Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Feb. 12: Thinkin' about Lincoln

*Happy Birthday, Abe

Happy 199th Birthday, Abraham Lincoln.......


*More steroids mess

Wonder what Honest Abe would have thought of the steroid mess in baseball....which, thanks to John Rocker's comments about Commissioner Bud Selig and the players' union knowing about players using steroids and either not caring or tacitly giving the green light, threatens to get even messier.
Messers Clemens and McNamee will appear in front of Congress tomorrow. Everybody duck.....

Monday, February 11, 2008

Feb. 11: Mourning Tom Lantos

U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who had recently announced he was retiring because of cancer, has died:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZIt9GQT76E88EcTRwJ3Xr94iMSQD8UOBGL82

Farewell to a true mensch.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Feb. 8: Romney stopped, but a turtle went

*Why Romney blew it


The International Herald Tribune explains how Mitt Romney's campaign went wrong:


http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/08/opinion/edromney.php


He's not the first, nor will he be the last, presidential candidate to get lost in "Mount Ideology" (in either major party).


*Vets struggle to find jobs

It's been tough for veterans returning from Iraq:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Veterans-Jobs.html

Of course, the military and the Veterans Administration have also had their own holes to fix.



*Consolidating Chrysler


Here we go again:


http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-02-08-chrysler_N.htm


I can't wait to meet the business executive who decides that a way to run business is to respect the customer. We certainly can't find one now.....at least not in the automotive industry.





*Bigger not better for Newseum?


Slate has its critique of the new facility:


http://www.slate.com/id/2183936


And charging $20 at a time when many journalists, who would be interested in seeing it, can't afford to pay is a travesty. I'll keep my pleasant memories of the original Virginia site, which I visited 10 years ago.


*Tidy protests?

From the First Amendment Center:

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=19625

The great South Florida political reporter (and my friend and former colleague) Michael Putney once said that democracy works best when it's messy. That includes a messy Mall, too.


*Here's to the turtles

Cool story of the day:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Amazing-Journey.html

Didn't even lose the luggage.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Feb. 7: Bye, Mitt

*Romney out

Mitt Romney spent millions of dollars of his own money to run for president of the United States, and all he got.......You know the rest. He likely won't get the vice presidential nod from John McCain, either. However, Secretary of Commerce is a possibility, because there's no question that he's good at that.....unless he's running for president.



*It's the economy, stupid


Now Macy's is planning to lay off thousands of workers. And an article at AOL's Web site suggests eight longtime companies, including the venerable Sears, that could go out of business this year. How do the candidates plan to deal with that and the rest of the economic mess? It's not enough to say workers have to be trained for a 21st century economy if they don't like the components of the 21st century economy.




*Kinder and gentler Al Qaida?


USA Today reports about Al Qaida's changing tactics in trying to lure a new generation of terrorists. Heck, maybe those David Letterman skits aren't so far off the mark.......




*Mourning John McWethy


We mourn the death of John McWethy, who was an excellent correspondent for ABC News:


http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8191591


Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute has his own memories:


http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=137273




*Steroids and cockfighting


OK, why did Brian McNamee hold on to the evidence he says he has on Roger Clemens' steroid use for so long? (I'll avoid the details here in case some of you are eating your meals.) The best mystery writer couldn't come up with possible twists in this plot.


To further chip away at the reputation of baseball as a wholesome game is the news of pitcher Pedro Martinez and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal watching a cockfighting match. I think I'll stick to checkers......


*Go Atlantis

We have liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6348499&ch=4226713&src=news

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Feb. 6: Post-Super Tuesday

*More about journalists, politics and objectivity





From Dana Parsons of the Los Angeles Times:





http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parsons5feb05,1,3201154,full.column?ctrack=7&cset=true





Bottom line: All sides have the right to be treated with respect, fairness and full detail.







*And another thing: Shut up!



http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00227



Bless you, Ms. Lewis. My sentiments exactly.





*Gun control legislation needs repair

The Miami Herald focuses on a bill that will be considered in Tallahassee:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/408856.html


I suspect Margolis and Jenne will fix the loophole.



*What would Darwin say?

Some more proposed legislation:


http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/408136.html


The legislation may prove that evolution does not exist among elected officials.







*Baseball bummer


From Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and MSNBC:


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23022551/



Absolutely right. I know I don't have the joy in anticipating spring training that I used to have, between the steroid scandal and the Florida Marlins' coupon-clipping ways and lack of stadium resolution.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Feb. 5: What the journalists do

*Problems with journalists' personal outlook

From Jon Margolis:

http://www.concernedjournalists.org/love-and-hate-campaign-trail

He is absolutely right. Journalists have an obligation not to let personal opinions of politicians color their coverage of those politicians, and if they can't keep the personal out, they shouldn't be doing straight news reporting.

Another note: The kind treatment reporters gave George W. Bush in 2000 has come back to bite the industry in a big way. Bush's policies certainly take part of the blame for the corporate bloodletting that's been going on in journalism the last few years. And once upon a time, Al Gore was a journalist himself......

Monday, February 4, 2008

Feb. 4: It doesn't only take a moment

*It's about our future, stupid

Maria Shriver, who endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, said yesterday that it was about a "moment."

No it's not. It's about the future, and who is best qualified to clean up the mess in the economy, foreign policy, health insurance and the environment. Obama ain't it - not yet.