Showing posts with label Fox News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fox News. Show all posts
Welcome to Wednesday, the middle of the week, and the day Fox News, the most watched channel on television, references the "lame-stream news" for the 38,478,593,729,384,572 time. One second, need to insert commas into that number. That's more than the national debt, right? Maybe we should just tax Fox a dollar every time they, the most watch channel on television, use that line.
Or maybe we could remind them that Fox is indeed, THE MOST WATCHED CHANNEL ON TELEVISION! Personally, I favor Conan. Thankfully he is no longer on NBC. Damn liberals.
Alright, got that off my chest. Except one more thing: It worries me that this is the first time I've sided with this man, but Pat Buchanan absolutely wiped the floor with the entire MSNBC Morning Joe set this morning on immigration. It was embarrassing. The guy has ideas and knows what he's talking about. Most of his ideas are wildly ridiculous and he is the worst communicator of all time. But he knows what he's talking about.
Moving on.
In case you didn't see my rambling, overly cheery or praising post last night, some pretty cool/sad news (depending on who are) out of UW yesterday, that President Mark Emmert, head of the university since 2004, has accepted the position of Chief Executive of the NCAA. Much congratulations to Mark, who I personally think left UW in a much better place than he got it, despite the economic situation. This decision is a good one for the NCAA. If there is one department at UW he really left far better than he got it, it is one of the nation's premiere athletic departments.
During his tenure national championships became commonplace. The defending national champion Washington softball team sits atop the rankings still, a position they have held this entire season. In 2008-09 alone the program won two national titles and finished 11th in the Director's Cup standings. During my time at UW I witnessed three national championships, a Sweet 16, the best rowing program in the country and so on. All of that while maintaining some of the highest graduation rates in the country.
So congratulations to Mark, who leaves UW for a major position, but not without having made the school better during his time. In addition to the previously mentioned accomplishments, I would be remiss by not mentioning these: the $2.8 billion fundraising campaign that concluded in 2008, and the nation's top-ranked primary care medical school and top-ranked nursing school.
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Washington is a little crazy right now. Yesterday there was a marathon hearing in the Senate, where a panel of Goldman-Sachs executives were drilled by members of Congress. At one point, in quoting an email, Senator Carl Levin used the word "shitty" about 50 times, guaranteeing that Fox would cover nothing else about the hearing. But seriously, there was hostility from the Senate panel, something we don't often see.
At the same time the Senate continued work on a financial reform bill, sort of. For the second straight day the cloture vote failed. Again, the voted against voting. You have to love the U.S. Senate. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), famous for the infamous "Cornhusker Kickback" from the health care debate, is taking hits from both sides right now, despite voting against cloture. Even Republicans are calling him out for his apparent heeding of Warren Buffett, who is based in Omaha. Hey, he is a constituent, right?
Oh but there's more. Apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected a proposal that would have fast-tracked immigration reform through the committee process, in an effort to get an energy bill to the floor. It looks like Reid would rather see a bill go through the normal committee process, which one would think will take even longer. The proposal estimated that immigration would come up in November. I honestly could not tell you what Reid's plan is right know, which puts me in the majority of people.
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One of the bigger stories from yesterday took place in a different capitol, in the state of Oklahoma. That is where lawmakers overwhelming overrode the governor's veto to pass new abortion policy into law. Two measures were passed, both aimed at seriously restricting abortion.
One forces women to undergo an ultrasound, while listening to a detailed description of the fetus - arms, legs, head, etc - before getting an abortion. No exceptions are made for rape or incest victims. The second prevents women who have a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.
For his part, the governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry, not only vetoed the bills, but spoke out strongly against them.
--
- Electoral politics, as always, are in play right now. Here is how the Washington Post sees things. At this point it appears they see Senator Patty Murray as safe. We'll see what happens with Dino Rossi.
Finally, check this video out. Heard it went viral yesterday:
[More]
Or maybe we could remind them that Fox is indeed, THE MOST WATCHED CHANNEL ON TELEVISION! Personally, I favor Conan. Thankfully he is no longer on NBC. Damn liberals.
Alright, got that off my chest. Except one more thing: It worries me that this is the first time I've sided with this man, but Pat Buchanan absolutely wiped the floor with the entire MSNBC Morning Joe set this morning on immigration. It was embarrassing. The guy has ideas and knows what he's talking about. Most of his ideas are wildly ridiculous and he is the worst communicator of all time. But he knows what he's talking about.
Moving on.
In case you didn't see my rambling, overly cheery or praising post last night, some pretty cool/sad news (depending on who are) out of UW yesterday, that President Mark Emmert, head of the university since 2004, has accepted the position of Chief Executive of the NCAA. Much congratulations to Mark, who I personally think left UW in a much better place than he got it, despite the economic situation. This decision is a good one for the NCAA. If there is one department at UW he really left far better than he got it, it is one of the nation's premiere athletic departments.
During his tenure national championships became commonplace. The defending national champion Washington softball team sits atop the rankings still, a position they have held this entire season. In 2008-09 alone the program won two national titles and finished 11th in the Director's Cup standings. During my time at UW I witnessed three national championships, a Sweet 16, the best rowing program in the country and so on. All of that while maintaining some of the highest graduation rates in the country.
So congratulations to Mark, who leaves UW for a major position, but not without having made the school better during his time. In addition to the previously mentioned accomplishments, I would be remiss by not mentioning these: the $2.8 billion fundraising campaign that concluded in 2008, and the nation's top-ranked primary care medical school and top-ranked nursing school.
