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Here's my thing
Tuesday August 7, 2007
Or didn't this used to be an honorable profession?
Case 1 -- The Baghdad Diarist. The New Republic publishes letters from a soldier in Iraq, who has been turned into some sort of monster by the horror of war that he has seen. Except the whole thing is a bunch of hooey. The soldier, Scott Thomas Beauchamp, outright lied in manufacturing lurid tales that no one should have believed. TNR claims they fact checked the stories prior to publication. Yeah. I can imagine how that went --
Soldiers in Iraq - check
War going on - check
Bradley vehicles in Iraq - check
Dogs in street in Iraq - check
Yep, the whole thing must be true! Pathetic! So the New Republic, in a lather to portray the war as this ongoing disaster to further their political ideology, insults every man and woman serving honorably in the military. At least when Dan Rather leaped to judgement, he only injured/humiliated himself.
Case 2 -- Sean Penn now starring as "Uberjournalist"! So nice to see Mr. Penn visiting with psychopathic dictator Hugo Chavez on the news. Of course Mr. Penn says he's there as a journalist. Because he has the bonafides of a journalist. Because . . . well . . . I don't know . . . did he play one in a movie or something? Honestly, can someone's dislike of a sitting president be so severe that they will cozy up to a lunatic dictator? What do you think Mr. Moore? Honestly, perhaps Mr. Penn can find some Nazi war criminals hiding in Venezuela while he's there. Then he can really suck up to some psychos. As a journalist of course. Because that's what he is. Right? Because he's got a degree in journalism, right? No? Then . . .
Case 3 -- Newsweek. See the cover today? Blaring in dangerous colors and fonts: Global Warming . . . vast conspiracy to ignore overwhelming evidence . . . uh, what overwhelming evidence? I mean, you can't even get a consensus on what's happening. It would seem the only consensus is . . . there's no consensus. Even the U.N., which is so lemming-like that they should actually start saying that lemmings are U.N.-like, can't agree on global warming. That ought to tell you something. I know that I don't have the years of scientific experience that Al Gore has, but . . . oh wait . . . he doesn't have any scientific background either. Neither does Madonna or Sting or Shepard Smith or Fall Out Boy or any other of the U.N.-like celebs (see how that rolls off the tongue?) who have jumped on this hysteria bandwagon.
I hate to keep using this term, but it's intellectually lazy work being done by journalists today. They've got a political view, and they craft their stories to fit their preconceived notions. Used to be, reporters dug for facts and let the chips fall where they may. Even if it refuted what they were trying to say initially. Those great old newspapers always had grandiose mission statements like simply tell the truth or things like that. Sadly, those days are long gone along with the real journalists who gave them meaning.
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Monday August 6, 2007
Absolutely loving those new ATT broadband connect ads. The Brit guy, "Polo . . . found you . . . blam . . . the internet . . . would you like tea with that download? Yes please." Seriously, I'm cryin' here. I don't know how many more of those they'll be able to get out before it gets tedious, but I'm hoping for at least a couple more.
And on the Brit trend, what's up with Phillips? Are they a British company? Have you noticed their commercials all have actors with accents in them? I'm assuming the ads are supposed to look like US locations, but I don't know. And I don't think the accents are Aussie, but I'm not an expert on that sort of thing. So what gives?
How about that Michael Waltrip? Boy, you've got to give that guy credit for keeping his sense of humor with the year he's had. Those NAPA commercials are pretty funny, he is one of the most self-effacing celebs I've ever seen. And he's been poking fun at himself from the beginning, as with the Sammy Hagar ad. I like the fade out line in the newest commercial where he's asking if he's always received this kind of mail. A little dap to another Mikey, hope he pulls it around.
That Mercury Hybrid commercial just creeps me out. The one where the girl buries the emblem and it grows into an SUV. That freeky jerky semi-cgi stop-motion movement reminds me of an "Evil Dead" movie. And the sound effects when the vehicle grows, eesh! The ad folks did their job, that commercial is burned into my subconscious. But I'll never buy one of those vehicles, shudder.
And where's my new Rozerem commercial? Come on guys, there has to be more from Abe, the beaver, and the diver. Hmmm, sounds like one of those wierd books they've been making into movies recently.
| | Posted by postaldog at 9:29 PM - | |
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Sunday August 5, 2007
Boy, it didn't take long for haters of all things Republican, conservative, or Bush to blame the bridge collapse on the president. Our local paper, the St. Pete Times saved up the letters to the editor on the subject then presented them in a highlighted block in the editorial section of Sunday's paper. They are the usual myopic drivel about how the war on terror or Iraq or for oil has sapped the country of much needed funds for infrastructure maintenance.
