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Newspaper Endorses the Candidate It's Suing Over Copyright

An anonymous reader writes "Remember Righthaven? The copyright troll owned by the owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal? You may remember, then, that Righthaven had sued Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle for posting LVRJ stories on her site. At the same time, LVRJ has been having its execs talk about how copyright infringement is no different than garden variety theft. So ... doesn't it seem a bit odd that the LVRJ is endorsing the very same candidate that it sued for such 'theft'?"

166 comments

  1. *toot* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    *giggle* I just tooted *giggle*

    1. Re:*toot* by interkin3tic · · Score: 3, Funny

      Did you get sued for it? Maybe you should think about running for office.

      "The fart party: we promise to break the political gridlock in washington and also promise to break wind."

      Maybe democrats should look into this as a method of getting past fillibustering everything: there's probably not a rule against farting in the face of the speaker to make him pass out (thus breaking the fillibuster). It's also not like that would be beneath the dignity of the senate.

    2. Re:*toot* by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 0

      This is also the senate where guys like James Mountain Inofe, Ben Nelson and John McCain reside.

      This is also the Senate where a comedian by trade is the smartest guy in the room.

      I say release the noxious amnesia gas!

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    3. Re:*toot* by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      It's *not* amnesia gas.

    4. Re:*toot* by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

      But it sure is noxious! You've got to give me that!

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    5. Re:*toot* by jc42 · · Score: 1

      This is also the Senate where a comedian by trade is the smartest guy in the room.

      In my experience, the smartest people in the room are usually the comedians. To be good at comedy, you have to understand what's happening around you, smart enough to not take it seriously and see the problems with most of the participants, and with enough empathy to express your thoughts in a way that others will consider funny. All that requires a serious level of intelligence.

      Here in the US, surveys around the past several elections have turned up the result that the voters with the best understanding of the issues and of the candidates' policies tend to be those who watch The Daily Show and/or The Colbert Report, and/or listen to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. For those not familiar with these, they are comedy shows (two TV and one radio) with political content. Look them up.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    6. Re:*toot* by Nyder · · Score: 1

      Did you get sued for it? Maybe you should think about running for office.

      "The fart party: we promise to break the political gridlock in washington and also promise to break wind."

      Maybe democrats should look into this as a method of getting past fillibustering everything: there's probably not a rule against farting in the face of the speaker to make him pass out (thus breaking the fillibuster). It's also not like that would be beneath the dignity of the senate.

      I like the idea of MMA matches between the senators myself.

      --
      Be seeing you...
  2. Welcome, by aBaldrich · · Score: 1

    ...to politics!

    --
    In soviet russia the government regulates the companies.
    1. Re:Welcome, by atfrase · · Score: 1

      "Crime and politics, little girl. Situation is always... fluid." --Badger

    2. Re:Welcome, by obarthelemy · · Score: 1

      Love your sig

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    3. Re:Welcome, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Sharon Angle stole some words.You can argue if that's theft or not. Harry Reid stole our money, stole our future. That's a fact and no one can diusagree with it.

    4. Re:Welcome, by h4rr4r · · Score: 0

      Please state when he did this. I would disagree with your claim that this is a fact until you provide some evidence.

  3. Corporations by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    . So ... doesn't it seem a bit odd

    Corporations aren't just immortals, they're schizophrenic immortals. With 'human' rights.

    Try to keep this straight.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:Corporations by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Informative

          Nope, I'd bet it was more of a calculated decision. Put yourself in their position.

          You are a local media mogul, and have a political candidate over a barrel. They've committed a violation of law.

          There are two options. Well, two main ones. There are of course others.

          1) They can fight you in court, but they'll get torn up both publicly in the media (which you own) and in court. They won't win their campaign.

          2) You promise to forget about their little transgression, but in exchange you may ask for "favors" in the future. Additionally, you will support them in your media, adding to the stack of redeemable "favors".

          Option 1 costs a lot of money, and no one wins.

          Option 2 doesn't cost a lot, and it's advantageous to both parties involved. It's dirty, but that's the game of both business and politics.

          Any good business person will go for option 2. Any responsible business person will go for option 1. Responsibility goes out the window when you can have a politician in your pocket.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    2. Re:Corporations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its nothing personal we just want your money.... we are sure you will be a fine candidate.

    3. Re:Corporations by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      No, they're sociopathic schizophrenic immortals.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    4. Re:Corporations by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      I like your reasoning.

      Yet we have a copyright-abuser local newspaper worried that others might usurp them by having a sued candidate for govenor getting in bed with Fox News http://mediamatters.org/blog/201009220018 instead of them.

      Politics makes such odd bedfellows.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    5. Re:Corporations by sjames · · Score: 1

      You left out psychopathic and narcissistic.

    6. Re:Corporations by GiveBenADollar · · Score: 1

      More likely they just placed a vote against the other guy. You don't always support the person you like, sometimes you support the person you hate less.

    7. Re:Corporations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      . So ... doesn't it seem a bit odd

      Corporations aren't just immortals, they're schizophrenic immortals. With 'human' rights.

      Try to keep this straight.

      Of course they're schizophrenic - they're endorsing Obtuse Angle. Crazees gotta stick together, ya know?

    8. Re:Corporations by trb · · Score: 1

      Another option - a corporation is suing a politician. If the politician loses the lawsuit, the politician's ability to pay the penalty may be contingent on his being gainfully employed (as a politician). Therefore it is in the plaintiff's interest that the defendant remains employed. So the plaintiff (the newspaper) endorses the defendant (the politician).

    9. Re:Corporations by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

          Could be, but I kinda doubt it. Well, I assume they're suing the campaign, right? So if the campaign gets more money, then the campaign has something to pay with. But that's a dangerous prospect. They may accidentally put someone in power who has a grudge against them.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    10. Re:Corporations by uniquename72 · · Score: 1

      It's both. The Review-Journal is extremely Republican in all things. It would never, ever endorse a Democrat. It will always endorse a Republican. Nothing matters beyond political affiliation.

    11. Re:Corporations by mahadiga · · Score: 1

      Govt is not smart enough to monitor day-to-day illegal & immoral activities of big corporations.
      It is better to breakup these corporations into smaller entities to promote competition and solve unemployment crisis.

      --
      I'd like to buy homeland for our 10 million people. http://twitter.com/mahadiga
    12. Re:Corporations by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Why allow them to grow that big and then break them up? That seems terribly inefficient.

      Corporations can only exist at that size because of government corporate protections. Partnerships don't get that big.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. Sooo... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The right half of the brain doesn't know what the left half is doing?

    1. Re:Sooo... by chill · · Score: 1

      ...brain...

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  5. Nothing odd about it by matt4077 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's not odd, that's how it's supposed to work. The editorial staff should be independent from the business side of the business. It's only after being exposed to Murdoch-media for too long that you think the owner should be the only one deciding the newspaper's opinions.

    It's also possible that the owner is - shock! - able to disagree with someone on one issue but agrees on others. Or maybe he doesn't put his own interest ahead of what he thinks is good for society. OF course if you want to be cynical, maybe he wants the candidate to win so she can pay whatever he's suing for.

    1. Re:Nothing odd about it by AnonymousClown · · Score: 4, Insightful

      . It's only after being exposed to Murdoch-media for too long that you think the owner should be the only one deciding the newspaper's opinions.

      Randolph Hearst predates him by a century, Ben Franklin when he was publishing stuck his nose into things and every other newspaper owner before them.

