Happy New Year, Fellow Seekers,

Hope you had a good break. I did.

Newspaper names are mostly incredibly dull, predictable and come from a very short predictable list of options. The Times, the Post, the News, the Inquirer, the Globe, the World, the Herald, the Telegram. (How weird is that, in the 21st century, to call yourself “The Telegram?”)

So I always sit up when I see a newspaper name that isn’t off that list.

The John Edwards campaign alerted me that Edwards had been endorsed by — wait for it — the Daily Nonpareil of Council Bluff, Iowa. The Nonpareil also endorsed Mitt Romney on the Repub side.

Aside from points for originality, the Nonpareil is a clever play on words. It’s a French word, meaning incomparable or peerless. But it’s a also a printer’s term for a piece of lead used back in the days of hot lead.

Later today, I start my new gig at MinnPost. At 11 a.m., they’ll post the first of a two-part primer on the Iowa caucuses.

For the time being, I’ll try to also post my pieces here as they go up on MinnPost. After we iron out a few transition issues, Black Ink will be part of the Minnpost site. If you’ve bookmarked this url, I hope it will forward you directly to my new home. If not, I’ll find a way to let you know.