seeking is a level playing field on which to compete. Is that too much to ask?” Guardian/UK

For his Ph.D. thesis project on weblog writing style, Scott Nowson, a PhD student in Informatics at The University of Edinburgh, is soliciting a month’s worth of blog entries from native-English speaking authors of personal blogs. He has a page on studying blogs and maintains a weblog himself detailing the progress of the project.

[Monday through Friday, Salon will excerpt Joe Conason’s new book, ‘Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth,’ to be published this week by Thomas Dunne Books.] “In the introduction to his new book, Joe Conason explains how the right-wing propaganda machine demonizes liberals and distorts the common-sense politics of America.” Salon

John McWhorter: “Violence, misogyny and lawlessness are nothing to sing about.” City Journal Not a very deep article, and not a very new message even from an African American intellectual (an old-fashioned one who continues to refer to his subjects as “black”). Who is going to read this message? Probably not the artists themselves; more likely only academic apologists for hip hop:

Anyone who sees such behavior as a path to a better future—anyone, like Professor Dyson, who insists that hip-hop is an urgent “critique of a society that produces the need for the thug persona”—should step back and ask himself just where, exactly, the civil rights–era blacks might have gone wrong in lacking a hip-hop revolution. They created the world of equality, striving, and success I live and thrive in.

“Festive and frightening: In history, nocturnal urban darkness was the norm.” National Post

“You no longer have to work out to eat like a professional athlete. That’s the message from the growing number of energy bars and fitness drinks filling supermarket shelves. As the fitness food market has grown, companies that once targeted athletes are trying to attract the average consumer, claiming to offer conveniently packaged nutrition perfect for a busy lifestyle. But nutrition experts warn that products designed for the needs of athletes may backfire when used by the rest of us.” Boston Globe

Ridiculous trend which shows how much at the mercy of clever marketing the ill-informed credulous consumer is.

“New evidence for a link between a virus and human breast cancer has been revealed in a series of studies by Australian researchers. The virus, dubbed HHMMTV, is very similar to a version known to trigger mammary cancer in mice.

The researchers stress that they have not proven that the human form causes cancer in people – but if it does, its raises the possibility of developing a vaccine against the deadly disease.” New Scientist

Reporters: U.S. Troops Negligent: “Fellow journalists accused U.S. troops of negligence in the shooting death of a Reuters cameraman, saying it was clear the victim was a newsman when soldiers on two tanks opened fire. Press advocacy groups called for an investigation.

Mazen Dana, 43, was shot and killed by U.S. soldiers Sunday while videotaping near a U.S.-run prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. The U.S. Army said its soldiers mistook his camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. ” CBS News

” ‘I got the Dean message at an e-mail address that I have not used in several years, and I did not sign up with Dean for anything. I was very surprised to see Dean sending spam. I can’t imagine him being so tech savvy if he is resorting to that.’ ” Wired News

“The inventive language created by doctors the world over to insult their patients – or each other – is in danger of becoming extinct.

The increasing rate of litigation means that there is a far higher chance that doctors will be asked in court to explain the exact meaning of NFN (Normal for Norfolk), FLK (Funny looking kid) or GROLIES (Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt).

Dr Fox recounts the tale of one doctor who had scribbled TTFO – an expletive expression roughly translated as ‘Told To Go Away’ – on a patient’s notes.

He told BBC News Online: ‘This guy was asked by the judge what the acronym meant, and luckily for him he had the presence of mind to say: ‘To take fluids orally’…’

Top Medical Acronyms (in UK):

• CTD – Circling the Drain (A patient expected to die soon)
  
• GLM – Good looking Mum
  
• GPO – Good for Parts Only
  
• TEETH – Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy
  
• UBI – Unexplained Beer Injury” BBC

The author of the study hasten to add that he does not advocate the use of any of these acronyms or the numerous other examples of obloquy you’ll find in the article. He said: “I do think that doctors are genuinely more respectful of their patients these days.”