Memex 1.1

The Economist opts for incoherence

The Economist — which sells 450,000 copies a week in the US — has decided that, if it has to choose between ‘the incompetent and the incoherent’, it will plump for the latter. Vote for Kerry, in other words.

That bin Laden video

The old boy seems in good shape, judging from the video. Life in Pakistan is clearly more agreeable than lurking in Afghan caves.

What puzzles me is how the US electorate will react to the broadcast. Will voters see bin Laden’s effortless survival as a sign that Dubya’s ‘war’ on terror has been fruitless (and vote for Kerry)? Or will they conclude that it warrants sticking with the current regime? During the Republican Convention, Maureen Dowd made the interesting observation that bin Laden’s name was not mentioned once during the entire convention. He was, as it were, the ghost at the feast. Dowd concluded that this was deliberate — because his name might stimulate troubling thoughts. Hmmm…