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July 2007 Stats for The Big Picture.
shows bias once again with today’s front-page headline:
GOP Council Backs Actor
Isn’t that wild? I guess Governor Arnold could look forward to LA TIMES headlines like, “Actor Signs Legislation.”
It looks like they’re not even pretending to be impartial any more. Here’s a headline from Friday’s front page:
Davis, Actor Go Head to Head
That’s not too subtle, is it?
And from the front page of the LA TIMES’ so-called “Voter Guide,” published yesterday (no link):
The people behind the recall of Gov. Gray Davis didn’t intend to create a political spectacle. Before the entry into the race of the pornographer, the diminutive child star and the Terminator, it was about the money.
Yes, this is on the front page of something called a “Voter Guide.” This is probably what it would look like if it had been an advertising section produced by Cruz Bustamante.
Is the LA TIMES abandoning even the pretense of impartiality?
Let’s begin with this, from Ann Coulter:
Interestingly, we started to lose this war only after the embedded reporters pulled out. Back when we got the news directly from Iraq, there was victory and optimism. Now that the news is filtered through the mainstream media here in America, all we hear is death and destruction and quagmire along with obsessive references to the date on which Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
And from Glenn Reynolds, on the same subject:
The Big Media have created a coherent single narrative (call it Vietnam II: Reloaded ) and they’re engaged in selective reporting to maintain that narrative, for reasons I explore here.
And from Democratic Congressman, U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon:
I’m afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded… Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with “the rest of the story,” the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy.
...Zogby International recently released the results of an August poll showing hope and progress. My own unscientific surveys told me the same thing. With virtually no exceptions, hundreds of Iraqis enthusiastically waved back at me as I sat in the open door of a helicopter traveling between Babylon and Baghdad. And I received a similar reception as I worked my way alone, shaking hands through a large crowd of refinery workers just to see their reaction.
We may need a few credible Baghdad Bobs to undo the harm done by our media. I’m afraid it is killing our troops.
Just today the front page of the L.A. TIMES shows these two headlines:
Starved for Power in Baghdad
Iraqis blame the U.S. for not quickly restoring the electrical grid. The firm hired to fix it says the system’s sorry state came as a surprise.
Open Investment Policy Looks Like ‘World Occupation’ to Iraq Merchants
“Iraqis blame the U.S.” “Policy Looks Like ‘World Occupation’ to Iraq Merchants.” If it wasn’t for the blogosphere, you’d never know this:
There is a terrible fear among many Iraqis that they will not be able to match the Kurds’ achievement if they are abandoned by the Americans once again. “The memories of 1991 are so vivid,” says Sama. “People still fear that somehow the Americans will abandon us and Saddam will claw his way back from the grave. They say, `It happened in 1991, it could happen again.’ That’s one crucial reason why people are reluctant to cooperate with the coalition.” She adds: ” I find it absolutely incredible that the anti-war people are now calling for the coalition to leave straight away. Nobody in Iraq wants that. The opinion polls show it’s just 13 per cent. Don’t they care about the Iraqi people and what they want at all? This isn’t a game. This isn’t about poking a stick at George Bush. This is our lives.
It’s said that bad news sells. Well, the media is selling itself short.
The media needs to start standing for something more than just the right to tell us the bad news that some would like us not to hear about. They fought that battle, they won it, and they did a great job. But somewhere along the way—probably post-Watergate—they started hiding news (the good news) themselves.
Standing for something means facing the truth when the news is bad—and also celebrating when it’s good.
The truth is always useful; the truth is often good and uplifting; and the media often refuses to tell us the truth when it is good, in this case about Iraq. Well, as Paddy Chayefsky’s famous line goes, we’re not going to take it anymore. We want the truth—even when it is good news.
A reputation for telling the truth is key to the success of a news organization. The more the media tells the good news as well as the bad, the more trusted and successful they will be.
who created the PatriotDrive web site, has this commentary on current affairs in California:
First they overtaxed Corporate America until they left the state, and I did not speak out—because I was not Corporate America.Then they overtaxed farming and family owned business until they left the state, and I did not speak out—because I was neither a Farmer nor a family owned business.
Then they overtaxed the entrepreneurs and home based businesses until they left the state, and I did not speak out—because I was neither.
Then they came to overtax meand there was no need to speak out—There were no jobs left and no income to tax!! Now I must leave the state!!Eric Wolf
Los Angeles, California
I don’t know why this hasn’t been more widely reported yet. People on Internet Newsgroups are reporting that this one is generating hundreds of emails, perhaps 60 megabytes of traffic per recipient per day. Because it pretends to be from Microsoft, it appears that a lot of people are falling for it and running the file attachments, which causes the virus to be installed on their computers. It may be wasting more bandwidth than any virus yet.
Here’s a picture of what it looks like. If you get an email that looks like this, don’t run the file attachments. Just throw it out.
Kristin Heffron, chief deputy registrar-recorder, said [L.A. county] has received and processed more than 41,000 absentee ballots already out of requests from 397,900 voters. That compares with 275,000 requests for the same period last year.“It is amazing to see,” Heffron said. “None of us can remember anything like this.”
Statewide, 400,000 absentee ballots have already been turned in, and a total of over 2 million have been requested. This is more than 25% of the number that voted in the last governor’s election.
“This is the most phenomenal election event we’ve seen in years,” said Mark DiCamillo of the Field Poll, which has been tracking elections for more than 50 years.“We are seeing interest by people that is usually reserved only for close presidential elections, and this is only a California issue. People are talking about this election in bars, at backyard barbecues—everywhere they meet.”
