Thread: No news is good news

  1. #16
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    You'd be surprised the amount of local news a country with 10 million inhabitants generates. It is a true however that we do get a lot of "an accident in A5 resulted in 1 dead and 2 injured" with full TV coverage. But having traveled a bit all over the world and having lived for 4 years in Canada and 8 in Australia, I just know for a fact we aren't any different.

    On the other hand we do have a big taste for international news that extends across all types of media here. So I can safely say around 40% of our daily news time is spent talking about what's going on out there. 20% is spent talking about sports (did I say sports? I meant soccer) and the remaining 40% on local news.

    I do appreciate the quality of our work. There's very few things I appreciate about my own country other than its natural attributes. If you stick around for enough time, you'll quickly understand this. But generally speaking I appreciate and am thankful of the general tendency for unbiased journalism over here. Especially when I have such terms of comparison as CNN or Fox.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  2. #17
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    CNN should be called DNN for Democratic News Network.
    Fox should be called RNN for Republican News Network.
    Together they make up LNN for Lousy News Networks.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 08-05-2009 at 05:35 PM.

  3. #18
    Banned ಠ_ಠ's Avatar
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    I get all my news from the Colbert Report and the Onion, I'm a "just the facts" kind of girl
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  4. #19
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ಠ_ಠ View Post
    I'm a "just the facts" kind of girl
    Sounds like it's courtin' time!

    The thing I don't like about the Onion is that the entertainment staff (music, movies, etc) are serious. I can't imagine working there and having to write my honest opinion of some box office smash, and truthfully including details about the plot, acting, fx, make-up, etc. It kind of says that the readership don't mind jokes about the news, but they want some real heartfelt criticism when it comes to the last Wilco record.
    Last edited by MK27; 08-05-2009 at 05:58 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  5. #20
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    >> CNN should be called DNN for Democratic News Network.
    You haven't watched much MSNBC have you?

    CNN should stay CNN for Conflict News Network. For the most part they seem to want to show two sides arguing opposing points for everything in an apparent attempt to appear unbiased. It's annoying.

  6. #21
    Registered User Sharke's Avatar
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    What always amazes me when I discuss the subject of the news media with people is how many will whine that the media is heavily biased, then in the same breath say something like "BBC News and the New York Times are my sanctuaries."

    Both the BBC and the New York Times are committed to broadcasting news as viewed through a narrow ideological prism and promote a very particular set of values. The cultural and ideological bias of both outlets are very well documented and obvious to anyone with an objective sense of value judgment. There is a blog called "Biased BBC" which documents their slant on a daily basis - some of it quite shocking - and the New York Times is so biased toward the left it's not even worth arguing otherwise. Look at their resident economist, Paul Krugman, for example. Neither can be considered a "balanced" source of news.

    But which news sources are balanced? I can't think of any. People tend to gravitate toward whichever sources reflect their values the most. Being a right-leaning libertarian who disapproves of the Obama agenda I find more of interest on Fox News than on CNN, but I'm also not happy with a lot of their output and I'm certainly not going to kid myself that they're "fair and balanced" (as they claim to be). Yet most liberals I know will mock Fox News (or "Faux News" as they love to call it) without even once thinking that the news sources they rely on are every bit as slanted (MSNBC anyone?)

    I think throwing your hands up in the air and giving up on the news is a cop out. It's also a very dangerous thing to do. Governments are extremely hazardous things and should be watched like a hawk at all times. No, there aren't any balanced news outlets out there. But if you have an objective sense of value then it is possible to sift through a lot of sources and build up a fairy accurate picture of what's going on. Part of being an adult is having the ability to filter out spin and opinion and extract raw facts from the data bombarded at you. It's not easy, but then again why should it be?

    I look at as many news sources as I can and I'm very familiar with the spin of most of them. I also take advantage of the many excellent blogs out there. Was once a time the internet was mocked as a source of information - saying the words "I read it on the internet" would result in raucous laughter from your peers. I don't think that's still necessarily the case. There are bloggers out there who are every bit as insightful and informative as any professional journalist and oftentimes they will report things that the mainstream media won't touch with a bargepole. I'll read such conservative blogs as Hot Air and Gateway Pundit, but I will also take a look at the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos too. Most of the larger blogs link to stories on the lesser known ones. A little thoughtful surfing at opportune moments of the day and it's not hard to stay informed.

  7. #22
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharke View Post
    What always amazes me when I discuss the subject of the news media with people is how many will whine that the media is heavily biased, then in the same breath say something like "BBC News and the New York Times are my sanctuaries."
    Of course!

