Accuracy in Media

[Occhidiangela]

http://www.caller.com/


The man in the picture being pulled from the car works across the hall from me. Well, today he is in the hospital, some broken bones, I think some surgery pending.

Note the description of the car he was driving.

Corpus Christi Fire Department removed this unidentified man from his Dodge Neon after it was involved in a two-car accident around 7 a.m. Wednesday at Rodd Field Road, one block south of SPID. Rescue workers had to cut the top off after he was pinned behind the steering wheel from the impact of a Mitsubishi Montero Sport.

If you look carefully at the photo, you will notice that he was driving his Porsche (The logo is at the bottom center - right of the page on the crumpled hood of the car, just left of the last fireman's elbow.) He was hit on the road I usually take to work, at about the time I was on the road today. This A.M., I took an alternate route to work in order pick up some Bold coffee at the Krispy Kreme a mile west of where he had the accident. Saved by a caffeine addiction? I treat myself to coffee "out" once a week, the other days I make it in the kitchen.

There but for dumb luck went I, (rumor has it the Montero ran the light) with my crumpled Saturn described as a late model T-Bird, or some such "accurate" reportage.

Life's a funny old thing, but the news media -- particularly the CC Fishwrapper -- is in the "so awful it is comical" class regarding how they treat simple things like

Facts.

Details.

This story is from the same newspaper that broke the VP Cheney shotgun incident a few months ago. Quality journalism . . . is still a goal.

Occhi

PS: Oh Irony, thy name is Caller Times. Down the left margin, 2/3 down the page, is the latest editorial from one of our local historians named Murphy Givens. (It came out in Sunday's paper, print edition)

The title?

Are Corpus Christi's drivers that bad? Yes

[Chesspiece_face]

Porsche or neon, he's damn lucky to be alive after being hit by one of those things.

[Occhidiangela]

Porsche or neon, he's damn lucky to be alive after being hit by one of those things.

True.

Looks like someone at the paper picked up on the earlier error. The "full story" now reads (in part):

The driver of the Montero was cited for failure to yield the right of way. Corpus Christi firefighters had to cut the top off the Porsche to free the man, who was pinned beneath the steering wheel. Fire officials said the 28-year-old driver of the Porsche, whose name was not released late Wednesday, was transported to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

In other news, a Texas man has chosen to emulate Frodo, the Nine Fingered.

Check this out. He allegedly cut off his finger and mailed it to his ex girlfriend! As of this morning, he was rumored to be hiding out near Spring Texas. That news tidbit earned a "WTF" from me.

In the only good news, other than sunny and humid yet again, the Railway Killer was put to death in Huntsville today.

That's all from the Looney Star State, sorry, Lone Star State, I am off to see Superman with the kids.:)

Occhi

[Mithrandir]

This reminds me of the time one of my roommates was attacked and beaten up pretty badly while walking back to our house drunk from a party. Waking up in the middle of the night and hearing the individual who got attacked being asked by another one of our friends who had taken him into our bathroom to clean him up, "Do you want me to put your nose back in the center of your face?" is always good.

The next day there was an article in the paper about the incident... except they got the time of day, number of attackers, make and model of the attackers' car, the hospital he was eventually taken to, the area in which he was attacked AND the day itself that he was attacked on wrong.

I seriously think someone at the paper heard about the incident and then just decided to make up the rest. It was an amazing piece of journalistic integrity.

[DeeBye]

There was a ridiculous story on CNN recently about China considering a visit to the moon. No, that's not the ridiculous part. The accompanying photo was a Photoshop of the moon with a Japanese flag planted in it. Those damned Asians are all the same, apparently:huh:

They've since removed the image.

[--Pete]

Hi,

There was a ridiculous story on CNN recently about China considering a visit to the moon. No, that's not the ridiculous part.

Yes it is (although the flag screw up is pretty good, too). Putting a man on the moon is a political dog and pony show. And that it had already been done half a century before the Chinese project will come to fruition makes its purpose moot.

