1914 Media Myths of 2005

I noticed this story link at Amy Ridenour's blog about the Media's Top 10 Economic Myths. The media's coverage of the economy reminds me of this statement by Anthony Elgindy's wife, "Everytime things were going well, Tony would find some way to screw it up." I recall (because I wrote it down) the opening paragraph in a USAToday story in mid-November about poverty in the USA. It began, "A time of plenty, a four year expansion with strong growth, low inflation, muscular housing market, robust corporate profits. . ." There is no silver lining, ever.

"The Media Research Center’s Free Market Project spent 2005 tracking news reporting on business and economic issues and compiled a list of the most common and most egregious errors. They ran the gamut from omissions to exaggerations and plain misinformation. We have visions of better coverage dancing in our heads for 2006."

There are extensive examples and details, even the somber faced reporters on video, but here's the basics. The details might change, but I don't think it will be different in 2006.

Media Myth 10: France’s short work week, benefits and loads of vacation time made it a workers’ paradise.

Media Myth 9: Spending for hurricane recovery and Iraq is driving the U.S. deficit out of control. The only answer is to raise taxes to pay for it all.

Media Myth 8: Thanks to the U.S. rejection of the Kyoto treaty, global warming is on the rise and warmer oceans are spawning deadlier hurricanes than ever.

Media Myth 7: At least our good-hearted celebrities understand that compared to other nations, America doesn’t give much to help the world’s poor. [Aren't we just so sick of being lectured by over-paid entertainers?]

Media Myth 6: With homes and businesses destroyed and the nation’s oil supply hit, the United States will surely hemorrhage jobs and head toward a huge downturn in Katrina’s wake.

Media Myth 5: The housing market, white-hot for so long, is about to go bust and take you and your home’s value with it. [Eventually, they'll get this one right, but have been saying this for 4 or 5 years--and it's not white hot in Ohio.]

Media Myth 4: America is suffering from an obesity epidemic, so we’ve got to keep everyone away from foods and beverages with calories. This has become the nation’s No. 1 health problem and we’re dying at the rate of 400,000 a year.

Media Myth 3: Rising energy prices mean there won’t be much in little Timmy’s stocking this Christmas. Mom and dad can’t heat their home and buy food, so other business sectors are going to get Scrooged.

Media Myth 2: Big money-makers like the oil and drug industries should be sharing the wealth. Oil companies were profiting off others’ misfortunes – laughing all the way to the bank while you got squeezed at the pump. And Wal-Mart’s business practices were just as bad.

Media Myth 1: The economy is hopeless! There are plenty of reasons to doubt the economy. Gas prices; housing bubble; auto workers losing jobs… the evidence is everywhere.

1913 Our earliest battles with Islamic Terrorists

was back in the 18th century. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams faced the problem long before Bill Clinton and George Bush. The Islamists reasons then were not much different than today--we’re infidels and need to be either slaves or slain.

“Take, for example, the 1786 meeting in London of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the Tripolitan ambassador to Britain. As American ambassadors to France and Britain respectively, Jefferson and Adams met with Ambassador Adja to negotiate a peace treaty and protect the United States from the threat of Barbary piracy.

These future United States presidents questioned the ambassador as to why his government was so hostile to the new American republic even though America had done nothing to provoke any such animosity. Ambassador Adja answered them, as they reported to the Continental Congress, "that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."

Sound familiar?"

There's much more on this topic at America’s earliest terrorists

1912 Time to clean up the turkey

left over from Thanksgiving and getting a bit frosty in the freezer. Last week I noticed that Campbell's has a chunky soup called "Turkey Pot Pie." So I bought 2 cans. I took about 1+ cups of frozen turkey pieces out of the freezer and put them in my small cast iron skillet sprayed with olive oil. Then I poured one can of the soup on it, and added a top single pie crust--1 cup of flour mixed with 1/3 cup oil, 1/6 cup of water, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bake at 425 about 15 minutes and turn down to about 350. I don't remember how long I baked it--probably another 30 minutes. Made a nice little supper with about 3 servings. I don't think the soup alone would stand up as a recognizable turkey pot pie, but with a little help it wasn't bad.

