Dr. Evil doesn't approve

No, no, we don't gnaw on our (toy) kitty.

Vegas Strip during Earth Hour

Click on the photo to see the whole thing ...

Rib Room

Pretty cool, huh?

Sleep

Or not ...

http://jensamom.blogspot.com/2009/03/to-sleep-perchance-to-dream.html

Put this on your calendar

Plan accordingly ...

Season dates for the 2009-2010 deer hunting season:

Archery – All zones: Oct. 1 to Feb. 28.

Modern Gun - Zones 1, 1A, 2, 3, 6, 6A, 7, 8, 8A, 10 and 11: Nov. 14-Dec. 6.

Muzzleloader - Zones 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4A, 5A, 6, 6A, 7, 8, 8A, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15: Oct. 17-25 and Dec. 19-21.

The statewide Christmas holiday modern gun deer hunt is Dec. 26-28 with two special youth modern gun deer hunts.

Diving right in

As y'all know newspapering is a dying business. As a result, we newspaper folks are trying all sorts of things to increase our Web traffic. And, frankly, it's also increase our personal profiles so it'll be tougher for the execs to cut us loose and if they do so it'll be easier to find a new job.

So I'm Facebooking. And Twittering at http://twitter.com/scottfaldon

Expanding sports betting

Right now, if you want to place a legal bet on an NCAA game you've got to be in Vegas. But thanks to the economic collapse, a legislator is trying to break the monopoly LV has on sports betting.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — From March Madness brackets to Super Bowl pools to illicit back room wagers, people bet on professional sports games every day. But they can do it legally only in four states, and only two states currently offer state-sanctioned sports wagering.
With Atlantic City casinos in a financial free fall and New Jersey's budget in shambles, a state lawmaker filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Justice Department that seeks to overturn a U.S. ban on sports betting. The casinos and their political allies say letting people bet legally on sporting events would let all 50 states in on a lucrative revenue source.

Lawsuit seeks to allow sports betting nationwide

Go to a bar, save America

The news is dreadful: According to the Census, since 2006 we have been living in a republic where, for the first time in the history of the republic, Americans drink more bottled water than we drank beer.

Why is this important? It’s important because beer is a socially oriented beverage, and bottled water is a privately oriented one.
There’s a reason that beer commercials tend to include lots of people hanging out in a room together, and bottled water commercials tend to include lone individuals climbing things and running around by themselves, usually on a beach at sunrise - even though they are not being chased.

Beer and Civic Life

The not-so funny pages

28? You're over the hill.

Hey, it's not me. It's science.

According to scientists, our mental abilities begin to decline from the age of 27 after reaching a peak at 22.

Old Age Begins at 27

And with that, Jen's jersey is out of date

Matt Jones was cut by the Jaguars today

This means the M. Jones No. 18 jersey I bought for her years ago will be shipped off to Goodwill, I guess. After all, you can't wear a jersey of somebody who was cut by that team.

(Unless, of course, you're a Cowboys fan who bought a TO jersey. Those people should be forced to wear those jerseys 24/7, so the rest of us can point and laugh at them.)

Many Americans wouldn't miss local newspaper

Maybe I should quit reading journalism Web sites, the news is just too depressing.

As many newspapers struggle to stay economically viable, fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community "a lot." Even fewer (33%) say they would personally miss reading the local newspaper a lot if it were no longer available.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1147/newspapers-struggle-public-not-concerned

Stewart vs. Cramer

And in a TKO, Stewart wins. Especially after showing old video of Cramer admitting to SEC violations while running a hedge fund.

Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer: The Extended Daily Show Interview

Stewart might be a comedian, but he can bring a heck of a fast ball when he wants/needs it.

From two to one to none

NYT on the future of newspapers in major cities. Hopefully, it won't trickle down to small markets like Fort Smith.

“In 2009 and 2010, all the two-newspaper markets will become one-newspaper markets, and you will start to see one-newspaper markets become no-newspaper markets,” said Mike Simonton, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, who analyzes the industry.

