Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

"Well, if it kills grampa.......he'll just have to die."

--Cleveland Wiggins

parenthetically...........cleve has indicated that this is the inscription he wants for his tombstone:

HAD TO DIE

Ping.........how old is Cooper?

Paul Begala on imus.........

Do any Trailmixers know anyone who has a parakeet or canary?

We should have known newspapers were in trouble, when that craze subsided, and newspapers were no longer needed to line the bottoms of twelve birdcages on every block.

Rush limbaugh has made the republican party what it is today......depleted and despised.

--Paul Begala

Cooper is 9 years old - livesin Greensboro NC. (with the best cousins in the world)

He will be broken

EdVB -
To funny - I guess what happened is the slow change in content of the newspaper solved the problem and the need for a parakeet or canary.

As we lost journalism the product delivered by the daily rag now contains the equivalent of bird droppings.

ping -Good point. And with what will folks line their parakeets' cages?

Seriously, I would miss having a paper. When Dallas was downsizing from two (Dallas Morning News & Dallas Times Herald), I was surprised and saddened that the stogier paper is the one that died.

I guess Kevin Costner can make a movie about the last newspaper (a la "The Postman"). The USPS hasn't completely died yet, but...

If all of that space debris knocks out communications satellites, wouldn't it still be nice to have something low-tech even though it is slow-tech?

So nice to hear how well Hil'ry is doing as SOS!

Makes me wonder if Prez Obama didn't do a little Mark Twain-style fence painting when he, allegedly, offered Biden VP or SOS. (Joe, you have a lot of foreign relations experience, so if you'd prefer SOS, it's yours. But, I'd really like to have you as VP and you wouldn't have to be on the road all the time.)

Maybe he knew he couldn't keep Joe from spouting off & that Hil'ry is smart & in control.

Seriously, what would folks use for cage liner? You can't line it with an info-feed from twitter.

Is the death of the newspaper the birth of a new niche industry?

Blue -- I think Biden would have been a disaster at State. He is truly a loose cannon. I have always liked that from-the-lip quality to him, except that we don't need a lot of gaffes during State visits.

I also think that underneath it all, Obama named Hillary because she would bring not only her own international popularity, but that of Bill Clinton. Every visit she makes, people are reminded of when they loved this country.

Good morning everyone. I'm contemplating the conjunction of Fat Tuesday with the State of the Union (aka Superbowl of Public Policy).

So if all the newspapers go down -- what will happen to the journalism schools? Will they convert "Communications" serving up majors in TV and radio? Or is radio dead too? Maybe there will be a new major in journo-blogging. Are the journalism schools obsolete?

Mississippi in the Depression A Snapshot Album
by Eudora Welty

It's not a well-known fact that, in addition to being a major American writer, Eudora Welty was also a skilled photographer. This collection of 100 photographs she took for the WPA in Mississippi in the 1930s--when she was in her 20s--is a very representative collection of her work. In the photographs, as in her books, Welty demonstrates her empathy with her subjects and her feeling for the details of their bleak lives, as well as an appreciation of the sense of community and hope that even the poorest people often managed to sustain during the hard times of the Great Depression. In fact, as Welty points out in her introduction, the Depression didn't really change the lives of her subjects: they were already among the poorest in the nation.
Editions of One Time, One Place

More Casserole tonight?

President Obama and the new government served as a Casserole in the Recovery Act, a very big one that had a lot of some stuff but a little of everything – topped with cheese.

We need Meat and Protein!!

What will the President serve up tonight – as important as the measures used in bills are the Words just Words…..

What and How will he serve?

Craig - it looks like one week since you served up something of substance related to Mr President?

ping - That sounds alot like 'If the peasants have no bread, then let them eat cake.' The Repugs had plenty of time to cook up something nutritious. Maybe this is a swill bill covered with cheese, maybe it isn't, but either way, at least it's something.

http://marcvaldez.blogspot.com/bottle_tree_l.jpg

This photograph by Welty, of a home in Simpson County, reflects a folk belief that "bottle-trees" — trees on whose limbs bottles have been placed — will trap evil spirits that might try to get in the house. Welty used bottle trees in her short story "Livvie," which was set near the Old Natchez Trace, a famous colonial "road" used by Indians, merchants, soldiers, and outlaws between Natchez and Nashville, Tennessee. This photograph, like many others taken by Welty during her work for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, appears in One Time, One Place: Mississippi in the Depression: A Snapshot Album (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996).

The value of the content has been deminished and lost in the delivery. This is my primary point !

For such a candidate to flop at this point in the delivery of message - But my expectations to high for the new President.

Tonight - Just be Barack - do not try to be FDR, or JFK... Or or or....

Morning funny papers: (We might miss those)

Not only does Palin not know what a VP does, but now she seems to think the media is made up of elected officials.

“This is for the sake of our democracy that there is
fairness in this other branch of government, if you will, called the media,” she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090223/pl_politico/19178

The morning stupids:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29311565/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203195

Or maybe the recovery plan is like oatmeal. You know, better OATmeal than NOmeal?

In all fairness, blue, that has been a depiction of the media from both sides of the fence for decades. That of being very nearly a branch of government. And you cannot deny that they went after her with even more glee that did they Hillary -- and that was bad enough. And then Caroline Kennedy. Hmm....is there a pattern here? Oh shoot, probably not. Just coincidence.

"The morning stupids:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29311565/"

Unbelievable.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203201

Actually doesn't sound so stupid once you see the pay off. That sounds pretty smart. Ms. Nelson seems like she's looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Funny how these things work. My niece is turning down a promotion and a pay raise at her job because accepting that extra $35 per week will cost her $1300 per month in child care assistance -- which she needs to have in order to work.

I think the internet killed newspapers? Wanna know anything that's happened in the news and you wanna know it right away? Go to the internet. Internet and 24 hour cable news is what did it. Even the newspapers I do read, I just read the on-line versions of them.

Posted by: sturgeone | February 24, 2009 7:54 AM

The photographers eye - and in the pure days - no photoshop.... Great

Posted by: Divalicias | February 24, 2009 8:05 AM
Divalicias.... Oatmeal is Homogenous - The Recovery act was diverse

mornin',

As long as sports are local and people have junk cars to sell on their own, there will be papers. Local TV news doesn't have the time to devote to decent coverage of sports and those "classifieds" channels are just to fricggin painful to watch. Like in sturg's neckothewoods, our local paper is a conservative rag, at least on the editorial page - aside from the AP articles about national and international issues and the odd story about local crimes, fires and auto accidents. It even has 2nd & 3rd tier comics - so it's not even worth getting to read Blondie, Prince Valiant and Hagar the Horrible. We get it at work, and if LP has been in a game that is worth reading about, I trapise down 3 floors to read about it. Otherwise, I hope someone has a parakeet or canary and lines the bottom of the cage with it. I think I last bought one on a Sunday when they didn't have any put out for the public to read at Panera Bread.

OK, Ping, now that the stimbill is law, and it will begin to be implemented, what is the deal about selling it? I understand that confidence among consumers is important, but ultimately the proof is going to be in the pudding, not in the perception. Or is it now the Republican meme that form prevails over substance when it comes to applying public money to a screwed up economy?

Alan Keyes is certifiable. However, that note I posted early this am about a Republican who was ranting to me yestarday, sounded suspiciously like Keyes. Makes me wonfder if some fools are listening to him...

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Alan_Keyes_Stop_Obama_or_U.S._0220.html

Blue -- I went back and read the whole article you posted about Washington State....and thinking about your niece's situation...makes you wonder how much BS red tape causes....

"we'll all be boring later generations with how we lived through the "Great (whatever)."

Craig -- I'm thinking it might be called the Great Repression. Or the Great Regurgitation.

Morning Pogo - Hot Coffee?

With a casserole you have to dig and find the substance... Once found then you can enjoy what is needed.

President Obama lost or diluted the opportunity to bring focus to the key issues that elected candidate Obama

And like the $1.00 bill story - Genius is it not!! Why government is so efficient - let’s run everything that way....

Social Policy should never override sound fiscal policy...

I hope the Santa Rosa Press Democrat goes under.
What a piece of crap written by smug self-serving maroons
except for the food and fun sections. But the news -especially the political news and opinions is written by self absorbed idiots who haven't been correct in their estimation of what will happen EVER.

Due to the poor reporting and editorial writing, the commuter rail line was delayed nearly 6 years -- is the Press Democrat going to make up the cost caused by their inaccurate and ureliable reporting on the issue.

I have not paid for a newspaper in over 12 years.

Social Policy should never override sound fiscal policy...PP

What does that mean? The gooper response --a faux slogan for faux party

KGC -- The Tennessean has no real national political news. It seems to get more lightweight by the day.

Social Policy should never override sound fiscal policy...PP

Ping Pong comes out for the return of slavery

KGC - Do not spend what you do not have... Responsible allocation of resources... Everyone is entitled to go to work, earn and contribute - share... Do not build and become dependent on a single point of failure like the federal Gov't - or any gov't

You know really simple - not over complicated

Ping, btw, homogeneous my ass. Instant oatmeal, maybe. OK, so alicia's oatmeal has raisins and walnuts in it - better?

