Daily Briefing

Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan, has an excellent blog covering the war in Iraq. I remain mystified as to why the mainstream press, especially television news outfits, continues to cover the war in such a cursory fashion. Do they think people aren’t interested? I think most people are interested in what’s happening, but they aren’t actively seeking out information. Blogs can play a role in providing that information, but television still has the most immediate impact on public opinion. If I was the news director of a major network, I’d begin every nightly newscast with stories from Iraq, regardless of my political bent. It’s the biggest story around and yet sometimes it trails behind headlines of the Scott Peterson trial.
Incidentally, ABC’s The Note is a vital election-season resource. It has an exhaustive recap of the day’s political events, important stories from the papers, emerging trends, poll data, etc. A daily must-read.
We FINALLY have new computers at work. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have a workstation that doesn’t stutter and hiccup when you try to have more than one document open at a time. Please let me never work on a Windows NT machine ever again. Ick. But I’m not sure why we were upgraded to Windows 2000 instead of XP. Maybe it was a cheaper license.
VSA Arts of Minnesota, a local nonprofit that has me on their Board of Directors, had its first annual fundraiser on Nicolett Island yesterday. I wish I had brought my camera because it was a beautiful location. In the middle of the river and with a spectacular view of downtown Minneapolis and the old mill ruins. If I ever get married (I know, I know, I can’t stop laughing either, but I’m just saying), I think that spot would be my first pick.