eChaser: April 2005


	Welcome to our newsletter ... Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter Public Relations Society of America, Greater Fort Worth Chapter International Association of Business Communicators, Fort Worth Chapter eChaser archive [graphics format] We appreciate our advertisers! Advanced Mobility Systems Barr Printing Bass Performance Hall DFW Printing Co. Fort Worth Business Press Fort Worth Zoo Helping Restore Ability Immotion Studios InterStar Marketing and Public Relations Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Food Restaurant Jubilee Theatre North Texas Daily Optimist, Abilene Christian University Pancho's Mexican Buffet PR Newswire PRSA Creative Consultants SIG The Shorthorn, UTA Star-Telegram TCU Daily Skiff Tony Roma's The University of Texas at Arlington VMS Weber Shandwick Worldwide Wise County Messenger Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations April 2005 "This ain't no seed catalog" ... ERNIE MAKOVY, 1949-2004 Ernie Makovy was the rewrite man you wanted at Armageddon. A phone in each ear, a pound of notes strewn about, reporters racing past shouting updates, half a dozen TVs blaring -- Ernie could synthesize it all, all this jumbled, cacophonous data, and give you a story on deadline. Layered summaries, every fact in place, no word wasted, no quote before its time and no quote lame. He will be remembered for that, and for his skillful tutelage of young reporters, and for his small-town-Texas mannerisms. At the Times Herald, often he would gather everyone for the afternoon budget session with the proclamation, "Meeting time!," which sounded more like "Meet'n tam!" When he wanted to get people moving, he would say, "Hey, mama, let's a-rodeooo!" He will be remembered for that, too. Mr. Makovy collapsed and died March 6 while working in the yard at his Arlington home. He worked at the Dallas Times Herald for 18 years and had been at the Star-Telegram since 1989. He was 55. Way too young, his colleagues thought, way too young. "His enthusiasm, positive energy and ability to punch up a police story with colorful, descriptive language made him an irreplaceable asset." -- Star-Telegram executive editor Jim Witt ... "When the fur was flying, he was calm." -- Gary Hardee, publisher of the Arlington Star-Telegram and a colleague of Mr. Makovy's at the Times Herald And: "He would literally run out of the newsroom on a breaking story, he was so eager. He was the last great rewrite man in Dallas-Fort Worth." -- David McHam, a University of Houston journalism professor who taught Mr. Makovy at Baylor and worked with him at the Waco and Dallas papers ... "Political correctness and pretension were not among his shortcomings." -- Mike Cochran, former Associated Press and Star-Telegram reporter And: "There are fewer and fewer people like Ernie." -- Roy Bode, editor of the Dallas Times Herald when it folded in 1991 Mr. Makovy grew up in West and worked as a reporter at the old Waco News-Tribune while attending Baylor University. After graduating in 1971, he worked as a reporter and later editor and rewrite man at the Times Herald. At the Star-Telegram his skills were instrumental in behind-the-scenes coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Tarrant County Courthouse shootings and the space shuttle Columbia disaster. He was crazy about his family, loved the Texas Rangers and the Baylor Bears, outdoor cookin' and Czech sausage. He reveled in the cultural excesses of West Fest, where he sometimes performed in a polka band. And, man, he could write hard news. =================================================== MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Is Your Media Relations Web Page on the List? No? Good Forbes magazine has a "Top Corporate Hate Web Sites" where it ranks the web's "best" nine sites, all created by disgruntled former customers, "devoted exclusively to complaining about their least favorite companies." KB Home, PayPal, Allstate, Microsoft, American Express, Wal-Mart, Verizon, United Airlines and UPS made the list. You don't want to. Former IABC board chairman Charles Pizzo knows how to keep you off the list -- "25 ways to draw reporters to your Web site" -- and the tips are yours for the asking at the April IABC luncheon. Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets Cost: $20 members, $25 nonmembers RSVP by noon April 1: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... The Secrets of Storytelling Dave Lieber, the Star-Telegram's 2003 Editorial Employee of the Year and its new Watchdog columnist, has a distinctive vision about how to get articles onto newspaper front pages and on the air through storytelling techniques often overlooked by publicists and PR pros. His methods work, often with startling results, and he'll share those methods at the April meeting. Lieber promises to present an approach unlike anything you've heard. He's also bringing a how-to guide. Note that after two months of meeting on a Friday, this month's meeting returns to its regular day. Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, April 13; lunch at noon Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students RSVP by noon April 8: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org ----- Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... A Night to Honor the First Amendment Decorated investigative reporter Dan Christensen of the Miami Daily Business Review will keynote Fort Worth SPJ's annual scholarships and awards dinner Saturday, April 9, at Ridglea Country Club. Winners of the chapter's 2nd annual First Amendment Awards competition will be announced, and 18 scholarships will be presented. Christensen's topic, "America's Underground Legal System," reflects his findings on secret court cases in the U.S. District Court in Miami, for which he received the 2004 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award. He also has been recognized by IRE and as a winner or finalist in the 2003 Sunshine State Awards, the 2002 James Batten Award for Outstanding Public Service and the 2004 National Headliner Award. He broke the story in March 2003 of an Algerian-born U.S. resident who was detained secretly for five months after Sept. 11, 2001. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that to her knowledge, "no other case filed with the Supreme Court has been handled with such excessive secrecy." Christensen also was the first to report on secretive practices in another case in Miami federal court, U.S. vs. Fabio Ochoa-Vasquez, a reputed Columbian drug trafficker. Christensen found that at least one defendant had been prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned in total secrecy. The RCFP, the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Association of Trial Lawyers all filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the U.S. Court of Appeals in Miami to declare unconstitutional the practices that Christensen documented. That appeal is pending. Time & date: cash bar opens 6 p.m., dinner 6:30 Saturday, April 9 Place: Ridglea Country Club, 3700 Bernie Anderson Ave. Cost: $50; early reservations are encouraged, as seating is limited Menu: Tuscan chicken (breast of chicken stuffed with prosciutto ham and provolone cheese, served with a basil cream sauce and toasted pine nuts), chef's choice vegetables; garden-fresh salad; for dessert, back