And also btw, it hasn't been delivered yet - it's just been advertised. You can't complain about the bread not rising when YOUR chefs insisted on adding to the new recipe the same dead yeast and old flour that didn't work the last time THEY tried to make bread. And now you complain about the bag? At least give the kitchen a chance to bake it and the public a chance to buy and try it - who knows, maybe it WILL rise and they'll like it. You guys have really become theparty of no - if I were you I'd be concerned about changing your own marketing and leave cooking to the folks who haven't demonstrated they can't figure ot a recipe.

And what's that old saying about people who live in glass houses?

The newspapers can remake themselves if they embrace the internet model of distribution. I'll give a couple of examples.

The first is the Wall Street Journal which has an excellent front-end for its subscribers with content continually updated and a great capability for research on stocks, commodities or industries.

The New York Times. No, not the boring web site, but the NewsStand electronic edition that replicates the entire newspaper just as its editors intended it to be presented. It is the most pleasing way to read the news that I've yet found.

I feel absolutely no need to get the hard copy of the Times. The Journal is a different story. I want to read the news in a way that the editors wished it to be read--with their thoughtful positioning and supplementing artwork. I also find many of the adverts interesting. So I subscribe to the paper-paper as well as the electronic one.

The edition of the Times I subscribe to is expensive--I think its the better part of $300 a year. But, I think it's, or at least it was, worth it.

I contrast the Time's and Journal's excellent efforts with that of the St Petersburg Times. Up until a couple of years ago they had an easy-to-navigate front end that allowed us people with an interest in that region to take its pulse easily. No more.

Their current website is a complete and total disaster. I no longer travel there unless there is something specific that I'm looking for.

So, I suppose what I'm saying is that the newspapers must offer value beyond the ownership of an url.

Ping
More blather. The people losing their jobs did not work for the federal government nor did most of them have federal contracts or subsidies. What are you talking about?

Is this the fate of Republicans reduced to spouting meaningless nonsense trying to blame everyone but themselves for what has happened.

Put the blame where is squarely lies --with the fiscal policies and regulatory policies of The Republican Party -- Big Greed!

Hot coffee - great idea - I think it just finished brewing..

Ping, a better analogy is probably a horse race - they typically aren't won before the horses are out of the gate. the underlying message of your criticism is that Obama's package doesn't fit your notion of how to confront an economy in free fall. Find an economist who can show that fiscal conservatism and balancing the budget as opposed to public spending, whether deficit or not, in the face of a rapidly and consistently falling economy leads to recovery instead of further erosion of the economy. If you do, I want to see the historical context that demonstrates it. Reagan didn't do it, Bush didn't do it, and more importantly, Roosevelt didn't do it.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/24/bipartisanship/index.html

Glenn Greenwald as usual points out the media role in promoting the false hopes of the goopers
No wonder people like Ping cling to this nonsense he hears it from Karl Rove, the architect of the fall.

No wonder people have little or no respect for journalism and the people who pay for journalists (sic)

Pogo - as always enjoy it.... and some good points

Now off to my Capitlisitic, free market ... not taking stimulus recovery dollars - Directly.. waiting for the trickle over effect.

Best to all..

KCG - catch up more later - hope you have a better day

And it appears that the message is not being perceived poorly as widely as you suggest, Ping.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/us/politics/24poll.html?ref=todayspaper

"Americans are under no illusions that the country’s problems will be resolved quickly, but the poll suggested that they will be patient when it comes to the economy, with most saying it would be years before significant improvement.

"A month into Mr. Obama’s term, with his first big accomplishments, setbacks and political battles behind him, more than three-quarters of the people polled said they were optimistic about the next four years with him as president. Similar percentages said that they thought he was bringing real change to the way things were done in Washington and that they had confidence in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy."

Maybe you don't like what you're hearing, but you don't appear to be hearing the same thing others are.

And a little more from that article:

"Most Americans said the president was trying to make good on his promise to bridge the partisan divide. About three-quarters, including 6 in 10 Republicans, said Mr. Obama had been trying to work with Republicans. But only 3 in 10 Americans said Republicans were doing the same.

"On the economic stimulus plan, 63 percent of poll respondents said Republicans opposed the legislation for political reasons, not policy ones. Seventy-nine percent said Republicans should now be working in a bipartisan manner rather than holding fast with their policies."

Like I said Ping, better consider the marketing of your guys - seems it ain't going so well. Finally. (Note to self, send thank you note to Boner and McConnell.)

Pretending any industry related to health care doesn't get goverment dollars..another Republican delusion.

Repugs have set their feet into concrete....so to speak....those who do that will not fair well in reelections. As annoying as it is to observe, in reality it will help the Democrats gain more seats.....

And the traders....ha! They are so scared they are wetting themselves and making matters worse. CNBC has done more to invoke anger and panic in the last week than any other news outlet out there.

re: Newspapers....the writing is on the screen. Maybe they should publish a Kindle version daily? do they do that? Less waste, less cost...

The Great Financial Hangover.

Flatus, is your Times subscription different from the "Today's Paper" button? I go to it sometime, but don't share the same criticism you do about the free online edition. If I sat and tried to look at it over and over throughout the day, I might, but after the first read in the morning, I just check the stock updates and the two blocks that contain updates throughout the day. Of course I check out WaPo and a few specialized sites from time to time and get more than I need or want that way.

UB, I think Kindle is doing some of them.

But, I want something where I can read the entire page, actually two pages, just like an opened newspaper. Takes a bigger screen than Kindle offers.

That's why I like NewsStand:
http://newsstand.com/

" But I wonder if we might be just a little bit sorry if they actually go away. "

We're going to be damn sorry, but if a void appears .... something will surely fill it ................... Fish Heads maybe.

Yes, Pogo. Completely different. Look at the URL in my response to UB.

They won't be wrapped in news papers though.

I don't have any newspapers delivered and haven't for, well, about 10 years.....wont miss them at all.

There's a problem, what will you use wrap the fish heads?
_____

We always wanted, back in the heavy travel days, a newspaper that was smaller so that you could actually read it on a jet with ease.

The latest satellite pass over Melbourne.

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200909/3021/NASA-images-reveal-extent-of-Australian-bushfire-destruction

"Glenn Greenwald as usual points out the media role in promoting the false hopes of the goopers"

Good article, KGC -- Greenwald nails it...glad he reffered to the TPM comments on that Santelli BS. Santelli and the rest of the Wall Street criminals are praying they can blame all this on poor people. Anon and I agreed the other day that it's amazing they haven't started screaming "Welfare Queens" again.

My delivery man killed the newspaper business...his constant lateness, forgetting the Sunday paper, etc.

Seriously, it is a good post, Craig. I believe a German company had invented a flat plastic screen that would "deliver" the daily news to customers (I need to find a link to this "newest" invention). Somewhat too late, I fear. Sure sounds like reinventing the internet or television to fit the daily newspaper.

IMHO, the local newspaper is more of a ad machine than a news machine..

Here is a link for the electronic press...

http://gesterling.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/new-reader-the-future-of-newspapers/

from wiki:

"the term fourth Estate to mean the press, is found in Thomas Carlyle's book On Heroes and Hero Worship (1841) in which he wrote:

“ [British politician Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. (Italics added)[1]”

so is it foreclosure time for the fourth estate?

sorry, left out the other three:

"In this context, the other three estates are those of the French States-General: the church, the nobility and the commoners."

c-bob...thanks for the Australian fire link...carbon monoxide map was very telling.

and speaking of "kindle"...... everyone around here in NH knows what newspapers are good for..... they make the best kindle to get your wood stove lit.....

we've been getting the Christian Science Monitor delivered (by snail mail) for years now..... in April it will go electronic with a hard copy of a news type of weekly magazine.... I will miss my daily copy..... although I readily admit I enjoy the human interest stories the most..... the headlines stuff, I can get anywhere....

I do read the sports section of the Boston Globe online....

Craig, great post. We are in the same predicament here in Belgium. The national press is suffering. Some members of Parliament are vowing to support the newspapers because they feel that an open and free press is the cornerstone of a democracy.

But Belgium is an interesting LITTLE country. We have many Parliaments and we are divided into 2 distinct linguistic regions. Both of these regions have their own newspapers, plus radio and TV channels. So in a country the size of perhaps Maryland, there is no shortage of politicians or duplication of effort. But given the squabbling between the Dutch speakers and the French speakers, a real unity is not foreseen, at least for now. Too many bad memories of when the French speakers controlled the whole country and disenfranchised the Flemish. Eventually the Flemish regained control of their region but the bad feelings have not gone away.

I am sure the French are not happy that the Prime Minister is always a Flemish person, but because of the voting structures and Constitutional reforms, the votes go along the population divide. Since 60% of Belgium is Dutch speaking, the minority French have never been able to get a majority vote for forming a government and choosing a Prime Minister...

Sorry for the tangent...

