Obama a leader who actually leads – “Born to do exactly what he is doing.” - CNN.com

Image by BL1961 via Flickr

I usually take what Jack Cafferty says with a grain of salt, but this was truly inspired commentary…

NEW YORK (CNN) — What a welcome change to feel like someone is running the country instead of running it into the ground.

President Obama has done more in eight weeks than George W. Bush did in eight years — unless you include starting a couple of wars.

While the armchair quarterbacks second guess the new president, he gets up every day and does things, lots of things.

Whether it’s creating commissions for women and girls, ordering the investigation of President Bush’s use of signing statements, or jamming a huge stimulus package through Congress, the man is working his tail off. And he seems to be loving every minute of it. It’s almost as though our president was born to do exactly what he’s doing. He’s leading, and boy, is that refreshing.

Commentary: Obama a leader who actually leads - CNN.com

Data shows overwhelmingly that Fannie-Mae and Freddie Mac are not to blame for financial crises – Op-Ed: Karl Frank – Call Newspapers

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As seen in the editorial section of Call Newspapers in St. Louis, MO…

Reader analyzes how PMEs have covered current economic crisis

March 11, 2009 - We live in the age of personal media environments, or PMEs, with newspapers, Internet sites, blogs, cable news stations, radio stations, viral e-mails, et cetera.
PMEs are customized information sources we build for ourselves over time that closely align with our particular ideologies. We mold our PMEs to reaffirm what we already believe as true.
We largely ignore and discredit news items and opinions that are contrary to our belief systems, and we focus in on anything that supports our mindsets.
How have our PMEs covered the economy? Media Matters for America analyzed 139.5 hours of programming on the stimulus plan on all major news stations from Jan. 25 through Feb. 8. They found that CNN, Fox News and MSNBC did not have a single economist on to discuss the stimulus plan.
What about the rest? "Of the 460 guests making appearances, only 25 were economists — a mere 5 percent."
If news outlets really cared about informing their viewers, why would they fill the airwaves with pundits over experts?
A good example is this idea that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are to blame for the current economic crises because of their participation in backing sub-prime loans.
The data shows otherwise. By 2006, more than 70 percent of the sub-prime mortgages were privately held and backed — Fannie and Freddie held only 24 percent.
As a matter of fact, when you dig in to the Treasury Department data, as McClatchy Newspapers did, it is surprisingly glaring how wrong this pundit-forced accusation is.
Space does not permit the details, but two items will shed light on the sub-prime mess. One is David X. Li’s Gaussian Copula Formula, adopted by Wall Street to assess the risks of credit default swaps.
According to Wired.com, in 2001, there was $920 billion in these credit default swaps outstanding; in 2007, more than $62 trillion. That’s right, $62 trillion. There was 48 times more fiat money in Wall Street gambling on the securities of home mortgages than there were sub-prime mortgages — more than four times the entire U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
The second issue that requires your research is the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a 262-page amendment added at the last minute to an appropriations bill by Sen. Phil Gramm. This bill later became known as the "Enron Loophole" and is the law that made these credit default swaps on mortgages possible.
So, how could the market that had worked so long and so well for us fail?
The simple answer is that it failed because it was not our grandfather’s market anymore. It was a new, untested and radical market, based largely on a faulty mathematical formula, poor legislation, and, of course, a certain degree of consumer ignorance and Wall Street greed.
If your PME has been telling you otherwise, it may be time to review the reliability and credibility of your sources.
Karl Frank Jr.
Oakville
Editor’s note: Mr. Frank has served on the Mehlville Board of Education since 2005.

Reader analyzes how PMEs have covered current economic crisis

Sunday news shows serve to muddle and confuse in the age of Information Inundation

As I do just about every Sunday, I sat and watched Meet the Press, Fox News with Chris Wallace, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.  As we all know, our economy is in shambles.  Some say it is going to get worse, some say they see us starting to pull out as early as 2010.  Regardless, not a single guest on any of the three shows was an economist. 

If these shows are wanting to inform their viewers on the issues of the day, why do they continue to put on pundits over experts?  At the very least, why not make an effort to balance out their shows with expert analysis?  If there is anything people are sick of, liberal, conservative, or otherwise, it is the constant spin of the various pundits who clearly have an interest in what they can make the general public believe about their positions. 

