Current events

Voter approval of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington probably isn't quite the tipping point some people are claiming it is. Two states isn't even a regional trend, let alone a national one. These remarks by Indiana's State Police chief are more significant:

This seems like a waste of time:

Marine Corps Pvt. Lazzaric T. Caldwell slit his wrists and spurred a legal debate that’s consuming the Pentagon, as well as the nation’s top military appeals court.

I certainly think he'd be a better choice than Susan Rice:

So, President Obama, you need a new Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton, but you don't like any of the choices sitting on your desk? You think Susan Rice deserves it and would do a great job, but she comes with too much controversy? You feel you owe John Kerry a favor for helping you in the campaign, but wonder if he'd fit right on your team?

Oh, please:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said he and a Twitter follower will try living on food stamps for at least a week.

The Associated Press on bad-word patrol:

The Associated Press has nixed "homophobia," "ethnic cleansing," and a number of other terms from its Style Book in recent months.

The boys in the band have become old men. Should the old men shuffle off the stage, or should their critics shut up?

For the "well, duh" file:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Gun-related violence has fallen steadily since 2006 in Virginia despite record firearm sales, according to a university professor's analysis.

"Despite"? How about "because of"? Bad guys already have their guns. "Record firearm sales" means we're getting more of them. Arm the right people, crime "falls steadily." Why is that so damn hard to understand?

Connie Schultz is a former Cleveleand Plain Dealer columnist who is now syndicated. I heard her on NPR yesterday, being asked about a recent column in which she urged Clark Kent to give newspapers one more chance instead of going through with his decision to leave the Daily Planet and start a blog. She gave one of the most spirited defenses of our profession that I've heard in quite a while:

Hey, be careful out there -- "10 Black Friday Dos and Don'ts." Here's No. 8:

Let's pretend:

Congressional negotiators, trying to avert a fiscal crisis in January, are examining ideas that would allow effective tax rates to rise for the wealthy without technically raising the top tax rate of 35 percent. They hope the proposals will advance negotiations by allowing both parties to claim they stood their ground.