Unpopular Opinions will be moving shortly...

I am in the process of working out the kinks to transfer Unpopular Opinions to a new domain. I will most likely also change the name. There are already a couple blogs that are titled Unpopular Opinions. In order to prevent some confusion, Unpopular Opinions will soon be renamed The Bulldog Says.... I apologize in advance for any confusion this may cause. Thanks for your patience! The new site will be at www.bulldogsays.com

UPDATE: Unethical behavior can get you FIRED!

Well, it took only one day before the other shoe dropped for Armstrong Williams. A CNN article reports that Armstrong Williams, a conservative black commentator with Tribune Media Services, has been fired. A vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists had this to say:

"I thought we in the media were supposed to be watchdogs, not lapdogs," said Bryan Monroe, a vice president of the association. "I thought we had an administration headed by a president who took an oath to uphold the First Amendment, not try to rent it."

Barbara Ciara, another vice president with NABJ said:

"He's lost his credibility," said Barbara Ciara, another vice president of the NABJ. "He's tainted fruit. And he's unfairly indicted all commentators who have their own independent opinion, don't need a script from the administration and don't need to be paid off."

That's it in a nutshell. He's lost his credibility. Just like Dan Rather did with the fake memo about Bush's National Guard service. Rather's problem stemmed from letting his personal politics obstruct his obligations as a journalist. His disdain for President Bush clouded his otherwise better judgement into not waiting until the memo was authenticated before releasing it. Williams set himself up the minute he or his company accepted these funds from the Dept. of Education.

I don't know how many times it needs to be said, but we as citizens, need to demand that the media present the facts and the facts only. Allow US to form our own opinions. Each time that they skew the news to fit their agenda (FOX, CBS, ABC, etc.), it lessens the importance of what they are reporting and makes some of us question its authenticity. This goes for both right- and left-wing news outlets.

Uhhhhhh, this is funny! Hehehehehehe Dude, shut up!

Copied in its entirety from Yahoo! News:

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. - Someone in the Census Bureau may be watching a little too much MTV. Bevis Lake, a 5.7-acre body of water in a forested area about 25 miles northeast of Seattle, is now appearing in Bureau records with a different name: Butthead Lake.

Those two names — Bevis and Butthead — are almost identical to the 1990s MTV cartoon show "Beavis and Butt-head," which featured a pair of slacker teenagers who watch music videos and make bad jokes.

Someone at the Census Bureau must have gotten bored and made a joke out of naming the lake, said Ken Brown, a land surveyor with the state Department of Natural Resources.

"It's got to be," he said.


It's not unusual for small lakes in out-of-the-way places to have different names because of variations in county, state or other official records, but there are no such indications in this case, Brown said.


"That means someone is playing a joke, I think," Brown said.

Friggin' Hilarious! This is something I would do, just not on the final copy...

Whatever happened to Ethics?

According to a news story that broke yesterday, conservative black commentator Armstrong Williams, received public monies in return for his promotion of the President's No Child Left Behind Act. The USA Today article reports:

The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.

Don't get me wrong, the idea behind the NCLB is fantastic. It allows parents to choose the best school for their child(ren). It also takes those failing schools and school systems to task for not doing what is needed to make sure that they provide a good education to their students. While I personally disapprove of the use of vouchers for private schools, a responsible, loving, parent will do whatever is necessary so their kids receive a quality education. I don't think anyone disagrees that a good education is the key to success. I know I've been taught that and I also teach my children that.

Here's the part that makes me livid(again from USA Today):

Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in."

The whole contract, while shady at best and unethical at worst, begs the question of Williams: If this is something you believe in, why did you not do these spots for free, thus eliminating the question of ethics? But Mr. Williams gives a valiant effort in redeeming himself as follows(from the Yahoo! News story):

"It's a fine line," he told The Associated Press on Friday. "Even though I'm not a journalist — I'm a commentator — I feel I should be held to the media ethics standard. My judgment was not the best. I wouldn't do it again, and I learned from it."

His actions most likely were not illegal, but they sure do look that way. We need to demand a return to ethical behavior by ALL members of the media, commentators and journalists alike (take that Dan Rather!).

Not Afraid to Admit when I'm Wrong or Washington State does NOT have a mandate

It seems that I am guilty of failing to do enough research. According to my friend Graumagus over at Frizzen Sparks, he has links to Sound Politics that debunk my call for Dino Rossi to concede in the Wa. State governor's race. Had I done enough research, I may not have been so hasty to declare a winner. So, there you have it. I was wrong. Check out Grau's site for more info on this: Something smells in Wa. State (and it's not the Seattle fish market, either). And while you're at it, check out the rest of his site. I don't always agree with his right-leaning politics, but the guy has some funny stuff out there. Be advised that some links and/or posts on his may not be safe for work.

Bulldog

Outcry over standardized test! or Can't anybody Read anymore?

I got the following from CommonDreams.org. In Anne Arundel county, Maryland, it seems that there are some folks that are either illiterate or just plain stupid. There is heated debate going on right now about the ASVAB test being offered during normal class time. Check this out from the article:

A few days before her holiday break, South River High School junior Emily Hawse took a three-hour standardized test offered by military officials that suggests possible careers for students while helping to identify promising recruits.

