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Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol: I have watched O'Reilly many times. Should "op-ed" pages be called "op-ed"? Yes and they are, right? The news is in the front and that section is near the back of the section. But FoxNEWS or Cable NEWS Network either needs to clearly label their "Op-Ed" or split it off. They won't because blurring the 2 is how they make the money, control public opinion, etc. because too much news and comment is not labelled either way so the vi

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Daiwa: I would consider liberals and conservatives alike to be "ratings rats" if what they want to do is build an audience based on telling them what the host or panel think they want to hear. This just acts to polarize the public with opinion that doesn't get to the facts and makes the citizens more and more likely to think that American society is more about "who you hate" then "what you like." For example, many have said that th

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol: Well, if O'Reilly and the others aren't news reporters why not call the network "Fox Opinion and Comment"? Because the main thrust of their appeal is they act as if they are reporters and portray themselves as such. Consider then, the original point I was making: The line between news and opinion has become so blurred that the viewer cannot distinguish between the 2 and so all we have is a mishmash of views. Now, I woul

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

To All: Sorry, was in transit between Chicago and Toronto today. Draginol: Do you really consider O'Reilly a news reporter? As for "fair and balanced"....? Someone who is biased either way is neither. O'Reilly and Hannity are what I call "ratings rats." Same can be said for Scarborough, Matthews, Cooper, and most of the others. But the disturbing part to it all is that what SELLS commercial time is softballing the Pres

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

enkydu: Isn't the issue with the 527's the content in terms of statements made that are based on something solid. For example, I think the Swift Boats Ad questioning what KErry did after he returned from Viet Nam is legitimate in asking the question. But the ones about his service and medals are not. They are simply attack ads done on behalf of Bush. It has already been established by Kerry's own crew that he served honorably and wit

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol: So...no comment on "Fair and Balanced"? If they aren't biased or simply filling time between the important commercials, you shouldn't have any trouble responding. You seem to be stating that a variety of biases in the media makes the situation ok. I think that is how we get ourselves ever deeper into problems. The longer we allow news and opinion to be blurred the more likely news organizations will be biased towards th

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol: It's not a vague assertion the morning crew is right wing. It is my opinion from years of watching. They cloud the line between news and opinion as much as O'Reilly and Hannity. But the point isn't the lean of the bias, it's the division between news reports selectively chosen and reported with bias versus the idea that news is entertainment rather than information reported. Do you agree that Foxnews's "Fair and Balanced" banner

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Daiwa: You are either missing the point I'm trying to make or confusing it with bias. I don't care about bias. If a stockbroker talks about a stock for example, they have to say "I own the stock or am short the stock" but news networks like FoxNEWS don't have to do anything of the kind. When the line between news and opinion blurs AND sells products then other networks adopt the policy and we become a nation that is buying products with our

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol: First, yes, I watch Fox as well as the others. One of the things that I do as a stockmarket analyzer is watch news (most of the day, in fact), My impression is that Fox is conservative in it's spin all day. The morning team there is especially reverent to the President and most of the day is spent deadpanning that democrats are evil and need "stopping". NPR, on the other hand, has no advertising needs since it is public

Reply to The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

historyishere: At least we're talking about it. Most are blindly watching and assuming that it must be the truth if ______ says it is. But the "truth" is rarely simple. My favorite is the PRAVDA article of a Russian-American car race in the late 60's. PRAVDA reported the result as the American car finishing next to last and the Russian finishing 2nd. That's true..... BUT

The Dangers of Being "Outfoxed" in Politics JoeUser Forums

I attended a recent showing of "Outfoxed" which was billed by those that I had heard speak of it as a left wing attempt at bashing Rupert Murdoch and Foxnews for right wing bias in editting the news to fit the propoganda mechanism that is the current right wing administration. There were descriptions that included "poor quality filming and camera work" as well as "e

How Would You Respond to A Terror Attack? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Quite often in my conversations on-line the topic of terrorist attacks comes up because around the country it is a unifying theme about how we live our lives today. People are somewhat to very concerned that before the election there will be an attack. They have surmised (rightly or wrongly) that homeland security is very difficult to do, that there are holes in the

