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And with that, Jen's jersey is out of date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