Runaway TB groom identified

The aforementioned traveling tuberculoid moron has been identified, doubtless to the great joy of the fellow airline passengers he may have infected and their attorneys. Speaking of lawyers, this unsavvy traveler - Andrew Speaker by name - happens to be one, which pains (though does not seem to surprise) the Law Blog at the Wall Street Journal. As an added fillip, Speaker’s father-in-law is a TB researcher for the CDC. Astonishing.

Here’s hoping Mr. Speaker is successfully treated for the disease he carried to Europe and back, sneaking through Canada on his return - and that he thoroughly enjoys the fame that his actions have earned. It already seems to be paying dividends for him professionally, as his law firm’s web site has been taken down - temporarily, at least.

In the meantime, border control authorities and officials charged with preventing the spread between countries of serious diseases should be more than a little chagrined. In his utter selfishness, Andrew Speaker may yet have done us a favor if this all leads to better systems and controls against the spread of such illnesses.

MySpace/NewsCorp buys Photobucket…

…which probably accounts for the giant gulping sound you heard earlier. Rupert Murdoch is downright voracious.

Here’s an interesting take on the acquisition from Owen Thomas at Business 2.0 (link defunct):

There’s been much written about MySpace and Photobucket’s mutual reliance; MySpace has the users, while Photobucket has those users’ photos, which display on MySpace using what’s known in the Valley as “widgets.”

But I don’t think this deal has anything to do with the so-called “widget economy.” Here’s what it’s really about.

Engineers. Good Web engineers are scarce, especially in L.A., where MySpace has been foolishly and fruitlessly trying to assemble a tech team. The site’s technology is legendarily bad, which is largely why sites like YouTube and Photobucket have ridden to prominence on MySpace’s back. Users go to other sites because the tools MySpace provides are so subpar.

Rupert & Co., I believe, are betting that Photobucket can rescue MySpace from its tech morass. With a tech team based in the highly skilled, low-cost, low-competition labor market of Denver, MySpace at last can start making more of its huge user base. That, rather than a bunch of party snaps, is worth paying $300 million for.

The question of the moment - to me, at least - is whither non-MySpace users of Photobucket in the months to come? If Photobucket becomes essentially a bit of MySpace functionality, how long will NewsCorp (aka Rupert Unlimited) feel like providing free image storage for people outside of the social networking site (including people who use competitors like Facebook)?

I don’t mean to yell “theater” in a crowded fire. Just wondering.

Morons who put other people in danger

Today’s category: selfish pricks who know they’re infected with tuberculosis and fly commercial anyway, disregarding the warnings of health officials.

“I’m a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person,” the man, who declined to give his name, was quoted in the newspaper interview as saying. “This is insane to me, that I have an armed guard outside my door, when I’ve cooperated with everything other than the whole solitary-confinement-in-Italy thing.”

Tough duty that, confinement in Italy. Gitmo sounds downright cushy in comparison. Has this nimrod has given any thought to the trouble and expense he’s created, or the people he put at risk (however slim that risk might be)? Okay, the odds are that he hasn’t thought about it at all. But you have to wonder if this exercise in solipsism has impressed his new wife. Note to the blushing (for good reason) bride: He’s all yours, honey. Good luck with that.

“Worth the risk?”

The Bullpen of New York University’s Department of Journalism provides an illustrative tale for anyone wondering about the lack of coverage of the LaVena Johnson case in the mainstream media. Alexandra Zendrian recounts a sobering story told by Vanessa Bush, executive editor of Essence:

Sometimes conflicts of interest arise when editors plan to run a story that involves an advertiser. Bush shared one such situation with students. The story in question was a wrongful death case involving the U.S. Army. Essence wanted to run an article in their February 2006 issue about Private First Class LaVena Johnson, who the Army said had shot and killed herself. But Johnson’s family was convinced that she had been brutally beaten, and intended to bring a wrongful death case against the Army. Because the Army is one of Essence’s biggest advertisers, the magazine had to consider whether running the article was worth the risk of losing the Army’s valuable advertising dollars.

In the end, they struck a compromise: the Army agreed to continue advertising in Essence and simply pulled their ads from that month’s issue. But it was a close call, Bush said, adding that “advertisers will walk away in a heartbeat.”

It is to the credit of Essence and its editors that the story made its way to print, but the “closeness” of the call is troubling. It is disturbingly easy to imagine other media outlets choosing to look the other way, ignoring LaVena’s story in the name of advertising dollars.

Discussion board for LaVena Johnson site

A message board has been created and linked to the LaVena site; the link can be found on the right side of that site’s page. Visitors are invited to use this forum to share thoughts and news items about LaVena’s case and suggestions for further actions.

The message board has been disabled due to problems with the software. I’ll announce its return once the problems are solved or if a substitute platform is found.

Simplification

One problem with blogging is that you may come to believe that if one weblog is good, then two is even better, and four - just by way of example - is awesome.

Not always the case. I’ve tossed the writing and exercise blogs over the side; they were motivational tools that failed to motivate, but don’t blame them. I don’t.

The domestiblog lives on. I like it better.

Introductions

Saw LaVena today.

No room in the tent for Giuliani

Via Oliver Willis, life among the savages: Right Blogistan eats its own, and it’s all about Rudy. Puts one in mind of the old Stalinist days, actually.

The interesting thing in this story, of course, lies in the relegation - the self-relegation - of this conservative bastion to the far right fringe. No big tent Republicanism for us, thanks! It’s easy to imagine this as a microcosm of the larger Right’s unhappiness with its leadership. It’s also easy to see this as ironic cause for joy on the Left: ironic because some lefties are making the same mistake in flirting with simon purity over Iraq.

Things on the list

I adapted a new template for the LaVena Johnson site yesterday. Three columns, more readable, more flexible, easier on the eyes. More to do there, though. Hope to add additional functionality before Tuesday.

Some domestic stuff done yesterday; again, more to do. It’ll likely get mentioned on the domestiblog.

And, uh, other stuff.

Seventy-two hours

Three days’ worth of weekend, and just in time. Have a number of bases to cover - or at least touch - before the whistle blows. Some of it will be apparent online. But, uh, don’t sit around waiting.

Have a safe weekend and a reflective one, if you’re into reflection.

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