1911 Columbus Christmas Bird Count

When I arrived at Caribou this morning about 6:35, the parking lot was crowded and my usual table was in use. About 15 nice looking, well-dressed (in winter outerwear) 30-somethings were gathered and chatting quietly and happily. It turns out they are part of the Christmas Bird Count, a nation wide activity, but they were covering just a small area in our community. They had maps and a long list of birds--most of which I've never heard of. Here's what they've been finding in Columbus the last few years:

"Strictly urban birds, like pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows have all increased to the point where they have become part of the background of many of our cityscapes. However, other supposedly ‘wilder’ birds have been adapting to our suburban areas, including Coopers and Red-tailed Hawks, Red-bellied and Downy woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees, robins, Carolina Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos, and American Goldfinches. Many of these birds are prospering due to the huge concentration of feeders in the city, while others take advantage of our extensive plantings of fruiting ornamental trees like the Hawthorn and Bradford Pear. If the weather is not too severe, large numbers of these species should be found in every area of Columbus.

Increasingly, we are seeing hardy strays and wintering birds that were formerly rare or unknown from here during December. Our list of wintering waterfowl has slowly grown as small numbers of teal, wood ducks, and shovelers have started to stick around in different ice-free ponds or creeks. Sapsuckers are now wintering in fair numbers in our ravines and parks. Phoebes have shown up increasingly in December and January, but have somehow missed the count period. Cedar Waxwings and hermit thrushes are also quite regular, probably due to our fruit trees. Warblers other than yellow-rumped have started to stay as well: we had pine warblers in 2002 and 2003 (count period) and an Orange-crowned also in 2003. It’s probably just a matter of time before we find a Yellowthroat, Palm, or a Black-throated Green. We will be hoping to see all of these birds on count day. And you never know what true rarity, like a Rufous Hummingbird (2003), will suddenly appear. That’s what makes a CBC so fun."

1910 One hundred taste makers

Now that you've laughed your way through 100 mistakes in our language, take a look at the 100 taste makers listed at Forbes. Chefs, fashion, art, architecture, music, etc. Have some patience. Lots of pop-up ads.

1909 Carpool Tunnel

This site of the 100 most often mispronounced English words includes carpool tunnel syndrome. This is listed as the most funny, and I agree.

1908 Dragged or drug?

Marti corrected me yesterday when I said I drug something, instead of I dragged it. She's a former English teacher (and a librarian), and my excuse is I was a foreign language major and had almost no college level English (and no English or American literature). My dictionary says it is a "dialect" to use drug as the past tense of drag. So I checked Google, and found this very interesting site which shows by color, where this is commonly used. According to this map, if I'd grown up around here, "drug my feet" would be my preference. But I grew up in northern Illinois, west of Chicago, and that looks like something "the cat dragged in."

American dialects
English language

1907 The lawyers line up for Vioxx lawsuits

A man who was taking Vioxx died of a heart attack. The jury awarded his widow millions, despite the medical evidence, and now it's going to be really tough to get pain meds on the market, but easy for lawyers to find clients. Think of the thousands who took Vioxx--and they were older, with many health concerns besides the constant pain. Most of the people I know who are in constant pain--the kind that destroys their quality of life, keeps them awake at night or interfers with their ability to work, would probably prefer to take the risk and live with some relief.

On the other hand, young healthy women took Mifepristone (RU 486) for abortion (no one knows how many, but probably not as many as the older, less healthy folk who took Vioxx), and four Americans and one Canadian that we know of died from ruptured ectopic pregnancies. They had some cramping (normal for this procedure), no fever, and died quickly. I'm guessing that there are more, but because of the nature of their deaths, their families, husbands or boyfriends probably didn't publicize it. Nor would the women's movement (do we call it that anymore--the folks who lobby for death by abortion?) Why is no one suing Planned Parenthood which routinely uses this abortificant.

Yes, there's a warning in a black box, but Vioxx had a warning too. Go figure. I can't decide if there's no outrage because the victims were women, or because it was abortion and that makes it a political issue. Or perhaps the pharmaceutical company, Danco, doesn't have the deep pockets?

Story in New England Journal of Medicine, Dec. 1, 2005, v. 353, no.22. Not free on line--check your public library.

Vioxx
Mifepristone
RU 486

1906 The poll

results at Roadrunner were that just about 80% of the readers would try to find the owner to return the ring.

The story here.

1905 My children will need to live

another 26 years after retiring to get back from Social Security what they've put in during their working years. That's assuming that the Baby Boomers haven't bankrupt the country with their retirement and health care costs first. At this point, I'm just hoping they outlive me! One is a smoker and the other is dangerously close to being a diabetic. I have outlived my two oldest, and frankly do not have the strength to go through that again. My children will turn retirement age about 100 years after Social Security first began. They graduated from high school about 20 years ago, and I don't know if they learned anything about the Depression or all the programs FDR put into place that helped in the short run, but messed up the economy in the long run.

