lullaby pit

A lot of photons here and elsewhere have been devoted to how journalists are or are not doing their jobs these days. In particular, there’s been a sense in some quarters (here, for instance) that reporters simply aren’t pounding our government and business miscreants hard enough and that the line between journalism and PR is in danger of disappearing altogether.

“I’ve told them a hundred times: put ‘New Kids on the Block’ first and ‘Puppet Show’ last.”

Last night we noticed a car out by our driveway doing something. Then whoever it was moved across the street and did whatever they were doing at the two houses over there. As the driver backed out and turned up the road, his headlights illuminated the small flag he had planted by our mailbox. Ah, that’s right – June 14,

Not all of my distant relations would have scored this low. I am 24% White Trash. I, my friend, have class. I am so not white trash. . I am more than likely Democrat, and my place is neat, and there is a good chance I may never drink wine from a box. Take theWhite Trash Test@ FualiDotCom

That big booming racket in the Middle East – would that be the sound of Bush’s push to rid Lebanon of its Syria problem backfiring? Maybe. As Joe over at The Moderate Voice notes, Syria may now be in a position to solidify its grip in Lebanon democratically. Boy howdy. How would that be for irony?

Gene Messick (TrueBlueNetwork) offers this relevant and timely bit of American history, just in time for tomorrow’s celebration of Flag Day. The meat of the essay has to do with the Pledge of Allegiance and how those two contentious words, “under God,” found their way in. (Hint: Moses did not bring the Pledge or those two words down the mountain

A few weeks ago Manu Ginobili was one of the better 2-guards in the game. Now, all of a sudden, he looks like the best in the game. He’s not doing it against the Hawks, either. The Pistons are generally regarded as the best defensive team in the game, but so far in this series MG20 looks like he’s playing

Hey yo – take a second? I’m trying to get all my Livejournal friends’ locations plotted on a map – please add your location starting with this form.Username:(Then get your friends to!)

In the 6.13 Newsweek, Anna Quindlen draws down on a subject near and dear to my heart – the replacement of education with “assessment.” On the whole, she’s “enraged by the process, and by the forced march that seems to have replaced creative thought, critical thinking and joyful learning for so many kids.” Yup. Testing isn’t teaching. Passing scores aren’t

sunfell comments on Christian gaywashing camps, noting that the “anything but queer” message is actually a pretty sinister one. Jeez, I thought high school was hard, but I guess it was a picnic compared to what a gay kid with militant faux-Christian parents has to face, huh?

Hunh. This is interesting.

ultimate_seeker was poking at some of what I said on the “What is a moderate?” post (post + comments here). I thought I’d pull my most recent comments up to the top here, as they raise an interesting question about the relationship between critical thought and Grant’s definition of a moderate. ____________________ I’ve always felt like genuine critical thinking drags

Of potential interest – Jack Grant of Random Fate and The Moderate Voice has recently taken on the task of defining “moderate.” His initial take contrasts moderates with ideologues, explaining that moderates are people with “deeply held principles” who are “willing to listen to those advocating other beliefs and principles and weigh them against his own beliefs and principles.” Key

drdenny has a fantastic take on why CNN is in such trouble these days. Read it here. Denny is so right. Somewhere along the line journalists slipped into thinking that news is something that happens and then you go cover it. Of course, news is happening all the time. As long as there are politicians and wealthy business interests, news

I still say Bush is dumber than straw, but all of a sudden I respect Kerry a whole lot less. Kerry, Bush score similar grades at Yale By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON — Sen. John F. Kerry’s academic performance at Yale University was virtually identical to President George W. Bush’s academic record, despite repeated portrayals of Kerry as being more