Sunday, February 08, 2015
Spokespeople
Brian Williams, Under Scrutiny, Will Take Leave From ‘NBC Nightly News’
I have never thought very much of the so called "anchor" newspeople.
Mostly pretty faces, their commentary is vacuous and from another viewpoint than the one I ever hold. Or ever have.
It is interesting when one of them, the most vapid in my opinion, steps on his crank with over inflated ego and bloviation.
Every once in a while they will play a Brian outtake or comment on CNBC which I watch in the gym.
He hovers above the masses and certainly compared to the more rough and ready people who are on early in the day, definitely needs to get his hair messed up. He is the preacher's kid, the holier than thou good boy, the sneak and tattle tale all rolled into one.
Why do I feel that way? Hey, I don't have to justify my views anymore than he needs to justify lying. A lie is a lie. A vicious assessment is so personal as to be a simple rant.
These guys have dominated for a long time. Rather, who actually defends Williams I hear, was not a handsome guy. He worked his way up the ranks and had that rough and ready edge that actually got him in trouble with the suits. Brokaw was able to use the mid country boy look and he was/is smart. Brokaw was less supportive. Old Tom. He can't be happy this is happening to his old seat.
The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. The dominance of network news is long gone and the impact of one guy on people's opinion of the news is considerably lessened.
I am sure he is stepping down with the idea that it will all blow over in a few days and maybe it will. But he will be the same Brian, smarmy smile and all. An empty suit.
It also seems as though it might not blow over so quickly.
Soldiers in Brian Williams Group Give Account of 2003 Events
They say he was nowhere near the shoot down. Not at all. Oh oh. Eyewitness news!
Labels: news, phony baloney, television
Sunday, December 28, 2014
2014
Photographs from the New York Times from the almost past year.
Not exactly "memory lane" but transfixing nonetheless.
They are, besides being potent reminders of the times, really great photos!
I had forgotten some of these events. Some, are news to me.
I love the annual recaps.
It reminds me that I live in rich and abundant times.
And it is a far superior New Years' event than standing out in the cold among all the yahoos in Times Square.
But for years, we watched it at home. The glass ball.
What was I thinking?
Well, nothing. It is just a talismanic event. There is no doubt that January 2 will be the same as every other day. That is, in a general way. But in a specific way, yes. Beautifully so.
I will be here for that one too. If I can.
Labels: news, photography
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Hacked
The unimaginable, The New York Times website was down for over 12 hours.
Some Syrian supporters or something.
It did get my attention but not in a good way for them. They are minor characters and will stay that way when their methods are so trivial, really.
I am sure the Times people didn't think it was trivial.
And neither did I until I realized that I had gone without the Times for four days when I was in San Diego and never thought a thing about it.
I am spoiled.
So I went through a little withdrawal as I am just resuming my crossword puzzle activity.
They are back on line and so am I.
No harm done and fuck you Syrian anonymous.
We live in a weird age but then maybe not. There have always been assholes.
So what else is new?
If this passes for terrorism, it is a nicer kind. I would prefer it to kneecapping.
Friday, May 04, 2012
NOT A THREAT TO EARTH
We are about to have a supermoon. The closest the moon will be to the earth this year.
Come on.
We had a super super moon a few years ago when the moon was closer. Bigger. Fucking huge!
Supermoon Coming Saturday—Not a Threat to Earth
You know, it is a slow news day/week. All the little stuff is flooding the internet.
Some guy also claims that Obama is launching his campaign tomorrow on Karl Marx Birthday!
QED!
A good lefty blogger listed the other things that happened on May 5.
* 1847: American Medical Association organized (first step towards ObamaCare).
* 1862: Cinco de Mayo (discussed above; socialist revolution aimed at destroying America through illegal immigration).
* 1865: First U.S. Train Robbery (Looters! Looters!).
* 1886: Bay View Massacre in Milwaukee; National Guardsmen kill seven people participating in protest demanding eight-hour work day (Union Bosses incite violence, promote unconstitutional legislation).
* 1893: NY Stock Exchange crashes (Marxist sabotage!).
* 1920: Woodrow Wilson bans Communist Labor Party (diversionary tactics by father of Progressivism).
* 1921: 1st ranger for Cleveland Metroparks hired (environmental terrorists thwart economic growth).
* 1942: US begins rationing sugar during World War II (socialist New Deal administration destroys free market to aid Soviet ally).
* 1949: KGO TV channel 7 in San Francisco, CA (ABC) begins broadcasting (liberal broadcast media launched)
* 1957: Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open (Feminazis invade clubhouses!)
* 1959: KNME TV channel 5 in Albuquerque, NM (PBS) begins broadcasting (Self-explanatory).
