I Am Currently Unaware of Any Respectable Study Supporting the Hypothesis That the Whole of Mainstream US Media is Significantly Biased But...

...leads are appreciated. Here you can read my qualm with the study I posted previously.

A Public Prayer

Dear God,

[We] sincerely pray that you help us to understand the value of public and corporate prayer.

Amen.

Misc. on Tolstoy

On July 22, 1910, when Tolstoy was in the middle of what was to be his final crisis, he went into the woods with three friends to copy and sign the testament that had been drawn up according to his instructions, hoping thereby to settle both the tormenting spiritual problems and the distasteful bickering with his wife and family that the disposition of his property and rights induced. As Tolstoy began to copy the document he misspelled “twenty”, started to correct it and to reach for a fresh sheet of paper, but then smiled and said, “All right, let it be thought that I was illiterate,” adding “I will put the numeral next to it so that there will be no possibility of doubt”.

- “Tolstoy” by Ralph Matlaw, p. 1

Tolsoy's wife Sophie wrote in her journal of copying War and Peace, that it "uplifted her spiritually, ie morally".

Sophie hand-wrote seven copies of "War and Peace".

She wrote to the man who published her biography:

“You write about the ‘home’ interests which must have been subordinated to Leo Nikolaevich’s writing of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. But what was that home? It consisted only of Leo Nikolaevich and myself… In so far as I could tear myself from domestic matters, I lived in my husband’s creative activity and loved it…You mention among professional writers Gogol, Turgenev, Goncharov, and I would add Lermontov and others; all of them were bachelors without families, and that is a very different matter. This was reflected in their work, just as Leo N.’s family life was completely reflected in his works… It is perfectly true that Leo N. was generally a man and not merely a writer. But it is not true, if you will pardon me, that he wrote easily. Indeed, he experienced the ‘tortures of creativity’ in a high degree; he wrote with difficulty and slowly, made endless corrections; he doubted his powers, denied his talent, and he often said: ‘Writing is just like childbirth; until the fruit is ripe, it does not come out, and, when it does, it comes with pain and labor’.”

Humility

I am profoundly bottlenecked.

I am sometimes too hasty in the forming and giving forth of beliefs, and sometimes far too retarded.

I am often verbose, and sometimes bottlenecked.

I am rarely devoid of thought.

Over the last four years I have been taught a lot about humility. But there are several lessons I have been taught, but have not learned. And right now I can tell that I have a long way to go even beyond this unassimilated wisdom.

True, robust, meta humility is very difficult (both painful and requiring of a certain expertise).

Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA): Why it DOES Matter That Obama is Pro-Choice

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), is a bill introduced to Congress by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer that has been read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Barack Obama has indicated his support of this bill.

It says*, among other things, that...

...It is the policy of the United States that...
(b) A government may not--

(1) deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose--

(A) to bear a child;
(B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to [fetal] viability; or
(C) to terminate a pregnancy after [fetal] viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or

(2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information

"Government"

includes a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, or official (or other individual acting under color of law) of the United States, a State, or a subdivision of a State.

And "viability" is defined as

that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical judgment of the attending physician based on the particular medical facts of the case before the physician, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman.

So FOCA basically says that everywhere in America regardless of State or local law, any female can take the life of her unborn baby so long as she can find just one individual attending physician to judge that her baby wouldn't survive on its own if it were taken outside of the womb of its mother that instant, or to judge that her pregnancy endangers her health (not even her life, necessarily).

What does this have to do with Obama?



Well for one, he promised that it would be the first thing he signs as President.

And then there is the issue of appointing Supreme Court judges. Justice Stevens is getting old, and a couple of other judges are no doubt getting very close to throwing in the towel. While McCain has been explicit and thorough about his stance on legal matters, Obama has shied away from talking about anything legal, anything specific, and has only commented about the need to appoint judges who empathize with certain segments of society. In light of this and his radical pro-choice record, we can no doubt anticipate Obama's judicial appointments to be ruthlessly and undiscerningly pro-choice as well.

Want to know more about FOCA? Check out what the Family Research Council has to say:

The passage of FOCA would not only force the issue of taxpayer funded abortions on both the federal and state governments, but would also overturn the wishes of all 50 state legislatures and millions of people in the states. Many of these laws are hugely popular. For example, Florida's 1994 amendment requiring parental notification was approved in a referendum with 65 percent of the vote. In an October 2007 Harris poll, 38 percent of the respondents wanted no change in current abortion laws, while 42 percent wanted to see laws that made it tougher for a woman to get an abortion. Only 16 percent of respondents wanted the government to make it easier for a woman to get an abortion.[17]

The abortion industry already handsomely rewards its supporters in Congress with millions of dollars in campaign donations. In return, enactment of the Freedom of Choice Act by a pro-abortion Congress (which we currently have) and a pro-abortion President would lead to the biggest payoff in history for those who profit from abortions. All of this would come at taxpayer expense, with the federal and state governments losing the power to decide which legislative path they wish to pursue-one of promoting abortion or promoting life. Ironically, the Freedom of Choice Act would remove any concept of "choice" from the equation, by eliminating the right of states and U.S. citizens to have a say in the debate.

