Archive for January 4, 2010
Anderson Cooper — A Legend in CNN’s Mind
UPDATED below.
CNN bills Anderson Cooper as “a provocative alternative on CNN/U.S. each weekday to the typical network evening newscast, going beyond the headlines to tell stories in-depth and from multiple points of view.”
I know what Anderson Cooper’s capable of because I remember him at his best in New Orleans immediately after Katrina.
Today? Today I caught him interviewing a mother and baby who “died” but miraculously came back to life. You can see the story on just about every “news” site in the world. Not exactly a “provocative alternative” to the “typical” evening news cast that goes “beyond the headlines” to tell stories “in-depth from multiple points of view.”
Poor Anderson.
UPDATED: Now (@11:02 p.m. ET) Cooper is narrating a BREAKING NEWS story about the shooting in Las Vegas that took place early this morning. No disclamers on the video that it is hours old. One is lead to believe that it’s happening now. What a ratings whore.
Does the Washington Post Expect Anything of Dana Milbank?
Back in the day — four or five years ago — when I first started blogging at the News Hounds, wingers and skeptics jumped on every single teeny tiny mistake I made. A misplaced comma, a bad link — you name it; they ripped me to shreds.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that my credibility was on the line as was everything I wrote. What I “said” had to be researched, documented and pretty much perfect or else my whole persona was suspect and if I screwed up, it reflected badly not only on me, but on my fellow bloggers.
Bearing that in mind, I wonder why someone like Dana Milbank still has a job, at the formerly august Washington Post no less. (I’m thinking about the long-gone class and professionalism that Katharine Graham had but that her kids and grandkids have squandered.)
So, anyway, does Milbank know how to use the Google? Guess not.
American Evangelicals Import Death to Gays
The American evangelical version of Christianity means death to Uganda’s gays:
Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.
[...]
Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior.
These guys are so insane they actually think they’re doing God’s work.
(H/t NA.)
Do Not Tweet This
Ten things you need to stop tweeting about. (Bravo to #1 and #9, though #1 does not apply to people like Frank Bruni and Ruth Reichl.)
Where We Might Be A Year From Now
Here’s an interesting — and perfectly plausible — take on where we might be a year from now, depending on what happens in November. The government could conceivably be at a virtual stand still: Countdown to Full Congressional Shut Down: One Year.
Break Time — Food
Here’s a cool timeline showing when specific foods became part of the human diet.
Words That Should be Banned?
Lake Superior University is out with its annual list of words that should be banned.
“The list this year is a ‘teachable moment’ conducted free of ‘tweets,’” said a Word Banishment spokesman who was “chillaxin’” for the holidays. “‘In these economic times’, purging our language of ‘toxic assets’ is a ‘stimulus’ effort that’s ‘too big to fail.’”
My faves? “Sexting” and “Bromance.” Please. I don’t want to hear those words again.
That Ridiculously High Cable Bill
Here’s more on what the future of our cable bill looks like. In sum: it’s going up (and up and up). As cable channels lose ad revenue to the internet, they want us to pay higher fees for their crappy content to make up for it.
(H/t JG.)
Denver — Pot Capital USA
The Denver Post is out with an interesting article about how Denver is fast becoming the “pot capital” of the USA.
Denver now appears to have more marijuana dispensaries than liquor stores, Starbucks coffee shops or public schools, according to city and corporate records.
Move Your Money
I think the campaign to encourage people to move their money out of the “too big to fail” banks into local, community banks launched last week by Arianna Huffington and others is a great idea. I did that very thing in March of last year.
When my husband and I moved to Colorado we opened an account at a local bank known then as National State Bank. Over the years it changed hands five or six times. Approximately 15 years ago, it became a Wells Fargo bank.
Early last year I read an arrogant, let-them-eat-cake type quote from the CEO of Wells Fargo (made simultaneous to our money bailing the bank out) and I thought, hey, I don’t want anything to do with that guy and I don’t want my money in any way supporting or contributing to his million dollar paycheck. So, my husband and I closed our account and moved to a local credit union. We are so happy at the credit union that we kick ourselves for not moving years ago.
It feels great to have figuratively given Wells Fargo the finger.
Think about making such a move yourself. Meanwhile, here’s a video produced by MoveYourMoney.info with more on why moving to a community bank is a good idea. Power to the people!
