Example of Media Wars?

Watching Faux News Lowers Student Math Scores?

What you know depends on what you watch?
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59 + 35 + 26 = 100%

Confirmed: Fox News makes people dumb
Read More...

Sometimes 'FAIR' and 'BALANCED'?

People filter information based on their own belief system. For example, people who watch Faux News on a regular basis tend to be more conservative in their political beliefs. No problem (it is what it is).

However, despite it's political flavor (along with the countless number of daily editorial decisions supporting a specific agenda), should a media corporation (radio, television or print) be allowed to make direct campaign contributions? Could this sea of corporate money interfere with the political process? Do unlimited 527 campaign donations to a specific candidate endanger the foundations of a Free Society? Do you ever ask yourself, "why do I believe what I believe?" And yes, Karl Rove is on the payroll of Faux News.

"My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference."
~ Harry S. Truman
Fox News Reporting: The Right, All Along. The Rise, Fall & Future of Conservatism (DVD)

Wife hits husband with SUV after fight over Wisconsin recall election?

Is Faux News inserting the quote 'crazy liberal nuts' into a story loosely related to Governor Scott Walker's recall election an example of 'mainstream media bias'? Read More...

In 2012, a Republican husband attempting to stop his Democratic wife from voting is normal? Is physically blocking a wife from exercising her rights under the 19th Amendment a 'conservative value'? Maybe it's just me, but in the view of this blogger, a husband attempting to restrain the movement of a wife is a 'big red flag' indicating a possible pattern of domestic abuse. 

Faux News now asking: Is the drop in gas prices a 'Bad Thing'?
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"Get a haircut and get a new job"?

A tax subsidy is an entitlement? Who knew?

Lord Voldemort's "Minister for Magic" arrested? Scotland Yard posts bobbies outside 221B Baker Street? President Obama considers pardoning Hugh Grant? Faux News denies the existence of England?

Parliament's criticism of Murdoch may spell the end of his UK business, but in his News Corp stronghold he remains secure
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Searching for Answers?

Gingrich charges Fox News with pro-Romney bias? Really? Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Mike Huckabee are 'unfair and unbalanced'? Is there a vast right-wing media conspiracy against Gingrich?

Is this really 2012?

Are all Italians in the Mafia? Is every Arab a terrorist? Did Timothy McVeigh's politically motivated Oklahoma City Bombing represent the views of Gulf War Veterans or NASCAR loving Christians? Did Rush Limbaugh's misogynistic comments about Sandra Fluke reflect the thoughts and feelings of all Republicans?

Believe it or not, there was a time when people actually blamed rape victims because of their choice of clothing. Something is seriously wrong with Geraldo Rivera. He's never fully recovered from The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults television fiasco back in 1986. Read More...

Miami Heat tribute to Trayvon Martin posted by LeBron James.

In the view of this blogger, so-called Christian Ministers preaching that gays and Muslims are somehow second class citizens is pornographic. Senator John McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. Tea Party fanatics posting tasteless comments on news reports featuring McCain is beyond political comprehension. His service to his country defines the very word Patriot.

At the end of the day, misguided hatred only breeds more hatred. And yes, young black and Hispanic men in this country are racially profiled by a small segment of the law enforcement community. Anyhow, the Trayvon Martin case is not about black and white, it's about doing the right thing for the right reasons. Why didn't the Sanford Police Department use the victim's cell phone to contact his family? Read More...

Update: Geraldo Rivera's Controversial Trayvon Martin Comments Inspire 'Geraldo In A Hoodie' Tumblr? Read More...

It's all about selling SOAP?

Last July, Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated opened to an empty theater in Orange County, California (Read More). While on the surface, the movie's box office failure was rather humorous, unfortunately, a majority of journalists missed the point on why the film was released in the first place. It's the same reason that Newt Gingrich, despite his low approval ratings in every national poll, is still campaigning for President.  
When this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China, I discovered that cigarettes and alcohol were used to bribe local government officials. Indeed, the central government actually monitors the sell of expensive cigarettes to gauge the level of corruption in different cities. While the average price per pack was LESS than a dollar, several brands from Yunnan Province cost more than $110s a cartoon. 

Why? Well, cigarettes are a form of hard currency which cannot be individually traced by the government. Thus, local officials accept cartoons of cigarettes, as bribes, without drawing the attention of the central government. 

Economic crimes, such as tax fraud and corruption, routinely appear among the criminal dockets of those given the death penalty. Read More...