Now, building a scientific and engineering colony on the moon, that would be a worth while goal. Using the mass of the moon to build an environment were reasonable shielding from radiation is possible. Using the reduced gravity to build space probes, telescopes, etc., easier than on Earth. And taking advantage of the lower (1/6th IIRC) gravitational curb to stage and launch more payload on missions would make planetary exploration (and, eventually, colonization) a real possibility.

But to send a 'visitor' to the moon to get some form of international recognition for their technical prowess? Now that's funny. And a stupid waste of resources. Just as it was when we did it.

Back on topic; the dozen or so times that I've been involved or at the scene when something was recorded have a perfect average. Zero percent accuracy. From discussions with others, this is common. And yet people still buy newspapers, listen to radio, and watch TV news. Why? You start out ignorant, then the media misinforms you. You then know less than you knew before. Freedom of the press? They're out to educate and inform? Give me a break. The only freedom the press seems to want is the freedom to #$%& up.

--Pete

[Alram]

[Drasca]

I took an alternate route to work in order pick up some Bold coffee at the Krispy Kreme

Saved by a caffeine addiction?

Are you unseriously implying you were saved by your desire for Coffee? Krispy Kreme is a well known doughnut & pastries franchise. I'm betting it is the love for sugary confections on high cholesterol bread-like products. Saved by coffee, no. Saved by the dough-nut boy, definitely. Hmm. Must... visit krispy kreme in local area...

[Rhydderch Hael]

There was a ridiculous story on CNN recently about China considering a visit to the moon. No, that's not the ridiculous part. The accompanying photo was a Photoshop of the moon with a Japanese flag planted in it. Those damned Asians are all the same, apparently:huh:

They've since removed the image.

Furthermore, the flag's shadow painted on the moon's surface did no reconcile with the lighting of the moon.

That, and the moon they used in the photo was one of Saturn's, not Earth's.

[Kylearan]

Hi,

There was a ridiculous story on CNN recently about China considering a visit to the moon.

You mean ridiculous because they'd like to try what NASA had failed to do nearly 40 years ago?

...you do know that the whole Apollo mission was a hoax, don't you? :whistling:

-Kylearan, editor in chief of the Sceptical Inquirer

[Occhidiangela]

Are you unseriously implying you were saved by your desire for Coffee? Krispy Kreme is a well known doughnut & pastries franchise. I'm betting it is the love for sugary confections on high cholesterol bread-like products. Saved by coffee, no. Saved by the dough-nut boy, definitely. Hmm. Must... visit krispy kreme in local area...

Krispy Kreme is no pastry shop, it is a low quality, mas produced, donut shop. Dunkin' Donuts, on the other hand, is brilliant. There are pastry shops here in town, my favorite is a little French bakery called "Le Success." (I think I spelled that correctly.)

The local Krispy Kreme has four flavors of coffee, and only 4. Bold is their strongest, and is very good for my tastes in coffee. I haven't bought a donut at KK for some months. I got tired of squeezing an oil change into my stomach. However, in picking up a dozen donuts now and again for the office, I got used to bold coffee with real cream and raw sugar as a once a week treat.

The local KK is also a block from Starbucks, which allows me to flip the bird at Starbucks as I drive by on my way to buy coffee at their competitor. This makes me happy.

Occhi

[pakman]

The local KK is also a block from Starbucks, which allows me to flip the bird at Starbucks as I drive by on my way to buy coffee at their competitor. This makes me happy.

I, on the other hand, have submitted totally and completely to Starbucks. I love the coffee, I know the "lingo," and I go there once a month. I have on of their insultaed coffee mugs, and damn, the thing is fantastic; it will literally keep coffee hot for a couple hours which is great at school going from class to class. Usually I make my coffee at home, though, in my french press.

[Alram]

As for blatantly false news stories, we have this:

Science Confirms: Politicians Lie

May 19, 11:05 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - After intensive research, scientists have concluded that politicians lie.

In a study described in Britain's Observer newspaper, Glen Newey, a political scientist at Britain's University of Strathclyde, concluded that lying is an important part of politics in the modern democracy.

