Morbid Fascination

Someone told me today that he reads my site with morbid fascination. I think that might be a compliment but I’m not sure.

I myself am morbidly fascinated by the world around me. I read all the news I can stomach.
The Motley Fool news summary grabbed my eye today: Halliburton has a $1B contract rebuilding Iraq (again.) The article doesn’t mention any conflicts of interest. Maybe because that’s obvious?

The Fool does come through with this little pearl of wisdom:

“I don’t read no papers, and I don’t listen to the radio, either. I know the world’s been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don’t need to read about it.” — Walter Brennan (1894-1974), actor.

Good point. One of my co-workers would agree. He gets annoyed by everyone else’s morbid war-obsession.

But I’m obsessed. I know I am. I can’t stop reading and spinning and thinking. There’s a great take on neologisms and slogans over at Carol Lay’s Story Minute. An interview with a British reporter who’s seen it all before, and apologizes for making comparisons to WWII. An unapologetic editorial about Stalingrad and morass. And meta-coverage of Iraqi TV.

I don’t even read whole articles any more. Once I’ve loaded the page I’m on to the next. Sometimes I bookmark them as I go, and then come back later to find a dozen or so unread outdated articles. It’s the sort of thing that can inspire morbid fascination: Google News is my only friend.