Intead of cigarettes, in the United States, special interest groups purchase books and DVDs (in bulk) to support candidates who support their specific agenda. Sarah Palin is a paid political commentator for Faux News. She earns more than six figures a year just giving speeches. As long as she remains a political celebrity, she'll continue selling SOAP. While I have the deepest respect for Senator John McCain, somebody spiked his Kool-Aid in 2008 when he picked Palin as his running mate.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican?
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Photo of CCP Building Art, Guangzhou, PRC (August 2008).
Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)

Message to Faux News

If a user LIKES a candidate on Facebook, it does not mean that person actually supports that specific individual. Don't believe me? Just spend a few minutes reading the comments left on Michele Bachmann's page.


Because of Facebook's technical architecture, in order to leave a comment on a candidate's page (either positive or negative), a user must JOIN that candidate's LIKE page. IF a journalist (and/or news agency) uses a candidate's Facebook LIKE page to gauge popular support, that journalist (and/or news agency) is an IDIOT.

FYI: The Facebook LIKE function does not represent a scientific poll or survey (even one funded by a special interest group). Anyhow, these days, this blogger watches Comedy Central for an insightful look at the news and laughs from watching Faux News.
Fair and Balanced, My Ass!:
An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News (Paperback)

Mural on Town Post Office

May 2010

Stromberg, Nebraska

"The Swede Capital of Nebraska"

You know you're in DEEP trouble when CNN & Faux News quotes your latest Twitter?

“You're excited? You should feel my nipples!”
~ Leslie Nielsen
Airplane! DVD




How many ways can the vast army of television script writers, movie directors, radio announcers and network news reporters work the word Facebook into a program?

What's the cure for Brain Farts?

"You Might Be a Redneck if you think the last line to The Star Spangled Banner is Gentlemen, start your engines!" ~ Jeff Foxworthy

Weird Science?

Los Angeles Times
Climate skeptic admits he was wrong to doubt global-warming data
October 20, 2011
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The world is still FLAT? The sun revolves around the EARTH? Why discover a new truth when folks are comfortable wrapping themselves in a warm blanket of rhetorical denial?

Anyhow, what distinguishes a true scientist from a political hack, as in the case of UC Berkeley physicist Richard Muller (see story above), is a REAL scientist is open to changing his views if the hard evidence no longer supports his initial hypothesis. A hack merely appeals to preconceived biases and notions to support a specific, privately funded, political agenda.

Joke of the Week:
“Earlier today, Rick Perry unveiled his new tax plan. He says he wants a flat tax. He believes that the tax should be flat, just like the Earth.” ~ Jay Leno
Backstage at the Tonight Show: From Johnny Carson to Jay Leno (Paperback)

Breaking News: Moammar Gadhafi is Dead.

On CNN, the death of the former Libyan leader is the top news story. Wolf Blitzer just interviewed the Libyan Ambassador to the U.S. on his country's political future. On Faux News? Immigration Reform. See previous post for this blogger's military analysis regarding NATO's original No-Fly Zone mission over Libya.
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Should politicians wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers to identify their corporate sponsors?

The following is a man-on-the-street interview about the 
Occupy Wall Street Movement 
that DID NOT make it on Faux News:


Onion News: 
Rumors that Rick Perry invited Dick Cheney to go hunting are untrue.

Bachmann Update: 
Candidate runs out-of-gas in Iowa?
Read More...

Class Warfare Update: 
Buddy Roemer is the first & only GOP Presidential candidate to issue a statement offering his support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
Read More...

Happy World Teachers' Day!

Photo of Chinese Classroom in Changsha, PRC by Peter Rimar (July 2009).

Class Warfare against the Ruling Class?

On Faux News Sunday (September 18, 2011), Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke with Chris Wallace about President Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit and fund the proposed American Jobs Act.

"Class warfare Chris may make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics. We don't need a system that divides people." ~ Rep. Paul Ryan

Considering the GOP has been waging a non-stop war against the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining, for this blogger, this Wisconsin Representative's comments framing the latest tax battle as class warfare sounded a bit like Rick Santorum lecturing Senator John McCain about the benefits of water boarding.

Who is Paul Ryan?

Representative Ryan is the quintessential, professional Beltway Baby.

How much money has he earned working in the public sector? Based on the Congressional Pay Table, since being elected to Congress in 1998 (at the age of 28), he has earned $2,078,100 (base salary). This figure does not include yearly travel expenses or the random $50 special interest group luncheon.

Prior to earning his own Congressional Franking Privileges, Ryan worked for Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. 