Keep the newspapers robust and available! !!!!

mardi gras nostalgia time:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/feb/23/new-orleans-mardi-gras-bars

Sturg -
Thanks for the little detour to Eudora Welty.

It's the world rolling over, it's not a recession. It's the death of the age of Gutenberg. He had a damn good run as ages go.

Nickola Tesla killed the newspaper.

Blonde -
A big howdy ..... glad you came by.
Grab a broom we're just pushing fish heads around, because we ran out of newspapers.

I don't know, flatus - if the articles are the same, I don't need to pay the same $.50 a day to see them in column inch format. But hey, to each his own. I used to love to go to breakfast at this little diner, get a paper and linger over it and breakfast. Sunday is now the only day I do that - and probably only do it once a month. I have no difficulty getting the info I want from the online editions - although I do miss that diner. Now if papers aren't around when I finally find a way to retire, I'll be pissed.

so philly is giving up newsparpers for lent.

one lent, i gave up saying bad things about people. hardest lent ever. emergency rule was if something negative slipped out, you had to say two good things about the person to atone.

now i just give up alcohol.... easier.

"...I wonder if we might be just a little bit sorry if they actually go away."

Craig, I think it'll happen so gradually, that most of us won't even notice. Transmitting news electronically just makes so much more sense, and at this point seems like just another natural progression. (much the same as light bulbs replacing candles).

I read your posts from last night Craig, and love the way you've taken control of your blog. You're the leader, and what happens here reflects on you. So in that way, it is your responsibility and I respect what you're doing here. That's progress too.

"one lent, i gave up saying bad things about people."

Patd, That would be like giving up gossip. Impossible!
And how could you possibly ever discuss politics and politicians without saying bad things. That would be impossible too. :)

c-bob...welcome to the paperless society...the vision of the 1980s during the rise of the electronic age. It is finally here!

"I'm thinking it might be called the Great Repression. Or the Great Regurgitation."

I don't know about 'great' anything. More like the 'pitiful' conclusion to the Bush administration. Cause and effect. You take all the decisions he made, all the choices, and what else could we have expected to happen. I know he didn't do it all alone, but it did happen during his watch, and he never even admitted it.

The top of TMP now -

Just released from Sen. Schumer's office ...

Schumer to GOP governors: Stimulus isn't a la carte menu

WASHINGTON, DC--Senator Charles Schumer released the following letter Tuesday urging the Obama administration to notify governors that they must certify acceptance of stimulus funding in full or not at all, rather than selectively approving and rejecting the law's various components.

February 24, 2009

Ball's in your court Gov. Bobby.

Senators Wyden and Bennett were on with the moron Chuck Todd talking about health care. They pointed out we currently spend over 8000 a year per person on health enough to hire a doc for every seven people (and pay the doc over 200k per year)

They need to take the insurance companies out of the equation --they suck up the money,

And Todd of course completely missed the point.

On Friday, the coalition government in Latvia — where the economy contracted more than 10 percent on an annualized basis last month — became the second European government, after that of Iceland, to collapse.

Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, demonstrators took to the streets Friday as depositors rushed to pull their money out of local banks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/business/worldbusiness/24euro.html?_r=1&hp

Other than the Harry Potter phenomenon, how many of you know children who actually read for pleasure? The trend for the last forty years has been more and more information in less and less time until now when we are swallowing headlines and then waiting for some TV or Radio talking head to tell us what they mean. You hear the results on TV and radio in mispronounced or misused words and grammatical errors. Even very bright people are becoming semi-illiterate.

The human brain adjusts to the speed at which it is expected to work. The brain that was once willing to wait for six or seven telephone rings to allow someone time to come inside to answer their land line, now has barely the patience to ring twice for someone to get a phone out of their pocket.

How many people have the luxury of time to read a paper over breakfast before going to work or kicking back after dinner to catch up on the news. We are spending more and more time involved in commuting and work while good Newspapers require time to digest.

Even the newspapers themselves are speeding up the process by making 4/5 of what they print some AP release or syndicated columnist and cartoons. In many ways we are returning to an age when a broadsheet would be posted on a window and someone in the crowd would read to the bystanders.

Unless newspapers can come up with some way to make people WANT to read long articles and be willing to pay for the privilege, they will cease to exist.

KGC...spot on about Todd and insurance.

xr, If you show up . . . got tied up yesterday and had to run out, so catching up.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/nationalizng-banks-needs-word.html#comment-203058

LOL. When I was an English major, Poe was my favorite dead author. I was a huge horror fan. Of course I read the classics, like Shelley and Stoker, but I also read some of Lovecraft - and was a fan of sorts, being basically skeptical and all. And of living authors, Stephen King and Dean Koontz, so no offense taken. Mrs. P doesn't like horror fiction at all, but LP seems to be developing a bit of an interest. Kid's doomed.

Renee - have a great trip to LaHout's. The deals should be phenomenal. Sigh.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203200

Blue, Someone used the term "fourth estate" around her and she misunderstood and misused the appelation.

A secret agenda is about to unfold upon the American people.

If I were a person of importance and wanted to push an agenda that went against the grain of most, I would have others do the work for me, let them take the credit or heat, and if placed into action, rejoice over my accomplishments.

I actually blame Madison Ave and the break-up of the family for the disaster. We've lost all sense of delayed gratification. Advertising gave us the "get it now" mentality and parents, especially dads, didn't teach earning what you get. (i've read reports that fathers normally teach this lesson in a family, our high divorce rates mean fathers spend less time with children)

I did a small video for mother's day one time, and it was amazing the brand awareness 5 and 6 year old kids had.

We need to get rid of the monopoly of HMOs. I think Ron Paul is right, open up health insurance to more collective bargaining. Of course, HMOs brought to us by Republican Richard Nixon.

Also, we need to insist doctors post rates and create incentives for patients to save on costs.

jamie - how true - all of it.

Not quite ready to let go of my daily newspapers (both the NYT & my local daily CT Post)---even though recyclying them each week is a nuisance.

And Pogo--most attorneys I know, still have a newspaper in their briefcase/file folder to pass the time waiting in Court. ( iphone/blackberry, etc. notwithstanding---that wrinkled folded up copy is still stuck in there.

Well written and thought provoking, imo.

The Big Test
“We cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing all of them.”

When I was a freshman in college, I was assigned “Reflections on the Revolution in France” by Edmund Burke. I loathed the book. Burke argued that each individual’s private stock of reason is small and that political decisions should be guided by the accumulated wisdom of the ages. Change is necessary, Burke continued, but it should be gradual, not disruptive...".

I fear that in trying to do everything at once, they will do nothing well. I fear that we have a group of people who haven’t even learned to use their new phone system trying to redesign half the U.S. economy.

...All in all, I can see why the markets are nervous and dropping. And it’s also clear that we’re on the cusp of the biggest political experiment of our lifetimes. If Obama is mostly successful, then the epistemological skepticism natural to conservatives will have been discredited. We will know that highly trained government experts are capable of quickly designing and executing top-down transformational change. If they mostly fail, then liberalism will suffer a grievous blow....."

oops, the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/opinion/24brooks.html?ref=opinion

off to work...must make sure the health insurance company gets its premiums...must make sure there is enough for co-pays, deductibles, penalties, etc. I am working for sickness....this is the true source of rot in our country.

Adios Blond -
I hear you.

Housing prices dropped 18% in the last 1/4 as compared wtih the prior year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/business/economy/25econ.html?hp

LOL. This morning my real estate agent friend called and asked if I was interested in buying this really nice place I looked at out of curiosity about 6 months ago and actually went so far as to put a lowball offer on, just on the offchance that the guy was hungry enough to bite. She said "He's realized he has to do what it takes to sell the place and he's willing to do it." I told her, you know, 6 months ago I might have done that, but now I'd be looking at knowing I'd take a bath on my house. I told her I'd JUSTread in the NYT that home prices dropped 18% in the last 1/4, compared with the 4th 1/4 of '07, and unless she had a buyer for my house at what it would have sold for it 6 months ago, I didn't think it was even worth considering. As they say, timing is everything. This is one great deal that I'll be passing on. Real estate agents - sheesh.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203209

Patsi,

Alan Keyes is very very popular among the far right groups such as the Republican Assembly and Eagle Forum. He has built his whole source of income for the past quarter century around speaking engagements and book sales to these groups.

He allows them to say, "we aren't prejudiced, see we like a black man" Even Steele doesn't play to their prejudices as much as Keyes does. He is a total cynic and manipulator.

"CNBC has done more to invoke anger and panic in the last week than any other news outlet out there. "

Absolutely true. Completely disingenuous and irresponsible.

Coreen, I'm the guy with USA Today in my briefcase - with a Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt sticker on it - it's the paper they give free in most of the hotels I stay in.

The rich are always envied, and vilified in the same thought. To some the rich can't be taxed enough, some believe they should be paid the same as the workers. A friend of mine of years gone bye, always thought if one was rich they became that way through unethical means. Odd point is my friend always dreamed of becoming rich, but lacked the aspiration/motivation to place those dreams into action, and was satisfied with the safety of collecting his pay check from the rich employer, and paying his bills to the rich who he owed the debt.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203264

What does that mean????

