The Great Firewall
I am not a fan of the People's Republic of China's efforts to restrict the Chinese people's access to ye olde internet and the censor what information is then available via ye olde internet, but I am a fan of the nickname "the Great Firewall," a reference, of course, to the famed Great Wall of China.

Contrary to popular myth, the Great Wall is in fact not visible to the naked eye from space. Astronauts (and cosmonauts) have been orbiting our charming little sphere for forty-five years now and have spent a great deal of that time over China, reporting that, nope, they couldn't see a cursed thing. Additionally, the idea is ridiculous on its face. The many walls and towers that comprise the Great Wall are thousands of miles long, but on most case only a handful of yards wide. The mammoth Silverdome is not visible from space, nor are the gigantic dishes of the Very Large Array radiotelescope. The empty, twenty lane highways in North Korea aren't visible from space, nor is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Lies, Damned Lies, and the News
Remember after 9/11 how many of the most famous newsreaders swore that they would do a better job of covering the world? Of rooting out stories beyond the coasts of shining America? Hyperlink! Now, there are a brazillion little tiny islands in the South Pacific and it is difficult to keep track of what is going on on all of them, but why is it that extensive coverage has been given to rising gasoline prices, but nothing about the turmoil in the Solomons? Gasoline is more expensive than it was last week. ABC's World News Tonight devoted several minutes to gasoline prices on both Thursday and Friday evenings. Lots of words were spoken, but little was said. Besides, of course, "Wow, jefe, gas is, like, not a cheap as it used to be!" No shit. Thanks for the scoop, Ed Murrow. Dear Bog, I hate modern American journalism.

Credit where credit is due, however, I applaud the self-obsessed pricks of the media for recognizing that Kathmandu is more than just a Bob Seger song (though the title is "Katmandu"). And kudos to The Plate for being ahead of the times with one of his most recent "The Hot Plate" columns.