Michael Hardner

They do, however, bring their socks which came from that very drawer if you get my meaning. The Trojan horse of bias is what interests me. Media bias or media consumer bias is human bias. My dad used to give me these puzzle books when I was growing up. Remember them ? I'm convinced they're a good way to grow your brain. Like the famous St. Ives' poem. As a ten year old, I got out my pencil and added 1 + 7 + ( 7 X 7 ) etc.... carrying my bias that I was going to be asked a question about arithmetic, when it's a straightforward question about comprehension. I actually learned that it's easy to fool people that way. That's why they call them news "stories". The story is a vehicle for learning that has never been surpassed in human history and we still rely on it. But it's not effective for everything. CEOs don't sit around cross legged and ask their officers "tell me a story about how marketing is doing". They invented graphs, hiroglyphs and cuneform figures to get around some of these things but the humanity of the listener isn't easily dragged into these new ways of framing information. Those who "get" those ways can do quite well. I think The Star has its place, and its kind of comforting that it fails in the way it does (such as your example of being unable to put on a 3 piece suit and be a business paper) but it's also aggravating in that constantly sounding the alarm about certain things (American encroachment, this or that kind of impending natural disaster, and of course the youth are being spoiled by the internet/dungeons and dragons/heavy metal/drugs/rock and roll/the hula hoop ) reinforces that nervous teacher mindset that prevents us from thinking about things in new ways. Eyeball's idea to monitor bureaucrats 24/7, as well as my idea for all money to be trackable... they're crazy ideas let's face it. But there are new ideas coming all the time that address how we define ourselves, and how we can govern ourselves better with new media. Whatever they are, The Star will be against them.

You got your account from somebody else without the charges being settled first ? Are these charges 5 years old ?

What charges ? They are charging that you owe them - that charge exists. Can they charge your credit card ? Presumably if they have a merchant number they can, however there are rules around providing signatures and so on so if you dispute the charge they won't be able to back it up unless you signed or gave assent. ( I think it's handled differently for credit charges made over the telephone, but they may have an agreement with the credit card company as to how disputes are handled. )

Biases... put into a crucible... More telling is the 'fear factor' angle on their business stories. Somebody (not Bush_Cheney but it could have been) described the CBC as having the aspect of a nervous English teacher - always tut-tutting and worried for the future. This is what I think of our collective zeitgeist, in general. I also remember your point about coverage of East Timor and the fact that the abuses that happened there, though reported, didn't stick in the public consciousness. There was some kind of bias programmed into us to ignore those stories, but to respond to the situation in South Africa (just for an example) more readily. I think maybe the age is upon us where more of us start to consider Innis' famous question more often: "Why do we attend to the things to which we attend?"

In all seriousness, you can't say that "no" bias exists in an individual. Unperceived biases are what all of us carry with us through life. To say it's a liberal bias, western bias or whatever is perhaps too presumptuous, i.e. it's not for us to say that we are unbiased enough to comment on our own biases. For an example of cultural bias, I often recall McLuhan's story of a media study years ago that showed a film to a distant tribe who had never seen films, nor even lived in western circumstances. The short film depicted some basic dramatic scenario, character discussion and whatnot. The point of the experiment was to record what that experiences of viewing the film were like from the tribe's point of view. After the film, though, many of the tribe noted that a main point of the film was a chicken that had appeared. The academics hadn't even noticed the animal, but on review sure enough in a few frames there was a chicken in the background. Without having any cultural framework in film watching, this curious footnote stood out for the tribe - for some unknown reason. Such is the case with cultural bias - it exists but it's vague. Why do we pay attention to the things we pay attention to, Harold Innes asked. There's no point in fretting about these biases, and especially unproductive to build conspiracy theories from the right or the left. But they're interesting and knowing that they exist prevents us from thinking that a vessel like The Star delivers stark factual information in every case. By recognizing that biases exist, we can recognize that a paper such as the Star describes a certain type of Toronto middle-class truth that is useful to us much of the time but not all of the time. Because I had the time to do so, I took this extended post to say simply... don't believe everything you read or disbelieve it either.

You need to drink some postmodern Kool Aid.

Ah... it's funny because it's true...