EAT THE RICH !!! Then are scum

Pogo we are talking about newspapers... not McPaper... ;-)

My intuition screaming danger about Timmy was right. And where was Lassie all this time?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-k-black/why-is-geithner-continuin_b_169234.html

“Mr. Geithner, as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since October 2003, was one of those senior regulators who failed to take any effective regulatory action to prevent the crisis, but instead covered up its depth”

….”Secretaries Paulson and Geithner subverted the PCA law by allowing failed banks to engage in massive accounting fraud (which also means they are engaged in securities fraud).”

Pogo beat me to it re: decline in housing prices but here is the companion to it:

U.S. consumer confidence collapsed to record low (25) ---the lowest level since data collecting began in 1967

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aL6kjgG.mveU&refer=home

There seems to be no end to the gloom/doom--so it will be interesting to see how Pres. Obama addresses the economic issues tonite.

actually I don't mind self-made rich people, so long as there is 100% inheritance tax when they meet their maker. Every new generation should have to fight as hard as anyone else to succeed, not just have the junkies' monies fall in their laps.

The Game Plan

Everything old is a new again:) Clinton redux

http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/02/imus-guest-paul-begala-game-plan.html

Follow-up to Pogo---Here if not the NYT/WSJ it is usually the NY Post/NY Daily News---Sports or more accurately New York sports teams.

Let's kick off the big parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty2ui0vY5Os

anyone remember ever hearing this?.....the best things in life are free......

As long as we remain a free we will be fine....a few bumps in the road, money down the drain, unfairness here and there, pain and suffering all around, but the ability to change our course remains very viable.

Have a great day, don't let the naysayers get you down.

~peace

Tom, isn't there an advantage in the privileges as far as schools, connections, family friends, location, etc..? How would you equalize that? In California being a trust fund baby was quite an insult as most of them didn't do anything productive.

I wonder as newspapers continue to migrate to electronics, if more emphasis won't be placed on the particular reporter. In other words, I wouldn't subscribe to CQ, I'd subscribe to Craig Crawford. Twitter is certainly a first step. I can subscribe to feeds, but I really follow particular journalists.

ET, LOL - But I'd have to buy a newspaper, and it would be a local one, which would have AP stories, local crime, accidents and fires (and I couldn't care less about those last 3 things). I get the Times and WaPo on my Blackberry or my laptop for nothing, the McNewspaper has all the national sports coverage I care about plus the same AP stories the local paper carries, generally a pretty good cover story, and it just lies patiently in wait for me to open the door when I leave my room in the morning. And it costs me nothing. It's an absolute no brainer for me. Oh, yes, and if I had a parakeet . . .

Coreen - those sound like real newspapers - unlike our local rags. :-)

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203256

Seven people would be $56,000 and doesn't create hospitals or testing, diagnostic, and operating personnel and equipment.

I've often wondered why some of these huge corporate offices didn't just hire a physician to be everyone's general practioner while paying for a Major Medical policy for anything he couldn't handle. A 500 patient practice at $25 a month each would be $150,000 a year.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203288

UB, like the McNewspaper at Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt? ;-)

Coreen,
That bloomberg consumer confidence collapse could make things sound much worse.

“Just when you think confidence can’t go any lower, the bottom falls out of it, and you can be sure the rest of the economy is not far behind,.. ...... If consumers’ spending matches their flagging spirits, this recession is going longer and deeper.”

"I am working for sickness....this is the true source of rot in our country."

It certainly is, Blonde. I have a friend (self-employed) who rages about "socialized health care" even though he has none. He has a savings account (like his hero Bush suggested) for any emergency, I think it is about $10,000. I would hate to tell him how little that would do during a catastrophic illness.

could=couldn't

pogo...lol....exactly what I was thinking..... you read my mind....

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203277

Truth, Most people don't object to someone else being wealthy as long as they worked for it and dealt honestly with those around them. In fact most people would like to join them or at least feel as if their work had enough value to guarantee survival.

The problem is that our modern ultra wealthy class didn't get there that way. They inherited and manipulated politics to their advantage, they voted each other higher and higher compensation, they injured the general public in order to get a bigger piece of the pie. These guys belong behind bars even when their actions were sorta kinda "legal".

http://www.healthhombre.com/articles/20090206_20

link to the text of the Wyden Bennett Healthy Americans Act

"He allows them to say, "we aren't prejudiced, see we like a black man" Even Steele doesn't play to their prejudices as much as Keyes does. He is a total cynic and manipulator."

Yes, indeed, Jamie. I like to think of him as a buffoon....but in reality...people like Keyes are more dangerous than it often appears.

Chloe,

It seems that all the indicators point to a crisis that has not yet bottomed out--that is why I continue to wonder just how effective the measures that Pres. Obama is implementing will be. I realize they must be taken--but I still wonder just where are we heading.

His task is formidable---and we have not yet considered health care, medicare, social security & on & on.

And for those who may care---as the grim economic news is delivered this a.m. & Bernanke speaks before Congress---the markets are up in early trading.

Remains to be seen if it can be sustained through the day.

Print magazines are going by the wayside too. Since January 1st, I've received 3 notices of monthly subscriptions that will no no longer be published. They'll be fulfilling my unfinished subscriptions with publications I wish had gone under instead.

Ivy,

There are times when I wonder if all of us dedicated readers will end up in a cloister somewhere keeping the flame alive while waiting for the dark ages to end in the outside world.

Ivy, I could wave g'bye to about half the magazines we get and never miss them. I subscribe to 3, Mrs. P subscribes to about 4, and LP gets 2. I swear they mate and multiply.

What's going on here?? Sparkling morning conversation. Insightful posts. Admissions that we don't have solutions. Just checked making sure I wasn't reading posts from mornings last year when we had lots of good discussions.

Yesterday or the day before, Jack mentioned that he was subscribing to a new foreign affairs journal. Which brings up the question of how many of us subscribe to scholarly journals, and what is the place of those journals in the context of the loss of substance in almost all our newspapers?

I've been reading the Wilson Quarterly almost since it first came out about 20-years ago. And, this morning, I was going through the Journal of the Army War College on-line. And I do get the Intelligencer which is a journal of U.S. intelligence studies. Though not journals, I do get the Atlantic and New Yorker and Economist, and a few 'lesser' publications.

In total, they make Stinky crazy because of the litter I have stacked in every corner of the house.

That aside, I try reading stuff I'm not particularly interested in because I think that's an obligation of people who think themselves worthy of sharing and evaluating opinion.

I wish I could say that I read most of what I subscribe to, but that would be untruthful.

lunch

Flatus it's a new era in the blog...

don1 was just asking in response to my disdain of wealth privilege, this question: "Tom, isn't there an advantage in the privileges as far as schools, connections, family friends, location, etc..? How would you equalize that? "

My short answer was: "I don't know"

I realize when I lash out at privilege and unearned wealth for the people who need it the least, I haven't a clue really how to change it. I can only carp about it.

Add bookstores and book publishers to the dino list

Book publishers, R.I.P.?
In this bad economy, it's tougher than ever to sell books

By Novella Carpenter, Special to SF Gate

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/02/24/moneytales022409.DTL

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203310

ET

What most people don't stop to consider is how much cheaper it is to be rich. This shows up in all sorts of little ways that the wealthy take for granted. The most obvious is interest. If you can pay cash for something rather than buying it on time. Whether is is an easy chair or the house it goes in, you save huge sums of money.

Do you have to have unpaid time off work to do anything from car repair to a desperately sick child.? It costs you more than the wealthy.

Do you have a freezer you can fill with a cow (not your pet cow Craig) or do you buy a can of Boyardee ravioli hoping to get some meat in the product?

Do you have friends who know friends who will give you the best possible deal or do you sit for hours in the car dealership hoping you will qualify for full sticker price on time?

Does virtually everything you buy have the potential for an increase in value such as art, jewels, gold, real estate, stock etc. (Except for gold these are hurting a bit right now, but your heirs will do just fine thank you).

Even the medical bills are lower simply because a wealthy lifestyle and nutrition is healthier than a poor one.

There is simply no way to make a society such as ours "FAIR". What you can do is give everyone as much of an equal start as possible. This is one of the reasons I believe all education from kindergarten to a bachlor degree or journeyman in a trade should be as close to free as humanly possible.

" haven't a clue really how to change it. I can only carp about it."

ROFL, Tom. I love you for saying that....and other reasons as well. :)

Jamie -- I used to tell people that it took a helluva lot of time, energy and money to be poor.

on the internet replacing newspapers front, here's an interesting piece from Chicago: http://tinyurl.com/d7k767

well.... I for one, used to buy a ton of books every year..... 2 yrs ago I decided to slow it down and use my library more frequently and actually read from the mountainous pile of books accumulating on my floor.....

but if I thought book publishing would actually go away..... I'd resume shoring up my private library starting now.....

hey KGC..... I've been thinking about you as I started on "The Omnivore's Dilemma" a couple days ago...... very interesting....

pasti - My neice is 2. How much of a situation could she have? I think you have me confused with someone else. : )

I just found the WA check story sad because this kind of stuff happens so much. We got two notices that W's stimulus check was on the way. The red tape industry is not suffering.

