Some things I know that are true

Every writer needs some kind of feedback and that includes me. Since I re-energized this blog a couple of weeks ago, I've received a couple of comments, but not enough to make me happy.

I'm not making a lot of money doing this, folks. Actually, I'm not making any money. So my payment comes in the form of feedback. And I'd really like some.

To make it easier for people to leave comments, I tweaked some of the settings for commenting. One no longer needs to retype a computer-generated word. Every time I'm confronted with one of those, I usually type it in wrong. Then I get another word and get that one wrong, too. Ever notice that those computer-generated letters are hard to decipher? Anyway, you just have to leave a comment now. At least that was my intention.

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OK, some things I know to be true:

-- Facebook can be a dangerous place. I'm amazed how many people on it offer their whereabouts to the world. I'm not sure it's a good idea to tell the Internet that you're vacationing out of state and won't be home until a week from Tuesday. Perhaps people who do that have excellent home alarm systems.

-- I think a lot of Facebook people irritate their "friends" unknowingly by weighing in on the side of an issue that might be offensive to someone in the Facebook food chain. I did that once and now I'm a little gun shy about responding publicly to an issue. Unintended consequences and all that.

-- I don't think voters can necessarily trust the polls this year or any year for that matter. I remember getting inside exit polling numbers from the Bush-Kerry election that indicated a clear victory for John Kerry. Obviously the polling didn't tell the whole story. Kerry did well in large cities across the country and George Bush killed him in rural counties and communities.

-- The Republicans will control the House of Representatives following the election and then the onus will be on the GOP to solve all of our problems. As the New York Times points out in this story, that might be good for President Barack Obama.

-- The former Dover Elks Lodge still is standing after all these weeks. My guess is that the ghosts that inhabited the building are a little confused. Where do ghosts go after their haunts disappear?

-- Newspapers that haven't endorsed candidates by now are probably too late. I voted last week by dropping off my ballots at the Board of Elections.

-- If you're dropping off ballots at the Board of Elections, do not park for even a minute in one of the judge's parking spaces because a sheriff deputy will threaten you with a citation. Your tax dollars at work.

-- The Plain Dealer lost its editor, Susan Goldberg, to Bloomberg last week. She'll be developing Web "content" -- not news, mind you. A few weeks ago, the PD's excellent Cavaliers beat writer, Brian Windhorst, left for ESPN.com. And the Chicago Tribune is in turmoil after the ouster of its CEO and a vice president because of bad behavior in the executive suite. Is the print side of the news business in trouble?

-- In the first season of "Boston Legal," James Spader's character pointed out that Fox News and all the other news media outlets are competing for ratings. They are giving us "content" that they think we want. He was right, of course. Fox News speaks to a particular demographic. So does MSNBC, NPR and all the others. It's OK to consume the content if you remember that it's all about ratings.

-- Meet the Candidate forums are a good thing. It's too bad they're so boring. I spent a little more than 2 1/2 hours at one a couple of weeks ago and at times had trouble staying awake. I also got the impression that most of those in attendance were partisans and not members of the general public. I still think they're a good thing.

-- Yahoo Sports says the Cleveland Cavaliers will win only 12 games this season because, well, we know why. I think they will be better than that. Perhaps now they'll play like a team and not stand around waiting for The King to shoot. Still I don't think they will win more than 30 games. Wait till next year.

-- I think the Cleveland Browns are a lot more interesting this year. They don't look so hapless. They still won't win more than a couple of games. Wait till next year.