Peoria Pundit

Ted Koppel addresses the skepticism and hostility
that is greeting
his plan tonight to read the names of every soldier slain in Iraq.

/I don’t want it to make a political statement. Quite the contrary.
My position on this is I truly believe that people will take away
from this program the reflection of what they bring to it.

I think it is just as possible for a staunch supporter of the war to
come away from this program very moved and content that it was done
as it is for someone who is an opponent of the war to come with
exactly the same feeling./

Please understand that I take Ted at his word and that he intends this
only to be a tribute to fallen heroes.

But a lot of people ain’t buying it. You can’t blame ‘em.

They see news reports on the war in Iraq that do not describe military
victories only in terms of how many soldiers were slain. They flock to
soldiers private Websites to learn details about their missions that are
under reported.

It is almost as if a meeting was held, and a decision was made that the
only story worth covering out of Iraq was the “growing” death toll for
American soldiers. I guarantee that more of the enemy has died than have
American and coalition soldiers.

The media constantly damages its own credibility.

On ABC, they are running a Barbara Walter’s special that is being
promoted as a contest between families to “win” the right to adopt a baby.

Time and again, Dan Rather announces upcoming segment in terms of what
the government is or isn’t doing to prevent some bad thing from
happening somewhere.

Please, please, please let this controversy serve as a wake-up call.

People do not trust the national media. They don’t trust it because the
news programs have stopped being /objective./ Time and time again, I
read interviews with television news executives and journalists who say
that the time limits of the medium make it impossible to perform
straight, objective journalism, and that their job is instead to provide
“context” to the news.

When reporters provide “context,” what often comes out is that reporters
own biases. When I think of provieding context, I think about providing
additional reporting that trends to prove or disprove what I am being
told by the newsmaker. I also know I must be objective and seek out
information that would tend to do both.

But if a reporter has an agenda, that’s not what happens.

People also need to remember that “media” is a big word. It applies to
the evening news, talk shows, sit coms and movies, books and magazines.
Most Americans are able see the difference between a situation comedy
and the evening news. But they don’t see much distinction between the
evening news and, say, Oprah. Whether or not one likes the Oprah show,
no one would confuse it with objective journalism.

That’s should make journalists more sensitive to the need for more
objectivity. Unfortunately, the stylish position in journalism schools
these days that that because pure and perfect objectivity is impossible
to achieve, no one should bother. As long as the reporter states his or
her own biases up front, what’s the harm?

Here is a reason: Do it so people will trust what you have to say.

Feh. How is one supposed to come up with an honest opinion on anything
without a source of information that makes its goal the spread of
accurate and complete information, regardless of what side of the debate
that information tends to support?

I’m teaching during the day. I’m at my regular job during the evening. I
won’t be posting again until Saturday morning.

Try to survive without me.

*UPDATE:* So I lied. I’m blogging … from work. Ha! Actually, I’m
enjoying a “prep” period, but because all I’m doing is showing videos to
students, Idon’t have anything to prep.

? /Journal Star/: CityLink easing out of nursing homes

/Residents of six area nursing homes who lack their own means of
transportation could be without the option of public paratransit
service after a recent CityLink decision not to renew contracts with
the facilities.

CityLift, the paratransit arm of CityLink, continues to provide
rides for the senior care centers under the same terms of the
expired contracts, which are extended on a month-to-month basis,
leaving the door open for the provider to back out at any time.

“Right this second, it hasn’t” impacted us, said OSF St. Clare Home
administrator Carolyn Conover. “Until we are absolutely for sure
that they are not going to be doing this, then we’ll look at our
other options.”

CityLift buses make almost daily trips to St. Clare Home to take
residents to doctors’ appointments, health clubs or social
activities. The six homes serviced by CityLift generated 436 one-way
trips during the month of March./

No word on whether CityLink — formerly knows as the Greater Peoria Mass
Transit District — is having any success with its day care facility in
the heart of downtown Peoria.

I wish the project well.

Will any luck, within a few years, Peoria’s public transportation system
will be completely out of the public transportation business.

? /Journal Star/: City’s talks with Pere Marquette stall

/Talks regarding the Hotel Pere Marquette have stalled, according to
Mayor Dave Ransburg, but plans continue to take shape with the
historic Madison Theater.

Earlier this year, there were leaked reports that the historic
hotel’s owners were seeking substantial city funds and other local
monies for an extensive renovation – a plan the city quickly
rejected. But then talks began and, as recently as late March,
Ransburg said, “I think we’re certainly closer to having a plan.”

But for the last couple weeks, Ransburg has said that talks
regarding the hotel have stalled./

Nice of the mayor to let us peons know what is being done behind the
scenes to hand tax money over to private businesses.

Peoria Pundit is the number one result in a
Google search for “peoria whores
.”

Good news for
Illini fans:

/”Gov. Rod Blagojevich Wednesday came out in support of Chief
Illiniwek, and said he would use the full authority of his office to
support previous decisions by the University of Illinois Board of
Trustees to keep the mascot.

The governor also said he would oppose any effort by Senate
President Emil Jones to punish the university if it failed to comply
with his demands to stop using the mascot.”/

Bwahahahaha! Just kidding! Blago would actually have to have a spine to
say that.

