...At least what that this flyer sent to me by a San Francisco wireless carrier called CREDO Mobile claims. I find that rather disturbing, but who am I to tell my phone how to vote?
Recently in United States Category
...At least what that this flyer sent to me by a San Francisco wireless carrier called CREDO Mobile claims. I find that rather disturbing, but who am I to tell my phone how to vote?
Ever since my family moved to the United States in the late 1980s, we have been loyal viewers of the CBS Evening News. This tradition was unanimously ended two weeks ago, when we simply could not stand the decreasing amount of actual news in the broadcast any longer.
The CBS Evening News generally features a little over ten minutes of news, followed by commercials, an investigative report, more commercials, and finally a "heart warming" segment or some kind of other story.
I wanted to find out if this was the format of choice for all three major 6:30pm newscasts, so I did a little study. I also observed one broadcast of the BBC America News at 6pm. I began with CBS, which I observed on Wednesday, February 28:
CBS Evening News on February 28:
- Market drop/economy (3 minutes)
- "Beyond Wall Street," a personal story about a dentist who has some money invested (5 minutes, 20 seconds)
- Upcoming Iraqi Neighbors Meeting (50 seconds)
Then came a segment entitled "Matters of the Heart" about babies with heart defects and the recent successful heart surgery of a fetus.
There was a 25-second mention of John McCain's announcement that he's running for president, followed by a story about illegal immigration from the view of a farmer who lives on the U.S./Mexico border. Finally, there was a segment about the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
BBC America World News on February 28 (6pm):
- Airbus to cut 10,000 jobs over the next four years (2 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Market drop/economy (3 minutes)
- Israeli military, Jordan/Iraq Referendum, North Korea talks (1 minute total)
- Italian politics (2 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Stolen Picasso painting in France (2 minutes)
- Repeat of headlines (15 seconds)
- South Africa's Elephant problem (2 minutes 15 seconds)
- Scientists attempting to recreate the Big Bang at a Geneva laboratory (3 minutes)
- Controversy over Israel's Eurovision entry, "Push the Button" (2 minutes)
- Early bird migration (1 minute, 30 seconds)
NBC Nightly News on March 2:
- Walter Reed Medical Center Scandal/Francis Harvey resignation (3 minutes)
- Tornados in the Southeastern United States (4 minutes, 20 seconds)
- Bus accident in Atlanta (2 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Markets (30 seconds)
There was then an "In Depth" segment on medical teams in Iraq, a report on cough medicines for children under the age of five, and a segment entitled "Making a Difference" on Project Cuddle
ABC World News on March 2:
- Tornados in the Southeastern United States (7 minutes, 10 seconds)
- Other storms from the same weather system (20 seconds)
- Atlanta bus accident (2 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Walter Reed Medical Center Scandal/Francis Harvey resignation (2 minutes, 30 seconds)
- Conservative Political Action Conference (20 seconds)
- Markets (15 seconds)
Just like on NBC, there was a report on cough medicines for children. Subsequently there was a 20-second mention of today being the birthday of Dr. Seuss, followed by a "Person of the Week" segment.
Conclusion: I found that all three major American evening newscasts have a similar format. They begin with a little over ten minutes of "top stories," covered rather thoroughly, before switching to an even more in-depth segment about a recent report (such as the one on cough medicines for children) or an ongoing issue (such as illegal immigration). Finally, there's a lighter segment on a person or organization.
This is drastically different for the news from BBC America, which "covers more stories with less story." Also drastically different is where the stories come from. Despite calling itself ABC World News, there was not one piece of international news in the broadcast I watched.
I wonder if the increasing emphasis on reports rather than simply news is a result of the effects of the internet. It could be, that since we are exposed to news headlines all day in nowadays, that the networks feel that they have to provide something different. Further possible evidence for this is the switch of Headline News from their famous "Headline News Wheel" all day to including news shows such as Glen Beck and Nancy Grace.
