CBS's Lara Logan on Media and Iraq/Afghanistan Coverage

The Good News by Rob Brezsny

Excerpts from Rob Brezsny's book *PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings*

Here's an excerpt:

Welcome to the PRONOIA NEWS NETWORK. Here's the news.

The world has become dramatically more peaceful since 1992, according to the non-partisan Human Security Report. Wars, coup d'etats, and acts of genocide have declined by 40 percent. Weapons sales have dropped 33 percent during the same time, and the number of refugees has decreased by 45 percent. The cause of these developments is the unprecedented upsurge of international activism since the end of the Cold War, spearheaded by the United Nations.
Elsewhere, life extension researchers now believe that there is no absolute limit to the human life span. The average life expectancy is 30 years more than it was a century ago, and is steadily climbing.

Literacy and education levels are rising steadily all over the globe. Since 1970, the percentage of students going to secondary school has more than doubled.
The World Health Organization reports that in the next 24 hours, 200 million people will make love on this planet, as they do every day of every year. Experts estimate that the orgasmic energy generated during a single rotation of the planet could, if harnessed, provide enough power to light a
medium-sized city for a month.
Briefly, here's a look at the rest of the top stories.

Accelerating rates of intermarriage are helping to dissipate ethnic and religious strife worldwide.

Acreage devoted to organic farming is rapidly increasing.

Death rates from cancer are shrinking.

Child abduction by strangers has dropped precipitously.

In 60 years, there hasn't been a lower birth rate among teenage girls than there is now.

The number of America's black elected officials has sextupled since 1970.

In recent years, the rivers and bays of New York City have been almost completely cleansed of raw sewage and industrial pollution.

Vast supplies of frozen natural gas lie beneath the oceans, harboring more potential energy for human use than all of the world's oil reserves, and could be mined with the right technology.

If forced to decide between having a bigger penis and living in a world where there was no war, 90 percent of all men would pick universal peace.

You have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any farther removed than your 50th cousin.

The world's largest private bank, Citigroup, has agreed to stop financing projects that damage sensitive ecosystems.

The giant timber company, Congolaise Industrielle des Bois, voluntarily agreed to stop cutting down trees in a virgin rain forest in the Congo.

Every second the sun generously transforms four million tons of itself into energy and bestows it on us free of charge.

With every dawn, when first light penetrates the sea, many seahorse colonies perform a dance to the sun.

Most HMO executives now believe prayer and meditation can expedite the healing process.

Each of the 50 trillion cells in your body can be considered a sentient being in its own right, and they all act together as a community, performing an ongoing act of prodigious collaboration.

A survey of a thousand poets suggests that the five most beautiful words in the English language are "epiphany," "undulates," "luminous," "crucible," and "melody."

Finally in the news, biologists have proved that with each breath, you take into your body 10 sextillion atoms, and—owing to the wind's ceaseless circulation—over a year's time you have intimate relations with oxygen molecules that have been exhaled by everyone who has ever lived, including Joan of Arc, Gengis Khan, Cleopatra, and Malcolm X.

You have been tuned to PNN, the Pronoia News Network. Our report has been brought to you by the state of mind that the poet John Keats enjoyed when he said, "If something is not beautiful, it is probably not true."

For 1,109 more items of good news, read the book.

Go Fox Yourself

Katrina VandenHeuvel on the Colbert Report

Katrina VandenHeuvel doesn't mince words, and didn't on last night's Colbert Report, particularly when talking about the Iraq war "The Most colossal foreign policy disaster this country has ever experienced" and standing behind The Nation's coverage of and opposition to it from the get-go "We never lost our head — while too much of the media gave head....we need watchdogs, not lapdogs".

"Truthiness" is named Word of The Year

Hurray for Stephen Colbert and his finger on the pulse of...lexiconiphiliapopularis.

Full Article

After 12 months of naked partisanship on Capitol Hill, on cable TV and in the blogosphere, the word of the year for 2006 is ... "truthiness."

The word — if one can call it that — best summed up 2006, according to an online survey by dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster.

"Truthiness" was credited to Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert, who defined it as "truth that comes from the gut, not books."

"We're at a point where what constitutes truth is a question on a lot of people's minds, and truth has become up for grabs," said Merriam-Webster president John Morse. "`Truthiness' is a playful way for us to think about a very important issue."

Other Top 10 finishers included "war,""insurgent,""sectarian" and "corruption." But "truthiness" won 5-to-1, Morse said.

Colbert, who once derided the folks at Springfield-based Merriam-Webster as the "word police" and a bunch of "wordinistas," was pleased.

"Though I'm no fan of reference books and their fact-based agendas, I am a fan of anyone who chooses to honor me," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

CNN to New Rep. -elect Keith Ellison

CNN Headline News' Glen Beck interviewed the Representative elect Keith Ellison earlier this week. Two things I find interesting here.

First, Keith Ellison is the first Muslim ever elected to the House.