From battling paper cuts as a Congressional mail room intern, to joining the staffs of two Senators, to eventually being elected to Congress himself, Representative Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life walking the corridors of Capital Hill (as well as collecting a government paycheck). So, when this Beltway Baby gives a supply side economics tax lecture about the Millionaire Club, please forgive this blogger for laughing.

Considering he's already banked over $2,000,000 as a public servant, taken advantage of 12 years of government sponsored health care, did not serve in Afghanistan or Iraq and has already qualified for the Congressional retirement package (not including Social Security), how on earth did this Washington Insider become the so-called Poster Child for the Tea Party Movement? 

All politicians sell SOAP. In the case of Representative Ryan, he is the SOAP. He is an actual product created by and for the Washington Beltway.

It's easy for a member of the GOP to go on Faux News. It's quite another to give an extended interview with someone like Rachael Maddox. As I've already written, there is no silver bullet for fixing this economy. Should the tax code be simplified? Yes. But with more than 12,000 lobbyists knocking on Congressional doors, I seriously doubt any reform package (which tackles tax loopholes and exemptions) will survive the Tsunami of special interest money.

Class Warfare? Please. The Koch Brothers have already spent more than $100,000,000 selling their Libertarian brand of corporate soap. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Tax reform without serious political reform still leaves a majority of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Confused? What political reforms? Read More...

REPOST: Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes and decreased revenue as it marched off to war?

How many millionaires and billionaires served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How many of these same folks made money off these wars? Anyhow, the term Job Creators has a nicer ring to it than Campaign Contributors.



IF Ryan wants to talk about Class Warfare, bringing back compulsory military service (with a public service option for conscientious objectors) would be a great place to start the conversation.

During this latest debt ceiling debate, President Obama made a serious linguistic blunder. Instead of calling the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts - for the wealthiest Americans - the Buffett Rule, he should have named it the Two War Rule. In 2003, the Bush Administration projected the cost of military operations for Iraq between $50 billion to $60 billion dollars. Where was Ryan when the Congressional Budget Office was crunching those numbers for funding Dick's Halliburton War? Ryan voted for both wars and the Bush-era Tax cuts. 10 years & $1.3 trillion dollars later, this Congressman (now supported by the Tea Party) still refuses to pay the bills for Afghanistan & Iraq. Read Here & Here...

Sadly, even if the President had chosen a different package of words to sell his latest proposal, at the end of the day, Congressman Ryan would still have called it Class Warfare. And you know something, maybe he's right. Being born and raised inside the Washington Beltway gives a person a special interest perspective of this world.  

Photos by Peter Rimar
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (and How They Try to Get It) 
(See all Political Lobbying Books)

Lord Voldemort closes The Daily Prophet & Glenn Beck leaves Faux News?

Fifty years from now, historians may reflect back on this period of American media history and compare Rupert Murdoch to William Randolph Hearst and Glenn Beck with Father Charles Coughlin.

Beyond the whole Media Matters campaign targeting Beck's advertisers (READ MORE), I believe there's another reason for the show's dramatic drop in viewership.

Recently, I sat down and watched a Beck rerun on Faux News. Instead of focusing on the show's conservative political flavor, I stepped backed & evaluated how the various manufactured visual elements were formulated to tell a story. Honestly, the show itself resembled a poorly constructed, G-rated version of "Swimming to Cambodia" (i.e. without all the juicy sex, drugs & rock-n-roll). Monologues, as a dramatic element, should contain some deeper level of "self-discovery". What I witnessed was an extended verbal diatribe of rhetorical self-aggrandizing behavior. In a word: BORING. Yes, despite his rather radical political views, at the end of the day, P.T. Beck lost his SOAP BOX because the show itself was (dramatic pause) BORING.

Swimming To Cambodia DVD

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” 
~ Sinclair Lewis
(Nobel Prize in Literature 1930)
It Can't Happen Here (Paperback)

Michele Bachmann for President? Why?

IF you want to sell books, land a job on FauX News, go Dancing with the Stars, earn six figures on the talk show circuit, use PAC money to finance a family BUS vacation & STAR in your own Reality TV show, RUN for President. For the record, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is NO flake. It's a real pain in the butt to file for Federal Aid every darn year.
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‎"After a night of partying with John Quincy Adams, the other Founding Fathers (George, Paul, John and Ringo) helped Margaret Manny sew the Grand Union Flag?"


‎John Quincy Adams, after helping George Washington chop down the cherry tree, sat down and wrote the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe".