tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post7287387308753680978..comments2024-02-24T05:19:10.949-05:00Comments on Durham-in-Wonderland: The Department of Non-Correctionskcjohnson9http://www.blogger.com/profile/09625813296986996867noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-87393491555728329162007-08-22T12:38:00.000-04:002007-08-22T12:38:00.000-04:00This is unrelated to the topic, but it is always c...This is unrelated to the topic, but it is always cool to google DIW from a hotel computer in Hong Kong and see from the autocomplete that I'm not the first to do so from this computer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-72898774423436788302007-08-22T11:51:00.000-04:002007-08-22T11:51:00.000-04:00to ralph 8.12I still do not get the quest for dive...to ralph 8.12<BR/><BR/>I still do not get the quest for diversity in every human endevor. <BR/><BR/>I can see in television programming. You want a mix: sports, reality, comedy, sci-fi, history, etc.<BR/><BR/>I can see in restaurants: Chinese, fast foods, veggie, cheap, all-night, etc.<BR/><BR/>The same for colleges, home builders, political parties, music, movies, cars, magazines, etc.<BR/><BR/>I do have to admit that I have a problem with diversity when it comes to news and justice. Why does diversity have to be racial? That means that if I read about Vick, I first should be aware of the author's skin color? I can see the value in opinion pieces, but not in hard news. What happens is that we hear that so and so is an Uncle Tom becuase if he was really black, he would not feel that way. Then there is the question that asks if Obama is black enough? That Prez Clinton was the first black president. That Jeter is not really all black, so his opinion is not valid regarding the black experience. That the Duke lacrosse players deserve the harassement they got becuase the NAACP says so. Why include their opinion as valuable when reporting the FACTS?<BR/><BR/>Like I said, I'm not sure why diversity is so NOW. But, you are right, that's how we end up with the Jaysons and many of the G88 of the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-55737000990670934122007-08-22T08:12:00.000-04:002007-08-22T08:12:00.000-04:00" have read that the Post wanted more "black" stor..." have read that the Post wanted more "black" stories, and at the time most papers were pretty white, so when Cooke,(black) applied for a job, and claimed she was a Phi Beta Kappa Vassar grad, they didn't even check"<BR/><BR/>This remind anyone else of the story of <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair" REL="nofollow">Jayson Blair?</A><BR/><BR/>But remember everyone, the quest for diversity does not entail lowering standards. The check is in the mail. And Islam is a religion of peace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-566649965054838052007-08-22T00:18:00.000-04:002007-08-22T00:18:00.000-04:00TO GARY AT 11.11"I can't help but wonder if this w...TO GARY AT 11.11<BR/><BR/>"I can't help but wonder if this was on of the first example of writers writing the formal version of the ranting's of various social alarmists and their incessant chants about what is wrong with America"<BR/>::::::<BR/>I don't think this was the first example, but the first hoax to get a Pulitzer Prize. I have read that the Post wanted more "black" stories, and at the time most papers were pretty white, so when Cooke,(black) applied for a job, and claimed she was a Phi Beta Kappa Vassar grad, they didn't even check, and gave her a key to the printing press. So who knows? It took the Post about 7 months to admit it was a hoax. And that was after the NYT, and LA Times, and others wrote countless articles about the hoax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-38343767903792810262007-08-21T23:33:00.000-04:002007-08-21T23:33:00.000-04:00I may have to raise my opinion of the mental prowe...I may have to raise my opinion of the mental prowess of the G88. Brilliant, really! Make a snarky comment about somebody's picture, and the usually insightful posters here take off on a tangent that makes everybody look dopey.<BR/><BR/>I'm just sayin'<BR/><BR/>-RDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-14816890770993529732007-08-21T23:11:00.000-04:002007-08-21T23:11:00.000-04:00Anonymous 5:55 said... ...If you are not familiar ...Anonymous 5:55 said... <BR/><BR/>...If you are not familiar with the hoax, it is fun reading. If you have an extra couple of minutes, read it. With her success on this story, Cooke had started on another hoax about a 14-year-old prostitute with a 20-year-old- pimp, both black. Just imagine what 2 young homeless blacks look like. Then imagine Cooke stating she was meeting them in a restaurant in Georgetown! Wild. And she had supporters on this story. I don’t know why they never made a movie about Cooke’s life. <BR/><BR/>http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/Jimmy's%20World.htm <BR/>::<BR/>Thanks for this reference and suggestion that we read. It is an important story.<BR/><BR/>I can't help but wonder if this was on of the first example of writers writing the formal version of the ranting's of various social alarmists and their incessant chants about what is wrong with America. <BR/><BR/>How can a young writer hope to compete with the nonsense espoused by the G88 for example. <BR/><BR/>I will watch my expectations closely.<BR/><BR/>I also recommend this article.<BR/>::<BR/>GPGary Packwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05177986821224068759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-53823798992955427412007-08-21T21:35:00.000-04:002007-08-21T21:35:00.000-04:00" It would be absurd for me or any other editor to..." It would be absurd for me or any other editor to review the authenticity or accuracy of stories that are nominated for prizes."<BR/><BR/>I can understand why noone in journalism wants to go there (*cough* Duranty *cough*) (And yes, Walter Duranty <B>was</B> a Communist.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-7964502349668621752007-08-21T17:55:00.000-04:002007-08-21T17:55:00.000-04:00to 1.08I agree that since the MSM is interested no...to 1.08<BR/><BR/>I agree that since the MSM is interested not in just making money, but also in advancing a certain philosophy, they will not correct published stories unless they dragged into it. <BR/><BR/>The Washington Post has done this for years. One example was their story on the plight of a young black in DC. This is an old story, but it demonstrates they still suffer from the same pathology.<BR/><BR/>Janet Cooke wrote a completely fabricated story about an 8-year-old drug addict in DC. Even though problems began to arise with her story after it had been published by the Washington Post, (for one, the police department looked for the kid for 17 days and could not find him) Bob Woodward nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize. She pulled the wool over the best investigative reporter (Watergate fame) in the universe? Right. A few days after she had won the Prize, the Post had to state the story was a hoax. It’s hard to believe, but this is what Bob Woodward said: <BR/><BR/> “I think that the decision to nominate the story for a Pulitzer is of minimal consequence. I also think that it won is of little consequence. It is a brilliant story -- fake and fraud that it is. It would be absurd for me or any other editor to review the authenticity or accuracy of stories that are nominated for prizes." <BR/>:::::<BR/>I’m sure that the Post was furious to have gotten caught, but Woodward shows his arrogance by the fact that the story is what counts--not authenticity. <BR/>:::::::::::::::::::::::::<BR/><BR/>If you are not familiar with the hoax, it is fun reading. If you have an extra couple of minutes, read it. With her success on this story, Cooke had started on another hoax about a 14-year-old prostitute with a 20-year-old- pimp, both black. Just imagine what 2 young homeless blacks look like. Then imagine Cooke stating she was meeting them in a restaurant in Georgetown! Wild. And she had supporters on this story. I don’t know why they never made a movie about Cooke’s life. <BR/><BR/>http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/Jimmy's%20World.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-4492464916182352692007-08-21T16:57:00.000-04:002007-08-21T16:57:00.000-04:00"Wrong: people are responsible for how they dress ...<I>"Wrong: people are responsible for how they dress themselves; their manner of dress is a personal statement about how they wish to be viewed...(a paraphrase from Wilde - I think?)"</I><BR/><BR/>Quite true.<BR/><BR/>I attempted to leave a similar post before I left this morning, but it didn't work.<BR/><BR/>Wish I had used Oscar Wilde. One should <I>always</I> quote Oscar Wilde.Debrahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567454727276881424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-62123121600259509162007-08-21T15:22:00.000-04:002007-08-21T15:22:00.000-04:00"'Trying to hold people responsible for what they ..."'Trying to hold people responsible for what they look like...should be stopped.'<BR/><BR/>Wrong: people are responsible for how they dress themselves; their manner of dress is a personal statement about how they wish to be viewed...(a paraphrase from Wilde - I think?)"<BR/><BR/>The comment I was responding to, Mac, was "She looks like a guy. Read whatever you want into that." Not "she has chosen to dress like a guy", but "she looks like a guy."<BR/><BR/>Many of the group of 88 made unjustifiable, indefensible statements and then later tried to excuse them by claiming that the statement hadn't <I>really</I> said what anyone reading the statement knew it was saying. To pretend that out of all the things that fall under the category of "looks like", that <I>only</I> the one which can be considered reasonably under the control of the individual in question was being referenced in Rod Allison's statement is to lower yourself to the pathetic level of all those G88ers who try cravenly now to pretend that the phrase "what happened to this young woman" in the listening statement meant "drunkenness".