      --
      RIP America

      July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    2. Re:Nothing odd about it by blair1q · · Score: 1

      It's also possible the paper is owned and published by flaming hypocrites.

    3. Re:Nothing odd about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But its the same issue.

    4. Re:Nothing odd about it by Crippere · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's also possible for a newspaper to care to endorse a white-collar thief precisely because that's the kind of morality that the newspaper wants to see in office.

    5. Re:Nothing odd about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe the news paper shouldn't endorse anyone since it is supposed to be factual and unbiased.

    6. Re:Nothing odd about it by sjames · · Score: 1

      It does mean, however that either the owner things a thief is a perfectly viable representative or that the editorial staff believes the owner is wrong about the copying being theft.

      It does provide interesting insight into the organization.

    7. Re:Nothing odd about it by gorzek · · Score: 1

      Newspapers are still businesses and as such have financial interests that are affected by public policy.

    8. Re:Nothing odd about it by OakDragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's also possible that for whatever deficiencies Sharron Angle exhibits, they see her as a vastly superior choice to the execrable Harry Reid.

    9. Re:Nothing odd about it by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But don't you realize that Murdoch is "right wing extremism" and that is bad, but people like Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr are okay because he's left wing?

      When people troll on about "Faux News" and Murdock I simply point to the problems with other "news" organizations that don't report certain news stories because it doesn't fit the narrative of the left. Which is why people should get the news raw and and unfiltered.

      And the internet provides a very broad voice for news accounts of important events and stories. Some are slanted left, others right, and somewhere there is the truth. It is out there, you just have to learn to filter out the bias.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    10. Re:Nothing odd about it by ShakaUVM · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >>When people troll on about "Faux News" and Murdock I simply point to the problems with other "news" organizations that don't report certain news stories because it doesn't fit the narrative of the left. Which is why people should get the news raw and and unfiltered.

      Shush! Next you'll be asking people to think for themselves!

      I honestly think the best way to read news is to read *everything*, from Mother Jones to The Blaze, from NPR to Fox News, and when you find points of disagreement in their narratives, dig into it and figure it out for yourself. Too much work for most people, but if you just listen to one news source, due to the gatekeeper effect, you'll have a very biased idea of what is happening in our world.

    11. Re:Nothing odd about it by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      flaming hypocrites

      Gay republicans? Inconceivable!

    12. Re:Nothing odd about it by winwar · · Score: 1

      "It's also possible that for whatever deficiencies Sharron Angle exhibits, they see her as a vastly superior choice..."

      Which is really fucking scary. Many people believe that Reid is a crappy Senator. Many of those are in his own party. But anyone who seriously believes that Angle would be an improvement is someone who is deficient in critical reasoning, thinking and logic skills.

    13. Re:Nothing odd about it by Compaqt · · Score: 1

      This. Don't complain about the "liberal" media and "Faux" news. Read/watch both.

      --
      I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
    14. Re:Nothing odd about it by AK+Marc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The issue I have with Faux News is that they claim to be a news channel, but have more editorials than news, and the editorials are not labeled as such.

      Take the newspaper. They have editorials. They are labeled as such and only two pages out of 50. But a news channel with more editorial than news and nothing differentiating them isn't a news channel. When even their name is lying to me, it's hard to be a fan.

      And no, "the other guys do it too" doesn't excuse unethical behavior. If everyone else in your class cheated, I'd still expect you to not cheat. If you did, even if everyone else did it too, I'd still expel you.

    15. Re:Nothing odd about it by bogjobber · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is not a partisan issue. Murdoch isn't worse than Sulzberger because he's conservative and Sulzberger is liberal. Murdoch is worse than Sulzberger because he doesn't care about journalism. Not one little bit.

      Other than the various business news organizations News Corp. owns (also probably a lot of local papers which I'm not familiar with) most of his newspapers and TV channels are complete tabloid trash. Fox News devotes 7 hours a day to news (even being generous and counting Shephard Smith and Matt Braier as completely non-editorial) and 17 hours to opinion, which on Fox means a carefully selected batch of stories that reinforce a hard conservative viewpoint served with an extra helping of indignity and anger. Just because he's talking about current events does not make Bill O'Reilly a journalist. And how often does the New York Post or The Sun break a significant news story that has nothing to do with sports or entertainment?

      Murdoch is certainly the more successful businessman. But he actively manipulates the popular dialog in order to achieve his own political gains, and he does this all over the world. As soon as you have evidence of a Sulzberger-run news organization manipulating or avoiding a story because it might affect The New York Times Company's bottom line, then you will have a legitimate comparison.

    16. Re:Nothing odd about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I did that, for a while anyway. I then I began dropping those "sources" which were consistently at variance with reality.
      It should come as no surprise to anyone who watches Fox News, that its viewers are more likely to be uninformed about the world, the wars, the government, the budget, etc...

      You can read about it here. http://tinyurl.com/6knn6k

      It's true what they say. Reality has a left-wing bias.

    17. Re:Nothing odd about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too much work for most people

      If by "most" you mean "overwhelmingly large majority of" then yes, I agree.

      , but if you just listen to one news source, due to the gatekeeper effect, you'll have a very biased idea of what is happening in our world.

      Aye. Very true.

    18. Re:Nothing odd about it by MorpheousMarty · · Score: 1

      I have no idea who Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr is so I can't comment on him, but I do know who Micheal Moore is, and I hate that guy for the very same reasons I hate Fox News. My problem is with not with bias, since reporters are only human, but a lack of any shame when they are inaccurate. Reporting is exactly the opposite of "you decide"; it is about having someone out there with integrity doing the hard work for you and providing you trustworthy information. And I don't mean you should blindly trust anyone, but you should be able to reasonably trust reporters even if you disagree with them.

      Fox News is the business of feigning integrity while instilling bias. It is the opposite of what reporting is about. They don't feel bad about being inaccurate, and I don't care how many other places do it, it's wrong. It should be unacceptable. Instead it is the number one source of news in the US.

    19. Re:Nothing odd about it by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      When people troll on about "Faux News" and Murdock I simply point to the problems with other "news" organizations that don't report certain news stories because it doesn't fit the narrative of the left.

      This is true to an extent, but the popular left-wing media outlets generally don't LIE about what's going on. They have a liberal bias, but while they may try to lead their audience in a particular direction, they don't deliberately try to deceive their audience. I've seen several examples of Fox News doing just that.

      Obama on taxes
      Nuclear proliferation treaty
      Video footage of protest
      Ground Zero mosque funding

      Then of course there's this:
      Funding the GOP

      And then there are other Republicans lying, not necessarily through Fox News:
      Alan Grayson lying about his opponent (more)
      Jan Brewer lying about decapitated bodies
      Andrew Breitbart quotes Shirley Sharrod out of context

      Please, show me where Democrats are lying this blatantly. Am I just not aware of it because I only get my news from liberal biased sources? If that's the case, then show me.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  6. Ideally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ideally, the newspaper ought to be endorsing the candidate they think is best for the citizens, not best for the paper.

    1. Re:Ideally by schnikies79 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Ideally, the newspaper should be reporting the news and not endorsing anybody.

      --
      Gone!
    2. Re:Ideally by icebraining · · Score: 1

      So they think a thieve as themselves called him is the best candidate for the citizens?

    3. Re:Ideally by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Ideally, the newspaper should be reporting the news and not endorsing anybody.