Hawse, 16, of Davidsonville said she did not realize until the day of the exam that it had a military link. She said students were told not to go to the Edgewater school that morning if they didn't want to take the test, called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

"We couldn't go to class if we wanted to," said Hawse, who is undecided about her future but said it doesn't include the military.

Now I'm sorry, but that is just plain ridiculous. Hell, the name of the damned thing is Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. What part don't these people get about Armed Services? What is being taught at these schools that parents and students alike just don't get it?

They say military recruiters use the test to identify students with skills that would be useful in the armed forces.

Nuh uh!! Get out! You mean that if I were to take that test, a Military Recruiter might tell me what jobs in the military I'd be suited for? Would that be any different than saying:

They say college recruiters use the (SAT, ACT, PSAT) test to identify academic skills useful for admission to any particular college.

The long and the short of it is this: People are opposed to Bush's "War in Iraq™", and want any way to make it seem that a draft is pending. I am not one of those people even though I oppose this war. Personally, I also took the ASVAB in high school. DURING CLASS TIME TOO! It was offered the same way the SAT, ACT, and other standardized tests were. Some people just need to use some Common Sense.

I refuse to take my Happy Pill™

A little background:
My friend Doug is fairly conservative guy who labels himself Republican even if he doesn't agree with the direction the party appears to be headed. He and I have had several, sometimes-spirited debates concerning politics, both local and national. Leading up to the elections on Nov. 2 and during one of our debates, he made the statement "Why won't you just take your Happy Pill™?" That comment stems from the movie: Equilibrium.
The basic premise of the movie is that emotion and critical thought are BAD - The solution in the movie is to take a pill which counteracts emotion and critical/free thought and do what the government tells you - Emotion and Free thought are crimes.

I guess I kind of equate that to the current political landscape. If I don't subscribe to President Bush's policies and speak out against them, then I can be potentially be convicted of a crime at worst or, at best, could become an "interesting" person to the FBI-CIA-NSA or whatever acronym they go by these days. Of course, rational political discourse is something that is still lacking in this country where our President has claimed a mandate with only 51% of the popular vote. I'm blaming both Democrats AND Republicans for that. There has been altogether too much vitriol spewed by both sides towards each other this past year. Here's to hoping things calm down a bit politically, and that the Democrats actually come up with a unified view/mission in 2005.

UPDATE: Washington State's Mandate

There's just no satisfying some people. Take, for instance, Dino Rossi, Republican candidate for governor of Washington State. It seems that he is still trying to challenge Christine Gregoire's winning of the election. The State of Washington has now certified it's results and it appears that Gregoire is the governor-elect. Here is a picture of Mr. Rossi:


Basically, Mr. Rossi is now demanding a RE-VOTE! Can you believe this guy?

Edged out of the closest governor's race in state history, Republican Dino Rossi urged his opponent to accept a revote, saying the uncertainty surrounding the back-and-forth election was bad for the state. Democrat Christine Gregoire's camp immediately rejected the idea as "irresponsible."

Rossi's request came hours before the Secretary of State was scheduled Thursday to certify Gregoire as the winner by a scant 129 votes out of more than 2.8 million cast.

I mean, hey, I'm upset about who our next President is going to be, but you don't see Kerry calling for a re-vote because of how close the election was. Gregoire's spokesman made a comment though, that I thought was absolutely hilarious, yet also addressed Mr. Rossi's request:

"This ain't golf. No mulligans allowed here, folks," said Gregoire's spokesman, Morton Brilliant. "It's irresponsible to spend $4 million in taxpayer money on a new election just because you don't like losing this one."

If you want to read the rest of the article, go here: Candidate in Wash. Gov. Race Seeks Revote AP via Yahoo! News

Washington State has a Mandate!

According to the Bush Administration's logic, there is a mandate in Washington.

With the counting and re-counting finally exhausted Thursday, Democrat Christine Gregoire emerged as the victor by a mere 130 votes. The final tally: 1,373,171 votes for Gregoire; 1,373,041 for Republican Dino Rossi.

Republicans, however continue to use the same, old, tired, excuse of voter fraud:

But Republicans have vowed to leave no stone unturned in the breathtakingly close race that has dragged on for nearly two months.

“I know many Washingtonians are hoping this will end soon, but I’m also sure that people across this state want a clean election and a legitimate governor-elect,” Rossi said after the final tally from a grueling hand count was announced Thursday. “At this point, we have neither.”

Aren't these tactics of count and recount and recount the same ones that Democrats were accused of doing back in 2000? I know nothing about either candidate in Washington state, but I can tell you this: The cries of voter fraud are only going to get louder as time goes by. It seems to be a time-honored tradition to bitch, moan, and complain when it appears that your side is going to lose. The only winner in an election this close is going to be the candidate finally certified as governor-elect. The people of Washington will have lost. Lost faith in the election process, lost faith that their votes count, lost faith that they can make a difference.

We've all heard the phrase "Take it like a man." Even with the results this close, Rossi needs to "Take it like a man" and concede for the good of Washington. The citizens of Washington continue to lose faith in the government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. You can read the entire article here: GOP may challenge Wash. governor recount