Not all of the money in the world has evaporated.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_saint_laurent_auction

Here's the site for the Chi-Town Daily News talked about in Craig link above.

http://www.chitowndailynews.org/

I find it similar to NYC Gothamist

http://gothamist.com/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203313

UB, They just announced a Kindle 2 and I'm tempted by the larger format. The idea of having a 1500 book library to hold in my hands is intriguing.

It won't smell or feel the same, but it would certainly be more convenient to haul around.

UB

Well Duh! That was the article you linked to. Teach me to read the whole thing before responding.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203315

Patsi

Way back when I was raising two kids with no support, I used to say, "Every time I get over the poverty line, they move it!!" :-)

lol....Jamie....

There are a lot more privileges than that Jamie. When you're rich you get catered to a lot. In the 90's when I was making good stock and cash in Silicon Valley I couldn't believe what just having a good account brought. It was actually cheaper to live than being poor if you didn't try to impress people.

Amazing story twittered by Dave Shuster.
Shuster1600 Working on 6pm "hypocrisy watch." Suggestions? It may be hard to beat this: http://tinyurl.com/ckyfnl

I think what you say is a good start Tom, I just wish poor people had better access to schools. A graduate degree is becoming as necessary as a high school degree 30 years ago, but the price of college has soared.

Tom,
Let me change that. 100% inheritance tax except for farms. That's hard work and a lifestyle, and I think they should be handed down within a family.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203258

My kids read for pleasure -- we unschool. Everything they read is for pleasure.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203318

Blue and Patsi -- It was my niece who has the "situation." She's 38 years old, single mom and has three children under 3. She used to have a husband, but he took off when she was 7 months along with the twins. The ex has never seen the twins -- he's good at staying disappeared and working for wages "under the table" to avoid paying support. She has a good job for a major insurance company, but she can't accept promotions that will put her just far enough outside the income limits for child care assistance.

There are lots of moms who can't get child care assistance without first going on welfare, because the waiting list is too long for parents who are already working. One thing this recovery package does do is increase the amount of Child Care Development Block Grant in amounts that will help most states clear the waiting lists for assistance. Moms should not have to go on welfare if they already have jobs and just need a little help with child care expense that do go down over time. (The older the child, the less expensive the cost of care.)

"Every time I get over the poverty line, they move it!! --Posted by: Jamie"

well now there's a hot candidate for COMMENT OF THE DAY

You're right, blue -- Divalacious wrote this: "My niece is turning down a promotion and a pay raise at her job because accepting that extra $35 per week will cost her $1300 per month in child care assistance -- which she needs to have in order to work. "

I mistakenly attributed it to you....

Craig, Now you have everyone talking about Gibbs' tie of the day.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203295

Patsi -- A friend of mine -- a very healthy guy -- clean liver, no smoke, drink or bad food -- recently collapsed with a cardiac arrhythmia. He was taken to the nearest ER for stabilization before he was sent to a larger hospital for treatment -- which involved many innovative medical techniques and surgeries. He's doing just fine now -- but his wife told me the bill she received from the ER for the initial "stabilization" was over $30,000.00 He was only there for a couple of hours. I don't want to ask what the amount of the bill was for the bigger hospital. Luckily, they both have really good insurance and what his policy doesn't pay, her policy will pay the rest.

by the way all, i'll be able to live blog Obama speech right here tonight, will put up a dedicated post before it starts

"Craig, Now you have everyone talking about Gibbs' tie of the day. -- Posted by: don1one"

ha, my work here on Earth is done then

don't one, don't hold your breath on that one. The federal estate tax has been a target of the right for years; the exemption is $2million last year, $3.5million this year, nothing next year, and $1million thereafter (federal only) and while the exemption has been successfully raised temporarily from $675k when Bush took office, it has not been due to the efforts of the Dems - although i wouldn't fall over dead from seeing the Dems limit the exemption before the tax sunsets. There is effectively a flat tax above the exemption rate (45% this year, nothing next year, then 55% thereafter). The Republicans have very effectively rebranded the estate tax as the Death Tax, and I could be wrong, but I do not believe the public would favor taking away much more than the roughly half of an estate than it currently does. I only wish I needed to worry about estate tax taking away any inheritance I might receive from my sole remaining uncle and aunt, or that LP might from me & Mrs. P.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203195

Uhhhh Ping????

"Protein in Cheese

The protein in cheese is of a high quality and contains all the essential amino acids required by the body for optimum growth, for this reason more of the cheese proteins are used for protein anabolism so there's less chance the protein in cheese will be converted to fat and stored.

The downside is cheese contains high fat levels so for weight loss it would be best to keep cheese portions down to a minimum. To obtain a complete protein source its much better to combine plant foods as these are very low in calories and contain more fiber.

All plant foods have a lower biological quality for protein as they lack certain amino acids required by the body however what some plants lack in others have in abundance so its possible to find foods that complement each other to make a complete protein source."

CHEESE iS A STRONG SOURCE OF PROTEIN

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203329

Don1 ... good one!

This song made me cry the first time I heard it...

TROUBLE IN THE FIELDS...

by Nanci Griffith performed with Maura O'Connell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l87JpWkbI0

Some of the timely lyrics:

Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain

Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow

[Chorus:]
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields

ET

Great response to Ping

everyone knows its the cheese that counts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6wZQBh_Bg8

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203331

Divalicious, It would be interesting to have a government report that laid out the costs of running the various welfare plans as opposed to the amount paid out in welfare. Charities have to do a cost to production ratio. Government should have to do the same.

All too often I think many of the programs disguise the fact that their money is spent more for personnell than actual services. Child support collection is a disaster in this area. The states charge usurous interest that makes it impossible for a man to get out of debt even if the children are grown. The state carries uncollectable funds as as "asset" on their books that helps disguise debt. The women and children see little of the money, and a whole lot of social workers, collection companies, agents and attorneys make a nice living off the government.

My blood pressure goes up every time I think about how "if I Ruled The World" I would handle welfare so that the mothers and children actually got to where they didn't need it ever again.

Unfortunately, the government doesn't like to go out of business even if they are losing money.

pogo,
I was thinking more as a character builder. Maybe the Dems should rebrand the death tax as personality growth opportunity.

Tom, I think they've found cheese prevents cavities too.

Craig, you're not going to be in the press pool room? Bet your'e hiding in Florida. :^)

3 more days.

A high school friend of mine found me via Facebook a few weeks ago. yesterday was a really bad day for her. It was the birth anniversary of her daughter Jamie, who was hit and killed by a driver who was not paying attention to the road. My friend is still angry all these years later and we were chatting and I was sharing my feelings and so forth. She and her husband survived their loss by divorcing their house rather than their marriage. They packed up from Minnesota and moved to Colorado. I found some songs that I felt spoke to the love, heartache and grief she and her husband were still carrying. I am sure most of you have heard this song... but it was so perfect I think, so I dedicated it to her...

The song is The Pretenders - HYMN TO HER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxSIZc4n6Nc

Not only is the song beautiful, but the band members are too! Always the DJ, I recommend you all listen if you haven't heard it before... xoxoxox

don't, that sounds a little too much like social engineering to me. I see where you're coming from, but like I said, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

"Every time I get over the poverty line, they move it!! --Posted by: Jamie"

well now there's a hot candidate for COMMENT OF THE DAY

Posted by: Craig Crawford Author Profile Page | February 24, 2009 1:42 PM

I like this 'Comment of the Day' thing.
I second that for Jamie, Craig.

Here's another good song, Tom. 'You Will Make It" by Jem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdGnQm43yHg

Tom, my first serious steady in high school bore a striking resemblance to Chrissie Hynde - except she couldn't sing or play the guitar. (Although I didn't know that until 8 years later when the Pretenders' 1st album hit the shelves). Ever since then, I haven't been able to see Chrissie or the Pretenders without thinking about that girl - and fondly I might add.

Interest on child support goes to the child or custodial parent
not the state. And the interest can be waived by the person to whom the money is owed. For the most part it is set by formula

Since my member of Congress Lynn Woolsey has made easier collection of child support her life's mission -- we know a lot about here.

http://family-law.lawyers.com/child-support/Interest-on-Past-Due-Child-Support.html

oh, you'll get no argument there from me, don't, except that flat tax thing. It would make it much easier on me - and I wouldn't have that "lost weekend" I have every April, but I'm a progressive tax advocate even though it doesn't serve to my personal benefit. Doesn't mean I agree with blatant social engineering, although I don't disagree with tax penalties and incentives to discourage/encourage behaviors that are patently detrimental/beneficial to the society as a whole. Getting everyone to agree on what those are, though, now there's the rub.

