[eavesdropper]

[quote=Russell]Eavesdropper,

If I understand your situation, you have land and are really into good produce and a garden enviornment but not so much the work to have it?

If the acreage in Virgina is not too far from an urban area I think you could enlist some help in exchange for sharing the land and produce grown? Does that sound like it could work?[/quote]

We’re in an resort/ agricultural area. The people who live in the resort area just want to play bridge and golf, and get landscapers to cut their fifth of an acre of grass.

The other residents are farmers or else folks who have enough land of their own to garden. We’re close enough to an urban area for it to be convenient when serious health care is required, or we want a little culture, or when we’re forced to patronize a big-box store, but not nearly close enough for city residents to come and work our land.

What we’ve been doing is allowing the neighboring rancher to graze his cattle there (We keep about two acres for the homesite, and that’s plenty). I don’t charge him to use the land. It would be a hardship for us to have to mow it and care for it, and we don’t need it for anything right now. I figure cooperation is a good thing, and it’s worked out well. We had record-breaking snows in Virginia and Maryland this year, and I never had to pay to have my road to the house plowed out. He sent some of his farmhands over to help with the digging last year, and he’s helped out with a couple other things.

The work of a vegetable garden doesn’t bother me so much, but, since we only get down there every other weekend at the most, I’d need help with the watering, picking, and pest control in between. But you’ve given me an idea: I have a couple neighbors who are about our age. They do a lot of flower gardening, and their lot is gorgeous. I’m going to see if they’d be interested in a cooperative veggie garden on either their lot or mine. Cool beans. Thanks, Russell!

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Russell]Eavesdropper,

If I understand your situation, you have land and are really into good produce and a garden enviornment but not so much the work to have it?

If the acreage in Virgina is not too far from an urban area I think you could enlist some help in exchange for sharing the land and produce grown? Does that sound like it could work?[/quote]

We’re in an resort/ agricultural area. The people who live in the resort area just want to play bridge and golf, and get landscapers to cut their fifth of an acre of grass.

The other residents are farmers or else folks who have enough land of their own to garden. We’re close enough to an urban area for it to be convenient when serious health care is required, or we want a little culture, or when we’re forced to patronize a big-box store, but not nearly close enough for city residents to come and work our land.

What we’ve been doing is allowing the neighboring rancher to graze his cattle there (We keep about two acres for the homesite, and that’s plenty). I don’t charge him to use the land. It would be a hardship for us to have to mow it and care for it, and we don’t need it for anything right now. I figure cooperation is a good thing, and it’s worked out well. We had record-breaking snows in Virginia and Maryland this year, and I never had to pay to have my road to the house plowed out. He sent some of his farmhands over to help with the digging last year, and he’s helped out with a couple other things.

The work of a vegetable garden doesn’t bother me so much, but, since we only get down there every other weekend at the most, I’d need help with the watering, picking, and pest control in between. But you’ve given me an idea: I have a couple neighbors who are about our age. They do a lot of flower gardening, and their lot is gorgeous. I’m going to see if they’d be interested in a cooperative veggie garden on either their lot or mine. Cool beans. Thanks, Russell!

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] ….What concerns me most is that the internet doesn’t have a filter per se, and that every crank under the sun can post, without anyone really checking their facts or sources or credibility. But I also hear your argument regarding a transition phase and the cream (hopefully) rising to the top.

Reading and watching the coverage of the BP/Gulf spill shows how balkanized and polarized we’ve become. Watch Fox and get one slant; read Huffington Post and get another. What’s the answer? I have no idea. But I also feel like we’re losing something here with the demise of print journalism and I’m not sure we’re going to get it back.[/quote]

Allan, I’m aligned with you on this one. I might save time by reading a short internet column instead of a multi-column newspaper story, but quite often I am consulting a number of sources trying to determine if what I’ve read on the web is accurate and/or complete. When it turns out to be a false or exaggerated claim, I’m pissed off every time that day when someone repeats the story to me, or sends it to me via email.

I, too, am sick of getting my news delivered with the political and sociological slant. I went to school, I’ve always been a reader and consumer of a wide range of information sources, and I do that because I like to make up my own damn mind. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do that.

It was inevitable that newspapers and periodicals, in their traditional forms, were doomed to eventually pass from the American landscape. The vast majority were never huge moneymakers for their publishers (and, yes, I know about Hearst), and more than a few were “vanity press” for ne’er do well scions of wealthy families. The costs of running these operations have traditionally been astronomical. The problem that exists today is not the Internet. It’s that, in an attitude eerily reminiscent of the Hollywood movie moguls toward television in the 50s, newspaper publishers arrogantly ignored the impact and potential of the Internet, and refused to believe that they could be replaced by such a vulgar and unintellectual medium.

