tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33247902920411115102011-09-15T13:17:27.475-04:00... Or "What I did with my degree in journalism."Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.comBlogger1731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-5092806917683997082010-12-18T20:18:00.006-05:002010-12-18T22:05:13.724-05:00

I've been neglecting this blog for quite a while now in favor of writing about soccer for Soccer By Ives and local news for The Westerly Sun. I can't promise that I won't neglect this blog again in the future. I rarely feel like writing in my free time, since I'm always doing it during my on-the-clock time. For now, though, I'd like to share some clips from the Daily Show with you and talk about

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-76318766773029402632010-10-19T00:41:00.002-04:002010-10-19T01:23:34.181-04:00

I keep getting ideas for things I'd like to share with you here on the blog, but they keep coming at inopportune times, like right now, at 12:42 a.m. when I have to work tomorrow. So, out of a desire to post something, I'll go with a list of all these ideas, so you can see all of the cool stuff I've been too busy to share with you: 1) I haven't seen The Social Network, and I don't intend to.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-83529635557535524992010-10-04T19:46:00.003-04:002010-10-04T20:23:57.492-04:00

I'm posting because I haven't posted here in a while. I'm starting my third week as the Richmond reporter for The Westerly Sun, and it's been busy. Even when I'm not on the clock (it's a 30-hour position, so there's a clock) I find myself thinking about whatever story I've been working on. And when I'm not working -- or thinking about working -- for the Sun, my other creative energies are usually

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-58768711193967781832010-09-13T15:26:00.003-04:002010-09-13T16:15:51.054-04:00

1) The biggest news in Rhode Island today (in my opinion) is the fact that Deepwater Wind is moving its headquarters to Providence. Linked is the Projo story, which covers only today's announcement, but a press release from the governor's office says the company has pledged $1.5 billion to develop the wind power industry in Rhode Island, including opening a manufacturing facility in Quonset and

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-79923666077254039612010-09-10T21:13:00.003-04:002010-09-10T21:36:30.903-04:00

I always like it when Rhode Island shows up in the national media that I read, so I was particularly tickled to see CJR post a Q&A with former Projo reporter and current WRNI chief political analyst Scott Mackay. It won't be new information to any of my Rhode Island readers, but it's still fun to read statements like this one: "A lot of times voters like to give a check, to put a Republican

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-51303397554431236122010-09-09T00:12:00.004-04:002010-09-09T00:49:16.362-04:00

I'm sharing this with you in the hope that it will render Mr. Beck more easily-understood for you as well. I don't expect you to agree with him (I sure as hell don't). My hope is to spare you the brain-explosion that comes from listening to him contradict himself for hours on end.Like so many Glenn-Beck-related epiphanies, this one sprung from one such contradiction. I was pondering Beck's

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-76940253505839339032010-08-31T21:16:00.003-04:002010-08-31T21:35:51.692-04:00

If you haven't seen the new link on the Recent Work page, you're unaware of the fact that on Saturday I wrote a game story for the national soccer blog Soccer By Ives. I'll also be covering the 2010 SuperLiga final tomorrow night. If you're not an avid soccer fan like me -- and few regular readers of this blog are -- you may not fully comprehend how cool it is to get the opportunity to contribute

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-90411483812040541542010-08-24T11:35:00.006-04:002010-08-24T20:10:31.856-04:00

I'm not sure when it happened exactly, but sometime in the past few years I transitioned from being a sports fan with an appreciation for soccer to being a soccer fan with an appreciation for other sports. I don't know when the transition happened, but I can put a specific date on when I realized it had.It was last Friday night, August 20, 2010. I was watching a PawSox game at McCoy Stadium with

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-62383340305908983612010-08-17T13:54:00.005-04:002010-08-17T14:52:12.615-04:00

1) Today marked the launch of Patch (AOL's family "hyperlocal" journalism websites) in Rhode Island. Or rather, on Aquidneck Island. On the one hand, as a Rhode Islander and a journalist, I'm happy to see another potential freelance market for covering important local stories. On the other hand, I'm inclined to view "hyperlocal" news sites in the same way I view coffeehouses. Sure, you can build

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-46207989758643708772010-08-08T01:48:00.002-04:002010-08-08T01:52:09.600-04:00

How do you like the new layout? I like it. It's still as simple as it was before, but I think it's a little more streamlined. Also, I like having the archive next to the ad-box.Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. I'd like to say it's because I've been busy. I suppose I have been in comparison to my pre-camp situation, but I still have a lot of free time that I just haven't seen fit to fill by

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-11470888536853177092010-07-28T23:05:00.006-04:002010-08-08T01:42:19.476-04:00

In the wake of the Andrew Breitbart, Shirley Sherrod affair, Walter Shapiro has written a post for Politics Daily about the need for a "Slow News" Movement to counteract what he describes as our "P.T. Barnum media age," in which "being first trumps being accurate." I got linked to Shapiro's piece from CJR, which pointed out that the case for prioritizing editorial rigor over timeliness has been

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-6045674681588299412010-07-25T21:10:00.007-04:002010-08-08T01:45:54.016-04:00

