Jason In The Funny Pages

This past Sunday saw a welcome addition to the New York Times Funny Pages from the amazing Norwegian cartoonist "Jason."

It's called Low Moon, and I don't know why you're not reading it right now.

Much of Jason's work relies on timing rather than dialog to tell his stories. It's not unusual for whole pages to pass without a word spoken between any of Jason's anthropomorphic characters. Jason's strong lines, and fiercely regular panel work underline an overall feeling of disconnection and silence between his characters. In our modern world, filled with denizens increasingly detached from those around them it sometimes seems a little too real to be comfortable. For many mainstream comic readers, this might feel slow and draggy -- verging on the boring.

But Jason is making a new kind of comic. A wittier and more subdued experience instead of the bombastic explosions of extravagance which has long been the staple of the medium. Instead, Jason's comics carry a quiet weight, and can feel cripplingly lonely at times, and incredibly funny the next.

More off beat artists and writers like Jason have come into the comic market in recent years, and have started to make a mark on the industry. A lot of attention is being given to these so-called "indie" or "indie-style" comics, and it may just revolutionize the industry.

Changes in the newspaper world

'Transformative' is the optimistic word for the newspaper industry this week. The New York Times finally joined everyone else in having to cut jobs from the newsroom. Not wanting to get muscled out of the spotlight, Tribune Co. announced hundreds of job cuts.
On the brighter side, new editors were finally announced at The Washington Times and The Los Angeles Times. First there's John Soloman, a former Washington Post reporter who was leading the multimedia investigative unit at The Associated Press before The Washington Times picked him up. At the L.A. Times, Russ Stanton, the paper's website editor, got the job. There's obviously a theme to this.
I'm actually optimistic of Soloman in particular. He's got a lot of experience at respectable publications and hopefully will make the Times more competitive against The Washington Post which improves journalism in Washington and in general. It may be really good for all.
Coincidentally, I was reading up on the Talk to The Newsroom's Q&A with Jim Roberts, editor of digital news this week. It's probably not a coincidence that they featured him for readers to ask questions. What I (and likely anyone else) take from these events is that newspaper companies are giving in and admitting that online is the way to go. Sadly, I'm starting to waiver from my print-or-die loyalty and agree with the internet fans. I predict that Jim Roberts may be in the running when the current editor of The New York Times, Bill Keller, steps down. Don't know when that will be though. Here's why:

• The New York Times is a highly WASPy organization and Roberts fits the criteria there
• Even if newspapers continue to be around in print form, advertising and revenue departments can sleep better at night with an internet expert at the helm
• Roberts also has experience in the important sections like political editing posts and the national desk

On the other hand, most New York Times editors have a Pulitzer under the belt (which Roberts does not) so maybe he needs more time in the oven. I have no idea what he's going to be like though, his responses to the Q&A are somewhat vague at times. Roberts can't help that, given the industry.

Let's not forget Obama, especially when he's in Greenwich Village

Of interest to the young and politically savvy:

Some said 4,000 college students, some said 30,000, some just said a shit load. Whatever the exact number, "a shit load" is as good a description as any for the number of people gathered in Greenwich Village for the Barack Obama rally -which is being called a mini political Woodstock. On top of that, the "shit load" was in Hillary's backyard. Moments like that make it hard to believe that she's so far ahead in the polls. One has to wonder, are the polls accounting for Generation Y?
Today's college student -Generation Y- is no different than any other age group of voters, at least on the Democratic side. There are Obama supporters, Hillary supporters, and Edwards supporters -even a few Kucinich fans. They're also similar in that a large amount of them feel a dead tortoise is better than Hillary (except the Hillary fans). But if that's the case, how is it that she's so far ahead in the polls? All three of the leading candidates have their appealing qualities. Edwards is the handsome populist, Obama the sparkling newcomer, and Hillary the wizened leader -or that's what she wants us to think. Gail Collins pointed out in her latest column that Hillary capitalizes on generalities. She waits to let everyone else declare a side and then just promises that what she has to offer is the best idea, even though her "idea" is commonly yet to be revealed -not always though. Hillary is sneaky like that. She's trying to gain the nomination not by her own opinions or merits -which can be perilous- but by denouncing the other candidates. According to the polls, hers is an effective strategy. Her appeal is experience and a "maturity" above those other flawed politicians who have "platforms" (snicker) and plans for what they'd do in the White House.
Well, Generation Y, at least, is visibly skeptical. That crafty defensive stance of advertising an opponent's failures works, as it did in the last election, but also says something about the candidate.To her credit, Hillary has shared her own policy plans but has spent less time on that compared to the hours she's put in candidate bashing. It's a good way to get to the White House, George will tell you. The polls indicate that a lot of Democrats either don't realize that Hillary's doing this or don't care. That may be true, but a few Greenwich Village goers will tell you that they aren't fooled twice.

