Color me skeptical, as in 2002 Texas gubernatorial run by Tony Sanchez skeptical, that Ricardo Sanchez can be a magnetic drawing card to bring massive amounts of Texas Hispanics to the polls for the Democratic Party.
Sanchez, best known for his Abu Ghraib baggage, says he's considering a run to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison. That's after heavy recruitment by top state Democrats.
First, per the second story, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray is delusional if she thinks Sanchez, or about any Democrat, has a chance at that seat in 2012, unless one of the GOP primary losers runs an independent general-election campaign.
Second, per the Tony Sanchez parallel, what's Ricardo Sanchez's political positions? Is he, too, a closet Republican? And, have Ben Barnes et al "test driven" him with any sample marketing?
Third, fairly or not, there IS Abu Ghraib.
April 19, 2011
South suburban Dallas paper officially a flop
Not quite two years ago, Today Newspapers in suburban Dallas, my previous employer, officially folded.
Well, the ad manager there, combined with an area real estate person, thought they could start a new one on the cheap. They had grand ideas of how big an area they could cover on news and sports with one-person editorial coverage. They asked me to be their (part-time) editor to start, and, being unemployed, I agreed.
Well, they didn't ask me whether any of their business, editorial or circulation ideas agreed with reality. So, I blogged about that. And, in part because I said the old ad manager/new publisher was part of the problem behind the ideas that weren't tenable, she (and the real estate agent friend) fired me.
Well, if you're doing stories about Dallas, not the suburbs, and stealing them from U.S. News, you're not really relevant to your suburbs. When you officially sign the paper up to join CrazyGood, which combines a bit of Facebook, a whole lot of multi-level marketing, and a whole 10 percent payout to charity, as part of trying to create citizen journalists, you're not going to be that relevant. When you're doing this because you've yet to hire even a part-time editorial person after canning me, you're not a newspaper in any real sense of the term.
You're a PR sheet. Nothing else.
And, when your comments in private, versus in public, about City of Duncanville officials, among others, reach high levels of hypocrisy, you're not even a very honest PR sheet.
Of course, all of this reflects demographic and other issues that led me to also blog, two years ago, that south suburban Dallas wouldn't get a real newspaper for years to come.
Focus Daily News could be that paper. But it won't. The commitment to local news and local sports is still spotty. The print quality, photography and other things are ... horrible. But publisher Marlon Hansen is committed to having a daily paper there so he can make money off national ads, but not with the same amount of news coverage as the paper once had, at least at times -- a full decade ago.
Well, the ad manager there, combined with an area real estate person, thought they could start a new one on the cheap. They had grand ideas of how big an area they could cover on news and sports with one-person editorial coverage. They asked me to be their (part-time) editor to start, and, being unemployed, I agreed.
Well, they didn't ask me whether any of their business, editorial or circulation ideas agreed with reality. So, I blogged about that. And, in part because I said the old ad manager/new publisher was part of the problem behind the ideas that weren't tenable, she (and the real estate agent friend) fired me.
Well, if you're doing stories about Dallas, not the suburbs, and stealing them from U.S. News, you're not really relevant to your suburbs. When you officially sign the paper up to join CrazyGood, which combines a bit of Facebook, a whole lot of multi-level marketing, and a whole 10 percent payout to charity, as part of trying to create citizen journalists, you're not going to be that relevant. When you're doing this because you've yet to hire even a part-time editorial person after canning me, you're not a newspaper in any real sense of the term.
You're a PR sheet. Nothing else.
And, when your comments in private, versus in public, about City of Duncanville officials, among others, reach high levels of hypocrisy, you're not even a very honest PR sheet.
Of course, all of this reflects demographic and other issues that led me to also blog, two years ago, that south suburban Dallas wouldn't get a real newspaper for years to come.
Focus Daily News could be that paper. But it won't. The commitment to local news and local sports is still spotty. The print quality, photography and other things are ... horrible. But publisher Marlon Hansen is committed to having a daily paper there so he can make money off national ads, but not with the same amount of news coverage as the paper once had, at least at times -- a full decade ago.
Obama to SCOTUS: "Trust us on environment"
And, sadly, in the case of six states suing power plants because the EPA continues to drag its feet on carbon dioxide regulation rules, the high court seems ready to believe Team Obama.
First, the EPA will do nothing before November 2012. That's clear.
Second, there's not a high chance it will pass very tight standards after that.
Third, on issue after issue, Obama has already shown just how "trustworthy" he is.
First, the EPA will do nothing before November 2012. That's clear.
Second, there's not a high chance it will pass very tight standards after that.
Third, on issue after issue, Obama has already shown just how "trustworthy" he is.
Does Obama want to "lose" budet negotiations?
Greenwald offers plenty of evidence that what some inside-the-Beltway Democratic-type bloggers think is bad negotiating by Team Obama is actually just what he wants to do. And, Glenn didn't even mention the Carfood Commission.
That said, Glenn rightly notes that the Josh Marshalls of the world who bewail what they see as poor negotiating skills will vote "Obama right or wrong."
That said, Glenn rightly notes that the Josh Marshalls of the world who bewail what they see as poor negotiating skills will vote "Obama right or wrong."
April 17, 2011
West Antarctic ice in more trouble
Warming waters from the Pacific are increasing temperatures on the ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula. With this news, we may be seeing another global warming feedback mechanism starting up.
Old? I won't be seeing you in church
Not that I would have been there anyway, but, increased longevity is statistically associated with lower church attendance.
Ten extra years of life expectancy correlated to an 8.4 percent drop in people's likelihood to call themselves religious.Whether or not there are atheists in foxholes, there should be more and more at retirement villages and nursing homes, eh?
Similarly, an increase of 10 years of life expectancy was linked to a decrease in religious service attendance of between 15 percent to 17 percent. These numbers held true even after controlling for income, past communism (which tends to decrease religiosity), prevalence of Catholicism and Islam in the country, and variations on religious beliefs about God, heaven and hell.
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