Escaping the MSM's Umbrella of Ignorance

A reader named Susann left me an insightful comment about this post.  I was going to write her back therein but decided to make it an entirely new post altogether:

Just this afternoon I had a long conversation with a longtime friend visiting from Vancouver Island. She's a smart person, an entrepreneur, is originally from the U.S., and keeps herself well informed.

But when I started hearing her perspectives on current events, especially U.S. politics, I immediately inquired about where she heard such things. The answer was as one might expect: "Oh, on the TV news."

A long standing bugaboo of mine is the severe bias in the media. For the record, I am NOT looking for the media to become a puppet of the Republican Party in the U.S. and the Conservative government here in Canada. BUT I am absolutely sick & tired of the individuals in the media pretending that they are mostly centrist & balanced. News Flash: They're NOT!!!

What I was reminded of today is that most members of the general public are not dumb. But the opinions of most ARE shaped by what they see on TV, hear on the radio, and read in the newspaper. The fact that their input data is severely corrupted (bent, twisted, obscured) has everything to do with the great ignorance of so many.

In the software business there's an acronym known as "GIGO". It stands for: "Garbage In, Garbage Out". I never realized just how appropriate this term is to describe a more commonly known acronym, the MSM!

A great irony of 2009 is that on the political front, Canada and America appear to have switched politically.

Many Canadians seem to have woken up to the fact of just how corrupt much of their media has become in favour of the left of centre Liberal Party of Canada and the Democrat Party in the U.S.  This became blatantly apparent late last year:

• In Canadian politics during the "Coupscam"
• In American politics during the presidential election campaign
  

The most unethical & unprofessional of all was the CBC, but most of the other media outlets weren't far behind.  In times past they would have gotten away with it unscathed.  But the New Media of the Internet has provided an avenue for interested news consumers to step past the stench of bias and even vent at the Old Media if they so choose.  In no small part I believe great credit is due to widely read websites like Kate McMillan's Small Dead Animals and Pierre Bourque's Bourque.com.  They have become de facto watch dogs of the Canadian media and all that is terribly wrong with it.

On the other hand, down south in Amerika, the majority of citizens have not yet become aware of how deeply biased most of their media is to insulate Barack Obama and his Democrat Party from legitimate criticism. But inroads are being made, mostly by Fox News, conservative talk radio, the Drudge Report, and a legion of conservative bloggers. Still, poll most non-conservative Americans and you will find them to be mostly ignorant of huge news stories like the ACORN fiasco and the firings of key personnel in Obama's cabinet.

This next year, with the run-up to the 2010 mid-term elections in the U.S., it'll be most interesting to see if a majority of Americans come out from underneath the umbrella of ignorance imposed upon them by the MSM outlets they get their "news" from.  I, for one, have faith that they indeed will! Or put another way, we'll know in about a year whether the American public takes the red pill or the blue pill:

---

Update: Talk about synchronicity, read the comments to this ridiculous editorial.

Did Karl Marx Predict the Ascendency of Barack Obama?

I came across this 1848 Manifesto of the Communist Party quite by accident. It makes for interesting reading.  Completely flawed, of course, but more than a little predictive of the steps that Barack Obama and the modern Democrat government are quickly changing America.  Here's a 10 Step plan from Section II:


We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of democracy.

The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.

Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

Snow at Whistler: Good News for the Olympics!

A friend of mine predicted that there wouldn't be much snow in Southeast BC this year. Thankfully she is incorrect!

Here's today's weather report:

The Krauthammer Interview at Der Spiegel

"In the American context, to be the hero of five Norwegian leftists, is not exactly politically positive."

Beyond Brilliant!!!

What do David Frum and Levi Johnston Have in Common?

1. Both hail from north of the 49th Parallel.
2. Both dislike Sarah Palin.
3. Both are desperate to attract media attention.
4. Nothing either says seems relevant to anyone.
5. Neither can get more than $25K posing for PlayGirl.

The Purpose of War Used to Be to Destroy the Enemy

Apparently not in the Age of Obama  :-(

Data source: http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/ByMonth.aspx

Medicare Fraud in America

The Orchestrated Ignorance of the General Public

This morning I heard a fascinating discussion on a local Vancouver radio station. The segment usually covers national Canadian politics but today, for some reason, most of it had to with Obama and the very unbalanced coverage of the same by the MSM.

