Reason Number Gazillion I Love My Wife

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When our washer and dryer decided to break down simultaneously, and we discovered that they are basically computers that happen to wash clothes, and that getting them fixed would involve more computer-type repair than mechanical repair, we blew a gasket. Well, I blew a gasket and ran out the door and headed for work while yelling something to Celeste along the lines of, “If you have the chance today just go to the store and get a new (insert favorite cuss word here) washer-dryer set. I don’t care what it is I just want it to work!”

That was Monday morning. Monday afternoon Celeste sent me a text saying she’d purchased our new washer and dryer. She also said she’d picked colors that made a “(Insert favorite curse word here) you, I don’t care if they go out of style” statement.

I love that woman.

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The Perfect Gift for the Boss Who’s a Real Sh-, uh, You Know

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Add this to the closet-full of things I wish I'd thought of: PoopSenders.

We will send your friend or enemy a healthy helping of some of the nastiest, stinkiest, fresh poop packages you have ever seen. We have several varieties of poop that we can send, including a special poop of the month. Go to the order page to see what's on special this month.  

Wanna Know the Facts? Ask an Independent

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One of those polls that show exactly how uninformed we are has hit the newswires.  It reaffirms, once again, that the average adult in the United States has no idea what's going on in the world unless it appeared on Oprah or Entertainment Tonight. Normally I'd have ignored it but then I saw the graphic titled "Party Identification and News Awareness" that shows the breakdown by political party of what percentage of respondents answered each question correctly.  What it shows is that if you want to know what's going on in the world your best bet is to ask an independent since they were right more often in nine out of eleven categories. (h/t to John Robinson for the pointer to the poll)

If It Ain’t Nailed Down…

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Man, you know times are tough when people steal crops:

Deputies in Yadkin County are investigating the theft of crops from two fields…

In that case, farmer Billy Dale Harris reported that about five buckets of green beans had been harvested from his land…

Four days later, a farmer on Simmons Patton Road in Jonesville reported that corn was missing from a field.

If the Winston-Salem Journal Did This Esbee Would Lose Her Mind

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LancasterOnline.com is charging a fee to browse obituaries:

Fresh on the heels of a story posted by my LR colleague Cory Bergman about paying fees to leave online comments, is news that a local paper in Pennsylvania is charging readers to view death announcements. The obituary section of LancasterOnline.com now has a paywall.

LancasterOnline.com, the online news affiliate of Lancaster Newspapers Inc,. launched the obituary fee on Monday. Out-of-county online readers will be charged $1.99 per month, or $19.99  per year, if they view more than seven obituaries in a month. Local online readers, subscribers, or any out-of-county readers who only look at a few obituaries a month online will not be required to pay a fee. 

I would pay good money to see Esbee's face if the Winston-Salem Journal's site did this.  I think the head spinning would be Excorcist-esque.

The Press

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From the Freakonomics blog I've learned that scientists who might be involved with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are being coached to deal with the press.  For my journalist friends out there does this sound like an accurate description of the press to you?

the IPCC also offers a background memo, produced by Resource Media, with tips for dealing with journalists. It describes journalists generally: “overworked,” “underpaid,” and “inquisitive” — but also “skeptical,” “jaded,” and “world-weary.” (Sounds about right to me.) It tells the researchers what journalists want (“something new,” e.g., or “something that moves them”) and offers advice for handling an interview, including preparation, focus, and communication style: “Don’t assume any level of knowledge. In most cases reporters know less than you think they do.” (Also sounds about right to me.)

Paid Free Speech

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A while back it became standard practice for most newspapers to allow comments on the web versions of their stories.  Personally I thought it was a necessary step, and I thought it would make for a kind of interactive version of "Letters to the Editor."  Now my opinion is that if you judge a population by the comments left on the websites of news organizations then we're a bunch of flaming idiots.

At least one newspaper has decided to try and make some lemonade with their commenting lemons.  It's going to charge people who want to comment on stories:

From tomorrow, the Sun Chronicle, a Massachusetts paper, will charge would-be commenters a nominal one-off fee of 99 cents. But it has to be paid by credit card, which means providing a real name and address.
And the name on the credit card will be the name that will appear on comments. So it's goodbye to anonymity.
At the same time, the poster must acknowledge that he/she will abide by US state and federal law and agree to be legally responsible for any content he/she posts.

They won't make a dime, but I have to give them an A for effort.