Crazy is as Crazy Does Author: BobRDate:09/03/2010 12:01:08
Whenever crazy things start happening, my wife tells me "Mercury is in retrograde". I have no idea what that means or why things would be going nuts because of a planet's orbit. In my personal life, I had a dead battery and a blown tire and Hurricane Earl all hitting while we're trying to get ready for a long weekend trip. On a larger scale, it's no less crazy elsewhere...
It's always been an asylum over at FOX News but even THEY seem to be jumping the shark lately. They DO have the word "News" in their name, right? Or is that like the words "serving suggestion" on the box of a frozen dinner?
Glenn Beck - our favorite inmate there - first misrepresents a professor's statements, then doubles down on his prevarication to say that universities can be as dangerous as Iran:
"Let me ask you, there was a time not long ago in this country we walked you through walls of fire to make sure we weren't funding Hamas or Hezbollah. I have news for you. There are a lot of universities that are as dangerous with the indoctrination of the children as terrorists are in Iran or North Korea," said Beck.
Of course, no one really considers Beck "news"... No, instead the newscasters are busy trying to blame the Discovery building bomber on Al Gore. If it doesn't make sense, I'm sure Beck can pull out his chalkboard and draw the lines.
Since they themselves have zero-credibility, they try to infer credibility by interviewing "experts". When it comes to military stories, the typical approach (by them and other networks) is to interview active or retired military brass. Nothing conveys military expertise like a few stripes on the shoulder, right? It turns out that the 3-star general that FOX uses to reinforce its biased stories is a "birther". Hear that swooshing sound? That was credibility flying out the window.
Besides FOX, though, there are plenty of other examples of "WTH??" moments. By now, everyone's heard that there was another oil rig explosion in the Gulf. Supposedly, there is no oil leaking from this one. The interesting thing is: it was this very oil company that was loudly criticizing the need for an offshore drilling moratorium for safety reviews the day before the explosion. Yes oil companies - this is why you can't have nice things...
It's getting where you can't even trust the hippies and stoners anymore. Remember "Double Rainbow Guy"? In a world of corporate money-thuggery, he gave us a little hope that there were still people out there who camped in the woods, got really high, and grooved on nature. Apparently, though, he grooves on money too, because he just sold his cred for corporate cash:
Somebody at Microsoft was apparently a fan, because the company hired the rainbow-worshiping maniac to star in a commercial. In the ad, Vasquez takes photos of a double rainbow (of course) and then edits them together using Windows Live photo editing software, while mumbling some of his best-known lines.
And of course - there's the anti-Muslim hysteria, which seems to be reaching WWI madness levels. One conservative radio station has a poll on their web site asking if the U.S. should register Muslims in a national database. Hey - why not just ship them off to internment camps, or maybe concentration camps? Like a broken clock, though, sometimes even the mosque-opposers are right every once in a while. Some of them hate FOX News too. No honor among thieves, I suppose...
Even bastions of progressive values like Seattle are not immune. A 7-11 store clerk was attacked and accused of being a terrorist by a patron in the store. Why? Because the victim - as a Sikh - was wearing a turban.
Add that to the arson attacks on a mosque under construction in Murfreesboro TN, and ask: How crazy is it? Let's see what Red State Update has to say:
We're in full-bore Bread, Milk, PANIC! mode here. It's EARLMAGEDDON!!!
(Apologies to those in the south that have actually been through a real hurricane. I'm just a bit bemused by all the coverage for a storm that is essentially brushing by the outer cape for about 6 hours.) We just had a four-day rain event across the entire region that got less coverage.
Comment bywickedpam on 09/03/2010 12:34:38
Tri - you so funny
I did hear that Long Island was supposed to get some "hurricane force" winds soon too - but mostly it was going to brush the coast and hit Halifax
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 13:25:51
http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KACK.html
Nothing yet.
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 13:32:51
Say, does anyone else listen to BBC World Service? When did they start to suck?
About a month ago now, they updated the website....it's now mostly one and two paragraph snippets and a boatload of video. I can't stream at my desk, so that's of limited value to me, I actually took it off my newsfeeds.