Here's a little wake up call sparky -- you want to blame someone? Start with your governor and local representatives, they're the ones who have wasted the funds necessary for maintaining these bridges and such on pet vanity projects.
That bridge in Minnesota wasn't standing in perfect condition until the war began then suddenly deteriorated overnight. If you had been watching the reports with an eye on information rather than prejudice, you would have seen several experts state that the bridge was a less than desirable design chosen for inexpensiveness rather than long term stability. The forty or fifty year old bridge was not designed and built under the current Washington administration. I would think that was kind of obvious.
Down here, local politicians are putting cute little brick crosswalks in downtown areas, planting miles of new palm trees (it is Florida after all), new fancy retro-style street lights, new sport stadiums, etc., all on the public dime. How many projects like this have been built in the Twin Cities area? How much tax revenue has been spent on making the area pretty, instead of safe?
Complainers should have learned this lesson from the tragedy of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. It wasn't president Bush who was to blame for that, it was a succession of corrupt Lousiana legislators who refused to act on repeated pleas from the Corp of Engineers to fortify the levies and instead lined their pockets with tax dollars and engaged in blatant pork politics.
No one wants their taxes to go up, least of all me. But these bridges and other things won't maintain themselves. And they are the responsibility of local government, not Washington. So pay more attention to what's happening in your local budgets. Voice your opinion. Remember, these local politicians work for you, don't be afraid to take them to task when they try to fritter away your tax dollars on some silly vanity project.
Don't forget, it is government by the people.
| | Posted by postaldog at 8:45 AM - | |
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Saturday August 4, 2007
Thursday night marked a new low in Congressional ethics. The Democratic controlled House closed a vote on whether illegal aliens would get federal funds for employment and housing only seconds before the clerk gave the vote totals which would have shown that Republicans had voted down the bill by a vote of 215 to 213.
After that shameful display, in chambers video captured images of Democratic leaders doing a little arm-twisting on recalcitrant members to get them to change their votes. The fact that the vote was allowed to change after the measure was gaveled closed is also unprecidented. And of course, the original paper with the vote tally is now mysteriously gone. It would be comical if the big picture wasn't so disturbing.
I'm reminded of new Speaker Pelosi's comments about creating the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history back in Nov 2006. And her more recent comments about having to drain the swamp, referring to the Dems inability to get any of their legislations passed.
Since they've been in office, the Dems have enacted no meaningful legislation. They have not delivered on any campaign promises except that feeble minimum wage hike. They have, however, launched something like 300 investigations into various Republicans looking for improprieties and found exactly nothing. Now desperate to look functional, the Dems have evicerated parlimentary procedure to deliver federal funds to people who aren't even citizens of this country! They're illegal! They are lawbreakers! And the democrats are violating ethics to deliver your hard earned tax dollars to these criminals.
Seems to me the swamp that needs to be drained is on the Democratic side of the House.
| | Posted by postaldog at 7:28 PM - | |
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Wednesday August 1, 2007
File this under either a karmic payback or a me and my big mouth moment.
After waxing poetic in this very blog about my love of big storms and raucous weather sometime back, we got a doozie yesterday afternoon. It was the whole magilla -- heavy pounding rain, winds, and a steady stream of lightning that created a non-stop rumble of window shaking thunder. Then it hit.
A bolt came down on the power pole in my back yard that knocked out power for my entire block (I'm sure in my blog I was clear to mention that I didn't want any damage from the weather, someone wasn't listening). And also the phones. The utility guys came out, we have Progress Energy here, and started to work to fix things.
Hats off to these guys for working through off and on showers and enough lightning to make me nervous for them. These guys worked through the night and after more than 12 straight hours, got everyone's power back on. As the only person still up besides them, I went out and thanked them for everyone in the neighborhood.
A sad note to all of this is that one of the line workers was severely injured while trying to restore our power. One of the guys told me he may lose parts of both of his arms from the accident. Incredibly tragic.
When the lights go out, most of the time, we all whine like little kids who've had a toy taken away. Standing on our porches tapping our toes and gesturing disgustedly at the trucks as they drive around our neighborhoods seemingly doing nothing while we're missing our favorite TV shows. But these guys do dangerous work, a damn sight more dangerous than anything most of the rest of us do for a living. This one guy nearly lost his life last night. Turning on people's lights. Would you risk your life like that? Next time you have a power outage, think about what it takes, what it might cost to get your lights back on. I know I will.
| | Posted by postaldog at 9:46 AM - | |
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