Reply to Has elements of the Left gone too far? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

couchman: What, in your opinion, is proper protest? There were people who protested in Boston. I don't remember anyone here calling them "fringe elements of the wacko right." The truth is that no one except the far fringe on both sides of the political spectrum support extremism. Those of us in the middle who believe that elections should be about ideas and goals tire of the rhetoric of both sides. If there is a path to change in politics

Reply to The horror of our debt. in Politics JoeUser Forums

CWarsh: As far as business "income" goes, I think you have to look at some accounting practices pretty close to understand how money by corporations (especially s-corporations which are single person entities) to see how you can hide income. Under the current law you use your family as employees, establish IRA like plans for them and shelter as much as $100,000 under the business envelope. The truth is that if you look at the law

Reply to The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Solitair: Thanks. Many people think the same about Bush. Hehehe.

Reply to The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

BakerStreet: You mean like in 2001 when the Nasdaq was at 5000? Yes, the prophets were wrong then too, right? What most people don't seem to understand is that this economy topped 6 months ago, is now slowing and the twin brothers of a slowing economy and rising inflation is always a killer. If you go back to 1900 and find any period in history where the twins were at work and the stock market didn't sink, let me know. My research shows an

Reply to Standoff at the Not So OK Mosque in Current Events JoeUser Forums

greywar: You know it's interesting. You think that we can storm the mosque that is protected but can't surround it in an area that isn't?! A residential area is actually easier to occupy. You simply cordon off the area surrounding and then control entry and exit. How low an opinion do you have of our troops, anyway? This is the United States Army we're talking about, not the French Foreign Legion. If we don't have the manpower to do this

Reply to Standoff at the Not So OK Mosque in Current Events JoeUser Forums

greywar: Well, I only know what the media tells us but if we do not control the area, how come we don't? If it is our "friends" the Iraqi military shouldn't we be doing something about that? If we could control the area (and I think it is wrong to say we are unequipped or unable to do so with the troops available) this is still the best option. Right?

Standoff at the Not So OK Mosque in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Several writers on JU have talked about why we should destroy the Imam Ali Mosque. They argue that it is a symbol of Iraqi and Muslim hatred for Americans and if it were destroyed it would tell the muslims that we meant business and would not tolerate this form of "gun and run" destruction. Others site the lack of commitment (including myself) to the war effort in I

Reply to The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Soltair: Gasoline is taxed on both the state and national level at different points in time. Taxes in the U.S. go to road construction and maintenance (or so we're told). However, as an answer to the how high people would "tolerate" prices, I think the answer to that is unknowable at this point. I suspect at $3 there would be no revolt against prices but higher than that would bring charges of gouging and over-taxation. The big t

Reply to Overreaching criticism of swift boats.. in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Draginol: Well, there are many issues here. First, if the Swift Boat Vets are doing this because they're saying that Kerry is dishonorable that is a different situation than if they are just acting as a mouthpiece for the RNC. (Connections between the 2 groups have been made and should be considered). Second, since the White House says "We trust John Kerry's War Record" is that dispu

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gideon: True, not all factories are shut down but I think you would agree that a large majority of them are. We have 5 major businesses where I live (all have stock traded on the NYSE) and none of them operate on Sunday except for maintenance.

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: I can't agree. Of course, to be "acceptable" they would claim some form of security threat or something, but the truth of governmental control is that politicians consider their actions to be non-negotiable with the people and actions to be in "everyone's best interest." This may sound very cynical on my part but when considering how the government acts (or doesn't) it should be obvious that certain abuses of power have continued not

Reply to The horror of our debt. in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: Even though the wealthiest 10% pay 90% of the taxes, the amount collected from a sales tax (consumption, the physical not biological type) from them would be much higher because you can protect assets by sheltering them (becoming a corporate entity for example) but there is no way to protect yourself from the spending. Spending is what many call a "wellhead" tax where income tax is "backend." Much easier to create loopholes on

Reply to The horror of our debt. in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: Republicans will never agree to change the tax structure. It works for them and if proper tax rates for people were ever put in place they would be a lot poorer. Consider a sales tax for example. 90% of the income is made by 10% of the people and so is the spending....