Many critics and competitors of newspapers — including online start-ups that have been hailed as the future of journalism — say that no one should welcome their demise.

“It would be a terrible thing for any city for the dominant paper to go under, because that’s who does the bulk of the serious reporting,” said Joel Kramer, former editor and publisher of The Star Tribune and now the editor and chief executive of MinnPost .com, an online news organization in Minneapolis.

“Places like us would spring up,” he said, “but they wouldn’t be nearly as big. We can tweak the papers and compete with them, but we can’t replace them.”

For Papers, A Downsizing Becomes a Flood

Growth or Virtue?

I stumbled across a Web site called FrontPorchRepublic.com recently. (Nash, I think you'd like it. It preaches fiscal conservatism without all the culture wars stuff of the GOP.)

Anyway, I thought a blog post today was pretty good.

If the ideal of perpetual economic growth requires a perpetually frenzied consumerism, it is time to consider a different indicator of economic health. President Obama’s stimulus package is clearly based on this false ideal of perpetual economic growth. This ideal is embraced by the leaders of both political parties, even as the Republicans reject the specific means to that end. As the slurry of dollars begins to wash over us, many Americans are looking for a new direction. A return to the virtues of self-control and thrift would signal something really radical. So would a return to the idea of sustainability, a return to the belief that conserving for future generations is our first duty, and a recognition that putting aside idols is the first step to wisdom.

http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=1294

Oklahoma, Arkansas setting cell-phone trend

Estimates by the CDC on the number of households that have just cell phones, no land lines.

