The evil delay

Some days, I wish a newspaper could be printed instantaneously.

I wrote an editorial for our Friday edition concerning the budget battle in Baton Rouge. I wrote about the importance of not spending the budget surplus on recurring expenditures, etc.

Most of the material for the editorial came from a story in The (Baton Rouge) Advocate. That story chronicled the stalemate between several House Republicans and the rest of the House on HB3, the authorizing legislation for bonding appropriations projects.

The editorial encourage the House Republican to "stick to their guns" in the best interest of the citizens. These are all great points -- until...

Budget battle in new arena

Republican lawmakers in the House dropped their opposition Wednesday to a key piece of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s legislative package. The about-face on House Bill 3, the spending engine for the $6.5 billion state construction budget, does not mean Democrats have won the battle over tax breaks and state government spending.

This story appeared this morning in the The Advocate. The editorial I wrote won't hit the streets until tomorrow -- the paper is printed and being labeled for the mail at this very moment. While the points made in the editorial are still very much valid, the circumstances have certainly changed.

We certainly could have run the editorial as an "online only" thing, but frankly, I feel there is a loss of "permanence" when it isn't printed in the newspaper. Call me old fashioned, but I like to have ink on paper, thank you very much.

So when you get your Bossier Press-Tribune tomorrow, or tonight if you see it in one of our 100+ newsracks, just know the points of the editorial are as valid today as they were two days ago, just some of the circumstances have changed.

May the Blog Be With You

Podcasts Galore!

During the past couple of months, I have committed to read more books. Specifically, I have committed to read nonfiction books.

I read (or heard) somewhere that the majority of millionaires read at least one nonfiction book per month. I could remember a time when I really enjoyed reading fiction, so I decided to try nonfiction. To my surprise, I have thoroughly enjoyed my books thus far.

Since you are probably wondering the books I have completed are:
Good to Great
Moneyball

Since I commute each day to Bossier City from Minden, I realized the trip was the perfect opportunity to expand my knowledge... so I started looking for audio books.

I have listened to "Winning with People" by John C. Maxwell and I am currently listening to QBQ - The Question behind the question.

While the audio book thing is good, it can be expensive - especially if you are devouring books as fast as I am. One book usually lasts about a week.

Then I discovered the podcast. For those who are not yet familiar with this phenomenon, a podcast is simply a pre-recorded broadcast, saved to your Ipod. Apple Itunes music store allows you to subscribe to free podcasts and update your ipod automatically.

So far, I am subscribed to Dave Ransey, Zig Ziglar and Manager-tools.

I am learning a ton and don't plan to stop anytime soon. Never stop educating yourself. And now it is easier than ever.

May the Blog Be with You.