Blast From the Past

Former Vice President Joe Biden, already facing questions about whether he's too old to be running for president, drove home those concerns during last week's Democratic debate, when he demonstrated that he is — technologically speaking, at least — stuck in the '70s. Or more accurately in the '60s and '50s.

As part of a rambling answer to a question about the legacy of slavery, Biden admonished parents to "make sure you have a record player on at night," to "make sure that kids hear words."

Concern No. 1: It's unclear what that has to do with the legacy of slavery. Biden seemed to be suggesting either that poor minority parents who want to expose their children to more words and expand their vocabularies are already doing that. Or maybe others should be doing that. Either suggestion is problematic.

Concern No. 2: Record players? Don't look now, but many of next year's voters — specifically, the younger ones, which any Democratic candidate will need — have never even seen one of those magical spinning contraptions. Records have been around since the Victrola was marketed in 1906. Voters born as far back as the 1970s grew up with cassettes and 8-track tapes. Then came the compact disc. Then came iPods and MP3 players. Now everything is streamed over a phone. But record players?

It could've been worse. As comedian John Oliver put it, Biden came across as someone who was "just barely stopping himself from saying 'phonograph.'"

Rolling in Enough Dough

University of Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett gained fame by coaching Virginia's team to the NCAA championship title last season. The university wanted to show its gratitude by offering him a big, fat pay raise as part of his new contract. Bennett accepted the contract but turned down the raise, asking instead that the university direct the extra compensation toward the rest of his coaching staff and to fund other improvements to the basketball program.

USA Today reports that Bennett made $4.15 million this year. The Associated Press says that Bennett's salary last year cleared $6 million. So it's not like he's exactly sweating for extra cash.

But still, Bennett has taken his team to NCAA tournaments for seven out of the 10 years he's been at Virginia. He could command a much higher fee. All he asked was that the university tack on an extra year to its offer of a six-year contract so he can continue doing what he obviously enjoys — and does very well.

Emergency Number to Fit Emergency Needs

The Federal Communications Commission wants to add a new, nationwide, three-digit emergency phone number, 988, which would be used like the 911 system but serve exclusively as a crisis-help line for people contemplating suicide. There already is such a national number — 1-800-273-Talk — but trying to remember that clunky, 10-digit number is asking too much of people who are in the middle of a crisis and need to get someone on the phone fast. The last thing you want is to fluster people by making them stop to figure out which number corresponds to which letter in Talk (8255).

Simplifying the procedure is a smart and life-saving decision. The hard part will be finding enough volunteers to handle what experts warn will be a dramatic surge in calls once a more accessible system is in place.

'Harmless Fun'?

The New York Times's big story exposing additional details about allegations that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted women while in college created some heated debate because of dubious sourcing. Of less debate is that the Times screwed up by promoting the story with a tweet that trivialized those allegations.

Kavanaugh was seated on the court last year after what critics derided as a cursory, incomplete FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations from when he was in high school and college. Last week, an op-ed piece by two Times reporters cited multiple new witnesses to the allegation that he exposed himself to an unwilling female student while at Yale. Controversy erupted when it was subsequently revealed that the female student herself wouldn't confirm the story and her friends couldn't recall it.

Having effectively reopened the Kavanaugh controversy, the Times then stepped on its own scoop by tweeting a promotion that began: "Having a penis thrust in your face at a drunken dorm party may seem like harmless fun."

The Times quickly removed the tweet and apologized for it — but not before inadvertently demonstrating just how brittle a glass house can be.

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