"Politicians need to be more honest about lying," he told the newspaper.

full story

As for doughnuts we have this story:

A police officer pulled over a motorist. "Your eyes are red. You been drinking?"
The motorist replied, "Your eyes are glazed. You been eating doughnuts?"

[Maitre]

Hi,
Yes it is (although the flag screw up is pretty good, too). Putting a man on the moon is a political dog and pony show. And that it had already been done half a century before the Chinese project will come to fruition makes its purpose moot.

Now, building a scientific and engineering colony on the moon, that would be a worth while goal. Using the mass of the moon to build an environment were reasonable shielding from radiation is possible. Using the reduced gravity to build space probes, telescopes, etc., easier than on Earth. And taking advantage of the lower (1/6th IIRC) gravitational curb to stage and launch more payload on missions would make planetary exploration (and, eventually, colonization) a real possibility.

But to send a 'visitor' to the moon to get some form of international recognition for their technical prowess? Now that's funny. And a stupid waste of resources. Just as it was when we did it.

Back on topic; the dozen or so times that I've been involved or at the scene when something was recorded have a perfect average. Zero percent accuracy. From discussions with others, this is common. And yet people still buy newspapers, listen to radio, and watch TV news. Why? You start out ignorant, then the media misinforms you. You then know less than you knew before. Freedom of the press? They're out to educate and inform? Give me a break. The only freedom the press seems to want is the freedom to #$%& up.

--Pete

I only watch local news for the entertainment value now. I'm tired of the stories on how the emissions from the local dry-cleaner will kill me, but I do find the stories on local prostitution rings interesting (though they don't seem to come up frequently anymore). Oh, and if one more channel does an expose on internet predators, I'm going to start stalking TV "news magazine" (lack of-) personalities.

One thought on lunar machine shops: wouldn't the raw materials have to come from Earth anyway? I'm no rocket scientist, but would there be advantages to sending raw materials into space for additional assembly (i.e., would 25 small shipments add up to lower total fuel requirements than 5 big shipments?) More than willing to take your word for it on this one Pete, I just wanted to make sure that I understood the theory. Oh, and if we go to the trouble of building a machine shop on the moon, we should definiately build the engineering bay: what's the point of siege tanks without the deploy ability?

[Occhidiangela]

Oh, and if we go to the trouble of building a machine shop on the moon, we should definiately build the engineering bay: what's the point of siege tanks without the deploy ability?

Absolutely! :D

You made me grin ear to ear on that one. *tips chapeau* I just got owned Tuesday night in a 3v3 Brood War game. My siege tanks were doing well until 5, count them 5, queens showed up and turned them all into littel bitty zergytes! That was the crack in my defenses that turned into a canyon.

Occhi

[pakman]

I just upgrade all my infantry units all the way and put up air and ground defenses and use the troops like zerglings. KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE^_^

[Occhidiangela]

I just upgrade all my infantry units all the way and put up air and ground defenses and use the troops like zerglings. KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE^_^

What ground defenses besides Missle Launchers? Marines in pillboxes? I like the Nurse/Medic Marine cheese, 10 marines, two nurses, make many groups like that and Stim Pack them right before contact.

GO GO GO!

Occhi

[pakman]

What ground defenses besides Missle Launchers? Marines in pillboxes?

There's the dirty little trick of setting up supply depots at the entrances to your base and placeing pillboxes behind them. Units will run up and turn around, most of the time, especially Zealots. I also place siege tanks on either side inside my base but you have to be careful because the splash damage will also hurt your supply depots. I rarely use air units...too much time to build the structures and upgrade everything.

[Chesspiece_face]

I, on the other hand, have submitted totally and completely to Starbucks. I love the coffee, I know the "lingo," and I go there once a month. I have on of their insultaed coffee mugs, and damn, the thing is fantastic; it will literally keep coffee hot for a couple hours which is great at school going from class to class. Usually I make my coffee at home, though, in my french press.

Starbucks Economics

[Occhidiangela]

Starbucks Economics

It's not hard to identify the price-blind customers in Starbucks. They're the ones buying enough latte to bathe Cleopatra.
Latte isn't coffee, it is a watered down coffee milk shake. :P The above made me chortle.

Occhi