Columbus’s Counsel

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Advice for Campaign 2016

“For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.”

—Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), hapless explorer and disease-ridden invader

• Editorial Comment: Maybe it’s better that the candidates don’t know where the heck they’re going. Because beyond this point, there be monsters.



PeezPix by Ted Pease

Godwits Strolling





Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Willful Know-Nothing

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Derpitude

“[A]n all-too-obvious feature of the modern intellectual landscape: people who keep saying the same thing no matter how much evidence accumulates that it’s completely wrong.” 

—Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics and New York Times columnist, “Fighting the Derp,” The New York Times, June 8, 2015  

• Editorial Comment: It’s not derp if you believe it, is it?


PeezPix by Ted Pease

’Yak







Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Hot Dates

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Jeff’s Allergies

“When Jeff Cohen was getting ready to meet his OkCupid date for drinks in Manhattan, he started to have second thoughts as he reread the glaring grammatical error in her last message: ‘I will see you their.’ 

“The date flopped for a couple of reasons, but bad grammar bothers Mr. Cohen. Learning a potential mate doesn’t know the difference between ‘there,’ ‘they’re’ and ‘their’ is like discovering she loves cats, he says. Mr. Cohen is allergic to cats. ‘It’s like learning I’m going to sneeze every time I see her,’ he says.” 

—Georgia Wells, “What’s Really Hot on Dating Sites? Proper Grammar,” The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 1, 2015

• Editorial Comment: I don’t sneeze. Conan the Grammarian taught me to snort at bad grammar.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

I luv cats







Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Wisdom & the Unwashed Masses

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The Body Politic

 “Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” 

—H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist, author and curmudgeon, Notes on Democracy, 1926 (Thanks to alert WORDster Karl Petruso)

• Editorial Comment: So many examples of the wisdom of the masses. Take Congress. Please.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Time for Pie









Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Precision Language

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Social morays

• Editorial Comment: “‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’” After the coffee spurtled out my nose, I laughed as if star-craving and ended up in the feeble position.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Halloween Cairn












Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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News Tweeting

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Cyber-Buzzards

 “In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s shooting, [NY Daily News reporter Jason] Silverstein tweeted to four people who said they were at Umpqua Community College during the incident and asked for their accounts. He was quickly called out as ‘desperate’ and worse on Twitter.

“The derision, however, didn’t bother him. ‘I’m used to it by now, since I have to cover such events with unfortunate frequency,’ he said, adding: ‘It’s our job. And it’s a job that needs to be done regardless of some tweets calling you a scumbag. Those are going to come no matter what you do anyway.’ 

“‘You can’t be a reporter of, well, anything without doing lots of things that are perceived as rude. But what is the alternative?’” 

—Paul Farhi, media reporter, “‘Vultures’ or reporters? After shooting, witnesses hit with media requests,” The Washington Post, Oct. 1, 2015 (Image: Randy L. Rasmussen/Oregonian)

 • Editorial Comment: It *is* a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. 

PeezPix by Ted Pease

Rubber Tree Plant











Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Still Stupid

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Asimov’s Cult of Ignorance

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”’ 

―Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), science fiction author, scientist and futurist, “A Cult of Ignorance,” Newsweek (Jan 21, 1980) (Thanks to alert WORDster Bill Bauldry, Professor of Cool Stuff at Appalachian State U)

• Editorial Comment: Campaign 2016: We’ve sure made a load of progress since 1980.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Old Barnacles








Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Advice for Young Photographers

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Depth of Field

“If you’re young and have the time, go and study. Study anthropology, sociology, economy, geopolitics. Study so that you’re actually able to understand what you’re photographing. What you can photograph and what you should photograph.” 

—Sebastião Salgado, photographer, “Sebastião Salgado’s Advice For Young Photographers Today,” Medium.com, May 2015 (Kevin Scanlan/NYTimes photo)

• Editorial Comment: Radical idea: Knowledge opens your eyes, and your brain, too.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Up the Down Staircase, Houda Beach







Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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The Lubricants of Democracy

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Greasing the Skids

“Ambiguity and apathy are the lubricants of democracy. They keep the machinery running smoothly. Most of us become politically active only when we can clearly see that the benefit would be worth the cost in time and effort.” 

—Phil Meyer, journalism professor-emeritus, scholar and author, USA Today, 2000.

• Editorial Comment: I don’t know which candidate to support, and I don’t care.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Snail No. 9








Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Tesla’s Ravings

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Crazy Predictions

“When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket. 

“We shall be able to witness and hear events—the inauguration of a President, the playing of a world series game, the havoc of an earthquake or the terror of a battle—just as though we were present.”

—Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), engineer and inventor, “When Woman Is Boss,” Collier’s, 1926  

• Editorial Comment: What a load of piffle.


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Battery Point Lighthouse, Crescent City, California








Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Schoolboy Dreams

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The Jolly Editor

“The editor is one of the happiest individuals in the world. He can go to the circus in the afternoon and evening without paying a nickel; also to inquests and hangings. He has free tickets to the theatres, gets wedding cake sent to him, and sometimes gets a licking, but not often, for he can take things back in the next issue, which he generally does. While other folks have to go to bed early, the editor can sit up late every night and see all that is going on. When I am a man I mean to be an editor, so that I can stay out late at nights. Then that will be jolly.”

 

—Commentary from The Elko (Nevada) Free Press, April 1887. (Thanks to alert WORDster Tom McGuire)

• Editorial Comment: All those jolly recovering editors at the sanitarium couldn’t agree more.

PeezPix by Ted Pease

Open Road, outside Monticello, Nevada







Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
.

Wag the Dog

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. . . er, the Fox

“The conservative media has [sic] hog-tied the Republican Party and taken it hostage . . . . 

“That’s the message delivered by a new 20,000-word Shorenstein Center paper by New York Times reporter Jackie Calmes. This finding — that the conservative media tail wags the Republican dog — will appeal to every liberal who ever shrieked in fright after accidentally tuning in to Fox News or who has yet to recover from involuntarily exposure to Rush Limbaugh’s radio program during a taxi ride.”

—Jack Shafer, “Fox News Doesn’t Control the GOP: No matter how much liberals think it does,” Politico.com, August 2015 

• Editorial Comment: Tell it to Donald Trump. Is that him shrieking, or Roger Ailes?






PeezPix by Ted Pease

If you're traveling to the North Country Fair . . . Arcata, California







Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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Who’s in Charge Here?

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Graphing Shakespeare

“But there’s a reason we recognize Hamlet as a masterpiece: it’s that Shakespeare told us the truth, and people so rarely tell us the truth in this rise and fall here [indicates blackboard]. The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is. And if I die — God forbid — I would like to go to heaven to ask somebody in charge up there, ‘Hey, what was the good news and what was the bad news?’”

—Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007), writer and student of storytelling, in Ana Swanson, “Kurt Vonnegut graphed the world’s most popular stories,” The Washington Post, Feb. 9, 2015 

• Editorial Comment: And the guy will answer, “Kurt, There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”


PeezPix by Ted Pease

Wave Patterns








Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email every weekday morning during WORD season. This is a free “service” sent to the 2,000,000 or so misguided subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. But all contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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