Oklahoma: 26.2 percent of households, 25.1 percent of adults

Utah: 25.5 percent of households, 23.9 percent of adults

Nebraska: 23.2 percent of households, 22.4 percent of adults

Arkansas: 22.6 percent of households, 21.2 percent of adults

Iowa: 22.2 percent of households, 18.9 percent of adults

Idaho: 22.1 percent of households, 21.3 percent of adults

Kentucky: 21.4 percent of households, 21.6 percent of adults

New Mexico: 21.1 percent of households, 20.5 percent of adults

Texas: 20.9 percent of households, 19.5 percent of adults

South Carolina: 20.6 percent of households, 19.2 percent of adults

Tennessee: 20.3 percent of households, 20.8 percent of adults

District of Columbia: 20.0 percent of households, 25.4 percent of adults

Mississippi: 19.1 percent of households, 20.3 percent of adults

Arizona: 18.9 percent of households, 17.1 percent of adults

Oregon: 17.7 percent of households, 18.1 percent of adults

Minnesota: 17.4 percent of households, 16.5 percent of adults

North Dakota: 16.9 percent of households, 18.1 percent of adults

Florida: 16.8 percent of households, 15.5 percent of adults

Kansas: 16.8 percent of households, 15.2 percent of adults

Colorado: 16.7 percent of households, 15.2 percent of adults

Georgia: 16.5 percent of households, 15.0 percent of adults

Illinois: 16.5 percent of households, 15.2 percent of adults

Michigan: 16.3 percent of households, 15.3 percent of adults

North Carolina: 16.3 percent of households, 14.8 percent of adults

Washington: 16.3 percent of households, 15.6 percent of adults

Wisconsin: 15.2 percent of households, 13.6 percent of adults

Louisiana: 15.0 percent of households, 13.8 percent of adults

Ohio: 14.0 percent of households, 13.1 percent of adults

Alabama: 13.9 percent of households, 12.2 percent of adults

Indiana: 13.8 percent of households, 13.0 percent of adults

Maine: 13.4 percent of households, 12.0 percent of adults

Alaska: 11.7 percent of households, 13.3 percent of adults

New Hampshire: 11.6 percent of households, 8.9 percent of adults

West Virginia: 11.6 percent of households, 10.6 percent of adults

New York: 11.4 percent of households, 10.6 percent of adults

Wyoming: 11.4 percent of households, 13.0 percent of adults

Maryland: 10.8 percent of households, 9.8 percent of adults

Nevada: 10.8 percent of households, 10.1 percent of adults

Pennsylvania: 10.8 percent of households, 9.2 percent of adults

Virginia: 10.8 percent of households, 10.0 percent of adults

Missouri: 9.9 percent of households, 8.4 percent of adults

Massachusetts: 9.3 percent of households, 8.4 percent of adults

Montana: 9.2 percent of households, 5.4 percent of adults

California: 9.0 percent of households, 8.4 percent of adults

Hawaii: 8.0 percent of households, 8.2 percent of adults

New Jersey: 8.0 percent of households, 6.1 percent of adults

Rhode Island: 7.9 percent of households, 5.3 percent of adults

South Dakota: 6.4 percent of households, 6.8 percent of adults

Delaware: 5.7 percent of households, 4.0 percent of adults

Connecticut: 5.6 percent of households, 4.8 percent of adults

Vermont: 5.1 percent of households, 4.6 percent of adults

Now I'm guessing some of that is due to the rural nature of the states at the top of the list. After all, why ask AT&T or whoever to string telephone lines to your house when you can get a cell signal? But I'm still a little shocked by just how many Okies and Arkansans are doing without a home phone.

Two sad stories about bars

I love bars. Don't get to go to them these days, thanks to the baby, and I miss it. It's not the drinking because you can do that at home much cheaper. It's the social atmosphere. It's the laughter. It's the people watching. It's the "Holy crap, I've not heard that song in forever" when the jukebox plays.

That's why the next two links make me a little sad.

At Boston's Bull & Finch, aka Cheers, Eddie Doyle was downsized by the owner. SK, I expect a full newsteam investigation into this travesty ...

After 35 years, a legendary Boston bartender is fired

And in the NY Times, there's a story about traditional Irish pubs dying, even in Ireland. And by traditional Irish pubs, I don't mean the TGIF-ified chain pubs here in America ...

In Search of a Pub

Update: Found another bar story on the NYT Web site. This one is about bars in NYC that don't have TVs.

The Few, the Proud: Pubs That Still Resist the Pull of the Television Screen

Matt Jones to jail

Seems the former Razorback had a few beers while playing golf last Thursday. No big deal, right? I mean, the boys and I have done the same thing several times. Of course, we never did it while being in a Drug Court Program after being caught with cocaine.

So Jones will go to jail for a week.

Jones to jail

The cutting edge of fashion

A baby as an accessory!

Jon Stewart on Rick Santelli's rant

I'm sure you've seen Santelli's CNBC rant about the buyouts and stimulus packages. Here's Jon Stewart's response ...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

This sums it up

We Are Everywhere

You know Obama was at a Wizards NBA game the other day, right? Did you notice the people sitting behind him?



Yep, more Steelers fans.

The importance of newspapers

David Simon, creator of "The Wire" wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post about how the Baltimore PD is playing fast-and-loose with FOIA laws now that the Baltimore Sun isn't working the crime beat.

No One Left to Press the Police

The New Republic says the end of newspapers means a new era of public corruption ...

End of Golden Age of Newspapers

Closer to home, I wonder what our local officials are getting away with now that our newsroom has shrunk to a bare-bones level. And I wonder what abuses will go unreported when the next round of cuts happen.

Time

Another thing nobody tells you about having a baby is how little time you'll have.

Now, I know what you're thinking — It should be obvious to anybody that you'll have little to no free time when dealing with an infant.

I knew that. I realized the days of watching uninterrupted TV were over. I realized wandering through hardware or book stores was coming to an end. I knew spontaneous long drives around town on the weekend were kaput.

I'm talking about not having time to do the simplest of things. Like showering, using the bathroom or even flipping through a magazine.

I thought of this because Jen messaged me today with the triumphant news that she's showered. For the past 10 weeks, she's only done that when I've been home to watch Paige. But, somehow, she managed to do it today.

So kudos to Jen, for showering before I get home today. I don't know if I could have pulled off that feat.