WobblyReport

When was the last time you tried something new—I mean really new? The tried and true remain a foundation of daily living but the will to step out on a limb is vital, both for the individual spirit and the health of our species. How else could we have discovered milk can be preserved by dipping frogs in it? No, seriously, look it up. Trying new things is dangerous and fun. It’s all belly laughs and broken ribs. Sorry, that’s just the mid-rift crisis talking.  I return periodically to the Analects of Confucius, who had his own, respected forebears. The Master said, at 15 I set my heart upon learning At 30, I had planted my feet firm upon the ground. At 40, I no longer suffered from perplexities. At 50, I knew what were the biddings of heaven. At 60, I heard them with docile ears. At 70, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right. The joys and obligations of liberty lie in both ritual and experiment. Danger and fun attend

A lure came in the mail, not unlike the sweepstakes of yesteryear, to the addressee “or current resident” (somewhat insultingly). But here were three pull-tab tickets, tantalizingly hot-glued to a glossy flyer with images of cash and prizes and happy winners with big grins and even bigger novelty checks, the flyer gleaming on top of a daily pile of post. Obviously this was no one’s first rodeo. But times are tough and everybody’s feeling the squeeze, so the slimmest of chances can inspire a swing for the fences. After pulling the tabs and reading print that gets finer every year, the odds that the three matching truck images and all-caps, red text that said “WINNER” would pay seemed to be about one in one and a half million. But as a very unwise Lloyd Christmas once exclaimed to an incredulous Mary Swanson: “you’re telling me there’s a chance?” So on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, I kissed my wife for luck and drove to a nearby Chevrolet dealership, 99.9998% sure that I would never, ever re

Section 315 of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 is intended to give equal time to candidates on media broadcast channels. If a media broadcaster gives air time to a candidate, they must also give an equal amount of time to an opponent of that candidate, upon request. Except. Bona fide news coverage is exempt. On one hand, this would seem to protect freedom of the press. After all, if one candidate shows up in a public place and a media outlet captures the event, this should not oblige the media outlet to give time to an opponent with a campaign advertisement. But a real consequence of this policy has been a distinct narrowing of our political discourse throughout the nation. To understand how, we can look at a few case studies in one particular realm of media broadcast programming: televised political debates. Without attempting any exhaustive analysis of how the rules have evolved, let’s just look at fairly recent history. In 2008, for example, then-presidential candidate Denni

Let’s dispense with history lessons and focus on the here and now. Are you scheduled and expected to work on Monday, Sept. 2? If so, will you receive bonus pay for it? Too many of us will answer ‘yes’ and then ‘no.’ In part this is because the United States is the only one of 38 member-countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development not to require paid leave of any kind. In a 2007 policy report, researchers Rebecca Ray and John Schmitt conclude that “the United States is in a class of its own with respect to statutory guarantees of paid time off: it is the no-vacation nation.” Most employers offer some amount of paid holiday, sick and personal leave. Indeed, media coverage on the subject tends relentlessly to emphasize this fact. Ray and Schmitt observed, however, that “one in four U.S. workers has no paid leave or public holidays at all.” What’s more, the lower the wage, the higher the ratio. That means the less money we make, the less chance we have any paid t

County fairs have wrapped up for the most part around the region. They are a great opportunity for the community to come together, to highlight achievements and provide windows into one another’s lives. The fair has an element of torture for some. I don’t mean the anticipation of its approach or the anxiety that some fungus will spoil a prize pumpkin. I mean an annually renewed realization that one has been irreversibly ear-wormed. A 2008 article in the Northern Express explains how an advertisement for the Northwest Michigan Fair spread like wildfire (‘went viral,’ in newspeak) in the late 1980s. The very creative television advertisement included a jingle that was also frequently, for years, rebroadcast over FM radio. The fair, once held right in the heart of Traverse City, was relocated 5 miles south of town in the early 1970s. The relocation and growth of other summer events in the area led to flagging fair attendance and troubled finances. Rick Coates, then a newly hired fair ma