Microsoft gets scolded but Google is around so who cares?

Of Interest to the businessman:

The European Courts ruled against Microsoft, claiming the company held a monopoly through its Windows Media player and that it withheld confidential computer code further restraining competitors from using Microsoft technology with their own. In an effort to avoid a ruling like this, Microsoft provided a line of computers in Europe without the new Vista operating system, so no trade-secrets were needed and computers could still be purchased. That didn't go so well. Nobody wanted second rate systems. So the hammer fell, and Microsoft is being punished. It must provide a Windows Media Player free version of Windows, disclose confidential computer code, and pay some 497 million euros or $689.4 million. The decision also makes it more difficult for Microsoft to put a mix of new features into products. If competitors complain, authorities will listen and enforce.
Ok, well, what's done is done. It's over. One interesting part is how the media approached this story. In the The New York Times, the story's angle focused on how this will affect other technology giants like Apple and Google:

"Software and legal experts said the European ruling might signal problems for companies like Apple, Intel and Qualcomm, whose market dominance in online music downloads, computer chips and mobile phone technology is also being scrutinized by the European Commission."

While in the Financial Times, the actual ruling and Microsoft's grievances felt more attention. An editorial in the FT read:

"Despite the Commission's ruling, Windows Media Player dominates its market, and though Microsoft was forced to provide a version of Windows without Media Player it had little effect because there was no price different between the two."

Basically the FT believes the ruling was a good start but not really the appropriate medicine. That may be true, but to stateside folk, it all seems slightly meaningless. Recently, Google bought a NASA landing strip that wasn't for sale. The search-engine juggernaut also has numerous other projects in virtually every area of innovation -it just announced a moon-landing competition. To those who share a home continent with Apple and Google, it's easy to see which ones are the new young hot shots on the scene and which are the old, impotent ones. The truth is Microsoft is fading away. More and more of its products are second rate compared to Apple and Google. Sure this may be the beginning of a general taming of super-companies but to Americans, it's a slow start. Microsoft has been fighting a losing battle with Apple. When penalties come down on Apple or Google or major telecommunications companies, then we'll talk.

The Path That Suits You Best

And another one bites the dust as the saying goes. Yesterday Attorney General Alberto "I do not recall" Gonzales announced his resignation! Yipee! No longer are the news networks plagued with awkward pauses before Gonzales mumbles "I do not recollect" -you'd think that an Attorney General could muster a better b.s. defense than a bad memory, but oh well. Gonzales's signature scandal (because everyone in the White House has their own skeleton out of the closet) was perjuring himself about firing a number of White House attorneys that refused to do neoconservative anti-democrat dirty work. But wait! There's more! According to The New York Times, "He was also accused of misleading Congress about his role, in his earlier job as White House counsel, in promoting a government eavesdropping program."

Basically, another power hungry lieutenant of Bush's is so deep in political scandal that he's weighing our Commander-in-Chief down. The Times also reported that Gonzales offered his resignation of his own accord after he and his wife concluded that Gonzales' credibility could never fully be restored; aww gee, you think? But seriously it's past time to realize that so Gonzales probably would have hung in there if he had the choice. But he didn't. Apparently, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove acted as some kind of protector or buffer keeping Gonzales in Bush's court. That's far more believable. So with the Rover gone and Democrats and Republicans practically waving torches and pitchforks for Gonzales to get out of town, it's no surprise that he's leaving. Gonzales had a teary eyed press conference where he thanked Bush for helping him along the way by hiring him at every job he ever had -not exactly something to flaunt, especially when you're going to be unemployed but okay. The conference seems to come standard with every unofficial firing of a high ranking official in the Bush Administration.

Now that Rumsfeld, Rove, and Gonzales are gone there are less cowboys on the mountain that could damage Bush's image...more. That probably won't last though. A possible permanent successor to Gonzales is Larry D. Thompson, an ex-deputy Attorney General and VIP at Pepsi Co. and oh yeah, he's black which makes him especially appealing to the job, according to White House officials. Since when did the Attorney General position become a position to appeal to the minorities that the White House has shunned? Well, whoever gets the job, let's hope he's credible and interested in law rather than power.