(McClusky, Date Unpublished)

*[GovTrack.us. S. 1173--110th Congress (2007): Freedom of Choice Act, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation) <http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1173> (accessed Sep 6, 2008)]

UCLA Social Scientists Find Significant Liberal Bias in Nearly All Major Media Outlets

A UCLA study that "is believed to be the first successful attempt at objectively quantifying bias in a range of media outlets and ranking them accordingly" found that "there is a quantifiable and significant bias in that nearly all of [the major media outlets] lean to the left" (Sullivan, 2005).

Before you react, read to the end of the article cited.

UPDATE: I found the study itself. If you or your school isn't subscribed to the MIT Press Quarterly Journal of Economics, you have to pay $10 to download it. But the abstract is free:

We measure media bias by estimating ideological scores for several major media outlets. To compute this, we count the times that a particular media outlet cites various think tanks and policy groups, and then compare this with the times that members of Congress cite the same groups. Our results show a strong liberal bias: all of the news outlets we examine, except Fox News' Special Report and the Washington Times, received scores to the left of the average member of Congress. Consistent with claims made by conservative critics, CBS Evening News and the New York Times received scores far to the left of center. The most centrist media outlets were PBS News Hour, CNN's Newsnight, and ABC's Good Morning America; among print outlets, USA Today was closest to the center. All of our findings refer strictly to news content; that is, we exclude editorials, letters, and the like.

-(MIT Press Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2005)

Why Obama is a Lesser Moral Monster (But a Monster Nonetheless)

I argued earlier that if a fetus is a person THEN it is wrong to terminate it.

I personally believe that personhood begins at conception, so I believe that abortion is inherently morally wrong (except in certain circumstances when the pregnancy critically endangers the life of the mother).

Now, you can disagree with me and support abortion without being a moral monster, if you believe that a fetus is not a person. You are wrong and there are terrible consequences to your false belief, but you are not a moral monster.

If you believe a fetus is a person AND you are pro-choice then you ARE a moral monster, because you are knowingly supportive of premeditated murder.

But what if you don't know for sure? I say that you are only slightly less of a monster than if you did know better, but a monster nonetheless. Like I said before, NEVER kill unless you can ID your target.

Would you stab a knife through a blanket if you weren't sure whether that the lump underneath was a human person or not?

When asked "Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?"

Obama answered:

This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates.

-Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008

How can he possibly justify support for abortion without being sure about when life begins?

Obama vis-à-vis Palin: Parenting

Here's how Obama says he would handle a hypothetical teen pregnancy:

I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old... I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.

Here's how Palin actually handled her daughter's pregnancy:

Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned... We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy, as has always been the tradition of children of candidates...

Aside from the glaring irony of Obama's insulting comments about his own daughters (think of telling YOUR CHILDREN you wouldn't want them PUNISHED by CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN), there is the slightly more subtle presence of just plain bad parenting latent in such a position. What happened to "morals" like taking responsibility for one's decisions, Mr. Obama?

Being pro-life is important, not just because of any legislation a leader might be involved in or judges he, or she, might appoint. Being pro-life is important because it reflects a proper understanding of reality, of values, of responsibility, and of parenting.

I guess "Husky" brand liners for your vehicle's floor or bed are all the rage now.

Personally I find this little phenomenon pretty entertaining.

My good friend Andy Isaacson just started selling Husky Liners, because he found out how popular they are.

"What are Husky Liners?" you ask.

You know those floor mats that come stock with your car? You know how they always wear out and get all ratty? You know how you always wear a hole through the driver's side one under the heel of your gas-pedal foot?

I guess people (especially in the Northwest, where it snows and where people actually walk around on surfaces other than concrete, like dirt or -gasp- mud!) are starting to really love replacing those with Husky brand floor liners. Weird, I know. But think about how dirty and soppy your car floor gets in the winter, on the way back from the beach, or after a camping trip. What if you had really nice, hardy, floor liners with thick tread that felt good on your feet (ergonomic?) and collected all the snow and mud you could ever dish out?

And of course you know how obsessed a lot of guys up here get about their trucks, so I don't even have to explain to you how valuable industrial strength bed liners are to guys like that ;).

So anyway I guess Husky is like supposed to be the brand of floor and bed liners to get. They're all the rage right now.

If you want to check 'em out, or if you're curious about possibly getting them for your car, go check out Andy's Husky Liners site and click on his links and buy stuff. It's an affiliate site, so don't be surprised if the links take you elsewhere before allowing you to go through the purchase process, but rest assured the process is secure.

Ahhh... life's little quirks.