How many times have you had this conversation?PERSON A (laughing resignedly): I spend way too much time on Facebook. It's a problem.PERSON B (reveling equally in her fate): I know, right? I'm kind of addicted.I bring this up because of a survey (that you have to give company information to download, but that I read about on TechCrunch) that came out almost a week ago now. I'm sorry it has taken

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-28579960723270010912010-07-18T19:57:00.002-04:002010-07-18T20:15:47.638-04:00

Travel and Leisure Magazine put out the list back in March, but Yahoo didn't put it on their homepage until today, proving once again that magazine ranking articles are subjective, arbitrary tools for attracting pageviews (and that the strategy works. I did click on it after all.).The list is apparently actually a sub-list created from the results of an annual survey of T+L readers. Though how

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-6991422260076470832010-07-14T19:59:00.003-04:002010-07-14T20:36:05.712-04:00

Sorry it's been so long between updates. As I mentioned before, I've been working as the cook at ECC again this summer. This has significantly limited my free time, or at least led me to waste my free time by doing things other than blogging.Right now, though, I'd like to link you to two mostly unrelated items that have found their way into my consciousness in the past two days.First, apparently

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-69174948437109475592010-07-02T21:14:00.003-04:002010-07-02T21:29:50.318-04:00

Don't take my word for it: Here's a Yahoo News story with the details.There are many things that can, should, and will be said about Glenn Beck U. The one that I'd like to ad is a serious one, because I'm in a serious mood.Read some of the comments on that Yahoo News article. Get a good sampling. Try for 10. If you can only get through four or five without experiencing rage/despair convulsions,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-45540285784261843692010-06-29T20:48:00.003-04:002010-06-29T21:09:39.284-04:00

Hey everybody,I haven't been updating this lately because my summer job (cook at ECC for the third year running) has started and the Internet connection here has been intermittent at best. Now, the issues seem largely resolved, just in time for me to point you toward the "Recent Work" tab up at the top of this page, which now features two new articles from the Westerly Sun's special Misquamicut

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-920525716595738112010-06-17T21:55:00.005-04:002010-08-08T01:46:34.522-04:00

I'm sure you're familiar with the narrative by now (Hell, you may even believe it. It's certainly popular.): Political correctness is turning us all into unthinking word-police that care more about saying the right thing than actually being honest (or reasonable, or rational, or whatever other virtue is supposed to trump word-choice). It's a sentiment that often feels accurate, especially when we

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-68566251296035148522010-06-10T21:38:00.003-04:002010-06-10T21:45:45.678-04:00

Cross-posted at Six States, One BlogIt’s been a while since my last column for 6S1B, partly due to the fact that I was out of the country from May 29 to June 8. But now I’m back, and I’d like to talk about my experience staying at the Taizé Community as they relate to the 2010 World Cup and soccer’s position as the greatest sport in the world.Without going into too much detail, Taizé is a small

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-26385676619322444822010-06-09T20:26:00.003-04:002010-06-09T21:48:20.249-04:00

Hi everyone.Got back from France yesterday.Watch this video and despair:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cAss Quest 2010www.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea PartyThe oil leak is a particularly difficult problem for me, inclined as I am to believe that government is capable of solving problems. The complete and utter failure of the Minerals Management

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-80013211585282580572010-05-29T11:40:00.003-04:002010-05-29T11:46:45.433-04:00

I want to apologize for the dearth of posts here in recent days. I'd say I've been busy, but I'm not sure I believe that's the case. I've just been "not busy" in a way that led me to do other things besides blog.This post is advance warning that another long update-less stretch is coming. I'm leaving for Taize, France this afternoon, and since Taize is a monastery, I won't be using the Internet

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-58869964693521972792010-05-20T23:06:00.008-04:002010-05-21T18:32:44.320-04:00

Updated 5/21: Here's a video from Jay Smooth that addresses my point (more cleverly and bitingly than I can, as usual):------------------------------------------------------------------------If you haven't been following the kerfuffle that has erupted over Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul (son of Texas congressman Ron Paul), the basic gist of it is this:Paul, a staunchly libertarian Tea

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-885389820620795942010-05-14T00:37:00.002-04:002010-05-14T00:57:27.427-04:00

Hi everyone,As you can see, I've changed the template of this blog to one of the most basic ones. The reason for that is several-fold: First, I'm hoping to use this space more regularly as a professional reference, and I'd like it to look the part. Second, I'm planning to expand the content here to make it a more useful picture of me. You'll notice I added a separate "about me" page. My intention

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-30768761433308575772010-05-07T14:29:00.003-04:002010-05-07T15:14:30.432-04:00

I found this marketwatch column by Jon Friedman through Romenesko. The gist of it is that Friedman thinks A) Stewart would do well in the seat currently held by Katie Couric and B) he might actually, secretly, want the job. "I know the arguments against the idea," Friedman writes. "Stewart is the first to tell anyone who will listen that he is an entertainer, not a journalist. He intends to make

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-3344418270135976042010-05-05T18:59:00.002-04:002010-05-05T19:10:26.663-04:00

First, Dave and Andrea at Eating Ithaca have kindly included the congratulatory message I left for them in their 50th episode, which you should check out even if you're not interested in hearing my voice, because it's an interesting and insightful look at food and food politics and the local culture of Ithaca.Second, for those of you who care about soccer, and in particular the New England

