Looking for a little bedtime reading? Check out this site, which has links to transcripts of all of the State of the Union speeches dating back to 1913.
My, how times have changed…or not.
State of the Union Speeches from 1913
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Virginia Postrel Has a Point About Blogging, er Writing
In her blog Virginia Postrel comments on Andrew Sullivan’s decision to give up his blog. Here’s what she said:
Even the few brilliant scholars (Tyler Cowen, Eugene Volokh, Grant McCracken) who make blogging seem like it should
foster serious thought limit their posting to topics they want to mull
over in public. Current-affairs blogging of the
Sullivan/Instapundit/name your favorite type is inherently quick,
dirty, and disposable. It may add to the public discourse, but it
doesn’t tend to deepen the blogger’s own thinking. That, plus sheer
laziness, is why this blog has never promised more than a few posts a
week, and why I’ve given up my think-magazine-editor instincts to voice
an opinion on everything. For a full-blown argument, I want to write
something for a sizable audience and get paid. And I don’t really want
to post half-baked ones.Right now, I’m researching a couple of long-term projects–one
on variety and one on glamour–and (barely) financing the research,
which involves some travel and reporting, with article assigments.
Blogging will be quite light through February."
She’s quite right. Although I think you can support the point that "instapundit" blogging (er, writing) is very time consuming. That’s because the best "instpundits" seem to be the most well-read, insatiable consumers of comments, fact, fiction, news, rumors, innuendo, etc. They "cut" the pieces they like, "paste" it in their blogs (or columns, or whatever), reference the original and then spice it with their own comments.
Sounds simple but like anything done well it takes time, toil and talent. And anything that takes the three Ts generally leads to burnout. And honestly I think it leads to readers’ grazing as well; we get bored of the same-old, same-old. Our appetite changes and we move on to other writers, covering the same issues, but perhaps in a pithier manner.
Which leads me to think that the blogs, er writers, with legs will actually be those with consistent depth and thoughtfulness, not necessarily those with a focus on rapidity and breadth. That helps keep the reader and writer focused and engaged.
Final point: I’m also beginning to think that we will all begin to feel RSS overload. I know I am. I’m deleting feeds left and right because I just can’t read them all. Which do I keep? Let’s just say that most of the feeds I keep average 3 or fewer posts a day.
NC Has Litigious Idiots Too
Read an article on the W-S Journal’s site about a father in Durham who sued a school over his kid’s grade.
Now, my wife and I have had some problems with how our youngest son’s teacher grades some of his stuff (always with literature and her too-literal interpretation of the stories being reviewed), but if we’ve got a problem with it we take it up with the teacher. If that doesn’t work then we have the "life isn’t fair" talk with our son. If it goes too far I’m sure we’ll have a talk with the teacher’s boss. But sue?
What kind of message is this guy sending his daughter? Granted the school is a highly competitive atmosphere that draws the "best-of-the-best" type crowd, but that doesn’t justify this kind of behavior. After all these kids are bright, and probably as capable as any of understanding the vagaries of life.
On the other hand suing someone or something when you don’t get what you want seems to be becoming the American way, so I guess we can call this a good civics lesson.
Oh, and I got this item off the Journal’s RSS feed. Good job guys!
The Importance of Grandparents
I just finished reading a great article in Dana Blankenhorn’s newsletter, This Week’s Clue , on the important role of granparents in our society and the "warehousing" treatment that many grandparents experience today. He argues, accurately, that our society needs to realize the positive impact that grandparents have on our families specifically and our society generally, and that we need to come up with a better way to treat them.
Dana, as always, puts it much more eloquently and I encourage you to read the entire article, but I thought I’d excerpt it rather liberally to share what I think are his most important points:
Some 1.5 million Americans today live in nursing homes, most of them
women, many of them over 85, most of them on some sort of government
assistance. They are under increasing risk of physical abuse, and every
effort to prevent that abuse (by law or litigation) is met by an
industry demand for carte blanche. Rising insurance rates, rising costs
of meeting government requirements, means higher costs and less money
for care, they argue, often successfully…People need people. Robots can provide for our physical needs,
computers can assure our safety and comfort, but at the end of the day
it’s the presence of other humans in our lives that makes life worth
living.Most people in nursing homes don’t have that. Families come
rarely. The other residents are lost in their own troubles. The workers
are strangers.
