Presidents Day

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Wisdom

“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”—Richard M. Nixon

“No man ever listened himself out of a job.” —Calvin Coolidge 

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” —George Washington
 
“A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue.” —James Monroe 

“If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.” —Richard M. Nixon

“I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am not fit to be President.” —Andrew Jackson 

“As to the Presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.” —Martin Van Buren
 
“With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses.” —James Polk 

“The man who can look upon a crisis without being willing to offer himself upon the altar of his country is not for public trust.” —Millard Fillmore
 
“Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking.” —Rutherford Hayes 

“I have never been hurt by something I didn’t say” —Calvin Coolidge

“If it were not for the reporters, I would tell you the truth.” —Chester A. Arthur
 
“Above all, tell the truth.” —Grover Cleveland 

“You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it.” —Harry S. Truman
 
“You ain’t learnin’ nothin’ when you’re talkin.’” —Lyndon B. Johnson
 
“I like the job I have, but if I had to live my life over again, I would like to have ended up a sports writer.” —Richard Milhous Nixon
 
“Don’t try to fine-tune somebody else’s view.” —George H.W. Bush 

“We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it.” —Barack Obama

See Presidential Quotes 

• Editorial Comment: Politics aside, you have to hand it to them. What a crappy job.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Sad Snowman











PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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A WORD for Valentine’s Day

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Heart of Journalism

“The heart of journalism is storytelling—we are storytellers and story-listeners, and that was the magic of The World. [Today], the media are increasingly becoming a purveyor of information, but information without knowledge and context is of little use to us. . . . That’s why we read novels: those stories connect us with the experiences of others. The power of journalism to change the world is when we make those intimate connections.” 

—James McGrath Morris, biographer and author, Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power (2010) URL & link to interview 

• Editorial Comment: Bet you thought this was going to be some gooey, syrupy Valentine’s Day thing.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Peony








PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Olympic Fail

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Too Much Coverage?

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“Always the best statistic is that journalists (20,000) outnumber the competitors (17,000). A great media experiment would be to assign one journalist to every participant to cover their story from first to last. That way every Olympic life would achieve literary immortality.” 

–Paul Hayward, chief sports writer, The Telegraph, writing about the 2012 London Olympics, April 2012 (Thanks to alert WORDster and JCOM survivor El Kenneth Miller, Olympic addict)

• Editorial Comment: The agony of defeat.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Utah sunrise








PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Potholes & Poems

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What to Write

“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

“I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way — although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.”

—Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), writer (Vonnegut’s writing tips) 

• Editorial Comment: Even an email or a tweet or haiku, if you do it right.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Utah sunrise








PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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TV Time

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You Are What You Eat

“Television is the first truly democratic culture—the first culture available to everyone and entirely governed by what people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.”

—Clive Barnes (1928-2008), entertainment media critic, 1969

• Editorial Comment: Jeopardy?

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

The Landing









PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Tsunami

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What’s New?

“The digital tsunami is absorbing, distracting and all-consuming — and increasingly it feels like work. Staying up to the minute is a grind, not a pleasure.” 

—David Mikics, op-ed, “In Praise of (Offline)Slow Reading,” The New York Times, Jan. 3, 2014

• Editorial Comment: I am water-boarded every day.

• PS: In this context, a mea culpa: Yesterday’s WORD from Benjy Franklin, as many alert WORDsters have pointed out, was a fake. Hey, you get what you pay for. Fortunately, I have 1,800 fact-checkers out there. Good work, you guys. Could you flame me *before* I embarrass myself?

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

The Boathouse (best view on the harbor)









PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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What to Drink

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Libations

“In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.” 

—Ben Franklin (1706-1790), famed kite-flier, newsman and beer-maker. URL 

• Editorial Comment: Self-evident.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Cutler Marsh









PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Unfair?

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O’Reilly/O’Bama

“The pre-Super Bowl interview with President Obama conducted by Bill O’Reilly [Sunday] was not only notable for the Fox News anchor’s constant interruptions, but also for his harping on old news. The travails of HealthCare.gov, the murderous attacks in Benghazi and the actions taken by the IRS against conservative groups chewed up 9 minutes and 45 seconds of the 10-minute sitdown. . . . 

Obama: “Bill, . . . These kinds of things keep on surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them. . . . 

O’Reilly: “Do you think I'm being unfair to you?

Obama: “Absolutely. Of course you are, Bill — but I like you anyway.”

 —Jonathan Capehart, “O’Reilly outFoxed by Obama,” The Washington Post, Feb. 3, 2014 (See also USAToday and the Fox transcript)

• Editorial Comment: Fairly Balanced.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Cutler Marsh







PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Tweeting Philip Seymour Hoffman

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Sensational

“In its ethics code, the Society of Professional Journalists has an entire section on ‘minimizing harm,’ guided by the principle that ‘ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.’ The section cautions reporters to show compassion and be sensitive when investigating a tragedy. It urges them to ‘show good taste’ and ‘avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.’

“Increasingly, ‘minimizing harm’ is becoming a quaint concern, a nostalgic vestige of a bygone era in journalism. Now, breaking news is breaking us. We’re cycling through tragedies at lightning speed and without affording ourselves the adequate time to reflect and to grieve. The pursuit of journalistic expediency is eroding our empathy, and readers are left the worse for it.”

—Stacia L. Brown on the rush to tweet first on tragedy, even before family members have been informed, “How breaking news is breaking us: The rush to report Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death,” Slate, Feb. 3, 2014

• Editorial Comment: Hypocrites, not Hippocrates.

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Cala Curl







PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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Blitzed & Sacked

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Super

“It’s so much more fun to watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed & sacked! #SuperBowl”

—Hillary Clinton, football fan and former Secretary of State, tweeting during yesterday’s Super Bowl 

• Editorial Comment: See Hawks?

PeezPix by Ted Pease 

Busted












PeezPix. ted.pease@gmail.com

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 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, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. ted.pease@gmail.com. (Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

“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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