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-83442843126609927982010-05-04T23:00:00.003-04:002010-05-04T23:28:33.872-04:00

Admittedly, I'm a little late in posting this story, but I thought it was worthwhile to mention because conducted my own version of the experiment during my senior year of college.A journalism professor at the University of Minnesota has been requiring students to go 5 days without technology popularized after 1984. She said the goal is to get them to "realize that technology is just a tool, not

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-83902972247377019552010-05-01T09:59:00.003-04:002010-05-01T10:08:26.089-04:00

Regular readers know I have a whole bunch of different hobbies that work their way into this blog. Politics, food, Rhode Island, and soccer are all topics I post on (more) frequently (than I talk about journalism and media).Well, later today I'm making my soccer-specific blogging debut, with a post for Six States, One Blog, a new blog about my local MLS team, the New England Revolution.This first

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-13591088241784261012010-04-26T13:44:00.004-04:002010-04-26T14:55:01.488-04:00

Man, I've been talking about the Tea Party a lot lately. Perhaps I've fallen victim to the well-documented media obsession with them? I'm sorry if you're a regular reader and you're getting bored with this stuff.Anyway, this post is dedicated to an aspect of the Tea Party I haven't covered much: the vehemently denied racism that so many see underlying the movement. I suppose the simple question

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-74497496924404434202010-04-21T00:28:00.004-04:002010-04-21T13:18:58.611-04:00

UPDATED 4/21:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cBernie Goldberg Fires Backwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea PartyI'll post the video when it goes up online tomorrow.Faced with an attack from Barry Goldberg, whom Stewart told (along with all of Fox News) to go fuck himself last week, Stewart laid out, once again, the difference between him and news, as

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-5172475239418630792010-04-19T23:20:00.005-04:002010-04-20T00:18:52.411-04:00

Here it is: The finished product of audio I recorded at the Pittsfield Tea Party last Thursday and have been promising you ever since.Some thoughts:1) I'm sorry the video is so long. I'm sure it would have been cut down more if I had been working with a professional editor (for a news site or something like that). I cut it down as much as I thought I could without losing the sense of Lauren and

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-30253920493212508982010-04-18T19:06:00.003-04:002010-04-18T19:21:22.894-04:00

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@Ian_Holliday) know that I went to the Pittsfield, Mass. Tea Party on Thursday. You also know that I recorded a bunch of audio from the event and have been working on putting it together into a package that I'll post here on the blog.Unfortunately, I'm not done with that yet, and I'm not sure when exactly I will be. So in the meantime, please enjoy this

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-83063385547675667962010-04-12T16:37:00.003-04:002010-04-12T17:49:32.492-04:00

The two phrases in this post's first title refer to Supreme Court cases significant to corporate contributions to the public discourse. Citizens United is the more recent -- and probably more recognizable -- case, which just last year eliminated limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns. Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Commission is an older case that addresses a similar issue

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-68234998228563162302010-04-06T18:31:00.006-04:002010-04-06T18:48:43.481-04:00

The following brilliant parody was posted at CJR this afternoon by Steve Daley:"Breaking News from the Luncheon Keynoter."The future of news is (brighter than you think; contingent on government subsidies; in Mark Zuckerberg’s hands)As someone who follows a lot of blogs about newspapers and journalism in general, I feel like I see a new post every day about what the problem really is, and how

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-42680808637837669082010-04-04T12:24:00.002-04:002010-04-04T12:30:57.080-04:00

Actually, it kind of is. I'm posting this so that blogger will correct the html for me and I can help my mom post it on her blog. Also, it's a funny clip, and if you haven't seen it before you found it here, then ... now you can.The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cStephen Gets a Free iPadwww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care Reform

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-81696394207049340952010-03-30T14:16:00.005-04:002010-03-30T14:46:51.649-04:00

There's an interesting criminal trial going on in my home state of Rhode Island right now. A police officer is accused of sexually assaulting a drunk 19-year-old woman while he was on duty in 2007. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that the defense attorney, rather than arguing that his client didn't have sex with the woman, is arguing that the woman consented.Two big

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-22601118525321810182010-03-27T17:06:00.005-04:002010-03-29T16:49:18.654-04:00

It occurs to me that I've been doing this for a while now. Scroll down to look at the archive, and you'll find I've posted to this blog in three different years. And while the total lifespan of this blog has only been about a year and a half so far, I can still look back and ask "what was I blogging about a year ago?"I did that just now, and found this post, which I titled "The Internet

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-59954496844903860622010-03-24T13:15:00.003-04:002010-03-24T15:27:13.165-04:00

"Tyranny!"It's a popular thing to shout in the US right now (at the time of this writing, there was a pro-TEA-party ad on this very blog). But that's not what this post is about. This post is about one of the inescapable nature of the physical world. Let me explain:Yesterday, Jeff Jarvis wrote a post on his blog "Buzzmachine" about the future of the postal service, specifically asking the

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-20205961973354573882010-03-21T18:44:00.003-04:002010-03-21T23:52:32.790-04:00

So, this weekend has been an important one for two of my more favorite hobbies: politics and soccer. On the politics front, we appear to be in the really, truly, last, final, seriously final, no-more-stalling negotiations of the proposed health care reform bill. On the soccer front, Major League Soccer and its players' union reached an agreement on a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-19646363925334909492010-03-20T19:26:00.003-04:002010-03-20T19:35:21.723-04:00