This is what he /really/ said:

/Gov. Blagojevich would not say Wednesday whether Chief Illiniwek
should stay or go, punting the fate of the contentious University of
Illinois mascot into the laps of the university board and state
Legislature.

While he wouldn’t go on record a day after Senate President Emil
Jones demanded the Chief’s ouster, Blagojevich nine years ago cast a
vote as a state legislator in support of the costumed mascot.

Saying he was “sensitive” to Jones’ belief that the Chief is a
negative racial stereotype, Blagojevich repeatedly dodged questions
about his own opinion on the matter and said the university’s board
of trustees should decide the issue after new votes by the House and
Senate./

In other words — Blago made one of his typical non-decision decisions.
But then, no one seriously thought he would make any other kind of decision.

“Larry Smith” reports

the following:

/Dear God, this is awful. A fire that lasted for at least six hours
has ruined Eastern?s third oldest building, collapsing its roof and
destroying mounds of scholarly research by EIU professors.
Thankfully no one was hurt. Early indications are that a worker?s
blowtorch may have started the fire. And, in yet another Eastern
moment, BLAIR HALL HAD NO SPRINKLERS TO STOP THE FIRE! Argh! A
beautiful building is destroyed. Larry wonders if there?s enough
money around to restore it? /

Damn! I don’t think I ever took a class at Blair Hall, but I certainly
mourn it’s passing. If there is going to be a fund set up to collect
money to restore the building, then someone needs to set up some sort of
PayPal account.

Valentine Michael Smith — the hero of Robert A. Heinlein’s* “Stranger
in a Strange Land” — was the result of an extramarital affair between
astronauts during a long voyage to Mars. He ended up in the soup –
literally.

NASA, according to this article anyway, is talking steps

to make sure that doesn’t happen:

/In the First World War, frontline troops who were away from their
loved ones for long periods famously had bromide put into their tea
to reduce the distraction of their sexual drive. But yesterday it
was suggested that such measures might be taken a lot further – to
Mars, in fact.

Dr Rachel Armstrong, speaking yesterday at a British Interplanetary
Society symposium on the Human Future and Space, said the US space
agency NASA was considering how to deal with the natural urges of
astronauts travelling on long journeys such as a three-year trip to
Mars, where the six-strong crew would be likely to include two women.

“NASA is talking about the chemical sterilization of astronauts on
longer journeys,” Dr Armstrong said, in a talk discussing the
problems humanity may face in trying to reach the planets and,
eventually, the stars.

NASA was nonplussed by the suggestion yesterday. “I haven’t heard
anything about that,” said a spokesman at NASA’s Johnson Space
Centre, where the long-range trips announced by President George
Bush in January are being planned.

But that denial may hide a reluctance, in a nation where the showing
of a nipple on national television provokes a religious outcry, to
discuss the rather delicate subject of sex in space. Certainly, some
scientists believe it is a topic that should be dealt with head on.
Douglas Powell, a psychology professor at Harvard University who was
recruited in 1999 by NASA to investigate the behavioral needs of
long-term space trips, said: “Like anywhere, these are normal
healthy people in their prime and they are sexually active so they
are going to get involved with each other. So what’s going to happen
in space? It’s a serious question and it needs to be confronted.”
—
Interestingly, there is no NASA ban on sex between crew members. “We
depend and rely on the professionalism and good judgement of our
astronauts,” said a NASA spokesman in 2000. “There is nothing
specifically or formally written down.”

And that may be part of the problem. A crew heading to Mars would
potentially be away for three years: six months travelling out, two
years on the Red Planet waiting for the Earth to come back into
alignment for the six-month trip back.

The psychological strains of such a trip would be huge, noted Dr
Joanna Wood of NASA’s National Space Biomedical Research Institute,
who compares it with the isolation experienced by scientists in
Antarctica. But they have the comparative luxury that they can be
rescued if necessary. With a Mars trip, there comes a point of no
return determined by fuel and the planets’ positions.

“Interpersonal relations is a big issue, but we leave sexual stuff
to the discretion of the individuals,” said Dr Wood. /

Heh heh heh. Her name is “Dr. Wood.” Sorry. I’m having a Beavis and
Butthead moment here.

Seriously, the article also discusses a rumor that two astronauts have
already engaged in sex — at the behest of NASA scientists wanting to
study the prospects of long-term survival in outer space

Boy, talk about taking one for the team.

/* This one is crossposted over at h e i n l e i n b l o g
./

Is Naomi Watts alluring enough for you?

http://peoriapundit.com/images/watts.jpg

I did a Google image search for “alluring women.” The results were
/nothing/ like these ladies.

? Associated Press:

/Add Porn Star To List Of Outsourced U.S. Jobs/
/
Add porn star to the list of U.S. jobs being outsourced.

American X-rated film directors are heading to Brazil in search of
uninhibited women, exotic locations and cheap production costs. The
going rate for a Brazilian X-rated actress is about $175 per sex
scene — a fraction of what talent in the Los Angeles area costs.
—
Tim Connelly, publisher of California-based AVN, an adult film
industry magazine, said Brazil is the place to go today. He said
economics and beautiful women are driving the growth of the
Brazilian porn industry./