Weekend Tids and Bits

Governor Go Go Is Right for a change in a way not connected with the political spectrum. Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin visited New York City and went to a Yankees game with her 14-year-old daughter Willow, prompting CBS Late Show host David Letterman to make a joke about Willow getting “knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” The governor snarled and Letterman offered a half-hearted, half-baked apology that boiled down to saying he meant to insult Bristol, Palin’s 18-year-old single-Mom daughter. That’s supposed to make it better? With Palin herself working so hard to keep comedy writers across the nation busy, her kids should be left alone. Those who want to follow the result of John McCain yielding to the Dementia Side of The Force should bookmark Anchorage Daily News’s politics reporting at http://www.adn.com/politics/ and take a look at http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/.

--

Saudi Arabia’s Tentative Steps to the Twelfth Century continued in June with the showing of a movie in Riyadh, the first such wild and crazy behavior in more than three decades. No women allowed of course, and no girls over the age of 10. Still, conservatives in the kingdom demonstrated against the obvious slide to decadence that could lead to –gasp! – mixing of the sexes. Contact between unmarried men and women is very strictly prohibited in the oil-rich kingdom. No wonder those camels always look nervous.

--

Newspapers keep “preparedness” obits on hand so that when some notable sounds a final note, the obit is ready for quick updating and publication. Now that newspapers themselves are stumbling towards the Last Checkout counter, whoever will do the obit should ponder this tidbit: only about an average 14 percent of a paper’s operating budget goes to produce content. The rest is gobbled by printing, delivery and the suits who supervise. Look for more and a link at: http://news-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/06/moody-analyst-newspapers-cost-structure.html a page in the News Cycle blog.

--

Magazine covers shouting doom are hardly new and not limited to Time Magazine, but the venerable news weekly has had some doozies. They’re neatly presented at Reason Online, the web presence of Reason Magazine. Look at http://reason.com/news/show/134038.html and enjoy the yucks that 20-20 hindsight makes possible. And enjoy it while it lasts, because if daily new publications are keeling over, weekly news publications shouldn’t be making long-term plans.

--

Here’s a look at what we discussed this week:

n Monday we talked about child care tips for fathers that are very unlikely to come from mothers (or allowed to continue once discovered). http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/06/fathering-tips-fathers-day-is-less-than.html

n Tuesday was a ho-hum day talking about Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor’s broken ankle and Alaska’s Governor Go Go being accused of plagiarizing Newt Gingrich. http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/06/news-is-busting-out-all-over-actually.html

n Wednesday was Federal Follies day as we follow our government’s relentless attempts to drive common sense out of the public arena. http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/06/federal-follies-current-edition-tuesday.html

n Thursday’s topic explored free speech issues that develop when an employee says unkind things about a customer and an employer raps knuckles, Not a real sexy issue, but an important one if you’ve ever told your Facebook buddies that your boss needs the front half of a horse for a complete life. http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/06/mind-your-mother-revisited-seems-like.html

n Friday covered the strange turn of events in Washington, where things are actually getting done. http://larryblaskosaid.blogspot.com/2009/06/strange-washington-signals-things.html

###