      Except when it's in the editorial section where this endorsement happens?

    4. Re:Ideally by lwsimon · · Score: 1

      Why?

      A paper is a business, and businesses endorse candidates all the time. Nothing wrong with that at all.

      --
      Learn about Photography Basics.
    5. Re:Ideally by schnikies79 · · Score: 1

      As long as the staff of the paper is not doing the endorsing, that is fine. Many times the editor uses the editorial section to endorse a candidate which is just as bad.

      Newspaper staff shouldn't be using the newspaper as a vehicle to spread their endorsements.

      --
      Gone!
    6. Re:Ideally by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      Because I'd like to be able to trust a news reporter. If they are obviously partial, then that calls their reporting into suspicion.

    7. Re:Ideally by Surt · · Score: 1

      Well, that's an interesting idea, but runs counter to how newspapers have been run since there were newspapers.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    8. Re:Ideally by Surt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As opposed to when their partiality is more subtle? You just take their news at face value then?
      Always be suspicious of the reporting. Always. It's all done by partial observers. All of it.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    9. Re:Ideally by aliddell · · Score: 1

      You probably ought to get it out of your head that this Platonic ideal - the impartial reporter - ever existed at all.

      --
      What do you think, sirs?
    10. Re:Ideally by makomk · · Score: 1

      While there may be no such thing as a totally impartial reporter, this doesn't mean that we have to ignore blatent displays of partiality and it's not a good reason to pretend that the news sources doing them are no worse than the rest.

  7. politics makes strange bedfellows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    anybody will sleep with anybody

    if the price is right, evidently

  8. Not Odd by doomicon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just a statement on how bad the opposing candidate is.

    --

    Awesome!
    1. Re:Not Odd by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Not that I disagree with your conclusion, but are you aware that the opposing candidate is Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader?

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    2. Re:Not Odd by operagost · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, and he thinks that losing "only" 36,000 jobs in one day is good. He declared the Iraq war "lost" in 2007, and that the surge would be a failure. He made prejudiced statements about President Obama. That's just the nonpartisan stuff, because obviously his voting record is debatable based on whatever your opinions are.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    3. Re:Not Odd by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Insightful

          Maybe Senator Reid hasn't been playing ball with them lately.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    4. Re:Not Odd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Harry Reid is a nightmare.

    5. Re:Not Odd by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      I said I didn't disagree with the idea that the opposing candidate was that bad. I just wanted to make sure that people knew who that candidate was, the man who the Democrats in the Senate believe is the best man to lead them (If he's bad, what does that say about the rest of them?).

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    6. Re:Not Odd by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      HAHAHahaha, Way to stick up for what you believe in AC.

    7. Re:Not Odd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      "He declared the Iraq war "lost" in 2007, and that the surge would be a failure."

      The war was lost, and is lost. We achieved none of our goals we had in starting the war, unless you think turning Iraq into a satellite of Iran was the whole point of the war, in which case, Mission Accomplished!

      Also, there were no WMD. Democracy in Iraq is a sham. We enabled ethnic cleansing of the Sunni by the Shia. Shall I go on?

      Also too the surge was a failure, except as a PR exercise to get the MSM to stop talking about Iraq. The surge has not cured the endemic violence and chaos in Iraq. Levels of violence went down BEFORE the surge, thanks to the simple expedient of paying the Sunni insurgents not to fight us - a simple bribe that could have saved a lot of lives had we taken that course in 2004 instead of waiting three long and bloody years - and also cooperating with them against Al Qaeda in Iraq, which the Sunni insurgents had wanted to do back in 2004 but were rebuffed by the Bush administration neo-cons who preferred to force the Iraqis to fight us, rather than compromise and work with them. Levels of violence also went down because there were no more people to ethnically cleanse - the Sunni populations had already been driven out of Shia areas before the Surge; the Surge did not prevent this ethnic cleansing, but the Bush administration cynically credited resulting lower levels of violence to the surge and the MSM went along with the lie.

      "He made prejudiced statements about President Obama."

      Boo-f-ing-hoo. On war, foreign policy, torture, civil liberties, etc., Obama is no different than Bush.

    8. Re:Not Odd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Senate/House leaders are chosen on the basis of seniority and the unlikelihood of them being defeated in an election (or "safety", as they put it) and not for actual leadership qualities. This is true of both parties.

    9. Re:Not Odd by interkin3tic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, and he thinks that losing "only" 36,000 jobs in one day is good

      I don't see how his outlook on that would have changed anything. Surely you're not suggesting the US economy had problems because Harry Reid wasn't optimistic enough.

      He declared the Iraq war "lost" in 2007, and that the surge would be a failure.

      Yep. He doesn't have a crystal ball and is clearly unfit for office. As far as losing the war, that was stupid to say for a politician. I'm not a politician, so I can say we lost the war when we confused Iraq with al qaeda.

      He made prejudiced statements about President Obama.

      So? Are we going to pretend most people in congress are not at least a little prejudiced? I'm taking it as a given that we're pretending that everyone isn't at least a little prejudiced (though we all are.) Or are we going to pretend that a politician who has gaffes is unfit in some way?

      And keep in mind we're talking about Reid vs Sharon Angle, who is campaigning against those evil, evil immigrants.

    10. Re:Not Odd by MrLint · · Score: 1

      So one might argue that Sharon Angle is Nightmare on Elm Street?

    11. Re:Not Odd by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      I hate to say it, but the Reps are kinda right about the DREAM Act providing preferred tuition. The problem is that it treats illegals as in-state residents, which they're not; they're illegal immigrants and not valid residents of any state.

      Of course, throwing out a bunch of people who were brought into the country when they were small children and never even grew up in Mexico (or elsewhere; not all illegals are from Mexico, many are from Guatamala and other Central/South American countries), and might not even speak Spanish, isn't the answer either, especially when we've already paid for their elementary education.

      Instead, the answer is something that neither party addresses: get rid of in-state tuition! There shouldn't be a difference between what any US Citizen (or legal resident) pays for college tuition, at any public university in the country. If I live in State B, just over the border from "A" State University, and it's closer than any school in my own state, why should it cost me 3x as much to attend that school as State A residents who actually live farther from the school than I do, just because of an arbitrary state border in the way? Last time I checked, I pay a lot more taxes to the Federal government (IRS) than to my state, so why is there such a difference in tuition?

      How about this radical idea: in-country tuition, and out-of-country tuition? One tuition rate for American Citizens (and perhaps certain legal permanent residents), and another, higher rate for non-citizens, including all the F-1 student visa holders.

    12. Re:Not Odd by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      I wonder how charitable you'd be if all those things were ... say ... GWB? or some "right wing" candidate?

      And by the look of the link you provided I can see you're not. I've not seen the ad by Angle, but I suppose it shows illegal immigrants flowing over the southern border and Gasp, HORROR they're all "brown", must be racism. It can't be anything else that Racist White People scared of brown people! Those Racist Teabaggers.

      (never mind Rubio of Florida completely breaks the case that Tea Partiers hating "brown people").

      All the real racists I know are (D), they call themselves by Racist Names. Some were even members of the KKK, but get a pass simply by being liberal enough for the left wing. I'd think you all would be past the "racist" thing by now, but you're losing so it is time to break out the old favorite card of the left. Next up, Grandma eating dog food, and "do it for the children".

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    13. Re:Not Odd by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      I wonder how charitable you'd be if all those things were ... say ... GWB? or some "right wing" candidate?

