Lapdog Journalism Wholly Unacceptable

It's been several years since I earned my paycheck as a working journalist; however, I remember a thing or two about how it is supposed to be done.

Rule 1, it seems, it not to take a single source at face value. Check. Double check. Dig. Ask the other side. Ask a follow-up question. At any rate, here is what should not happen:

Anchor: There seems to be some controversy out at city hall.

Mayor: There is no controversy. Everything is great. We asked some people, and they, too, said it is great.

Anchor: Great. Now let's take a look at the weather.

I hope you see the problem. This is lapdog journalism. If this is the only service to be offered by journalists, then there is little need for the First Amendment.

Journalists should be watchdogs. They should ask the questions that the public cannot. They should hold public officials accountable. They should not, however, simply roll over.

Yet I've seen too egregious instances of lapdog journalism this week alone in Lubbock.

Sad.

It's January 5, People

... and the high temperature in Lubbock was 70.5 degrees, according to my backyard thermostat.

Sweet.

OK, So Maybe Lubbock Is Good for Walking

All right. So Lubbock is barely within 500 miles of one of the nation's top outdoors places to live.

Today CNN.com has a story on "Metropolitan areas ranked for walkability."

Maybe Lubbock is on that list. I like to walk, after all.

No such luck. I've plotted the top 15 here. The closest is Denver, a short 546 mile drive.

Young professionals ... are driving a national trend toward more walkable communities, says the author of a report to be released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for reasons to besmirch the Hub City. But CNN keeps posting these stories, and I am a curious person. And sadly, Lubbock is seldom on the list. Unless the list is of dry counties.

Lubbock, Texas, Gets Pretty Cool Clouds

Happy Independence Day 2007

Come on Horse, Let's Go for a Ride

Photo credit: Unknown.

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Today I was sitting having lunch at the brand new Jimmy John's with master's student Wes Wise.

I grew to love Jimmy John's at Indiana, and I was glad to see one open up near the Tech campus.

While enjoying my #5, I saw a horse driving down Broadway Ave. Sticking out of the window was the head of a live Shetland pony.

Wow. Wes and I remarked at the oddness and carried on.

About 10 minutes later it clicked. I had seen that fool pony before. In an e-mail sent around last summer with a title something like "Only in Lubbock."

I found the picture. And sure enough. Same pony.

Welcome to Lubbock. The Giant Side of Texas.

Spring in Lubbock Is Nice

When your back yard has this on March 10, how can you complain?

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It was in the upper 70s in Lubbock today. In early March! We spent the day having a cookout in the back yard.

This will never, ever get old.