Media Matters for America recently analyzed stimulus coverage over 139 1/2 hours of cable news and Sunday news shows from January 25th to February 8.  CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC did not have a single economist, and of the 460 total guest, only 25 were economist.  “A mere 5 percent,” stated Media Matters.

In the era of Information Inundation, why can’t the news organizations serve to inform rather than to muddle and confuse?

Congresswoman refuses to talk to “fake” Obama and Emmanuel

It must be a strange world for politicians that have to worry so much about radio stations prank calling them that they hang up on high-level President elects like Barack Obama…twice.

How funny it is that she hung up on Rahm Emmanuel too!

GOP congresswoman hangs up on Obama – twice « - Blogs from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) –A Florida congresswoman – convinced she was being prank-called by a Barack Obama sound-alike – hung up on the actual president-elect Wednesday.

Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was told by an aide that Obama wanted to speak with her. According to a statement released by her office, the Republican congresswoman cut off the caller, telling him she thought “this is a joke from one of the South Florida radio stations known for these pranks.” She then hung up.

Obama’s future White House chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel – a fellow congressman – then called her to let her know she’d actually been speaking with the future commander-in-chief. Ros-Lehtinen, convinced the call was another hoax, hung up on him, too.

9 things you can do to beat media bias

Last night the Daily Show called out MSNBC as the new Fox News.  I am not sure what took the Daily Show so long, but they finally did it.  It was very obvious that MSNBC made an orchestrated move to appeal to the left in the run-up to the election.  So essentially, you had two very obvious biases with MSNBC and Fox News, scrunched in the middle by CNN who goes so far out of the way to try and pretend they aren’t biased, that they are actually biased by giving weight to the other side, even if the other side is clearly wrong.

For example, lets say that two men are in a bar arguing over whether or not the sun is shining today.  One says that it is so cloudy that they can not see a thing.  The other says there is not a cloud in the sky and that he is going to have to wear sunblock when he leaves.  This argument gets rather heated and CNN shows up on a tip.  That night CNN would say, “Breaking News: Two men got in an argument over whether or not the sun was shining.”

Then, in large white letters, they would read you a quote from the anti-sunshine guy.  Then they would quote the pro-sunshine guy…and never actually report whether or not the sun was actually shining outside, which could easily be observed just by stepping outside and taping it.  This is out of fear that they would be accused of being biased for the pro-sunshine crowd and losing the anti-sunshine crowd in the process.

The point is, so much of the mass media is now about the bottom dollar, and not actually telling the truth, regardless of political consequences, because they have shareholders to face in the morning.  On the otherhand, there is nothing wrong with MSNBC being liberally slanted and Fox News being conservatively slanted, as long as people understand that the news they are getting has their particular slant.  There is a problem with an obviously biased organization saying they are “Fair and Balanced” when for the most part, they clearly are not.  (Yes, the pew research organization says that Fox News reports balanced news, but they do not make value judgements on the content of the stories, just the reporting.  It’s one thing to cover something, it is another thing to cover it with equal zest and zeal.)

This is what you get with corporate news programming and people getting their news on the fly.  Most people will search out the type of news slant that reaffirms what they already feel politically and on personal issues.  Very rarely will the average working or partying person take the time to find out what the truth is.  All they know is that they heard it on T.V. so it must be true.

So what is someone supposed to do if they do want to know the truth?

1.  First, and most important, know the perceived biases of the news organization you are getting your news from.  CNN is so fickle that it is hardly news at all.  Fox News is zestfully conservative.  MSNBC is awkwardly (but working on it) liberal, NPR is generally considered liberal, but experience has proven to me that even if they are covering a liberal topic, they seek and respect opposing viewpoints, the New York Times and The Nation has a liberal, but in depth and well sourced slant, the Washington Times and National Review has a conservative, but in depth and well sourced slant.

2.  Take number (1.) with a grain of salt.  Each reporter and each story deserves independent consideration.

3.  If you really care about the truth, you need to get your news from multiple sources.  If you get all of your news from Art Bell in the middle of the night, you might not have a good read on reality.

4.  Practice being a critical thinker.  Look at the data presented, throw away the editorial comments, and make a value judgement on the data.  Does it hold up under scrutiny?  Does it make sense?  What is the motivation, not just for the subject(s) of the story, but the reporter and news organization as well.

5.  Do your own research.  The internet is full of peer reviewed journal papers, books, and other raw data sources.  Just make sure you apply step (4.) to your research.