Then Dana goes on to describe a new project he’s working on called Hearthstone:
And that’s where Martin’s Hearthstone idea comes in.
The idea is to treat more of us, as we age, as my siblings treat my
mom. If older people spend their days with little children, the need
for staff on both ends of the age spectrum is reduced. Why the ages are
segregated in day care is beyond me.But beyond that, ways must be found to keep people in homes, real
homes, for much longer. There’s a chef near me who has lived for some
years with an old black lady, unrelated to him. She taught him her
recipes, she taught him how to live, and now he’s giving her dignity as
her memories fade, and as her body withers.Legal ways should be found to enable more of this. When my mom does
pass away, I want my brother to inherit her house, free and clear. When
this old cook dies, the chef should get some of her estate.The benefits are many-fold. The chef is a better cook, and a
better man, for serving this lady who has become his grandma. My
sister-in-law, who lost her own mother when she was young, honors my
mom as she would have liked to have honored her own, and has become
saintly in my eyes as a result.And then there are the kids. We often have no time for our
kids. But our parents have nothing but time for them. And if our kids
grow up with grandparents around them, even someone else’s, perhaps
they will seek their counsel later, as they become teenagers and find
they can’t talk to mom or dad.Perhaps they will serve these grandparents tea, fluff their pillows,
turn off the TV, spill out their hearts, and see smiles coming to older
faces, then listen as the wisdom of decades rains down upon them,
blessing both sides of the conversation and bringing with it the light
of hope and contentment.
I plan on keeping track of the Hearthstone project and hope to post about it regularly.
Gen-X Officers, the Internet and War
Just read this article from the New Yorker about the young army majors, captains and lieutenants in Iraq and how they are using the internet to collaborate in real-time. Very worthwhile read.
The most interesting thing to me though is the part of the story that tells how in 2000 two company commanders started a website on their own time, with their own money, that allows company commanders to collaborate with each other.
In March of 2000, with the help of a Web-savvy West Point classmate
and their own savings, they put up a site on the civilian Internet
called Companycommand.com. It didn’t occur to them to ask the Army for
permission or support. Companycommand was an affront to protocol. The
Army way was to monitor and vet every posting to prevent secrets from
being revealed, but Allen and Burgess figured that captains were smart
enough to police themselves and not compromise security. Soon after the
site went up, a lieutenant colonel phoned one of the Web site’s
operators and advised them to get a lawyer, because he didn’t want to
see “good officers crash and burn.” A year later, Allen and Burgess
started a second Web site, for lieutenants, Platoonleader.org.The sites, which are accessible to captains and lieutenants with a
password, are windows onto the job of commanding soldiers and onto the
unfathomable complexities of fighting urban guerrillas.
Here’s the amazing thing: The sites became the go-to resource for officers in Iraq, yet the Army didn’t shut it down. In fact the it took over hosting the site, put it on West Point’s servers and even launched it’s first homegrown effort, Cavnet on it’s secure net (SIPRNET). Oh, it is also sending the officers that launched the site to get their PhD. so that they can teach at West Point.
Really, you should read this if you have any interest in subjects like knowledge sharing, distributed learning or management in the "knowledge era." Also, there’s some really interesting background on the Army’s efforts over the years to create systems for distributing information throughout the command.
Two Papers Better Than One
Wow, I have to say I’m kind of amazed at the replies I’ve gotten to my last post . It was really cool to hear from the folks at the Greensboro News & Record and in particular from the folks at the Winston-Salem Journal. Click here to see their comments. Actually, it’s really cool knowing that someone is reading this thing at all.
Anyway, here are a couple of final thoughts on the Triad newspapers, at least for now:
- I think it is absolutely vital that the Triad continue to have two quality newspapers, no matter what form they take. I used to deliver the Washington Star in D.C. and my mom was an avid Washington Post reader, so I got to see the advantage of having two good papers in town. (The Star’s sports and opinion sections kicked the Post’s tail, and it was the last afternoon paper I can remember reading.) Then the Star went belly up and D.C. became a one "voice" town. (The Washington Times came along a few years later, but it’s really a conservative mouthpiece that makes the Posts liberal inclinations look balanced.) Let’s just say that with a newspaper monopoly the region would suffer because:
- You get one high-profile editorial viewpoint for the entire region, which can lead to a true feeling of exclusion for a large part of the populace.
