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May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
March 31, 2005
/ 20 Adar II, 5765
What to Use on This Column If You Horrors! Happen Not to Like It
By
James Lileks
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
All hail Sam Kimery: He's a canny entrepreneur who's come up with a device that prevents propaganda and Karl Rove-hatched talking points from flooding from your TV unabated.
It's called the Fox Blocker. Hook it up to your coaxial cable, and no longer will the grim visage of Bill O'Reilly fill your screen, commanding you to chant "Freedom is slavery" while standing with a small American flag in your fist. If you sign up now, Kimery will also e-mail Fox's advertisers, telling them you've opted out. An e-mail! If you have Fox stock, sell now.
An exceptional idea. No matter how much tinfoil you pack in your beanie, it can't deflect Rupert Murdock's mind-control rays. He's probably working on a signal that reprograms pacemakers so people's hearts beat faster when the Fox anthem swells.
Oh, sure, you could take your TV apart every day and scrape the right-wing residue off the inside of the glass, but who has the time? You could demand that your cable company add a closed-caption feed to Fox, something that says "Lies! Lies! Nothing but lies!" but they didn't listen when you demanded that they carry C-Span 12, a channel devoted entirely to static shots of hallways in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
You could reprogram your cable box so it skips right by the Fox News channel but you lost the manual.
You could just, well, not watch Fox News.
Just kidding! Of course that's not an option. You have to make a stand against media bias.
Good thing you won't be alone. Everyone thinks the media are biased except most people in the media, oddly enough.
Some on the right believe that New York Times editors get out the preserved head of Karl Marx and use a Ouija board to see what the father of communism wants them to print. Some on the left believe the media lean to the right, because they are profit-making companies who profit from war. That explains all those documentaries you saw after Sept. 11, like "Faster, Rumsfeld! Kill! Kill!" and other such blood-lusty pro-war coverage.
The truth, as ever, is in the middle. Most newsrooms are stuffed to the gunwales with liberals of various intensities; sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't. They try to be objective. Granted, sometimes this takes the form of "Let's be objective about the fact that George W. Bush is an idiot," but it could be worse.
In any case, the folks at Fox are overtly center-right, because they say "our troops" instead of "coalition forces," and use eagles and jets in the promos. Oh, the horror. But at least they put up straw men to argue with their hectoring, square-jawed hosts. Who's the Colmes or Geraldo or Greta at CNN?
Nevertheless, the Fox Blocker is a fabulous tool for the easily annoyed. But why stop there? We need the following devices, pronto:
- The New York Times Evaporator. Uses space-based lasers to locate the Times on your front steps, take aim and incinerate it. In the future the technology will be refined so the lasers can simply remove the columnists you do not like, or eliminate bias-laden adjectives from news stories. For the moment, however, the technology can only target areas several yards wide, so advise your paperboy to throw the Times from the street and run like heck.
- The Talking Head Obscurer. Program in the names of your least favorite commentators, and the Obscurer replaces their faces with pixel hash, a picture of a baboon's hindquarters, or for those fans of the William Kennedy Smith trial who want to revisit the early '90s a fuzzy-edged blue oval. Soothing white noise replaces the words. Works on everyone except James Carville, whose personality could cut through the hull of an aircraft carrier.
- The MSNBC Blocker. Actually, this was installed on all cable and satellite boxes a few years ago. They're still waiting for someone to notice.
Finally, there's one new technology that truly shows some promise. It's called the Internet. Visit sites whose opinions you like. Bookmark them. Ignore the rest! Remember, on the Internet no one knows you're a dog so feel free to sniff the same fire hydrant, day after day after day.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor James Lileks is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, James Lileks
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