Call me a grumpy old codger, but I liked the old way better. For one thing, I used to have at least a rudimentary idea of how a newspaper got produced: On deadline, drunks with cigars wrote stories that were edited by constipated but knowledgeable people, then printed on paper by enormous machines operated by people with stupid hats and dirty faces ... everything is different today, and it's much more confusing. For one thing, there are no real deadlines anymore, because stories are constantly being updated for the Web. All stories are due now, and most of the constipated people are gone, replaced by multiplatform idea triage specialists. In this hectic environment, mistakes are more likely to be made, meaning that a story might identify Uzbekistan as "a subspecies of goat."
Weingarten gets into the business of writing headlines, too. A headline used to be written for human eyes, and liberties were occasionally taken with humor and taste. Like when my old editor, the late great Verne Peyser referred to the McDonalds shooting in San Ysidro (the one where the guy went nuts and killed more than 20 people) as "McMassacre." Or when the Fontana Herald-News ran the story of Redd Foxx' death with the headline "Fred joins Elizabeth." Now, that's headline writing.
Not any more. Here's what Weingarten says:
... even the best headlines will be changed to something dull but utilitarian. That's because, on the Web, headlines aren't designed to catch readers' eyes. They are designed for "search engine optimization," meaning that readers who are looking for information about something will find the story, giving the newspaper a coveted "eyeball." Putting well-known names in headlines is considered shrewd, even if creativity suffers ...
Which explains the Lady Gaga headline in the WaPo story. Weingarten mentioned the name of the pop tart du jour only peripherally, and that's what became the headline. And myself, well, I'm gonna put her in my headline too, just to see what happens.
Anyway, the whole industry has changed. If I showed up in a newsroom today, I wouldn't recognize it. Or like it.
I reckon I can complain about it. Back around 1990 I thought it was a horrible travesty when the newspaper where I was working formed focus groups among the community to shape our editorial policy. Shoot, accountants and doctors don't do this to determine how they're going to do business, are they?
But now see what's become of the news trade:
Recently some newspaper out around Pasadena outsourced much of their editorial work to ... people in India. Folks who don't speak the language, but they sure make a lot less than even a poorly-paid journalist stateside.
And news outlets like USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and SF Gate farm some of their work out to a huge Web content company. I can't complain about that; I do a lot of work for that particular Web content company (under an assumed name), and they do have a lot of good writers in their stable. But the copy is competent but colorless, and designed more for search engines than real live human readers.
Oh, yes. Extra points for mentioning pop idols; it gets them on the search engines faster.
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(Photo: What's she doing in my newspaper? Photo by Billie Joe's Entourage.)
Says Paul Dawson, a food scientist at the food science and human nutrition department at Clemson University, where he and his team of students tested the Rule:
In the case of the five-second-rule we found that bacteria was transferred from tabletops and floors to the food within five seconds, that is the five second rule is not an accurate guide when it comes to eating food that has fallen on the floor.
That's why we're conducting this incredibly unscientific poll:
Sadly, the 'five-second rule' is not really safe [Houston Chronicle]
In private hands, Charleston County's recycling operation should make $1 million more each year than it does now, said County Council officials who voted Tuesday night to privatize the facility ... Council approved a contract with American Recycling of South Carolina to run the facility in Charleston, and in another waste-related vote agreed to sell the site of the former garbage incinerator in North Charleston to Shipyard Creek Associates for an as-yet undisclosed price ...
I'm not just thinking about the money angle here. See, when you take these government functions and have them done by the private sector, they generally will be a lot better run, more efficient, just better functions overall.
H'mmm ... maybe the federal government ought to consider privatizing the medical industry? Just asking.
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It just gets stranger and stranger around here, folks. Deeper and deeper.
Alvin Greene isn't just a South Carolina joke, but a national one.
Hang that, he's gone worldwide.
He told The Guardian (out of London) that making action figures of himself might help South Carolina's economy. No kidding!
As the Guardian so glibly pointed out, if the idea actually worked, it still wouldn't help the American economy. But it might help China's.
Just read the story for yourself:
Alvin Greene wants a Toy Story | Richard Adams: "
Guardian interview with Senate candidate Alvin Greene reveals his economic policy: making Alvin Greene action dolls
My colleague Ed Pilkington makes the trip to South Carolina to interview the now famous Alvin Greene about his bizarre US Senate candidacy and Democratic primary election victory. Ed does unearth this gem from Greene's fertile brain:
It is clear, too, in the course of the two hours I spend with Greene that he has some pretty wacky ideas that, were he to win in November, would put him among the more unpredictable members of the Senate. At one point, he lurches off on his big idea for how to create jobs in South Carolina.
'Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. Me in an army uniform, air force uniform, and me in my suit. They can make toys of me and my vehicle, especially for the holidays and Christmas for the kids. That's something that would create jobs. So you see I think out of the box like that. It's not something a typical person would bring up. That's something that could happen, that makes sense. It's not a joke.'
Except that those sorts of things – plastic childrens' toys – are all made in China these days.
The whole piece is worth reading, with a serious point, made when Ed gets a response from Greene's father:
And the suggestion that he is mentally ill? 'That's an insult!' The answer is barked out, with distinct anger. But it doesn't come from Alvin. It comes from James Sr, who is shuffling past in his slippers just as we reach this point.
I turn to him and ask why he thinks such insults, as he sees them, are being levelled at his son. 'Back in my day black people who registered to vote were turned away. They called the doctor and treated them as crazy.'
The net result of Greene's eyebrow-raising election, though, is to hand the Republicans a very easy win in South Carolina. Jim DeMint, the sitting senator, was always going to win but Greene's candidacy means DeMint's free to raise money for, and campaign in, more competitive races elsewhere – the South Carolina gubernatorial contest for starters, the Kentucky Senate race, the Florida Senate race... take your pick.
Uhh, does he have himself confused with the Governator of California, or what?
At least Arnold Schwarzennegger has this action-toy business figured out.
Greene, not so much. Not unless you figure out a way to market a completely misplaced, unqualified moonbat first.
Oh, I forgot, that's worked in a recent presidential election, too.
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The box score, from retrosheet.org
I'm pretty sure these laws are not written by someone who is from around here. There's no way.
From the Digitel:
Sullivan's Island moves to ban singing, whistling, and the like on public streets (update: CNN picks up): "Update, June 23: What was that? The sound of a national network picking up the local News 2 report? Yes, it is. Check out the video on CNN.First reporting: Yes, it seems very silly, but they're copying the wording of a North Charleston ordinance already..."
I wrote about this some time ago, when Charleston approved an anti-smoking law (modeled after similar ones in New York City and the People's Republic of California):
... the smoking law came from elsewhere ... like it or not, Charleston is a town of transplants. A destination town. A lot of expatriate New Yorkers, people from Ohio looking for a warm place to sit, and a bunch of escapees from Atlanta's rat race. Mostly east coast people, though. I was once considered an oddity because of my California roots (although that's considered to be plenty odd anywhere). Now, there's a bunch more like me. Maybe I should apologize for kicking that door open; everybody wants to be the last person to move to a new area ... write this down. People who move to another area tend to want a couple of things: First, they're seeking a new life. And, once that's achieved (or not), they seek to make that new town Just Like Home ...
Rick Huff, the late Bard of Folly Beach, wrote a song called "Come On Down," an open invitation for anyone to visit this area just so long as they remember to pack their manners. In his song he decried those folks who move in, feel the need to change things, and "get themselves appointed to Decidedly Ridiculous Boards:"
Come on down.
You can tell us how to run our little town;
Yeah, come on down.
Don't know how we made it this far without you around ...
Couldn't say that much better myself.
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Got this from The State, 'cause the South Carolina runoff primary election (the what?) is today.
Runoffs on ballot: "Today is a big day for S.C. Republicans, who are choosing nominees for four statewide races and three congressional races. Most eyes will be on the race for governor, as Republicans will choose between U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley, who is attempting to become the party’s first female and minority nominee.
No party switching: Voters who cast ballots two weeks ago can’t switch parties. For example, if you voted in the Democratic primary then you can only vote in the Democratic runoff."
OK. Here's the deal. If you'd rather watch American Idol, then do so and please sit this election out. If you totally lack any clue about government functions, stay home.
If you need someone to tell you who to vote for, don't waste space in the polling booth. And if you don't know why this runoff is even necessary, then don't vote. There are worse things than not voting.
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As published in HubPages:
That's when the manager of the lodge announced that there was some recent bear activity on the property, and we should move all our baggage from our porches. Some folks moved right away to take care of their gear, but none of my group bothered. Recent bear activity usually means it could happen. So could being struck by lightning or winning the state lottery ... what the manager didn't say was that there was some bear activity going on right this very moment. Now, that's a whole 'nother thing ... we finished dinner and went back to our cabin, and all of our stuff was moved inside. And this ranger was still running around, with a dart gun in his hand ...
So? Don't just sit there. Read the story!
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Distracted driving? How distracted?
