Media
jtoney | July 20, 2011
Michael Bay's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" is a visually ugly film with an incoherent plot, wooden characters and inane dialog. It provided me with one of the more unpleasant experiences I've had at the movies.
Roger Ebert
Having witnessed the destruction of the twin towers on 9/11 from across the Hudson river, it was years before I could look at an airplane taking off from Newark airport without evoking that nightmare. Watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon brought it back in a visceral way with scene after numbing scene of toppling skyscrapers destroyed by Decepticons.
Yes, the…
pharyngula | July 20, 2011Is anyone surprised that Bill O'Reilly slavishly defends Rupert Murdoch? Of course not — I'm pretty sure his employers have tattooed the word "tool" somewhere on his anatomy. You might be surprised at the stupidity of his rationale…wait, no, you won't be. Nothing the "tide goes in, tide goes out" man says could be unexpectedly inane.
I give up. There's nothing surprising here. Bill O'Reilly brings in a stooge from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, and they sit around whining about the fact that the NY Times has been reporting on the NewsCorp scandals…because it's a British affair. Who cares…
pharyngula | July 19, 2011There's a Sarah Palin "documentary" out, called The Undefeated, and it's a weird example of conservatives trying to create a new alternative reality again. First, she was defeated: notice that it isn't Vice President Palin. Second, the professional reviewers are all panning the movie — it's a hagiographic mess. But the crazies on the right must salvage the reputation of the movie, for great honor.
The tactic they've chosen is to claim that it has tremendous grass roots appeal and that audiences have been flocking to it. Right-wing bloggers have been shouting that "'The Undefeated' Roars to…
jtoney | July 18, 2011
FILE - In this July 7, 2011 photo, Casey Anthony sits in the courtroom before a sentencing hearing in Orlando, Fla. Anthony was acquitted on charges of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008, and was found guilty on four charges of lying to law enforcement officers. She is to be released from jail Sunday, July 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool)
Who would you choose as a lunch partner? Your decision could benefit some very important charities.
Charitybuzz, whose motto is "Do Good, Live Well," has developed an innovative model for fundraising for non-profit organizations. The…
jtoney | July 13, 2011
Those late nights of coffee-induced creativity sessions. Whether they're a memory or a recurring event, how we share them has changed dramatically.
In our 24 hour/seven days per week cycle of news media and activity in general, there is yet another mode of expression and sharing of what's going on this instant....Instagram.
Peaks such as this used to be reserved for an inner circle of friends. Now fans {I am one of them} can take a gander, if they wish, into the creative process. I am lucky to have close friends who are composers, musicologists, and my mother was an artist. In this…
jtoney | July 13, 2011When I saw the message below from Charles Blow, columnist for The New York Times, and listened to the audio from Rep. Bachmann, I considered writing a commentary about the position of the American Psychiatric Association on the use of "reparation therapy" to "cure" homosexuals in light of Dr. Marcus Bachmann's business. Then I thought: let the readers and listeners consider Rep. Bachmann's own words, delivered in a heartfelt, sincere tone. After all, she is running for President of the United States.
CharlesMBlow Charles M. Blow
RT @memeorandum Audio: Bachmann in '04: 'It's part of Satan,…
jtoney | July 13, 2011
Source.
Disagreements can arouse passions. The blogosphere can be a battlefield, with rapid fire blog posts and comments flying to and fro, sometimes helpful and thoughtful, sometimes off point unbridled ranting.
There's been a lot of discussion amongst my fellow Sciblings and our sponsors on this topic - dare I say it? It begins with the letter "C" - no, sorry, I can't use it - at least at this moment.
Here's a simple test: would you feel comfortable for your spouse or your employer to read what you posted?
There is an allure to venting, especially anonymously, because the reader - and…
pharyngula | July 12, 2011I've never heard of Alex Beam before, which is a good thing — he seems to be some kind of journalist at the Boston Globe, and that's about all I know about him, other than that he seems to be an oblivious idiot. He has a column up in which he rages about the phrase "knowledge-based", apparently because he doesn't understand it. His first target is to fulminate against that expression, "reality based", which many on the left adopted after the lunacy of the Bush presidency, a phrase invented by the Bushies to describe us:
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based…
jtoney | July 7, 2011I've written about Going Gaga, but this is a curious turn.... Republican Presidential Candidate Tim Pawlenty Goes Gaga. Is he becoming a "little monster"?
Can anyone explain a Republican candidate for President of the United States providing ad lib supportive commentary on a pop superstar, known for her support of the gay community {e.g., marriage equality}, amidst the intense negotiations about our nation's debt ceiling? I think I know the answer.
His "all time" favorite performer is Bruce Springsteen, but he asks his interviewers what their favoriate Lady Gaga song is, then launches…
pharyngula | July 7, 2011Here's an extraordinarily clear short summary of Rupert Murdoch's misery, the commendable efforts of the Guardian to report on the sleaze, and the likely fate of the principals — written with oblivious Americans in mind. By the way, one of Murdoch's cheese factories, News of the World, has gone down in flames, like a great bloated dirigible strafed by Twitter. I am amused.
If only the US could do something similar to Fox News…
jtoney | July 6, 2011Can animals be immortal?