Twitter funnies:

GeorgeStephanopoulosGStephanopoulosWH menu: lobster bisque w beignets, seared Virginia bass w leeks and pot, pound cake w fruit compote and lemon sorbet

pourmecoffee@GStephanopoulos Dude, we're eating porridge out here, and not even good porridge. INSTANT porridge.7 minutes ago from TwitterGadget in reply to GStephanopoulos

jdickerson@GStephanopoulos go ahead and spell out potato and shorten Virginia to VA or @michaelphelps will start following you.

delrayserDuuuude. This bass is totally giving me the munchies. RT @GStephanopoulos: WH menu: seared Virginia bass w leeks and pot

KGC

Your member of Congress better check again. California is one of the worst for wasting child support money. It took a recent law change after years of fathers yowling to just be able to get one point of payment. Heaven help anyone who had child support cases in more than one country either past or present. The interest rates are horrendous and if they go to the mother someone needs to tell my Son In Law's ex. He pays her direct now but owes the state of California over $60,000 most of which is interest on interest.

Just to get a court date and hearing is a major fight. The system is set to assume the father's are crooks and most of the time they can't even get a case worker to call them back. When you add in having a driver's license canceled that you have to pay to reinstate so you can work just because somebody made a clerical error, it is a total nightmare.

That underground cash only economy is thriving very well because they really really punish the guys who try to pay.

kc, that makes sense because it mirrors the rule for interest that accrues on judgments - it makes sense because in most states, child support (and spousal support as well) is considered a judgment when it's due and until it's paid. Many states had statutory interest of 10% or so on unpaid judgments, although some states have modified that because of the low inflation rates over the past few years.

jamie, that is a huge issue here, as well. In fact all those points you made are. Of course there's a counter argument that applies to deadbeat dads. In short, the system absolutely sucks.

Craig, the dialog from Chicago was really interesting.

Cutting to the chase, here's a local paper in Gulfport, FL that has been filling the cracks from the absorption of the Independent by the Times decades ago:
http://www.thegabber.com/

My sense is that they have a devoted group of stringers who do the reporting job for next to nothing. Advertising pays for the cost of printing and distribution while covering the entrepreneurs living expenses.

Can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "I read it in the Gabber".

http://www.urban.org/publications/411838.html

I cannot speak to your son's specific problems but there have been reforms in this area and the idea was to make it easier to collect the money even so the arrears in California remain massive as many non custodial parents do not meet their obligations.

Who's going to Twitter Craig's blog output? :)

Bernanke: Recession may end in '09; Stocks climb

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHs5OM3gFG_DytQQZFbWfgPT08MAD96I2REO0

now clap your hands, believe in it or tinkerbell will die

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203359

oh wow, Flatus, you really take me back. I remember The Gabber from my law school days there. Great rag.

"Who's going to Twitter Craig's blog output? :) -- Posted by: Flatus"

ha, but then somebody will have to Facebook the Tweets of the Blog -- the infinite loop

Flatus, Craig's multitechnilingual.

The legacy of Gitmo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/world/europe/25france.html?hp

"Paul-Albert Iwens, the lawyer for Mr. Khalid, told Reuters news agency that the court refused “to let it be said that a police agency could question people detained on foreign territory in conditions that go against international conventions.”

And so it goes.

pogo,
I think if you taxed everything but basics it would be progressive, and encourage people to save and invest.

Poor people spend most of their money on basics, so they'd pay the least tax. As you go up the scale more money would be collected, if not a higher percentage.

BTW, since drinking alcohol is now healthy and no longer a sin, shouldn't its sin tax be repealed?

"Interest on child support goes to the child or custodial parent
not the state. "

I'll tell you how they make a huge amount of money, though. When my checks came through the state, my ex had them in every month by the 1st....but they didn't issue me a check for about 10 days (supposedly to, make sure the check cleared). But the fact is, those checks earned interest on those ten days...multiphy it by millions of dollars...

Even in the waronterra there's a little bit of justice here and there/

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/24/us/AP-Pentagon-Spy-Probe.html

Oh, I should make sure to say that my ex wanted to pay through the state...to keep the record "clean." I didn't ask him to, because although his payments were very small compared to what I really needed for two kids, he always paid and on time. (Didn't want to trash him...)

SOTU Update -- US Air 1549 crew spotted in DC today.

burris deal in the making at afternoon mtg?

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/02/burris_back_in_senate_mum_on_2.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203360

KGC,

My son in law had a somewhat special case. His son's mother remarried and asked him for the okay to have the new father adopt. He agreed and signed. Years after the fact when he went pay for the three children of another woman who had moved to New Mexico, he ran smack dab into the State.

The first mother had at some point divorced and gone on welfare naming him as the father even though he had signed away his rights years back and had no contact with her or their son. He got hit with principal, interest, interest on interest ... it was a nightmare. He still doesn't have a clue about the location of the now grown son he hasn't seen since he was less than a year old.

The second mother was no problem except that there had been a period when he was in Utah and she was in California before the move to NM and he didn't know where she was ... again, principal, interest, and interest on interest. This is the one he pays direct now while fighting to clear the arrears with the state.

Admittedly he had a rather bad habit when young of increasing the population, but has always been a good dad to the NM family and his daughter by my daughter since their marriage and always tried to support them.

The problem is that the State wears blinders. It is probably the sheer weight of the case load, but there is no attempt to treat these cases as individuals only pegs to be pushed into the regulatory hold whether it fits or not.

He was willing to fight his way through and get the whole mess straightened out, but there were several times when he was ready to just quit, hand the car keys to my daughter and take nothing but cash jobs or stay home to play housewife.

"oh wow, Flatus, you really take me back. I remember The Gabber from my law school days there. Great rag." Craig@3:04

As I started looking through the current edition, I started remembering how good it really was/is. I was really surprised that they've managed to do it in color. In the middle 90s I visited their office and saw how they put it all together on an Apple Mac. Truly a labor of love.

The Stetson grads I knew were a competent bunch. I toyed with applying there after I finished my EMBA. Fortunately I came to my senses.

Jamie

It sounds like the adoption didn't go through because in California --it is one of the few instances where support is waived - if you give up parental rights to allow adoption.

I am sympathetic to anyone who gets caught in an apparent catch 22. In terms of losing touch etc. the courts don't allow that as an excuse because you can always pay to the court.

One of the reforms in Cal was the unification of all support programs/collections into one agency...in 1992.

lynnsweet

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) just confirmed---Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) tells him he is not resigning.

KGC

That unification was what saved them. Of course the Counties fought the transfer of cases tooth and nail. They didn't like that law at all. There was also a glitch about no more than two counties could be joined or some such rule.

My daughter and SIL had to go to court three different times to get a judges order enforced that all of the cases had to be joined with payment to only one entity so that the arrears on interest could be negotiated. They have it ironed out now but it took about ten years of insanity to get it done. Of the five children only the two youngest (now in their teens) are getting support, but he will be paying state until he is 60.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203355

If Willie is to be believed, it won't be the first time pot was served at the White House.

Okay Twitter literate. How do you see what others are saying to somebody you are following. I receive what they type. If I go to their home page all I see are what they type. How do you read what others say to them?

And so the English language grows:

"Twit-cision. noun. a decision made that has relevance only to the twitter-verse. In all other -verses it is non-sensical and ridiculous."

Andrea Seabrook of NPR about calling tonight the NSOTU speech
(Not the State of the Union)

---------------------------------

I think it sounds like an area in Africa as in "I'm from Ensotu"

"The problem is that the State wears blinders."

So true, Jamie. I have a friend whose won went through hell because his wife (who had sole custody of their two year old son) was living in another state, and got busted. By the time he was notified, the two year old was in the foster care system. And because he was from out of state and didn't share custody, he had to go through hell and high water to get his son back. It was complicated by the fact that the factory where he worked had laid him off severl weeks before it all went down. He had to move in with his parents, and they had to get involved....all bad. He did finally get the littleboy back, and all is fine now....but much could have happened while that baby was in the state's care.

N'awluns can be a dangerous place.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/24/us/AP-Mardi-Gras-Shooting.html?hp

Folks shot along Mardi Gras parade route. Just think - only one month ago the article would have gone on to note (in obligatory fashion) that there was no indication that the shooitngs were terror related.

And with that I bid you adieu.

Gasoline prices continue to march up -- something needs to be done or it will put the kaboosh on recovery.

KGC, I kind of look at the rise as a leading indicator that the petrol consuming countries are over the worst of their decline. I can't believe that OPEC price rises have in fact stuck. The rise is most likely the result of increased demand.

At least I hope so.

Flatus

Obama needs to jawbone Exxon and the other gasoline providers. Letting gas sky rocket again especially in the face of lower crude prices should not be allowed.

Jamie
You have to read the site of both senders.
So if you see @craig_crawford replies to my message about Gibbs' ties, you'd have to go to @don1one to see what I sent.

Unless of course my account is locked (why would anyone want to lock a twitter account?) or it's a Direct Message.

I have some people that don't follow me where I have to use a @public_message to send to them that reply to me with a Direct Message, and you can't see the Direct Message portion.

BTW, one of the most secure ways to chat? Skype.