      I might find those gaffes funnier if it were coming from a republican, true, but it's not what Bush and the right wingers say that I have problems with, it's what they do.

      I'd think you all would be past the "racist" thing by now, but you're losing so it is time to break out the old favorite card of the left.

      Operagost brought up the race card about Reid. I only talked about it to point out that the pot is calling the kettle black.

      Meanwhile I see that you aren't past pulling out the "pulling out the race card" card ;)

    14. Re:Not Odd by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Well, when the race card is played, it is like crying "child molester". You can deny it all you want, but the stench of "racist" or "child molester" never goes away.

      Which is why it is hurled in the first place. It makes for a nice boogieman, and everything else becomes irrelevant.

      t's not what Bush and the right wingers say that I have problems with,it's what they do.

      When you can say the same thing about the shenanigans of the (D) you'll have proper outlook. There is no difference between the (D) and the (R) parties in regards to how despicable the things they do are. It is called Politics.

      So much for "draining the swamp". It is clear that the only way to "drain the swamp" is for us, the voters, to do it.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    15. Re:Not Odd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He declared the Iraq war "lost" in 2007, and that the surge would be a failure.

      The surge succeeded in making things less bad. The war, however, is still lost no matter how long we take to admit it.

    16. Re:Not Odd by kenrblan · · Score: 1

      The problem with that flat tuition proposal is that the bulk of state university funding comes from the individual states and private donations to those universities. Tuition costs often reflect the amount of support (or lack of support) that the state legislatures provide. The major exception to that source of funding is the US Government grants associated with research projects. Who you pay the most taxes is not the issue. Who funds the operation of the universities is. Additionally, there are tremendous differences by region/location in the costs associated with running those college campuses: land acquisition costs, labor cost reflecting cost of living, and so on. Some states actually have peering agreements in place which allow students along borders to attend colleges in the adjoining state at the in-state rate. In order to accomplish what you request, a complete change in the funding structure of higher education would be required. I can't name a single congressman or senator with the political courage or capital required to even propose such an endeavor. Would your plan be great for citizens? Maybe. With the current political polarization, we can't even get legislation passed that both parties would want, much less something like this that would definitely be split along ideological boundaries.

      --
      Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein
    17. Re:Not Odd by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Well, when the race card is played, it is like crying "child molester". You can deny it all you want, but the stench of "racist" or "child molester" never goes away.

      That might be why operagost threw it at Reid.

      When you can say the same thing about the shenanigans of the (D) you'll have proper outlook. There is no difference between the (D) and the (R) parties in regards to how despicable the things they do are. It is called Politics.

      So much for "draining the swamp". It is clear that the only way to "drain the swamp" is for us, the voters, to do it.

      That second part is what I'm talking about: democrats get no points from me when they said they were going to drain the swamp. They would have gotten points only had they done it.

      As far as the first part, I see no evidence to back that up. Recently an effort to get 9/11 responders free healthcare coverage failed because it would have closed a tax loophole for large corporations, and some republicans said illegal immigrants could be covered. I blame democrats for being too dumb and cowardly to get it passed (and for stupidly invoking rules to require more than a majority to vote for it) but I think the republicans are worse for actually voting against it.

      In my opinion, there are definite differences right now between the two parties: one is evil, the other has policies I agree with but is completely incompetent. That's why I don't think foolish statements from either party matter, and that's why I don't think operagost's reasoning was solid that Reid was worse than Angle.

    18. Re:Not Odd by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Recently an effort to get 9/11 responders free healthcare coverage failed because it would have closed a tax loophole for large corporations, and some republicans said illegal immigrants could be covered.

      Quite frankly, isn't everyone going to get all the healthcare they need with ObamaCare? ;)

      Okay, I jest. But seriously, if the bill was about doing just ONE THING, creating a healthcare fund for GZ cleanup and first responders, the (D) could have done it with Broad Bi-partisan support.

      I'm sorry, the (D) are as incompetent as the (R). And for all their "good intentions", they BOTH are taking us on the proverbial road to hell.

      There are no differences between the (D) and (R) parties from where I sit.

      Any sufficient level of incompetence is indistinguishable from Malice.

      What you call incompetence I see as Evil. Realistically the results are identical, so it doesn't matter.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    19. Re:Not Odd by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Additionally, there are tremendous differences by region/location in the costs associated with running those college campuses: land acquisition costs, labor cost reflecting cost of living, and so on.

      I hear you on everything else, but this part is irrelevant. If land and labor cost more in one place than another, then that means tuition should cost more in the higher-cost place, that's all. If students want to attend Central Wyoming University to save money, they should be able to do so.

      But while I understand the reasons why things are the way they are, I still think it sucks. Why do states even fund universities? It's not like the graduating students actually stay in that state when they graduate. When I went to Virginia Tech, that was something the State of Virginia was constantly whining about: students would graduate from VT with an engineering degree and promptly move to California, Washington, even North Carolina or some other state with more tech industry. They even tried to push more tech companies to relocate to the area by kicking off a "Technology Corridor" in the southwest part of the state, which was a complete joke and never resulted in anything because the state generally isn't business-friendly, has high taxes and a poorly-educated workforce. They eventually gave up on it. This is but one example among many: if you look at where big tech schools are located, and which metro areas are the most popular for tech workers, they're all in different states. The best state tech schools (Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, UMich, etc.) are all on the East Coast, generally in places where there's almost no tech employers. The jobs are all in places like California, Portland, Seattle, and RTP. Seems to me the states should just give up on funding universities and let them be self-supporting, or better yet have a Federal program to help fund them to keep tuition low for students.

    20. Re:Not Odd by Yunzil · · Score: 0, Troll

      Listen, friend, the other candidate could be a moldy pile of monkey feces, and I'd still vote for it over Sharron Angle.

      Vote Monkey Feces! "At least it's not batshit!"

    21. Re:Not Odd by Dragon+Bait · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and he thinks that losing "only" 36,000 jobs in one day is good

      I don't see how his outlook on that would have changed anything.

      No. It says that he is hideously insensitive to those out of work: "Life is good. Everyone else lost their job, but I kept mine."

      Nevada used to have a "none of the above" option -- if it got the plurality of the votes, the position went unfilled until the next election. I used that option often.

  9. Legal department vs. Editorial board by Brannon · · Score: 1

    nothing to see here.

    The same people that complain when a newspaper's editorial board is not sufficiently distanced from its straight news department will complain when the two departments are at odds with one another. Some people just like to complain.

  10. Where does this sound familiar? by kaoshin · · Score: 3, Interesting
    1. Re:Where does this sound familiar? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This shit again?

      Apparently you don't realize that in a free society, when you place shares into the free market, anyone can buy them. There's nothing you can do to stop them - it's a free country.

      However, who you choose to donate money to is definitely a choice, and you have to wonder about the real motives behind those who want to place a "victory" mosque next to Ground Zero.

    2. Re:Where does this sound familiar? by chris+mazuc · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apparently you don't realize that in a free society, when you place shares into the free market, anyone can buy them. There's nothing you can do to stop them - it's a free country.

      It doesn't look like Rupert was telling him to sell his shares in this photo.

      HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch Chairman and CEO of News Corporation (News Corp.) at the company's headquarters in New York on Thursday 14th January, 2010.