My maternal grandparents were probably not eligible for SS since they were self-employed farmers, but my paternal grandparents who were a generation younger made out like bandits because they moved from the farm to town and grandpa worked at a printing plant in his later years. In the early years of Social Security there were 40 workers to support each retiree. Actually, getting people out of the workforce was one of the reasons for SS--we had very high unemployment when this plan was devised. Today there are only 3.2 workers for each retiree, and by the time my children retire, the baby boomers will still be clogging the nursing homes and senior centers and medical facilities. Yes, the first boomer was born about 60 years ago, and they have skewed every educational, social, cultural and medical event in this country since.

Today a low income worker needs 11.8 years to get back all his and his employer's social security taxes in benefits; a middle income worker needs 17.5 years, and a high-income worker needs 24.9 years. By the time my children retire they'll need to live an additional 25.6 years (I'm assuming they'll be middle income based on where they are now) to get back in benefits was they've put in.

In 1935 there was a Clark Amendment that would have allowed a private plan option but FDR defeated it. President Bush's plan is really not unlike what many of us already have, since no one should expect to live on Social Security, nor does it keep anyone out of poverty by itself.

Mothers worry. Let's face it. It's in our job description. And I'm extremely unhappy that the Republicans have let us down by essentially defeating Bush's Social Security reform and putting it on the back burner. I don't even pay attention to those Democrats with their running noses and pasty faces pressed up against the window. They will not like any plan that gives Bush credit for saving Social Security. It's the Republicans who should have pushed for this and gotten the job done. They are to blame.

Social Security reform

1904 Time to use up the roll of 37 cent stamps

There will be a postage hike next year, so it's time to think about writing all those notes and cards you've been putting off because you were baking cookies, attending parties or writing Christmas cards. Use up the last of your stamps so you won't have to do the add-on thing.

I jotted down my list this morning at the coffee shop

two friends who've had accidents, are recovering, but I just heard about it

two thank you notes for dinner party invitations

notes to our four pastors for their service

thank yous to the 5 people who serve on a committee with us

welcome to a new neighbor which will also do double duty as a Christmas card

note to my sister-in-law about a change in plans

note to a new widow--holidays are tough

They are all in the mail slot, and although I'm usually not a list maker, it feels good. E-mails in place of thank yous, or get-well notes, or sympathy thoughts are just gauche in my opinion. E-mail is prefect for work memos, reminders and regular, ongoing correspondence. But if our relationship is so weak that I don't rate a 37 cent stamp or a phone call when I'm down for the count, maybe we need to reevaluate.

(Comments from face strangers on the blog are OK, however.)

postage stamp increase
postage increase
manners
etiquette

You know who you are if

you need to send this greeting card.

E-mail sent through Web sites launched in Los Angeles and San Francisco is providing people with a free, sometimes anonymous, way to tell their casual sex partners they might have picked up more than they bargained for.

You've got mail. And most likely male.

HT Jane Galt

If 1941 were 2005

what do you suppose the questions, thoughts and reactions would be? American Thinker has some answers. For instance, these classics:

Q. “Since there are always root causes for bellicosity, what’s the root cause of Japan’s attack?”

A. Americans have never bothered to learn Japanese language, culture, and history. So we don’t understand Japan’s complaints against us. There would never have been a Pearl Harbor attack if we had been nicer to Japanese immigrants.

Q. “What’s the root cause for Adolf Hitler’s and Nazi Germany’s animosity towards America?”

A. Jews have disproportionate influence in the current American administration. That’s why President Franklin Delano Roosevelt supports Zionism and the idea of a Jewish state in the Middle East. That’s also why Roosevelt is such a lackey of the British, who persist in standing in the way of Germany’s legitimate need for lebensraum in Poland and in other parts of Eastern Europe.

Not only that. We should be sending a team to Switzerland to talk to Hitler’s emissaries and find a way to stop this totally unnecessary war right now.

Thanks to Sister ToldJah for the link.

