July 4th in Kaufman

No time for commentary, but here are some photos from Saturday morning's parade.

Friday Freebies

As I mentioned earlier this week, there are a couple more changes coming to the Tribune.

First of all, this weekend we'll be unveiling a new Lifestyles page that I'm hoping everyone likes. This page is designed to offer several ways to include the readers in the product. Let me know what you think of it.

Secondly, my column this Sunday covers a big change in the Tribune's production schedule. You can read all about it on Sunday, but for now suffice it to say that the we're eliminating one of our publication days.

• Schools bar parents from sports days to avoid pedophiles. Link.

• A 6.0 earthquake struck Friday morning in the Gulf of California, off the western coast of Mexico, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. I a friend who would remind me after reading that story that we're edging closer to 2012.

• The U.S. unemployment rate is now at 9.5 percent — the highest in 25 years.

• For my fellow P1s, the Hammer has resurfaced again. Link.

• A big European stiff. Yup, the Mavs just can't pass that up. Link.

• Technically, I understand Marcin Gortat would be a good addition and is a young player with an amazing upside. That being said, the Mavs fascination with the Euro goes a bit far. Euros usually have great fundamental skills but little attitude. I think this team would benefit from finding someone with skills and attitude.

• Don't forget this weekend's festivities: Parade in Kaufman, parade in Rosser and fireworks in Terrell.

Have a safe holiday...

...and remember I'm just a few days away from Jamaica!

Thursday Thoughts

Growing up, one way my father instilled into me a desire to get a good education was forcing me to spend my summers working with him in the family weatherproofing business. For those of you who aren't really sure what a weatherproofer does, let me just say it's not a glorious job. Weatherproofers are the crazy folks who make sure windows don't leak. Windows, most often, on the side of 15-20 story buildings.

Yup, a fear of heights is not allowed in my family.

In fact, I have memories of my father hanging off the wrong side of a scaffold, leaning as far as he could to caulk something with nothing below him but a 20-story drop.

The good news is I'm not really that scared of heights...but I do have a healthy respect for them. That's why I'm not sure I could handle this.

• One of my favorite bands in college has reformed...and keeps getting better. (h/t to zac crain)

• California's finances are puny. Ya.

• Every artist needs a canvass.

• Interesting quotes attributed to Albert Einstein.

• Cool site for my fellow nerds. Link.

Wednesday Wit & Wisdom

• A while back, I'd written about a legal battle involving Kaufman County that appeared to be heading to the Texas Supreme Court. Well, it apparently will be a hot topic again as it has made its way onto next week's commissioners court agenda (in executive session) and here as well.

• Texas Legislature special session gets under way today. Link.

• Earlier this year, Congress passed a “Stimulus” Bill. It was 973 pages long. This past Friday, the House passed a “Climate Change” Bill. It was more than 1200 pages long. This got me wondering: how long, exactly, is our Constitution? How many pages did it take our country’s founders to lay out the structure and functions of our Federal Government? Including the preamble, all signatures and all 27 amendments, it’s 20 pages. Without the signatures and amendments, it’s 11 pages.

• Have to keep it short today, got a busy agenda.

Tuesday Tidbits

• Could tighter copyright laws help save newspapers? The contrast between the business models for aggregators and originators is dramatic: Newspaper publishers need the same number of journalists to produce one newspaper or 400,000. Advertising revenue depends on producing and circulating 400,000 newspapers. While advertising has declined, production costs have not. Meanwhile, parasitic aggregators reprint or rewrite newspaper stories, making the originator redundant and drawing ad revenue away from newspapers at rates the publishers can't match. The inevitable consequence: diminished revenue and staff cuts. "It's unfair competition with unjust enrichment."

• When the Sony Walkman was launched, 30 years ago this week, it started a revolution in portable music. But how does it compare with its digital successors? The Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week. Link.

• MythBuster Adam Savage Leads Twitter Revolt Against AT&T. Link.

• I wholly endorse this idea...well, except for my employees.

• Your tax dollars at work.

• Oh, and a little something to make your head hurt.

• A comic book artist who wrote a script about a a guy who gets wrongfully harassed by the government for writing fiction about terror attacks that came true...gets detained at an airport. Ironic, huh?

• Our question of the week on the Tribune site is getting pretty one-sided.

• A funny list of one-liners from Hollywood Squares. Link.

• You can thank Jim for coming up with our new teaser idea.

• I'll be announcing another change to The Tribune later this week.

• That handsome fellow at the top is the winner of 2009's ugliest dog award. Seriously.