by overwhelming demand, the Texas pecan ball (vanilla ice cream rolled in pecans and slathered in hot fudge); bread, tea, coffee; dietary modifications are available upon request by April 6 RSVP by April 5: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com =================================================== STRAIGHT STUFF Merrie Spaeth, former media director for the Reagan White House and PR counsel for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and Dr. Rita Kirk, chair of the SMU Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, will discuss the impact of blogs on American politics at the IABC/Dallas meeting Tuesday, April 12. More here. ... A louder bark, a sharper bite. Organizers promise a full day of learning investigative skills, including how to unlock doors to public information, and another half-day of computer-assisted instruction (beginner and intermediate) at the May 21-22 Better Watchdog Workshop, presented by Investigative Reporters and Editors, hosted by TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism and sponsored by the Star-Telegram and Fort Worth SPJ. Cost for the May 21 session is $60 for professionals and $30 students and includes a six-month IRE membership. The optional May 22 computer-assisted reporting training is $30. More at ire.org/training/betterwatchdog/fortworth.html. ... Susan Orlean, author of "The Orchid Thief," from which sprang the Nicholas Cage-Meryl Streep movie "Adaptation," will headline the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest, July 22-24 in Grapevine. Norm Pearlstine (Time, Inc.), Ken Wells (The Wall Street Journal/Crown Books Publishing Division), Alex Kotlowitz ("There Are No Children Here") and Paul Hendrickson ("Sons of Mississippi") are among other nationally prominent writers scheduled to attend. More at mayborninstitute.unt.edu/. ... The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is accepting applications for an expenses-paid seminar focused on multimedia reporting, in-depth exploration of media convergence and other critical issues for online news operations. Applications are due April 1 and are available online. Contact Paul Grabowicz at grabs@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-3310. PRSA local update: Several PRSA members joined students from TCU PRSSA on March 10 at Texadelphia to watch the premiere of MTV's "PR Girls." The group was greatly amused at the scant reality depicted in the show about Lizzie Grubman's New York publicity firm. PRSA local update II: Angela Vargo with Southwest Airlines and Ruth Fitzgibbons, principal for Richards/Gravelle, will discuss "Beyond Cause Marketing: Connecting the Brand with a Cause" at Dallas PRSA's 2005 Pro-Am Day on Friday, April 15. More here. SPJ national update: When it smells like news but isn't (but it still smells); it's only barbaric when someone else does it; and all the answers except the answer. Boston U. j-teachers unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the practice, lately employed by the Bush administration, of broadcasting government video news releases where the source of the material is not identified. The faculty slammed the "phony reporters" and their phony reports and urged the White House to cease other VNR practices "that run a substantial risk of misleading the public." At least 20 federal agencies have made hundreds of news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were broadcast on local stations across the country with no acknowledgement of the government's role in their production. Meanwhile, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, asked the FCC to investigate whether television stations' unattributed use of VNRs produced by federal agencies violates FCC rules. More here and here and here and here and here. ... Both stricken patients were severely brain-damaged. Both were incapable of surviving without medical assistance. Both were said to have expressed a desire to not be kept alive by artificial means. And neither of them had a living will. One was Terri Schiavo. The other was Charles Ray DeLay, the father of Tom DeLay. In fall 1988, the Texas lawmaker who would one day champion political intervention in the Schiavo case and call removing the woman's feeding tube "an act of barbarism" joined the sad family consensus to let his father die. "Tom knew -- we all knew -- his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way," said Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old mother. More here and here and here and here and here. ... Thousands of pages of notes, memos, transcripts and other materials collectively known as the Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers quietly opened to the public Feb. 4 at UT Austin, minus the most fascinating detail: the identity of Deep Throat. The name of the executive branch source, as well as dozens of other confidential sources, will remain secret until their deaths, as promised to them by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting for The Washington Post led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974. More here and here. SPJ national update II: Fake cable labels writer a spy; flipping for fun and profit; maybe this is why they hate us; "the sad arc of greed has finally hit bottom"; and we decide, then we report ... The Pentagon calls a Defense Intelligence Agency cable accusing NBC News military analyst William Arkin of spying for Saddam Hussein a forgery. Arkin says it's "chilling" and demands an investigation. Arkin wrote "Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operations in the 9/11 World" and has produced several scoops critical of the Bush administration. More here. ... Clear Channel Communications on March 17 launched a progressive FM station in San Antonio to further capitalize on the growing demand for liberal-leaning talk. The latest station "flip" -- the huge, politically conservative company has made around 30 going back to last year -- features programming from Democracy Radio. Industry sources said a rival AM station in San Antonio will soon announce an affiliation with Air America. More here and here. ... The story of Iraq is usually told at ground level: roadside bombs, U.S. raids on insurgent hideouts, pipeline explosions. But well after the big blasts of the war's first nights two years ago, the U.S. bombing has continued with relatively little media attention. From last May through February, U.S. warplanes flew 13,000 missions and dropped about 490 bombs and missiles weighing a combined 265,800 pounds. More here. ... In a Feb. 28 memo to colleagues, prize-winning Newsday reporter Laurie Garrett offered a blistering assessment of journalism today -- who's calling the shots, and why, and who loses. More here. ... In covering the Iraq war last year, 73 percent of the stories on Fox News included the opinions of the anchors and reporters involved, a new study says. By contrast, 29 percent of the war reports on MSNBC and 2 percent of those on CNN included the reporters' own views. More here. SPJ national update III: Shining a little light; upgrading the FOIA; and governor see, governor do. Seven journalism organizations and the AP are behind the Sunshine in Government Initiative, which seeks to combat what the groups see as increased government secrecy since the 2001 attacks. The initiative was announced March 10 ahead