Author: Dick

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders offered thoughts in somewhat of a similar vein to what I wrote a couple of posts ago about writing newspapers’ obituary too early.

The Chronicle like other papers has been hit by the economic crisis and its owner the Hearst Corporation is faced with a choice of selling or shuttering San Francisco’s main newspaper.

Saunders noted that trashing the local newspaper has long been a favorite national pastime. She has done it. I have done it. It could be ranting over a story or simply making fun of the paper’s name such as calling a publication named the “Sentinel” the “Senile.” A man once said of a paper I later worked for that he liked to read that newspaper before going to bed so that he wouldn’t go to bed with anything on his mind, a comment that I feel was pretty humorous. But once again the point she brought up was leaving the news to amateurs who would like to see the MSM disappear and who really do not report the news so much as opine about it would not be a healthy happening.

Here is something else. I read today where a judge in Fort Worth is ordering the news aggregator Topix.net to turn over the names of some 178 anonymous individuals who flamed, or made derisive comments, about a couple who were charged with but later acquitted on sexual assault charges. The couple filed a defamation suit against the unnamed commentators but for whatever reason didn’t sue the online news site.

Whether such an order can be upheld remains to be seen in light of other court rulings on anonymous comments. But those who see themselves as ‘net crusaders and the righteous alternative to the MSM should have at least the basic understanding of libel laws or have an attorney knowledgeable in the subject because, believe me, many more lawsuits will come.

That is the First Dog of the United States (FDOTUS, pronounced “Fa-Dough-tus.”)

Michelle Obama said in an interview with People magazine that the highly anticipated canine member of the first family will arrive after their spring break. Mrs. Obama said they were leaning toward a:

Portuguese water hound (left).

However, Michelle Obama said a Labradoodle (pictured right) still remains a possibility.

Geez, the folks who vacuum the White House are certainly in store for a workout. Look at all that hair.

Perhaps we should vote on it. I vote for the Labradoodle. I have nothing against Portuguese water dogs. I don’t recall hearing of such a breed until now. Wikipedia says they, obviously, are poodle-like and were bred for herding fish into nets or retrieving lost tackle or broken nets. Sounds like a fish story to me. I suppose they are good swimmers if that is true. I wonder if they take bong hits like Michael Phelps?

Labradoodles, I would think, should also be good in the water since the Labra- part is for Labrador Retrievers and of course -oodles for poodles. That sounds like some kind of charity benefit, oodles for poodles. Wikipedia says they were actually bred to be low-shedding so as to be suitable for people with allergies. Prez O and Mrs. O had previously mentioned that they would be considering a dog with such qualities.

I think Labs are great dogs. My first dog as an adult, Pedro, was a black Lab-Irish setter mix. I lived in this farmhouse out in the country and would laugh watching Pedro chase rabbits though the lovegrass. Pedro never grew very big so you could see him popping out of the grass in the pasture almost like he was a kangaroo. I guess you had to be there. I like poodles too. Most I have seen were generally well-behaved although one I see behind a fence when I go walking seems a bit snarky. I have to say I don’t like what a lot of people do to poodles, namely trimming them to where they look freakish.

I imagine the O Kids, who wanted a dog in the first place, and the first couple will be pleased with either dog although the Obama girls would probably be happy with any puppy.

It seems as if death knells are being sounded everywhere one turns these days for newspapers. Some of the less thoughtful who see the “MSM” as the enemy clap their hands with glee. Oh well. Those in the newspaper industry are rightfully worried and are doing even more hand-wringing than usual.

The current economic funk is, of course, the major impetus for the discussion of whether newspapers will survive. Papers like other industries have fallen on hard times and some have either folded or have been forced to file for bankruptcy. Some newspaper chains have announced involuntary furloughs for employees while other feel layoffs are the only choice. I know people who are in this very situation.

