Another ethical lapse from Big Media:
ABC News’ Sunlen Miller and Teddy Davis claimed on Feb. 19 that the story of Obama borrowing Patrick’s “just words” line was “first reported by ABC News’ Jake Tapper.” Not true! The story of Obama borrowing Patrick’s “just words” line was first reported by Scott Helman of the Boston Globe in April 2007.
ABC News’ attempt to claim credit for breaking this bogus plagiarism story is, if anything, a greater moral offense than Obama’s bogus plagiarism itself (though both ethical breaches are measured in microns). After all, ABC News is claiming affirmatively that it broke the plagiarism story. Obama, though he borrowed Patrick’s words (just as, on previous occasions, Patrick has borrowed his) never claimed affirmatively that he invented them. Or rather, that his campaign staff invented them, though here things get a little complicated because the line was probably fed to both Patrick and Obama by the political strategist, David Axelrod, who has worked for both of them.
Here’s the wikipedia entry on Huma Abedin. Who’s Huma Abedin? Well, read the “discussion” tab on Wikipedia for that.
This Internet thingee makes rumor-mongering very easy. Guess it’s a good thing we still have traditional gatekeepers.
Is criticizing a religion hate speech?
A gay porn activist, who usually travels to college campuses advocating condom use, is drawing fire for his criticism of Islam. Here’s a column Mike Lucas wrote for the Stanford University student paper expressing his views. The column is interesting and so are the comments from students and others. Many accuse him of hate speech.
It’s an interesting case because it begs the question — if you criticize someone’s religion, is that hate speech?
I’m taking a class called the “Rhetoric of Hate” this semester. We sit around and read racist documents. Good fun. Anyhoo, I think I’ll compose a “Rhetorical Analysis” of this article and the comments. I’ll post my results.
I’ve been checking out this new site Wikihow.com for the last few days. Pretty interesting stuff. Here’s how to answer that age-old interview question: “What’s your biggest weakness?”
Hint: Don’t say — “I like to work too hard. Sometimes I just put in too much effort.”
Huge news day. Castro resigns. Kosovo declares independence. Pakistan voters toss out Musharraf. Some serious history being made.
Sorry for the light blogging lately. A tad under the weather.
Here’s a list of Nikola Tesla‘s patents — for your reading pleasure.
Had never heard of Godwin’s Law:
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
Also known as Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies.
Good stuff.
Yeah, I caught the last seven minutes of the Cuba Gooding Jr. movie “Radio” on television a little while ago. Never saw the first 1 hour and 53 minutes, but that didn’t keep me from crying.
When I heat up water for a cup of tea in my microwave, it takes exactly 60 seconds. Not 50 seconds. Not 70 seconds. Exactly 60 seconds. Is this a coincidence? I THINK NOT!