      The meeting began as Prince Alwaleed and Mr. Murdoch discussed economic and investment issues especially in the media sector and the two discussed Rotana and LBCSAT 90% owned by HRH. Moreover, the meetings touched upon future potential alliance with News Corp.

      and you have to wonder about the real motives behind those who want to place a "victory" mosque next to Ground Zero.

      And I wonder about the motives of those who deliberately distort language to further a bigoted political agenda.

      --
      E pluribus unum
    3. Re:Where does this sound familiar? by Internal+Modem · · Score: 1

      +1

    4. Re:Where does this sound familiar? by MorpheousMarty · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of Fox News accusing Fox news co-owner of terror funding.

      I love the fact Fox News did this to themselves because it forces this:

      If Fox News tell the truth
      Then Fox News is partly owned by terrorists
      Else Fox News does not tell the truth

  11. Communication breakdown by treeves · · Score: 1

    Partly because it's a newspaper, partly because it's such a big discordance, this makes the news, but it's not unusual for there to be disagreements and differing agendas within companies. And I suppose with lawyers involved, as I suppose there are in this case (didn't RTFA of course!), all bets are off.

    --
    ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  12. welcome to modern politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps we truly are living in a time when "endorse" no longer means "I like this guy more" but "this guy over here sucks less"

    1. Re:welcome to modern politics by blair1q · · Score: 1

      In this case it's "we'd rather have a different candidate fronting for the party that's going to vote for our corporate interests, but we got this one and we still want our tax cuts despite the fact that it will deepen the recession".

    2. Re:welcome to modern politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this case it's "we'd rather have a different candidate fronting for the party that's going to vote for our corporate interests, but we got this one and we still want our tax cuts despite the fact that it will deepen the recession".

      What fucking universe do you live in?

      If "tax cuts...will deepen the recession", why the fuck are Reid/Pelosi/Obama so damn scared of letting the Bush tax rates expire? Hell, they all would have at least two years (Reid would have SIX) before having to face voters again, so if raising taxes are the right thing two do and would end the recession - the clear implication of your post - then they should be HAPPY to raise them.

      Maybe because they're more concerned about the POWER they get from high taxes, and no so concerned with the people?

      And I hope this makes your head explode. Guess what high taxes pay for:

      Gitmo
      "Illegal" wiretaps
      War in Iraq

      Oh, yeah, your high-tax champion the Obamessiah will stop all those, won't he? Yeah, right. Are you still holding your breath after two years?

      Get this: without high taxes, the US goverment couldn't afford to do any of that.

      HAA HAA. I truly hope that makes you head explode. Because you deserve it. But please don't use your brains as gunpowder for that explosion - there's not enough there to blow your nose, much less make your 3-inch-thick, rock-hard, impenetrable skull explode.

      Because you deserve it. You're stupid enough to think higher taxes result in improved economic conditions despite an utter lack of evidence to support that, and you appear to have a rather quaint and naive belief that "your side" won't use higher taxes against the taxpayers - another position contrary to all available evidence.

      So, given your utter disconnect from reality, I'll ask again: what universe do you live in?

    3. Re:welcome to modern politics by TheEyes · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What recession? If you're one of the rich people funding this "Tea Party" astroturf campaign you couldn't be happier: your company is making record profits, and sinking the country into a deflationary death spiral will make the billions you sucked off the government teat over the past decade worth even more than it already is. Sure, you'll have to move to Austrailia or Canada when the Republican's 2011 budget causes unemployment to jump to 15 percent, just like when they passed an austerity measure in 1937, but that doesn't really matter because none of your money is invested in the US economy anyway.

    4. Re:welcome to modern politics by blair1q · · Score: 1

      I live in the universe where I've read your post twice and you're still talking nonsense.

      Bush's tax cuts did nothing to improve the economy and a lot to make things worse for all but the richest in America.

      And he's the one who instituted Gitmo, illegal wiretaps, and the war in Iraq.

      I'm pretty sure you have no idea why Obama has to keep Gitmo open, no clue why he has to defend the nation against the legal trouble that the illegal wiretaps caused, and probably haven't heard that he's ending the war in Iraq.

      So, really, you should be asking yourself if you're in this universe, because your view of it is a lot like how it would look if you were on the outside viewing it through a crystal ball.

    5. Re:welcome to modern politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL!

    6. Re:welcome to modern politics by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Huh? Deflationary death spiral? It seems to me with all the printing of extra money going on and being handed out by the Federal government, and also from the price hikes I'm seeing, that we're entering an inflationary period.

      Of course, IANAE, but then again I don't trust any of the "real" economists to know what's really going on either.

    7. Re:welcome to modern politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live in the universe where I've read your post twice and you're still talking nonsense.

      Bush's tax cuts did nothing to improve the economy and a lot to make things worse for all but the richest in America.

      And he's the one who instituted Gitmo, illegal wiretaps, and the war in Iraq.

      I'm pretty sure you have no idea why Obama has to keep Gitmo open, no clue why he has to defend the nation against the legal trouble that the illegal wiretaps caused, and probably haven't heard that he's ending the war in Iraq.

      So, really, you should be asking yourself if you're in this universe, because your view of it is a lot like how it would look if you were on the outside viewing it through a crystal ball.

      So when Obama-the-Senator railed against Gitmo and wiretaps, he was clueless? When Obama-the-candidate promised to close Gitmo and stop the wiretaps, he was clueless?

      Or was he telling a lie?

      And Obama also inherited the plan for ending the Iraq war from Bush - he's following BUSH'S schedule.

    8. Re:welcome to modern politics by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      Give it a few years, you'll be wishing for that deflationary death spiral.

      Have you not noticed the USD making a record low against one currency or another on a daily basis?

    9. Re:welcome to modern politics by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Obama the Senator was right to rail against those things.

      Obama the President is now stuck having to deal with those things. He can't just evaporate them. Gitmo is a legal quagmire, and moving those people stateside at this point is worse than leaving them where they are. He tried, and got nowhere with Congress on it because it's just too big a pig-fuck.

      He stopped illegally wiretapping people, but he has to fight for the nation in the courts because of the illegal wiretaps that Bush conducted. He can't just roll over because that could emasculate the Executive Branch on the powers Bush used incorrectly to cause the taps to happen. Hamstringing the Chief Executive forever because one resident of the office broke the law during his term is a supremely stupid thing to do, buy you'd gladly do it to embarass a guy you just don't like for whatever stupid reason you have.

      And he's not following Bush's schedule. Bush never had a schedule. He had a mandate from Iraq, and he was going to find a way around it. The "surge" did not create the stable environment it was supposed to, and McCain, continuing Bush's real strategy, would have used that to abrogate the agreement. Obama got us out. But because Bush's surge failed, the military has been replaced by mercenaries, at even greater expense. It remains to be seen if the instability will stabilize or become a shitstorm again, now that our uniforms are not patrolling the streets daily.

    10. Re:welcome to modern politics by makomk · · Score: 1

      He can't just roll over because that could emasculate the Executive Branch on the powers Bush used incorrectly to cause the taps to happen.

      Which is a Good Thing(tm) for everyone except the current President of the US. If Bush was willing to use his executive powers for really questionable and nasty things, what makes you think other presidents won't be willing to do the same thing?

    11. Re:welcome to modern politics by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Which is why we should prosecute Bush for the criminal acts he conducted with those powers.

      See, it's wrong to keep a President from having the power to order people to do things. It's also wrong not to hold him personally accountable when he uses that power to get illegal things done.