of "Sunshine Week," a campaign for government openness spearheaded by more than 50 news outlets, journalism groups, universities and the American Library Association. More here. And the message is perhaps being heard. Seven out of 10 Americans are concerned about government secrecy, a new poll says. The poll found that more than half of Americans believe government should provide more access. Even more, 70 percent, are either "somewhat concerned" or "very concerned" about government secrecy. More here and here. ... Media outlets across the country are urging the passage of legislation that proposes the first major changes to the federal Freedom of Information Act in nearly a decade. The "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Government Act," sponsored by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, would expand the act in several ways. More here. ... A week after Democratic legislators faulted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for using taxpayer money to produce "propaganda" in the form of a mock news video, the administration on March 9 acknowledged making several others to advance its policies. More here and here. SPJ national update IV: No farm animals, no foul; rather tacky, Rather thoughtful; and free the Scarlet Knights! The House Judiciary Committee rejected, along party lines, a request to investigate whether the White House provided press room access to a reporter with questionable journalism credentials -- and a Web site proclaiming his charms as a homosexual prostitute -- as part of its efforts to control media coverage. More here and here. ... On Dan Rather's last night, when the evening news staff surrounded him and applauded after he had signed off, instead of keeping the camera on the newsworthy scene, CBS News cut away to the Wal-Mart billboard that runs at the end of the newscast. More here. ... Call it a lesson in freedom of the press for the man who runs Rutgers U.'s journalism department. Department chairman John Pavlik last month reversed his edict that on-campus topics would be off-limits to students in the investigative reporting class. The change of heart came after a squall of media coverage and objections from faculty, including professors in his own department. SPJ got involved at the request of the course's instructor, former national board member Guy Baehr. More here and here. ----- A Quick Lesson on Media Interviews: Take Charge by Tim Tune, president IABC/Fort Worth If you want a media interview to be positive, you have more control than you might realize. That was Jim Barach's message at the March meeting, and it came from a pro -- he has seen the broadcast news business from the inside out. Barach, who has extensive experience as a radio-TV personality, reporter and anchor (and also is a certified meteorologist), said good media skills begin with knowing what drives interviewers. They want background, so do the work for them; they want help condensing complexities into a 90-second story, so summarize the material for them; they want sound bites, so offer six- to 10-second responses to their questions. It's also critical how a story is pitched, and Barach said reporters have an affinity for conflict, controversy, exclusive access, breaking news and something new or unique. He also gave the common-sense advice to be punctual. Reporters live on deadline, he noted, and it doesn't hurt to provide a spokesperson who's interesting and fun to interview. For that interview, Barach said, you should know what your message is in advance; condense your story to a maximum of three key sub-messages; stay focused; and bridge the reporter back to your story with a "zinger" or off-subject question to steer the interview back around to your main topic. And, Barach cautioned, always assume that you're being recorded and your comments are on the record. Don't say -- or do -- something you might regret later. =================================================== PEOPLE & PLACES Blue Marble Media will develop the web site and e-marketing campaign for Superior Soils, a Frisco-based specialist in organic soils that is launching Nature's Little Garden organic products in south Louisiana and south Mississippi. Blue Marble Media also has been selected as the agency of record for the Euless Lonestars, a baseball team in the Texas Collegiate League. The project will consist of web development, e-marketing campaigns, printed materials and media relations. ... The Columbia Scholastic Press Association honored the UTA newspaper, The Shorthorn, in March with two Gold Crown Awards, which mark the best college papers in the country. Only seven colleges received the award, and only four won for both spring and fall. Eleven other schools won Silver Crowns, the second tier of excellence. The Shorthorn also won the Gold Crown in 1988, 1990, 1999, 2001 and 2004, but this is the first time it won for each semester, plus the first time it won in consecutive years. Current and former staff members Shannon Duffy, Brandon Guidry, Mark Roberts, Katy Williams, Tiffany Murphy, Josh Bohling and Britney Tabor won Gold Circle Awards for individual work. ... The Star-Telegram sports staff has been named in the Top 10 in the country, again, by APSE for special sections (the Summer Olympics preview) and Sunday. The paper won honorable mention in daily in the largest circulation category. =================================================== GET A JOB Diana Fuentes at the Laredo Morning Times needs "a good editor, preferably someone who knows Quark, is creative and knows style. If it's someone who's a strong editor and could serve as news editor, he wouldn't have to know Quark, just have good news sense and, of course, good editing and headline-writing skills." She also needs two reporters, one for courts. "I tried a couple of people who sounded like good candidates during our Hearst fellow interviews but have had no luck so far," she writes. "Those living in San Diego and Boston, apparently, can't quite see the appeal in a Texas-Mexico border adventure." ... The Abilene Reporter-News needs someone to oversee the copy/design desk and to be in charge at night. Contact Terri Burke, burket@reporternews.com. ... The UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth seeks a communications coordinator. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in journalism, PR or related field, two years experience and a Texas drivers license. Familiarity with communications tasks and theories is preferred. Send 3-5 clips to UNT Human Resources Services, (817) 735-0107 fax or bmiller@hsc.unt.edu. Salary is $29,376 a year. More from Kay Colley, (817) 735-2553. ... A Dallas-based transportation services company (12,000 employees in the United States and Canada) seeks an internal communications manager with 5-7 years in internal corporate communications, writing and journalism; a bachelor's degree in journalism or related field; experience in spreadsheet, word processing and presentation software. Data entry skills are preferred, with fluency in Spanish a plus. Contact Mary Spilman, (972) 788-4044 or spilman@airmail.net. ... Bimbo Bakeries USA/Mrs Baird's has a $200-a-day contract position for a technical writer to create easy-to-understand "help" copy for new in-house scheduling software. Position is expected to last 8-10 weeks starting in early April, with some off-site work permitted. Technical writing samples and experience using Microsoft HTML Help Workshop are preferred. Contact Sherry Jones, (817) 212-2134 or sjones@BimboBakeriesUSA.com. ... The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas seeks a marketing associate to write the organization's newsletters, manage all e-philanthropy capabilities and do some project management. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in marketing or related field, with 1-2 years marketing communications experience. Knowledge of the print process, desktop publishing, Macromedia Dreamweaver and HTML skills is a plus. Salary in the low 30s. E-mail résumé and two writing samples to jtingley@jfgd.org. ... Looking for a journalism job or internship in the Midwest? Check the Chicago Headline Club's JobFile, which posts dozens of leads each week. While you're there, subscribe to receive the latest postings in a weekly e-mail. Select listings also can be heard on the Headline Club's voice mail: (312) 409-7997 ext. 3. ... The Yale Law School seeks a director of internal and external communications. Requirements include a bachelor's degree and 8-10 years in communications, publishing and/or journalism, at least half of that time as a supervisor, and experience in strategic communications and promotional techniques. Experience in higher education or government is preferred. Mail résumé to Yale University Placement & Staff Relations, P.O. Box 208256, New Haven, Conn. 06520-8256. ... The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has an opening in Miami for someone to expand the values of a free press at home and abroad. Responsibilities include serving as a grantee contact, performing research, making proposal recommendations and developing grants. A bachelor's degree and five or more years of journalism experience and knowledge of the national journalism scene are required. Send a résumé in Word format and a cover letter that includes salary history to careers@knightfdn.org. =================================================== NEW MEMBERS SPJ ... Katie Richardson, adviser, Weatherford College =================================================== COMINGS & GOINGS Exits ... at the S-T: Sean Wood, who has written about business news from the Arlington newsroom for nearly seven years, to the Express-News in San Antonio, where he will cover the new Toyota plant ==================================================== PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Tim Tune, IABC/Fort Worth I hope your company never graces Forbes magazine's list of poorly designed and executed web sites referenced on p. 1. However, if there were a "Best Corporate Web Sites for Reporters" list, you'd use every trick in the book to get on it. I haven't perfected those tricks yet, but I know someone who has, and he's next at IABC/Fort Worth. Show up Tuesday, April 5, and learn from Charles Pizzo tips -- 25 of them -- proven to work; how to avoid design disasters that reporters hate; and how to be a resource for reporters and keep them coming back for more. Charles is one of the most popular speakers in the nation on media relations on the web, his specialty. He sprinkles his presentations with real examples of the do's and don'ts of this critical corporate communications function. Stay away from those bad lists. Lunge for the good ones. IABC can help get you there. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ We do greatly appreciate Jane Schlansker and her merry InterStar band for organizing the bang-up James B. Stewart "DisneyWar" speaking gig, then handing SPJ the proceeds for scholarships. They threw copious energy at the project. We're thinking of ways to say thanks. I'm not sure a fruit basket's gonna cover it. ... Gary Hardee and Larry Lutz are my heroes, and I'm telling them now because Ernie Makovy was a hero, too, and with Ernie I waited too late. Ernie was as lean as his writing, and he had a cowboy amble and always wore boots and jeans. We'd pass in the hall on Friday afternoons as he headed to the back dock to smoke. "Mister Dycus," he would acknowledge in that drawn-out Central Texas drawl. He impressed me as kind and patient, a true craftsman, a lover of life. Wish I'd known him better. Maybe he would've called me "Chump." ... Longtime SPJ member Karl King is rehabbing his old Leatherneck self at the VA hospital following hip and leg surgery necessitated by a car wreck Dec. 23. He may be there a couple of more months. Karl is our most faithful meeting attendee; who's to ask questions with him laid up? Send him a card or call his room: Veterans Administration Medical Center, 4500 S. Lancaster Road, TCUA, Dallas, Texas 75216, (214) 302-1983. ... One month free Mensa membership to Star-T executive editor Jim Witt for this one. Take a calculator and punch in the first three digits of your phone number (no area code). Multiply by 80. Add 1. Multiply by 250. Add the last four digits of your phone number. Add the last four digits of your phone number again. Subtract 250. Divide by 2. What do you see? Speaking of whom, Jim's generosity is showing. He bought a Star-Telegram table at the James B. Stewart luncheon and two tables for the SPJ chapter's First Amendment Dinner 10 days later. Proceeds benefit scholarships. Waiter, an extra Texas pecan ball for Mr. Witt! ... Bill Moyers, on receiving the Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen Award, had this to say and so much more: "I have always been an optimist. Now, however, I think of my friend on Wall Street whom I once asked: 'What do you think of the market?' 'I'm optimistic,' he answered. 'Then why do you look so worried?' And he answered: 'Because I'm not sure my optimism is justified.' " Moyers' acceptance speech is here. The writing and clarity of thought captivate as surely as the reporting will leave you sad, frustrated and burdened indeed. ... Closing words: "Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will." -- Ben Stein and others ... "The car of the future will have to respect the environment. What better way to raise public awareness than [by] developing a racing car?" -- Alain Lebrun, president of the IdéeVerte Compétition, on its 315 kilometers-per-hour race car powered by liquefied petroleum gas, one of the least polluting fuels, and lubricated with sunflower oil ... "I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy." -- J.D. Salinger ... "Writing is just thinking through my fingers." -- Isaac Asimov ... "Life is always a tightrope or a featherbed. Give me the tightrope." -- Edith Wharton ... "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." -- H.G. Wells ... "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain Closing words II, G.W.B. & the Pharisees bracket: "George [W.] would read my memos [on how to 'signal' to Christian fundamentalists], and he would be licking his lips, saying, 'I can use this to win Texas.' " -- Bush family adviser and snitch Doug Wead in a GQ interview in September 2003 ... "The message coming out of the White House is that we'll fix Social Security by raising your taxes and cutting your retirement benefits, and, to get something passed, we'll forget about the personal retirement accounts we promised." That's like telling voters, "Never vote for Republicans again -- we lie." -- a senior Republican senator in The Washington Times, March 11, 2005

