Coffee Table Book: The Last Editor
February 5, 2009
Originally published at PlainJoe.com
What goes better with a strong cup of joe than a good book. My most recent book is the memoir of Jim Bellows, “The Last Editor“. It took about four pots of coffee from start to finish, but it was a straight read.
Jim Bellows does a great job of recounting the most memorable highlights during his career as a newspaper editor. Throughout the book, Bellows emphasizes overcoming obstacles and succeeding in spite of being the “underdog.”
Bellows mentions repeatedly how his slightly different approach to journalism — often controversial — helped him stick out from the crowd. I would suggest any entrepreneur or recent college graduate grab a cup of joe and read this book. Bellows constant reminder of hard work, dedication, persistence, and belief in a great cause is inspirational but down to earth.
Plain Joe gives ‘The Last Editor’ a full cup!
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You suck! Your comment sucks!
December 8, 2008
You write a blog post and post it. Someone comes onto your blog and has an alternative point of view. But, instead of engaging this commenter in a logical argument, you lash out at him, belittling his point of view and then using sarcastic remarks in subsequent comments. Is that smart?
This recently happened to me. (I won’t mention the blog because that would result in more traffic.) When I first read the author’s post, I thought it was insightful, but lacking in a couple of key areas. After reading the author’s immature response to my observations, I now think the author is a bit immature, perhaps even an idiot. I won’t be back to his blog — not because I got my feeling hurt — but because there is probably not much else I can learn from someone who does not have the skills to engage in an argument without resorting to ridicule and sarcasm.
Attacking a commenter might get you some momentary traffic, but is probably unwise in the long run. A blog works best when there are contributing points of view that are different from yours. If all you want is your friends and family agreeing with you, that is probably ok on a personal journal. But, I suspect many authors want their ideas challenged by the readers who find holes in their arguments.
Any dissenting opinions? If you agree with me, please don’t post a comment. But, if you have an alternative point of view, please share it.
Originally published at: DogWalkBlog.com
How this financial disaster is like Catholicism
December 5, 2008
I grew up Catholic.
One of the things you learn very early on is this earthly life is a test of your faith for a reward of either heaven and eternal life or hell and eternal damnation. Life here is supposed to be hard, we are supposed to feel pain because these trials are what helps God determine what kind of person who are and what our reward should be. Yes, I know I am grossly over-simplifying this and I have a large contingent of theologian friends with whom I can argue all day long, so if you don’t agree, please just take that on face value. It will help the analogy move along much quicker.
So you go to Church every Sunday, you help the poor, you don’t commit mortal sins, you do all the things that make you a good Catholic and that in turn will make you a good person. Now, here is where faith wears thin. As you get older, temptations become stronger, specifically, wine, women and song. These things are really, really fun and they make the promise of heaven or hell — while eternal — not believable.
If there is no heaven or hell, if this life is all there is, you sure will have wasted a whole lot of good fun. But, if there is a heaven and hell, and you succumbed to the sins of the flesh, you are in deep do-do.
Moving over to your secular life, as a good citizen, you do good things as well. You live within your means by not buying a house you can’t afford, save money in a retirement plan, don’t put a 58″ plasma TV on a credit card at 28% interest, don’t buy a cherry red Hummer which is really, really yummy looking…. oh, you’re still there… forgive me reader, for I have sinned….
If you are living within your means (good Catholic) and all your neighbors who went out and got drunk on over-priced homes, televisions, cars and stocks get bailed out by the Federal Government (God) what was the point of you living within your means? What if you living within your means actually means that your house is now worth 70% of what it was, you have to spend down your savings because you lose your job and you have no TV to watch to wile away your days of unemployment? Does a great FICO score get you into heaven or is it a worthless ticket?
Are the fiscally responsible who have not been living the high-life of comfort and excess going to now be forced to live with even less because of the sins of their neighbors? Doesn’t God just punish the sinners? How is this fair?
Well it isn’t and it makes one question the value of being a “good citizen.” If I knew with absolute certainty that there is no God, no heaven and no hell, I would be having more fun in this earthly life. I would be sinning and I would care less about the other puppies on this planet. After all, this would be the only go-around I would get and to not grab all I can out of the deal would just be silly.
If I knew with absolute certainty that no matter how fiscally irresponsible I was that eventually the Federal Government would bail me out, that they would force my bank to give me a better interest rate and that I could get a new Hummer every year and a big screen TV for every room of my house, I would not care about excessive credit card debt or paying any part of the principle on my home loan. Saving for a rainy day would be just silly.