--
Washington is a little crazy right now. Yesterday there was a marathon hearing in the Senate, where a panel of Goldman-Sachs executives were drilled by members of Congress. At one point, in quoting an email, Senator Carl Levin used the word "shitty" about 50 times, guaranteeing that Fox would cover nothing else about the hearing. But seriously, there was hostility from the Senate panel, something we don't often see.
At the same time the Senate continued work on a financial reform bill, sort of. For the second straight day the cloture vote failed. Again, the voted against voting. You have to love the U.S. Senate. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), famous for the infamous "Cornhusker Kickback" from the health care debate, is taking hits from both sides right now, despite voting against cloture. Even Republicans are calling him out for his apparent heeding of Warren Buffett, who is based in Omaha. Hey, he is a constituent, right?
Oh but there's more. Apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected a proposal that would have fast-tracked immigration reform through the committee process, in an effort to get an energy bill to the floor. It looks like Reid would rather see a bill go through the normal committee process, which one would think will take even longer. The proposal estimated that immigration would come up in November. I honestly could not tell you what Reid's plan is right know, which puts me in the majority of people.
--
One of the bigger stories from yesterday took place in a different capitol, in the state of Oklahoma. That is where lawmakers overwhelming overrode the governor's veto to pass new abortion policy into law. Two measures were passed, both aimed at seriously restricting abortion.
One forces women to undergo an ultrasound, while listening to a detailed description of the fetus - arms, legs, head, etc - before getting an abortion. No exceptions are made for rape or incest victims. The second prevents women who have a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.
For his part, the governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry, not only vetoed the bills, but spoke out strongly against them.
It is unconscionable to grant a physician legal protection to mislead or misinform pregnant women in an effort to impose his or her personal beliefs on a patient.Unconscionable is probably the right word. Unless you're an Oklahoma congressman.
--
- Electoral politics, as always, are in play right now. Here is how the Washington Post sees things. At this point it appears they see Senator Patty Murray as safe. We'll see what happens with Dino Rossi.
Finally, check this video out. Heard it went viral yesterday:
This is the definition of calm before the storm right now. I am planning on hunkering down in my office and on couches in DC this weekend so I can actually do things during this snow storm. The projections say 16-24 inches over about 36 hours. Should be fun.
What else happens this weekend? The SuperBowl of course. The game obviously matches the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe on Sunday I'll give a prediction. Right now, I don't even know who I want to win.
Which is okay, because right now, the fight is not between the two teams, but about the pro-choice and pro-life crowd. Let me explain.
Maybe you've heard, the Evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family has purchased airtime during the big game and will use it for what has been quite the controversial ad. It hasn't been seen yet, but it will reportedly be former Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow, a devout and outspoken Christian, sitting with his mother, talking about her decision to not abort him despite warnings from her doctors of a health issue.
The second the subject matter became common knowledge, it blew up. Women's groups across the country immediately attacked CBS, saying it was reversing a long-standing policy of not showing controversial commercials during major sporting events (not sure if I've ever seen something like that during March Madness). On that point, the women's groups are right - CBS did change the policy. But it is their policy, which they are free to change whenever they want.
[More]
What else happens this weekend? The SuperBowl of course. The game obviously matches the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe on Sunday I'll give a prediction. Right now, I don't even know who I want to win.
Which is okay, because right now, the fight is not between the two teams, but about the pro-choice and pro-life crowd. Let me explain.
The second the subject matter became common knowledge, it blew up. Women's groups across the country immediately attacked CBS, saying it was reversing a long-standing policy of not showing controversial commercials during major sporting events (not sure if I've ever seen something like that during March Madness). On that point, the women's groups are right - CBS did change the policy. But it is their policy, which they are free to change whenever they want.
What a week, huh? For me as well, since it included a redeye flight across the country, only to be sitting in my office less than an hour off the plane.
Anyway, wanted to start this off with a little anecdote from the New York Times. In the Week in Review section:
Amazingly, the last sentence of the blurb notes that one theory is the "hands-free phones...may be just as distracting as the handheld kind.
Ya think? Seriously, it is somewhat amazing that this hasn't become part of this debate at all. Many cities (and the entire state of Washington) have banned talking or texting on cellphones while driving. None have admitted that the distraction is your mind being focused on the phone conversation, not holding the phone to your ear. If that were the case, we'd have to ban stick-shift cars too.
----
To a review of the week. You all know that the president gave his State of the Union on Wednesday. It honestly doesn't nearly matchup with his visit to the House Republican's retreat in Baltimore on Friday. (By the way, how did the House GOP get so screwed that they only went to Baltimore, while the rest of the party is in Hawaii right now?)
[More]
Anyway, wanted to start this off with a little anecdote from the New York Times. In the Week in Review section:
"A new insurance industry study found that bans on use of handheld cellphones while driving had made no difference in accident rates.
Researchers said they were puzzled, since it was clear that using a handheld phone while at the wheel increases accident risk and that the bans sharply reduce use of the phones. "We would expect to see a decrease in crashes," said Adrian Lund of the highway Loss Data Institute. "But we aren't seeing it."
Amazingly, the last sentence of the blurb notes that one theory is the "hands-free phones...may be just as distracting as the handheld kind.
Ya think? Seriously, it is somewhat amazing that this hasn't become part of this debate at all. Many cities (and the entire state of Washington) have banned talking or texting on cellphones while driving. None have admitted that the distraction is your mind being focused on the phone conversation, not holding the phone to your ear. If that were the case, we'd have to ban stick-shift cars too.
----
To a review of the week. You all know that the president gave his State of the Union on Wednesday. It honestly doesn't nearly matchup with his visit to the House Republican's retreat in Baltimore on Friday. (By the way, how did the House GOP get so screwed that they only went to Baltimore, while the rest of the party is in Hawaii right now?)