- I learned that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has a "drug habit" and tolerates drug traffickers.
- I heard yet again about the utterly forgettable Fred Thompson.
- Finally I was treated to Adam Davidson prattling on about the global economic meltdown and how the fact that different stock markets being in different time zones is so fascinating to him (seriously). He then offered his analysis of economic outlook - all from the perspective of the investor, of course.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Open Thread
I made the mistake of listening to the first 15 minutes of today's (Wed.) Morning Edition...ugh:
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Later on, Sylvia P. gave a straightforward report on (a very few) Muslim women in London, who sounded very much like Religious Right (male or female) persons in the US. It would have been neat if Sylvia had pointed this out, but since she's been Euro-oriented for years, that's not to be expected. She made it clear that the women she talked to were Bangladeshi only, and made no sweeping statements about Muslim women in the UK, which NPR in DC seemed to imply. Inscreep, introduced the series as if it was a big definitive 'progress report' or something, when in fact each segment has been very small scale and specific. Of course, it's part of the NPR host's job to 'sell' the stories on the show, just like commercial media, huh?
And then came our old reliable, Garrels of Mesopotamia, back in ol' Falluja, kickin' the tires to see what's what. Story concerned US soldiers returning to 'rebuild' the wasted city. It is categorically stated that al-Qaeda was basically the reason the city was destroyed by the US. The whole Falluja part of the war is extremely controversial, and only the tip of the iceberg has been revealed so far. Anyway, I can't stand AG's 'tough gal' delivery, as if, 'I'm really onto somethin' here, and you'd better damn well listen, cuz I'm out doin' the tough stuff while you wimps huddle next to your speakers at home...' or something. But someone's given her some 'pointers', because she ended the segment by sounding almost Missy Blok-like, with an 'upbeat' ending.
She sounded about as awkward as that bizarre smile Dan Rather used to give before signing off.
I was struck by Inscreep's reaction to the surge of Gaza Palestinians across the border into Egypt, as reported by Eric Westervelt. Inscreep called it, in incredulous tones, 'a shopping trip'. As in, 'that's not the way we do things here in DC...'! Westervelt was reporting it like some sort of holy hell was going to blow up at any minute, when in fact it was a provision run by people who are in dire straits, but he didn't reveal that fact until late in his report.
I don't know why it's so hard for these supposedly seasoned media people to figure out that the conditions in Gaza lead to such acts. Unless of course, they don't WANT to figure it out. Humanity without judgment appears nowhere in today's mainstream media.
Can't recall their reporting at the time, but I'd wager they were probably just as clueless when Katrina happened.
And yeah, that about wraps it up when one such as Sgt. Mjr. Kaboom Garrulous sounds more testosterone-fueled than her male associates (but then, it's not like it'd be such a competition with those "yes, dear..." milksops).
on tonight's ATC... well NPR can't report anything resembling sympathy for the Palestinians without slipping in another report to "balance" it. It's important that NPR reminds its listeners that the Palestinians are really nasty nasty terrorists who brought all that suffering down upon themselves, and the Israelis are the just victims in this whole sad affair.
Yesterday's To the Point coverage of Gaza took the cake. [I wish the cake had cynanide in it.]
NOT one word about starving people, all about "the militants getting weapons".
OTOH, BBC news last night had Phyllis Bennis on for a good 5 minutes or more. She was her typical lucid self, and mentioned Hamas turning back someone who was
trying to bring a weapon back. Of course, she talked about the horrible conditions of the Gazans and she gave as much context as she could get away with.
ellenr
UGH
We just heard a paean to some guy - this wonderful guy, whom everybody loved, got his nickname 'Rooster' when he captured a rooster to be used in a..COCKFIGHT!
Yeah, nice guy...
ellen
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