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-36520599741851508002007-08-21T15:03:00.000-04:002007-08-21T15:03:00.000-04:00Thomas Sowell must have just taken a trip through ...Thomas Sowell must have just taken a trip through Durham...<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Mjc2NGM4NTBmYmUwYzRkYzNmMGVkMWZhYjU5ZjEzNDE=" REL="nofollow">Hopelessly Devoted to Failure<BR/></A><BR/><BR/>"...Blacks are to the Left today what the working class were to Marx in the 19th century — pawns in an ideological game..."<BR/><BR/>"...Blacks who rise out of poverty are of no great interest to the Left, unless the way they do so is by attacking society..."<BR/><BR/>"...A whole mythology has grown up that the advancement of minorities and women in America is a result of policies promoted by the Left in the 1960s. Such claims are often based on nothing more substantial than ignoring the history of the progress made prior to 1960..."<BR/><BR/>What's not to like about this man? He even wears a jacket and tie in his photo and is smiling...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-82766417126411388312007-08-21T14:19:00.000-04:002007-08-21T14:19:00.000-04:00Many newspapers, and unfortunately a whole host of...Many newspapers, and unfortunately a whole host of 'intellectuals', promote the emplacement of shield laws, specifically to shield journalists who use anonymous sources. They claim it's in the public interest and promotes the Public's Right To Know (which I have somehow never been able to find in the Bill of Rights, but that's a different rant).<BR/><BR/>As we can see, anonymous sources can be superb reinforcement for viciously biased, or wholly fictional, news stories. If we're going to defend the public interest, let's add to any such shield law a heavy penalty against any news medium whose anonymous sources can be shown to have provided false or misleading information.<BR/><BR/>After all, by McCain-Feingold the news media are exempted from the campaign finance restrictions. Therefore use its definition of who's part of 'news media', and add to the above heavy penalty for anonymously-sourced fake information all the penalties of McCain-Feingold when said fake data has the power to affect an election.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-19807961194781331012007-08-21T14:04:00.000-04:002007-08-21T14:04:00.000-04:00"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand ..."I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying." (Oscar Wilde)<BR/><BR/>Could be a quote from most anyone in the 88. Or from Duff, Salmonella, the HS-SH...the whole crew!machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248016116043347912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-16689922153297158512007-08-21T13:54:00.000-04:002007-08-21T13:54:00.000-04:00American Heritage Dictionary - com·mod·i·ty ...American Heritage Dictionary - <BR/><BR/>com·mod·i·ty (kə-mŏd'ĭ-tē) n. pl. com·mod·i·ties <BR/><BR/>Something useful that can be turned to commercial or other advantage: <BR/><BR/>"Left-handed, power-hitting third basemen are a rare commodity in the big leagues" (Steve Guiremand). <BR/><BR/>An article of trade or commerce, especially an agricultural or mining product that can be processed and resold. <BR/><BR/>Advantage; benefit. <BR/><BR/>Obsolete A quantity of goods.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-42528180164596691762007-08-21T13:48:00.000-04:002007-08-21T13:48:00.000-04:0010:16"Trying to hold people responsible for what t...10:16<BR/>"Trying to hold people responsible for what they look like...should be stopped."<BR/><BR/>Wrong: people are responsible for how they dress themselves; their manner of dress is a personal statement about how they wish to be viewed...(a paraphrase from Wilde - I think?)<BR/><BR/>In any case, doesn't Vick look like an artist's conception of Beelzebub? I always thought so, but resisted saying it until now. (Now I'm guessing he WANTS to look like Beelzebub, since it has been demonstrated that he is in league with the same, who reportedly was in attendance at some of the entertainment.)<BR/>Michael Wilbon has a pretty good take on Vick, BTW.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248016116043347912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-24562228233877917382007-08-21T13:08:00.000-04:002007-08-21T13:08:00.000-04:00Another great post.Whether it be the media (mainst...Another great post.<BR/><BR/>Whether it be the media (mainstream and/or new) or the group of 88, Prof. Johnson's post reflects a decline of standards. No need for a reporter to verify an anonymous source's questionable facts - just print it; no need for a tenured professor to actually do research - just publish a theory as fact; no for a prosecutor to have evidence to support an indictment - just indict the most convenient (clearly innocent) defendants. When the goal is a front page article, rather than accurate and truthful reporting, advancing an agenda, rather than true scholarship or winning an election, rather than doing justice, the standard of "non-corrections" is THE standard.