Technical Difficulties, Censored Blog Items, and Apocalypse Now

I would have plenty to tell you this week about blog censorship and the power of corporations, except that the motherboard on my brand new Toshiba Satellite melted down, and the service warranty requires a three-week turnaround for repair. Suffice it to say for now that I was one of two bloggers (the other a full-time editor) whose posts for a media outlet were removed for critiquing the business plan of a company (no, not Toshiba, though they're not on my faves list). Later, I'll provide details and thrilling tales of editorial cowardice and things that go bump in the night. Right now, I'm just cranky over the Spartans getting creamed in the Final Four championships, laptops that don't play well with others, and media companies that fail to follow basic journalistic ethics. Stay tuned, understand if you don't see many posts, and do not adjust your set.

Boycott Dunkin' Donuts!

Look, I'm no fan of Rachael Ray, though her taste in indie music is really pretty good -- but the decision by Dunkin Donuts to pull a TV ad where she promotes iced coffee, because her scarf allegedly looks like a Palestinian keffiyeh, is just plain offensive. Who started this mess? A conservative columnist well-known to be more mentally disturbed than Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh put together -- Michelle Malkin. There is no reason for corporations to kowtow to this kind of claptrap. Even if someone on a TV ad had a button that said "Free Palestine," so the fuck what? Israel sure gets enough free publicity! But Rachael wasn't even guilty of such a so-called sin. She just had a wardrobe malfunction, at least in the eyes of the lunatic ultra-right. Shame on you, Dunkin Donuts. I won't say the same for Michelle Malkin, since she is too mentally, ethically, and spiritually damaged to know shame.