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This raises so many questions ... and most of them end with a punch line. For starters, is this for real? All we can do is hope.
I have seen religious tracts, such as from Chick Publications, that often times feature other religious groups and Satan as comic caricatures. But this one goes beyond any I've seen before. It's the only one I could find that makes Jesus out to be so ... well ... bad ass.
As for the recommended colors, what exact hue is "Flesh of Christ?"
The newsroom is in a state of shock over the loss of our Managing Editor Rich Somerville. He was a lifelong newspaperman, and one whose experience I respected.
On a personal note, Somerville took the initiative when arriving at the Times-Standard to create the position of Web editor, so that the online content objectives of this newspaper would not get lost in the shuffle and hubbub of other priorities. Because of this move, and the attention Somerville paid to online endeavors, our Web site has grown exponentially in terms of content over the past two years.
He was billed as a forward-thinker, and in this regard he truly lived up to that label. I thank Rich for the opportunity.
As the search begins for a new managing editor, I and others here at the Times-Standard know that until then we will be ably led by City Editor/Interim Managing Editor Kimberly Wear, who to my mind is one of the finest journalists on the North Coast. The future of The Times-Standard remains bright.
When I think of the journalistic ideal, I think of Tim Russert. "Meet the Press" was the one news show on network television that could always be counted on to take its interviewees to task for hypocrisy.
Russert's style was to make the guests face up to their past statements and expose inconsistencies. He never played favorites, and he never played soft. He was bold in his search for the truth and unflappable when meeting resistance. He was the reason I first wanted to become a journalist. Such a loss will be sorely felt at NBC, and in the rest of world of journalism.
I just had to say something about the new commenting system at the ER ... no anonymous comments.
I used to agree. As a reporter, obviously I grew sick of savage bastards calling my mother a whore and other things when I wrote a story about some meth head getting arrested. Now I welcome it.
Just kidding. But seriously, a newspaper Web site can drive itself nuts policing all the comments that come in, or they can clamp down entirely and ruin what has become one of the most prolific forums for free speech in the modern age. But there is a third path: I prefer the Topix system, predictably, in that it allows the commenters to police themselves. If someone posts something offensive, and three people report it as such, we take it down. If a particular forum gets so out of hand that it can't be so easily controlled, then we shut down that particular forum.
But anonymity, while painful at times, allows a level of honesty that isn't available otherwise. Therefore, we'll be keeping our comment system as is. Comment away, but know that if you piss of too many of your peers, you're likely to be taken down.