Since I get my news from the Internet and talk radio, I had NO IDEA that much of the public in the U.S. and 99% of the public in Canada were not aware of any of these stories:

• ACORN's disgusting behaviour in those O'Keefe/Giles videos
• Van Jones' resignation
• Anita Dunn's love affair with mass murder, Mao Tse-Tung

I naturally assumed that everyone knew about these things about apparently if you don't watch Fox or don't listen to conservative talk radio or don't read certain political/news websites then you would be completely ignorant of these facts. Why? Because the MSM has deliberately neglected to report on any stories that might hurt their Messiah, Barack Obama.

If you'd like to listen to the segment, just go here and move the slider to 6:00.

You'll hear the host, a left of center populist named Bill Good, a slightly right of center political veteran named Norman Spector, and a true comrade of all things socialist named Bill Tieleman.

Bonus: You'll also hear a story about our past prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, taking Lois Lane actress, Margot Kidder, to a dinner with Ronald Reagan, where Ms. Kidder lectured Reagan on the virtues of getting rid of all nuclear weapons ... and getting a complimentary squeeze on her thigh from Trudeau for each point she made!

The Gettysburg Address, Obama Style

A friend of mine recently sent me the full text of the Gettysburg Address. Here it is:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.



I got to thinking, what would be the "equivalent" speech that Obama would give, considering that:

1. History has no meaning for the Left.
2. The past deeds & valor of others have no meaning to the Left.
3. The entire history of America appears to be shameful to Obama.
4. The prime directive of the Left is Equality ... not of opportunity, but of end results.
5. Wealth Distribution would have to be in there for good measure.

If you have any suggestions for any/all of the 3 paragraphs, please do share them! I'm trying to get Dennis Miller to run a contest about this. If he does, then I'll submit your ideas, giving full credit to anyone who leaves their actual name.

A Leftist Bedtime Story

Snoqualmie Falls

Media Bias

CNN's Carol Costello did a 3-part report on talk radio:





I think she did a pretty good job. But let's take an honest look at the political biases of the American MSM:

The Left

• CNN
• MSNBC
• ABC
• CBS
• NBC
• PBS
• NPR
• The NY Times
• The Washington Post
• The LA Times
• ... and dozens of other newspapers

The Right

• Fox News
• Talk Radio
• The Editorial page of the Wall Street Journal

Clearly, the bias leans SEVERELY to the Left. Yet the U.S. government is only talking about controlling what's said on Talk Radio. That sure seems fair, eh?! Notttttttttttttt!!!!!

Glenn Beck Has Some Questions for the Obama Regime

He is indeed a bit of a performer, but he poses several important questions:

Is Limited Government an Oxymoron?

Removing government altogether is improbable but Doug Casey's analysis of the types of people who end up in government strikes many chords ... and not pleasant ones!

The Whitehouse vs. Fox News

Why I Listen to Talk Radio

In response to this interesting blog post, I left this comment:

I live up in the Great White North aka Canuckistan. All of my life I've been indoctrinated with Left and Extreme Left programming on Canadian and American TV newscasts. I never bought into it but until the advent of talk radio and the Internet I could do nothing more than throw a shoe at the TV.

I gave up Cable TV in 1990 and then TV altogether in 2002. Haven't looked back ... at all!

So in its place I listen to talk radio. The 3 shows I listen to daily [M-F] are:

• Dennis Miller
• Dennis Prager
• Charles Adler (a Canadian show)

Anyone who claims that these are "extreme right-wing thoughtless" radio programs has either never heard them and/or is deeply entrenched in their own mindless Left paradigm. For more truth & common sense emanates from them than all TV news shows combined!

I don't agree with all of the views of these gentlemen, though their views & mine coincide much of the time. That is something I'm both proud of and comforted by - think Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, realizing that *he* is *not* the crazy one!

The Fiction of the Left Comes Home to Roost

This brilliant piece, written by Noemie Emery, a liberal, struck so many chords that I feel a little deaf right now. A must read!!

Not Evil Just Wrong Postscript: The Hockey Stick

Here's a fascinating new blog posting about how one can create a "hockey stick" curve out of any random data.

Al Gore's hockey stick fantasy is touched upon in Not Evil Just Wrong. It was actually challenged and discredited by Canadians, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, both from Ontario.

