Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020
From the desk of Daniel P. Finney, sergeant of the watch, Drake Neighborhood Station, Des Moines, Iowa.
ITEM ONE: The Exile podcast is cancelled as part of a cost-cutting move at ParagraphStacker.com. The service the typist used to host his podcast charged a monthly fee. The typist has focused all financial resources on basic needs and graduate school.
ITEM TWO: ParagraphStacker.com and the typist’s almost daily updates are not going anywhere. The costs for a personalized URL are relatively cheap on an annual basis and, to be honest, the typist enjoys writing without corporate masters constantly steering his words toward the gross trickery and pandering of the algorithm-driven society that’s devouring itself in tribalism.
ITEM THREE: The Exile is dead. Long live Talking Paragraphs with Dan and Paul. The typist will continue podcasting through the hosting service Anchor.fm. They host for free. They place some ads and other branding on the material the typist creates, but it’s a worthy trade for reduction in expenses. Most podcasts will be cohosted with the ol’ Paragraph Stacker’s college buddy, Memphis Paul, known to millions of adoring fans as the Sultan of Spreadsheets, joining us via the miracle of modern technology.
ITEM FOUR: Item Four remains under COVID-19 quarantine.
ITEM FIVE: Item Five has voluntarily entered a rehab facility and due to employee confidentiality rules, the typist has no comment.
ITEM SIX: Sheriff’s deputies in St. Augustine, Florida, (where else) seek a man caught on video stealing cat’s blood from a veterinary clinic, per the Associated Press. In other news, the Florida legislature officially applied to have the meaning of the common abbreviation WTF to be changed from “what the fuck” to “what the Florida.”
ITEM LAST: A kind reader from Story City wrote a letter of support and asked that the typist not be so hard on President Donald Trump. “We may not like him, but I respect the office,” she wrote. The reader and the typist agree in principle, but in practice, the typist will start respecting the office again when the person who occupies it acts in a way that deserves it.
OK, let’s close the book on this one. Go forth and watch football. Donate if you can and thanks to those who have. Look for a new podcast later today.
Behave and be kind.
Cut loose and cashiered by corporate media, lone paragraph stacker Daniel P. Finney makes his way telling stories about his city, state and nation. No more metrics or Google trends, he writes stories about people and life ignored by the oligarchy.
ParagraphStacker.com is free, reader-supported media. Please consider donating to help me cover personal expenses as I launch this new venture continuing the journalism you’ve demanded. Visit paypal.me/paragraphstacker.
The Paragraph Stacker 
You hit a hot button on ITEM LAST. The reason that most of us find Trump so contemptible or may downright hate him is because we respect the office of the president.In my research at the Truman Library in Independence, MO, it dawned on me that Harry Truman drew a strong distinction between the Office of the President and the person in the office. So did many of the citizens who wrote to him to complain about controversial notes he sent to a reviewer, Paul Hume of the Washington Post, who panned a recital by Harry’s daughter, Margaret, and a letter Harry sent to a congressman castigating the brass hats of the Marine Corps, while marines were being killed in the Korean War.The media didn’t distinguish between the office and the man back then and still don’t today. But Harry did and so did lots of plain folks who wrote to him and told him he was a jerk and not fit to be president but that — not to worry — the office would survive. Our prayer is that that will be the case with the contemptible (understatement) Trump.So again, people who respect the office of the president rightly find Trump detestable.For my money, no one respects the office of the president less than Trump does.Herb
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