We are aware that other stories may be making the headlines elsewhere today. For example, the Senate vote on DADT (which is really the Defense Appropriations Bill), or that the NBER declared that the Great Recession technically ended in June of 2009 (even though no one really believes that). Still we're tackling a story today that's been brewing for several months, now.
As a part of the media, we take a look from time to time at the conduct of our colleagues and attempt to evaluate what in the name of Heaven and Heck they think they're doing.
We're not taking about the freak show appearances in the media like the GOP candidate for Senate in Delaware, Christine O'Donnell. The Republicans really don't want to claim her - and frankly, we can't blame them. We all agree she's an outlier, not really what most sane Republicans are like. That doesn't excuse the media feeding frenzy around topics like her - or the incredible amount of poorly researched journalism promoted throughout the media in this day and age.
The coverage of Islam - and the Islamaphobics - has been especially sloppy these past few weeks. The facts that were muddled surrounding the Islamic community center in Manhattan were shameful. The mistakes and missed facts surrounding the anniversary of 9/11 were inexcuseable. The elevation of the "Pastor" of a tiny church in Florida for his threat to burn copies of the Koran to a position far beyond what his sad little display warranted was an example of the media inmates running the news cycle asylum.
We understand that many times in our modern media landscape news consumers have a skewed view of their relationship to media. From "reality tv" to "iReports" and "reader sourcing", the amateurs continue to get the impression that they're in control of the media - and that they should be. But just as you wouldn't take your car to be repaired by preschoolers, or you wouldn't want your heart surgery assigned to an English major, media consumers shouldn't expect to get reliable information from "Some Guy With An iPhone."
That doesn't excuse those within the professional media from missing or failing to distribute key facts, like the existence of a real mosque four blocks from Ground Zero long before 9-11, or the existence of two Islamic worship sites WITHIN the World Trade Center towers - both of which were common knowledge in New York. If anything, the amount of legitimate user-sourced facts available to those in the media should make us BETTER journalists, not worse.
The time for the media's dog-whistle coverage and foaming at the mouth excuses is over.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Time To Face Facts
In states from Washington to California, Nebraska to Michigan, and Virginia to Florida, state governments are beginning to ramp up their 2011 budget plans and projections.
It's a topic on which we've been ringing the warning bells for a very long time now.
The way that some lawmakers want to go after cutting budgets is nearly dhabihah: a traditional Muslim method of killing animals for consumption that's sometimes considered cruel by Western standards. We're fairly certain some of the same politicians pandering to the far right would have an apoplectic fit if they discovered the budget cutting method they're promoting also conforms with Sharia law.
Political fits and hyperbole aside, the facts are quite simple and remain as we've said they have been for some time. Even if we simply continued to fund every government project at the same percentages we are now, more actual dollars would be needed.
We're not going to say that no cuts in services should be made. Certain cuts are, in fact, called for - and should have been made some time ago. An example would be tax cuts in Nebraska that were created on the premise the state had extra money at one time to dole out. If the state ever had money like that, it's long gone - and the tax cuts that can no longer be afforded should go with them. We have no problem with tax cuts, just so long as such cuts generate jobs and revenue here at home. If the money is merely going to be squirreled away by those who already have more than enough, such tax reductions are as wasteful as burning dollar bills for heat.
The plain fact is that more revenue also needs to be generated by government agencies at most levels - and it needs to be generated from those who have money to spend.
During some of the most productive and economically stout periods of the last century - specifically, the post-World War II period from 1945 until the 1960's and 70's - the Federal marginal tax rate (the rate of taxes paid on amounts of incomes above a certain level) was nearly double what it is now. Many state and local tax rates were also significantly higher than they are now. Those tax rates weren't just a higher level of taxes paid by the wealthy; they represented a significant investment by the public in their own infrastructure - and the future we now occupy.
People will get the things they feel they need one way or another. Whether they take what they need by force through higher levels of crime and violence, or they receive what they need through opportunities created by combined public and private investment in America; that is up to the citizens of each state and local area. This is the same argument that our elders faced during the Great Depression - and they wisely chose to invest in America.
We apppeal to sane partisans on both sides of the political divide to take that same past wisdom into account when facing the budget decisions they're beginning to make now.
It's a topic on which we've been ringing the warning bells for a very long time now.
The way that some lawmakers want to go after cutting budgets is nearly dhabihah: a traditional Muslim method of killing animals for consumption that's sometimes considered cruel by Western standards. We're fairly certain some of the same politicians pandering to the far right would have an apoplectic fit if they discovered the budget cutting method they're promoting also conforms with Sharia law.