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter (@Ian_Holliday), I've been on vacation for large portions of the last two weeks, which left me with lots of ideas to blog about, and very few actual posts. Unfortunately, I probably won't have any of those ideas fleshed out until tomorrow or Monday, so I apologize to my handful of loyal readers.In the meantime, another story of mine is up on

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-67518056762341813022010-03-13T00:34:00.007-05:002010-03-13T01:06:40.577-05:00

Question: What's the most memorable image of a wedding? Like, if you were going to publish a story about a wedding, say, for a newspaper or blog, what picture would you use? Probably one of the happy couple, right? Maybe one in which they're kissing? Definitely one that shows some kind of intimate shared moment on their part.Now suppose the wedding in question is the first of its kind in the

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-7028042448842316272010-03-04T15:31:00.006-05:002010-03-05T14:03:00.777-05:00

First, from last night's Daily Show:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cAnchor Managementwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care ReformStewart and his staff are easily among the most astute media critics today. The problem with this scathing indictment of Fox News is that it doesn't change anything, because the people it lampoons will cry "taken out

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-7605954949969717402010-03-03T17:25:00.004-05:002010-03-03T20:08:59.296-05:00

An interesting study done in 2006 by University of Chicago professors Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro has been featured recently in Econbrowser and Online Journalism Blog (where I found it). The study measures bias in newspapers based on how often they use words and phrases commonly used in the congressional record by a particular party. If a paper's word usage closely resembled that of

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-62943672592333281912010-02-25T15:45:00.003-05:002010-02-25T16:48:17.505-05:00

1) In light of the recent pun-inspiringly gigantic snowstorms to hit this region of the world, I've been attempting to come up with increasingly more unusual ways to entertain myself without leaving my two-room apartment. On Tuesday, I baked bread for the first time. It was just white bread. I made it in a boule, because I don't own a loaf-pan, and I used packaged yeast, not a starter, but I

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-78641879436927095722010-02-24T13:23:00.004-05:002010-02-24T13:46:52.452-05:00

I keep having ideas for posts, and then forgetting them before I get a chance to do anything with them. I know the solution to this is to write them down, but I often forget to do that too. Plus, I'm not sure I want to be posting here more than once a day (or even once a day), especially given my recently imposed partial moratorium on political posts. All of this is to say: I don't miss those

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-32923782854389931482010-02-21T23:19:00.002-05:002010-02-21T23:37:38.092-05:00

During my weekend in Ithaca, Dave from the Eating Ithaca podcast noted that I've been blogging a lot about politics lately, and wondered if it's what I'd like to do for a career. I said something to the effect of "not so much," because when I feel compelled to blog about politics, it's usually because something has frustrated/angered me, usually about people I disagree with, who I know won't be

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-3869126818420681802010-02-19T15:50:00.004-05:002010-02-19T16:41:13.451-05:00

This post gets very poetic at the end. I hope you'll read it not literally, but as an allusion to all of the reasons the whole Tea Party, grass roots, conservative renaissance is so fucked up.The inspiration for this post is actually several days old, but in light of yesterday's Austin IRS suicide bombing, I think it's become even more relevant. The 4,500-word story ran on the front page of The

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-44488969346174144622010-02-15T14:16:00.006-05:002010-02-17T14:28:35.522-05:00

UPDATED 2/17: Kouwe resigned yesterday, but claims today in an interview with The New York Observer that he never knowingly plagiarized. I'm not sure I believe him, but I'm also not so sure it's unbelievable. Like I said in the original post, it's really easy (and increasingly common) to accidentally plagiarize in today's media climate. He doesn't hide behind that as an excuse, though, admitting:

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-69840672843439024842010-02-11T15:25:00.004-05:002010-02-23T10:59:18.145-05:00

As a graduate of journalism school, this video about TV news clichés was particularly hilarious to me:When you watch a video like that, you start to realize just how formulaic news reporting really is. What's interesting to me is that I remember being taught to employ most of the clichés in the video above in order to make my news packages more interesting to the viewer. (I think the only thing

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-54556417357913465872010-02-08T19:05:00.005-05:002010-02-09T21:24:27.413-05:00

UPDATE: As far as the Republican desire to scrap both bills that have passed so far and start completely from scratch, I think that's something the president should consider, but not guarantee. Basically, the narrative Obama has been trying to create through this post-State of the Union push is that the Republicans are the ones who are being unreasonable. They're now trying to turn that around on

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-57756813354739243222010-02-06T16:23:00.003-05:002010-02-06T17:07:27.801-05:00

The Super Bowl is my least favorite American Football game of the year. I say "American Football," because as many of you know, I follow both kinds, and distinguishing between the two of them makes me feel superior.Anyway, I've been paying less and less attention to the American kind lately because it routinely focuses more on the show surrounding the game than on the game itself. All NFL games

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-12816617750377954492010-02-02T13:03:00.003-05:002010-02-02T13:11:05.288-05:00