Welcome to our newsletter ...

Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter

Public Relations Society of America, Greater Fort Worth Chapter

International Association of Business Communicators, Fort Worth Chapter

We appreciate our advertisers!
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Helping Restore Ability
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Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Food Restaurant
Jubilee Theatre
North Texas Daily
Optimist, Abilene Christian University
Pancho's Mexican Buffet
PR Newswire
PRSA Creative Consultants SIG
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Star-Telegram

TCU Daily Skiff
Tony Roma's
The University of Texas at Arlington
VMS
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Wise County Messenger
Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations

April 2005

"This ain't no seed catalog" ...

ERNIE MAKOVY, 1949-2004

Ernie Makovy was the rewrite man you wanted at Armageddon. A phone in each ear, a pound of notes strewn about, reporters racing past shouting updates, half a dozen TVs blaring -- Ernie could synthesize it all, all this jumbled, cacophonous data, and give you a story on deadline. Layered summaries, every fact in place, no word wasted, no quote before its time and no quote lame.

He will be remembered for that, and for his skillful tutelage of young reporters, and for his small-town-Texas mannerisms. At the Times Herald, often he would gather everyone for the afternoon budget session with the proclamation, "Meeting time!," which sounded more like "Meet'n tam!" When he wanted to get people moving, he would say, "Hey, mama, let's a-rodeooo!" He will be remembered for that, too.

Mr. Makovy collapsed and died March 6 while working in the yard at his Arlington home. He worked at the Dallas Times Herald for 18 years and had been at the Star-Telegram since 1989. He was 55. Way too young, his colleagues thought, way too young.

"His enthusiasm, positive energy and ability to punch up a police story with colorful, descriptive language made him an irreplaceable asset." -- Star-Telegram executive editor Jim Witt ... "When the fur was flying, he was calm." -- Gary Hardee, publisher of the Arlington Star-Telegram and a colleague of Mr. Makovy's at the Times Herald

And: "He would literally run out of the newsroom on a breaking story, he was so eager. He was the last great rewrite man in Dallas-Fort Worth." -- David McHam, a University of Houston journalism professor who taught Mr. Makovy at Baylor and worked with him at the Waco and Dallas papers ... "Political correctness and pretension were not among his shortcomings." -- Mike Cochran, former Associated Press and Star-Telegram reporter

And: "There are fewer and fewer people like Ernie." -- Roy Bode, editor of the Dallas Times Herald when it folded in 1991

Mr. Makovy grew up in West and worked as a reporter at the old Waco News-Tribune while attending Baylor University. After graduating in 1971, he worked as a reporter and later editor and rewrite man at the Times Herald. At the Star-Telegram his skills were instrumental in behind-the-scenes coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Tarrant County Courthouse shootings and the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

He was crazy about his family, loved the Texas Rangers and the Baylor Bears, outdoor cookin' and Czech sausage. He reveled in the cultural excesses of West Fest, where he sometimes performed in a polka band.

And, man, he could write hard news.

===================================================

MEETINGS

Next at IABC/Fort Worth ...

Is Your Media Relations Web Page on the List? No? Good

Forbes magazine has a "Top Corporate Hate Web Sites" where it ranks the web's "best" nine sites, all created by disgruntled former customers, "devoted exclusively to complaining about their least favorite companies." KB Home, PayPal, Allstate, Microsoft, American Express, Wal-Mart, Verizon, United Airlines and UPS made the list. You don't want to.

Former IABC board chairman Charles Pizzo knows how to keep you off the list -- "25 ways to draw reporters to your Web site" -- and the tips are yours for the asking at the April IABC luncheon.

Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 5

Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets

Cost: $20 members, $25 nonmembers

RSVP by noon April 1: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com

-----

Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...

The Secrets of Storytelling

Dave Lieber, the Star-Telegram's 2003 Editorial Employee of the Year and its new Watchdog columnist, has a distinctive vision about how to get articles onto newspaper front pages and on the air through storytelling techniques often overlooked by publicists and PR pros.

His methods work, often with startling results, and he'll share those methods at the April meeting. Lieber promises to present an approach unlike anything you've heard. He's also bringing a how-to guide.

Note that after two months of meeting on a Friday, this month's meeting returns to its regular day.

Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, April 13; lunch at noon

Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets

Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students

RSVP by noon April 8: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org

-----

Next at Fort Worth SPJ ...

A Night to Honor the First Amendment

Decorated investigative reporter Dan Christensen of the Miami Daily Business Review will keynote Fort Worth SPJ's annual scholarships and awards dinner Saturday, April 9, at Ridglea Country Club. Winners of the chapter's 2nd annual First Amendment Awards competition will be announced, and 18 scholarships will be presented.

Christensen's topic, "America's Underground Legal System," reflects his findings on secret court cases in the U.S. District Court in Miami, for which he received the 2004 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award. He also has been recognized by IRE and as a winner or finalist in the 2003 Sunshine State Awards, the 2002 James Batten Award for Outstanding Public Service and the 2004 National Headliner Award.

He broke the story in March 2003 of an Algerian-born U.S. resident who was detained secretly for five months after Sept. 11, 2001. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that to her knowledge, "no other case filed with the Supreme Court has been handled with such excessive secrecy."

Christensen also was the first to report on secretive practices in another case in Miami federal court, U.S. vs. Fabio Ochoa-Vasquez, a reputed Columbian drug trafficker. Christensen found that at least one defendant had been prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned in total secrecy. The RCFP, the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Association of Trial Lawyers all filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the U.S. Court of Appeals in Miami to declare unconstitutional the practices that Christensen documented. That appeal is pending.

Time & date: cash bar opens 6 p.m., dinner 6:30 Saturday, April 9

Place: Ridglea Country Club, 3700 Bernie Anderson Ave.