I have also found that the three major networks will generally only feature international news if it directly affects the United States. A statement by the President of Iran on that country's nuclear ambitions might get a mention. Elections in Senegal almost certainly will not.
The reason Al Gore's energy bill is so high is because he and his wife chose to receive "green power," which costs them $4 more per 150 kilowatt-hours than their utility's regular plan. Furthermore, Al Gore's house has 20 rooms due to offices, security, etc.'
The Gores choose to raise their bill by over 50 percent in order to minimize carbon pollution.
That's the real truth... Inconvenient or not.
Watch Keith Olbermann's segment from yesterday on this topic here.
"But on the plus side, when you see live rats running around your Taco Bell, at least you know your meat is fresh." ―Bill Maher
The video to what I called "Bill Maher's Best Monologue to Date" is now available on YouTube. I highly recommend you check it out:
Bill Maher, Final New Rule 10/27/06
If you want to laugh a little before it gets serious, check out the entire set of New Rules (about two extra minutes):
Here's a little excerpt from the transcript of October 13th Real Time with Bill Maher, which featured Lou Dobbs, Danielle Pletka, and Ben Affleck on the panel:
DOBBS: The fact of the matter is that “English Only” is not racist, and we have to – we have to come to terms with it. And I don’t like the issue of race in this discussion. Because there is this sort of patronizing view that 40 million legal citizens of this country who just happen to be Hispanic are somehow identified on an equivalency with the illegal immigration issue. Half of those people, at least in the state of Arizona, voted for Proposition 200.And these – these activist groups, whether they be like MALDEF or La Raza, suggesting they’re speaking for the Hispanic American population in this country, is absurd. And for us to adopt some sort of idea that “English Only” is racist is absurd. It is a reaction to a cultural phenomenon in which you are walking in and saying, “Hit one – press two for Spanish,” walking into a school in which you have bilingual requirements that are crushing some school districts, while half of the Hispanic students in this country are dropping out of high school. We have a crisis in public education. [applause]
MAHER: Yes, that’s—
DOBBS: And we’re talking about nonsense.
AFFLECK: But we also, like many countries – and again, I don’t really have a big position – but many countries seem to function with, like, two languages. For example, you go to Canada. You press one for—
DOBBS: Yeah, I’ll tell you. They’ve had a great time up there in Quebec and the rest of the country. It’s been fascinating.
AFFLECK: They haven’t had a great time, but they’ve—
PLETKA: They haven’t had a great time. That’s the point.
DOBBS: It’s a disaster. Multi-culturalism does not work in any country in the world. Name one.
MAHER: Iraq. [laughter] [applause]
AFFLECK: Well, multi – you’re talking multi – multi-language.
MAHER: Yes.
AFFLECK: Multi-culturalism—
DOBBS: I’m talking both.
AFFLECK: [overlapping]—is the foundation of this country. I mean—[applause]
DOBBS: No, it is not. No, it is not.
Bill Maher didn't exactly use the best example when he mentioned Canada. They've had their share of issues up there. But what about Switzerland!? There are four official languages, and, for the most part, four corresponding cultures. Yet, the Swiss have achieved a national unity, which is placed above (in terms of living together in peace) those differences.
Even the less than one percent of Swiss that speak Romansh are represented all over the place. Their language can be spoken in parliament and is on the national airline (Svizra =Switzerland).
India has 23 official languages. And while it's not the most stable country in the world, it does decently well.
Hispanic students are primarily dropping out of school because their parents are making minimum wage (if they're legal) or less (if they're not). Yes, they should learn to speak English, but Dobbs is overlooking the primary problem here.
There is a reason why Spanish is the most-learned second language in the United States... You can actually speak it places. And the U.S. has always lagged behind in foreign language education, which is tied in with foreign culture education, which expands the scope of students' thinking and allows them to think outside of the "blind patriotic box" that so many do.
A study by Simmons Market Research found that 19% of the Hispanic population speak only Spanish while 9% speak only English, 55% have limited English proficiency and 17% are fully English-Spanish bilingual. It's no wonder there's the "press two for spanish" option when calling many 1-800 numbers.
