Here's the deal, you can only read this bitch once...after that, it will never be the same. So find a comfortable spot and dive into this masterful piece of work.
In fact, the best way to introduce this article is to quote directly from it:
"The fight for the dog is matched in intensity only by the fight for the money. The filings in this case have unveiled a scrumptious buffet of new information about Richard Scaife's riches -- where they've come from and where they've gone."
Enjoy.
On another note, I wrote to David Segal (who, after perusing his New York Times trove of stories, has become a byline I plan to follow) and received a pleasant e-mail in return less than an hour later.
A snippet: "Thanks for writing me. I must say I did enjoy that Scaife piece. Oh lawdy lawdy was it fun."
Labels: David Segal, interesting shit, New York Times, newspapers, Richard Scaife, Washington Post
The tone of Sunday's Washington Post front page, despite military and drug cartel emphasis, was fun. Fun doesn't always win, but this weekend it does. I'll playfully mock the Times for being so maniacal about delivering serious news about BP and the sneaky dealings of the salt industry.
From the Post:
Veteran learns to sweat the small stuffHere, a ruler is almost as important as a rifle. Everything must be in its place -- medals half an inch above the breast pocket, U.S. insignia one inch from the lapel edge, buckle two inches from the belt loop. Nothing in the constellation of the many decorations on Pata's uniform may be outside a one-sixteenth-of-an-inch margin of error -- two tiny tick marks on the inspector's ruler, about the width of this o. Anything more and Pata gets what the Old Guard calls a gig. Three gigs and you fail.
Mexican pirates get hooks into TexasThere is a saying about not messing with Texas, and the idea that criminals are preying on American anglers is raising already-high temperatures along the southwest border
...
The traffickers cross day and night, driving boats with bales of marijuana right into the backyards of homes along the lake. They rent cabins at the lakeside state park and stash dope there. The border agents point to a three-story house built like a watchtower on the Mexican shore. The officers frequently see observers with binoculars on the roof. Up and down the lake, netting boats are idled. Nobody waves.
I really like the visuals this story invokes. The Wild West imagery comes out pretty naturally, and the "local color" elements and the detail about the binoculars in the three-story Mexican-side tower really make me want to go see the situation for myself.
It all sounds foreign to herSome people fall on their heads and wake up with their memory wiped out. A few revive with their personality totally changed. Others die. Robin Jenks Vanderlip fell down a stairwell, smacked her head and woke up speaking with a Russian accent.
Reviewing the links that I've pulled from the Times reminds me to mention that they put out an important and fun paper as well. I've really taken a liking to the Week in Review and Sunday Styles sections. And the visual components of the Times are gaining my esteem as I select stories and photos and layouts that will later be used in some handmade books.
The Hard Sell on SaltBut the [salt] industry is working overtly and behind the scenes to fend off these attacks, using a shifting set of tactics that have defeated similar efforts for 30 years, records and interviews show. Industry insiders call the strategy “delay and divert” and say companies have a powerful incentive to fight back: they crave salt as a low-cost way to create tastes and textures. Doing without it risks losing customers, and replacing it with more expensive ingredients risks losing profits.
...
As a demonstration, Kellogg prepared some of its biggest sellers with most of the salt removed. The Cheez-It fell apart in surprising ways. The golden yellow hue faded. The crackers became sticky when chewed, and the mash packed onto the teeth. The taste was not merely bland but medicinal.
Necessary Secrets (book review)
Schoenfeld is at his best when discussing this controversial genre — secrets whose disclosure would, in the view of the government, endanger national security, but whose disclosure, in the view of the press, might ultimately serve the national interest. The real issue is not whether such secrets should be published, [but] who should be entrusted to make this real-time decision.
"So" as the new "um"“So” may be the new “well,” “um,” “oh” and “like.” No longer content to lurk in the middle of sentences, it has jumped to the beginning, where it can portend many things: transition, certitude, logic, attentiveness, a major insight.
Labels: books, links, Mexico, Washington Post
Update 4/18/10In the most rewarding Sunday reading of the year, the big three pleased in unique ways.
The Wall Street Journal felt more newsy than normal. They also delivered -- finally -- on their often over-touted Weekend Journal and Journal Report materials. Those sections always throw around big illustrations but rarely the depth I'd like. But the essay on states breaking into new states and their collection of analytical stories about the future of eco-minded development were superb and accessible.
One Journal fault: they again trotted out a rather pandering "quirky" feature in the lauded A1 Feature position. I'm piecing together evidence on the topic for a standalone post.
The Times did everything well, but delivered a somewhat less enticing A1 than usual. Notable exception being the
Mexican drug war story. I can't get enough of the topic, but that said, this particular story felt richer than many. It had the statistics and hard news, but it also managed to stay relatively "local" in feel, thereby refraining from "over context" or adding too much unnecessary and obvious gravity to the situation.
Just a quick glance shows how they delivered good stories across the paper:
:: Ruth's field
:: Film violence
:: Modern love
:: Books essay
:: Public toilets
The Post, although a distant third place this week, nonetheless revealed a couple things I think it does really well (in addition to being excellent. Obviously). First, it put a "pure pleasure" read on A1.
This story about the Skilcraft pen. And they delivered a politics story with great on-the-scene details and broader context in "
Florida freefall." The Times has recently knocked home run political stories on Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel.
The Post probably suffered from batting last today.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
Update 3/28/10I've decided to introduce The Wall Street Journal into the game, in part because of a stellar weekend edition that grabbed me today.
I also wasn't able to pick up a Washington Post. I read the Post a day later.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
Thanks to the TNV circulation crew, we're now delivering the Washington Post alongside our MG papers. And thanks to the Garners, I'm receiving this year's Sunday editions of the New York Times!
So I'm reading a lot. ...
The Atlantic and
Columbia Journalism Review too ...
In thinking of what else to do with the gift of the Times, I think I'll be saving the best layouts and headlines and stories for future manipulation into handmade books. And having just read a
cool CJR story about one woman's measurement of how much time she spends reading the Times, WaPo, and WSJ each day
and an Atlantic story about why news stories are too long these days, I have one other ongoing blogging idea:
I'm going to pit the WaPo against the Times each Sunday. My inkling is that the Times will win easily, but today's WaPo delivered some extremely strong A1 stories that spurred me to give them the nod over the longer, but less exciting Times.
Labels: Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, newspapers, The Atlantic, Washington Post
I get the feeling nothing in news is as chic as the Mexican drug cartel situation. When it gets coverage it comes with
gritty photos -- or night photos (see above) -- and frequent use of the word "gritty."
Of course, I'm eating it up, even slightly softer photos that include
soldiers with digital cameras. The Post has its
series, the LA Times
too (my pick), and even good news gets big play (see above, and
story here).
I'll admit Somali pirates are probably more popular, but they have yet to garner unique "ongoing project" type pages. Frugality is also making a push:
NYT,
Post, and
NPR.
Some crime stuff:
First, you probably don't need to read the full text of the bank robber whose genitals got burned when a dye pack exploded, or the full story about FBI agents who put their high-tech cameras to peeping tommery, but please do read about the car burglar who crapped his pants.
And I forgot to mention in my previous post that Phantom Planet's self-titled third album is really awesome. If you want something like Spoon but a bit more manic, check it out.
Labels: crime, drugs, music, New York Times, Washington Post