I feel fortunate to have left newspapers as a full-time occupation as I did three years ago. However, I don’t have a real feel for how the economic upset will affect my freelance career because there really hasn’t been a situation such as we are in to give an accurate comparison. I say that because, even though the print industry has weathered recessions and even depressions before, they did not have to contend with such a diverse media which includes 24-hour cable and the Internet.

Although newspapers are in a very precarious state at the moment I still believe it is too early to write its obituary. Here is why.

The majority of news gathering in the U.S. today comes from newspapers. You can talk all you want to about how outmoded is the MSM. But the fact remains that TV, radio and Internet still mostly depend on newspapers for original reporting. Something that really used to tick me off when I worked for newspapers was hearing a TV station claiming credit for a story that I had broken. Imagine that you wrote a beautiful song or painted a wonderful painting and all of a sudden the performance or picture shows up under someone else’s name. Wouldn’t it hack you off just a bit for another person to take credit for something that you spent time on as well as expending intellectual labor? I also don’t remember how many times I listened to a local radio station basically read what I had written verbatim without even acknowledging where the story originated. But isn’t that plagiarism one might ask? Why yes, and your point is? They didn’t care.

I suppose those who see the newspaper as a relic of the past assume that even if papers in some locales go away for awhile that they will not return. I predict that will happen for some papers that disappear but not all. Further, I feel the newspaper will not completely vanish even though the business models are going to require change.

If a person has a job or other means to fall back on and has an interest in journalism such as myself, it could be an interesting time ahead. For others, it is going to be hell and may result in people who loved their jobs having to give them up in order to survive. That’s a tough road to sled, for sure. I have been without jobs before and have been very impoverished. But it isn’t the end of the world. And I feel that a year or two years from now, how ever long this funk lasts, people will still be looking in a newspaper to get their news and to find jobs in the classifieds.

Winner of this week’s “Stupid Is As Stupid Does Award” goes to former major league pitcher and U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

On Saturday Bunning went above and beyond the threshold of stupidity when he callously declared during a speech that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would not recover from pancreatic cancer.

“Even though she was operated on, usually, nine months is the longest that anybody would live,” he said.

Bunning made those remarks during a GOP dinner in Kentucky saying he supported conservative judges and that “would be in place soon” because Ginsburg had cancer. The Baseball Hall of Fame member who spent 15 years in the majors and whose accomplishments included throwing a perfect game apologized today, saying he was glad Ginsburg was back to work and hopes she recovers soon.

Such statements make one wonder if Bunning might have given hitters seminars on getting beaned during his years as a pitcher. Never mind the fact that chances for recovery from pancreatic cancer are often dismal or whatever other excuse one might want to give for such an outrageous utterance. Also, ridiculous is the thought conservative judges will fill the Supreme Court anytime soon. Sen. Bunning, do you happen to remember who won the presidential election in November and who now controls Congress?

What Bunning, 77, said was just beyond the bounds of decency and a total lack of good manners.

It is no surprise that Kentucky GOPers are trying to push Bunning out of a 2010 run for re-election. What a putz.

Some locals were just sentenced to the federal pen for attempting to rob a bank, which makes me shake my head in disbelief. How can even the dumbest of criminals think of robbing a bank in this day and age?

Money is how one might answer such a question, thinking back to the famous quote attributed to prolific bank robber Willie Sutton. When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton reportedly replied: “Because that’s where the money is.” Just how much a bank robbery will net today is up in the air though.

The most recent figures from the FBI I have found which were from about five years ago put the clearance rate for bank robbery cases around 58 percent. One might see that as a 40 percent chance of success but just where that figure might stand when you look at arrests sometime on down the road is a big question.

There is no question though that banks and the cops put a lot of obstacles in the way for bank robbers. Examples range from the ever-present security cameras from every angle to silent alarms to exploding dye packs. I mean, other than getting shot or arrested, having the money you risked your life to steal blow up, covering you with dye has to really suck.

Unless you are an old geezer who simply wants the state or federal government to take care of you until you die it doesn’t sound like there is much of a future in bank robbery and if there was a future it would have to be pretty damned bleak.