Cost: $50; early reservations are encouraged, as seating is limited

Menu: Tuscan chicken (breast of chicken stuffed with prosciutto ham and provolone cheese, served with a basil cream sauce and toasted pine nuts), chef's choice vegetables; garden-fresh salad; for dessert, back by overwhelming demand, the Texas pecan ball (vanilla ice cream rolled in pecans and slathered in hot fudge); bread, tea, coffee; dietary modifications are available upon request by April 6

RSVP by April 5: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com

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STRAIGHT STUFF

Merrie Spaeth, former media director for the Reagan White House and PR counsel for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and Dr. Rita Kirk, chair of the SMU Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, will discuss the impact of blogs on American politics at the IABC/Dallas meeting Tuesday, April 12. More here. ...

A louder bark, a sharper bite. Organizers promise a full day of learning investigative skills, including how to unlock doors to public information, and another half-day of computer-assisted instruction (beginner and intermediate) at the May 21-22 Better Watchdog Workshop, presented by Investigative Reporters and Editors, hosted by TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism and sponsored by the Star-Telegram and Fort Worth SPJ. Cost for the May 21 session is $60 for professionals and $30 students and includes a six-month IRE membership. The optional May 22 computer-assisted reporting training is $30. More at ire.org/training/betterwatchdog/fortworth.html. ...

Susan Orlean, author of "The Orchid Thief," from which sprang the Nicholas Cage-Meryl Streep movie "Adaptation," will headline the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest, July 22-24 in Grapevine. Norm Pearlstine (Time, Inc.), Ken Wells (The Wall Street Journal/Crown Books Publishing Division), Alex Kotlowitz ("There Are No Children Here") and Paul Hendrickson ("Sons of Mississippi") are among other nationally prominent writers scheduled to attend. More at mayborninstitute.unt.edu/. ...

The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is accepting applications for an expenses-paid seminar focused on multimedia reporting, in-depth exploration of media convergence and other critical issues for online news operations. Applications are due April 1 and are available online. Contact Paul Grabowicz at grabs@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-3310.

PRSA local update: Several PRSA members joined students from TCU PRSSA on March 10 at Texadelphia to watch the premiere of MTV's "PR Girls." The group was greatly amused at the scant reality depicted in the show about Lizzie Grubman's New York publicity firm.

PRSA local update II: Angela Vargo with Southwest Airlines and Ruth Fitzgibbons, principal for Richards/Gravelle, will discuss "Beyond Cause Marketing: Connecting the Brand with a Cause" at Dallas PRSA's 2005 Pro-Am Day on Friday, April 15. More here.

SPJ national update: When it smells like news but isn't (but it still smells); it's only barbaric when someone else does it; and all the answers except the answer. Boston U. j-teachers unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the practice, lately employed by the Bush administration, of broadcasting government video news releases where the source of the material is not identified. The faculty slammed the "phony reporters" and their phony reports and urged the White House to cease other VNR practices "that run a substantial risk of misleading the public." At least 20 federal agencies have made hundreds of news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were broadcast on local stations across the country with no acknowledgement of the government's role in their production. Meanwhile, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, asked the FCC to investigate whether television stations' unattributed use of VNRs produced by federal agencies violates FCC rules. More here and here and here and here and here. ... Both stricken patients were severely brain-damaged. Both were incapable of surviving without medical assistance. Both were said to have expressed a desire to not be kept alive by artificial means. And neither of them had a living will. One was Terri Schiavo. The other was Charles Ray DeLay, the father of Tom DeLay. In fall 1988, the Texas lawmaker who would one day champion political intervention in the Schiavo case and call removing the woman's feeding tube "an act of barbarism" joined the sad family consensus to let his father die. "Tom knew -- we all knew -- his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way," said Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old mother. More here and here and here and here and here. ... Thousands of pages of notes, memos, transcripts and other materials collectively known as the Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers quietly opened to the public Feb. 4 at UT Austin, minus the most fascinating detail: the identity of Deep Throat. The name of the executive branch source, as well as dozens of other confidential sources, will remain secret until their deaths, as promised to them by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting for The Washington Post led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974. More here and here.

SPJ national update II: Fake cable labels writer a spy; flipping for fun and profit; maybe this is why they hate us; "the sad arc of greed has finally hit bottom"; and we decide, then we report ... The Pentagon calls a Defense Intelligence Agency cable accusing NBC News military analyst William Arkin of spying for Saddam Hussein a forgery. Arkin says it's "chilling" and demands an investigation. Arkin wrote "Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operations in the 9/11 World" and has produced several scoops critical of the Bush administration. More here. ... Clear Channel Communications on March 17 launched a progressive FM station in San Antonio to further capitalize on the growing demand for liberal-leaning talk. The latest station "flip" -- the huge, politically conservative company has made around 30 going back to last year -- features programming from Democracy Radio. Industry sources said a rival AM station in San Antonio will soon announce an affiliation with Air America. More here and here. ... The story of Iraq is usually told at ground level: roadside bombs, U.S. raids on insurgent hideouts, pipeline explosions. But well after the big blasts of the war's first nights two years ago, the U.S. bombing has continued with relatively little media attention. From last May through February, U.S. warplanes flew 13,000 missions and dropped about 490 bombs and missiles weighing a combined 265,800 pounds. More here. ... In a Feb. 28 memo to colleagues, prize-winning Newsday reporter Laurie Garrett offered a blistering assessment of journalism today -- who's calling the shots, and why, and who loses. More here. ... In covering the Iraq war last year, 73 percent of the stories on Fox News included the opinions of the anchors and reporters involved, a new study says. By contrast, 29 percent of the war reports on MSNBC and 2 percent of those on CNN included the reporters' own views. More here.