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@Ian_Holliday) know that I've been in Rhode Island since late Sunday night. That's because I've been working on an article for the non-profit environmental news site EcoRI.org.Well, for the last week or so I've also been working remotely on another article for EcoRI, which was published today. Check it out here.The article I'm currently working on is about

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-30247497864138265022010-02-01T20:41:00.004-05:002010-02-01T22:09:00.345-05:00

I said I was going to follow up on the legal and philosophical differences between investigative journalism and James O'Keefe's shenanigans. Here is that post:There is an admittedly fine line between investigative journalism and illegal espionage. But it's not an arbitrary one. Over the years, case law has evolved to provide a pretty clear picture of what journalists can and can't do in secret.We

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-77528335409048341482010-01-29T13:22:00.004-05:002010-01-29T13:56:58.182-05:00

I watched the whole state of the union address the other night, and was left with a feeling I couldn't quite articulate ... and still can't. It has something to do with the president's tone -- described as "defiant" on Fox News, and "rational" on MSNBC -- which seemed sort of exasperated to me. That might not be the right word. When the speech was over I had the impression that Obama was the only

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-50596377859857901382010-01-27T20:06:00.004-05:002010-01-27T20:48:25.149-05:00

Unfortunately, I have no interest in talking about the iPad, since everything that needs to be said has already been said, and repeated over and over, and frankly I don't find the "tablet" concept that exciting anyway.Nor do I have any interest in discussing the State of the Union address, which is set to happen in less than an hour as I type this. The primary reason for my disinterest on this

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-85994543048776995142010-01-25T20:10:00.002-05:002010-01-25T20:35:36.630-05:00

A recent survey of journalists by Cision found that 89 percent get information for their stories from blogs. (The survey is free, but you have to request it. My info comes from Megan Garber's post at CJR.) The survey also showed that 65 percent use social networks for research, and 51 percent use microblogging services like Twitter.As someone who learned how to be a journalist after most of the

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-33885562426977628792010-01-23T16:16:00.002-05:002010-01-23T16:41:23.109-05:00

So, I've been thinking a lot about Web comics lately, probably because my girlfriend recently launched one, and I really like the aesthetic of them, and the manner in which they tell stories. I think I'm jealous of the medium because I can't draw and have a hard time holding an audience with my creative endeavors (this blog included).Anyway, I think there's precedent for the Web comic model being

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-74476745126703190582010-01-21T20:01:00.005-05:002010-01-21T20:49:40.763-05:00

First, Republicans oppose a presidential commission on cutting projected deficits, which made me so angry I laughed until I cried. After a solid year of refusing to cooperate with Obama on anything, largely based on the ideological objection that doing things costs money, Republicans now oppose investigating ways to save money. What? Maybe that should be the Democrats' new strategy. Propose

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-90473094101340531542010-01-21T19:15:00.002-05:002010-01-21T19:56:12.516-05:00

Cable news is just about the most evil racket going in media right now. Why? Because unlike some other TV evils (Jersey Shore, the entire NBC network), cable news actively undermines any semblance of rationality in our public discourse. And it does so 24 hours a day.In some ways, cable news is the direct precursor of Internet-based news (from traditional media online, through blogs other Web-only

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-88601160198407195002010-01-19T15:44:00.005-05:002010-01-20T20:36:01.298-05:00

UPDATE: Alexandra Fenwick has a post today at CJR about unfortunate comparisons of Haiti to Katrina, particularly as the Obama Administration's response to Haiti (doesn't) equate to the Bush Administration's response to Katrina. The post's tone is fairly contemptuous of such comparisons, repeating frequently that Haiti is not, in fact, a part of the United States, and, as such, is VERY DIFFERENT

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-79303350504173052912010-01-17T19:13:00.002-05:002010-01-17T20:11:51.812-05:00

So, I've said a lot of things about Twitter in the year and a half I've been writing this blog. Some of them were positive. A lot of them were ambivalent. A few might even have been negative. Yesterday, I decided to join the site, and was met with more than a few expressions of surprise/confusion/sarcasm at my decision. I realize it's weird for a person to feel like they have to justify their

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-29452661096851629702010-01-14T10:56:00.003-05:002010-01-14T11:40:12.264-05:00

So far, "new" media have gotten a ton of (mostly deserved) praise for their role in both disseminating information about and soliciting donations for Haiti. What I can't help but wonder is if or when the tone of Facebook and Twitter will switch from earnest and helpful to self-congratulatory as it did during the Iranian election fallout last year. After a certain point, the key narrative of that

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-44966657626317229342010-01-12T15:30:00.003-05:002010-01-12T15:38:23.629-05:00

So, this one time in college, I was supposed to interview a musical theater major named Meredith Beck. And I did, eventually. I still have a lovely clip from the "year in review" issue of The Ithacan to prove it.But before my interview with Beck, I did a "practice" interview with my friend Seth (who sometimes blogs here). He played Beck, and I played myself, and I recorded it for fun.A few days

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-13788479630611573532010-01-10T14:31:00.002-05:002010-01-10T14:55:44.313-05:00

First, this article from ReadWriteWeb made me laugh out loud, because it's confirmation of that assertion people love to make about Twitter: "Why would anyone want to know this stuff?" The conclusion, if you haven't followed the link, is that only 27 percent of all tweets fall into categories that could be considered useful information, and the rest is either personal information, private

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-36412660319967313812010-01-08T20:09:00.003-05:002010-01-08T21:00:45.491-05:00

This bit of abstract speculation comes to me via cyberjournalist.net, in reaction to The New York Times' reporting that former NBC entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman's new company has cut a deal with Yahoo. "Is this the sign of increasingly closer ties between content and advertisers?" the blog asks, after providing the answer in its headline "'More direct relationships' with advertisers."

