The Sh*t L*st

I wonder if Times's columnists, too, feel like this has made them a lot less relevant to the national conversation.

I haven't read a column by Friedman or Krugman since this began and probably visit the Times's site a quarter as often. Times's management has effectively accomplished what Fox News could only have dreamed of.

I never assume I'm representative of anything, but wouldn't be surprised if I was consistent with a pattern in this case.

if you're looking for flamebait.com, it's taken. But Yahoo has a suggestion for you:

Here's how the job options are listed:

Administrative / SecretarialArtistic / Creative / PerformanceExecutive / ManagementFinancial servicesLabor / ConstructionLegalMedical / Dental / VeterinaryPolitical / Govt / Civil Service / MilitaryRetail / Food servicesRetiredSales / MarketingSelf-EmployedStudentTeacher / ProfessorTechnical / Computers / EngineeringTravel / Hospitality / TransportationOther professionNo Answer

Here's how they're coded:

<option value="P_Job_01">Executive / Management</option>
<option value="P_Job_02">Administrative / Secretarial</option>
<option value="P_Job_03">Financial services</option>
<option value="P_Job_04">Political / Govt / Civil Service / Military</option>
<option value="P_Job_05">Artistic / Creative / Performance</option>
<option value="P_Job_06">Sales / Marketing</option>
<option value="P_Job_07">Technical / Computers / Engineering</option>
<option value="P_Job_08">Teacher / Professor</option>
<option value="P_Job_09">Retail / Food services</option>
<option value="P_Job_10">Legal</option>
<option value="P_Job_11">Medical / Dental / Veterinary</option>
<option value="P_Job_12">Labor / Construction</option>
<option value="P_Job_13">Travel / Hospitality / Transportation</option>
<option value="P_Job_14">Self-Employed</option>
<option value="P_Job_15">Student</option>
<option value="P_Job_16">Retired</option>
<option value="P_Job_17">Other profession</option>
<option value="P_Job_00">No Answer</option>

Executive - 1, Retired - 16. I wonder if there is some kind of heuristic implicit in that.

The last post translated into traditional Chinese using Altavista's Babelfish:



And then back again into English



Not bad.

The internet, under the leadership of Google, is threatening to overturn every rock and pull every skeleton out of every closet in your life. The only way to counter this threat is to publish online as much false and fake information about yourself as possible. Dating sites are a good start.