selective outrage | Benghazi, the Bush Administration + the failure of American intelligence

part i

The Daily Show
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part ii

The Daily Show
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television | a small idea from Raising Adults

Television

As the 40s ended, young Americans were sucked into a vortex of change that made their heads spin. Geographical and social displacement; a gender crisis almost nobody talked about; babies everywhere; exploding college enrollment; a religious revival on the West Coast; labor disputes in the cities; globalization and a heavy tax burden driven by the Marshall Plan’s massive foreign aid; high-tech innovation; economic growth and work, work, work! 

Good Golly Miss Molly those people could work! They threw themselves into the race, steering the engines of war down an economic fast track unmatched on earth. And they relished the fruit of their labors, forsaking their waste-not-want-not past with giddy pleasure. In the 30s, their parents gathered ’round the radio to hear promises of a chicken in every pot and hope for a better day. But these new parents worked overtime to put two cars in the driveway, four pots on the electric range and a television in the living room.

Television—wonder of wonders! It was the Saturday Matinee—minus the Milk Duds but with all the comforts of home. Even in the beginning, when the square screens displayed test patterns much of the day, television delivered access to sights and sounds most human beings never expected to see in their own homes. Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody for the kiddies. Live comedy on Your Show of Shows. Broadway and Hollywood actors on Playhouse 90. And perhaps most wondrous of all, the news.

Kids | Who Are They Really?

Interesting commentary from Martha Irvine at Associated Press this morning: Kids labeled 'generation next' before they grow up. Ms Irvine takes on the cultural propensity to put people—whole "generations" of them—in boxes and leave them there.

At a loss for something more original, many call them Generation Z, because they follow Generations X and Y.

They've also been referred to as Generation Net or "iGen," since they've never known a world without the Internet.

That's the one point most everyone can agree on -- that they are the tech-savviest generation of all time, so much so that even toddlers can maneuver their way through YouTube and some first-graders are able to put together a PowerPoint presentation for class.

But beyond that, who are they, really?

Most people agree it's just too early to know for sure. But that hasn't stopped marketers from trying to figure out this young crowd of consumers. Or employers from attempting to prepare for them in the workplace.

this little piggy went crazy cool

It's Not What You Think | Member of Congress Hangs up on President-Elect

You can't make this stuff up...

yeh, we could use some adult supervision here

Clearly, Vanity Fair and Annie Liebovitz drank the cool aid.

But where are this child's parents? Failing that, where's her management?

Did they drink it too?

when penguins fly...

unbelievable...seriously

The only thing missing from this New York Times investigation is sex. But money and power seem to have been sufficient to sustain a disinformation campaign against the American people.

Honestly, is this who we are?

biting the hand that feeds me (i think...maybe)

Here's a chicken and egg conundrum courtesy of filmmaker Robert Greenwald whose point couldn't be clearer: Fox News may well be more sexually graphic than its self-identified entertainment sibling Fox Broadcast — all behind the guise of outrage at the sexualization of American media culture.

To prove this Mr Greenwald shows graphic examples from the Fox News feed — some of which are quite simply crazy (like the bump and grind Spring Break footage that dominates the screen while reporters in a little box cover a bit of serious news about a murderer in South Florida.

So...full disclosure...I've written several books published a company now owned by a company owned by a company owned by the company that owns Fox News and Fox Broadcast (home of The Simpsons!). I'm not entirely clear what that makes me.

And I'm offering you the opportunity in the frame below to view the offending footage from Fox News in Robert Greenwald's exposé. I'm not certain what that makes me either.

You can get back to me with clarifications if you have them...

What's Your News IQ?

What's Your News IQ?

The Pew Research Center poses a 12 question multiple choice (my 7th grade science teacher called it multiple guess) quiz about prominent people and major events in the news -- to compare your basic news awareness with 1,005 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a recent national survey.

You'll also be able to compare your News IQ with the average scores of men and women; with college graduates as well as those who didn't attend college; with people who are your age as well as with younger and older Americans. Take the News Quiz.