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-50431791983445438872010-01-06T20:28:00.003-05:002010-01-06T21:22:29.114-05:00

Particularly of the cultural variety, but really any kind of relativism.Exhibit A:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cThe Temple of Humewww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care CrisisThe idea that Christians are an oppressed minority, but Islam is an objectively violent and dangerous religion worthy of oppression, is so hilariously oblivious that it's

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-89407435858446962872010-01-04T17:07:00.003-05:002010-01-04T18:12:18.459-05:00

UPDATE: David Scharfenberg of the Phoenix's Not for Nothing Blog spoke with Chafee about his proposal. Of note: there was a version of the speech that didn't include the sales tax stuff. Also, Chafee expects the rate would be 1 percent, and would raise $90 million annually.The big news in Rhode Island political blogging today has been Lincoln Chafee's official announcement that he's running for

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-77067256386271763832009-12-28T23:23:00.003-05:002009-12-29T00:04:48.496-05:00

The Projo reports Lincoln Chafee will officially announce his candidacy for governor of Rhode Island on Monday, January 4, which means I had a big scoop here on the blog when I reported this in April. Of course "reported" is a gross overstatement, but the point remains: Why shouldn't Chafee just own his intentions?Also, doesn't it defeat the point of making an announcement if your staff is going

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-55863945303097652322009-12-21T19:49:00.002-05:002009-12-21T20:12:05.558-05:00

One of the most common criticisms of The New York Times is that it's elitist. And while I generally take issue with that accusation (God forbid a paper would assume its readers are intelligent!), it's hard to argue against the "NYT's for latte-drinking, hybrid-driving, fake Americans" crowd on this one, from Benedict Carey's story on brain-mapping in today's times:And then there it was: a pink

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-26970658339516759762009-12-17T20:26:00.003-05:002009-12-17T20:41:34.016-05:00

No seriously, I expect (at least some of) them to be dumb. Which is what makes the title of this post so much more incredulous. Sure, conservatives give interviews Daily Show correspondents all the time, but very few of them are affiliated with a mainstream news outlet. And those that are go on the show with an assumption that they're going to be made fun of. You can usually see in their actions

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-77618175386592829882009-12-14T18:32:00.002-05:002009-12-14T18:37:28.429-05:00

Remember when I said I was going to start contributing (at least semi-) regularly to the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island blog?Well, after almost two months of sucking, I finally managed to get another post up. Hopefully, it will take much less time to get my third post that it did my second.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-32100810789289033832009-12-12T22:46:00.004-05:002009-12-13T20:32:47.949-05:00

UPDATE: I was surprised to see that Rhode Island blogs hadn't picked up on this study, so I emailed the link to Greater City: Providence. If you're not familiar with GC:PVD, you should be. It's indispensable if you're at all interested in urban planning, design, architecture, mass transit, and what incredible potential Providence has (and often fails to live up to) in these areas.Apparently,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-54871099148044522032009-12-10T22:49:00.004-05:002009-12-11T00:03:11.030-05:00

As an alumnus of both Ithaca College and its newspaper The Ithacan, I like to stay up to date on the happenings of both. Normally, this interaction is passive. I only share it here when it's particularly intriguing or controversial.I wouldn't call this a controversy -- It's more of a mild kerfuffle -- but I find it intriguing since I nearly ignited it several times, several months ago. Allow me

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-81084897679315660872009-12-03T21:34:00.003-05:002009-12-03T21:58:41.143-05:00

I noted back in January that I hadn't heard the idea of editorial and advertising presented as "church and state" until I went on a mini-course trip to Conde Nast in New York City. I found it an apt metaphor for the separation of powers within a given publication, especially since -- like real-world church and state -- the separation is often less absolute than intended.Case in point: The Dallas

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-6803729414122335582009-11-26T20:30:00.002-05:002009-11-26T21:47:11.054-05:00

Or does this year's edition of Black Friday mark a turning point in the fake holiday's history? For the first time in my memory, I haven't heard or read anyone explain what Black Friday actually is this year. There's usually a story somewhere about "Retailers call it 'black friday' because they hope it will get them 'in the black' for the year." Even the fact that I feel compelled to capitalize "

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-40537004005668291932009-11-23T18:07:00.004-05:002009-11-23T23:07:37.142-05:00

Just watch this video:Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the EconomyThat's Matthews hammering Catholic Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin on the perceived desire of the Church to start writing the law. Now, I don't like Chris Matthews. I find him pompous and overbearing. But I find Tobin to be pompous, overbearing, and downright mean, not to mention a Catholic

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-76968027603538614262009-11-17T21:44:00.003-05:002009-11-17T22:46:39.871-05:00

