Trust Me

It's kind of funny all the kooky things you find on the Interwebtubiethingies. Since Al Gore invented the durn thing there's been sites dedicated to all sorts of stuff, some believable and some that you just have to shake your head at.

One thing for certain though, nothing stays hidden very long. There are people who delight in shredding certain large news sources stories and "reporters" for instance. That being said, you would think that these large news sources would be extra careful in their vetting of stories for publication.

You would think.

From fauxtography to Pallywood to unverifiable sources (aka stringers), the mainstream media has been exposed time and time again, and still they don't learn. They denigrate bloggers who uncover their duplicity, relying on their past and their good name to carry them through. Given all the scandals that have surfaced however, I don't know if that is a good strategy. Depending on your past means that your past had better be spotless, but if it's not the chances are pretty good that the same people trashing your present will get to the past eventually.

I have to chuckle whenever I hear about anonyminity and the Internet. The truth is there is no such thing. IP addresses can be and are tracked, and with search engines like Google and Yahoo it's a lead pipe cinch to cross check news stories. I guess no one has clued in the AP, Reuters or the New York Times.

Once more into the fray.

The funny thing to me is the confusion on the part of the MSM when they see their readership or viewership going down the toilet or when they see the results of polls that say people don't trust them to be accurate and unbiased.

One thing that is certain however, you can count on the blogosphere to keep them honest. Or rather, to expose them when they aren't.

The beauty of a free press.

That's why it's particularly disturbing to me that the US, with it's First Amendment protection of freedom of speach, is turning control of the internet over to the EU. I don't think that's such a good idea. Hopefully there will be saner people in the US that will take steps to limit the damage, time will tell. If not we will refer to the present time as the glory days of the internet.

But it's fun to see the squirming.

Many links to many sources, and I don't have enough hats to tip to all of them. Thanks to all of you for everything that you do.

In other news, according to Charlie Rangel the job of US Senator is a loser.