Our mendacious media

Is a lie by omission still truly a lie?

This may not be too important in the greater scheme of things, but I just have to say it - I am so sick and tired of how the media twists news stories so that we don't get the whole picture, and by doing so change, or at least try to change, our perception of reality. Because when you don't get all the facts, situation can't be seen for what they are.

Like this story. Swedish citizen seeks asylum in Denmark. Illustrated by two pictures obviously picked to be 'as Swedish as possible' ... ie to get the reader thinking of ethnic Swedes, real Swedes. In which case this story is pretty absurd, right? Swede seeking asylum in Denmark - that just sounds like one of the Swedish jokes that were so common when I was growing up (you don't seem to hear them these days, but maybe I just don't pay attention in the right places). My first thought was that he was one of these crazies who get in the media just because they do something totally out there and nuts ... like that couple who refused to work and just lived on welfare because they 'didn't enjoy working'. Now those were real Swedes. :-D Whatever happened to them? Anyway.

Of course, if you read the actual article, this story isn't about a Swede seeking asylum anywhere at all. The person in question has been a Swedish citizen since 1998. Ie, he is not Swedish, and never will be Swedish. Now he is seeking asylum in Denmark because he 'can't stand Swedes'. Shouldn't the headline actually have read Racist seeks asylum in Denmark?

He can't stand Swedes, but I guess he's managed to put up with their welfare system for over a decade. >:-(

Keanu & Sandra on 'The View'

This is an appearance Keanu made with Sandra Bullock on the braindead TV show The View as part of their PR for The Lake House back in 2006. Yeah, the show is pretty stupid, but it's a fun interview. Especially Sandra's part of it (Keanu hardly gets a word in edgewise, which I'm sure is how he prefers it :-) - she's pretty funny. Check out the story about the fan who sent her his picture umpteen years ago. I lol'd at the message she left him. :-)

The interview is in two parts, obviously. :-)

Sometimes you just have to ask ...

... WHAT is WRONG with people?!??!

Check out this article. OMFG.

So basically this is a mother whose own modelling career failed and who now is living out her failed dream through her daughter. (With the added advantage that the mother can now eat chocolate and french fries and laze around if she wants to, because it's not going to matter if she puts on weight - it's the daughter who'll have to diet throughout her most important developing years now.) There are so many things that are WRONG with this woman that I don't know where to start. I just have to mention a few. >:-)

- She thinks her daughter has a 'career'. Oh, she's been on TV with Lorraine Kelly. SFW?? WTF makes that important?? It's a sign of the times - people actually think that a 'career' can be about nothing. Just being on TV and making sure people know your name ... that's a 'career'. Even though they only know your name cause you're the modern day equivalent of a circus freak.

- She apparently thinks the only reason that they're doing this is because the daughter wants to be doing it herself. News flash, bitch: your daughter wants what she thinks you want her to want. This makes mommy happy, so I'll tell her I want this ... because then she'll love me. How sad and pathetic is that. They both need extensive therapy.

- 'What Sasha wants, Sasha gets.' In a few years' time, this kid is going to be completely unbearable and no one will want to be around her. I hope the pool is worth it.

- She thinks her daughter is going to be a 'real' celebrity. A movie star or supermodel or whatever. I think I can guarantee that that will never happen.

- She thinks that 'pedophiles don't want girls who look 18'. She's actually right on that one. Too bad that she apparently thinks only pedophiles molest children. The sad fact is that true pedophiles are few and far between - the vast majority of child molesters are screwed up heterosexuals looking for someone they can exert total control over, who won't talk back and stick up for herself like most grown women will. And those guys, lady, those guys I can promise you would love to get their hands on an 11-year-old who looks and acts like she's 18.

If she thinks it's so great for her daughter to be 11 years old and look like a grownup, dress like a grownup, walk like a grownup and wear makeup like a grownup ... I hope she'll think it's just as great when someone fucks her like a grownup too.

Norsk er et vanskelig språk ...

... det er ikke lett å finne den rette formuleringen!!

En forferdelig historie i Dagbladet i dag. Virkelig grusomt, jeg orker nesten ikke å tenke på det. Håper idioten blir fradømt retten til dyrehold for resten av livet. Men noe å trekke på smilebåndet av i kommentarene:

I noen land spiser man hunder, dreper de levende. I andre land koker man dem i en bil en sjelden gang, la oss si 1 av 3.000.000 tilfeller. Shit happens;)

... skrev 'Tony'. Haha!! Lurt å lese gjennom før man trykker på 'lagre kommentar'! :-D (Men det er dessverre ikke alltid det hjelper det heller, antar jeg ... ;-)

HÆ??
Dreper de hundene mens de fortsatt lever?
Det er jo forferdelig!
Hvorfor kan de ikke vente med å drepe dem til de er døde?

... svarte 'DusteTony'. Hahaha!!

Er det noe vi nordmenn virkelig kan ...

... så er det å syte over bensinprisene. Jeg blir kvalm. Nå er det en eller annen idiot som har startet en boikott overfor Shell og Statoil (smart å boikotte et selskap som ikke engang finnes mer). Hvor tett i nøtta skal man egentlig være for å tro at en slik aksjon overhodet kan ha mulighet for å ha noen slags effekt??

Et par bloggere med fornuftige ting å si om saken:

Sigve Indregard skriver meget sindig og klokt om boikotten og om bensinprisene mer generelt. Skulle virkelig ønske at flere var like reflekterte som ham. Mange flere.