Seriously, the world of things I feel inclined to blog about has gone absolutely insane today. The list of tags at the end of this post will be my longest ever. Without further ado:1) I'm not going to talk about Sarah Palin's Newsweek Cover except to say that every outlet I've read calling it "sexist" is one I would consider "conservative," and every outlet I've read not calling it sexist is one

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-80201731079043827152009-11-16T14:54:00.002-05:002009-11-16T15:17:39.234-05:00

As first reported a long time ago by someone other than me, being President of the United States is the most difficult job in the world. Today was a particular apt reminder of that, as President Obama caught flack from at least three distinct groups who all think he sucks, but for very different reasons.First, conservatives are furious with Obama's bow to Japanese Emperor Akihito, which is really

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-48761293096665389402009-11-13T19:36:00.005-05:002009-11-23T23:11:27.724-05:00

The Associated Press Fact Checks Sarah Palin's BookI say "hilarious" not because I think the facts of Palin's book don't bear checking (they certainly do), but rather because it just seems so long and serious and unprompted. As though the AP was shocked, SHOCKED, that the woman who coined the phrase "death panel" would be anything less than perfectly honest and factually accurate in her (

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-20763684120301385742009-11-10T21:07:00.002-05:002009-11-10T21:43:58.963-05:00

The governor of my home state (RI), Don Carcieri, vetoed 22 bills today.For a Rhode Island governor, vetoing bills is a largely ceremonial act, since the overwhelming Democratic majority in the legislature is almost always enough to override the vetoes. Given that context, it takes a special kind of gubernatorial dickishness to strike down the pieces of legislation that follow, knowing full well

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-56785341857126926392009-11-09T19:42:00.003-05:002009-11-09T19:59:09.158-05:00

It's interesting when a blog I read follows up on things that I found worthy enough to blog about. Though they're not responding to me directly (maybe someday they will?), it's nice to know that I had my finger on the pulse of the blogosphere, at least for a moment.Example #1: Citizen Journalism vs. "Tragi-porn" Megan Garber's CJR response to Paul Carr's piece about Fort Hood. I wrote about both

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-51466194039065580312009-11-08T17:40:00.002-05:002009-11-08T19:05:58.384-05:00

(By definition) it's impossible to tell the complete story of a crisis during its "breaking news" phase. In the days since the Fort Hood tragedy, I think the media has done a fairly adequate job of providing details, context, and analysis of the event. But it's two pieces about the specific kind of incompleteness of those first few hours of coverage that have me thinking about human nature

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-13321266767451833022009-11-02T19:06:00.003-05:002009-11-02T19:22:47.301-05:00

From Projo's newsblog: Tribes seek to halt proposed Cape Cod wind farmThe Wampanoag Indians (otherwise known as the only reason the Pilgrims survived their first winter in Plymouth) need an unobstructed view of the sunrise over the ocean for certain religious rituals, which would be impossible if the Cape Wind project were constructed. These are the only people whose opposition based on

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-12226686669729410792009-10-31T21:17:00.003-04:002009-10-31T21:53:54.295-04:00

Fox News isn't news. I'm confident that at this point even those who agree with it's point of view wouldn't argue that it has one. But the recent attention brought to this fact by the Obama administration has given new life to an old story, and led to (at least) two impressive late-night explanations of just why the "News" in "Fox News" should always have those scare-quotes around it. I'm sure

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-43842933838590061002009-10-28T20:45:00.003-04:002009-10-28T21:42:57.574-04:00

I like to look at both historical and political arguments in the context of the artistic era in which they took place. Though, perhaps that's backwards, since artistic movements are generally viewed as a product of the socio-political context in which they developed. In any case, I've always had a lot of thoughts about modernism and postmodernism, and last night's Daily Show prompted me to

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-68018812472506009802009-10-20T19:42:00.002-04:002009-10-20T20:12:25.177-04:00

I managed (quite easily, actually) to talk my way into a guest-blogging gig for the official blog of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. I'll be posting semi-regularly about youth in the diocese, starting with my first post, which I wrote yesterday and got up on the site this morning.In somewhat related news, the Pope is trying to lure conservative Anglicans to Catholicism. A bit cynical on

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-3138401437915202302009-10-18T19:48:00.004-04:002009-10-18T20:10:13.954-04:00

This whole concept, from story, to video, to subject matter, to tone, reminds me of the multimedia work done by my former professor Michael Scully, who currently teaches at Roger Williams University in my home state of Rhode Island (a double connection!).The use of music, the sped-up montage, and the selective (read sparse) use of quotes give it a real nice aesthetic. Does it tell the story by

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-863763346733294182009-10-16T23:47:00.004-04:002009-10-18T13:03:58.107-04:00

This blog isn't the only quasi-journalistic/generally-writing-related thing I have going right now. I recently wrote a personal reflection for RISEN, the magazine for the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, of which I am both a member and a (summer) employee. I don't know when exactly the new issue came out, but it's available (in PDF form) on their Web site now. My piece starts on page 20.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-77160415632160995522009-10-16T22:54:00.004-04:002009-10-16T23:19:11.852-04:00

Exhibit A:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCNN Leaves It Therewww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRon Paul InterviewThis is especially funny/sad in light of the balloon-boy debacle.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-2415794360508259002009-10-05T18:53:00.004-04:002009-10-05T19:08:09.069-04:00

