Pro-Life Drain Commissioner

Well, I think I've heard it all, and then this.

One of the Kent County Drain Commissioner candidates has announced that he's pro-life. Being pro-life is great with me.

But, what the hell does that have to do with being the drain commissioner?

Island Girl Surprise

Some friends of ours got us an wobbly bobbly island girl playing a guitar for our wedding. It's about 6 inches tall.

Lately, I've had great fun placing her in odd spots around the house to surprise my wife. She's shown up in the cupboards, in the medicine cabinet and in the car. Unfortunately, my wife, Wonder Woman, was never very surprised.

Ah, but today I got her. A week or so ago I placed the island girl the pocket of her coat. I told her that she would eventually find her but that it would be a while. Today, Wonder Woman came in the house and happened the check the pocket of her coat. She was surprised that she had left something so large in her pocket. And then, she found island girl and laughed. Gotcha honey!

We used to play this game with a little plastic lizard. But, poor Mr. Lizard was in the cupboard above the toilet one day hiding. He accidentally fell into the toilet as it was flushing and he was gone forever. :o(

My opinion of the media

I think the media's reporting of the news is a mixed bag. Some of it is good and some of it isn't. I agree with the political left & right in part. But, it's not a black & white world. Too often the media is used as a scapegoat to cover yourself from the truth.

Most members of the media probably lean to the left. So, they are prone to look at the world through that lens and report things as such. A good example is that you will rarely hear anyone in the mainstream media describe someone as pro-life. Instead they will use the terminology of anti-abortion. Using the different language can give an indirect opinion on abortion. This is where I think the right wing has a point.

But, on the whole, I think that most members of the mainstream media do their best to be balanced in their reporting. They take their jobs seriously and part of that is reporting the news objectively.

The right throws a lot of criticism at the media for not reporting the good news in Iraq, just the bad news. The right says it's because the media hates George Bush and the war. In reality, the media always reports the bad news everywhere. My local newspaper is filled with all the problems in our community, not all the good things that are happening. Problems catch our attention and sell the papers, TV, etc. So, bad news reporting in Iraq is just the same stuff we get here at home.

I don't believe the media is a part of the vast right wing conspiracy that the left sometimes talks about. I believe many in the media do try to ask tough questions of our political leaders but they can't control the answers that the politicians are trained to give them.

But, I think they raise a serious question that heeds some attention. Most of the mainstream media is owned by large multinational corporations. For example, I believe that General Electric owns both NBC and MSNBC. What if an NBC reporter came across a very damaging story about one of the companies within GE? Will they run that story? What if they came across some very damaging information about a political leader? Would they run that story if that powerful political leader might try to make life more difficult for GE? The bottom line for a corporation is making money, not telling the truth.

I like Bob Schieffer on CBS news. He's a good guy with a great reputation. I rarely catch it though. The Friday news wrap up on the Diane Rehm show on NPR is my favorite news show each week. This is some pretty good balanced reporting in my opinion.

The media

I listen to a little left wing and a little right wing talk radio. What I find amusing is that both sides criticize the mainstream media.

The left wing points out that the media is primarily controlled by large corporations who have an interest in not being too controversial. So, there a lot of stories that just never get investigated or tough questions never asked. They complain that the media doesn't do more to uncover and report Republican abuses of power. Many question why the media isn't harder on President Bush.

The right wing has for years complained that the media is too liberal. They say that their view point is not given a fair shake because the people and organizations doing the reporting are liberal so they are unable to report the news fairly. They constantly complain that the media is too hard on President Bush.

I think the media must be doing some things right if both ends of the political spectrum are unhappy with them.

Beware of Spouse

googley bloobleyt goopbly boop...

g;lkjg bmbokwe.b,mdfb bowk,bl bimpoblokdomm

Beware: Do not allow your spouse to have access to your blog account. I sat down today to write a blog post and found this mumbo jumbo saved as a blog draft. Wonder Woman strikes again!