Happy weekend, faithful readers! The Dude has been out with his family enjoying the lovely weather, and hopes that you have been as well! Down to business. The Dude has been trying not to launch into a screed about how terrible what passes for journalism in the United States really is, but some days it’s hard. The top “news” stories recently have consisted of 24 hour coverage of Paris Hilton’s release from jail (note: the most common thing that The Dude has overheard about this was, ‘she’s out ALREADY??!!’), how the VP thinks that he is above the law (Go Unitary Vice Executive?), how Michael Moore is hurting America, and did we mention that Paris Hilton is out of jail? Now that Attila is of a certain age, she likes to watch children’s shows when she first wakes up in the morning, which means that Daddy gets to turn on the TV for her while the AKO gets a few additional moments of rest. Some mornings she wakes up earlier than others, and The Dude gets to catch a bit of the BBC News before Curious Clifford the Big Red Tank Engine comes on. What is most fascinating about the BBC News is that they by and large just tell you the news! No glitzy graphics to speak of, no real strong attempt to scare you or make you feel some emotion, just a lot of “Hey, this is what’s going on, thought you should know.” It’s a shame that this type of reporting seems to have fallen by the wayside in our super-media-conglomerate world, in favor of blatant propaganda and pap. As far as The Dude is concerned, Clear Channel and News Corporation are the most egregious offenders, but perhaps that’s because of his destiny to sit in a rocking chair on a porch next to Mr Kluges and snarl at all the young whippersnappers and be all curmudgeonly. 🙂 100 Quatloos to the first person to correctly identify the origin (title and artist) of the 80s song lyrics quoted on the title line without looking it up (ie. cheating).