Googlezon Dominates

Epic 2014 is a 8-minute newsreel from the future. It’s also a cchilling prediction how what might happen as media and technology merge. Not bloody likely but entertaining none-the-less.

Ethics in the 21st Century

Susan Llewelyn Leach has an interesting article over on The Christian Science Monitor called Only the Ethical Need Apply. The premise is that as technology expands to take more jobs from humans, those that remain will be under a larger microscope.

I think she surfaces a fine point, but it doesn’t go far enough.

For starters, who defines what are good ethics and what are bad? Certainly there are actions people accept today that would not be tolerated 50 years ago. I would expect the reverse to be true as well.

A related corollary (accessibility) is that the media determines what you and I get to see and hear.

Now more than any other time in history the media broadcasts an immense amount of information to the Four Corners of the globe. It’s up to the individuals to sort through what is available; but not everything is available.

Like the professors that teach our young people, the Editor-in-Chiefs of the news power brokers are largely skewed to one side of popular thinking.

The most recent ASNE study surveyed 1,037 newspaper reporters found 61 percent identified themselves as/leaning “liberal/Democratic” compared to only 15 percent who identified themselves as/leaning “conservative/Republican.” [source]

Thus the information being transmitted has already passed through the media filter, increasing the importance of alternative news sources like the Internet.

Depending on your worldview, this could be a very exciting time to be alive. Or a very scary one. [via Thunderstruck]

Australians Fear the U.S.

Recently, the Lowy Institute for International Policy conducted a poll (.pdf) in its home country of Australia. The results were alarming.

“How worried are you about the following potential threats from the outside world?”

Those polled were equally worried with U.S. Foreign Policy as they were with Islamic Fundamentalists. Do they know what a Islamic Fundamentalist is? We’re talking the terrorists here. Apparently, the familiarity phenomenon is at work. What was once rare and striking is now common and accepted.

Recent foreign policy has America:

• Driving al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and returning the country to its people.
• Removing Saddam Hussein from power and returning Iraq to its people.

Yeah, I can see why they fear us so.

Attitudes of Australians are not a major concern, but it’s irrational to the Nth degree. There’s a greater chance that England will come back and reclaim their land than there is for any kind of U.S. involvement with the Aussie citizenry.

What this tells me is that their liberal media is succeeding in much the same way as ours. Marketing principles teach us that perception is paramount. So until the people of Australia stop believing the slants and half-truths put out by their media sources, they continue to believe America wants to rule the world.

Others see things a bit differently. Our thoughts are somewhat related as it’s our own media’s treatment of their poll that makes things look so dismal.

Cuban and the Future of Digital Content

Mark Cuban is a bright fellow. One must be to accomplish all that he has. David Goldenberg (a contributor to the piece) passed along an interesting interview with the Internet-insider who knows a thing or two about using the Internet as a broadcast medium.

This is particularly relevant given that the Supreme Court is now hearing arguments in MGM vs. Grokster case; sure to be a landmark decision. So what does Cuban do? He puts his money where his mouth is. Good thing he’s got a lot of money.

Soldier Kills 15-20 Terrorists Singlehanded

Ace of Spades is talking about Timmy Haag who last year went on the war path. [Note: Harse language.]

How come we’re not hearing about this stuff? CNN should be ashamed. Certainly they could squeeze in an hour or two for an American hero amidst their almost non-stop coverage of the latest Hollywood trial and their “news” piece on how Martha Stewart’s rose garden looked when she returned home. Sheesh.

Speaking for Jesus

Speaking for Jesus seems to be growing in popularity, especially when someone thinks they can ask/answer on a topic they believe will give merit to their argument.

Beth came across a post by Red State Rant that questions an op-ed piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The writer of the piece raises questions like:

Jesus would be appalled with the lies that we were given as reason to invade Iraq and would condemn the modern-day religious crusade that we have started.

Red State Rant responds:

Would Jesus call one man a liar for saying the same things people like Clinton, Kennedy, and Kerry said, using the same information sources? Would he apply different moral standards to different administrations? Would he stubbornly equate faulty but universally-acknowledged intelligence as “lies?” Would he even comment on twenty-first century politics when he steered clear of first-century politics? Or did he have more important things to talk about, like your soul’s eternal salvation, and mine? Eh?

It just goes to show that when people attempt to speak for Jesus or God they better have a strong understanding of the Bible. If all you’re basing it on is something like this you might want to dig deeper.

FEC Ponders What to Do With Bloggers

The Federal Election Commision is now looking at whether linking to a candidate’s Web site should be considered a contribution. The smell of their manure is nauseating. Read more: The Coming Crackdown on Blogging. The government has grown too big for it’s own britches. (Yes, I grew up in the South.)

Bill Maher Calls People of Faith Crazy

Bill Maher is representative of the liberal elites who believe that people who don’t think like them must be insane. This time, he actually comes out and says it.

SCARBOROUGH: So, anyway, let‘s talk about something that Gary Wills wrote. And I think Maureen Dowd echoed with sentiment.

After the election when we found out that 22 percent of Americans, based on some exit polls, said morality was their top issue, Gary Wills said that any country with evangelicals that voted for George Bush who believe in the virgin birth more than they believe in evolution can‘t be an enlightened nation.

And Gary Wills basically compared America to al Qaeda. That‘s a little harsh, isn‘t it?

MAHER: That is too harsh.

SCARBOROUGH: People of faith can step forward, get involved in the process, believe in Jesus, and still vote for George Bush without being an ignorant peasant, can‘t they?

MAHER: Well, I think comparing them to al Qaeda is too harsh, but that‘s because al Qaeda is a terrorist organization.

