:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 5.25.2003 ::
:: So Weird ::
From Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird:
The prime minister of Latvia, Einars Repse, announced in January the formation of an anti-"absurdity" bureau to deal with the government's excessive "foolishness" and lack of order and the "laziness" of civil servants. The agency, according to a newspaper in the capital of Riga, now receives about 10 complaints a day and has made 460 responses, including referring seven to government prosecutors. [BBC News, 5-6-03]
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or WeirdNews@earthlink.net
Also, a notice from Chuck:
Dear Weirdo,
If you're up to date on the direction of the Internet, you'll not be surprised by the following news:
uComics.com's generous support of the free weekly mailing of the News of the Weird column is ending, and I am trying an alternative support arrangement.
The last issue will be the column of June 1. The day after that, the subscription list will be deleted.
There will be a new free product, though, called Weekly Highlights from News of the Weird, which you may sign up for by sending an e-mail (from the address to which you wish copies sent) to WeeklyWeird-request@lists.elistx.com, with the one-word message Subscribe. (You can do that right now.) (Weekly Highlights has no outside ads and will arrive in "text" for those e-mail programs that accept text-only; and your address is totally confidential.) However, Weekly Highlights has only the juiciest 7 of a column's 14 items, comes without source citations (just like the version of the column that appears in newspapers) (though sources will still be given on the NewsoftheWeird.com version of the column), and will be mailed one week behind its release date to newspapers. Despite these hardships, that will probably be sufficient for most of the lurker Weirdos. The first issue is June 14, containing items from the column of June 8.
Naturally (since I'm paying for mailing services now), there will also be a not-free version, called News of the Weird Pro Edition. (Yeah, "Pro." You know who you are.) For US$12 a year, you get a weekly version with (a) exactly what you've been getting for free, on the day of release, plus (b) summaries (and URLs, when available) of the dozen or so Most Alarming Stories of the previous 7 days (none of which will be in the current column but some of which will eventually make it into News of the Weird), plus (c) Editor's Notes (comments and follow-ups on stories from me and selected readers plus news about the "weird news community" plus, ouch, corrections and clarifications). News of the Weird / Pro also has no outside ads and will arrive in "text" for those e-mail programs that accept text-only; and your address is totally confidential.
If you'd care to partake, send me a $12 check or money order (payable to Chuck Shepherd) at P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679 (print your e-mail address legibly) or order through PayPal , which accepts credit cards. (If you turn "normal" over the course of the year, or for any other reason want a refund of the unsent issues, I will promptly comply.) The first issue is June 8.
posted by me
:: 9:52:00 PM [+] ::
...
