enlarge Oh, the irony : Yet another study has been released proving that watching Fox News is detrimental to your intelligence. World Public Opinion, a project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, conducted a survey of American voters that shows that Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources. What’s more, the study shows that greater exposure to Fox News increases misinformation. Here at C&L, that study is greeted with a big “Duh!”. When I was Managing Editor of the site, I had to take periodic breaks from monitoring Fox News because I could feel my brain turning into sludge from the nonstop campaign of propaganda, half-truths, flat-out lies and ugliness that passes for Fox News content. I fear for David Neiwert now, especially since he takes it upon himself to take apart Glenn Beck’s lunacy day after day. I’m completely serious when I say that it took a toll on my health to subject myself to Fox’s toxicity. I’d hate to see Dave go through the same health issues I have. But there are those who clearly thrive on a diet of non-informational crap. In eight of the nine questions below, Fox News placed first in the percentage of those who were misinformed (they placed second in the question on TARP). That’s a pretty high batting average for journalistic fraud. Here is a list of what Fox News viewers believe that just ain’t so: 91 percent believe the stimulus legislation lost jobs 72 percent believe the health reform law will increase the deficit 72 percent believe the economy is getting worse 60 percent believe climate change is not occurring 49 percent believe income taxes have gone up 63 percent believe the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts 56 percent believe Obama initiated the GM/Chrysler bailout 38 percent believe that most Republicans opposed TARP 63 percent believe Obama was not born in the U.S. (or that it is unclear) The conclusion is inescapable. Fox News is deliberately misinforming its viewers and it is doing so for a reason. Every issue above is one in which the Republican Party had a vested interest. The GOP benefited from the ignorance that Fox News helped to proliferate. Yes, the people who get their news from Fox are stupid. But Booman wonders if it’s a chicken-or-egg scenario: do people get stupid from Fox or do stupid people gravitate to Fox ? I’d like to see a controlled experiment where they let one group of people self-select which cable news network they watch and another group is assigned randomly. Then we can see if the stupid people are choosing Fox News and being made more stupid, or if Fox News can draw in mentally competent people and turn them into drooling buffoons who think Charles Krauthammer isn’t a deluded crackpot but a sage patriot and overall mensch. Frankly, I think it’s both. Almost every stupid, misinformed person I know is a Fox News viewer…and every single one of them gets even dumber each year.
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Oslo says upgrade from ‘general delegation’ to ‘diplomatic mission’ in recognition of Palestinian Authority’s efforts to establish independent state. Israel: Move builds up Palestinian illusion
Continue reading …By Ruth Marcus I’m hoping for the moment when a federal judge picked by a Democratic president strikes down the health care law. Or when a Republican-appointed judge upholds it. Related Entries December 16, 2010 An Afghan War Refresher With President Obama December 16, 2010 White House Sees Progress in Afghanistan
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Yohanan Plesner says recent government proposal to increase ultra-Orthodox recruitment to IDF misleading; numbers insufficient, fails to achieve aim of equality in bearing burden of service
Continue reading …Matt Yglesias has a web article in The American Prospect where he ruminates on Richard Holbrooke’s legacy and impact on the ongoing AfPak struggle . He takes the time to point out the disfunction of civil-military affairs in this discussion. More disturbing — because it’s presumably better considered — is Gen. David Petraeus’ decision to pen a postmortem homage to Holbrooke that includes the line “I used to note to him and to various audiences, with affection and respect, that he was my ‘diplomatic wingman.’” The affection and respect Petraeus expressed were doubtlessly both genuine, but the sentiment is mistaken. It reverses the proper relationship between civilian and military authorities — generals and their troops are supposed to serve political objectives outlined by civilians, not view civilians as adjuncts to military campaigns. Holbrooke, though, likely would not have been offended. When told he was to be Petraeus’ civilian counterpart in the region, he told Der Spiegel that he laughed in response : “He has more airplanes than I have telephones.” That’s funny, true, and a big problem for American foreign policy. And with America losing its most famous diplomat — really its only famous diplomat — the situation is not improving. Let me suggest that (maybe) this situation is more simple than it appears. Yglesias noted in his book “Heads in the Sand” this phenonema of liberal internationalists to rely more on military power to execute foreign policy since the Balkans conflict (but why, since we still have US forces there and regional tensions continue ? Question for another day). But I wonder if he has this right, that government civilians are ceding their primacy in foreign affairs to the military, or are the civilians just being lazy? I have this image in