I found this in Consumerist.com, which links to an article in Wired. The upshot is, folks will do just about everything under the sun when they should be driving and paying attention.
Survey: 15% Of Drivers Getting Their Swerve On While Driving: "
From cell phones to stereos to billboards to those pesky other vehicles on the road, driving a car comes with a whole host of distractions. A new survey attempts to quantify just how many people are being distracted by the various and sundry things vying for drivers' attention.
The online survey, conducted by cell phone headset makers Jabra, came up with some interesting -- if not terribly scientific -- results.
Among the more lurid: 15% of respondents admitted to having "performed sex or other sexual acts” while driving, though what exactly "other sexual acts" means is left to the filthy part of your imagination. And, as the folks at Wired.com pointed out, the survey required no proof of respondents' carnal car exploits.
Meanwhile, 35% of those surveyed said they had changed articles of clothing while in the driver's seat. One would have to guess that at least some of these people belong to the 15% mentioned above.
On the high end, 72% of respondents admitted to eating or drinking a beverage while behind the wheel.
Though just about everyone has used their cell phone in the car, only 1/3 of those in the survey use a headset of some sort. Also, despite being illegal in more than half the U.S., 28% say they have texted while driving; 12% confessed to reading and sending e-mails.
More frightening, at least to me, are the 5% who admitted to having played video games during a driving session. I just hope they weren't playing MarioKart.
Says a dude from Jabra's parent company:
It is truly unbelievable what people are doing while driving... The results of our survey show that so many people are distracted and doing other things while on the road — even though they know the consequences that can occur. We hope that people will soon understand the implications of these bad behaviors and will change their own behavior accordingly.
Of course, part of 'changing their behavior' would mean 'buying more Jabra headsets.'
Which of these risky behaviors do you exhibit? Do you do something dangerous that didn't make the list?
Surprising Number of People Get It On While Driving [Wired.com]
OK, boys and girls. Heavy confession time, and you can call this my own at-the-wheel bucket list. I have:
- Eaten while driving
- Trimmed my beard while driving.
- Consumed coffee at the wheel. Of course. I consume coffee any time, while doing anything, for any reason.
- Played harmonica while driving. Sometimes I've done this on my way to a gig, having a warmup set on some state highway.
- Talked on the phone while driving, both with and without a headset.
- Sent text messages while at the wheel. Once. It terrified me, so I gave up the practice immediately.
- Read newspapers, or more likely maps, while driving.
- Played CDs while driving, including changing out a disk. And, while riding a bicycle, cycled through song lists on an mp3 player.
- Fought drunk passengers while driving; one of the things I don't miss about my taxi driving days.
- Written while driving. With the clipboard on the console, steering with one hand, and without looking at what I was writing. I used to do that quite often in my newspaper days. Amazingly, I was able to read what I wrote.
- Made obscene gestures at a Presidential candidate while driving. Seriously. It was Walter Mondale in 1984. He was in a motorcade en route from San Bernardino to L.A., and his escorting officers had all freeway drivers pull to the right and stop. I did, I was ticked, and I gave the famous gesture when his limo blazed by at 90 mph. Since I was stopped, I had both hands free and I was able to use both for the double bird. I'm still amazed I wasn't arrested.
- Driven barefoot. It really is not illegal. I usually do this on long hauls; the better to feel the pedals. You actually get better gas mileage this way.
- Changed clothes while driving. Unfortunately, I always ended up looking like I dressed in the dark.
Did I ever, as the article suggests, "get my swerve on" at the wheel? None of your business. I ain't sayin' nothing. I'll take the Fifth.
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Discontent about Facebook continues, and the social network's privacy issues have been in the news a lot lately.
It's become the issue that won't go away, although I'll wager those who are complaining the loudest about Facebook are still using it. How hypocritical is that?
I've had my say about Facebook, including why I shut down my account. Right now, my social media is more a this-and-that system, with Twitter and a few writer's forums. So far, I haven't found an all-in-one social media site that has all the goodies but none of the crap that I've come to know at Facebook.
Here's an article from ComputerWorld that I'm reading. It's interesting:
Is there a replacement for Facebook?: "There has been a great deal of discontent among Facebook users, and many are looking for an alternative. Are any sites ready to step in ? We look at the contenders."
Writer Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols explored a few here: Appleseed (still in beta), Diaspora (which still exists only on paper), Elgg, Lorea, OneSocialWeb, Pligg, and Pip.io.