James Hansen is a NASA scientist who vociferously & frequently spoke of the hockey stick data supporting the notion of Global Warming. As shown in the film, when he was presented with the facts that the hockey stick data was faulty, he could not get himself to commend these Canadians for adding truth to the debate.

A quick look at Hansen's Wikipedia entry reveals something interesting:

In 2006, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) selected James Hansen to receive their Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility "for his courageous and steadfast advocacy in support of scientists' responsibilities to communicate their scientific opinions and findings openly and honestly on matters of public importance."

How's that for irony?

World Premiere of Not Evil Just Wrong

Here's my friend, John, along with Patrick Moore.

---

Update: Here's a copy of the DVD, personally signed by Phelim McAleer and Patrick Moore:

Open Death Threats Against Geert Wilders

Please watch this video from London.

And then remind yourself that Barack Obama wants to dump American values in favor of European ones. Don't lose sight of the fact that the speakers you see in that video are a direct result of the "multicultural" policies adopted by the UK long ago. Note: "Multicultural" does not mean "multiple cultures". Rather it means that all cultures are viewed equally. So if you are repulsed by what these nutcases are saying then you are a close-minded hater and racist.

Insanity Plus!!!

Excessive Benefits are Destroying the UK

A new study out of the UK confirms what anyone with a modicum of common sense has known all along: Excessive benefits destroy work ethics. What were once "privileges" have long since become "rights" in the minds of many.

It seems so obvious that if the benefits for doing nothing become too great then more & more people will, in fact, be incentivized to do nothing.

Envision two teenagers, both from middle class families. In the first, his parents tell him that he will need to work hard in school in order to get into university and work hard there in order to get a good job. In the second case, the family is "lucky" to win $50 Million in the lottery. The teenager in this family, knowing he will be provided for, loses all ambition to strive harder at school and in life generally. This scenario isn't idle speculation, but is a perfect example of what frequently happens when children are given too much by their parents. And we all know that childhood behaviours are often repeated in adulthood.

And now Barack Obama and the Democrats are taking America down the same slippery slope ... and anyone who objects to this is deemed to be a hater and a racist. It's beyond sad.

More on the Rush Limbaugh Fiasco

A Fundamentalist Secular Aussie Nutcase

I came across this big pile of kangaroo manure, written by an Australian "journalist" named Bob Ellis.

Not knowing who he was, I kept reading, looking for the punchline to show that he was deliberately being sarcastic. But he was not!

It's absolutely unbelievable what religious-like fervor such Rabid Leftists have for their heroes such as Barack Obama & Al Gore!!! In fact, around the same time I read Ellis' piece, I watched the Monty Python Silly Walk video. This got me thinking: If next week Obama announced a Federal Department of Silly Walks, is there any doubt that the usual suspects would:

1. Support it wholeheartedly.
2. Accuse anyone who laughed at the idea as being a racist.

I cannot adequately express in words how saddened I am that the level of intelligent discourse in our world today is so pathetically minimal.

Vancouver's Fall Colours

Dennis Miller Is Fed Up with "But"

A must read about our mixed up modern society.

Dennis Prager explains the Thinking of the Left

Magnificent Mount Rainier

Barack Obama & The Nobel Peace Prize

The three most insightful columns I've read on the awarding of Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize are these:

• Dennis Prager - Why the Nobel Committee gave it to him
  
  
• Peggy Noonan - A Wicked and Ignorant Award
  
  
• Thomas Friedman - The speech President Obama should give

P.S. Please keep in mind that Thomas Friedman is an American liberal.

Michele Bachmann & Sarah Palin in 2012

Today Dennis Miller interviewed Michele Bachmann and suggested that an interesting GOP ticket in 2012 would be her and Sarah Palin. One thing's for sure, if this pairing came into being, it would drive the Left apoplectic and clearly expose their deep-seated hypocrisy!

Directions from Women vs. Directions from Men

My mom insisted we go to an amazing bakery called "Union Bakery", which she was referred to by her friend, Stephanie. I googled the name but there was no such establishment in Vancouver.

So she obtained directions from Stephanie, which are shown at the top. I shook my head when I saw these and exclaimed, "This could only come from a woman!"

