I’m Not The Only One

One of the reasons I quit journalism after seven years in the business was because I got tired of defending journalism and the biased, unethical things that reporters and editors would do on an almost daily basis.  Sure, some offenses are more defensible than others, but they still contradict what journalists say they actually do.

One of my biggest pet peeves is, during election time, when newspapers publish a list of which candidates they endorse in the upcoming race.   Often this is a list of political candidates who have purchased the most advertising space from a particular newspaper.  In some cases, an editorial would run explaining why the newspaper had endorsed the candidate.

At the Queens Courier, the first newspaper at which I worked, candidates were able to bribe the publisher to publish an article smearing their opponents with less than flattering information that was ancient history and had no relevance whatsoever aside from the fact that a candidate had paid for said article to be published.

How can the editorial board of any newspaper say with a straight face that they are unbiased when they clearly make no effort to hide their bias and publish a list of the candidates they support?  How many people actually go out and vote for a candidate simply because their newspaper endorses them?  Is it any surprise that journalism has lost most if not all of the credibility this profession once had? (more…)

One thing I kept hearing back when I was working in New York for Democrats on their election campaigns was, “No, no, no.  That’s just a political promise,” followed by a chuckle.  The issue at hand was residential zoning.  Homeowners who had been in the community for three or four decades wanted things just the way it had always been for them, and wanted the New York City Council to reform the zoning codes to restrict the development of multiple-household dwellings to be built in the neighborhood or for large homes to be subdivided into three or four apartments.

Newcomers to the neighborhood, especially recent immigrants wanted the zoning codes to remain as they were, allowing developers and property owners to continue to build multiple dwellings and subdivide existing structures to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for housing in New York City.  Dividing existing structures also made the individual apartments within the structure more affordable for people who otherwise could not have afforded to buy an entire home.  Of course, my candidate, who was the puppet of a very influential and well-connected politician, promised to fight for both affordable housing and neighborhood preservation, while in reality having no intention to assist either side.  Two political promises had been made. (more…)

I’ve been recently dosing myself on all five seasons of one of my favorite sci-fi TV shows from the 90s, Sliders.  As good as the show was, I remember being in high school when the gorgeous Kari Wuhrer was added to the cast, making it even better.   I Wikipedia’d (yeah, I said it) Ms. Wuhrer and was surprised to learn she had had breast implants.  She later had them removed when one of them encapsulated but she definitely had them when she was in Sliders.  I’m sure while her natural talents propelled her acting career one could argue that her implants got her foot in the door of many Hollywood studios.  She has been quoted in multiple sources as saying her body was her best asset. (more…)

With March Madness upon us, a touchy issue comes up, the proverbial elephant in the room everyone can see but nobody wants to discuss: player compensation.

Let’s focus on college basketball, which with football, is one of the most popular collegiate spectator sports today.  Games between Division I teams are almost always televised with big-name sponsors paying a fortune for ad space, then there’s the ticket sales and the merchandising of everything from apparel to video games.  Everybody wins; coaches and support staff of winning teams enjoy high salaries, the universities rake in the revenue from ticket sales (when games are played on campus) and merchandising and the TV and cable networks rake in the advertising revenue.  Well, everybody wins except the players. (more…)

The other day I wondered how many American parents still raise their children to believe in Santa Claus?  More importantly, if so, why?

First off, since American culture is exported throughout the world, our depiction of Santa Claus is also exported around the world.  The American Santa Claus is often viewed by many non-Americans as the expression of mainstream American values such as materialism, commercialism and the commodification of goodwill.

In fact many Europeans see our fat jolly elf as a perversion of their Saint Nicholas.  Christians throughout Europe are not only rejecting Santa Claus, but are launching campaigns urging parents not to raise their children to believe in him. Check out this billboard in Scotland.

(more…)

The other day I came across the term “voodoo economics” while reading some nonsense written by Paul Krugman.

The term really gets under my skin for two reasons.  But before I get into that, a brief explanation as to to what voodoo economics refer and a history of the term. (more…)

California might actually be on its way to legalizing marijuana, at least up to an ounce.

