Print Media: A Readable Newspaper At Last!

I don’t usually plug newspapers. Most of them, in my experience, are bona fide catbox liners, produced by liars for the consumption of idiots. After fifteen or so minutes of skimming a typical fishwrapper of this sort, I’m ready to throw up my hands in utter despair and groan, “What planet are these fuckwits from?”
 

Every so often, though, I stumble across a newspaper that neither insults my intelligence nor moves me to crank out page after page of venomous, profanity-laced invective. These exceptions to the rule, sadly enough, are always local dailies or weeklies with limited resources and circulation. What they lack in distribution, however, they more than make up for with integrity and devotion to the seemingly (and sadly) obsolete “five w’s and the h.” Such an exception is the Roswell Beacon, a gutsy, refreshing little weekly that’s a joy to read. Unlike certain of their fawning, wouldn’t-say-“shit”-if-they-had-a-mouthful competitors, the staff of the Beacon tackle local political issues with gusto and integrity that hearkens back to the Pre-World War II “golden age” of American journalism.

While the Beacon focuses primarily on local issues, its national coverage isn’t too shabby, either. This week’s issue, for example, contains an excellent article on Russia as a resurgent regional and world power. Entitled “Rising Russia – The Bear Awakens,” the article (co-written by one Col. Robert E. Quinn and a Beacon staffer named John Fredericks) takes an honest, hard-hitting look at a subject ignored equally by the Democrat toadies at the networks and CNN, and the “fairly unbalanced,” neocon “barking moonbats” at Fox News.

I’m not familiar with either man, but the article suggests that both “have their shit together,” a rarity in this day and age. Unlike the “see no evil” idiots at CNN and the networks, and the “see evil everywhere but right here” idiots at Fox (all of whom suffer from the “tunnel vision” that results from having one’s head up one’s ass), Quinn and Fredericks actually understand the global political, economic and military situation. I don’t agree with all their conclusions, but it’s clear that both are students of realpolitik, and more concerned with the way things are than with “creating [their] own reality.” Eschewing both ideology and mythology, Quinn and Fredericks shine the cold, hard light of objective reality on world affairs, with an approach reminiscent of Michael Scheuer’s Imperial Hubris. Their 4^th Generation Warfare blog is a must-read, and these guys are going into this blog’s sidebar.

Happy reading.

 

http://Beaconcast.com

Comments

[Aaron]

I've met Scheuer. He understands Afghanistan.

[Dave]

That he does, and not only the current political scene, but said country's history, as well. Interestingly enough, Scheuer's observations -- made in the present day -- would ring as true to any given erastz, former-Soviet "liberator" as would they to William Shirer or even a British survivor of the infamous Khyber Pass debacle.

[J.R.]

When did someone in Roswell start printing a paper worth reading? It figures that it would happen after I have moved away. Thanks for the link. I am concerned, however, that the recent theft of over $50K worth of their computer equipment might dampen their objectivity. They actually ran a story about the theft on the Atlanta Urinal/Constipation online.The only thing that rag is good for obituaries. Keep up the good work, Jeff, and we'll see you soon!

J.R.