Here's the spoiler:
Which one of these contenders will topple Facebook from its somewhat shaky social networking throne? At this point, I'd have to say "None of them." Pip.io is the closest, but it's just not ready yet ... like it or lump it, if you can stomach the privacy issues, Facebook is still your best social network option for keeping up with friends and family. If Facebook makes good on its promises to do better with privacy concerns, it will remain the top social network. If it doesn't -- well, someone will invent a better social network, but it's not here yet.
Then there's a lot to be said about the decentralized this-and-that social networking system.
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DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse any products or organizations mentioned in this piece. Forget that.
Remember those old "Look For The Union Label" commercials? The song was real popular in the early 1980s, urging people to a) buy American and b) buy something that was made by union hands:
Now, I can't hear that song any more without giggling. Now, workers at a medical marijuana dispensary got their invitations to join Local #5 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
I got this from Big Government:
Unions: Getting The Munchies After Smoking A Bowl: "
Over at Forbes I recently wrote about the union plan to organize your neighborhood fast food joint, which could turn the process of ordering a Number 3 with Coke into a culinary trip to the DMV. Well, maybe now we know why: they have been laying the groundwork to organize the entire food chain, as it were, since they have organized a pot shop in Oakland. Now you can Super Size it and smoke a spliff without ever crossing a picket line.
Now let's get back to the commercial. Notice how grim the narrator looks? She sure looks like she does not want to be there. That's OK, other union members will be glad to hook her up, though some of the singers look like they'd smoked a little too much.
Just sayin'.
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The numbers may be a little suspect, but it doesn't surprise me.
I got this from The Huffington Post:
Children Are More Likely To Own A Cell Phone Than A Book, Study Says: "
Almost nine-in-10 pupils now have a mobile compared with fewer than three-quarters who have their own books in the home, it was disclosed ... the study by the National Literacy Trust suggested a link between regular access to books outside school and high test scores ...
You can take this info and unpack it any way you like. We've already noticed kids don't read, and they grow up into adults who also don't read. Then they raise more children who don't read. Nothing new there.
Bottom line, parents: If you want your kids to read, set the example. Read to them. Read for yourself. Even if you grow up to be a totally evil uncool unhip parent (usually when the child hits about age 12), there's a chance some of that influence may stick.
A generation ago, my friend Marco and I were bemoaning the popularity of Nintendo, which was the kiddie toy of the day. "We're raising a generation of Nintidiots," was how Marco put it.
But if Marco, a reader and guitar player, was reading this news article he might wonder how many of these pupils today have a guitar in their homes. And we're not talking about Guitar Hero either.
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Double standards are alive and well in partisan politics.
This is from NewsBusters:
Back to Violence at Daily Kos: Talk About Punching Rand Paul In the Face: "
"....but if someone happens to punch him in the face, I believe that this is their right and that we as a people should not put safeguards in place to prevent such an occurrence ... My name is glutz78 and I'm a Libertarian through and through (not really but let's just say...) and especially when it comes to punching people in the face. Because getting punched in the face is part of the free market...."
Is this a satire, or does Glutz really want to punch Paul's lights out? I think it's meant as a satire, but "glutz" is betraying more anger than satirical prowess. He seems to want a few conservatives punched in the face.
"For starters, the tyranny of the Obama Administration is preventing me from driving around to every BP office in this country and punching every one of their employees in the face. And I find that limiting because the free market would dictate that if I was able to exercise my freedom to punch everyone in a given company in the face, they would start to work a little bit smarter and stop preventing environmental catastrophes which are destroying the livelihoods of millions. Or, at the very least, word would get out that if you work at BP, you will get punched in the face at some point and people would just stop working there and the company would deservedly go out of business. Problem solved ... back to Rand Paul. I get the sense that he, because of his completely obnoxious idea about legalizing racism, thus sending our country back in time a few decades or centuries, might incline someone to give him a big punch in his face. Now, I'm not for that. Let me make that very clear. I would be opposed to someone doing that. DO NOT DO THAT! But. BUT! In a Libertarian world, who am I to stop it? Who are we to suppress free market actions that Jesus Christ intended? If that's what the free market dictates, then that is what Rand Paul should get. And if he gets it, then the free market dictated that he deserved it."
See, if someone like a Limbaugh or O'Reilly says something outrageously tongue in cheek, he gets raked over the coals. If it's someone from the Daily Kos, well shucks, he's just havin' a bit of fun, and it's all good.
Sounds to me like those Libs can sure dish it out, but they can't take it. Anyone mind telling me, what's up with that?
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Fasten your seat belts. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.
