Follow the Money

Trump Seen Riding Flying Unicorn over White House...

...Headline: Russia! Russia! Russia!!

Maybe a better headline might be: Trump seen fleeing possible Grand Jury indictment!!

Ebola Hokey Pokey

An ode to the scaremongers of the MSM:

You got Ebola here,
You got Ebola there.
You got Ebola here and you make yourself a scare.
Make yourself a scare and you put it on the air,
That's what it's all about!

BTW, not making fun of the disease, which is in itself quite scary, or the poor people who suffer and die from it. Just mocking the "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality of those who bring us "the news".

George Zimmerman: "Self Identified Hispanic"

One of the odder linguistic contortions of the George Zimmerman trial, is the usage by many in the MSM that George Zimmerman is a "Self Identified Hispanic".

"Self Identified Hispanic"? I know that the media were disappointed when they found out that the "Zimmerman" involved in shooting a black youth, was not as Germanic as his name might imply. A Hispanic shooting a black simply didn't have the same resonance as "white on black" violence. So, Zimmerman was transformed into a "white Hispanic" or a "self identified Hispanic".

I think this bit of linguistic sleight of hand will come in handy for the foreseeable future. Who else comes to mind, of a mixed race background, who "self identifies" as a black, for example? I'm sure the media will be perfectly consistent and begin to refer to Barack Obama as the first* "self identified black" president.


*Actually, I believe Bill Clinton was the first president to identify himself as black, but then, he was known to lie about other things, too!

The Stepford Media

...is not curious at all about what happened at Benghazi.

Big 3 Networks All Admit "Assault Rifle" Not Used in Newtown Shooting

Show this to all your liberal friends who have been hyperventilating over "assault rifles" for the last month.

Journalist's Guide To Firearms Identification

Saw this over at The Blog Prof, and it's just laugh out loud funny because of how true it is!

More at the Blog Prof

Update: Welcome to those clicking over from the Seton Writers Club and Sigforum. And, for the uninitiated, the only Glock pictured is the "AK-47" in the lower left corner.

Rasmussen: 67% Americans Better Informed Than 10 Years Ago

Rie Rasmussen (no relation)

Rasmussen is reporting poll results where "two-out-of-three Americans (67%) feel they are more informed today than they were 10 years ago." At first blush, this seems to indicate a triumph of the New Media over the old. And to a certain extent, this is true.

Adults ages 30 to 49 believe that more strongly than those in any other age group

That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. If you asked me if I was better informed at 29 than I was at 19, although the answer is "yes" it is largely irrelevant. What I knew at 19 was largely academic. What I knew at 29 had some real world experience to back it up.

Then, there's the phenomenon about lying to pollsters. "Are you better informed?" This question might be one that people might be inclined to fudge a bit on, even to an impersonal pollster. People are sometimes embarrassed to admit ignorance, even to strangers. Like asking adolescent boys how much sex they've had.

And finally, there's the reliability of the Internet.

Forty-four percent (44%) of all adults say the Internet is the best way to get news and information.

I agree. But, I have also seen too many people search the Internet merely for examples to bolster their ignorance and misconceptions. Truly informed individuals have learned how to sift through much of the dreck and misinformation on the web. After all, WhiteHouse.gov may have a better creative writing staff than say a FlatEarth.org, but in the end, you have to be able to compare more than one source to test the veracity of their claims. A closed mind will only look for or accept evidence that reinforces its own world view.

With those caveats, I am mildly encouraged. The demise of the stranglehold of the Old Media was unleashed by virtually unlimited access to information, via the Internet. Sans traditional filters, the consumer must be more discerning about what they receive, but then there is an abundance of material with which to fact check.

Persons today who are uninformed, choose to be.