The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate
“An earlier version of a map with this article reversed the locations of North and South Dakota.”–New York Times, Jan. 4
We Blame Global Warming
“Research Ship Trapped in Antarctic Ice Because of Weather, Not Climate Change”–headline, Guardian website (London), Jan. 3
What Would We Do Without Experts?
“Experts Warn Against Washing Cars in Extreme Cold”–headline, WGEM-TV website (Quincy, Ill.), Jan. 3
Longest Books Ever Written
“A Brief History of the ObamaCare Disaster”–headline, Commentary, January issue
Shark Jumps Onion–Now That Would Be News
“A comprehensive report released this week by researchers at the University of North Carolina confirmed widely held assumptions that you are the most significant and interesting person currently inhabiting the earth,” [the news satire organization] the Onion “reports”:
Drawing from the results of a six-year study that carefully analyzed thousands of hours of your actions and conversations, the 220-page report concluded that your ideas and opinions far surpass those of the other 7.1 billion people on the planet in terms of substance, depth, and general importance to the world.
It reminds us of something we read more than seven years ago:
Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I’m not going to watch Lost tonight. I’m going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I’m going to mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals? I’m going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?
The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you.
Not only have the guys at the Onion run out of ideas, but Time’s version was funnier.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