From The State, Columbia SC:
S.C. mulls Arizona-like immigration measure:
A state Senate subcommittee meets this morning to discuss a bill that would empower local police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or detain.However, it’s too late in the legislative session for the bill, which mimics Arizona’s controversial law, to become state law this year. That leads critics and political watchers to believe today’s meeting is more about political theater than creating a new law.“By doing it when they don’t actually have time to pass the legislation, they get credit for the symbolic stand without having to worry about how to fund the measure,” said Scott Huffman, a Winthrop University political science professor.However, Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, who will lead this morning’s meeting, said that is not the case. None of the five members of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee are up for re-election, he said ...
About time someone got some sense in the state house.
OK. Here's the deal. We have a lot of illegals in South Carolina. It's not like in Arizona or The People's Republic of California, but we've got plenty. Enough in my neighborhood that, when I wear my Border Patrol t-shirt around the mobile home park, everybody scatters.
The folks who say how terrible Arizona's law is, well, they just don't get it. At the risk of repeating myself, there's a reason these cats are called "illegal aliens," and the operative word here is "illegal." Got that?
At bottom, we are a nation of laws. That's the only way we can get an even halfway just society around here.
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This has to be the biggest "Bite Me!" message served up from the voters in a long time.
I mean, Rand Paul? Ron Paul's boy? You know Ron Paul, don't you? Many liberals -- and mainstream voters -- frequently accuse Ron (and Rand) of talking through their tinfoil hats. Ahh, now does all this ring a bell?
Here's what the Huffington Post has to say about this:
Robert Reich: The 'Mad-As-Hell' Party Scores as the Anxious Class Stews: "
Kentucky Tea Party hero Rand Paul scores a knockout victory over Republican Trey Grayson. Before that, Utah Senator Robert Bennett loses to a Tea Party-fueled Republican insurgent. Is the lesson here the rise once again of the Republican right?
Not so fast. Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln is also in a tough fight -- threatened from the left by Lt. Governor Bill Halter. In Pennsylvania, newly-minted Democrat Arlen Specter is in a heated battle with an opponent on his left. Meanwhile, thirteen-term Democratic representative Paul Kanjorski is challenged by 36-year-old Corey O'Brien -- who's waged a spirited campaign from his RV, accusing Kanjorski of being too tied to Wall Street ... okay, so maybe all this signals increasing strength on both political extremes? ... Not really. To the extent these races represent anything at all (and it's easy to read too much into early races), it's a swing against the establishment ...
Admittedly, that's part of it. It's also a slap at overgrown government, against a political regime that took a wrong turn somewhere along the line, a few more wrong turns here and there, and we now wake up to PrezBo, Pelosi, and Reid.
Tim Kaine, head of the Democratic National Committee, has this to say, as quoted in CNN's Political Ticker:
“Jack Conway will be a strong Democratic candidate who represents the best of Kentucky leadership and values. While the Republican nominee will focus on extreme ideas like abolishing the Department Education and disbanding the Federal Reserve, Jack Conway will work to create good jobs for Kentuckians, improve educational opportunities for young people, fight the special interests in Washington and help families and small businesses prosper. He is a dedicated public servant who will fight for the needs of Kentucky’s working families, and I look forward to working with him to achieve a Democratic victory over Republican Rand Paul this fall.”
OK, so where are the extreme ideas? Oh ... the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve. Both have been ineffective for years, and both are more interested in their own growth and their own turf battles than in getting a job done. Just sayin'.
It's the economy, stupid. American politics is turning anti-establishment because so many Americans feel screwed by the economy and they blame the establishment. If there's a trend here, it's not left-wing Democrats versus right-wing Republicans. It's the 'Mad-As-Hell' Party against both ... unemployment continues to haunt the middle class -- the anxious class of America. There are still more than five jobless workers for every job opening ... but it's also low wages. The much-vaulted first quarter of this year produced zilch in terms of wage growth. Private-sector hourly earnings rose at a .4 annual rate while prices climbed at about a 1 percent -- leaving most workers with less purchasing power than they had when the quarter began. The only reason weekly earnings showed any growth at all is because some workers put in more hours ...
Voters may be slow and dumb sometimes, but take their bread out of their mouths and see how quickly they can move.
Here's Rand, in his victory speech:
It's going to be an interesting time in ol' Kentucky this year. And watch some of the other primaries around the country, will you? I guarantee you're going to see more "Bite Me" messages.
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This is classic ...
Here's an interview with inventor Frank Bibbo, from salon.com -- you may have to wade through a bunch of ads to get to it, though.
I'm wondering if this takes one of the fun aspects out of marriage ... i.e. pulling the blanket over her head?
I mean, there are some things in life that just ought to be shared.
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