Three Tuesdays from now, Californians will be going to the polls to decide on, among other things, Proposition 19, a.k.a. the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannibis Act of 2010.

For those unfamiliar with the proposal, Prop 19  mandates that people 21 and older can:

• possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal consumption.
• use marijuana in a non-public place such as a residence or a public establishment licensed for on-site marijuana consumption.
• grow marijuana at a private residence in a space of up to 25 square feet for personal use. (more…)

So President Obama is asking black people to “guard the change” come November (translation: vote for liberals only), I suppose, to avoid a changing of the guard.

Well, he didn’t actually approach the black community; he addressed the Congressional Black Caucus (I’ve actually heard one black conservative refer to them as the Congressional Black Caucasians!), who obviously represent all people of African descent in America.  I mean, duh, they’ve got the word “black” in their name! (more…)

Sorry I haven’t been blogging the last 30 days or so.  I’ve actually been swamped with freelance work and in this economy, you have to take wherever you can find it!

But in the spirit of the holiday season,  I’ve been bombarded with “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.  I’ve received mail from my creditors, my health insurance providers and all manners of junk mail wishing me a happy holiday.  I do support the separation of church and state (as does the U.S. Constitution) so I can understand the public sector communicating in this way, but when the private sector does it (like a customer service rep or a supermarket or store employee) it just comes off as a politically correct, neutered move.  And since I have a Hispanic surname, I get bilingual correspondence wishing me the equally lame “felices fiestas”.  And yes, when I am told happy holidays, I do respond with Merry Christmas.

I know that social conservatives who use God as an excuse to rob us of our civil liberties see the prevalence of “happy holidays” as a sure sign that the atheists, pagans, Jews and other hell-bound liberals have declared a war on Christmas.  I just don’t see it.  I’ve even received political propaganda from local Republicans accusing incumbent Democrats of “hating Christmas” simply because these elected officials wish the constituents happy holidays in their correspondence.

But let’s get back to the separation of church and state.  After all, freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.  Just making Christmas a legal holiday is a violation of the Constitution.  No one is proposing we make Hanukkah or Ramadan a national holiday.  And Christmas’ legal status is not even an American tradition as it was not only not a Federal holiday until 1870, but in colonial times, was outlawed.

So if I could make a proposition to the rest of America…

How about the private sector not censor itself and say Merry Christmas and in exchange, Christmas will no longer be a legal holiday?  No doubt Lou Dobbs will consider this the final blow in the war against Christmas.

As millions of students return to college to prepare to fill jobs that probably won’t exist by the time they graduate, I am reminded of a dubious concept from my own college years: academic integrity.

You can’t take one college course, read one syllabus or even read university literature without coming across that word. It is a concept used to enforce rules on students that prohibit among other things, plagiarism, cheating, using Cliff Notes, Wikipedia or any other act perceived as academic dishonesty.

Unfortunately I’d learned over the years in college that academic integrity only applies to students.  Faculty, text book companies and even entire universities do not have to adhere to any standards of academic integrity. (more…)

This post may get me in trouble in my new Bronx neighborhood, but what the hell…

The local Roman Catholic parish, St. Theresa’s, held a street fair last week which while allegedly offers some sort of entertainment for children and raises money for the church converts an otherwise quiet section of Pelham Bay into a litter-strewn disruptive nuisance.  Billed as the Feast of St. Theresa, it attracts young people who somehow manage to obtain beers and then casually drink it on the stoops of homes nearby the fair, including my own.

Despite the fact this five-day nightmare continues to play the same recorded message advertising a grand raffle with a winner to be announced at the end of the fair on Sunday and the same six Italian songs over and over for hours, I managed to tolerate it.  Other issues like the prohibition of parking for the four blocks of St. Theresa’s Avenue dominated by the alleged Feast and the hassle from the police and St. Theresa’s people (all donning burgundy shirts in a soldier-like fashion) who acted like they owned the neighborhood certainly annoy my neighbors who have cars and driveways.

