Oct 24

Fox Talk Shows

Politics No Comments »

Let’s be clear here. Fox News presents skewed facts and then chats them up like you would see on a talk show. They bring people on to interview. If those people are right leaning, they pamper them and tell them how great they are. If those people are left leaning, they interrupt them, berate them, and generally treat them with a great deal of disrespect.

This it not “fair and balanced” by any means. Americans that watch Fox News for most part overlook these slights. Fox News is smart - in that sinister way. They know that they can easily rile up the mob of the American public. It’s easy to start fist fights left and right. What is not easy is presenting actual facts in a non-partisan manner.

What is appalling is that when the White House finally says enough is enough, they learn that they are too late - other news agencies have decided that Fox News is the way to go. Slinging insults and skewing actual fact is what major news outlets are all about.

Gone are the days of actual excellent journalism. I have lost what little respect I had for the major news outlets who are backing up the mud-slinging Fox News.

I recommend reading a real news source like the BBC.
—-

It is painful to read an Op/Ed column and then read the comments. It’s just people practicing schoolyard mud-slinging. Did any of you finish high school? I mean in the mental sense. Did you actually mentally complete that dull, hormone driven, rush or insanity and learn to think with your brain instead of your ego? It’s quite apparent that most commenters did not. They follow the example of news sources —
— sling insults at commenters they don’t like
— pigeon-hole commenters into one spot or another
— nit-pick at one another’s linguistic and grammar abilities
— waste their typing skills discussing everything except well thought out, relevant, facts

Fox presents about 10% news and 90% Op/Ed. Get a clue people.

*sigh*

Oct 23

Politicians Who Spout Opinions

Politics, Rambling No Comments »

I have recently moved from an area where I was part of an 80% majority politically to an area where I am probably part of a 10% or less minority politically. I spend time listening to NPR, reading news online, watching some local news channels, and researching who my local representatives are.

Coming from an academic background, it occurred to me while reading Kay Hutchisin’s website the primary reason politicians irritate me. For the most part, all they do is talk. And when they do talk, they don’t back up their words with anything. When you “talk” in academia and someone asks you to explain yourself, you pull up your list of references so you can explain the reasoning. The thing is that questioning someone and then following up on their references is common practice in academia. Apparently it’s not so in politics and a large portion of the population never follows up. They just take what the politician says at face value and run with it. (I am thinking on the fly here.) So these folks that don’t do their research fall into every pit the politician creates; they are so amped up about the main talking points that they don’t bother to see if what they are reading is true or where the information is coming from.

This is an odd topic and did not come out the way I had intended… maybe I’ll return to it later.

Oct 09

Obama Awarded Nobel Peace Prize - Awesome!

Politics, Rambling No Comments »
I’ve enjoyed reading various posts for and against the award - the pro-award and anti-award camps.

One thing this award has done is to cast in stark relief those that do not understand the moment.

We have the two extremes:
- the pro-award crowd who think it’s great but don’t really think about why.
- the anti-award crowd who think it’s a farce but fail to produce any arguments that would garner higher than a C grade in 9th grade English.

Then we have the two middle groups:
- the anti-award crowd who have valid arguments. Sometimes they still stoop to insult tossing.
- the pro-award crowd that have valid arguments. Sometimes they still stoop to glassy-eyed dreaminess.

I fall into the last category and attempt to remain steadfast (i.e. still thinking without the glassy-eyed bit). This is a fantastic development. Obama has worked hard to bring hundreds of thousands of new people into politics who before couldn’t have cared less - they didn’t vote at all. A voting populace is not necessarily and informed populace but it’s a start.

The US is one of (if not THE) most power nation in the world and we set precedents left and right. The fact that a majority our populace had stopped participating in the leadership of the country went mostly unnoticed (because they weren’t participating… lol) until the leadership began warmongering, ignoring fact, ignoring science, and ignoring world peace protests. Suddenly the populace seemed to wake up. Unfortunately, they lacked a cohesive force. Obama is that glue that allowed Americans to hold hands once more.

He uses logical arguments. He uses technology instead of fearing it. He talks to everyone. He uses Youtube instead of the radio. Talk about getting with the times! When criticized, he explains his thinking instead of cowardly reversing his opinion. It is amazing to me that we have a President with the will to do what needs to get done and the courage to back up his viewpoints with pointed arguments. It’s fantastic!

And the Peace Prize folks seem to understand this as well. Obama has gone to great lengths to encourage the US government to talk with its enemies. His use of diplomacy instead of just threatening everyone is so beyond high-school that part of me thinks the country might be starting to grow up.

Now, I would be willing to agree that it may be a little premature but - think of the encouragement it gives the Obama Presidency! It is incredibly difficult to push on against tons of people trying to pull you down. This prize is like a beam of light from on high shining on Obama and encouraging him to push onward.

May the willfully ignorant discover their close-minded ways and weep.