In Los Angeles, the number of requests for absentee ballots is nearing an all-time high—already nearly 50 percent more than sought for last November’s election.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said on Tuesday that it would reconsider a controversial decision by a three-judge panel of the court to postpone the Oct. 7 California recall election.
Good idea. They better reconsider it. When the left is blocking our right to vote, driving jobs out of the state, giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens at a time when we must strive to prevent terrorism on our soil, and ignoring the state constitution, they better reconsider it.
Most Americans want to play by the rules. But when the Judges we rely on to referee the game, start blocking our right to vote—something that’s never happened in this country before—then civil disobedience is the next play coming up. We don’t have time for this nonsense. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals must reverse its decision.
Sing it:
You say you want a revolution
Well you know
we all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know you can count me out
Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright
Alright Alright
Here’s why the 9th Circuit Court delayed the recall election, according to Erwin Chemerinsky, co-counsel in a lawsuit against the use of punch cards, who supports their decision:
The court found that the punch-card voting system in place in six counties would cause some ballots to not be counted ballots that would have been tallied if the voting were done using machines like the ones in place everywhere else in California.
Former LA Mayor Richard Riordan nails all the reasons the 9th Circuit Court was wrong to do so.
- The California Constitution requires the state to hold a recall election within 60 to 80 days after the signatures petitioning for a recall have been certified …The 9th Circuit, however, has chosen instead to rewrite the rules in the middle of the contest in a way, most observers agree, that will benefit the Democrats.
- ...In reaching its result, the 9th Circuit ignored well-settled law. The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized the need to give individual localities the flexibility to adopt voting systems that are best tailored to their unique circumstances, even though some counties will inevitably be better than other counties at counting. ... It is truly shocking that the 9th Circuit could simply ignore what the Supreme Court had already said on this issue, in order to upset an election process that is already divisive.
- ...More important, the 9th Circuit ignored the undisputed evidence that the new systems that would be implemented in March 2004 were untested at best and would probably produce additional voting problems. What will be unveiled in March is not the latest generation of touch-screen voting, but an InkaVote system that has never been used anywhere in the country.
There’s much more. Read the whole thing.
And the noteworthy thing about it to me, is that it’s the first time I’ve seen it happen.
In an LA TIMES article, Abdullah II, king of Jordan, denounces terrorism as follows.
Terrorists Betray Our Values...my people have been among the first to suffer from those who preach the culture of terror and seek power through violence. And their claim that Islam justifies their actions is, pure and simple, a lie.
The evil that occurred Sept. 11 two years ago left scars on the whole world, but none as great as the false idea that Islam encourages violence.
...The truth is that from its very earliest days, Islam has called on its believers to lead lives of peace and tolerance. The very name of Islam is rooted in the word for peace, al salaam . Far from sanctioning the killing of innocents, our faith prohibits it.
Now, where do all the other Muslim leaders stand on this issue – both in and outside of the U.S.? Why aren’t their voices heard, ringing out, condemning the killing of innocents, as Abdullah II has done here?
The latest poll results:
Bustamante: 30%
Schwarzenegger: 25%
McClintock: 18%
I think McClintock is right to stay in the race and see if he can overtake Schwarzenegger. But when we get within a week or two of the election, if McClintock still trails substantially, he will have the opportunity to dramatically withdraw from the race, and throw his support to Schwarzenegger. This would assure victory to Schwarzenegger. If McClintock times it just right, he’d be considered a hero. It would be powerful launch for whatever he wishes to do next.
Dean has made this statement:
“There is a war going on in the Middle East, and members of Hamas are soldiers in that war,” Dean said Wednesday.Dean condemned terrorism but his description of Hamas designated by the United States as a terrorist group as “soldiers in a war” conflicts with U.S. policy. The European Union also approved last week the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Dean finds there is no distinction between those who target women and children non-combatants, and those who target only killers. The offensiveness in this, the very week of September 11th, is inescapable.
This excellent letter appeared in today’s LA TIMES:
All this carping from the Democrats about the $87 billion Bush is requesting to prosecute this war in Iraq is just so much politics as usual, the hounds at this administration’s heels. When Congress was talking about the prescription drug bill for seniors, 75% of whom do not need or want the plan, the estimated tab was $400 billion over 10 years. The Democratic response to this astronomical price tag and burden on upcoming generations was that this was not enough, but it was a start and they could come back for more later. So, for the Democrats, it’s as little as possible for our national security, but no amount is enough to squander for entitlements that buy them votes by making citizens more dependent on government. This, along with the spectacle of Gov. Gray Davis signing a bill to give illegal immigrants unfettered access to California driver’s licenses, makes it evident that the Democratic Party cannot be trusted with our national security at this time of war. Laurella A. Cross Irvine
Well said, Laurella!
As you may have heard, Gov. Davis recently signed a bill giving illegal immigrants the right to have a California driver’s license.
The Federal government says it’s illegal to enter this country without following certain procedures which are in place for reasons of the economy and of national security. However, in opposition to this, Gray Davis and the far-left-controlled government of California have chosen to sanction illegal aliens. This despite the fact that Davis had opposed such legislation twice before.
This is a vote-buying move, targeted to Hispanics who are here legally and have the right to vote. I have never before seen anything approaching it become enacted into law.
Edward Lee at the University of California in Berkeley has proposed a powerful defense against terrorist use of hijacked planes.
Lee and his colleagues … propose modifying the avionics in aircraft so that the plane would fight any efforts by the pilot to fly into restricted airspace. So if a plane was flying with a no-fly-zone to the left, and the pilot started banking left to enter the zone, the avionics would counter by banking right. Lee’s system, called “soft walls”, would first gently resist the pilot, and then become increasingly forceful until it prevailed.
This sounds like it would work.
