I hate local newscasts, for any value of local. I don’t respect them and I think the SOPs of most local news stations (see the multiple-award-winning Carl Monday) are rotting the idea of news and our civic responsibility to keep up with said news. Think of what local news reports on most of the time: local bullshit, that is often just gossip or pandering for ratings. Here’s some actual NEWS, with the local investigative team investigating the state legislature, instead of some guy jerking it in the library. Sensationalistic? Yeah, because some news is sensational by nature. News people, skip the fluffy sensationalism of bs and report on something that is happening, that affects people. That’s what you’re fucking there for, you dicks.

Update: OMGNinjaBot also linked to this. Represent! 

And you though CBS was only bad at dramas, sitcoms, and NFL coverage… Let’s see how their correspondents do while interviewing foreign leaders:

PELLEY: What trait do you admire in President Bush?

AHMADINEJAD: Again, I have a very frank tone. I think that President Bush needs to correct his ways.

PELLEY: What do you admire about him?

AHMADEINEJAD: He should respect the American people.

PELLEY: Is there anything? Any trait?

AHMADINEJAD: As an American citizen, tell me what trait do you admire?

PELLEY: Well, Mr. Bush is, without question, a very religious man, for example, as you are. I wonder if there’s anything that you’ve seen in President Bush that you admire.

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, is Mr. Bush a religious man?

PELLEY: Very much so. As you are.

In what perspective is that not unbelievably insulting? What culture, school or journalism, or warped alternate universe would provide Scott Pelley with the inspiration for that line of questioning? I don’t care if we’re in the middle of a nukular fucking war with Iran, you still don’t speak to their President like he does in that interview.

Look, I don’t know what the Iranian guy may be lying about with his answers, but I have a pretty good handle on all the bullshit in those questions. Have you (whoever you are) seen anyone properly representing the good ol’ U. S. of A. anytime recently? Are we ever going to get along with the world again, or is it game over for our cantankerous Melting Pot?

For the record, Pelley, I think Bush is a lying weasel without a shred of integrity, but I admire his folksy charm!!

Here is President Bush’s thoughts for Iran. Keep in mind, this is FROM Bush TO Iran.  FROM Bush, not TO Bush, OK?

PELLEY: I asked President Bush what he would say to you if he were sitting in this chair. And he told me, quote, speaking to you, that you’ve made terrible choices for your people. You’ve isolated your nation. You’ve taken a nation of proud and honorable people and made your country the pariah of the world. These are President Bush’s words to you. What’s your reply to the president?

Do you ever get the feeling the world knows you’re watching and shapes itself to your tastes? Well, Neil Gaiman linked to Stephen Fry blogging about Windows Mobile phones. Next you’ll tell me that Andrew W. K. has a Pez dispenser collection. Some quotes he quoth in the context of WM:

“The feeling, as with all things Microsoft, is that all design features and functions are there to suit MS rather than to delight, enthuse and compel the user.”

“You’re only on this planet once – do something extraordinary, imaginative and inspiring.”

“Break free, all you corporate software engineers and designers: the excuse that you are under the rule of dullards, greedy share-price number crunchers and visually and ergonomically illiterate yahoos is not good enough.”

Right Ho, Jeeves.

These both came in the mail yesterday.

Neil Gaiman’s bee keeper lady, the Birdchick, posted some photos and videos of her powdered sugaring some bees.  She thinks they look like ghost bees, but they remind me of the fictional arctic bees I wrote into my 2003 NaNoWriMo entry.  Someone else will undoubtedly make that connection and imagine artic bees all on their own.  Ah, to be young and jobless and semi-quasi-productive.

Nice, in that sitting-on-a-tortoise sort of way.

That’s for this.

Here’s a short list of my favourite music downloads from the last month:

• Kanye West – Graduation
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – Strength & Loyalty
• UNKLE – War Stories
• M.I.A. – Kala

With the exception of the Bone album I can recommend those albums to anyone, for any reason.  Download and have a listen.

Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here?

Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western.

As far as I can tell, there are 2 kinds of country music: upbeat and downbeat.  I don’t like either and I have reasons to back up my opinions.

Downbeat: I don’t like depressing music; it depresses me.

Upbeat: This has the opposite effect as downbeat music, and I don’t like the idea of rednecks being happy.

So, apple just held their big mega press event to announce their new ipods. And the verdict is? I’m not sure where they come up with this stuff.

iPod Shuffle – 1gb, $79
so, there are some new colors, nothing really to see here. Maybe the price dropped $20? I dunno. It’s only a 1gb player, I really don’t have any interest in something that small.

iPod Nano – 4gb for $149, 8gb for $199
They completely redid the design of the nano, making it….not so nano-ish. They made it wider and shorter, and gave it a bigger screen, added video playback, updated the UI.x This is a far cry from what the original nano was. I was never sold on the last redesign of the nano, and im certainly not sold on this one. They added some bells and whistles, but unchanged is the size offering – only 4 and 8gb versions? Where is the 16gb version? Oh, its in the iPod touch. If you can put it in the touch, why not the nano?

iPod Classic – 80gb for $249, 160gb for $349
Updated UI, thinner, more storage. All the things that would have made this a good announcement if they weren’t announcing the iPod Touch. The 160 is supposed to be thinner than the 5gen 80gb version…which was fairly thin. The 80gb is thinner than that. Add on the touch screen, and lets go. Quit pissing around with the classic ipod, and move on.

iPod Touch – 8gb for $299, 16gb for $399
OMG only 8mm thin?! Who cares? Make it thicker and give me more storage, so I can make the most of that bigger screen. If they had an 80gb iPod touch, I would be sold on it. This only shows that they have a supplier of 16gb flash drives, so how about sticking them in your nano, and give me a hard drive instead. This was a major disappointment.

iPhone – 8gb for $399
This price is slightly less insane than the previous 599 price tag. However, it has no 3g, is locked to AT&T, requires a 2 year contract, and offers no subsidy for having to sign the contract. Granted, people are finding ways to unlock them, but still. Add 3g, and either offer a subsidy or can the 2 year contract requirement / locked status. It’s bullshit otherwise. Oh, and if you have a 16gb iPod touch, where is the matching iPhone?

All in all, this press event was a huge let down in my opinion. I was really hoping for a hard drive based player with the widescreen / touchscreen interface. Better luck next time Apple. I have about 9 months before my service plan is up on my current ipod, hopefully you can get your shit together by then.