Crude is down, so it has to be demand out of the refineries. Which means the refineries are cutting back production to create an artificial demand. Like wii game boxes.

Oil companies have been able to merge to the point there's no real competition left.

The way technology goes, I'm committed to at least try the new things. Too many people my age are sitting over on AOL trading kitten pictures and forwarding Republican talking points to their address books.

I suggested to one that she at least check Snopes before forwarding something, but she didn't know how and was scared of "catching something" from the internet. It's understandable to fall farther and farther behind, but I won't go easily. :-)

The gasoline companies are terrorists not acting in the best interest of the country --nationalize them! :)

Given how much money Exxon made last year, they can afford to give up some money for the greater good.

I did see some reporting that gas prices after rising the last two weeks have started to drop -- I think people really need to complain when they see they starting to go up for no reason.
The gas companies are criminals.

Something everyone can do to save water and energy...

February 25, 2009
The Curious Cook
How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?
By HAROLD McGEE

SOME time ago, as I emptied a big pot of pasta water into the sink and waited for the fog to lift from my glasses, a simple question occurred to me. Why boil so much more water than pasta actually absorbs, only to pour it down the drain? Couldn’t we cook pasta just as well with much less water and energy? Another question quickly followed: if we could, what would the defenders of Italian tradition say?

After some experiments, I’ve found that we can indeed make pasta in just a few cups of water and save a good deal of energy. Not that much in your kitchen or mine — just the amount needed to keep a burner on high for a few more minutes. But Americans cook something like a billion pounds of pasta a year, so those minutes could add up.

My rough figuring indicates an energy savings at the stove top of several trillion B.T.U.s. At the power plant, that would mean saving 250,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil, or $10 million to $20 million at current prices. Significant numbers, though these days they sound like small drops in a very large pot.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25curi.html?_r=1&ref=dining&pagewanted=print

Unemployed? Become a fake employee.
http://tinyurl.com/asqkjl

"have a friend whose won went through hell "

Meant to type, "whose son"

"...dicking around with this [health care] for years...???" Tweety is such a potty mouth.

Senator J. Webb on tv a short time ago saying his people in southwest Virginia are favorable toward the stimplan once they understand what it will do (after he helped fix it, of course). Since I was in the region last week, I heard the same things and other supportive comments from dyed-red-in-the-wool-folks I know well. One even said to me, "I'm surprised he (the Prezbo) is doing a better job than I thought." Repo's beware...your folks may not be buying your product.

Well it has been on the agenda To Be Done for at least 60 years while US health care has gone into the garbage dump with declining health and life expectancy for higher and higher costs.

A potty mouth may be the only effective way to voice frustration.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203393

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.

Earth Hour will next take place on Saturday, March 28 2009 at 8:30 pm, local time.

(I will participate)

"Too many people my age are sitting over on AOL trading kitten pictures....."

Jamie, I'll bet you a dollar that those people trading kitten pictures on AOL have a much lower blood pressure and level of circulating adrenalin than those trying to keep up with twits from any news people following the mess going on in the world today.

Champ, will you remind us again on that day and can we use a laptop if we unplug it and run it on battery power?

Thanks for the info Champ

I will participate too.

Also if you have "instant on" feature on your television turn it off --you can do without it and it means your television is on all the time --
Vampire Appliances
http://saving-energy.suite101.com/article.cfm/standby_vampire_appliances

Another newspaper threatens to go away. I'll bet a lot of people in SF would be happy to see it go.

SFGate
Back to Article
SFGate
Hearst seeks changes at Chronicle

Hearst Newspapers

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

(02-24) 14:30 PST NEW YORK -- The Hearst Corp. today announced an effort to reverse the deepening operating losses of its San Francisco Chronicle by seeking near-term cost savings that would include "significant" cuts to both union and non-union staff.

In a posted statement, Hearst said if the savings cannot be accomplished "quickly" the company will seek a buyer, and if none comes forward, it will close the Chronicle. The Chronicle lost more than $50 million in 2008 and is on a pace to lose more than that this year, Hearst said.

Frank J. Vega, chairman and publisher of the Chronicle, said, "It's just a fact of life that we need to live within our means as a newspaper - and we have not for years."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/24/BUannounce.DTL&type=printable

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203402

Carol, Some of them are just plain scared ... technology is leaving them so far behind. I don't even begin to try to use this stuff to its full capacity, but I want to know how it works so that I can at least stay even.

ct,
and they're the ones that voted for Bush, twice.

The Secretary of Housing looking like he just graduated from High School.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/22/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4818576.shtml

Just what I do to keep up with what is going on leaves me a nervous wreck. I keep telling myself I need to take a time out but like a addicting drug or the chocolate candy in the frig, it sucks me back.

Newt will be live blogging and twittering. Craig will be live blogging and twittering. Shuster will be twittering. Hamsher will be twittering.

Just when we are running out of newspaper for the cages.

Don, I still can't believe it happened twice, voting for Bush that is.

I had a post I wrote this morning but it was so full of gloom and doom that I wouldn't post it. I came up with a phrase to fill in Craig's the Great whatever... Our era is the Awakening from the Great Denial. We are just starting to see the light and it is very dark.

You really need "no technology" days, which includes tv. The constant bombardment by data is very stressful, not to mention bad news all of the time. And it is addictive, that's why people who carried the first internet ready phones were called crackberry addicts. I'm guessing there's a dopamine high in their somewhere.

My favorite is camping where I can't get phone or internet reception.

But I would hate to see us as a nation go back to the 'head in the sand' attitude of the last 8 years.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203412

Don1, That is one of the reasons I like Asilomar so much. No Phones in the rooms and a straight walk to the Pacific Ocean. Talk about totally unwind. The Chalets at Bass Lake are much the same. You have to request that the phone be turned on.

A couple of nights a week, I just shut everything down and curl up in my favorite chair to read for several hours. Does great things for your peace of mind.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203403

There's no rules, ct, do as you please. It's billed as a public awareness campaign rather than a conservation campaign, and the "organizers" just ask non-essential lights be turned off during that span. I'm going to shut my whole house down just to help compound my efforts towards conservation, and maybe I'll get some sleep that night.

I'd estimate the average American household is burning about 1 kW on lights if they use incandescents, maybe another 2 kW with TVs and appliances running, so multiply 3 kWh times 1 million American (a tall order, of course) households participating... could be a significant effort; maybe not, I don't know. The campaign is being promoted internationally, so "what the hell", I say.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203412

Actually we are really far behind totally wired countries such as Japan. I love their phone as credit card / ATM system.

Jamie, have you ever been to the Kalaloch Lodge on the Olympic peninsula? Wonderful place. I stayed there a couple of times. There wasn't any TV or phone in the rooms I stayed in.

At 9 PM EST tonight, new thread for chatting up Obama speech

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203416

I've been nagging at my son that the family needs to do that. If he doesn't go for it, I'm doing it on my own this summer.

Now, Jamie....hush about AOL -- I still use that email and wouldn't give it up....every other email system I've used has screwed me around in one way or another -- losing address books, blocking people for no reason...it goes on and on. But other than email, I don't know what AOL does anymore. :)

I'm about to get a quick course in twitter and all kinds of things from my book company though....their marketing manager sent me a list of stuff they expect me to know about...YUK!

CT,
I remember talking to a pastor about Bill Clinton and Bush, with the pastor telling me how great Bush was. When I actually started putting out facts about all Clinton had done for families vs. Bush the pastor turned around and walked off. Cognitive dissonance in action. If it doesn't fit your beliefs just ignore its existence.

There just seemed to be a thick wall you couldn't break through.

I think young people were turned off in '04 by the underhanded way Dean was torpedoed. The mainstream wanted him out and they used the Dean scream to do it, but young people see through things quickly.

Now we have a youth that has been active and knows first hand the price of letting politicians do what they want. I'm hoping they stay active and I think they will. They're bright and connected and well organized.

I think Jamie has a great way of balancing the news and real life. We have to break away and connect with real things life family, friends, and nature. This, like all things, will pass soon enough.

Tampa, 2 days.

I think that twittering is just a ploy to get people to drink more coffee. I bet you need a lot of coffee to keep up with all those messages coming in.

Claire McCaskill is hanging out Sean Connery ... I'm jealous.

The recession ate my homework..........

"But I would hate to see us as a nation go back to the 'head in the sand' attitude of the last 8 years."

I stayed outraged most of the last 8 years -- but I'm sorry to say that for long periods of time during the Reagan years, my head was deep in the sand. I couldn't stand to watch him or much news....

The trouble with Twitter is that people are having way too much fun with it. Just imaging attacking all who irritate you with a Monster Attack

http://twitter.com/monsterattack

Enough blame to be shared by the out going ,and the new POTUS.

For those of us planning on keeping track of the big government, big spending proposals in President Obama's first address to Congress tonight, here's the key: Start with $3.6 trillion. Add from there.

$3.6 trillion is the total amount of new debt that Washington politicians have made taxpayers responsible for thanks to the Bush-Obama big spending, big government, big politician approach to fixing the economy.

