Reasons I hate the New York Times

March 13th, 2008

Well, of course, number one is Judy Miller. Number 2 is this idiot. But not far behind is the travel and development porn, often with a “green” angle, that the NY Times peddles:

About building a “green” house on a multi-acre lot in Hood River orchard country.

About building a “simple” home on 200 acres in New Mexico.

The Franklins are far from aging hippies living out an off-the-grid fantasy, though they share a decided love of the outdoors. Their primary residence is a fully equipped 2,800-square-foot Southwest-style home in Santa Fe. Mr. Franklin, 45, is the chief executive of a software company there and Ms. Coggins, 43, is a public health consultant. They are, however, adventurous, having left their jobs and moved to Santa Fe from Old Greenwich, Conn., eight years ago in search of a different lifestyle and better weather.

THEY were just seeking a simple solution for a second home in the high country when they first considered a yurt. They already owned 200 acres in the remote Coyote Creek valley and camped on it often, sampling different spots. For more than four years, they raised — and rejected — possibilities about what to build. Renovate existing old adobes? Too apt to be rodent havens. Build a new cabin? Too traditional. Besides, both structures missed the point, Mr. Franklin said.

This reminds me… I was just down near Borax Lake and saw a yurt pretty close by. Hm.

About a “remote” cabin on a 78-acre “retreat”:

I grew nostalgic for walks in the woods of my youth, back when suburbia still had tracts of undeveloped land to explore, and also for wilderness camping trips I’d done in my 20s, from New Hampshire to Oregon. None had ever been in the snow, though, and I marveled at how the stark whiteness threw all of this nature into high relief.

It might be worth mentioning that it is rural “retreats” such as this that are the new sprawl. I mean, shoot, they already KNOW this and talk about it in other articles: “An 8,000-square-foot home near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, where ranches are giving way to subdivisions.” But one hand gives, the other hand takes.

And the Times continues its idiotic promotion of “green” retreats and travel.

Look, here’s one about going to rural Vietnam and drinking snake’s blood. Now, we rich Americans might think that reptiles are vanishing because of the demand from Chinese who love to eat them. But a far portion might just be from stupid Americans going to Vietnam and “going native” by drinking snakes blood, where: “Still reeling from the snake blood, we discovered nothing is wasted.” Yeah, nothing wasted besides the probably wild snake in the first place!

Update: Here’s another I overlooked… an article about a new “green” village (with 3 golf courses!) on the arid Sea of Cortez on Baja California. Disgusting.

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