Turn your radio on

Gospel music wasn't in my faith tradition. I remember vaguely hearing gospel on the radio, however. About 10 years ago I heard Cynthia Clawson on a TV advertisement, and went into see who it was. So I ordered the tape--perhaps the only thing I ever ordered that I saw on TV. Turn your radio on

gospel music
Gaithers
Cynthia Clawson

1900 The Extreme Male Brain

If you have a child with Asperger’s or autism, you may want to look at an interview at Medscape.com with Simon Baron-Cohen. Here’s the beginning of an interesting article:

Medscape: You advance the proposition that people with autism have an imbalance in 2 cognitive capabilities, which makes them behave as though they are, at least in the cognitive realm, much more male than female.[1] What are these fundamental differences between men and women that may help us understand the psychology of autism and Asperger's disorder?

Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD, MPhil: In the general population, you find that, on average, males have a stronger drive to systemize and females have a stronger drive to empathize. Those are the 2 cognitive processes we've been focusing on to try to understand autism and why it should be more common among boys than girls. We've found that people on the autistic spectrum show an exaggeration of the male profile.

Includes comments on fetal testosterone and "assortative mating" (both parents in computer field or both parents engineers).

autism
Asperger's

1899 Unintended Consequences, pt. 3, taxes

Found at Chicago Boyz

With wages frozen by government edict during WWII, employers begin offering non-taxable health insurance to attract and retain scarce employees. The next sixty-odd years will feature numerous proposed government solutions to this unintended secondary effect of the original government solution.

Automobile companies in the 1980s improve the anti-theft features of their products. As cars become more difficult to hot-wire, thieves increasingly turn to carjacking. The US Department of Justice begins keeping survey statistics for this crime in 1987.

CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) fuel economy requirements in the 1990s cause carmakers to build smaller, lighter vehicles. Consumers react to the space shortage and crash dangers by buying SUV's.

From the Gristmill (environmental)

. . . a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy reduces fuel consumption by 6 to 8 percent (a good thing), but also increases driving by 2 to 4 percent. The increase in driving increases congestion, parking costs, noise pollution, and traffic accidents. Plus, making driving cheaper fosters sprawl, while an increase in vehicle traffic makes walking and biking more dangerous and less convenient. Assigning a rough dollar value to these competing effects, it looks as though an increase in fuel economy standards is actually a net economic loss for society, because the costs of increased driving outweigh the benefits of fuel and pollution savings.

Q and O Blog (conservation)

“As gas prices continue to top $2 a gallon, all those drivers of fuel-efficient cars may not have reason to gloat for much longer. Oregon is worried that too many Honda Insights and Toyota Priuses hitting the roads will rob it of the cash it expects out of its 24-cent-a-gallon tax. So the Beaver State is studying ways to ensure that "hybrid" car owners pay their "fair share" of taxes for the miles they drive. That means allowing the taxman to catch up to hybrid owners just as often as he catches up to gas guzzling SUV drivers. And if Oregon goes ahead, it won't be long before other states follow.”

GAO Report, 04-641

High cigarette taxes contribute to smuggling which results in lost tax revenues, but more important illegal cigarette trafficking worldwide is a multibillion dollar a year crime phenomenon, according to ATF, with some cigarette smugglers having ties to terrorist groups.

1898 Three a day

According to Forbes, from the start of 2001 through September 2005, Congress made 1971 changes to the U.S. Tax Code--roughly three for each day it was in session. But the ONE thing they needed to do, they haven't--change the Alternative Minimum Tax so that 15 million citizens don't get bumped into a higher tax bracket.

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that Congress has run out of time this year to act on legislation that would save millions of taxpayers from the grasp of the alternative minimum tax in 2006.

The tax was created decades ago to prevent the wealthiest citizens from sheltering most of their income from the Internal Revenue Service. But because inflation has driven wages higher through the years, it increasingly threatens more taxpayers considered to be middle-class, with incomes of between $50,000 and $75,000."

The AMT was created in 1969 to assure that millionaires paid their fair share. Trying to soak the rich is not a good tax plan--the next rung up the ladder might be where you land and someone below will decide you are the rich guy. While only 19,000 people owed the AMT in 1970, over 3 million are paying it now, according to the IRS. It requires that you figure your taxes twice and pay the higher amount. You can be penalized for paying state and local taxes or deductions for your children. Instead of catching people with large investments, it's grabbing those with large families. It should be scrapped.

Who's minding the store? Certainly not the Republicans who control Congress. The economy is booming and will falter if the tax cuts instituted by Bush are allowed to die. Tax reform and Social Security reform are being bumped off the agenda by headline grabbing Democrats and their torture issues. So much better to torture Americans with high taxes. They were wrong last year about "worst economy in 70 years" and couldn't win votes with that. They are wrong about Iraq which today is proving to be on its way to a democracy. So they've tried a new schtick. We've got gulags sprinkled around and we're torturing people.