But do we have more in common—and I am not the first one to say this. I have read this many times. We have more in common with the people, some of the nations who we are aligned against, when you look at beliefs in such things as, do you go to heaven, is there a devil, we have more in common with Turkey and Iran and Syria than we do with European nations and Canada and nations that, yes, I would consider more enlightened than us.

Yes, we are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder. If you look at it logically, it‘s something that was drilled into your head when you were a small child. It certainly was drilled into mine at that age. And you really can‘t be responsible when you are a kid for what adults put into your head.

But when you become an adult, you can then have it drilled out. And you should.

SCARBOROUGH: So, you are saying that the millions and millions of Americans who go to church every week or go to synagogue…

(CROSSTALK)

MAHER: Have a neurological disorder, yes.

SCARBOROUGH: Have a neurological disorder. So I‚Äîso, so…

MAHER: It‘s something that happened to them when they were a child.

They were told…

So in Bill’s world, the only sane people are atheists? Elitism is a spreading epidemic.

elitism: n.
1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.

Read the whole Scarborough Country transcript to see just how out of touch Mr. Maher is.

We the People, Not the Media

Does it help you or hurt you to know that the media doesn’t represent the true views of our country?

On a Mississippi radio show, a recently returning Marine had this to say:

“I thank God that the troops that are there don’t see the news coverage. I thank God every day, because there’d be ten times the number getting killed, just because it would so un-motivate [sic] them.”

It gets better from there as the soldiers on that returning flight received a true heroes welcome from the people at the airport.

The Internet has been a critical improvement in our nation’s media because it distributes power out to more people rather then letting a few network news chiefs dictate what we can or can’t see and hear.

Blogosphere vs. MSM: A Matter of Choice

I was reading this post over on Freedom Dogs and it got me thinking. Help me out if I’m insane, because that’s been known to happen. But doesn’t it all boil down to choice? Let me elaborate.

The reason that Capitalism is such a great system is that generally speaking the best idea wins. Anyone can invent something, start a company or write a book. All of these get thrown into their respective arenas and then you and I get to pick and choose. Whoever sells the most (market share) is readily accepted as the winner.

Much in the same way, our national government should get out of the way and let the states experiment with this and that; things like school vouchers, income tax, or even welfare systems. Then bring in the analysts to see what worked and what didn’t. Take the best idea and emulate! This isn’t rocket science.

So how does this relate to the blogosphere? Choice, my friend, choice. Instead of being limited to the the four networks, or 6-8 news outlets on cable, the blogosphere offers literally thousands of choices for you to get your news. No wonder the NYT is shaking in their ink-stained boots.

But wait a second! Aren’t the elite blogs slamming stuff down all our throats? You’d be surprised. Even though the Top 10 blogs account for approximately 50% of all blog traffic, this number isn’t going up. It’s going down. In part, due to the increasing numbers of people taking their voice to the Internet. No matter how you look at it, having more choices is good news for us… the consumer.

Now, trying to discern fact from fiction… that’s another post for another time.

Take This News and Shove It

What do you think of the news you consume? Quite tasty? Or does it feel like you’re eating the same news day after day? Change the channel and get the same stale menu? How many straight days of Peterson Murders Soufflee can you stomach?

If all of this has got you reaching for the pink stuff (Nausea, heartburn, indigestion… upset stomach, diarrhea.. yeah Pepto-Bismol! sorry… couldn’t resist.) then give Take Back the News a try. I’m sure you’ll be feeling better in no time. [via Blogs of War]

CBS Ousts 4 Execs

It’s always interesting when people get caught in a lie. Generally, the result is more lying, followed by still more lying to cover the aforementioned lying. CBS how now moved on to the chain stopper and cut their losses. Today we hear, from CBSnews.com no less, that they’ve given the ole heave-hoe to 4 of their own. (Rather had already been planning his royal exit.)

Is this enough? Do we need to have another layer of media to police the top-tier groups? What about the damage already done by their intentional untruths? Ahh… the information age. I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Not Easily Defeated

Due to our morbid, human desire to know about the tragedy and the deceit, news outlets give the people what they want. I’d rather hear the story about Joe Kay. How Joe is overcoming a massive stroke by never giving up. Don’t stories like these actually help you in your own life? Wouldn’t it be great if ABC completely switched their format to reporting only the positive news stories? What do you think their ratings would be?

The Power of the Eye Witness

We need more eye witness accounts of what is going on in the Middle East, not just what CNN thinks we should hear. Ahmad Al-Qloushi writes about what it was like when Iraq invaded Kuwait and how the American’s came to their rescue. [via Roger L. Simon]

Comet Sparks Questions

What do you think of scientists? I mean, they’re uber smart right? I have to agree. It seems like they thrive on learning new things, so much so, that at times everything else—life—gets put on the back (bunsen) burner. But what gets my hackles up is how a scientist will state something as fact when it’s really still just a theory. As if they’re so far above us average people that after giving us the hypothesis, analysis and conclusion that we could make the decision on our own. Grrr…?íSo here’s the Wild 2 comet. Nice photo huh? We’re working on a century or so of serious astronomy and here they come with “an object that has no known peers in the solar system.” Have we looked at all the objects in the solar system already? Maybe I’m not giving us enough credit but let’s just pull back on the reigns there Tonto and do a little more research before making a grand claim like that.

Ok, to be fair, that comment was made by the author of the article and not the scientists so maybe I’m over-sensitive. It just bothers me that around 1900 they said the earth was between 90-100 million years old. Then later, they tell us with the new dating process we understand the Earth is really 1.64 billion years old. Now everyone just knows it’s 4.55 billion years old.

What if we learn something next month that leads us to believe some other number? We should all understand that rather than being facts, these numbers are “best guesses based on the science we currently have.” So I guess that’s it. Apparently, it’s their presumption of infallibility that gets my goat. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. Now there’s a solid theory.