- You get less coverage of local issues. The press, the Fourth Estate, is a vital part of the "balance of powers" and without in-depth coverage of local issues you leave the door open for opportunists.
- Competition keeps people hungry; without it you get stagnation and little or no innovation.
- I think both papers are excellent. Call it a big city bias, but I really expected to get sub-par papers when I moved here. They have been anything but. I honestly think that the Journal is a better paper than the Washington Post, and as far as I can tell so is the News & Record. Sure they inhabit different strata in the media landscape, but the Journal and N&R do a better job in their space than the Post does in its space.
- Last, it truly is imperative for both newspapers to get serious about expanding their domain from paper to multi-media. I’ve heard/read some comments about how the current hubaloo is a repeat of the death nell that was tolled for newspapers with the advent of local TV news. That’s a bunch of hogwash if for no other reason than because the landscape is changing for TV news too!
What we are seeing is a change in the living patterns of most Americans. How the average 25 year old gets her information is radically different from her parents. How many 50 year olds IM on a regular basis? How many utilize the text messaging on their phones? How many 25 year olds actually pick up a newspaper on a regular basis? How many 25 year olds watch the news? How many 50 year olds have a news feed on their computer? Yet they can all relate to the same big stories. Why? Because the news is the same, only the delivery is different.
The message then is that for newspapers to remain relevant, to return to a growth mode from the atrophy mode which they’ve been living in, and to retain their influence, they must find their audience wherever the audience wants to be found.
And they should not lose sight of the fact that they still hold a tremendous strategic advantage that is very hard for any upstart to overcome: they have the feet on the street with the contacts and institutional knowledge that they’ve developed over the decades. It would be a shame if it were to go to waste.
My Hometown Paper?
This is something that’s been on my mind:
I live in Winston-Salem. I have the Winston-Salem Journal delivered every morning. But I don’t feel like I know anyone there. The paper doesn’t have a "voice", at least not one that I can hear. The closest thing to its voice is the editor’s column in the op-ed section.
In fairness to the Journal I think that the "voice" issue is the same for the vast majority of newspapers. But unfortunately for the Journal they happen to be juxtaposed with the Greensboro News & Record. The N&R is making national (maybe even international) headlines, at least in the publishing sector and the nascent blogosphere, because it is embracing the newest in publishing paradigms: the blog.
At last count the N&R has five blogs: one written by the editor John Robinson, another written by Lex Alexander (I think he’s their online guru), another titled Inside Scoop, a sports blog written by multiple sports staffers, and finally The Chalkboard blog which covers local education stories.
I get all of the N&R blogs via RSS. I don’t get their paper…yet. But I still feel closer to the N&R, and in a way I feel it is my hometown paper. And I think it’s going to eat the Journal’s lunch if the folks at the Journal don’t act fast. Here’s why:
1. Via it’s blogs the N&R has been getting direct feedback from it’s audience (notice I didn’t say readers) about how they would like to see their "paper" evolve in the future. The N&R is doing a fantastic job of helping their audience take ownership of the paper. This is huge because…
2. Paper circulation is on its last legs as the defining metric for local newspaper companies. They are going to have to morph to survive; there will probably be paper for the foreseeable future, but it’s role as the core entity for the company is declining rapidly. To morph the newspaper needs to know what it’s audience wants and then create it. N&R is doing that, and in the process they are replacing the monologue with a dialogue.
3. N&R already owns two thirds of the Piedmont Triad region (Greensboro & High Point). Denizens of Winston-Salem see themselves as quite distinct from the denizens of Greensboro, which is very similar to the attitude of Northern Virginians to Suburban Marylanders in the D.C. area that I recently fled. Anyway, it would probably pain the editor at the Journal (I have no idea what his/her name is) to know that I feel like I’m on a first name basis with the editor of the Greensboro News & Record (Hi John!). If I happen across a hot story or issue, who do you think I’m going to ping with it?