Many of the newspapers are racing to create a presence on the Web, but it may well be too little, too late. Traditional newspaper publishers should have gotten the hint back in the 80s, with the enthusiastic response that Gannett received for USA Today, and when several dying newspapers adopted the “tabloid” presentation – larger print, shorter articles, four-color graphics, more photographs, and a move to local/suburban news coverage – and increased their circulation numbers significantly.

By the time the Web became a ubiquitous presence in many homes in all areas of the country, the large traditional city papers had permanently lost a significant part of their readership. Having experienced this many years before when a good part of the population stopped subscribing to newspapers in favor of broadcast news, one would think that the publishers would recognize the potential impact of a new medium. But one would be wrong.

Having rejected broadsheet format papers in favor of the more simply-worded shorter news stories of the tabloids, it was a logical move to the Internet. The only thing that Americans like to do less than read, is to see articles that cast an unfavorable light on anything connected to their personal philosophies. Rupert Murdoch recognized this when he re-purchased the NY Post in 1993. Say what you will about the guy (and I’ve said plenty) but he’s an astute observer of shifts in American culture.

So, no longer do you have to see unfavorable headlines about the guy you’ve admired, praised, contributed to, and campaigned and voted for. He may have been filmed walking into a no-tell motel with a male hooker on each arm, but you can turn to an Internet “news source” of your choice, and see only pictures of your fearless leader cutting the ribbon on a new nursing home that bears his name. Or your renegade political party may have sponsored a “March on the Capitol” that had 40,000 people in attendance. Wasn’t quite the overwhelming number you had in mind to inspire all your co-workers at the plant? Never fear: do a fast Google search to come up with at least fifty “reputable news sources” who have photographs of the 2.4 million who were actually there.

Yes, Allan, I share your fears. However, I’ve been experiencing them since the buildup to the war in Iraq when I kept waiting for the “investigative” reporters and the “hard news” organizations to ask questions. ANY questions. But the headlines were simply reprints of White House and DoD press releases. The publishers lost sight of the mission with which they had been charged: to educate and inform hundreds of millions about events beyond their sight and control.

They’ve been trying to play catch-up ever since. And now, it appears, they’ve lost their last opportunity to do so.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] ….What concerns me most is that the internet doesn’t have a filter per se, and that every crank under the sun can post, without anyone really checking their facts or sources or credibility. But I also hear your argument regarding a transition phase and the cream (hopefully) rising to the top.

Reading and watching the coverage of the BP/Gulf spill shows how balkanized and polarized we’ve become. Watch Fox and get one slant; read Huffington Post and get another. What’s the answer? I have no idea. But I also feel like we’re losing something here with the demise of print journalism and I’m not sure we’re going to get it back.[/quote]

Allan, I’m aligned with you on this one. I might save time by reading a short internet column instead of a multi-column newspaper story, but quite often I am consulting a number of sources trying to determine if what I’ve read on the web is accurate and/or complete. When it turns out to be a false or exaggerated claim, I’m pissed off every time that day when someone repeats the story to me, or sends it to me via email.

I, too, am sick of getting my news delivered with the political and sociological slant. I went to school, I’ve always been a reader and consumer of a wide range of information sources, and I do that because I like to make up my own damn mind. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do that.

It was inevitable that newspapers and periodicals, in their traditional forms, were doomed to eventually pass from the American landscape. The vast majority were never huge moneymakers for their publishers (and, yes, I know about Hearst), and more than a few were “vanity press” for ne’er do well scions of wealthy families. The costs of running these operations have traditionally been astronomical. The problem that exists today is not the Internet. It’s that, in an attitude eerily reminiscent of the Hollywood movie moguls toward television in the 50s, newspaper publishers arrogantly ignored the impact and potential of the Internet, and refused to believe that they could be replaced by such a vulgar and unintellectual medium.

Many of the newspapers are racing to create a presence on the Web, but it may well be too little, too late. Traditional newspaper publishers should have gotten the hint back in the 80s, with the enthusiastic response that Gannett received for USA Today, and when several dying newspapers adopted the “tabloid” presentation – larger print, shorter articles, four-color graphics, more photographs, and a move to local/suburban news coverage – and increased their circulation numbers significantly.

By the time the Web became a ubiquitous presence in many homes in all areas of the country, the large traditional city papers had permanently lost a significant part of their readership. Having experienced this many years before when a good part of the population stopped subscribing to newspapers in favor of broadcast news, one would think that the publishers would recognize the potential impact of a new medium. But one would be wrong.

Having rejected broadsheet format papers in favor of the more simply-worded shorter news stories of the tabloids, it was a logical move to the Internet. The only thing that Americans like to do less than read, is to see articles that cast an unfavorable light on anything connected to their personal philosophies. Rupert Murdoch recognized this when he re-purchased the NY Post in 1993. Say what you will about the guy (and I’ve said plenty) but he’s an astute observer of shifts in American culture.

