- David Frum writes: "If the CIA had done a better job publicizing this photo of Che Guevera, a lot of student dorm rooms would look less morally idiotic."
Umm, I think it's been a long time since Frum has been in a dorm room, as a picture where the guerrilla leader appears to be getting loaded (on pina coladas, perhaps?) certainly wouldn't detract from his credibility to any 18-22 year old already dumb enough not to know about Che's crimes and general uselessness in the field.
- The Associated Press reports that Steven Spielberg has agreed to direct a movie biopic about the late-Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle. Given Spielberg's politics and the attempts of some gun control advocates to exploit Kyle's murder to further their agenda, there may be some cause for trepidation. But Spielberg demonstrated in both directing "Saving Private Ryan" and producing "Band of Brothers" that he knows how to treat military issues in an exciting and respectful way on the big screen.
- This week hundreds of Pakistanis paid tribute to Osama bin Laden on the second anniversary of his killing. Given how popular bin Laden once was in Pakistan -- particularly in the wake of the failed attempt to kill him with Tomahawk cruise missiles in 1998 -- and how unpopular the United States is in Pakistan, hundreds at a demonstration is almost a non-story.
- Finally, the Parkham Women's Institute in Southwest England is a venerable institution "devoted to home-spun handicrafts and good works." They also host a respectable speakers' series featuring authors of recent books. When the ladies heard that Captain Colin Darch would be appearing at the Institute to deliver a lecture on pirates, they decided to have some fun with the event and show up in costume: eye patches, swords, and fake parrots included. Alas, it was only when Captain Darch started speaking that they realized he was not an expert on English privateers on the Spanish main, but rather was giving a talk about his six week ordeal as a prisoner of Somali pirates in 2008!
Awkward! But apparently, Darch was a good sport about it, saying: "They gave me such an enthusiastic welcome, it almost made cry," Darch said. "And I managed to sell a few books too, which was nice." Which as any author can attest, makes up for almost any embarrassment/inconvenience at a book talk.
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