(no subject)

Jon Stewart puts Sens. McCain and Graham's attacks on Amb. Rice in the appropriate context.

Nice work, Mr Stewart! :-)

(no subject)

I was astounded today by listening to the Diane Rehm Show's segment on electronic privacy. Her guests spent a long time talking about the Petraeus affair, without (by their own admission) understanding or even having many of the details they were purporting to discuss. They were startlingly incoherent, often it difficult to clearly express themselves. And the "technology correspondent" for Politico who was part of the panel described how, as a result of reading a small portion of the reporting on this case, she discovered the existence of (a long, rambling, and incoherent description followed, that added up to) Internet Protocol addresses. How does one become the "technology correspondent" of a major news organ in 2012 without knowing that IP addresses exist and how they work?

How the mighty have fallen; this used to be a program where, whatever you thought of Ms Rehm, her opinions, and her interviewing style, the guests were knowledgeable, intelligent, well spoken. Now it's no better than the rubbish like On Point and To the Point. And spare me from The Politics Hour (not even pro forma referred to as part of the Kojo Nmadi Show anymore), with Tom Sherwood spending 50 minutes bloviating, making unfunny jokes, and trying to impress everyone with his first-name familiarity with local politicos. Mark Plotkin, while outrageous and often tiresome, was at least amusing and passionate about local government.

Thank goodness for Fresh Air, The World, and national news programming from NPR news.