So, no longer do you have to see unfavorable headlines about the guy you’ve admired, praised, contributed to, and campaigned and voted for. He may have been filmed walking into a no-tell motel with a male hooker on each arm, but you can turn to an Internet “news source” of your choice, and see only pictures of your fearless leader cutting the ribbon on a new nursing home that bears his name. Or your renegade political party may have sponsored a “March on the Capitol” that had 40,000 people in attendance. Wasn’t quite the overwhelming number you had in mind to inspire all your co-workers at the plant? Never fear: do a fast Google search to come up with at least fifty “reputable news sources” who have photographs of the 2.4 million who were actually there.

Yes, Allan, I share your fears. However, I’ve been experiencing them since the buildup to the war in Iraq when I kept waiting for the “investigative” reporters and the “hard news” organizations to ask questions. ANY questions. But the headlines were simply reprints of White House and DoD press releases. The publishers lost sight of the mission with which they had been charged: to educate and inform hundreds of millions about events beyond their sight and control.

They’ve been trying to play catch-up ever since. And now, it appears, they’ve lost their last opportunity to do so.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook] ….What concerns me most is that the internet doesn’t have a filter per se, and that every crank under the sun can post, without anyone really checking their facts or sources or credibility. But I also hear your argument regarding a transition phase and the cream (hopefully) rising to the top.

Reading and watching the coverage of the BP/Gulf spill shows how balkanized and polarized we’ve become. Watch Fox and get one slant; read Huffington Post and get another. What’s the answer? I have no idea. But I also feel like we’re losing something here with the demise of print journalism and I’m not sure we’re going to get it back.[/quote]

Allan, I’m aligned with you on this one. I might save time by reading a short internet column instead of a multi-column newspaper story, but quite often I am consulting a number of sources trying to determine if what I’ve read on the web is accurate and/or complete. When it turns out to be a false or exaggerated claim, I’m pissed off every time that day when someone repeats the story to me, or sends it to me via email.

I, too, am sick of getting my news delivered with the political and sociological slant. I went to school, I’ve always been a reader and consumer of a wide range of information sources, and I do that because I like to make up my own damn mind. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to do that.

It was inevitable that newspapers and periodicals, in their traditional forms, were doomed to eventually pass from the American landscape. The vast majority were never huge moneymakers for their publishers (and, yes, I know about Hearst), and more than a few were “vanity press” for ne’er do well scions of wealthy families. The costs of running these operations have traditionally been astronomical. The problem that exists today is not the Internet. It’s that, in an attitude eerily reminiscent of the Hollywood movie moguls toward television in the 50s, newspaper publishers arrogantly ignored the impact and potential of the Internet, and refused to believe that they could be replaced by such a vulgar and unintellectual medium.

Many of the newspapers are racing to create a presence on the Web, but it may well be too little, too late. Traditional newspaper publishers should have gotten the hint back in the 80s, with the enthusiastic response that Gannett received for USA Today, and when several dying newspapers adopted the “tabloid” presentation – larger print, shorter articles, four-color graphics, more photographs, and a move to local/suburban news coverage – and increased their circulation numbers significantly.

By the time the Web became a ubiquitous presence in many homes in all areas of the country, the large traditional city papers had permanently lost a significant part of their readership. Having experienced this many years before when a good part of the population stopped subscribing to newspapers in favor of broadcast news, one would think that the publishers would recognize the potential impact of a new medium. But one would be wrong.

Having rejected broadsheet format papers in favor of the more simply-worded shorter news stories of the tabloids, it was a logical move to the Internet. The only thing that Americans like to do less than read, is to see articles that cast an unfavorable light on anything connected to their personal philosophies. Rupert Murdoch recognized this when he re-purchased the NY Post in 1993. Say what you will about the guy (and I’ve said plenty) but he’s an astute observer of shifts in American culture.

So, no longer do you have to see unfavorable headlines about the guy you’ve admired, praised, contributed to, and campaigned and voted for. He may have been filmed walking into a no-tell motel with a male hooker on each arm, but you can turn to an Internet “news source” of your choice, and see only pictures of your fearless leader cutting the ribbon on a new nursing home that bears his name. Or your renegade political party may have sponsored a “March on the Capitol” that had 40,000 people in attendance. Wasn’t quite the overwhelming number you had in mind to inspire all your co-workers at the plant? Never fear: do a fast Google search to come up with at least fifty “reputable news sources” who have photographs of the 2.4 million who were actually there.

Yes, Allan, I share your fears. However, I’ve been experiencing them since the buildup to the war in Iraq when I kept waiting for the “investigative” reporters and the “hard news” organizations to ask questions. ANY questions. But the headlines were simply reprints of White House and DoD press releases. The publishers lost sight of the mission with which they had been charged: to educate and inform hundreds of millions about events beyond their sight and control.

They’ve been trying to play catch-up ever since. And now, it appears, they’ve lost their last opportunity to do so.

[Author]

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