Second, Glen Beck's statement right out of the gate. Does anyone with an ounce of education buy into this stuff? And how are Muslims any different from other religions? Read on and you will note a few statements that well...are stupid. And at least one where could insert any other major institutionalized religions' name where Muslim is used.

What percentage of the population do you think actually is concerned with this question below?

And, is this just an echo of talking points meant to paint Democratic wins as a win for the 'enemy'? the drum of war on terror continues to beat strongly.

I know the media shouts it, but I really wonder what the disparity is between what the public thinks and what is served up to them (which doesn't appear unbiased at all).

CNN's Beck to first-ever Muslim congressman: "[W]hat I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies' "

From the November 14 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

(Video Link to clip from Media Matters)

BECK: History was made last Tuesday when Democrat Keith Ellison got elected to Congress, representing the great state of Minnesota. Well, not really unusual that Minnesota would elect a Democrat. What is noteworthy is that Keith is the first Muslim in history to be elected to the House of Representatives. He joins us now.

Congratulations, sir.

ELLISON: How you doing, Glenn? Glad to be here.

BECK: Thank you. I will tell you, may I -- may we have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards face up on the table?

ELLISON: Go there.

BECK: OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly.

With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, "Let's cut and run." And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies."

And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.

ELLISON: Well, let me tell you, the people of the Fifth Congressional District know that I have a deep love and affection for my country. There's no one who is more patriotic than I am. And so, you know, I don't need to -- need to prove my patriotic stripes.

BECK: I understand that. And I'm not asking you to. I'm wondering if you see that. You come from a district that is heavily immigrant with Somalians. And I think it's wonderful, honestly, I think it is really a good sign that you are a -- you could be an icon to show Europe, this is the way you integrate into a country. I think the Somalians coming out and voting is a very good thing. With that --

ELLISON: I'd agree with you.

A Faux Follow Up

I came across this blog post by Bob Geiger on this alleged internal letter at Fox and decided to post it as a follow up on yesterday's topic.

And to think, we thought routine misleading stories and repeatedly identifying Republican pedophile Congressman Mark Foley as a Democrat was bad. Now we get the elusive documentary evidence that GOP propaganda machine Fox News truly does decide what news they want to produce before events even occur.

The Huffington Post has somehow managed to get hold of an internal Fox News memo, written by the guy in charge of their news operation and detailing his instructions to be on the lookout for any shred of information that could be used to tie Democrats to those attacking our troops in Iraq.

"The elections and Rumsfeld's resignation were a [sic] major event but not the end of the world," read the instructional memo from Fox's Vice President for News, John Moody, the day Democrats won the House and the Senate.

Now, the first thing you would naturally ask yourself is why in the world would an executive at a "fair and balanced" news organization, have to assure news staff that one party triumphing on election day is "not the end of the world."

But it gets better.

"The war on terror goes on without interruption," writes Moody, to his Republican operatives, dressing up as journalists. "And let's be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled Congress."

I'm sure around the water cooler later that day he also promised a bonus to the first staffer who could seamlessly Photoshop a picture of insurgents dancing in the streets, while waving giant posters of Claire McCaskill, Jim Webb and Sherrod Brown.

But, as our friends at Newshounds report, it didn't take the "reporters" at FOX News long to start acting on Moody's directive.

On that very day, "Live Desk" anchor Martha MacCallum went with the theme. While doing an interview with guest Erick Stakelbeck, lead terror analyst for the Christian Broadcasting Network -- because, of course, where else would you go for a political analyst than the Christian Broadcasting Network? -- she asked "what does the Democratic leadership mean for the war on terror?"

MacCallum followed that with an observation directly in line with Moody's script.

"Some reports of cheering in the streets on the behalf of the supporters of the insurgency in Iraq, that they're very pleased with the way things are going here and also with the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld," she said, referring to the sweeping Democratic victory and the Defense Secretary's resignation.

Naturally, MacCallum provided no evidence or sourcing behind the contention that bad guys were dancing in the streets of Baghdad because Democrats won.

Which kind of made me think back to that University of Maryland poll done a few years ago that basically gauged how dumbed-down some Americans were based on what they used as their primary news source.

You won't find any surprises in the October, 2003 poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, that detailed which news networks had the least-informed viewers on the war in Iraq.

(Double Click the image for larger view)


They asked poll respondents about weapons of mass destruction being found in Iraq and about alleged links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. And here's the least shocking thing you'll hear today: The most ignorant people surveyed said they use Fox News as their primary news source.

I think that the average Fox News viewer also believed in 2004 that John Kerry had weekly strategy meetings with Osama bin Laden and that the International Astronomical Union's recent downgrading of Pluto, represented a liberal attack on the loveable cartoon dog.

And our most recent evidence would suggest that Fox News has gotten even worse in the three years since this poll was done.

And we're not manufacturing news -- Fox gives us evidence to back up that assertion each and every day.

You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.

Non Partisan News?

I just saw this over at HuffPo....

...and found it interesting enough to see what others thought about it.

It is an alleged copy of an internal memorandum at Fox by the vice prez of News..

(if this isn't large enough to read go Here or just Double Click the image)