Why I Hate Twitter in 4.45 Minutes.

Dan Quayle Works For The Trib

Waste of News Time

OK, I really wished I hadn't had to sit through this story on KSL tonight. I thought they had every angle on the Crandall Mine Disaster covered. I guess they didn't.

The difficulty of a mine rescue is directly tied to how far underground the miners are.

According to mine officials, the six miners are at least 1,500 feet underground. From the mine entrance they're about 15,840 feet into the mountain.

15,840 feet. That seems like a long way. How far is it?

That distance works out to be about three miles.

OK, Thanks. But, I wish someone would show me how far three miles is. I'm just not sure.

To illustrate how far that is, we zeroed out the odometer on an Eyewitness News truck at the Utah Capitol. We turned south onto State Street to gauge the distance.

The distance added up past landmarks like the Matheson courthouse, then eventually just out of downtown and to the intersection of 1700 South.

It's too bad they didn't use two landmarks that are about three miles apart. Since Salt Lake City banned me from dragging State, I'll never know how far those men are in the mine. The State Capitol to 1700 South State is just to obscure. Maybe if I just knew how far down it was...

To give you some perspective, 5 Triad Center, the 10-story building where KSL is located, is about 120 feet tall. That means the miners are the equivalent of 12 and a half Triad Centers underground.

God Bless you, Richard Piatt. Without you, I'd never know how far away we were from finding those men.

-Bob

Why Newspapers are dying

In today's Utah Mitt Romney Daily, LaVarr Webb talks about how newspapers are dying.

However, I recognize that I’m part of a dying breed that still likes printed newspapers. I hardly know any young people who spend time with a printed paper. To flourish in the future, newspapers must evolve and become the premier information source for young people. And that’s only going to happen on-line.

I'm relatively young, and I enjoy sitting down with a newspaper. I'll pick up what ever's handy, be it the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Salt Lake City Weekly, USAToday, Utah Daily Chronicle, etc. I'm not picky. I even read INUtahThisWeek.

My personal favortie, though, is the Salt Lake Tribune. I have been an avid reader of the Trib since Jr High. In high school, it was part of my daily habit to grab the paper to read while I ate breakfast. It was easy, because the paper was on the front step. This was a tradition that happened until last summer.

Sometime last summer, the Tribune decided that they would start delivering my paper in my driveway. Sometimes, they miss and it ends up in the gutter. In any case, I have to put on shoes and a coat to get the paper most mornings. Because of this, I usually don't get the paper before I leave for work. I find other things to read while eating my Cocoa Crispies.

Because I don't get the paper in the mornings, it usually gets dropped inside the front door by whoever the first person to come inside is. It often stays just inside the front door in it's nice orange packaging. My dad is usually the only other person to read the paper, but only if it's already open. My mom will read the comics page sometimes, but only if it's there.

We currently have the papers form last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday still sitting in their orange packaging.

Because the paper is getting read less and less often, we will probably discontinue our subscripiton once it expires.

The only time I venture onto the Trib's website is to find stories to link to for the blog, or on the rare occasion that I'm looking for updated news stories, and for those I usually look to the DesNews first. Their website is better. My parents never go to the website.

Newspapers complain about losing readership, but they continue to push readership away.

-Bob

KSL, Mormons, Democrats, and "the letter:" The comments

I love the fact that KSL, and other news media outlets, have comments sections on their news stories. It makes them alot more like blogs.

Here is a smattering of comments from the KSL story on the LDS Church letter:

Kurt G.: "Can we please retire Orrin Hatch now?! Pete Ashdown would be a welcome breath of fresh air to represent us in Washington. (and for those of you who place utmost importance on religious affilitation, he is a member of the LDS church)"

Jason H., who maybe doesn't know who owns KSL: "The funniest thing about this story is how it isn't anything new, unless you are KSL and are trying to get a rise out of the majority of the people. There must be more than a few ksl employee's who would like to see nothing more than the LDS church become the next biggest liberal group in the union, by promoting a "news story" as insignificant as this one. You pick the political party that closest resembles your beliefs. In most cases for LDS peoples, that is the republican party. Nothing more, nothing less. You are not accepted into heaven based on the political party you belong too. And you shouldn't create news stories just to stir the pot. We have enough to worry about without you trying to create one more wall around the majority religion of the state, and everyone else. "

Marge S. "At the VERY least those of us that are not republican but ARE LDS will maybe recieve less remarks from pompous members about how " Good Mormon's are not liberals" I know I will love to hear less of those . As if they speak for God himself . My fellow Democrats know those people . The ones who do not care how much they judge someone or how rude they are but they don't drink Pepsi so they are going straight to the pearly gates. Course not ALL republican members are like that . However the ones that are I hope will think twice before proclaiming they "know to be true" the political party of Jesus Christ"

Bobbi N. "I'm LDS, and I vote mainly democrat in the state of Utah yet consider myself very republican. (Except in the case of Rocky, of course) There are a lot of really good LDS democrats in this state. Let's not forget that not too very long ago, most of Utah's politicians were Democrat (I even think that was the case after they let Mormons run for public office) Support the candidates that will be what you feel is the best for you and your children. Not all democrats are liberal. Actually I consider most of the Democrats (except for Rocky) pretty conservative. Vote for the person, not the party."

-Bob

Why is Bush in Afghanistan a "surprise?"

This morning, we're seeing a zillion stories on George Bush making a surprise visit to Afghanistan (go visit your favorite news site, I'd bet it's the lead story).

However, I heard he was going a couple days ago. From the media. A simple Google search turned up the following:

Houston Chronicle, February 28:

There is a great deal of speculation that Bush will add a quick, unscheduled stop in Afghanistan to his itinerary. White House officials have refused to confirm or deny such a trip.

"We think he's going to make a quiet trip to Afghanistan," said Marvin Weinbaum, a policy expert at the Middle East Institute and a former State Department analyst for Pakistan and Afghanistan:

"He will fly, in all likelihood, to Bagram Air Base" outside Kabul, Weinbaum said. "And unless I'm wrong, he might think it's Fort Hood. He won't see very many Afghans. What he will get is a chance, and all presidents do this — this president relishes it — to stand in front of the troops" to boost their morale.

Toronto Star, Feb 28:

There has been speculation that Bush intends to visit nearby Afghanistan but officials have refused all comment.

"Even if we were going to other countries, we would announce that at an appropriate time — not before," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday.

Maybe the press is surprised because the White House told them to be surprised.

-Bob

This blog mentioned by MSM

A couple of weeks ago, I had 15-20 visits per day. The only consistant readers I knew I had were Shaun and Ethan.

Now, I get 35-40 per day, with 75 on Friday.

Yesterday, I got a mention in the Salt Lake Tribune.

The blogger SLCSpin has created a bumper sticker about Utah's congressional delegation. It features face sketches, in this order, of Cannon, Bishop, Hatch, Bennett and Matheson with the caption: duck, duck, duck, duck, goose.
The bumper sticker comes after Bob Aagard's The World According to Me blog posted his new T-shirt for sale. It simply says, "Don't vote for Orrin."

It's always fun to see your name in print...

Oh, and see the rest of my stuff for sale here. Ethan's store is here. My favorite Design is "Country Fried Computers"

-Bob