Monthly Archives: May 2004

Tilt

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." – Mark Twain (borrowing from some other fellow)

While I tend to take polls with a grain of salt – they tend to largely say what the originators wished to say – I do not believe they are devoid of meaning or real representation of the vox populi. I've already noticed a definite liberal tilt in the media, right wings nuts on Fox News Network excepted. However, I didn't realize just how rabidly liberal they were until reading this. Yikes!

Research Reveals U.S. Media Leans Left, Blind to Own Bias
Pew Research Casts Doubt on Media Objectivity Myth
By Fred Jackson and Jenni Parker
May 26, 2004

"(AgapePress) – A new poll of the nation's journalists is providing more alarming evidence that the vast majority of them hold extreme liberal bias and are far less conservative than the general public."

Values and the Press

"Journalists at national and local news organizations are notably different from the general public in their ideology and attitudes toward political and social issues. Most national and local journalists, as well as a plurality of Americans (41%), describe themselves as political moderates. But news people – especially national journalists – are more liberal, and far less conservative, than the general public."

Same Old Song and Dance

‘Twould seem the RIAA, record companies, and their pack of snarling, salivating
hyenas…er…lawyers, haven’t noticed that pay-to-download is a workable business
model that has people’s attention – and money. If record companies produced CDs
with 15 or so good songs, none of this would be an issue. Music piracy was a case
of necessity inventing. You want just one song from an otherwise putrid CD? Download
it. Now, some of those songs can be downloaded legally, for a small fee. The average
Joe is quite happy to stay legal when the customer is satisfied.

Sink
the PIRATE Act

“The PIRATE Act (S.2237) is yet another attempt to make taxpayers fund the misguided
war on file sharing, and it’s moving fast. The bill would allow the government to
file civil copyright lawsuits in addition to criminal prosecutions, dramatically
lowering the burden of proof and adding to the thousands of suits already filed
by record companies. It would also force the American public to pay the legal bills
of foreign record companies like Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, EMI, and Sony.
Meanwhile, not a penny from the lawsuits goes to the artists.”

“Don’t let the record industry use your hard-earned dollars to pursue this fruitless
war; tell Congress to sink the PIRATE Act!”

Hollywood Hilarity

Hollywood Mystery Man ‘Rance’ Has Internet Abuzz
By Dan Whitcomb

“LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – He skewers Hollywood and the cult of celebrity on an anonymous Web log that has spawned a cult following. He claims to be an A-list actor, writing under a pseudonym, but admits he may not be believed.”

I love good satire. 🙂

This seems to be another case of me being late to the party. Then again, since I hardly give a rat’s…um…whisker about the rest of the blogosphere, it’s hardly shocking. Don’t get me wrong, I like being read and being linked, but real life time takes precedence over blog time. Anyone who does the reverse needs to move out of their parents’ basement.

Rance

TIA Go Away

Congress really needs to pay closer attention to what our taxes pay for. Ring bells?
How about ringing some necks?

Govt
Computer Surveillance Rings Alarm Bells

Thu May 27,12:10 AM ET
By Andy Sullivan

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nine months after Congress shut down a controversial Pentagon
computer-surveillance program, the U.S. government continues
to comb private records to sniff out suspicious activity, according to a congressional
report obtained by Reuters.”

Islam and Christianity

Mark Shea posted the following nugget of wisdom from Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I
don’t know much about the former, but I’m liking the latter each time I hear about
him. 🙂

Fulton
Sheen on What Catholics (Should) Know About Reaching Muslims

“We Catholics have a weapon in the war on terror that is a million miles away from
the thoughts of geopolitical strategists”