Life On Mars

Of interest to the editor:

Because this has been one of the worst weeks in quite a while (reminiscent of the end of my junior year of high school) I cannot forge an original entry. Instead I have this. Bill Keller is the editor of The New York Times. Here he is answering a letter that came his way.

Colorful Leads

Q. The colorful lead is the bane (or at least one of the banes) of my time spent with The Times. So often, I have tried quickly to get the gist of a story (this happens in the Sports section more often than in the news sections) only to find that I must read something like "it was a dark and dreary night" before finding the point, or the score, or even a notion of what the article is about.

Whatever happened to the inviolate rule that a lead was 35 words or fewer, telling us where, why, what or who?

-- Peter C. Boulay, Bronx, N.Y.

A. As the sun blazed above the snow-lacquered peaks of the Hindu Kush, the weary editor flipped down his clip-on sunglasses and booted up his laptop.

It had been a long week, a soul-sapping, disorienting and yet strangely satisfying week.

Past the simple campsite where he awaited his digital connection to the modern world flowed all the human mystery of the East: the women shrouded in burqas of azure, or possibly cerulean, he was not too good on blues; the camel-borne warlords draped with belts of bullets; the shoeless boys in filthy "I Heart New York" T-shirts; and all the rest, all separated by semicolons and swaddled in colorful cliches.

The computer flickered to life. The keys clicked like castanets until up came a complaint from the northern part of a far-off metropolis at the eastern end of a troubled superpower. The editor read. He frowned. Then he squinted down at the keyboard and typed:

"Amen, Mr. Boulay. Amen."

There's something about Keller's jovial approach to a rather confrontational letter that you see so rarely today.

Daniel

Where Is My Mind?

Last week Daniele Mastrogiacomo, an Italian reporter for one of his nation’s newspapers, La Republica, was traded for five Taliban prisoners Italy recently admitted, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Despite the exchange’s success, this should not count as a win for Italy or its allies. The Times reported that this seems to be the first open hostage swap in a war involving the United States.
If there’s one thing that the Bush Administration has done well -and this may be that one thing-, it is adhere to the “never negotiate with terrorists rule.” In the Times article, Sean McCormack of the State Department, said the United States does not “negotiate with terrorists, and we don’t advise others to do so either.” Well there really wasn’t much the United States could do; the five Taliban prisoners were held by the Afghani government, not NATO forces, but it’s likely that this time the Bush Administration is telling the truth, for once.
Admittedly, in the past few years, Italy has taken a few hits from its involvement in W’s War Against Terror (or as he puts it, “War on Tehrrr”). Most recognizably, there was Italy’s involvement in the Middle East conflicts –2,000 Italian soldiers were sent to Afghanistan. There have also been numerous attacks by terrorist organizations, like ETA, on Italian soil. Clearly a bold stance must be made. But Italy’s surrender to terrorist demands comes as a surprise. By openly giving in to demands aren’t they encouraging more fighting, more hostage taking, more terror? It would seem so.
Not only does this damage Italy’s political clout, it also discourages worldwide news organizations from sending reporters to the Middle East. Besides the newswires, there are only three U.S. publications in Iraq: The New York Times, USA Today (sometimes), and The Los Angeles Times (which may change due to internal reasons). To any news group toying with the idea of reporting what’s really going on over there rather than what Bush’s Administration says, the decision seems a little bit clearer: send no one. Now, if you want Italy or a member in the Coalition of the Willing (although these days they seem more Unwilling) to do something, grab yourself a journalist!
The Italian government has repeatedly stated that any means necessary to save a life is justified in this war. Yes, one life was saved through this dealing but now how many more will die in an attempt to repeat this outcome?
Washington and London have been saying this but this is no time to point fingers. After all, who was it who started the war in Afghanistan? And who was the biggest supporter of those upstarts?
When President Bush marched onto an aircraft carrier, flight suit and all, declaring the “mission accomplished,” it was pretty doubtful that all major military operations in Iraq had ended but that major conflicts in Afghanistan had stopped seemed plausible. Unfortunately the tumult continues in Iraq and Afghanistan -which America has left to the clean-up crew. This is just another example of how that disaster needs more attention before the problems are gone and the mission is anywhere near accomplished.
Thankfully, Mastrogiacomo returned home safely but besides that nothing about this deserves an aircraft carrier stunt.