<BR/><BR/>I remember being taught, at home and at school, that there is always a right way and a wrong way to do any given task. The wrong way, typically the most expedient, is, unfortunately, the new standard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-55277170431599692122007-08-21T12:27:00.000-04:002007-08-21T12:27:00.000-04:00Steven Horwitz I think we could, with no risk to t...Steven Horwitz <BR/><BR/>I think we could, with no risk to the Constitution, modify libel law to remove the special privileges courts have given the press in recent decades and hold them to the same standards of accuracy as everyone else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-70210586785704105382007-08-21T11:57:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:57:00.000-04:001049 writes:However, when the news media blatantly...1049 writes:<BR/><BR/><I>However, when the news media blatantly prints unsubstantiated, and generally false news, that is harmful to an individual's or group of people's reputation--based on a so-called anonymous source--there should be sanctions.</I><BR/><BR/>By the government? Good luck with that whole constitution thing. If not, then by whom and enforced how?Steven Horwitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00470758334242360804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-90863177278220794112007-08-21T11:51:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:51:00.000-04:00Am I biased, or is there a tremendous difference i...Am I biased, or is there a tremendous difference in how the media has cautiously treated Michael Vick versus the almost immediate declaration of the Duke boys guilt...even after all the witnesses and the report that Vick will plead guilty?<BR/><BR/>Personally, I think Vick should not go to prison, but instead serve a worse sentence: A 5-year no-out contract to play for Detroit!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-289360939058031602007-08-21T11:44:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:44:00.000-04:00Gender-based PC police attack Northwestern Univers...<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/health/psychology/21gender.html?ex=1345348800&en=0c1176374e251f82&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss" REL="nofollow">Gender-based PC police attack Northwestern University researcher</A><BR/><BR/>(Yes, I know its the NY Slimes, but the story is noteworthy and topical.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-76033357914367927022007-08-21T11:42:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:42:00.000-04:00All who hold their breath waiting for a retraction...All who hold their breath waiting for a retraction from any of these MSM sources will die of anoxia.<BR/><BR/>It will NOT happen because it does not serve their political purpose.<BR/><BR/>The feminist movement is no longer about freedom for women. The civil rights movement is no longer about freedom for blacks. <BR/><BR/>Both movements, well-intentioned in their beginnings, have become anti-male, anti-white, and anti-truth.<BR/><BR/>Their agenda is no longer freedom, but revenge, and reverse enslavement. Their "enemies" are those who are white, wealthy, male, or conservative. <BR/><BR/>The published articles / syllabus etc. of the Gang of 88 are perfect examples of this distortion. In seeking to examine and learn from history, they have made the sad lessons of the past into a rallying cry for retaliation.<BR/><BR/>And just as those whom they have criticized ( some of it legitimate; much of it distorted) they have chosen not to become beacons of freedom through truth, but reverse-enslavers.<BR/><BR/>Shame! The lessons of history are being ignored. It is a terribly dangerous trend. <BR/><BR/>dslAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-8345486523268683942007-08-21T11:39:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:39:00.000-04:00I contacted a reporter friend of mine (20 years ex...I contacted a reporter friend of mine (20 years experience) who said (off the record) that if he were to advise someone on how to get the article corrected, he would not contact the reporter but go to the public editor or ombudsman. He said reporters hate agreeing to corrections because it gets them in trouble. He said that his last correction was in 1999. Seems like with the internet and reporters' email accounts being accessible, that the system should change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-29939652598143331902007-08-21T11:33:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:33:00.000-04:00Duke is giving out a Durham edition N & O this yea...Duke is giving out a Durham edition N & O this year --- not the HS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-90789238679226524902007-08-21T11:29:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:29:00.000-04:0011:12No Adelson is a commonality.11:12<BR/><BR/>No Adelson is a commonality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-22010303428761858482007-08-21T11:12:00.000-04:002007-08-21T11:12:00.000-04:00Is Adelson a commodity?Is Adelson a commodity?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com