  13. Newspapers? Pshaw. by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I only read newspapers for the hilarity of their inaccuracy and the absurdity of what they leave in and what they leave out.

    About twenty years ago when my children were small and we lived in a bad neighborhood, there was a gang war right down the street. Probably more than 50 rounds were fired; it sounded similar to strings of firecrackers going off (the timbre was different, of course). An innocent bystander was shot and crippled as he tried to get his kids inside. I watched a police car go airborne as it crossed the railroad tracks ate a very high rate of speed. Two days later the crack house the gangsters lived in "mysteriously" burned to the ground.

    Not a word of this made the paper, although "news" of petty vandalism and burglaries and so forth were.

    A few weeks ago a school bus carrying fifteen kids ran a red light and was hit by an SUV, and missed being hit by inches by another vehicle. This happened less than two minutes before I walked into the bar at that intersection. Several police cars showed up, then another school bus came by, parked in the biker bar's* parking lot and the kids got on it and left. There were no injuries, but the SUV's air bags deployed and it was damaged pretty severely.

    The next day's paper carried stories about fender benders, petty vandalism, and residential burglaries. Not a word about the school bus wreck or the school bus driver running a red light with kids on board.

    And they wonder why their circulation continues to drop.

    * Google maps is out of date; the place is called "Scooter's" now.

    1. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by obarthelemy · · Score: 1, Insightful

      why do you guys use "rate of speed" when "speed" would suffice ? to sound more seriouser ?

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    2. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 2, Funny

      I only read newspapers for the hilarity of their inaccuracy and the absurdity of what they leave in and what they leave out.

      So you are frequenting slashdot for its journalistic excellence, lack of absurdity, and total adherence to the truth.

    3. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by RapmasterT · · Score: 1

      what's the problem? It's a perfectly cromulent word.

    4. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by operagost · · Score: 1

      Scouring the street view to catch a glimpse of McGrew heading for the bar now... :-P

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    5. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      I would argue that the rate of speed would really describe the acceleration, so using "rate of speed" to mean km/h is wrong.

    6. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

          There are reasons exciting news doesn't always make it to the paper. The biggest one would be, no reporter or photographers got to the scene. They may have been following bigger stories, or weren't even dispatched to it. A lot of times, they find out about events when citizens call them in. The police don't generally bring journalists along with them. They usually won't even call, unless there's some reason they want it to be leaked.

          Just like you shouldn't say a word to a cop unless you want it to be used against you in court, you shouldn't say a word to the press. Even if the journalist you're talking to is a honorable and reputable person, before you know it your sound bite or quote fragment makes you look like a serial killing pedophile.

          I've worked at several places, where talking to either one is grounds for immediate termination, and could result in legal action. It's not to keep the actions of the company secret (generally), but it's so a quote fragment isn't used to make both you and the company look bad.

          The bus accident doesn't sound like a big deal. No one was hurt. Some repairs will need to be done. In most areas, if they ran a story on every accident report, there wouldn't exactly be enough room for anything else. In the local section of one paper, they'd run the crime sheet. It was just one liners (traffic accident at xx and yy; assult at zz; etc). It took several pages. Most of it was nothing reports of nothing.

          If you're a witness to a story, call it in to the local media. Be standing there when they arrive and give them your statement. Even if they show up to a scene, but can't get any information from anyone and the story isn't obvious, it's a non-story, and will be trashed in favor of "Jaycees open haunted house tonight at fairgrounds" (from the front page of your paper).

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    7. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Actually it's because believe it or not, sometimes I actually learn something in the comments. I know of no other site where there are real scientists commenting on their field (even though there are some comments as ignorant as others are enlightening). And some of the comments are hilarious.

      Journalism has nothing to do with it.

    8. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      The biggest one would be, no reporter or photographers got to the scene.

      The one a few weeks ago had several people taking pictures that I'm sure would love to sell to the paper. There are police scanners, which if I were running a newspaper someone would be paid to monitor.

      Even if the journalist you're talking to is a honorable and reputable person, before you know it your sound bite or quote fragment makes you look like a serial killing pedophile.

      I found that out speaking at a neighborhood meeting that the local TV station covered quite a while ago. The sound bite they filmed of me had little to do with the point I was making. I was just lucky they didn't make me look like a fool.

      I've worked at several places, where talking to either one is grounds for immediate termination

      No way would I EVER discuss my employer with a journalist.

      The bus accident doesn't sound like a big deal.

      The fact that the bus ran a red light made it a big deal in my mind. Had it been the SUV that had run the light I'd have agreed with you. If a trash truck rather than an SUV had been coming through the intersection it would have been really bad.

      Actually, "Jaycees open haunted house tonight at fairgrounds" is something I agree is "news" (unlike Paris Hilton shenanigans), as it will actually matter to some people.

    9. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would argue that the rate of speed would really describe the acceleration

      That would definitely be wrong, since the acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.

    10. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      The one a few weeks ago had several people taking pictures that I'm sure would love to sell to the paper. There are police scanners, which if I were running a newspaper someone would be paid to monitor.

          Newspapers are usually more than happy to buy pictures too. But...

          If they never go to the paper with the shot, and/or they wanted too much money, or they don't have any information other than the picture, then it's worthless. You have to have text to put with it, or you just have a snapshot of some event, that they can't really publish without some context.

          And just because someone was out shooting doesn't mean that they captured anything worthwhile. I've gone through enough photos that people thought were good, that weren't usable for anything. Hell, a good percentage of anyone's photos, especially at a live event, are worthless. Try shooting a live band in a dark bar, and you'll see what I mean. If you use a flash, it'll completely change the composition of the shot, and piss off the band. Without, it can be a trick to get the good ones, and even harder where some people seem to think that it's a good idea to stand in front of your camera. With the still camera, it's not so bad, but I usually have a video camera running too. I *HAVE* to leave it cranked up to about 7 feet, and even then, when I've reviewed the footage, some moron will jump in front of it so they can see what it is. "Ooohh, look, it's one of them video cameras. I wonder what it's doing." It's shooting video dumbass, now move.

          Ok, enough of my rant. :)

          For the scanners, a lot of people have them. But depending on the size of your city, you may be scanning an awful lot of frequencies. Also, you may be dealing with trunked and possibly encrypted traffic. I know when I've listened, sometimes I missed huge parts of the transmission because there were several overlapping conversations on different frequencies, and I didn't lock onto one.

          But, consider what they'd hear. They'd probably just get that there was a vehicle accident without injuries. Very boring. If it were right outside of my building, I probably wouldn't go out to get more info. I usually see two or three of those a day, just driving from home to work and back.

          Someone I know was covering a story recently. The photographer *HAD* to be there between 1:30pm to 3pm, with specific things to shoot. The reporter was to join at 2:30pm. What'd they get? Not a single usable photo. The event wrapped up at about 2:45. The photographer got there at 4pm. If I recall correctly, they got pulled in to shoot something else, which ran later than it should have.

      Actually, "Jaycees open haunted house tonight at fairgrounds" is something I agree is "news" (unlike Paris Hilton shenanigans), as it will actually matter to some people.

          Ya, the Jaycees story did nothing for me, because I'm not local. But, that's a good local interest story. If I was there, I would have probably covered it. :) I really don't like how most publications have begun to drift towards entertainment tabloidism. They need to keep their readership up, and to do so, they have to attract and keep a wide audience.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    11. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Like all modern journalism sources, Slashdot isn't very useful for the official writing in the articles, what's useful is the comments (which of course you have to wade through to find interesting info).

