Quotations 
Something worthwhile
Of course, Americans, at least those unable to think big, cannot embrace what is happening around the world. Yes, the (World Baseball Classic) has its critics, but there are two distinguishing characteristics of the party poopers: they are overwhelmingly American and they overwhelmingly don’t actually attend or watch the event. They preach from Barcalounger pulpits […]
Laughably inefficient newsprint
Not that it’s anything we think the New York Times Company should do, but we thought it was worth pointing out that it costs the Times about twice as much money to print and deliver the newspaper over a year as it would cost to send each of its subscribers a brand new Amazon Kindle […]
Still junk food, organic or not
It may feel better to eat an organic Oreo than a conventional Oreo, but, says Marion Nestle, a professor at New York University’s department of nutrition, food studies and public health, ‘Organic junk food is still junk food.’ –Mark Bittman
The Daily Me echo chamber
When we go online, each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper. We select the kind of news and opinions that we care most about. Nicholas Negroponte of M.I.T. has called this emerging news product The Daily Me. And if that’s the trend, God save us from ourselves. That’s because there’s pretty good […]
Billy Packer’s heir
With Billy Packer now yelling at the TV from home, you might think that the NCAA Tournament would be free from the scourge of the know-it-all in a network blazer. Tune in on Thursday, though, and you’ll hear Packer’s heir, a color commentator who never misses a chance to point out that he’s the smartest […]
6OT Thriller
This was one of those special nights in sports, the unexpected genius of competition that causes friends to text each other wondering if they’re watching, that left a million workers bleary-eyed Friday morning because there just was no way to turn this one off until 1:22 a.m. ET brought the final buzzer. –Dan Wetzel
Made for hypocrisy
Earmarks were made for hypocrisy; they’re always reprehensible when they’re in someone else’s district. But despite all the Beltway hyperventilation, earmarks are not really a problem. Their exponential growth is a symptom of the larger problem of wasteful spending, but blaming the earmark process for wasteful spending is like blaming the Internet for porn. It […]
Buster Douglas of baseball
The World Baseball Classic arrived Tuesday night. Baseball became a truly global game when the Netherlands, the international baseball version of Buster Douglas, the 1980 U.S. hockey team and the Milan Indians rolled into one, put the tournament on the map by upsetting the heavily favored, star-studded Dominican Republic team, 2-1. Talk about shocking the […]