If the increasing number of Spanish-speakers as a result of immigration does nothing but increase the number of English-only speakers that have to learn another language, in this case Spanish, then I already consider it a success. I don't completely denounce the possibility that the increasing two-language society is going to cause structural problems in this country, but it shouldn't be something that cannot be managed by the often-called "greatest country in the world," which goes back to my entry from yesterday.
Image Credit:
From the October 27, 2006 "New Rules":
MAHER: And finally, New Rule: America must stop bragging that it's the greatest country on earth and start acting like it. Now, I know — I know this is uncomfortable for the faith-over-facts crowd, but the greatness of a country can, to a large degree, be measured. Here are some numbers: Infant mortality rate, America ranks 48th in the world; overall health, 72nd; freedom of the press, 44; literacy, 55th. Do you realize there are 12-year-old kids in this country who can't spell the name of the teacher they're having sex with?Now, America, I will admit, has done many great things: making the New World democratic comes to mind, the Marshall Plan, curing polio, beating Hitler, the deep-fried Twinkie. But what have we done for us lately? We're not the freest country. That would be Holland, where you can smoke hash in church, and Janet Jackson's nipple is on their flag.
And, sadly, we're no longer a country that can get things done, either. Not big things, like building a tunnel under Boston or running a war with competence. We had six years to fix the voting machines. Couldn't get that done. The FBI is just now getting email!
Prop 87 out here in California is about lessening our dependence on oil by using alternative fuels, and Bill Clinton comes on at the end of the ad and says, "If Brazil can do it, America can, too." Excuse me, since when did America have to buck itself up by saying we could catch up to Brazil?! We invented the airplane and the lightbulb. They invented the bikini wax, and now they're ahead?!
In most of the industrialized world, nearly everyone has health care. And hardly anyone doubts evolution. And, yes, having to live amid so many superstitious dimwits is also something that affects quality of life. It's why America isn't going to be the country that gets the inevitable patents in stem cell cures, because Jesus thinks it's too close to cloning!
Oh, and did I mention we owe China a trillion dollars? We owe everybody money. America is a debtor nation to Mexico! We're not on a bridge to the 21st century. We're on a bus to Atlantic City with a roll of quarters.
WHITMAN: Take those — bring those quarters to Atlantic City, yes.
MAHER: And this is why it bugs me that so many people talk like it's 1955 and we're still number one in everything. We're not. And I take no glee in saying this, because I love my country, and I wish we were. But when you're number 55 in this category and number 92 in that one, you look a little silly waving the big foam "Number One" finger.
As long as we believe being the greatest country in the world is a birthright, we'll keep coasting on the achievements of earlier generations and we'll keep losing the moral high ground. Because we may not be the biggest or the healthiest or the best educated. But we always did have one thing no other place did. We knew soccer was bullshit.
And...and we also had a little thing called the Bill of Rights. A great nation doesn't torture people or make them disappear without a trial. Bush keeps saying the terrorists hate us for our freedom. And he's working damn hard to see that pretty soon that won't be a problem.
Searching for a job, and being international relations major, I have not excluded the possibility of moving to New York City in the not-so-distant future. I've received some comments about New York City crime, which has led me to do a little bit of research. Here are some tables comparing crime in New York City to that of Syracuse, Rochester, Boston, and Washington, DC:
Then I decided to find some crime rate comparisons of countries worldwide. I didn't find too much, but I found this table comparing a few countries:
What's up with Sweden!? It's pretty unfathomable to me that I'm nearly twice as likely to get murdered in Sweden than in the United States! You can read the report regarding this table here.
Well, I'm a month late on this story, but it's a great one. I was aware of it, but really read up on it for the first time tonight.
