Saturday, February 07, 2004
Poor Tim Russert . . .
Not only is he a punching bag for the right, but his co-conspirators in the Fourth Estate are accusing him of being in league with the right (Item #3 down, and previous). Frankly, I've had doubts about the guy ever since his interview with Hillary Clinton during her Senate run. C'mon, his accusation about her "misleading the American people," was so misleading in itself it would have been at home in a push-poll.
Tomorrow morning, channel 4 at 8:00 may tell the tale. I'll be watching intently, not to see how GWB answers (or, doesn't answer) Russert's questions, but rather to see if Russert insists on answers or does any follow up.
Tomorrow morning, channel 4 at 8:00 may tell the tale. I'll be watching intently, not to see how GWB answers (or, doesn't answer) Russert's questions, but rather to see if Russert insists on answers or does any follow up.
This is Roger Scimé, reporting from somewhere off-the-charts!
Alex gets it! (except for the "supporting Dean" part)
Who sez Doonesbury ain't relevant?
This is Roger Scimé, embedded with the Reynolds School of Journalism, signing off!
Protest the war, go to prison
I often joke(?) that GWB has managed to single-handedly drag the country kicking and screaming back to the 20th century -- but by that I usually mean back to the 80s.
Today, however, it looks like it's closer to the 40s and 50s!
According to this wire story, the folks that brought us the USA PATRIOT ACT and snooping on meetings between lawyers and their clients are issuing subpoenas for lists of people who have dared attend lawful protests and symposia. Egads, I though the late, unlamented (save by Ann Coulter) Eugene McCarthy had gone to his just rewards many years ago! Come to think of it, though, he's enough of an unreconstructed civil-liberties dinosaur to fit right into this administration's DOJ.
Er, Donica . . . maybe we should rethink our planned field trip to the Democratic caucus next Saturday!
Today, however, it looks like it's closer to the 40s and 50s!
According to this wire story, the folks that brought us the USA PATRIOT ACT and snooping on meetings between lawyers and their clients are issuing subpoenas for lists of people who have dared attend lawful protests and symposia. Egads, I though the late, unlamented (save by Ann Coulter) Eugene McCarthy had gone to his just rewards many years ago! Come to think of it, though, he's enough of an unreconstructed civil-liberties dinosaur to fit right into this administration's DOJ.
Er, Donica . . . maybe we should rethink our planned field trip to the Democratic caucus next Saturday!
This is Roger Scimé, signing off from an isolated a military base -- somewhere at an undisclosed location.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
TiVo Know!
There's an old expression that goes something like: "Never do anything you wouldn't want to read about in the morning papers."
Well, a corrolary to that might be: "Never watch anything on TV that might show up in some company's database."
As evidence, I point to a CNN story regarding the number of people who replayed the Janet Jackson segment using their TiVo recorders.
Hey, what football game?
Turns out that TiVo technology allows the company to monitor what its users are watching.
So, what has that got to do with the price o' bandwidth in Baghdad? Well, Slate has an article about the growing number of folks who are tuning in to porn movies via DirecTV. Hello, Rev. Falwell . . .
It used to be that Americans could carry an almanac (right out in public!) without triggering an FBI alert; fly from LA to New York without the government running a full-blown credit-check on them; and even even (gasp!) watch television in the privacy of their own homes with at least some expectation of privacy.
Oh, well - as Isaac Asimov once said: "Happy goldfish bowl!"
Well, a corrolary to that might be: "Never watch anything on TV that might show up in some company's database."
As evidence, I point to a CNN story regarding the number of people who replayed the Janet Jackson segment using their TiVo recorders.
Hey, what football game?
Turns out that TiVo technology allows the company to monitor what its users are watching.
So, what has that got to do with the price o' bandwidth in Baghdad? Well, Slate has an article about the growing number of folks who are tuning in to porn movies via DirecTV. Hello, Rev. Falwell . . .
It used to be that Americans could carry an almanac (right out in public!) without triggering an FBI alert; fly from LA to New York without the government running a full-blown credit-check on them; and even even (gasp!) watch television in the privacy of their own homes with at least some expectation of privacy.