6.  Make sure you are aware of your own biases.  And remember, bias isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It is O.K. to be pro-sunshine when you can look outside and see clearly that the sun is shining.

7.  Be aware that most of what you see on T.V. and listen to on the radio (with a couple of exceptions for both) is no longer news.  It is infotainment.  It is meant to entertain, not educate.  We live in a passive news society and the large media conglomerates are milking it for all it’s worth.

8.  Credible bloggers are changing number (7.)  Which is why number (5.) is an important part of the process.  Bloggers have their biases as well, so be careful, but it is much harder for a political hack or corporate croanie to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes anymore because there is an army of citizen journalists standing by to debunk and discredit them.

9.  Practice your critical thinking and discernment skills by reading and discussing everything you can get your hands on, regardless of slant.  Teaching your mind to think should not finish after high school or college.  Teaching your mind to think should be a life-long process.

Here are two videos to provide emphasis.

The first video is an oldie but goodie of Jon Stewart single-handedly putting Crossfire on CNN off the air, and the second is Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal) openly admitting that he uses his media to sway opinion:

Rush Limbaugh’s “Praise” of Hillary Clinton is Hogwash

Who really thinks that Limbaugh saying Obama’s pick of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State was ‘brilliant’ because he thinks Clinton is the perfect person for the job?

Not me.  I think it is hogwash. 

Limbaugh is actually trying to be clever with his statement about Hillary by actually minimizing the pick.  Essentially what he is saying is that Obama’s pick of Hillary is brilliant because it was politically expedient, not that she was the right person for the job.

Unfortunately, CNN and other news organizations would not be living up to journalistic standards if they were to read in to what Limbaugh’s intentions actually are when he makes statements such as these.  However, they could also practice solid journalism by chosing not to cover something.  Instead, the mass media market reported Limbaugh’s comments as if they were something special.  Like, “Hey!  Even Limbaugh thinks the Clinton pick is Brilliant!”

Well, it was brilliant, but not for the reasons that Limbaugh says.  It was brilliant because Hillary Clinton is the right person for the job, and she compliments Obama perfectly.  Just watch.  Down the line, Limbaugh will look for an excuse to swing away at this setup.

Limbaugh calls Obama’s selection of Clinton ‘a brilliant stroke’ « - Blogs from CNN.com

(CNN) — Rush Limbaugh seems to have given Hillary Clinton his stamp of approval for the second time this year.

The conservative talk show host — who urged supporters during the primary season to back Clinton in an effort to prolong the bitter Democratic presidential nomination fight — told ABC’s Barbara Walters that Clinton’s selection as Secretary of State was “a brilliant stroke” by President-elect Obama.

He said the move was a political master stroke, effectively ruling out a primary challenge in four years. “You know the old phrase, ‘You keep your friends close and your enemies closer?’ How can she run for president in 2012?” he asks. “She’d have to run against the incumbent and be critical of him — the one who made her Secretary of State.”

Will the Somali pirate Boyah eat his words?

I have a hard time believing that Boyah the Pirate will not regret saying what he said in an interview as reported on CNN.com today.  The reason that piracy was largely irradicated in the 19th century was because of the strong central power of Japan and the emergence of the Ch’ing dynasty in China.  (wwww.pirateinfo.com)

It was not long before piracy was regarded as an international offense, prompting supra-national like efforts to wipe out pirates across the globe.  I would be surprised if it took a very long time to wipe out the Somali pirates who apparently think the only way to track a boat is via radar.

No way to stop us, pirate leader says - CNN.com

“The pirates are living between life and death,” said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. “Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything.”

Groupthink or Mob Mentality: The Black Friday Death - Updated

A clinical psychologist on CNN attributed the Wal-Mart doorbuster killing to a disorder of groups called Groupthink.  Groupthink is defined on Answers.com as:

n. The act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view.

Watch this clip from CNN, think about what happened to that Wal-Mart employee, and then you tell me whether or not attributing this to groupthink is hogwash:

CNN psychologist says Black Friday Death result of groupthink

Now, let’s look at the definitions of Mob and Mentality:

mob-a large disorderly crowd or throng; the mass of common people regarded as ignorant or otherwise deficient

mentality-the sum of a person’s intellectual capabilities or endowment; mental capacity; intelligence

So, what do you think?  Groupthink or Mob Mentality?

Update: While you are at it, be sure to check out this great comparison on the same topic at Gizmodo:

Video Proof that Black Friday Turns People in to Animals