My new project: create a bunch of odd, free-association Google News Alerts. That way, if one of those things comes to pass, I’ll be the first to know. I thought about this after receiveing an alert for “Council Bluffs levee break” that I had set up when last the Missouri was a couple of dozen…

Lamentation

Editors do make a difference. The trade-off for getting all of our news instantly delivered to us by a peer-to-peer network is that we have to be our own editors. Not everyone is aware of this or willing to take on that responsibility. I think we’re where we’re at as a society because of that.

Sad news

David Foster Wallace found dead Green Party activist Peter Camejo dies at 68 To round things up, I overheard someone this weekend say that Hunter S. Thompson has to regret his suicide as the current election cycle was tailor made for him. It is a shame he’s not here now because I think it is…

How to fix CNN…

…in a single paragraph. Instead of churning headlines 24/7 and manufacturing “news” to feed this monster, do long-form, in-depth reporting on topics relating to the news. Use the ubiquitous news ticker to keep folks apprised of current events and break in for live coverage when it actually warrants it. It’s 60 minutes writ large and…