Archive - May, 2009

Should Bloggers Lose Freedom Of Press?

Maybe the 1st Amendment doesn’t apply to bloggers, at least the bad ones.  That’s a question approached by USA Today founder Al Neuharth in Friday’s “Plain Talk” commentary.

When I hear a question like this asked, I tend to coil like a cobra in a corner.  Mr. Neuharth’s opinions are often as useless as black jellybeans, so I prepared to be maddened by the short column.  The potential targets are bad bloggers who “peddle phony stuff to promote themselves and/or hurt others.”  Some readers aren’t informed or smart enough to tell the difference, he says and describes the significance.

“Some politicians, prime victims of bad bloggers, think the First Amendment protection of a free press should not apply to bloggers and have threatened laws to try to do something about it.”

The only politician mentioned is State Senator Steve Gross, A.K.A. some guy you’ve never heard of unless you live somewhere in North Carolina.  You’ll be stunned to learn he’s a democrat. 

Anyway, the surprise twist comes from Neuharth.  He declares that such measures are “wrong,” and the internet today is no different than pamphlets in the days of the Founders.  Readers need to use their brains and check uncredited statements.  People attacked by bloggers need to develop a sense of humor.  As comedian Lewis Black once said, the ability to laugh about things is a powerful asset.  If only the jihadists could figure that out. 

Come to think of it, England could use a sense of humor these days as they squat on freedoms through increasing censorship.  You may have heard that conservative shock jock Michael Savage has recently been banned from her majesty’s playground.  Savage is likened to a murderer or terrorist or something, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  State police powers are growing as media is facing more restrictions and some have even been arrested for criticizing Islam.  I guess Ann Coulter won’t be visiting London anytime soon.  Criticize America or Christianity or Judaism all you want by the way. Continue Reading…

Hating On Hate Crimes

What exactly is a hate crime?  Is it hurting someone because of who they are or what they believe?  Do only certain people count?  Such questions marinate on my mind these days as debate twizzles over a new bill passed by the House on the issue of hate crime. 

At first you might guess that a hate crime is when a member of a minority group is targeted.  If a black or Jewish or gay person is targeted, then you have a hate crime right?  I hear women also count.  So every crime is a hate crime unless it’s against straight white people?  No, because minorities are killed everyday without mention of a hate crime.  So if blacks or Jews or gays or women are killed just because, then don’t sweat it, but look out if the killer acted because of skin color, religious belief, or sexual orientation.

Look, if someone kills me I’m pretty sure they hate me. I don’t think my family cares much what motivated my murderer.  What if I was killed for being 6’3″?  Maybe some angry, short guy hates tall people.  That would be a hate crime right?  As a dead person I don’t think I would really care.

***

The current scuttlebutt revolves around fears that anyone opposing gay lifestyles or marriage will get nabbed when someone they know does something bad.  According to Fox News contributor James Osborne: “For much of the last decade gay rights activists have been fighting for inclusion within the federal hate crimes law, which places greater penalties on crimes that are committed based on race, ethnicity and religion.”

Many conservatives are up in arms over the bill saying that prosecutions will be extended against groups, particularly Christians, who teach that homosexuality is morally wrong.  Another group against gays would be Muslims, but I don’t want to go off course here. Continue Reading…

Dom DeLuise Dead…Darn

Comedian Dom DeLuise died last night at the age of 75.  Click the link for a full obit.  A whole new generation will learn about this actor’s brilliance over the next few days.  Gene Wilder once said that DeLuise is the funniest man he ever met.  Here’s a sampling, the last brilliant scene as far as I’m concerned. 

April 2009 Leftovers

Here’s some of the stories EduClaytion considered in April. Be sure to use the Contact page if you hear of any other great stories.

Bookmark and Share


Heard any crazy news stories?  Let us know.  You can also Subscribe to my feed or you can click here to receive posts via email.

Greatest Cartoons Of All-Time

Since when did Saturday mornings become a good time to do laundry or pay bills?  I remember the simpler days when weekends were for sleeping in but you didn’t even think about hiding under the covers because those magical animations and talking animals offered up only one performance a week.  Saturday mornings were made for cartoon watching.

Nowadays (if I may sound like a grumpy old man) the toons are ubiquitous.  With so many options, kids are doing more channeling than Miss Cleo at a Psychic Friend’s Halloween party.  If that isn’t enough, my boys even learned how to DVR the best shows for when they havshirttales.jpg shirt tales image by rebejspoone to be going.

Well, they’ll never understand the power of exclusivity.  We could all argue over when the golden age of cartoons took place, but everyone will just pick the year they turned 9.  So I’m throwing it all out there.  Whether you rocked with the Fraggles or bopped with Betty Boop, I want your picks for best all-time toons.  This survey may predate the 1990s (Cartoon Network launched in 1992), but we’ll still bring political correctness into the mix and not discriminate against puppets and muppets and Puff n Stuff.  After all, they’re not people too. 

So in the spirit of VH1, here’s some of my favs (in no particular order).  I’m leaving a lot out.  Let’s have yours too.

He-Man–”By the power of Grayskull” must have been the backyard battlecry for millions of kids.  I only went nuts for one set of action figures, those Masters Of The Universe.  He-man might have been the most unoriginal name ever but as long as he and Battle Cat took care of Skeletor and goons all was well with the world.

Scooby-DooScooby is a legend, maybe the Babe Ruth of cartoons for lasting impact.  Hard to believe that at one time a couple of guys thought this cast up.  They never imagined their creation would still be netting tens of millions of dollars decades later.  We always want to buy our childhood back, but generations continue to gobble up tickets and merchandise to this massive franchise.  Even the YouTube link is to a channel devoted entirely to Scooby-Doobie-Doo.  And I do mean Doobie. Continue Reading…

Beauties, Beasts, and Tramp Stamps

Crazy week for EduClaytion as the semester winds down, research papers are flying in, finals are on the way, and my dog pulled a Tom Brady by tearing his CCL (the canine equivalent of an ACL/knee ligament).  So here’s your 60 second recap of the week’s keen stories.

Barbie turned 50 and is getting tatoos.  Hard to believe that Ken’s girl signed up for a tramp stamp.

Speaking of beauty queens, Miss California Carrie Prejean went up against internet celeb Perez Hilton during the Miss America pageant.  Prejean says she lost the crown because she had the nerve to hold a personal belief on gay marriage.  Hilton aired a scathing video reply.  Miss California won’t be wearing a shiny tiara but loves the massive exposure the controversy is giving her.  Saturday Night Live should be interesting.

Did you catch President Obama’s, ahem, press conference the other night?  I haven’t seen coverage that weak since the San Francisco 49ers slaughtered the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.  As Dennis Miller said, it’s a scary world when Miss California gets tougher questions that the president.

Speaking of beautiful people, how many of them work for Barrack Obama?  According to People magazine, at least one.  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was picked for one of the magazine’s most beautiful humans in thNext thing they'll tell us is that this isn't even his body.e world.  That’s not a mistake.  The tax-evading former member of the Federal Reserve that helped create this whole economic mess in the first place also happens to have a brother who works for the magazine, but I ain’t one to gossip so you didn’t hear it from me.  I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I want on next year’s list.

Geithner continues to work through a tough economy.  Many corporations continue to change their ways.  Even American Idol eliminated their powerful Idol Give Back this season.  The producers felt that now is not the best time to ask people for money.  Continue Reading…

Page 2 of 2«12