The Syracuse Post-Standard publishes a little multiple choice quiz weekly, where, as in many multiple choice tests in life, at least one of the answers is far-fetched, or even humorous. Here is the quiz question that started it all:
2. Bill O'Reilly put his spin on current events as the keynote speaker for Wednesday's Boypower fundraiser for the Boy Scouts. The Fox News personality was especially critical of:a) The American Civil Liberties Union, for pointing out flaws in the United States of America.
b) Liberal newspapers and other "secular progressives" for urging tolerance and generosity.
c) Syracuse University, for denying organizers the use of campus facilities because of the Boy Scouts' prohibition of openly gay members.
d) Former associate producer Andrea Mackris, for making him about $10 million poorer when he settled the sexual harassment lawsuit she filed against him.
The correct answers were a, b and c.
Bill O'Reilly attacked the paper in his show:
O'REILLY: Then a couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Syracuse, New York, to give a speech in support of the Boy Scouts, who had been thrown off the campus of Syracuse University after the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] complained.For my trouble, I was smeared twice by the Syracuse Post-Standard. The villains at that paper are publisher Stephen Rogers and editorial writer Mark Libbon. These men are not only unprofessional, they are incompetent.
Over the past few years, the Post-Standard's circulation has declined nearly 30 percent. It is a disgraceful newspaper, nicknamed "substandard" by some in upstate New York.
Now, we posted contact numbers for Rogers and Libbon on billoreilly.com, should you want to speak with them.
And that is what we'll continue to do. Any media person who uses smear tactics in any way, not just on me, but any way will be featured on The Factor and inducted into the billoreilly.com "Hall of Shame."
We will keep a running list of media smear merchants on the website, in addition to our "don't buy, don't advertise" list.
As you know, we debate issues all day long on this program. I have no objection to any media criticizing my stand on any matters of the day. But beginning today, the smear stops here.
You guys want to do that? We'll let everybody know about it. That's called accountability.
Apparently O'Reilly has a problem with smearing. That's why he countered with the following smears:
- Calling the publisher and editorial writer "villains", "unprofessional", and "incompetent"
- Calling The Post Standard a "disgraceful newspaper"
- Using the nickname some conservatives call it ("Sub-Standard")
I don't have a problem with O'Reilly stating his mind, but it's ridiculous how he tries to play the "fairness" ticket. I wish he'd just admit he's a moderate-to-conservative republican so he can painlessly rant all he wants (as is his right), without attempting to gain sympathy from the American public for something he's not.
Saving the best for last, however, the publisher that O'Reilly insulted and who he told his viewers to more-or-less harass, is dead! And he's been that way since 2002! As Keith Olbermann responds after airing the O'Reilly clip on his show:
OLBERMANN: Hey, good luck with that. If Bill has actually found a working phone number for Stephen Rogers, then he's buried the lead. He's broken the biggest news story of the century, because Mr. Rogers is dead.
Thanks to the following articles/sites:
This is a good one...
Wal-Mart, the largest seller of rifles and shotguns in the United States, has announced that it will stop carrying firearms in about one-third of its stores, essentially those where there's not much of a market.
The chain, most likely trying to match some of the appeals of Target, recently opened a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Plano, Texas, an upscale suburb of Dallas, where it offers microwbrews, sushi and coffee. This is the kind of market where guns apparently don't really fit into the picture. (Yes, even in Texas!)
I've always considered Wal-Mart hypocritical for selling guns but not explicit-labeled CDs (edited versions are offered instead). Additionally Wal-Mart does not carry FXM or Maxim, but does stock R-rated movies. Strange country values...
The National Rifle Association isn't too pleased with the gun decision, worried that rural areas that only have a Wal-Mart might be cut off from gun access! Heaven forbid someone might actually have to drive 30 minutes or even an hour to purchase a firearm! But even in all seriousness, their concern is unwarranted, mainly because these are the areas where Wal-Mart will continue to sell guns (unless they completely discontinue them chain-wide, which I doubt). Furthermore, if for some bizarre reason Wal-Mart were to end gun sales where there is a demand, some mom-and-pop store would take over.
The United States and firearms... Always a fun topic.
Further Reading:
