Archive for Iraq
BBC Newsnight: UK Bans Exports of “Bomb Detecting” Dowsing Rods
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The UK government has announced a ban on the export to Iraq and Afghanistan of some so-called “bomb detectors”.
It follows an investigation by the BBC’s Newsnight programme which found that one type of “detector” made by a British company cannot work.
The Iraqi government has spent $85m on the ADE-651 and there are concerns that they have failed to stop bomb attacks that have killed hundreds of people.
The ban on the ADE-651 and other similar devices starts next week.
Ouch
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My Bionic Ankle today
I’ve been so lucky.
I fractured my ankle so badly in 1999 that I could see the bottom of my boot while my foot was still inside, and they even discussed amputation when first I got to the emergency room.
Somehow, the ortho-wizards of The Rothman Institute in Philadelphia put it all back together and – after months and months of physical therapy – I was pretty much back to normal.
In 2004 & 2005, I even managed to cover more than 200 combat missions in Iraq, most of which went something like: run, run, run, take a picture, run some more, and repeat.
Well, the party may be over. Out of the blue, I started to feel some old familiar pain for the last month or so, and went back to the experts today.
I was hoping for a magic bullet; maybe to learn that a screw just had to be tightened. Instead, I heard about arthritis and all the people who come back around ten years after these accidents.
I got some advice, a shot to help with the swelling, and a follow-up appointment. Maybe I should try to lose some weight too, but in any case I might have to admit that I am getting older.
I’m still not complaining about the deal; just groaning about the aches.
I remain a very luck guy.
iPhone, Therefore I am
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I got a nice ride – with a smart question mark – from philadelphiaweekly.com this morning, courtesy of PW Online Editor Joel Mathis.
“The Future of News?“ asks, “Can Jim MacMillan’s iPhone save journalism?” and examines the events I discussed in a previous post.
I hope I never promised quite so much, but the PW article celebrates everything I have been striving for during my first few months as a newly-independent journalist, and asks all the right questions as well, including: “What will (our) profession look like in the future? And how will it make money?”
UPDATE: Joel and I are getting some exceptional attention from Romenesko right now! (Thanks!)
Want to talk about it? @PhillyWeekly Online Editor Joel Mathis will interview me via Twitter re http://is.gd/fvXB – Join us Wed.@ 1:30pmEST: #twinterview
You will never forget your first Philadelphia Mummer
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Philadelphia Mummers © Jim MacMillan
I had never been to Philadelphia but was working in my native Boston on election night in 1984, on my way to cover John Kerry, who was celebrating his first election to the U.S. Senate.
Gratuitously old photograph: John Kerry, 1984 © Jim MacMillan
I went to the right hotel but opened a door to the wrong ballroom, at which point I first laid eyes upon a group of choreographed men playing accordions, banjos and glockenspiels while wearing sequins, feathers and golden slippers. Another young colleague somehow recognized them and simply told me they were Philadelphia Mummers. I didn’t ask questions.
Philadelphia Mummers © Jim MacMillan
I was assigned to cover my first Mummers parade in 1992, a few months after I came to City of Brotherly Love. Co-workers tried to explain, but failed. Almost nobody in Philadelphia can tell you about Mummers without interjecting their opinions, but that hardly matters because there isn’t one person who understands all of the Mummers anyway.
With two esteemed newspaper colleagues in Froggy Carr suits. 2006.
Years later, I signed up with Froggy Carr in 2006, a group later identified to me as one-percenters by a friend who spent years on his own Mummers book. I re-upped in in 2007, but the parade was delayed by windy weather and I had to leave town before it could be rescheduled.
Samarra, Iraq. 2005.
In 2008, I tried to pass it the adventure off as immersion journalism, something like that kid that went to Iraq or one of my own Iraq embedments – but in a dress.
Shooting video. 2007.
For 2009, I made the mistake of scheduling travel on January 2nd, which is an irreconcilable conflict because – as all Frogs know – the parade requires a 3-day recovery period. I hope I get another chance.
Until then – WATCH MY FROGGY CARR VIDEO – and have a Happy New Year!
