Atlas Coughs, Fails To Cover Mouth

Megan McArdle has a cold.

I've got a nasty cold, which has been retreating and resurging for the better part of three weeks.

As a fellow human being, I sympathize. Announcing a wee cold on an Atlantic blog could be cited as evidence of the further diminution of a once-prestigious venue, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. Last week, journalism blogger Jay Rosen posted a revealing exchange with an anonymous White House reporter. The upshot was that the press corps slavishly attends to the President's activities to maintain the Body Watch: if the President takes ill, draws a bullet or detonates a fuel-cell powered car by sticking the cord in the wrong receptacle, journalists need to be there to file timely reports. So, while I don't find the story of Megan's cold particularly interesting, we'd be remiss not to follow the story, especially if the simple cold turned out to be the early stages of MEBS (McGilicuddy's Exploding Bone Syndrome).

"How are you feeling today, Ms. McArdle?"

Today is a resurgent day, prompting me to wonder: why do you feel cold when you're running a slight fever?

"Oh, ---- this." (Throws chair, rips off press ID, stalks outside.)

I realize there's a stronger contrast between your internal temperature and the outside, but I'd be surprised to find that I'm running as much as two degrees of fever, so the contrast can't have increased that much. Can readers comment?

Oh, she's fine. Same old McArdle. She could learn about the correlation between fever and chills with a few keystrokes, but why do that when others will do the work pro bono? The free marketplace triumphs again!

Coming soon: "A beautiful, cloudless sky today, prompting me to wonder: why aren't contrails called jetstreams?"

Thanks to Brad for inviting me to post here.