This interesting little tidbit of info was in the latest mailing from Grassfire.
"a new bill in Congress…would require the U.S. Supreme Court to televise its public sessions — in essence creating a Supreme Court ‘C-Span’. I believe this is a great way to bring some level of public accountability to the courts."
That sounds pretty cool. I’ll keep an eye on this and let you folks know if anything comes of it.
"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout."
….
"For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation as well as our most dangerous enemies…"
– Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
"But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." – William Bennett
Does nobody else see the similarity? MSM certainly doesn’t.
I got an interesting email from the American Progress Action Fund regarding news reports of tragic events, like the devastation wrought by Katrina.
"Like many of you, for the past 48 hours we have been glued to our computers and televisions, watching this tragedy unfold. We applaud the efforts of our news media, in particular ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, to cover this story. On these networks, together as a nation, we have witnessed images of rooftop rescues and other amazing acts of heroism – along with moments of great personal tragedy. Hurricane Katrina is a truly important story and by doing a very good job of covering it, our TV news programs are providing Americans and the entire world the information necessary to help make a difference."
"Yet, as we watch in horror, we can't help but think of another tragedy a bit farther away – the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan stemming from the ongoing genocide there. Unfortunately, our TV networks are not doing such a good job informing Americans that 7,000 people are dying every month as a result of the genocide, according to the World Health Organization. Their stories of rescue, of heroism, of personal tragedy, and of survival are not being told."
"And so, when the floodwaters have receded in our homeland, and our fellow Americans begin the process of rebuilding their lives and their communities, we hope that the networks will reflect on the important role they play in keeping us informed of tragedies near and far and will continue to cover real news – important news. We hope that the networks will come to agree: Genocide IS News."
Pat Robertson does not speak for me. He should not speak for you, either. I used to merely sigh when people spoke as though Robertson is or ought to be representative of Christianity, like some kind of Protestant pope. Now, I will shudder.
Bene Diction is annoyed by the current state of the blogosphere. Frankly, I can’t blame him. As he points out, there’s too much hype, too much spam, too much noise, too much propaganda, too much rhetoric, too much partisianship, and too little meaningful content. Fortunately, there is reason to be hopeful.
"Blogging isn’t going away, nor is the hype, the scams and the scramble to learn to find readers. Most bloggers aren’t in this for the money or the acceptance into perceived power circles. And there will always be media who don’t get this. In the three + years I’ve blogged, I’ve been challenged, taught, mentored and helped. I’ve made friends I never would have otherwise. I’ve seen solid sense, wisdom, kindness. And I have had some terrific shared laughs. [Main stream] Media can’t give me those benefits the way blogging can. We’ll keep doing what we do because it’s a privilege, it’s available and it’s fun. But overall, I think the bubble needs to burst." (emphasis mine)
Amen.
I don’t have time in my life to do and say as much through my blog as I’d like to. However, I try hard to make what I do have time for interesting and provacative. I enjoy fostering discussions between people of very different backgrounds and biases. Too many blogs devolve into echo chambers for propaganda and rhetoric. I think after the newness of blogging wears off a bit and bandwagoners get bored, blogs that are platforms for intelligent discussion and debate will earn greater prominence. Just as the dot-com crash weeded out most of the wannabes, blogging will lose its fad status and I believe most of the survivors will be those who have something worth saying and to whom people will listen and respond.