      It's like that for my own hometown paper, the Arizona Repugnant. The articles are horribly biased, missing obviously-needed information, etc., but it's worth reading the website (not the paper version) for the comments, where you'll sometimes find the real story.

    12. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He doesn't want velocity confused with a bad 90s movie.

    13. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, speed is a "rate of change of distance", so "rate of speed" seems to be adding an unnecessary descriptor to the word (since we already know it's a rate of change of something).

    14. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by not-my-real-name · · Score: 1

      I only read newspapers for the hilarity of their inaccuracy and the absurdity of what they leave in and what they leave out.

      So you are frequenting slashdot for its journalistic excellence, lack of absurdity, and total adherence to the truth.

      Maybe the GP reads Slashdot for the same reason as he/she reads newspapers.

      --
      un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
    15. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I really don't like how most publications have begun to drift towards entertainment tabloidism.

      Me either. Why should I care about Lindsay Lohan's drug addiction? I never met the woman, and nothing she's ever done will impact my life in any way. A drug addicted politician, otoh, that's different. Politicians can ruin other people's lives, not just their own.

    16. Re:Newspapers? Pshaw. by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      I'm still not sure how Lindsey Lohan makes the news. The same with Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, et al. They got picked up in tabloids, and somehow managed to get entertainment jobs.

          Well, Kim Kardashian, I don't mind seeing pictures of. The others, well, don't interest me much. None of them are news, are related to news events (other than showing up for no reason other than to get photos taken for tabloids), or should be portrayed as news.

          You know how it goes too. There should be a car accident, where one of them was a passer-by. That would change the title of the story from "Minor car accident blocks traffic, no injuries" to "Tragedy almost strikes as out of control cars crash in front of [insert pseudo-celebrity here]".

          Quick, without looking can anyone tell me anything Lindsey Lohan done that was newsworthy?

          [waiting]

          [waiting]

          [cricket noises]

          Nope, didn't think so.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  14. It's simple survival tactics... by digitaldc · · Score: 2, Informative

    Endorsing Sharron Angle is simply just a survival tactic for the newspapers. The gaffes, foibles, unfounded and inaccurate claims she makes almost every time she opens her mouth guarantees that the newspaper will be in business for at least the next 6 years.

    "We needed to have the press be our friend ... We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported." --Sharron Angle, during an interview with Fox News Channel's Carl Cameron, Aug. 2, 2010
    Spoken like a true statesperson.

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
    1. Re:It's simple survival tactics... by operagost · · Score: 1

      She'd just like to have what Harry Reid has-- the media in his pocket.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    2. Re:It's simple survival tactics... by ceejayoz · · Score: 1

      Right, because Harry Reid gets so much positive press.

    3. Re:It's simple survival tactics... by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

      At least she is honest about it. That's more than you can say for most politicians, who won't ever tell you that they WANT the news to spin things certain ways and want them to ask questions they want to answer.

  15. Can you blame them? Dingy Harry Reid sucks ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go, Sharron, go! Angle 2010!

    2010: The Year American says GTFO to Liberal Fascists.

  16. It's obvious by CajunArson · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The alternative would be to endorse Harry Reid. Given those choices, it doesn't matter what Angle stole, she still looks like the better candidate.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
    1. Re:It's obvious by DDLKermit007 · · Score: 1

      huh? Were both talking about the same moron with crazed lunatic with ideas like no abortion for even rape or incest because it's against "god's plan"? Even Palin could do better than this woman. Reed has his issues, but Angle is positively batshit. Bout the only thing I have heard her say that sounded to have some kind of sanity to it was not fluorinating tap water.

    2. Re:It's obvious by Surt · · Score: 1

      Abortion for non-life of the mother issues like rape and incest is clearly equivalent to murder, if you believe a fetus is a human being. At least in life-of-the-mother you are trading one life against another, not just taking a life.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    3. Re:It's obvious by ceejayoz · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bout the only thing I have heard her say that sounded to have some kind of sanity to it was not fluorinating tap water.

      $irony++;

    4. Re:It's obvious by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Wait, isn't Sharron Angle the person who suggested we pay our doctor bill with chickens?!!

  17. Appropriate headline by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

    "Las Vegas Review-Journal endorses garden-variety thief for office!"

  18. It has to be this way! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Politics is about greed, corruption, power, influence, and nepotism.

    And there is never anything we, the people can do about it, right?

    It is just too bad we have to sit here and take it like serfs/slaves/peasants/rabble while our betters scheme and do the mysterious things they do in their castles.

    If only there were a better way.

    Oh well.

  19. Don't call it ironic! by qoncept · · Score: 1

    Before anyone goes and calls this "ironic," please remember the definition of the word. Thank you, Alanis Morissette.

    Someone is supposed to say that, right? Whenever a textbook example of irony comes up? Someone idiot to act like everyone else is stupid?

    --
    Whale
    1. Re:Don't call it ironic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Server Error
      The server encountered an error and could not complete your request.

      If the problem persists, please mail error@google.com and mention this error message and the query that caused it.

      Well, that was... unexpected.

    2. Re:Don't call it ironic! by coolsnowmen · · Score: 1

      How is it used incorrectly? When an action is the opposite of what would be expected, it is ironic. The newspaper is suing someone, so the last thing I would expect would be then to support them for public office.

      http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irony
      5: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

    3. Re:Don't call it ironic! by Confusador · · Score: 1

      Ironically, I would have expected you to agree with his assessment.

  20. so, what is the message here? by RapmasterT · · Score: 1

    By posting this story in a tone of mild outrage, what are we trying to say? People should never support a candidate they have a disagreement with, no matter how much they disagree with the OTHER candidate? People should never sue someone of their own political party, no matter how much they are affronted? Seriously, why does this story exist? How childish does your though process have to be to see this as anything other than mildly ironic.

    1. Re:so, what is the message here? by sjames · · Score: 1

      No one should endorse a candidate that they consider to be a thief. Mere disagreement in other matters is not such a big deal.

    2. Re:so, what is the message here? by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      Maybe you consider the other guy to be a child molestor. Maybe you consider the other guy to be a bigger thief. Maybe you consider the other guy to be equally thiefy and this guy better in other aspects.

      Maybe you don't think being thief is such a bad thing in the first place?

    3. Re:so, what is the message here? by sjames · · Score: 1

      To actually endorse a candidate I would think you must approve of thievery. Otherwise, the "endorsement" would be of the form "B is a child molester, hold your nose and vote for A".

    4. Re:so, what is the message here? by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      I don't think so. You can endorse someone while not agreeing with everything they stand for or are.

      You are just endorsing them for whatever office they are running for. Maybe being a thief isn't such a bad thing in that domain.

      And while their endorsement does mention some pluses on the candidate's side it finished with:

      The direction of this nation is at stake. This election offers a clear choice.

      Harry Reid has an inspiring life story. But the boy who came from modest means in little Searchlight is no more. Instead, he's become Harry Reid, champion of liberal special interests inside the beltway.

      That's why Nevadans should support Sharron Angle in this pivotal election.

      Which seems very much along the lines of "we don't like that guy, vote for the other one".

  21. slightly better version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I see your point, but "in Soviet America, the companies control the government"

    ~KingAlanI

    1. Re:slightly better version by h4rr4r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You seem to have misspelled fascist.

