…When No One Was Listening: “Tired of being reminded by other magazines that the best albums in the world were made by The Beatles, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones? So is The Wire magazine. They polled their writers to come up with a guide to 100 records that should have ignited the world’s imagination, except that everyone else was fiddling…” Wire Issue 175 [September 1998]

Even Republicans in Congress seek to combat a growing sense of unease at the Iraq debacle.

“Mainly, people want reassurance that the administration knows what it’s doing,” said Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), “that things are going better than CNN would have us believe.” Washington Post

Bare Your Bum at Bush!: “George W. Bush has already cancelled one visit to this country because he felt more than a little unwelcome. The man is terribly secretive about state visits, but Laura Bush recently let slip that a visit to the UK is being planned sometime in autumn. Our aim is to give the man the bum’s rush before he even arrives and/or show him exactly what we think of him in the finest British tradition.”

Construction worker survives drill through head: He fell onto a 1.5-inch diameter auger bit from his six-foot ladder. The drill bit went in one orbit (he has lost his eye) and pushed the brain aside without evident damage, coming out the back of his head through his skull. After reflection, the surgeons caring for him decided that unscrewing the bit would be the best way to extract it. CNN

“Six months after spitting in the face of the world, the Bush administration is crawling on its belly before the U.N. If the world doesn’t rush to help it, the White House has only itself to blame.” Salon

Ethel is back, and right on target. Thanks, Steve, for not abandoning us all.