mind, where GW Bush and his staff point to the Pentagon generals and say “just get it done in Afghanistan and Iraq.” No real guidance other than personnel and resource constraints, because those count in budget issues. They didn’t cede their control, just any responsibility to measure the success of military operations against a pre-determined end-state. And we all saw how well that turned out. Obama’s administration is a little different, in that (I imagine) they’re uncomfortable with the lack of progress being made, but want to direct the military operations toward an end-state without appearing “weak” on defense. But the process is the same, where the civilians who ought to be directing and managing the conflict have pretty much said “we’ll just let the military do its best.” In both administrations, the civilians aren’t giving up oversight or authority to the military. They’re just letting the military be the middle managers in executing their policy, without really determining if there is any progress being made. I think we’ll see that behavior again in
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Three months from introduction to on sale ain’t too shabby in the camera world, and that’s exactly what Casio has managed to accomplish with the intriguing new Exilim EX-H20G . We first spotted this point-and-shoot at Photokina in Germany, and now we’ve had a solid week to put it through its paces. Naturally, the inclusion of Hybrid GPS (read: engineered to find a location indoors as well as outdoors) is the standout feature and key differentiator, but the 14.1 megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom and 720p movie mode are all fine additions. It certainly isn’t the slimmest compact on the market, nor the cheapest at $349.99, but do the unique aspects of this thing make the price easier to stand? Join us after the break for our thoughts. Gallery: Casio Exilim EX-H20G (with Hybrid GPS) unboxing Continue reading Casio Exilim EX-H20G (with Hybrid GPS) camera review Casio Exilim EX-H20G (with Hybrid GPS) camera review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Planned West Coast Port Expansions Would Enable Asia To Import More US Coal
December 16, 2010 No Comment
Coal train. Image credit: Wikipedia US coal production is at a tipping point, leaning toward more exports to Asia. It’s just as easy to load the train with the kind of coal used to make steel or activated carbon as with the sort used to generate electricity – and Chinese demand is on the increase for both. Counting on US coal port facility development, the USA is poised to satisfy that growing demand in parallel with an ant… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir
December 16, 2010 No Comment
Beatings and electric shocks inflicted on hundreds of civilians detained in Kashmir, US diplomats in Delhi told by ICRC Unrest in Kashmir, where a leaked cable said the Indian government ‘donconed torture’. Photograph: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images US officials had evidence of widespread torture by Indian police and security forces and were secretly briefed by Red Cross staff about the systematic abuse of detainees in Kashmir, according to leaked diplomatic cables released tonight. The dispatches, obtained by website WikiLeaks, reveal that US diplomats in Delhi were briefed in 2005 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the use of electrocution, beatings, sexual…
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Photo credit: skyseeker / Creative Commons In 1940, a hydroelectric dam was constructed in northern Akita Prefecture, Japan. The project, it was known at the time, would destroy the only native habitat of the black kokanee salmon by making the waters too acidic for the fish to survive. Still, developers went ahead with their plans. A concession was made to protect the species: 100,000 eggs were transported to nearby Lake Saiko. Unfortunately, the transplanted eggs did not hatch and the
Continue reading …RIM beats earnings estimates, falls just shy on subscriber growth; co-CEOs now co-chairmen, too
December 16, 2010 No Comment
For now, RIM’s looming mindshare problem is more theoretical than it is practical — as far as Wall Street’s concerned, at least — on today’s news that they’ve beaten the consensus estimates for fiscal Q3 revenue and income with $5.49 billion and $911.1 million, respectively. The company also shipped a record 14.2 million units in the three-month period, up a whopping 40 percent year-over-year, but subscriber additions fell a bit short — 5.1 million versus the 5.2 million that analysts had counted on. Interestingly, RIM has elected not to report adds anymore, which means they’re not offering guidance on adds for the next fiscal quarter, either — which certainly doesn’t seem like a good sign. Be that as it may, Waterloo’s confidence in its long-running leaders seems stronger than ever before, because co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have just been made co-chairmen of the board… presumably just so they can crack jokes about running “dual-core” board meetings. Anyhow, they’re looking at revenue for the next quarter of $5.5 to $5.7 billion and earnings per share of $1.74 to $1.80, both of which outstrip estimates, on device sales of 14 million. Any PlayBooks in that figure, do you suppose? RIM beats earnings estimates, falls just shy on subscriber growth; co-CEOs now co-chairmen, too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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