Fair and Balanced: Getting the "News" in America

The conventions are over. American politics moves on and it seems that the country is split down the middle.

The thing that impressed me the most was the vocal expressions of dissent and affirmation by – everybody.

America is the best place to hold an election. I couldn’t even imagine the goings on in Denver and St. Paul being replayed on the streets of most nations.That was the good part.

The bad part was that everyone had an opinion. I expect people to be opinionated but the news reporters turned out to be nothing more than shills and prostitutes for their respective candidates.

I have an opinion, we all have opinions, but I expect a news reporter to have some dignity and ethics about the profession. I don’t want them to give me their opinion of what happened – I can make up my own mind, thank you very much; but I would like them to tell me what actually happened.

American news reporters have become no more than walking gossip mongers. THey are so full of their own inflated opinion that I doubt if they could actually give a true picture of an event without adding biased language one way or the other.

So let’s see whose opinion the people believe. Watching the news is more like listening to a preacher in church than listening to a report from the town crier. Walter Cronkite is surely dead and Tim Russert of MSNBC has no replacement. Even Greta Van Susteren of FOXNEWS, a lawyer who one would think, familiar with the concept of ethics and decorum, could not help herself in declaring for one candidate. A judgeship is obviously not her goal.

Is it not possible for news reporters to be impartial – and cast their vote in the privacy of a booth rather than publicly, via running lips in a supposedly professional position? FOXNEWS: We report You decide? Obviously not. Rather: “We decide, We report.” Or maybe MSNBC: “My Side Not Both Countdown?” Or CNN: “Comments Not News.”

I give credit to FOXNEWS for trying. Their “pool camera” work at the Democratic Convention was excellent, while the CNN pool at the Republican Convention paled in comparison. It got better, I think even their peers complained. The problem I have with FOXNEWS is that their opinion makers were disguised as news people. Except for Mr Hannity who clearly, several times reminded people that he was not a news reporter. And then there is MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann who could not be called a reporter by any definition.

Does anybody know what is actually happening in America - or, just some gossip and opinion? I wonder.

Welcome to Beijing!

Thanks to: blogspot.com

The Times They Are A Changin'

US Election Gets More Interesting.

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With Friends Like This Does Obama Have A Chance?

Notice the portrait on the wall and what's in the fireplace.

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September 13: To Be or Not To Be?

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Rumors are flying around Nagoya that there will be a major earthquake in Okazaki City, one hour southeast of the city on the Shinkansen line to Tokyo.

It seems that the soothsayers, fortune tellers and Shamans are receiving vibes and as we draw closer, don't be surprised if the superstious and the prudent schedule their vacations over that weekend (Saturday, September 13th).

Personally, I think it is an excellent time to visit - well, anywhere.

Anyone have a direct connection to the "source?"

A call to end child 'kidnappings'

Which country abducts children: North Korea or Japan?

All of Japan wants North Korea to account for the abductions of children like Megumi Yokota and return her if she is still alive. But despite this nationally shared experience of grief, the Japanese government will not return children from other countries abducted to Japan by Japanese citizens. Further, Japan refuses international calls to sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This widely signed treaty requires a country to expeditiously return abducted children to their country of habitual residence. The same thing Japan is asking of North Korea!! Japan has not signed this treaty.

In international parental abduction cases brought to court, Japan claims that parental abduction is not a crime. Courts up to the Supreme Court of Japan routinely refuse to return children to foreign parents with legal custody already ordered by foreign courts. Foreign courts in the country the children were living at the time the Japanese parent abducted them. The issues show that the Japanese government allows its own citizens should be allowed to abduct children from other countries with impunity.

From: The Japan Children's Rights Network

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