The dumbest story of 2005

I only disagree slightly with Jonah Goldberg on this one, about the worst story for 2005. He nominates the Associated Press crying about website cookies from the White House website.

The discovery and subsequent inquiries by The Associated Press prompted the White House to investigate. David Almacy, the White House's Internet director, said tests conducted since Thursday show that data from the cookie and the bug are not mixed — and thus the 2003 guidelines weren't violated.

"The White House Web site is and always has been consistent with the OMB guidance," Almacy said, adding that the limited tracking is common among Web sites.

Jason Palmer, vice president of products for Portland, Ore.-based WebTrends, said Web browsers are designed to scan preexisting cookies automatically, but he insisted the company doesn't use the information to track visitors to the White House site.

Smith said the White House and WebTrends could have avoided any appearance of a problem by simply renaming the server used at WebTrends.

The Clinton administration first issued the strict rules on cookies in 2000 after its Office of National Drug Control Policy, through a contractor, had used the technology to track computer users viewing its online anti-drug advertising. The rules were updated in 2003 by the Bush administration.

Nonetheless, agencies occasionally violate the rules — inadvertently, they contend. The CIA did in 2002, and the NSA more recently. The NSA disabled the cookies this week and blamed a recent upgrade to software that shipped with cookie settings already on.

I will give him that this is certainly the most hypocritical of the inane stories the AP comes out with, considering that the AP's own website has a cookie policy and tracks visitors.

AP, or third parties on our behalf, may also collect non-personally identifiable information via the use of cookies. Cookies are pieces of information that are transferred to an individual's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Cookies are used to assist you in using site information and content by saving your user preferences. Cookies are also used to collect aggregate information about Web site users on an anonymous basis. AP has contractual relationships with third parties, including without limitation, advertisers and companies to place online advertisements that may place their own cookies on the Web sites displaying our content. In the course of serving these advertisements, such third parties may place or recognize a unique cookie of their own on your browser, and they may or may not collect personally identifiable information. Such third parties’ use of cookies will be guided by their individual privacy policy, which you should review. AP does not control such third party cookies and is not responsible for information gathered by such cookies.

Apparently the AP is not responsible much of anything. How ironic. But they do have time to harrass the White House, the NSA and others for hiring college educated IT people and using current software - probably the same software they use for their server.

Yes, Associated Press, we are laughing at you.

Although, getting back to the point, I disagree with Jonah because that story, hilarious though it is, is not the worst story. The worst story was when the Associated Press staked out Karl Rove's garage and took inventory.

There was no car in the garage. And the stuff left behind turned out not to be much different from what gathers dust inside most American garages.

The inventory, seen from outside:

-Some cardboard file boxes stacked one on top of the other, labeled "Box 6," "Box 4" and what appears to be "Box 7." No sign of boxes 1, 2, 3 and 5.

-What appear to be paint cans stacked alongside a folded, folding chair.

-A rather large wood crate marked "FRAGILE" and painted with arrows indicating which way is up. On top of the crate, two coolers.

-A tall aluminum ladder.

-A snow shovel leaned in front of another cardboard box.

-Wicker baskets inside of wicker baskets on top of a shelf running the length of the rear wall. Transparent plastic storage bins crammed with indiscernible stuff. Another cardboard box.

-In one corner, the rear wheel of a bicycle sticks out, along with what appears to be a helmet.

-Another ladder, this one green, leaning sideways.

Have you ever seen anything so ridiculous? Journalists actually get paid for this.

Hugh Hewitt had an interesting piece up the other day, linking to a call from an editor from the Chicago Reader for a journalist strike. No journalist reporting for a year, to teach the public and bloggers a "lesson".

Today, therefore, I am proposing a yearlong journalism strike. I am urging reporters and editors around the world to put down their notebooks, close their laptops, hang up their phones. Lie down and be counted! Let’s have no reporting, no editing, no application of any human intelligence whatsoever to events public or private till January 1, 2007.

I’m calling it the Year Without Journalism. Let’s all relax, let go, and float blissfully in the information-free state (excuse me, I mean free-information state) that our public awaits so eagerly.

My response: Oh please, do it. Do it now.