* 1969: Pulitzer Prize awarded to Normal Mailer for Armies of the Night (could have been Stalin Prize).
* 1971: Race riot in Brownsville section of Brookyln (where was Sharpton?)
* 1978: Cincinnati Red Pete Rose becomes 14th player to get 3,000 hits (Reds! Reds!)
* 1987: Congress begins Iran-Contra hearings (and persecution of Oliver North)
* 1997: “Married With Children” final episode on Fox TV (and the Homosexual Agenda advances).
......Political Animal
Sunday, July 10, 2011
NOT ONE RED CENT
I was very happy to see this.
US suspends $800m in Pakistan military aid
These fuckers drive me crazy. They are two faced bastards who have been shown time and time again to be lousy allies.
This goes way back. I am talking about the days when Bhutto was running things.
They let that guy Kahn give away the atomic secrets. They are beyond the pale.
Nasty bastards.
It is past time that we let them know we don't like them and won't support their shit.
Do I sound a bit strident? Good.
Historic link. This is the first time that I have used a link to Al Jazeera English which I am reading every day now. It is very interesting to do so. Nice web site. Take a look!
Their videos are very good. I learned more about the mess with Murdoch in Great Britain from the Al Jazeera videos than almost anywhere else.
No. They are not wild eyed crazy muslim loons in robes and head wraps.
Labels: blog, Middle east, news
Saturday, May 21, 2011
MORE CHANGE
Look at this.
‘Coming Out’: Gay Teenagers, in Their Own Words
I can remember when the NYTimes ignored gay people entirely. Gay issues? Come on.
Then, after Stonewall, they had to cover us and they began to use the term "avowed homosexual". Redundant?
Then in a landmark decision they decided to use the word "gay".
Next was gay marriage announcements. Not even the "sanctified" kind but civil unions or just plain "marriage" parties.
Then openly gay reporters assigned to gay events. Then, openly gay reporters for any events.
Now this.
Very nice.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
THE ALGORHYTHMICS
I told you that I signed up for the subscription to the NYTimes, right?
Well, I did.
Good thing.
They tell me that I have read 249 articles in the past month. Is that March? I guess so because the number doesn't change every time I read one in April.
The new Times deal that I "bought" is 15 dollars per month. Not bad. I spend a lot more than that on books and other reading materials.
Here is the nice thing though. They made a deal with heavy readers. Lincoln cars, I think it was Lincoln, would pay for the first months, all of 2011, if I signed up that day or that week. I did and they did. So I am home free for nine months.
Along with the new deal on the Times, there are some new features.
One is that they have put a "recommended" list on some pages. They have "most emailed" and, on some, "most blogged" and, now, on some pages "recommended for you"
Here we are in algorithm land again. They have such a thing on Amazon for books and Netflix for movies. The Netflix even gave a million dollar award for anyone who could come up with a better "recommender".
Both of them are for the shit.
The worse is Amazon. They list books I would never consider and sometimes, just to be cranky, will list books that I have already ordered! Black and white.
Netflix, I must admit, is a bit better. But not much. Many of the recommended films would not please me at all. I have heard about them, read a review or just got the plot and I don't want to see them.
The NYTimes recommender is better though. Quite surprising. Many of the articles are ones that I have not yet seen in the paper. And, for the most part, they do, in fact, interest me. They have some obvious hooks. Gay issues for example. But others are quite mysterious. When I click through and see the piece they have recommended, it is surprising how many hit the spot. The r-spot. Reading.
Some are lemons. Maureen Dowd for example. Not preferred but usually on the list.
The other thing is that their list does not repeat. There are no articles that I have already read. None.
At first I was quite skeptical. Change. No. But now, I am drawn to it and curious. Very good. The list is singing to me.
OH. Dijkstra's algorithm has nothing to do with newspapers. Clickon to see.
It is just pretty. I was looking for an algorithm illustration and voila!
Dijkstra's Algorithm solves the single-source shortest path problem in weighted graphs. Here we show it running on a planar graph whose edge weights are proportional to the distance between the vertices in the drawing -- thus the weight of an edge is equal to its visible length.
I don't think that is going to get on my recommended list of articles.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
EASTERN COVER
It is exciting to see what is happening in the Middle East.
All the way from Israel's waning influence on US foreign policy to the details of the uprisings in the various Arab states.
So, here on my daily tour of the internet is a new bookmark.
I don't stay long. Scan it and run. But when I get inside some of its coverage, it is well written and balanced.
There is a lot going on out there in the world and US outlets hardly cover it. The networks still do a good job but there is so little time devoted. CNN is a disaster. And the others, political.
It will be interesting to see when the first AJE item hits the blog.
