Tag Archives: Media

Global Warming And Forest Fires

Global Warming Polar Bear

Given the fact that we are experiencing Global Warming absent any warming in the last 15 years, it’s no surprise that “NPR Staff” totally missed this:

It has been a deadly year for the people who fight wildfires. In total, 32 people have lost their lives fighting fires in 2013; the highest number in nearly 20 years, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Just one incident accounts for most of those deaths, the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. In June, the blaze blasted through a firefighting crew known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots; .

As people move farther into wildland areas and climate change turns landscapes into tinder, experts say the wildfire danger around the country will likely only grow. But there may be a lesson to learn from how the U.S. stifled an earlier fire crisis in urban settings.

For the benefit of NPR Staff’s readers, here’s the stats:

Forest Fire Trend

Both the number of fires and of acres burnt are trending down.

You would think that information should have made it into the article.

 

Media Fail

I mentioned this earlier today:

Pathetic.

There Are No Journalists Anymore: Version 12,567

AP

I’m sure there are example on both sides of the ideology spectrum; right and left.

But this one’s a doozy:

RICHMOND, Va. –  Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed legislation into law that will require voters to carry photo identification with them to the polls, starting next year in Virginia.

Virginia joins four other states that have strict photo ID requirements in place for elections, an action Democrats decried as a Jim Crow-era tactic to suppress the votes of the elderly, minorities and the underprivileged.

“This is merely a continuation of attempts by Republicans to suppress the vote of individuals who are not likely to support their right-wing agenda. I guess it’s true that if you can’t win elections the right way, cheat,” said Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton and chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

Republican majorities in the Virginia House and Senate pushed the bill to passage one year after a more modest GOP-sponsored voter identification law failed to prevent President Barack Obama from winning Virginia for the second presidential election in a row and a Democratic U.S. Senate victory.

Serious.

I think it is entirely fair to point out that one side, one team, feels the republicans are pushing this law through for the exact reasons mentioned above.  I have no issue with that.  And, in fact, that point was made by inserting the quote from Locke.  And further in the article, next paragraph, the reporter points out that republicans have their reasons for passing the law.

But the editorial section is totally out of line.

Jeez

So, I just jumped to my local Raleigh news feed, WRAL, here in Raleigh to see what’s going on.

The first three headlines:

  • Two shot along Fayetteville’s Raeford Road
  • Motorcyclist killed in Clayton wreck
  • Rip currents blamed for three drowning deaths on NC coast

That’s 3 headlines, 6 deaths.

The next headline?

  • Son doesn’t blame driver charged in triple fatal I-40 crash

Lord.  THAT accident lead to three more deaths.

And after THAt, we get this:

  • Toddler killed in Wake County house fire

Holy shit.

You wanna know why people aren’t reading the news anymore?  ‘Cause they write about stories about headlines.  I’m not sayin’ that the lives of those folks taken too early aren’t meaningful and important.  Clearly they are.  However, the fact that these is literally NOTHING else to red between these stories leads me to think these journalists, HAHAHA, are just ‘effin’ lazy.

Conservatives Are Controlling The Message

For a long LONG time, the message has been dominated by the Left.  They have all the coolest rock stars and movie stars and funny people.

They play on populist messages like “Power to the people” and “Make love not war”.

The message, since the dawn of time, has been their strength.

But that’s changing.

Continue reading

Liberal Press: An Example

So, we have all heard about the Dr. in Kansas that was gunned down while serving as an usher at his local church.  The play in the media, the blogs and the talk shows has been understandably heavy.  In addition to the story itself, there has even been an increase in the whole abortion debate.  I would suspect, given our divide on the issue of abortion, that this could not be avoided.  However, the aspect that has really gotten me sideways is the whole guilt by association running parallel to this.

There are opinions on both sides of the abortion debate.  Additionally, each side runs heavy on emotion.  As with all charged debates that are fed with significant amounts of emotion, extremists emerge.  To hold one group of people who have an opinion on an issue responsible for the extremists is poor form in the highest degree.  The stories that are circulating that claim so and so contributed to the murder.  Or that this group and their HATE speech motivated this act, are stories of the worst kind.  I don’t any one single person that thinks cold blooded murder is the way to handle a debate, any debate.  Everyone I know thinks that this guy in custody is guilty of 1st degree murder and should be given the book.

But does that stop the stories?  The press and the whole “machine”?  No.

But the worst of this is in the coverage of the soldiers gunned down in Arkansas.  Literally the day after this Dr. was murdered, a Muslim extremist shot and killed a soldier; another was injured as well.  Not only is play of the news story far less than the Dr.’s, but the outrage is starkly missing.  I don’s see one single story screaming that it’s radical Islam, and groups that support it, being held responsible for this shooting.  I don’t see Anti-War groups being excoriated for fanning the flames of hate causing this to occur.  Nothing.  No where.

So it was that I was trying to find such a story last night.  I couldn’t.  But, near the end of my search, I just refreshed CNN.  And this is what I find:

NEW YORK (CNN) — A potential victim became a compassionate counselor during a recent robbery attempt, changing the would-be criminal’s mind — and apparently his religion.

This is the story, even compelling, of a shop keeper showing compassion to a would be burglar.  And during this moment of compassion, perhaps converted the man to Islam.  Now, don’t get me wrong, this story is the feel good news that I think we should see more often.  However, I can’t get over the double standard being displayed here.

On one hand we have Pro-Life organizations and individuals being held accountable for one man’s extreme views.  Ont he other, we have a feel good piece on Islam giving that particular group’s extremists a free pass.

Unbelievable.

In Related News

This is just the kind of reporting that makes me upset.  How are people to understand what is really going on when our press and our broadcasters continue to deliver this type of information to people.  I have quoted the entire article below:

New jobs part of stimulus package for N.C.

North Carolina could gain 105,000 new jobs as a result of the economic stimulus package, according to a White House estimate released this morning.

The White House said the figure for each state was compiled by analyzing “detailed estimates of the working age population, employment, and industrial composition of each state.”

The release does not provide any details on what sort of jobs would be created.

And in related news, I plan to date Britney Spears.