Political fits and hyperbole aside, the facts are quite simple and remain as we've said they have been for some time. Even if we simply continued to fund every government project at the same percentages we are now, more actual dollars would be needed.
We're not going to say that no cuts in services should be made. Certain cuts are, in fact, called for - and should have been made some time ago. An example would be tax cuts in Nebraska that were created on the premise the state had extra money at one time to dole out. If the state ever had money like that, it's long gone - and the tax cuts that can no longer be afforded should go with them. We have no problem with tax cuts, just so long as such cuts generate jobs and revenue here at home. If the money is merely going to be squirreled away by those who already have more than enough, such tax reductions are as wasteful as burning dollar bills for heat.
The plain fact is that more revenue also needs to be generated by government agencies at most levels - and it needs to be generated from those who have money to spend.
During some of the most productive and economically stout periods of the last century - specifically, the post-World War II period from 1945 until the 1960's and 70's - the Federal marginal tax rate (the rate of taxes paid on amounts of incomes above a certain level) was nearly double what it is now. Many state and local tax rates were also significantly higher than they are now. Those tax rates weren't just a higher level of taxes paid by the wealthy; they represented a significant investment by the public in their own infrastructure - and the future we now occupy.
People will get the things they feel they need one way or another. Whether they take what they need by force through higher levels of crime and violence, or they receive what they need through opportunities created by combined public and private investment in America; that is up to the citizens of each state and local area. This is the same argument that our elders faced during the Great Depression - and they wisely chose to invest in America.
We apppeal to sane partisans on both sides of the political divide to take that same past wisdom into account when facing the budget decisions they're beginning to make now.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday Funday: Coming Together
As we've said before, we enjoy collaboration with different groups of individuals, and we think positive outcomes often result from those types of meetings.
It's obvious that was the case in Washington D.C. yesterday, as the Senate completed it's passage of the Small Business jobs bill, and the passage of the New START treaty with Russia. The New START treaty, in fact, has a great deal to do with the handling, reduction and disposal of nuclear weapons and materials. It's one of the primary reasons President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Both bills are examples of what is possible when people put their differences aside, and focus on what we can do together.
We like the idea of getting together, and in fact, as our small but dedicated group doesn't all live in the same place, we don't get together nearly enough - with each other, or with others in our profession.
From time to time, though, when we get a chance to come together with some of our friends from the various professional and social organizations we each belong to, we take those opportunities.
This weekend is one of those times, for some of us.
In the small town of Marceline, Missouri, beginning today, will be the annual Disney Hometown Toonfest, a celebration of the life and works of Walt Disney in the town he grew up in, as a child. It's mostly a festival for the town and the north central region of Missouri, although the Toonfest gets visitors from all over the world. The festival focuses a great deal on exposing kids to the depth and history of Walt Disney, beyond the hyper-commercialized image most of us are used to seeing. It's a wonderful event, filled with cartoon artwork and fun.
It's also a chance to get together and enjoy the company of those who work in parts of the media and cartooning business as we do. If you ever get the chance to go, we highly recommend it.
We hope that this weekend, whatever you're doing, you get an opportunity to come together with a few friends you can commiserate with and relate to about your lives.
If good food and fine beverages are a part of that? Even better.
Enjoy your weekend.
It's obvious that was the case in Washington D.C. yesterday, as the Senate completed it's passage of the Small Business jobs bill, and the passage of the New START treaty with Russia. The New START treaty, in fact, has a great deal to do with the handling, reduction and disposal of nuclear weapons and materials. It's one of the primary reasons President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Both bills are examples of what is possible when people put their differences aside, and focus on what we can do together.
We like the idea of getting together, and in fact, as our small but dedicated group doesn't all live in the same place, we don't get together nearly enough - with each other, or with others in our profession.
From time to time, though, when we get a chance to come together with some of our friends from the various professional and social organizations we each belong to, we take those opportunities.
This weekend is one of those times, for some of us.
In the small town of Marceline, Missouri, beginning today, will be the annual Disney Hometown Toonfest, a celebration of the life and works of Walt Disney in the town he grew up in, as a child. It's mostly a festival for the town and the north central region of Missouri, although the Toonfest gets visitors from all over the world. The festival focuses a great deal on exposing kids to the depth and history of Walt Disney, beyond the hyper-commercialized image most of us are used to seeing. It's a wonderful event, filled with cartoon artwork and fun.
It's also a chance to get together and enjoy the company of those who work in parts of the media and cartooning business as we do. If you ever get the chance to go, we highly recommend it.
We hope that this weekend, whatever you're doing, you get an opportunity to come together with a few friends you can commiserate with and relate to about your lives.
If good food and fine beverages are a part of that? Even better.
Enjoy your weekend.
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