Living 20 feet from the festival I inevitably had to walk through it to go to the supermarket and upon further investigation found the Feast to be much more than a public nuisance in which the neighborhood is taken hostage but an exercise in multiple blasphemy as well. (more…)

Until recently I was convinced that America’s greatest threat was terrorism.  But now I’m beginning to believe the real threat to our freedom is not Al Qaeda but Al Abama.

I recently received the following e-mail: (more…)

I didn’t realize how controversial the whole Notre Dame’s issue (granting President Barack Obama an honorary degree and inviting him to give their 2009 commencement speech) was until I logged on to YouTube the other day and saw the featured video was of Notre Dame students and members of the Roman Catholic community sounding off on the issue.  I was made even more aware when I learned of notredamescandal.com.

Honestly, I think people made a much bigger deal out of it than it really was.  I think the real scandal was that President Obama was offered an “honorary” degree in the first place.  Besides the fact that it is a slap in the face to all the students who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and spent years earning their degrees, an honorary degree, which is usually a Masters or Doctorate, is nothing more than a cheap fundraising gimmick. (more…)

Happy 4/20!

I couldn’t let my favorite holiday pass by without posting something up on this blog.   Norm Stamper of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition offered a great argument of why marijuana is far less harmless than alcohol.  Stamper, a retired police chief from Seattle offered the following:

“Alcohol contributes to acts of violence; marijuana reduces aggression. In approximately three million cases of reported violent crimes last year, the offender had been drinking. This is particularly true in cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, and date rape. Marijuana use, in and of itself, is absent from both crime reports and the scientific literature. There is simply no link to be made.”

and…

“Alcohol-related traffic accidents claim approximately 14,000 lives each year, down significantly from 20 or 30 years ago (attributed to improved education and enforcement). Figures for THC-related traffic fatalities are elusive, especially since alcohol is almost always present in the blood as well, and since the numbers of “marijuana-only” traffic fatalities are so small. But evidence from studies, including laboratory simulations, feeds the stereotype that those under the influence of canniboids tend to (1) be more aware of their impaired psychomotor skills, and (2) drive well below the speed limit. Those under the influence of alcohol are much more likely to be clueless or defiant about their condition, and to speed up and drive recklessly.”

Check out the rest of the article here, and if you get the munchies, celebrate 4/20 with some kottonmouth kookies.

I’m using another PC as I’m still waiting for my ISP to transfer my Internet connection to my new apartment.  In the meantime, I feel I must vent at all the Bernie Madoff coverage in the news, especially in the local stations here in New York City.

The rage and incarceration of Bernie Madoff is just another example of how our justice system picks and chooses what is and isn’t legal with little to no regard for consistency.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending what he did.  I’m just saying, he basically fooled thousands of idiots by convincing them that they could see a large return through a comparatively smaller investment.   If Madoff is going to jail, then how about locking up all the other organizations that suggest a person can see a gigantic return on a modest investment like the lottery commission of every state (a dollar and a dream my ass) and every casino in the U.S.  How come the people running these organizations aren’t going to prison?

Can anyone explain the difference between Madoff’s promise to his client pool of morons, all of whom are crying fraud and the promise offered by lottery tickets and casinos?  As usual the mainstream media demonstrates their ignorance of finance and economics by casting him to be worse than Hitler, or worse, George W. Bush.

Anyone with any amount of economic or financial literacy can tell that almost all investments that are high yield are also high risk and often require a high investment.  In fact, a high rate of return is usually offered to compensate for the equally high risk associated with the investment to attract a healthy mix of adventurous risk-takers who understand the risks involved and the idiots who don’t understand the risk but see the rate of return and drool.

If people want to put their money into something safe, they can put it into a savings account that pays out 2-3% interest.  If they want a higher return they can put their money into a bank’s certificate of deposit for a nice 5-7% interest rate.  Those are two safe investments.  You want a higher rate or return on your investment?  You’re going to be placing your money at risk.  Unfortunately, buyers of lottery tickets, compulsive gamblers and Bernie Madoff clients do not seem to understand this fundamental fact of investment.