This loud exchange between Chris Matthews of MSNBC and a radio host from Southern California has been making noise on the Web. Matthews challenges the host to define "appeasement" and explain its historical context. He has no answer.

Sometimes this sort of thing can come off as a "gotcha" moment. ("Who is the leader of Uzbekistan? Why don't you know that?") But here, "appeasement" is crucial to the discussion regarding recent comments by President Bush and Barack Obama. Matthews was correct to press the point.

The "appeasement" discussion also presents an opportunity for newspapers to provide this context to readers. Why not include a textbox with stories about this news? Start with the dictionary definition, and then summarize what the word means in relation to Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

Here's an interesting quote from Mike Edison, a former publisher of High Times magazine:

I like things to be really sharp and real spot-on. A typo in High Times is much worse than a typo in The New York Times. At High Times, people will figure that you were stoned.

Who knew that editing at a magazine about marijuana could be so stressful? Read the whole interview with Edison here.

This blog will likely be quiet for a while. I head out to Los Angeles this weekend and settle into my "internship" there next week.

Deep into her speech in Indiana on Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton mentioned a country in Southeast Asia like so:

I would like to take a moment to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people there. And I call upon the junta that has ruled Burma for so many years to please let the rest of the world in to help.

This segment of her speech was hardly mentioned in news reports, though James Fallows of The Atlantic made note of it. It's interesting, however, to those of us who are aware of the ongoing Burma/Myanmar dilemma.

A paperboy in Illinois is being credited with saving the life of a 92-year-old woman. He noticed that something was amiss while delivering the paper.

Is the paperboy a hero? Sure, and the print media can bask in his reflective glory.

I'm not sure my "paperboy," a 40-year-old guy who tosses the paper on to my driveway while driving by at 15 mph, would have been as observant as this kid, however.

Since the most recent ACES conference came to a close, Andrew Knapp, a copy editor at Florida Today, has been posting nice recaps of sessions he attended while in Denver. He also served as a panelist.

Now he's bundled those posts into this collection at his blog, The Offlede. He even put together a three-minute video summarizing his trip. Great work, Andrew!

Readers of this blog with long memories may recall this post, in which I offered my services as a 40-year-old intern for the summer of 2008. I'm happy to report that The Los Angeles Times has taken me up on the offer.

I will work on the paper's Web site from mid-May to early July, editing and writing. My plan is to refresh my skills and pick up some new ones. I hope that my six weeks in the newsroom this summer will improve my work in the classroom this fall (and beyond) as I continue to beef up the online element of my courses.

Thanks to Deirdre Edgar and Eric Ulken at the Times for encouraging me to pursue this opportunity and to Daniel Gaines and Henry Fuhrmann for making it happen.