Add up all the Bush and Obama spending and stimulus bills of the last year, plus the interest on the debt that they create and that's (conservatively) what you come up with.

$3.6 trillion. That's real money, even in Washington.

Newt Gingrich

This is one of the reasons I believe all education from kindergarten to a bachlor degree or journeyman in a trade should be as close to free as humanly possible.

Jamie
I like the way you think and I wish this also.I look at the way other countries educate there people and it pisses me off the US lags so far behind.Sadly there's no sense of Urgency to change things and we seem content with dropout rates hovering around 50% in some US cities.I have a 22 yr old niece who would love to go to school but she has to work full time just to pay the bills with nothing left over to pay for an education! If we don't educate are people how to we expect to remain a relevant country?

otz! is a 1947 novel by Walter Karig and a 1962 movie, directed by William Castle, about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization.

Plot

Ancient Eastern languages professor Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston) finds a cursed amulet. Jones obtains powers to cause pain or slow movement, and even kill. He immediately suffers the consequences of his discovery: Jones realizes that when he points at another living creature, it causes a great pain. This prevents any intimate encounters with a woman. It is a metaphor of the age of nuclear weapons (the novel was written 2 years after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

In the movie, Jones tries to warn Department of Defense and get rid of the amulet. But he is taken as a madman. Then the Soviet Union gets interested and the adventures begin. It's a comedy.

wiki

oops.....that's ZOTZ

Truth,

I notice Newtie Newt didn't bother to mention the total for that little off budget war that put us so far in debt that we were unprepared to manage the shock of the housing crisis when all the Middle Class folks who had been picking up the tab for the tax cuts to the wealthy finally ran out of credit.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203420

Don 1
Glad able to get away to Florida.The weather looks nice for you.I'm over on the East Coast of Florida straight across from Tampa.Enjoy and don't forget the Manatee's....

Looking forward to what we won't hear at tonight's SOTU. No strategery, axis of evil, stay the course, global war on terror, fear, fear, etc.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203433

Alicia
Ha Ha,I hadn't thought about it like that but nice....

David Gregory with an Obama quote from today:

President today on the difficulties of the job: "by the time it gets to my desk, it's really hard."

"Enough blame to be shared by the out going ,and the new POTUS."

Total BS, TiR. TOTAL.

This president is not to blame for this mess. Bush, his war, his catering to business and banking and giving tax breaks to gazillionaires is to blame. I will concede that some people like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank played a role in that they turned their back...and Biden is of course in the pocket of the credit card crime family...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203311

KGC -- Libraries are doing a booming business. Our neighborhood Borders is still busy, but maybe people aren't buying as much. To me books are kind of recession-proof like getting my hair done or enjoying cocktails. I'll cut back in other ways to afford special treats when I can. My margarita therapy nights out with girlfriends are now only twice a month instead of once a week.

I want to support independent booksellers -- like City Lights in SF and Powell's in PDX and Politics and Prose in DC. There is a small indy here in Fredericksburg, Griffin Books, that I will try to support.

The Washington Post ombudsman tries to explain away George Will's baloney.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3727

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203374

KGC -- Thanks for filling me in on that hearing. Good to know. Wanna bet that President Obama points out the crew sitting in the gallery tonight?

Di, Maybe not but if you listen between the words you might hear a little fear.

I don't wanna go..........larry verne.........

1960

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_X_7ktnQ

Champ - thanks, and I do hope you remind us the day before or so.

I agree completely re using less water to cook past, and have been doing so for years, kinda sheepishly since I didn't think it really mattered. Why so much water? wasteful and dangerous!

I saw a news crawl that said Duke Ellington was to be the first African-American on a coin - really? I wonder how they made that choice - I think it's great - but why not Louis?

I am slowly becoming convinced that repubs, esp Jindal (what a doofus), are frightened of Obama. They don't seem to want to do anything but be a drag on Obama. Every complaint they make is a re-hash of the complaints they tossed aside re Bush as being silly.

pony soldiers on edge of the outskirts of the great frontier.......riding hell bent for leather........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVwFADi4Y38

3 on a match

louie and duke........that mooooood indigo..............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBeu9K2F2vA

One of my favorite Dr. Demento selections was on the same page as Please Mr. Custer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAg-CyE4qnA

Bethy

Ellington was the public's choice for the District of Columbia quarter

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h2gvjydY3PJ7jsStgz3IhEP-X4gwD96I43BG0

Duke Ellington - Take the A Train (Ella Fitzgerald)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhK-zYfFsIY

I'm looking forward to the President's spech!

MY SIL and her wife have an electricity-free day once a week. They just don't use anything electric, except the fridge. No lights, computers, TV. I wonder what it saves on their bills. They do cook on a gas stove. My house is all electric, so that would be hard. I could cook outside on the grill. During Hurricane Isabel a few years ago we were without power for a full week. Cold showers, no a/c, no TV, no fridge/freezer. We ate up all the ice cream and popsicles, had big cookout with all the neighbors in our front yards. Everyone just rolled the grills out to the sidewalk, cooked up all our meat and shared everything. It was great fun at first, but the novelty of no electric wore off completely by the fifth day

30 minute countdown to live speech thread

Dizzy and Bird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clp9AeBdgL0

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203442

Pasta water gets saved in Australia to use in the garden, or to cook vegetables in.

My friend just moved back there after 10 years in the US, AU has been going through a 10 year drought. She sai dthey save bath water, take "Navy showers," don't flush each time (letting yellow mellow, etc.) Dishwashing water is conserved to use for in gardens, there are some homes that have grey water cisterns to recycle all rinse water, including shower/bath water. No grass watering, no car washing unless at certified recycled water carwashes. Lots of swimming pools and fountains closed down.

If Obama is going to extend troops in Iraq, will the cost finally go on the budget submitted to Congress?

Well, as Craig stated, the Newspapers were having problems before this recent downturn. In fact, they hyped our recession so, they are now victims of the mindset they spun against the GOP. For those who think most people respect Newspapers, I suggest they take a look at the Pew Study on Excellence in Journalism. Besides being slow to the internet, misplaying classified and cutting back basic human resources gathering news, Newspapers hurt their own reputation.

Some media went towards the Right, but far more went partisan Left. Instead of objective journalism, they engaged in political manipulation. The NYT is a case study. How did they handle Spitzer's licenses for illegals or the vetting of TARP? They endorsed Hillary and then undercut her. While Syria was building an illegal nuclear facility, the NYT advocated lifting sanctions against Assad. When Israel struck they questioned Israel motives and story. Now they push the IAEA’s new Syrian uranium findings towards the back. Do they run in-depth stories about all those German corporations selling banned technology to Iran as they advocate against the “ineffectiveness” of sanctions? And how many black eyes did the NYT get in 2009? I could give numerous examples from WAPO, LAT and others who used the Press to spin political and ideological positions over reporting. People can get that stuff on the internet along with Hi Res photos. In short, Newspapers wandered far from reporting and investigative reporting. It was not the NYT’s place to declare Iraq Lost. It was their job to report the facts and inform readers of various options.

Maureen Dowd at the Times thinks the restrictions on her dining account are laughable. The swelling of pundits (and their egos) and op-ed bandwidth given their personal rants works against the Newspaper's reputation. Long gone are the days of Franklin.

What would he recommend?

1. Exploit your delivery system by giving consumers something internet can't. Papers aren’t elite newsletters but should address the population they serve.

2. Print a balanced op-ed page while remaining the messenger, not the message. When you are wrong, like Ben was on vaccinations, apologize and try NOT TO REPEAT BAD MANAGEMENT.

3. Never print things designed to harm rather than inform. Again, I point to the NYT attacks on McCain. The reporting of the Kennedy grab for Senator was awful. Their reporting of the NIE on Iran was negligent and failed to even remember their own reported facts to the contrary.. Giving Ayers time to lie without counterpoint was unprofessional, as was keeping McCain from addressing the Obama op-ed.

To sum, the message and the “professionalism” play a huge role in why Newspapers are dying. I find it ironic that the NYT has to remortgage their over-priced prison like headquarters just to stay alive while they were silent regarding mortgages as our recession unfolded many months ago.

NEW THREAD -- Live Speech Blog

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/live-blog-obama-speaks.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/02/the-recession-that-killed-news.html#comment-203452

Div, I did all of those water savings things myself during our southern drought two summers ago. Water use was "policed" in our county... people ratted on their neighbors who sneaked out to water grass at night...violators were threatened with jail. Some of the good habits I have retained...buckets in the shower, catching rainwater at the downspouts, grass still gets to live or die on its own...

NEW THREAD

Pats, you neglect to see the long time connection between ACORN and Obama. Do you really think we all don't know that Obama favored the position of ACORN as they picketed banker's home to make mortgages easy to get. Take a look at the hostory of the person who lead Obama's economic team during the primaries. Tony Rezko is a great example of what went wrong, so please spare us the teflon for Potus.

And can you quite me Obama going after Dodd and Tarp? Do we even know where all the money a Democratic Congress authorized, went? It was more than Dodd and Franks. The start goes back to Clinton and I voted for him twice.