This will come back to bite you, young Democrats and young Republicans. Your baby boomer parents may pass on to their reward before they ever get a chance to pass anything on to you thanks to Congress' inaction (maybe its revenge of the Republicans?). The capital gains cut expires in January 2009 and by 2011 you may be in a bracket to enjoy a return to the 40% bracket. Or you may get married and get the marriage penalty reinstated, which will return in 2010.

1897 Congratulations, Iraqis

Another great turnout to vote, showing the terrorists who have invaded your country, the world, and the Howard Deans and Dick Durbins in our own disgraceful, run-for-cover Democratic Party that you're willing and able to have a democracy.

I'm watching some inspiring footage on Fox. The coverage on other channels is poor and somewhat less enthusiastic, which seems to be focusing on Sunni turnout last January and on the violence of the insurgency. CNN is unbelieveably negative ignoring completely the real story. The Democrats have tried so hard to have this fail, and will continue to diminish their accomplishments I'm sure. This must be a crushing blow.

And to the American people--they've shown us great courage and determination to vote. Our voting turn out is paltry by comparison. Maybe for 2008 we should invite some Iraqis here to beat the drum for democracy.

1896 The Closer will be back on TNT

We've enjoyed that show and seen ads that it will be back December 27.

Speaking of closers, what happened to Robin McGraw's outfit on the White House Christmas show on TNT last night? Usually she is dressed attractively and modestly for a middle-aged woman. Sort of looked like the closer broke. I don't know what it was--looked like a velvet halter top with her popping out the top and middle. It was really awful. It was a great show, however.

Country band Rascal Flatts was wonderful with a medley featuring ``The Little Drummer Boy,'' ``Go Tell It on the Mountain'' and ``Santa Claus is Coming to Town.'' R&B star Ciara performed The Jackson 5's ``Give Love on Christmas Day''; ``American Idol'' winner Carrie Underwood sang the Wham! hit ``Last Christmas''; and The Click Five ran through Chuck Berry's ``Run Rudolph Run.'' Gospel star CeCe Winans and jazz singer Jane Monheit rounded out the show. (She looked fabulous in her long gown, although I'd never seen her before.)

1895 Health benefits of chewing gum

In this morning's paper I read that chewing gum after colon resection speeds recovery, apparently because it is a "sham feeding" and mimics eating. The digestive juices aid the healing. Just think: now hospitals can add $200 to your bill for a pack of gum! Colon Cancer Today

So I went on line to see what other health benefits gum chewing might have. I found benefits from breath freshener to medication dispenser. I know it is a stress reliever and it can burn a few calories. However, looking like a cow chewing a cud is not attractive, so it would be my advice if you are over 21, to keep this habit at home.

Then this item: "Researchers are finding more and more benefits in chewing gum (sorry, Mom). Beside the mindless relaxation it can provide, it may also help to reduce dental plaque and the bacterial damage that can lead to cavities. One gum in particular—mastic gum, which has been used as both a chewing gum and a food in Mediterranean cultures for many centuries—appears to give particularly good results." Life enhancement

Memoir alert. When I was a little girl, maybe 7 or 8, I was outside the bank building in Forreston, which had some columns with ledges large enough for sitting. I was with another little girl--don't remember her name--but the family was quite poor. We were watching a parade. She found some gum stuck to the column, pulled it off and popped it in her mouth with the biggest grin. I've never forgotten how yucky I thought it was or how delighted she was.

"[Chewing gum is a], confection consisting usually of chicle, flavorings, and corn syrup and sugar (or artificial sweeteners). Prehistoric people are believed to have chewed resins. Spruce resin was chewed as a thirst quencher by Native Americans, from whom pioneers adopted the custom. Refined paraffin was later used and then chicle, which was probably first imported into the United States through Mexico. A chicle gum was patented in 1869 by William and Semple. In the present-day manufacture of chewing gum blocks of chicle are ground, melted, and cleared in a whirling vat, and then the flavorings (e.g., fruits, licorice, mints) and other ingredients are added. The gum is rolled through sheeting machinery and chopped into sticks or into candy-coated pellets. Insoluble plastics may be mixed with or substituted for the chicle. The United States is the major producer, exporter, and consumer, of chewing gum. Columbia University Press via Answers.com"