    Anyone who listens to the BBC daily is aware of the fact that the reporters, when doing an interview, seem very free in the extent to which they will aggressively pursue their own questions in an attempt to get the answers they want, to create a story.

    As for the NY Times, I would say it might appear to be "American liberal" but it certainly is not a leftist one. I'm a leftist, and I can't stand the NY Times; to me it just reads like bland bourgeois conservatism with intellectual pretensions.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  8. #23
    Registered User Sharke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MK27 View Post
    Of course!

    Anyone who listens to the BBC daily is aware of the fact that the reporters, when doing an interview, seem very free in the extent to which they will aggressively pursue their own questions in an attempt to get the answers they want, to create a story.

    As for the NY Times, I would say it might appear to be "American liberal" but it certainly is not a leftist one. I'm a leftist, and I can't stand the NY Times; to me it just reads like bland bourgeois conservatism with intellectual pretensions.
    Well maybe not "leftist," but definitely left of center.

    The word "bourgeois" is still in vogue?

  9. #24
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharke View Post
    But if you have an objective sense of value then it is possible to sift through a lot of sources and build up a fairy accurate picture of what's going on. Part of being an adult is having the ability to filter out spin and opinion and extract raw facts from the data bombarded at you. It's not easy, but then again why should it be?
    I'm not sure I understand what having an objective sense of value means.

  10. #25
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharke View Post
    Part of being an adult is having the ability to filter out spin and opinion and extract raw facts from the data bombarded at you.
    ... and i find such media as BBC News and NY Times to facilitate that work. Much more than other news media discussed on this thread.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  11. #26
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharke View Post
    The word "bourgeois" is still in vogue?
    It is in my house. I think it's descriptive and accurate in it's meaning, if slightly prejudicial/derogatory. However, that provides a nice balance/contrast to "middle class", which is like a hallowed, untouchable category (don't say anything negative about the middle class).

    Technically, bourgeois refers to a larger group than just the middle class, but it definitely includes them. A classic understanding of a "bourgeois" attitude stems from the rise of the middle class, where-in "upwardly mobile" types align their political interests (rightly or wrongly) with the upper class, because that is what they really want to become.

    So, for example, a middle class clerk who belongs to the same political party as his capitalist boss, even though the clerk cannot really be considered a capitalist. Capitalism is a philosophy, but a capitalist is not just someone who believes in and espouses the philosophy, as the clerk does; a genuine capitalist is someone who possesses capital and leverages their ownership of property in a wage-labour situation (ie, the two defining traits of a capitalist are that they own property and they employ wage labourers, or they do both at the same time by investing in capitalist enterprise). In that sense, the clerk really is a member of the "proletariat" (working class). "Middle class" obscures this; it of course has to do with the improvement in the situation of wage labourers like the clerk, but it also has a lot to do with a long history of publications like the NY Times, which are owned and operated by the upper economic strata, selling the term to obscure the distinction, intentionally. Like, it's free speech if you can afford it.

    Just to be clear, that does not make anyone of those people good or bad, but when I refer to the NY Times as a bourgeois paper (which it is), I say that because they are explicitly supportive of capitalist industry, and clearly make an effort to dissociate themselves from any perspective counter to that. This might not be enough to get you cred with the KKK, but remaining true to the origin of the word "left/leftist"* this cannot be considered left of center. You cannot espouse support for capitalist philosophies and be a leftist, altho you could be a capitalist (who does not condone the philosophy) and be a leftist; there are a surprising number of people like that around, I guess it is sort of pragmatic. Or hypocritical.

    *from late 19th century Paris; left bank (of the river) intellectuals who presented various alternatives to a capitalist philosophy, at a point in time when it became possible to be a public intellectual without being rich.

    Quote Originally Posted by whiteflags
    I'm not sure I understand what having an objective sense of value means.
    Good point, but it does not hurt to try.
    Last edited by MK27; 08-13-2009 at 02:37 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  12. #27
    Registered User hackterr's Avatar
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    awww....come on guys...watch tv ............its very important................... how else would the nice aliens from planet zukuba control us.......
    d'uh........

    Ignore the negativity.........jus take in the info.............

  13. #28
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    So... the fact I'm an open democratic party supporter (having given money to the last 2 presidential elections), have voted on my country socialist party, sympathize with the British Labour, but am supportive of capitalism, I happen to agree with a few right-wing ideas and despise the conservative branch of the Democratic Party, makes me what exactly?
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  14. #29
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    makes me what exactly?
    schizophrenic?
    bit∙hub [bit-huhb] n. A source and destination for information.

  15. #30
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I know. I opened myself to attack
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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