Og på Latterlig! har man som meg gitt seg over av toskeskapen som denne boikotten er et utslag av og heller gitt seg på de mer tekniske sider ved saken. Genialt.

Med disse to linkene på plass orker jeg ikke å skrive mer om dette, men konstaterer bare at boikotten som ethvert barn kunne ha gjettet selvsagt ikke virker.

Et passende innlegg på en dag som denne - 100 år siden det ble funnet olje i Persia.

Give me a break ... !!

An article in Dagbladet online today about the Swedish media's reaction to the Swedish entry's 18th place in the ESC final last night. The newspaper Expressen blames, first and foremost, Norway for the bad result, saying that we have 'betrayed' them by 'only' giving them 7 points. They 'ought' to have gotten at least 10 for their piece of shit song.

OMG, GET OVER YOURSELVES ... !!! :-o

First of all, this song shouldn't even have been in the final, because number one, it wasn't the song the Swedish people wanted to send (it was the jury votes that made Hero the winner; Sanna Nielsen was the one the voters wanted and with her Empty Room she would definitely have done better than Perrelli) and number two, it didn't get the votes it needed from Europe in the semi, it only snuck in as the jury groups' wildcard. So Perrelli and her entourage + supporters should just have been grateful to be in Belgrade at all, because strictly speaking they had no business being there in the first place.

The Swedes have been some of the worst to whine about the bloc voting the Eastern Europeans are all engaging in. But now when the Scandinavian bloc voting didn't work out to their advantage, all they can do is whine about how there isn't enough bloc voting going on here!! The much-touted 'Nordic alliance' was just a mirage, Expressen's ESC commentator claims. Well, yeah, it is a mirage if they thought it was an alliance in support of Sweden regardless of the song involved!

The commentator, Andreas Häggström, thinks that Norway ought to give Sweden 'ten points as a minimum'. WTF?? This is a democratic vote, the TV audiences at home vote in whatever way they will! Should we set aside the televote and reserve the 10-pointer for Sweden every year? Is he advocating blatant cheating? This has got to be the dumbest ESC-related statement I've heard this year (and I've heard some doozies ...).

Norway gave 12 points to Denmark, 8 to Iceland and 7 to Sweden. How is that a 'betrayal'? Even with the extra five (!!) points from us Perrelli would still be languishing in 18th place. Even with every single Nordic 12-pointer I don't think she would have made it any higher than 14th. So how is it even possible to be whining about this?? If Sweden wants to win through bloc voting - which is strange, since they appear to loathe bloc voting so much when it helps other nations to win - then they should just throw in the towel right now, because the simple fact is that no Nordic country has enough neighbors to make that possible.

The answer's obvious. Send some better songs!! Hero is a piece of shit and no one ought to be surprised that it didn't get anywhere. Fortunately, the majority of Expressen's own readers seem to agree. This really is a prime example of an 'aviskrig' ('newspaper war'). An argument that doesn't really exist other than in the articles describing it.

The Swedes need to make up their minds. Either bloc voting is bad and borders on cheating, or it's a good thing and we should all be happy it exists. It really cannot be cheating when 'they' do it, and natural and even desirable when we do it. That is just not right. (In fact it's almost as bad as when people claim we need to kick the Easterners out and return to the good old days when the contest was just for us 'real Europeans'. :-o) Let's just look reality in the face: Europe is tired of the same old ABBA ripoffs that Sweden keeps sending year after year. It worked in the past, but it doesn't work anymore. Just deal with it and get up to speed.

Because that's almost the saddest thing of all. We all know that Sweden can do so much better. The national contest in Sweden is generally on a much higher level than the Norwegian one. It was that way this year too. When that's the case, and Norway still manages to get to 5th place with Sweden far behind in the dust at 18th ... that's when it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Good luck next year, Sweden. I know you can do it ... if you really try. :-)

Noen ganger blir jeg altså så provosert ...

... over bare små filleting. Dette er et virkelig stjerneeksempel. 'Grevlingbarn'?? De reddet 'grevlingbarn'?? Unnskyld meg, men hva i HÆLVETE er 'grevlingbarn' for noe???

JA, jeg er rar i hodet mitt, men jeg blir altså så forbanna når jeg leser sånt som dette. Man ser for eksempel iddioter på dyrenett.no som skriver i annonsene sine at 'nå har rotta mi fått barn' og lignende stupiditeter ... men da er det jo snakk om nedsnødde tullinger som ikke kan skrive skikkelig norsk engang. Når journalister i landets største aviser gjør det, da blir jeg faktisk bekymra. (VG gjorde akkurat det samme. Men i oppfølgingsartikkelen klarte de da i hvert fall å få det til riktig.)

Mennesker er de eneste som får barn!! Dyr får unger. I mange tilfeller finnes det også mer spesifikke ord - for eksempel får hunder, ulver og grevlinger (blant andre) valper. Det er altså så forskrudd å begynne å blande sammen disse begrepene. Nesten litt skremmende når folk gjør det. Da 'grevlingbarn'-artikkelen var på forsiden av VG på nett tidligere i dag var det en artikkel litt lenger ned om at tusenvis av barn er døde i Kina, etter jordskjelvet. Det er jo aldeles grusomt. Men ikke så ille hvis det bare er rottebarn!! Og hvordan skal man kunne vite hva det dreier seg om hvis alt skal være 'barn' og dyrs avkom ikke skal skilles fra våre??

Bare så ingen tar feil: jeg mener absolutt at dyr også har og bør ha rettigheter. Faktisk langt flere enn hva de har i dag. Men denne typen av begrepsforvirring tjener absolutt ingenting til.