I'm really surprised by Newshour this morning. It's a half hour in, and so far there's been the usual roundup at the top of the hour, but the two longest feature stories were about a point-shaving scandal in Pakistani cricket, and some imaginary feud between a couple of French actors.
This is a sorry state of affairs, indeed.
Comment byRaine on 09/03/2010 13:36:58
And yet, I am sure the BBC is better than most of our media....
Aaaawww Scoop you guys are gonna miss all the hurricane style fun and games
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 16:49:19
I went outside for my daily constitutional...it's still rather calm and serene in the City.
But I will note that I walked down to Dunk's, as I do most Fridays. It was eerily quiet...I walk down a long, tree-lined parkway that is usually deafening with birds and other sounds. There was not a peep this morning.
They know.
Comment byScoopster on 09/03/2010 17:08:39
Quote by wickedpam:
Aaaawww Scoop you guys are gonna miss all the hurricane style fun and games
... like back in 86 when Gloria rolled thru and a couple trees went down in my friend's backyard and the whole neighborhood gang of like 20 kids had fun for a month climbing over EVERY INCH of those trees.
Comment byMondobubba on 09/03/2010 17:21:06
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, folks.
We're in full-bore Bread, Milk, PANIC! mode here. It's EARLMAGEDDON!!!
(Apologies to those in the south that have actually been through a real hurricane. I'm just a bit bemused by all the coverage for a storm that is essentially brushing by the outer cape for about 6 hours.) We just had a four-day rain event across the entire region that got less coverage.
I hate to say this, but ya know about five years ago there were people not taking a hurricane seriously and the next thing we knew there was 80% of a major city under water. Just sayin...
Comment bytrojanrabbit on 09/03/2010 17:26:24
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, folks.
We're in full-bore Bread, Milk, PANIC! mode here. It's EARLMAGEDDON!!!
(Apologies to those in the south that have actually been through a real hurricane. I'm just a bit bemused by all the coverage for a storm that is essentially brushing by the outer cape for about 6 hours.) We just had a four-day rain event across the entire region that got less coverage.
I hate to say this, but ya know about five years ago there were people not taking a hurricane seriously and the next thing we knew there was 80% of a major city under water. Just sayin...
But for that one the NWS was essentially predicting doom.
Comment byMondobubba on 09/03/2010 17:28:28
I'd love to sit and chat, but I've got a Robert Rodriquez splatter fest to see. Robert DiNero! Danny Trejo! Cheech Marin! Steven Segal! Don Johnson! Machete is going to be made of win that has been coated in awesome batter, then dip fried in more win!
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 18:06:27
Well, I have two interviews next week.
Let's see what happens here; both could be good.
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 18:11:00
Oh, big surprise. I can't get to the hurricane tracking site; it must be swamped.
Regarding the complacency, It's also worth noting that most of New England is actually above sea level and is not protected by levees; I think we'll be alright.
(Exception: Providence, Hurricane of '39. You could look it up.)
And then there's that offshore vs. direct hit and marginal Cat 1 vs Cat 4 thing going on...
Earl has started spitting some outer bands this way. Should be raining downtown in a bit.
Comment bytrojanrabbit on 09/03/2010 18:15:54
Wife already reports rain at Chez Rabbit.
As far as I see it, this is a summer nor'easter.
Comment byTriSec on 09/03/2010 18:43:41
I've heard it on 3 different podcasts today. I'm tellin' ya, that Jan Brewer plane crash never gets old!!
Comment bylivingonli on 09/03/2010 18:57:32
There's a few drops of rain but not much happening here. I guess the storm will be far enough out to sea that other than Montauk it will mostly be an annoyance.
Comment byclintster on 09/03/2010 21:53:58
The Jan Brewer fiasco is hilarious, but after her course in public speaking, come down the hall for Glenn Beck's math lesson of the day
Comment bytrojanrabbit on 09/03/2010 23:31:39
Quote by livingonli:
There's a few drops of rain but not much happening here. I guess the storm will be far enough out to sea that other than Montauk it will mostly be an annoyance.
Same here, just a few short showers, really oppressive out there.
MIZRAHI on Celebrity Jeoparday tonight , along with Jane Curtin.