This question is explored by RocketBoom in an interesting way - providing examples of regeneration in nature, from fungi to jellyfish to...well, I'll let Molly explain.
Nothing lasts forever, but the animals on today's episode stick around a lot longer than the rest of us. Molly
In case you're not familiar with their website, it provides fresh perspectives to a wide variety of topics:
Rocketboom is a daily international news and entertainment network of online programming based in New York City. We cover and create a wide range of information and commentary from…
pharyngula | July 5, 2011We already know how unethical and sleazy Murdoch-owned media are — and now, if you're in the UK, you should be aware that he's making a grab to take control of an even larger slice of the media pie.
Murdoch already controls more of our media than is legal in many countries - and is notorious for using his power to skew our politics. The official consultation ends this Friday -- let's tell the government we don't want his media empire to control our largest commercial broadcaster. Send a message now -- using your own words to make it stand out -- calling on Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron to…
jtoney | July 2, 2011
Photo Source, D W S' Flickr Photostream.
Dr. Cynthia Boaz, an assistant professor of political science at Sonoma State University, published a thoughtful article at Truthout that deconstructs an example of a news media outlet that is not "fair and balanced." I would like to share her analysis as "14 Ways to Skin a FOX {News}", supplemented with my own commentary. Note that this is in no way unique to FOX News and is presented to readers as a case study for your consideration.
As one of my mentors once told me:
Sometimes when you make an omelet you've gotta break a few eggs.
Below are…
jtoney | July 2, 2011My last post "How Tea Party Members Don't Always March to the Same Beat" generated some strong opinions from readers. My goal was to add nuance to the political discourse, reminding us that voters labeled by one particular group are not a monolith, marching in lock step - despite the caricatures portrayed in most news media.
One reader posted the following comment exemplifying this point:
Actually I totally believe the author when he says he has voted straight party line, and yet has those "progressive" opinions.
At the end of the day, voters assess the totality of the candidate and ask…
jtoney | June 30, 2011
Photo source.
The blogosphere can be a strange world for writers, offering vistas as broad ranging and fickle as human nature itself. Bloggers relying on pageviews for sustenance, even those who do not, face the challenge of attracting as many readers as possible, sometimes at the cost of becoming an uncivil "woo meister," provocateur or even worse, a demagogue.
From my first post at "Dean's Corner," I wanted to avoid these potential traps and to simply share what I love about science, sometimes bringing to light mistruths or misrepresentations - at least in my opinion. So,
I blog for…
jtoney | June 29, 2011
Photo source.
My recent post "Inquiring Readers Want to Know: "Why is My Poop Green?" generated an extraordinary amount of interest. Why?
In the previous post, I was exploring search terms that ScienceBlogs readers most commonly use as an indicator of their interest. I could have chosen any title, but decided to go with reference to the search term "Why is my poop green?"
Did readers' interest respond to a "poop factor," {silliness? scatological humor?} or was it because of the more extensive list I included from the top 500 terms that included, in my opinion, many more interesting…
jtoney | June 29, 2011Chris Wallace Asking Michele Bachmann if she is a flake. Fox News Sunday.
"I've worked in serious scholarship..." Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Really?
I am no fan of personal attacks on politicians. In the case of Rep. Michele Bachmann, her own words are, sadly, fulfilling the same function. During the recent Fox news interview with Chris Wallace, for which Mr. Wallace apologized for using the term "flake," Rep. Bachmann defended herself by focusing on her age, years of her marriage, and involvement in "serious scholarship" among other items.
The latter statement got my interest. Unfortunately…
jtoney | June 23, 2011
Liquid mountaineering.
Photo source.
Curiouser and curiouser...
Intrigued by your interests on ScienceBlogs, I did an experiment.
I took a look at what you were searching for a year ago, during the month of June 2010 and uncovered some curious things. As in my last post {Inquiring Readers Want to Know: "Why Is My Poop Green?}, I focused on your top 500 keywords (out of 343,309.) Lists such as these could provide endless possibilities of topics for blog posts. There's simply not enough time - anyone want to help write some of these?
My prof got run over by an iPod
Liquid mountaineering…
jtoney | June 21, 2011
Photo source, San Jose Library Flickr Photostream.
So you're on ScienceBlogs. What interests you, what are you looking for? As a regular blogger, I wanted to know.
One way to explore these questions is to take a random sampling of keywords that readers have used to search this site. I selected the past month and scanned the top 500 terms (out of a total of 292,566 - but who's counting?)
During this past month, there were 3,860,385 visits at ScienceBlogs. I learned something interesting. Take a look at some of my favorites, listed below and ranked from high to low popularity: {I may…
jtoney | June 20, 2011
Miss California Alyssa Campanella wins the 2011 Miss USA Pageant. In preliminary judging, Campenella supported teaching evolution in public schools. In the finals, she gave a complex answer on legalizing marijuana.
Photo Credit: By Valerie Macon, AFP/Getty Images
This is my favorite story of the day:
The newly crowned Miss USA, Alyssa Campanella, 21, of Los Angeles said:
I was taught evolution in high school. I do believe in it. I'm a huge science geek...I like to believe in the big bang theory and, you know, the evolution of humans throughout time.
Of course, other contestants did not…