Sunday, March 13, 2005

Chewie: "I miss CNN." 2:59:55 PM    comment []

Eric Muller tries to 'splain things real slow to one of my more, er, reactive commenters, DPG. 2:07:34 PM    comment []

One of the creeds by which my father attempted to raise me was Max Weber's Protestant work ethic -- not its theological or sociological implications, but the belief that hard work is its own reward. Francis Fukuyama's essay in this morning's NYT book section suggests that my father had the right focus. 11:45:42 AM    comment []

NYT: "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News" "Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance...Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known." Related stories. 11:05:05 AM    comment []

You never know what will happen in the ACC...so I wrote my column about a tournament that is sure to make me happy, the 1975 version in which Phil Ford and his Tar Heels upset NC State and brought joy to my 12-year-old heart. This talismanic magazine cover figures in the narrative.                          The happiest moment of my life came 30 years ago last week as the clock ticked down on North Carolina's victory over NC State in the championship game of the ACC basketball tournament. Sue me, I'm shallow. My wedding day and the whelping of healthy offspring rank right up there on the Happiest Moments chart, but I was pretty sure those things were going to happen, and nobody knew that the Tar Heels would beat David Thompson and the defending national champions. Read the whole thing. 8:39:50 AM    comment []