SPJ national update III: Shining a little light; upgrading the FOIA; and governor see, governor do. Seven journalism organizations and the AP are behind the Sunshine in Government Initiative, which seeks to combat what the groups see as increased government secrecy since the 2001 attacks. The initiative was announced March 10 ahead of "Sunshine Week," a campaign for government openness spearheaded by more than 50 news outlets, journalism groups, universities and the American Library Association. More here. And the message is perhaps being heard. Seven out of 10 Americans are concerned about government secrecy, a new poll says. The poll found that more than half of Americans believe government should provide more access. Even more, 70 percent, are either "somewhat concerned" or "very concerned" about government secrecy. More here and here. ... Media outlets across the country are urging the passage of legislation that proposes the first major changes to the federal Freedom of Information Act in nearly a decade. The "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Government Act," sponsored by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, would expand the act in several ways. More here. ... A week after Democratic legislators faulted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for using taxpayer money to produce "propaganda" in the form of a mock news video, the administration on March 9 acknowledged making several others to advance its policies. More here and here.

SPJ national update IV: No farm animals, no foul; rather tacky, Rather thoughtful; and free the Scarlet Knights! The House Judiciary Committee rejected, along party lines, a request to investigate whether the White House provided press room access to a reporter with questionable journalism credentials -- and a Web site proclaiming his charms as a homosexual prostitute -- as part of its efforts to control media coverage. More here and here. ... On Dan Rather's last night, when the evening news staff surrounded him and applauded after he had signed off, instead of keeping the camera on the newsworthy scene, CBS News cut away to the Wal-Mart billboard that runs at the end of the newscast. More here. ... Call it a lesson in freedom of the press for the man who runs Rutgers U.'s journalism department. Department chairman John Pavlik last month reversed his edict that on-campus topics would be off-limits to students in the investigative reporting class. The change of heart came after a squall of media coverage and objections from faculty, including professors in his own department. SPJ got involved at the request of the course's instructor, former national board member Guy Baehr. More here and here.

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A Quick Lesson on Media Interviews: Take Charge

by Tim Tune, president

IABC/Fort Worth

If you want a media interview to be positive, you have more control than you might realize. That was Jim Barach's message at the March meeting, and it came from a pro -- he has seen the broadcast news business from the inside out.

Barach, who has extensive experience as a radio-TV personality, reporter and anchor (and also is a certified meteorologist), said good media skills begin with knowing what drives interviewers. They want background, so do the work for them; they want help condensing complexities into a 90-second story, so summarize the material for them; they want sound bites, so offer six- to 10-second responses to their questions. It's also critical how a story is pitched, and Barach said reporters have an affinity for conflict, controversy, exclusive access, breaking news and something new or unique.

He also gave the common-sense advice to be punctual. Reporters live on deadline, he noted, and it doesn't hurt to provide a spokesperson who's interesting and fun to interview. For that interview, Barach said, you should know what your message is in advance; condense your story to a maximum of three key sub-messages; stay focused; and bridge the reporter back to your story with a "zinger" or off-subject question to steer the interview back around to your main topic.

And, Barach cautioned, always assume that you're being recorded and your comments are on the record. Don't say -- or do -- something you might regret later.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Blue Marble Media will develop the web site and e-marketing campaign for Superior Soils, a Frisco-based specialist in organic soils that is launching Nature's Little Garden organic products in south Louisiana and south Mississippi. Blue Marble Media also has been selected as the agency of record for the Euless Lonestars, a baseball team in the Texas Collegiate League. The project will consist of web development, e-marketing campaigns, printed materials and media relations. ...

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association honored the UTA newspaper, The Shorthorn, in March with two Gold Crown Awards, which mark the best college papers in the country. Only seven colleges received the award, and only four won for both spring and fall. Eleven other schools won Silver Crowns, the second tier of excellence. The Shorthorn also won the Gold Crown in 1988, 1990, 1999, 2001 and 2004, but this is the first time it won for each semester, plus the first time it won in consecutive years. Current and former staff members Shannon Duffy, Brandon Guidry, Mark Roberts, Katy Williams, Tiffany Murphy, Josh Bohling and Britney Tabor won Gold Circle Awards for individual work. ...

The Star-Telegram sports staff has been named in the Top 10 in the country, again, by APSE for special sections (the Summer Olympics preview) and Sunday. The paper won honorable mention in daily in the largest circulation category.

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GET A JOB

Diana Fuentes at the Laredo Morning Times needs "a good editor, preferably someone who knows Quark, is creative and knows style. If it's someone who's a strong editor and could serve as news editor, he wouldn't have to know Quark, just have good news sense and, of course, good editing and headline-writing skills." She also needs two reporters, one for courts. "I tried a couple of people who sounded like good candidates during our Hearst fellow interviews but have had no luck so far," she writes. "Those living in San Diego and Boston, apparently, can't quite see the appeal in a Texas-Mexico border adventure." ... The Abilene Reporter-News needs someone to oversee the copy/design desk and to be in charge at night. Contact Terri Burke, burket@reporternews.com. ...

The UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth seeks a communications coordinator. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in journalism, PR or related field, two years experience and a Texas drivers license. Familiarity with communications tasks and theories is preferred. Send 3-5 clips to UNT Human Resources Services, (817) 735-0107 fax or bmiller@hsc.unt.edu. Salary is $29,376 a year. More from Kay Colley, (817) 735-2553. ... A Dallas-based transportation services company (12,000 employees in the United States and Canada) seeks an internal communications manager with 5-7 years in internal corporate communications, writing and journalism; a bachelor's degree in journalism or related field; experience in spreadsheet, word processing and presentation software. Data entry skills are preferred, with fluency in Spanish a plus. Contact Mary Spilman, (972) 788-4044 or spilman@airmail.net. ... Bimbo Bakeries USA/Mrs Baird's has a $200-a-day contract position for a technical writer to create easy-to-understand "help" copy for new in-house scheduling software. Position is expected to last 8-10 weeks starting in early April, with some off-site work permitted. Technical writing samples and experience using Microsoft HTML Help Workshop are preferred. Contact Sherry Jones, (817) 212-2134 or sjones@BimboBakeriesUSA.com. ...