But, I am not a gambler and the odds of there actually being a God are a little higher than there not being a God. At any rate, the possibility of spending an eternity frying my tail off just doesn’t sound all that much fun. Why risk it. And, being Catholic, I can always go to confession after sinning (don’t tell God about the loophole.)
I believe that the lack of mental anxiety that comes with living within your means is worth it. Like the Vatican, I don’t believe the government cares about me personally other than I behave myself and don’t make too many waves. By keeping me in a house, family and self-inflicted poverty, they is accomplishing their goal.
I will come out of this recession more intact than my drunken neighbors. I just hope the government can figure out a way to reward the responsible citizen while also making the sinners pay.
But I know our government also believes there is a God and they are leaving the sorting of the sinners to him (or her.) That vote is just way, way too risky and there are no confessionals in Congress.
Originally published at DogWalkBlog.
You deserve a break today
October 27, 2008
… and it isn’t at McDonalds! The Wall Street Journal had an article today about McDonald’s new premium coffee rollout, how they have to remodel their stores at about $100,000 a unit to serve lattes and other coffee drinks.
In this economy, people are getting back to the basics, like a good strong cup of Plain Joe coffee. Brewing it at home costs way less than the $1.99 and $2.99 McDonalds want to charge you for foo-foo coffee.
You really deserve a break today. Get some Plain Joe Coffee, kick back and enjoy what coffee used to be.. before McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin’ screwed around with the formula.
Coffee Tribes
October 26, 2008
The economy’s down and it’s election year, but that doesn’t stop coffee drinkers from coming together. Coffee tribes is the new buzz around brewery’s.
Julie Bosman, NY Times writer, published an article discussing how the Average Joe is becoming a tribe of it’s own. Fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts stopped trying to compete with the foo foo Starbucks drinkers.
Bosman, “They are going after the average Joe.”
The average Joe coffee drinker is right here. Plain Joe coffee is sitting in your cup right now, as you sip and read this. Average Joe’s don’t want to be tied to being a greased up burger joint extra – it’s a coffee style of it’s own.
Plain Joe drinker’s have formed their own tribes of average Joes. Plain Joe tribes are simple, straight forward, experts in their fields, and above all, good old American. So we want to see your Plain Joe tribes featured here – get your gear, send us a pic, and get some goodies in return.
We’re just your average tribe.
Palin popularity not the same as ability
October 20, 2008
On Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough sat in his chair and said with a straight face: (I am paraphrasing as I was so dumbfounded at what I was hearing that I could not work the TiVo fast enough)
Governor Palin has been able to attract the largest viewership ever for SNL, the largest for any VP debate and the largest for any party convention. She is an asset to the GOP because this.
Wow! The same logic then would hold true for traffic accidents and the Jerry Springer Show! I tuned it to all three events just to be able to watch — with incredulity — how the GOP was seriously floating a hockey mom from Alaska whose thirst for power clearly out-matches her ability to lead. I suspect that many viewers also had the same motivation.
Without the spin afterwards and the constant hammering of the pundits about her performance, most viewers would have seen it for what is was; an undereducated, over-ambitious person, out of her depths with the competition and the issues.
Joe, this is not high school. Winning the Homecoming Queen title is not the same as being elected Vice-president and possible president of one of the leading nations of the world. Just showing up is not the same as doing the work.
Will the real Joe please stand up?
October 16, 2008
In the past several weeks, we’ve heard about Joe Sixpack, Average Joe and Joe the Plumber from our national leader-wannabees from stump speeches to debates and ads. Who are these Joes and what do they have to do with a US National Election?
Well, we’ve got the REAL JOE right here, drinking Plain Joe Coffee. He does his own plumbing and his six-pack of choice is six 1-lb bags of Plain Joe Coffee!
And, he’ll be voting on November 4, 2008.
Why can’t we learn?
October 4, 2008
My thoughts over morning coffee. The main thing this $700B bail-out does is buy some time to get past the elections and more importantly, Jan 20, 2009. The economy will eventually tank as we find the real value of stocks, over-built real estate and the dollar. The bill is a credit card purchase when we just delay the cost of life.
Plain Sarah?
October 3, 2008
Rearrange the letters of Sarah Palin and you get… yup, you guessed it: Plain Sarah!