Oh, well - as Isaac Asimov once said: "Happy goldfish bowl!"
This is Roger Scimé, the original -- never a facsimile --, signing off!
Reply to Donica:
Reasoning??? Nobody told me there had to be reasoning involved!
Okay, here goes: CBS (the network that hosted the Super Bowl game) was the target of quite a bit of flack last year due to its decision to run the controversial mini-series The Reagans. Conservatives bombarded the network with complaints and boycott threats, which ultimately led to its network cancellation.
However, my impression is that the incident still rankles in Republican circles (elephants, after all, have very long memories) and that Michael Powell needed some excuse to go after the network. What better excuse to yank a station's license!
After all, isn't Dan Rather (the conservatives' bete noir) on CBS? And isn't Rupert Murdoch looking to buy another network?
Reasoning? Logic? We don' need no stinking logic!
Okay, here goes: CBS (the network that hosted the Super Bowl game) was the target of quite a bit of flack last year due to its decision to run the controversial mini-series The Reagans. Conservatives bombarded the network with complaints and boycott threats, which ultimately led to its network cancellation.
However, my impression is that the incident still rankles in Republican circles (elephants, after all, have very long memories) and that Michael Powell needed some excuse to go after the network. What better excuse to yank a station's license!
After all, isn't Dan Rather (the conservatives' bete noir) on CBS? And isn't Rupert Murdoch looking to buy another network?
Reasoning? Logic? We don' need no stinking logic!
This is Roger Scimé, signing off from Land o' Conspiracy Theories!
Lots o' Links . . . but, where's the reporting?
As if we didn't already know it, the web is a wonderful place for some lazy columnists, a place where they can reference all kinds of other peoples' research without having to parse any of it themselves. All that's necessary is that they provide links to the material.
In today's "White House Briefing" column at WashingtonPost.com, for example, Dan Froomkin discusses(?) George II's service record. While he actually quotes some sources, his list of "relevant" links takes up the rest of the page. It reminds me of some of the personal "home pages" people published in the early days of the web: "This is me," "This is my dog/cat/family/goldfish)," "Here are some of my favorite links!"
Don't get me wrong, now: The original point of the web was to link various documents together in a hierarchical structure that researchers could use to exchange information. Thus the use of headings (h1, h2, h3 . . . etc) and lists. However, most of us have evolved well past that.
Ah, what the heck. Don't take this too seriously. It's early and I didn't sleep well, and I still have a ton o' reading to do and . . . well, before I take a shower I want to copy Froomkin's links and add them to "My favorite links" on my own home page.
In today's "White House Briefing" column at WashingtonPost.com, for example, Dan Froomkin discusses(?) George II's service record. While he actually quotes some sources, his list of "relevant" links takes up the rest of the page. It reminds me of some of the personal "home pages" people published in the early days of the web: "This is me," "This is my dog/cat/family/goldfish)," "Here are some of my favorite links!"
Don't get me wrong, now: The original point of the web was to link various documents together in a hierarchical structure that researchers could use to exchange information. Thus the use of headings (h1, h2, h3 . . . etc) and lists. However, most of us have evolved well past that.
Ah, what the heck. Don't take this too seriously. It's early and I didn't sleep well, and I still have a ton o' reading to do and . . . well, before I take a shower I want to copy Froomkin's links and add them to "My favorite links" on my own home page.
This is Roger Scimé, from where the action is, signing off!
Monday, February 02, 2004
Roger -- Walk us through your reasoning. How does Michael Powell's investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show relate to CBS's pulling of "The Reagans" last fall?
"Nothing Better to Do" Dept.
Just think of it: Michael Powell isn't satisfied to merely investigate Janet Jackson thing - he plans to investigate the entire Super Bowl half-time show!
Talk about skewed priorities.
Er . . . this wouldn't have anything to do with CBS and the flap over The Reagans last year, would it?
Nah! -- Only a cynic would think that!
Talk about skewed priorities.
Er . . . this wouldn't have anything to do with CBS and the flap over The Reagans last year, would it?
Nah! -- Only a cynic would think that!
This is Roger Scimé, live from the Reynolds School of Journalism, signing off!
