Media
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Two from Slate
- Hitchens on Falwell – a nice vicious hit job, closing with
It’s a shame that there is no hell for Falwell to go to, and it’s extraordinary that not even such a scandalous career is enough to shake our dumb addiction to the “faith-based.”
- On Generals – An interesting piece on the lack of turnover at the Pentagon due to the Iraq war. Unmentioned is the lack of turnover as a result of 9-11, which should be the larger clue.
- Hitchens on Falwell – a nice vicious hit job, closing with
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If Granny had wheels, she’d be a trolley
Starting with this review of a CNN.com Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko is Socko“. It prattles on and on about the inequalities and suffering that result from illness. All true most likely. Read that and ask yourself, “So What?” Is the same leviathan that brought you the Iraq War (or “Peace” if you prefer) likely to improve matters? Or for that matter, one that couldn’t even find a way to discreetly have sex with interns?
The second one is “What if Lincoln Had Survived?“, also on CNN.com. If they had the medical technology of today but not the 25th Amendment, what would have happened?
Isn’t there some news site that caters to the person who is interested in news?
For far better non-news brain candy, check out this history of the 1920 Wall Street bombing. The perpetrators of that attack, much like the anthrax mailer, were never caught.
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Lou Dobbs is the perfect man of the age
By repeating the dumber parts of the conventional wisdom in a solemn tone he continues to be taken seriously. Case in point, his newest CNN.com column (he drags down the whole franchise IMHO) A call to the faithful. It’s an adventure in the non sequitur. While lauding the separation of church and state he points to examples of church based groups having opinions on matters of pure politics, i.e. Iraq and immigration.
Neither of those are religious matters. If they were trying to implement Sharia, force church attendance, establish a state religion or mandate that government personnel had to be of a particular sect, or any sect, that would be one thing. But these are either pro/anti war choices, or pro/anti amnesty choices, which have no inherent religious significance. Religious people may care a lot about them of course, but so can a lot of people. He then quotes Romans 13, with
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
In a democracy, the governing authority is the people, and the above verse would seem to encourage public participation in the process. Dobbs would seem to want separation of people and state.
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The belated Imus post
I’m not sure whether I said this already in a post or an email, but in any case..
Imus said “Nappy Headed Hos”.
The outrage industry sprang into action, because that is their entire job.
The media covered it, because all of the major players were happy to come to them, and news coverage consisted largely of replaying existing footage, or cutting and pasting press releases. This equaled a cheap to produce (in time and dollars) article or news segment, especially compared to the two wars that are going on right now
People liked it because it was widespread and easy to understand. Anyone could shoot his mouth off to anyone else and not get schooled by someone who knew more about the topic. There was also no personal connection to anyone they knew, so no feelings could be hurt.
There is no deep meaning to the “controversy”.
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Bold new insight
Barack Obama is a lot like Lenny Kravitz. Both have a well defined personal story which makes for an easy story for critics and pundits. They both sound just like vague rehashes of the Kennedy era so they seem familiar to those in the pundit demographic. Both were barely born then, so the talking heads can proclaim them to be “new”. Both are of mixed race ancestry so people can feel good about themselves for saying they like them. Both have problems with “authenticity”.
Where’s my CNN.com column?
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Those crazy Germans
I read this fawning article on the future of China in der Spiegel. The go on and on about the benefits of state owned industry, and a central strategy for all of China’s economic activity. And not once do they use the term “National Socialism”!
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Semantic annoyances
It’s annoying that Colin Powell calling Iraq a civil war is news. When there are two wars going on the media decides to make media pronouncements news stories. Pathetic.
More annoying is that the current conflict doesn’t bear that many resemblances to a civil war as they are usually defined, and a lot resemblances to a traditional gang war. Come to think of it, that’s probably the most useful way to think about it.
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Nick was right!
The FoxNews.com website really did take a turn for the ugly and unusable. CNN.com sadly is blighted by the beligerant economic illiteracy of Lou Dobbs, which mars otherwise fine website.
In FoxNews.com defense, they do have periodic columns by Wendy McElroy and Radley Balko. CNN.com has no interesting columns I know of.
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Why doesn’t the AJC have editors?
This is easily the most poorly written article I’ve seen in a long time. Granted, its all filler, and contains no new data. And being, the AJC, it mentions diversity (for no obvious reason) at least twice. The bolding defies explanation as well. Some strange passages:
It’s no secret in the world of big-time drug trafficking, federal agents say: If you want to be a major player in interstate drug peddling you have to have an operation in metro Atlanta.
Recent multimillion-dollar drug busts suggest that Gwinnett County has become that place in metro Atlanta for these drug cartels.
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In 2005, Gwinnett’s local task force seized a total of $34 million in illegal drugs. Those figures dwarf the amount of drugs seized in surrounding counties. A Cobb County drug task force, for example, seized $9 million in illegal drugs last year.The words flow like a piano through a blender.
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Weakest statement ever
From CNN
With higher gas prices and tax incentives, some hybrid vehicles make economic sense, Edmunds.com says
Wow, some!