This New England

The Associated Press reports that the municipal manager in Bellows Falls, in southern Vermont, has banned personal blogging on work computers for municipal employees.

Jim Mullen issued the ban after some town residents filed complaints alleging that village employees posted "vile and obscene" statements on message boards linked to the Web site of The Brattleboro Reformer newspaper.

A ban on blogging has a certain allure. Give the employees old Royal typewriters and unplug them.

I have often wondered if the time and money purportedly saved by having everyone do everything on computers (and laying off off the secretaries) have been more than offset by the wool-gathering, Internet explorations, and endless personal emails provided by the same technology.

The Internet provides an almost endless capacity for time-wasting.

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Watch for a developing data-fabrication scandal in pain-medicine research at Bay State Medical Center, in Springfield -- research underwritten by Pfizer. Stick with opiates if you want real pain relief!

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Those who want Colin McEnroe, an interesting and controversial writer and former Hartford talk-show host, back on the air have launched a campaign to get a National Public Radio outlet in Connecticut to pick him up. He was recently fired by WTIC.

 Tags  Bay State Medical Center; Bellows Falls Colin McEnroe Jim Mullen Pfizer

Comments

Terrence McCarthy said:

Just a few years ago, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was a DJ for WRSI in Northampton, Mass. Now look where she is and who she is. McEnroe's just as smart and entertaining. NPR would be crazy not to grab him.

Link | March 13, 2009 8:42 PM
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Jennifer W. Cooper said:

Greetings, Bob. Nice blog, although Projo likes to squeeze in a lot of eye-catching ads, don't they?

Yes, we are hopeful about hearing Colin's voice gracing the airwaves again soon.
Best,
Jennifer

Link | March 14, 2009 10:45 AM
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Will Buckley said:

In the name of God, SAY something!

Link | March 14, 2009 5:45 PM
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Terrence McCarthy said:

Dear Will Buckley

What you said. It would make a terrific bumper sticker. Sums up the age in which we're all living. But it doesn't make much sense as a critique of this blog. I find much food for thought here.

Link | March 14, 2009 9:56 PM
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