4. The future for newspapers is integrated media. I have no idea what the mix will be, but it’s going to be some combination of paper, internet, video, audio and interactive media.
My brother works for a major newspaper publishing company and he pointed out to me years ago that the real money for community papers is in classifieds. At the time his company wasn’t too worried about the internet because it was a glogal entity. Enter Craigs List. Oops.
My point is that newspapers are sitting on the cusp of something big and they will either thrive or die. Right now they still own a healthy part of the audience, but they need only look at their declining circulation to know that the audience share is shrinking. They have to act now. N&R is doing that, and they are doing it right.
5. Last point. I hear from the N&R several times every day, all via their blogs. I hear from the Journal in the morning and that’s it. I used to check their website for updates, but rarely saw them. (Honestly their site stinks). As a result I know more about Greensboro’s city council than I do about Winston-Salem’s.
So for now I’d say that the N&R is my hometown paper. It’s not too late for the Journal, but they better act fast or it will be. I’d love to write the editor and share some ideas…anybody have a name for me?
Greensboro’s Newspaper Looks to the Future
This is a link to a fascinating report prepared for the Greensboro News & Record.
I don’t even want to excerpt it because I won’t do it justice. Suffice it to say that they are being VERY forward thinking and open to new ideas. Enough so that they are being cited throughout the "blogosphere" by some pretty influential media types.
Most impressive is the fact that the "suits" at the GNR are seriously working to implement the recommendations of the report and they are doing so publicly.
If you have any interest in the (fast-vanishing) newspaper business, and are intrigued by "little guy schooling the big boys" stories you should definitely read this.
Tin Ear
I got this from Andrew Sullivan’s site:
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Just
before his helicopter lifted off, [Senate majority leader, Bill] Frist
and aides took snapshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.
‘Get some devastation in the back,’ Frist told a photographer." – CBA/AP.
– 3:00:41 PM
Am I surprised? No. Disgusted? Yes.
Sophomoric Viagra Humor
Okay, I have to admit I’m a sucker for what my mom calls "dirty little boy" humor. Still this should be funny to most, and thanks to Rob Jeppsen for emailing it to me:
PHARMACOLOGY
In pharmacology, all drugs have two names — a trade name
and a generic name. For example, the trade name Tylenol is acetaminophen.
Aleve is known as naproxen, Amoxil is amoxicillin, and Advil is ibuprofen.The Saskatchewan FDA has been reconsidering the generic name
for Viagra. After consideration by a team of government experts, it
recently announced it has settled on the generic name of mycoxafloppin. Also
considered were mycoxafailin, mydixadrupin, mydixarizin, mydixadud, dixafix
and of course ibepokin.<!–
D(["mb","available in liquid form and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola\r\nas a power\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nbeverage, suitable for use as a mixer. Pepsi\’s proposed ad\r\ncampaign claims
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nit will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself\r\na stiff one.
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nThis additive gives a new meaning to the names of cocktails,\r\nhighballs and
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\r\n\r\njust a good old fashioned stiff drink. Pepsi will market the\r\nnew concoction
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nby the name of "Mount &Do".
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nimplants and Viagra than was spent on Alzheimer\’s research.\r\nIt is believed
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nthat by the year 2030 there will be a large number of people\r\nwandering
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);
//–>Pfizer Corp is making an announcement today that Viagra will
soon be
available in liquid form and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola
as a power
beverage, suitable for use as a mixer. Pepsi’s proposed ad
campaign claims it will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself
a stiff one.Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink. This additive gives a new meaning to the names of cocktails,
highballs and just a good old fashioned stiff drink. Pepsi will market the
new concoction by the name of "Mount &Do".The long term implications of drugs and medical procedures
must be fully
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Gary K. Rhoads
\r\n\r\n
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Stephen Mack Covey Professor of Marketing
\r\n\r\n
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Marriott\r\n School
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622 TNRB
\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\n
Provo,\r\n Utah 84602\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n
801-422-2198
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n
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);
D([“ce”]);
//–>considered. Over the past few years more money has been
spent on breast implants and Viagra than was spent on Alzheimer’s research.
It is believed that by the year 2030 there will be a large number of people
wandering around with huge breasts and erections, who can’t remember
what to do with them.
Befuddled 