We eventually did find the place. It's not a bakery but a little corner store run by a Portuguese family and is called "Union Market". For contrast purposes, I rewrote the directions!

Incidentally, the bread there is delicious!!

Dead Crow

I spotted a dead crow this morning and reported it here. It might have died from the West Nile virus but a bit later I saw a BC Hydro truck repairing something just above so perhaps it was electrocuted.

Significant Opposition to Environmental Scaremongering

On Sunday October 18th at 8pm EDT (5pm EDT) the world premiere of a new film called Not Evil, Just Wrong will be shown at theatres around the world. In Vancouver it'll be playing at the Hollywood Theatre at 3123 West Broadway.

Here's a video of the filmmaker, Phelim McAleer, asking Al Gore a simple question (which he refused to answer) :

---

Dennis Miller interviews McAleer on his radio show:

---

And here, at 4:30, is Miller commenting on Al Gore's embarrassing performance:

---

Here is Lord Christopher Monckton talking about the same subject:

A Reminder for All of Us

Ezra Levant & Mark Steyn Fight Back for Free Speech in Canada

---

Read more at the National Post and also be sure to listen to Rob Breakenridge's interview with Steyn.

Stephen Harper the Musician

Following in the path of past world leaders like Brian Mulroney, Ronald Reagan, & Bill Clinton, Stephen Harper provides a surprise performance, singing a Beatles classic:

The Beginning of the End: Undoing the Mistake of 0-8

Olympics Defeat Will Hurt Obama [Peter Wehner]

I will, with some hesitation, dissent from Jonah’s political analysis. My instinct is that the Chicago Olympics fiasco will hurt President Obama a fair amount and that it’s not an “inside-the-Beltway” phenomenon (I usually think the “inside-the-Beltway” vs. “rest of America” mindset is overdone).

In my judgment, what happened Friday will begin to cement an image about Obama that is negative — that his supposed “golden touch” is very nearly the opposite; that his rhetorical talents and appeal are vastly overstated (he delivers a major health-care speech to a joint session of Congress and it does nothing to move the needle; he then makes a personal appeal to the IOC and Chicago is dropped from the list in the first round); and that he is a surprisingly weak figure who is easily rolled by Democrats on Capitol Hill, by adversaries around the world, and, now, by the IOC.

So much of politics has to do with when disparate issues metastasize, for good or ill. I don’t know if we’re at that point with Obama just yet — but we’re a good deal closer than we were. He hurt his prestige a great deal today, and he failed in an environment when things look bad and he is beginning to seem overmatched on almost every front. (The slapdown by the IOC, when combined with the unemployment rate reaching its highest point since 1983, is a tough combination for the White House.)

Things can, of course, change, and change quickly. But I suspect this moment will be remembered as one that adds to an increasingly negative “narrative” of the Obama presidency.

Few presidents have suffered this much loss of support in so short a period of time — and things will probably get worse before they get better. Friday didn’t help. Mr. Obama has sustained a political wound at a vulnerable moment for him.

Obama Self-Portrait

Autumn Scenes in Vancouver

Here's something I shot on my iPhone in late September:

Chicago Eliminated in the First Round

Prescience

I recently started reading Joker One, a book about the experiences of U.S. Marines in Iraq. It was written by Donovan Campbell. The last sentence of Part 1 of the book (on Page 59) begins thusly:

But hope is not a course of action . . .

Having read Charles Krauthammer's latest column earlier this evening I was struck by the prescience of Mr. Campbell's words. For they have equally great impact when applied to Barack Obama's [lack of] foreign policy.

Dennis Miller Debates a Wannabe Socialist

Yesterday Dennis Miller had an extended discussion with a fellow on the topic of socialism in America. I took the time to create a 2-part video out of it because I do believe it directly touches upon the heart of what is the real debate going on in America these days, namely what direction should the U.S. be heading?

An alternate title would be: Ayn Rand vs. Karl Marx

Part 1:




Part 2:

Rental Scams in Vancouver

My eyes are being opened up to an apparent epidemic of crime in & around renting a place to live in Vancouver. To read some horrendous stories click here.

If you have your own story to add, please do share it with me.

Canada: A nation of endless victims :-(

Mark Steyn shares the latest on the "human rights" racket in Canada. It's beyond tragic that these quasi-judicial kangaroo courts are allowed to exist.