The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas seeks a marketing associate to write the organization's newsletters, manage all e-philanthropy capabilities and do some project management. Requirements include a bachelor's degree in marketing or related field, with 1-2 years marketing communications experience. Knowledge of the print process, desktop publishing, Macromedia Dreamweaver and HTML skills is a plus. Salary in the low 30s. E-mail résumé and two writing samples to jtingley@jfgd.org. ... Looking for a journalism job or internship in the Midwest? Check the Chicago Headline Club's JobFile, which posts dozens of leads each week. While you're there, subscribe to receive the latest postings in a weekly e-mail. Select listings also can be heard on the Headline Club's voice mail: (312) 409-7997 ext. 3. ...

The Yale Law School seeks a director of internal and external communications. Requirements include a bachelor's degree and 8-10 years in communications, publishing and/or journalism, at least half of that time as a supervisor, and experience in strategic communications and promotional techniques. Experience in higher education or government is preferred. Mail résumé to Yale University Placement & Staff Relations, P.O. Box 208256, New Haven, Conn. 06520-8256. ... The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has an opening in Miami for someone to expand the values of a free press at home and abroad. Responsibilities include serving as a grantee contact, performing research, making proposal recommendations and developing grants. A bachelor's degree and five or more years of journalism experience and knowledge of the national journalism scene are required. Send a résumé in Word format and a cover letter that includes salary history to careers@knightfdn.org.

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NEW MEMBERS

SPJ ... Katie Richardson, adviser, Weatherford College

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COMINGS & GOINGS

Exits ... at the S-T: Sean Wood, who has written about business news from the Arlington newsroom for nearly seven years, to the Express-News in San Antonio, where he will cover the new Toyota plant

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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

Tim Tune, IABC/Fort Worth

I hope your company never graces Forbes magazine's list of poorly designed and executed web sites referenced on p. 1. However, if there were a "Best Corporate Web Sites for Reporters" list, you'd use every trick in the book to get on it. I haven't perfected those tricks yet, but I know someone who has, and he's next at IABC/Fort Worth.

Show up Tuesday, April 5, and learn from Charles Pizzo tips -- 25 of them -- proven to work; how to avoid design disasters that reporters hate; and how to be a resource for reporters and keep them coming back for more. Charles is one of the most popular speakers in the nation on media relations on the web, his specialty. He sprinkles his presentations with real examples of the do's and don'ts of this critical corporate communications function.

Stay away from those bad lists. Lunge for the good ones. IABC can help get you there.

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

We do greatly appreciate Jane Schlansker and her merry InterStar band for organizing the bang-up James B. Stewart "DisneyWar" speaking gig, then handing SPJ the proceeds for scholarships. They threw copious energy at the project. We're thinking of ways to say thanks. I'm not sure a fruit basket's gonna cover it. ...

Gary Hardee and Larry Lutz are my heroes, and I'm telling them now because Ernie Makovy was a hero, too, and with Ernie I waited too late. Ernie was as lean as his writing, and he had a cowboy amble and always wore boots and jeans. We'd pass in the hall on Friday afternoons as he headed to the back dock to smoke. "Mister Dycus," he would acknowledge in that drawn-out Central Texas drawl. He impressed me as kind and patient, a true craftsman, a lover of life. Wish I'd known him better. Maybe he would've called me "Chump." ...

Longtime SPJ member Karl King is rehabbing his old Leatherneck self at the VA hospital following hip and leg surgery necessitated by a car wreck Dec. 23. He may be there a couple of more months. Karl is our most faithful meeting attendee; who's to ask questions with him laid up? Send him a card or call his room: Veterans Administration Medical Center, 4500 S. Lancaster Road, TCUA, Dallas, Texas 75216, (214) 302-1983. ...

One month free Mensa membership to Star-T executive editor Jim Witt for this one. Take a calculator and punch in the first three digits of your phone number (no area code). Multiply by 80. Add 1. Multiply by 250. Add the last four digits of your phone number. Add the last four digits of your phone number again. Subtract 250. Divide by 2. What do you see? Speaking of whom, Jim's generosity is showing. He bought a Star-Telegram table at the James B. Stewart luncheon and two tables for the SPJ chapter's First Amendment Dinner 10 days later. Proceeds benefit scholarships. Waiter, an extra Texas pecan ball for Mr. Witt! ...

Bill Moyers, on receiving the Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen Award, had this to say and so much more: "I have always been an optimist. Now, however, I think of my friend on Wall Street whom I once asked: 'What do you think of the market?' 'I'm optimistic,' he answered. 'Then why do you look so worried?' And he answered: 'Because I'm not sure my optimism is justified.' " Moyers' acceptance speech is here. The writing and clarity of thought captivate as surely as the reporting will leave you sad, frustrated and burdened indeed. ...

Closing words: "Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will." -- Ben Stein and others ... "The car of the future will have to respect the environment. What better way to raise public awareness than [by] developing a racing car?" -- Alain Lebrun, president of the IdéeVerte Compétition, on its 315 kilometers-per-hour race car powered by liquefied petroleum gas, one of the least polluting fuels, and lubricated with sunflower oil ... "I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy." -- J.D. Salinger ... "Writing is just thinking through my fingers." -- Isaac Asimov ... "Life is always a tightrope or a featherbed. Give me the tightrope." -- Edith Wharton ... "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." -- H.G. Wells ... "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain

Closing words II, G.W.B. & the Pharisees bracket: "George [W.] would read my memos [on how to 'signal' to Christian fundamentalists], and he would be licking his lips, saying, 'I can use this to win Texas.' " -- Bush family adviser and snitch Doug Wead in a GQ interview in September 2003 ... "The message coming out of the White House is that we'll fix Social Security by raising your taxes and cutting your retirement benefits, and, to get something passed, we'll forget about the personal retirement accounts we promised." That's like telling voters, "Never vote for Republicans again -- we lie." -- a senior Republican senator in The Washington Times, March 11, 2005