  22. irrational candidate vs irrational endorsement? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Angle is a verbally-spastic nutball, with little logic, even less grasp of facts, and nothing to recommend her other than a knowing look while she spews phrases that lack any connection to reality.

    This editorial endorsement is illogical, based on misrepresentation of facts, and printed with ink and dead trees to give the impression of a wise and knowing directive to voters, despite disconnection from rationality.

    Seems perfectly congruent to me....

    1. Re:irrational candidate vs irrational endorsement? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Angle is a verbally-spastic nutball, with little logic, even less grasp of facts, and nothing to recommend her other than a knowing look while she spews phrases that lack any connection to reality.

      You left out that she is not Harry Reid. I believe that most of those who plan on voting for her consider that to be her greatest asset.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  23. Why? by bytesex · · Score: 1, Troll

    Is editorial independence such a foreign concept to you 'mericans ?

    --
    Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
    1. Re:Why? by electron+sponge · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Is editorial independence such a foreign concept to you 'mericans ?

      Possibly so. Thank goodness you're here to explain it to us.

      Making blanket statements about other nationalities, however, is a concept we're very familiar with.

  24. Moreover... by Trip6 · · Score: 0, Troll

    The LVRJ has just de facto said that:
                It opposes abortions even in the case of rape or incest
                The Department of Education is unconstitutional
                The United States should withdraw from the United Nations
                A flat tax should replace the income tax
                A free-market alternative should be established to cut social security

    Not to politicize this discussion but she is a right wing freak.

    --
    I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
    1. Re:Moreover... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those positions all sound good to me. What's your problem with them?

      And I'm not even a conservative, I'm a Libertarian, so I'm about as far away from "right-wing" as anybody could get.

    2. Re:Moreover... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      bullshit, libertarians are republicans who like to smoke weed and don't feel like going to church.

  25. It's a Trap!! by rlp · · Score: 4, Funny

    They're trying to get her to repost the endorsement so they can file an additional lawsuit.

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
  26. investment by SpudNYC · · Score: 1

    Maybe if she gets the job she'll earn more cash for them to take in the suit?

  27. multiple explanations by Surt · · Score: 1

    Most probable: the left hand isn't watching the right
    Also likely: editorial staff cares more about other issues that differentiate the candidates (copyright is a very low priority for pretty much everyone except the AAs)

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  28. Leverage by WarwickRyan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Their lawsuit gives them leverage over her.

    If she wins, she gets power.

    It's good for business to have leverage over people in power.

  29. Its OK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are Republicans/Corporations - they lie from the depth of what would be their souls. It's what they do.

  30. doesn't it seem a bit odd blah blah blah by KharmaWidow · · Score: 1

    Not at all. People who act professionally or who run business understand the meaning of "dont burn bridges." In this case, once the lawsuit is completed and all debts are settled everyone acts like adults and moves on.

  31. Doesn't It Seem a Bit Odd? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, not really. Everything associated with Sharron Angle is somewhere between Odd and Just Plain Fucking Nuts.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  32. Is she truly pro-life? Or just another hypocrite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Is she truly pro-life? Or just another hypocrite?

    Abortion for non-life of the mother issues like rape and incest is clearly equivalent to murder, if you believe a fetus is a human being. At least in life-of-the-mother you are trading one life against another, not just taking a life.

    I'm honestly not up on Angle other than the occasional "OMG what a nutter!" media blurb. But I am curious about this issue, if you happen to know one way or the other.

    Most "pro-life" folks I've talked to, I've had a really hard time respecting. This is mainly because, when you really start talking about things, it becomes apparent that they are very against abortion, but have no problem with the death penalty or war. If life is so sacred that they cannot allow the termination of a pregnancy (an unwanted one at that), why then are they fine with bombs and lethal injections? The few truly pro-life people that I've talked with and walked away with a genuine sense of respect were those who had clear convictions that make coherent sense. These folks cannot morally allow the termination of a pregnancy out of a strong belief in the sacredness of life -- and they are pacifist and against the death penalty. I may not be swayed enough to adopt their points of view, but I can at least respect them.

    I have family who are of the schizophrenic "pro-life" variety. We do our best not to talk about various subjects those few times when we're all together. I've discovered I have real trouble agreeing with people who don't even agree with themselves.

    Cheers,

  33. Re:Is she truly pro-life? Or just another hypocrit by Surt · · Score: 1

    I think you'll find that the pro-life and pro-death-penalty people usually rationalize it on the basis of innocence. You can't kill innocent people like babies. But murderers, rapists, and (worse) muslims? Go to town.

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  34. Not Harry Reid? But, but, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not Harry Reid, either! And I grew up in DC, so I won't get lost on my way to those frequent and paid-for lobbyist lunches. Vote for me!

    Cheers,

  35. "innocence" criteria generally subjective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think you'll find that the pro-life and pro-death-penalty people usually rationalize it on the basis of innocence. You can't kill innocent people like babies. But murderers, rapists, and (worse) muslims? Go to town.

    Interesting. That would be where they lose me, then, for how one judges another to be innocent is a very subjective affair, as your list aptly demonstrates. Being absolutist about relative criteria doesn't work very well.

    Cheers,

    1. Re:"innocence" criteria generally subjective by Surt · · Score: 1

      Exactly ... with the religious right, we're not exactly dealing with the most rational people in the world. They're leading the most extremely subjective lives imaginable. And they are close to half the people in the US. It's very scary.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  36. A "libertarian" supporting a ban on abortions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe I'm confused -- most libertarians I've ever heard from hold to the view that regulation is abhorrent as they interfere with personal liberties. If that's so, how would you be comfortable with any ban on abortions?

    Curious,

    1. Re:A "libertarian" supporting a ban on abortions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you under the impression that libertarians support legalization of murder, rape, torture, etc?

      Some "regulations" are necessary to PROTECT personal freedom.

  37. Backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No no no, we're supposed to bill our chicken pay with doctors!

  38. Oh, Canada... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Our northern neighbor is looking better every day by comparison...

    Cheers,

  39. Parsing error; restart universe... by zooblethorpe · · Score: 1

    My brain hiccupped and I read that as (Odd && Just Plain) (Fucking Nuts), like some kind of bizarre sexual airline snack. Oofda.

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
  40. It is NOT schizophrenia by lavagolemking · · Score: 1

    No. Schizophrenia (295) is characterized by:

    1. (1) delusions,
    2. (2) hallucinations,
    3. (3) disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence),
    4. (4) grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and/or
    5. (5) negative symptoms, i.e., affective flattening, alogia, or avolition.

    With the debatable exception of (4) catatonia (buildings don't usually move around a whole lot), no corporations I know of exhibit any of these characteristics. Antisocial Personality Disorder (301.7) (ASPD) on the other hand, is very much in line with corporate behavior; necessary for diagnosis, at least 3 of:

    1. (1) failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;
    2. (2) deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;
    3. (3) impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;
    4. (4) irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;
    5. (5) reckless disregard for safety of self or others;
    6. (6) consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations; and/or
    7. (7) lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

    Now I'd argue (much to the contrary of the supreme court) that a corporation is not a human being, and as such cannot be diagnosed as one, but I don't think anyone on Slashdot will disagree that most corporations exhibit at least most of these criteria - everything listed here in many cases. Incidentally, this same analysis was run by the documentary The Corporation.

    Please have a heart and do not compare the poor souls who suffer from Schizophrenia to the soulless corporations of America.