Butch_Cheney - can't you just accept that your country is interesting and worthy of comment ?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/18/tuesday.primaries/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1 What does this mean ? The US is on the verge of a glorious return to form ? The revolution is nigh ? Things are about to get very interesting stateside... (By the way, B_C, this is why Canadians don`t follow our own politics or TV - you guys just keep making more interesting versions of it.)

Bob Rae too. Uh, Chretien retired in 2003 ?

And the bizarre fantasy melts away into a plain old vanilla conspiracy theory...

I don't watch Law & Order because it gives me a sense of hope, Oleg.

NO DEAL !

Sure thing - human rights including preventing homophobia. Today is national homophobia today.

I can name all the US presidents in under 1 minute ! Also the states, but that takes a few minutes. Hey now, good buddy. It ain't so. I want you to stick around is all.

WRONG> Fifth.

Fourth, right ? That was your FOURTH post in a row ?

Or Wannabe Americans, I guess. I don't want to be American, but I'm glad that I'm knowledgeable about it. You shouldn't be "afraid" but shouldn't live in denial either. As an African American (not as an African) you have a much higher risk of Heart Failure. Stay away from fried food. And how's you're weight ? Again, I post because I care.

Wow. Then it's even older than I thought. Posting on a topic doesn't make one obsessed with it. View how many threads I have started on this topic and you'll see I'm no Mr. Canada.

Trying hard isn't a determinant of failure or success. They wouldn't. I only use 'Our Compliments' Peanut Butter. Now I don't expect you to know what that is, but if you didn't I wouldn't assume you knew "jack" about Canada. Good point. If it's done in minute amounts, it's fine. You're African-American, I thought, no ? If so, I hope you watch your junk food intake as your background is linked to higher risks of heart disease. Stay away from the burgers, B_C ! Motel 6 ! Nailed it.

Sorry, but you have yet to convince me that I stack up poorly against the average Yankee Jim or Jane. Episode ?!? I thought it was a movie ?!? Seriously, I don't even put Hollywood in the same league. Even people in France know a lot about Hollywood. We haven't determined that at all. If I were as fake or self-serving as him, I'd drown myself in a vat of peanut butter. It's quality, not quantity. Just because junk food is popular, doesn't mean its good for you. Mostly, I know what's best for you - which is to shut up and agree with me ! I am a rare poster in that I genuinely value conservative and liberal views, so you should treasure my contribution to your education here. You're welcome !

No. Why do you think that ? There's "popular" and there's "right" - those are different qualities. The graph provides the evidence, I think. As to why those laws exist, then the answer is that there are enough opponents to make those laws happen in some jurisdictions. But the smart money is on 'change'. Most of this marriage scaremongering happened between 2004-2006 if this map is accurate.

I believe you posted something about understanding things better after a dose of mushrooms ?

I thought he gave up the radio show ? I remember listening to it when he was on CNN and thought he said he was doing it less often. As to knowing "Jack" about America. Really ? Is the bar to knowing "Jack" about knowing how many programs Beck has on the air at the moment ? Really. Continue to pick at my knowledge of Americans. I'll let you know how my American friends do with your questions ok ? Seems to me that you're more intimidated by a Canadian that likes America than one who hates America. Let's see.... Star Wars right ? Actually, I can express my opinion as to what's 'good' and 'bad'. That's kind of what makes this site interesting - people's *opinions* - don't you think ? And - yes - I think Beck is bad and eagerly await his downfall. I'm glad you're past the idea that I want to censor people. Instead, I'd like people to determine something is bad on their own, or with some persuasive arguments, then to stop watching it. Once I've convinced you I only have 28 million or so more to convince. Or 14 million if you split the work with me.

Since you said 'please'.... I gladly serve you this.... Here's the Wiki link wherein it states: Note that we're talking about THIS century. In other words, people are alive now that will see global population decline. Ask yourself why this piece of ostensibly good news isn't widely known. There's no conspiracy afoot, it's just that bad news travels quickly and good news doesn't travel at all sometimes. A good friend of mine told me once that if you want religion to die, let it be practiced freely. The conflicts that come to us from countries with religious oppression are very old and rooted as much in ancient cultures as in religious structures IMO.