I wanted to tell you a whole bunch of things today, but blogger was down for a couple hours, so I couldn't. Instead, links!1) Conde Nast shuts down Gourmet. Truly a holy shit moment when I read it, especially since everything seemed fine when I visited with Jesse and my Food Writing class back in April.2) Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King makes a ridiculous amount of money, and he knows it,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-66925171128895239042009-09-28T19:08:00.006-04:002009-12-26T23:38:12.506-05:00

Now, I'm not much of a fan of the governor (Donald Carcieri) of my home state (Rhode Island), primarily for his stubborn opposition to gay marriage, his bizarre hard-line stance on illegal immigration (seriously? In Rhode Island?), and his seemingly endless list of the state's ills that are caused, somehow, by workers unions rather than governmental mismanagement.But for all my disapproval of his

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-49662412259384129942009-09-27T17:01:00.003-04:002009-09-27T17:40:03.608-04:00

1) There is absolutely a conflict of interest in Kraft Sports Group (owners of the New England Patriots) selling advertising for ESPNBoston.com. But should we really be surprised or angry at this fact? Sports journalists have always walked a much finer line between "objectivity" and (for lack of a better term) "homerism" than the one walked by straight news reporters. And yet, sports is exactly

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-85442587288392962342009-09-15T14:03:00.003-04:002009-09-15T14:32:23.727-04:00

This just in on the "we can't tell opinion from fact anymore" front: CNN's most recent poll (results here reported by TPMDC) concludes with this ACTUAL QUESTION:And just your best guess — based on what you have read or heard about that address, do you think Obama lied while he was speaking to Congress on Wednesday night, or don’t you think so?Seriously? Now we're asking the people whether he lied

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-32870080903026442252009-09-10T13:33:00.003-04:002009-09-10T13:59:51.365-04:00

I was tempted to write a post titled "Why Joe Wilson Should Resign," but decided against it in light of his apology, which infuriated me even more than his outburst."While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable," Wilson said. The problem with that sentence? He can't disagree with what the president said. I don't mean that in a creepy, big brother

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-75370928157530979442009-09-08T16:14:00.007-04:002009-09-08T17:33:33.135-04:00

This is an idea I had after reading this TechCrunch post: "Life Recorders May Be This Century's Wrist Watch"The technology in a nutshell is this: You wear a device that automatically records stats about your day-to-day life -- everything from people you talked to (with pictures) to how many steps you walked, to where you went and what you did there -- and stores them on the Internet, indexed,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-10616588301051809182009-09-06T18:31:00.002-04:002009-09-06T18:56:33.910-04:00

I came across this post from Providence Daily Dose a while ago, but I'm posting it now because I think it'll be of particular interest to my mom (who recently became charged with maintaining the Providence Athenaeum's blog).For those of you who didn't take the time to follow the link, the headmaster of Cushing Academy (a prep school in Ashburham, MA from which my friend Dierdre graduated) is

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-43110305048841636642009-08-29T15:37:00.003-04:002009-08-29T15:42:21.670-04:00

This is a pretty amusing little test from 10,000 words: They give you a series of phrases that are actual fonts or band names, and you have to decide which is which. It's harder than you might think.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-45263218343119278212009-08-28T17:43:00.003-04:002009-08-29T15:42:47.386-04:00

With the summer just about over, and my first non-school September since I was too young to appreciate it bearing down, I've been experiencing a creative surge. Since I haven't updated this in a while (thanks to a hectic end of camp and two weeks house-sitting with only one wired, and usually occupied, Internet connection), I thought I'd share some of my ideas with you. Feedback would be even

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-56311382669397134952009-08-19T11:19:00.003-04:002009-08-19T11:49:50.360-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCNN's Just Sayin'www.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealthcare ProtestsCan we declare the "news" portion of "cable news" officially dead? I mean, seriously, I've said before that despite its bizarre obsession with social media, it's stupid and embarrassing abuse of technology, and its dogged unwillingness to lean left or

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-66593908860208021702009-08-10T15:40:00.003-04:002009-08-12T15:33:28.711-04:00

... is that editors love them, and reporters can essentially make them up. That's a dangerous newsroom combination. Have a few former classmates who decided to eschew the working world to concentrate on their families? Sounds like a story about how "Many women at the nation's most elite colleges say they have already decided that they will put aside their careers in favor of raising children."

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-72259120904669401542009-08-07T15:59:00.004-04:002009-08-07T16:06:22.650-04:00

That's right, I promised it months upon months ago, and finally got around to it today. I've played with the color scheme, and added the pretty new title banner you see above. I'd be doing more tinkering as we speak, but Google won't let me view the blog because it says I've put in too many requests in too short a time.This is the page it's giving me.Anyway, let me know if you think the pink

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324790292041111510.post-85318320081816920892009-08-04T15:51:00.002-04:002009-08-04T16:18:06.084-04:00

I wasn't going to write about this, but then I realized today is Barack Obama's birthday, and that seems like a worthwhile reason to make this observation:There's a difference between an opinion and an accusation. Sometimes it's a subtle one, especially in a world where so may people (named Rush Limbaugh) make a living confusing the two. The difference, basically, is this: an opinion is a

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077870324758034284noreply@blogger.com0