Are Newspapers Thinking Outside the Margins?

This quote isn’t from a journalist or about newspapers. But it might as well be:

“You cannot afford to say, ‘I don’t have the time to get out of my little circle here to understand what’s going on,’ ” Mr. Kimel said. “You can’t make the mistake of thinking the only place you’ll learn is from colleagues who are doing exactly what you’re doing.”

Will newspapers come around and figure this out before it’s too late?

New Rule #106: Length of the National Anthem

A thought, watching the Backstreet Boys sing tonight’s national anthem before Game 1 of the World Series:

The national anthem should take no longer than 90 seconds, unless your name is Marvin Gaye or Bleeding Gums Murphy. Tonight’s anthem clocked in at 1 minute and 58 seconds. Future anthem singers: take note, please.

That being said, I’m not sure how to proceed with the acapella version that was presented to America tonight. I guess I really should leave the obvious Backstreet Boys puns to the experts.

Post America = The End of America, Apparently

A remarkable passage from Maureen Dowd’s column today about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama:

He [Powell] got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought. Upon checking Amazon.com, he saw that it was a reference to Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim who writes a Newsweek column and hosts a CNN foreign affairs show. His latest book is “The Post-American World.”

And you wonder why the truth seems to be such an elusive element in today’s society. How long before we start including lessons on “how to Google” for kids in grades K to 5?

New Rule #105: Dropped Call Phone Tag

I do not know how much change one man — or blogger — can bring to this world. But I do know that when there is wrong in the world, the least I can do is to try to fix it. Here’s my mitzvah of the day:

The Situation: Tonight, at approximately 10:30 p.m., I’m driving home while talking on the phone. My cell loses reception. The call ends mid-sentence. So I call my friend back. He calls me. Simultaneously. We both get each other’s voicemail. It takes five minutes of dialing to get him back on the line.

The Dilemma: Who makes the initial callback after a dropped call?

The solution: He who dialed first must re-dial.

Stick to this simple rule, people, and we can avoid the dreaded post-dropped call phone tag.

One small step for cell phone users at a time, I suppose.

One Thing I Learned About McCain Today

It has been one year, five months, three weeks and four days since John McCain launched his campaign for President. In that time, we’ve learned much about the man, his policies and his potential decisions as chief executive.

But there is one thing that I do not think any voter can truly understand until you see him as I did today. I watched as Senator McCain reached the end of a receiving line, turned and then passed just feet in front of me. In those moments, I learned one new thing about this great American:

He really needs a nap.

McCain Arrives


John McCain’s Columbia itinerary (all times local):

12:25 p.m.: Arrive Columbia Regional Airport.

12:45 p.m.: Arrive Buckingham Smokehouse Bar-B-Q.

1:47 p.m.: Leave restaurant, shake hands with locals, look on pensively as I snap this photo.

1:50 p.m.: Leave for Columbia Regional Airport, head to Kansas City, repeat until Nov. 4.