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Jon Stewart wins, CNN cancels Crossfire

In the middle of October, Jon Stewart took his usual complaints about partisan hackery to his appearance on CNN's Crossfire (transcript here | streaming video here). From the beginning of the discussion, Stewart took aim at Crossfire and other media shows, saying (at first with a smile) that they "hurt America" by making politicians' lives easier by failing to "hold their feet to the fire." The gist of Stewart's complaint was that shows that were purportedly "hard" and "cutting" were really only theatrical performances of talking points and sensationalism. The incident is now famous, and little needs to be said about it. I'm following up that story because it was so popular when we ran it before.

Today CNN announced that they are nixing Crossfire, and dropping their relationship with one of the show's "commentators" (I use that word lightly), Tucker Carlson (who claims that he actually quit months ago). CNN's new President, Jonathan Klein, said that he agreed with much of Stewart's indictments against the media. So sayeth the New York Times:

Mr. Klein specifically cited the criticism that the comedian Jon Stewart leveled at "Crossfire" when he was a guest on the program during the presidential campaign. Mr. Stewart said that ranting partisan political shows on cable were "hurting America." Mr. Klein said last night, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise." He said he believed that especially after the terror attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion.

Now, few would think that Stewart is the cause for the demise of Crossfire, but his complaints are most certainly a symptom of the media's unwillingness to throw punches. Whether it's Swift Boat Veterans for Truth or forged National Guard documents, too much time is spent discussing discussions about "news." Then, what becomes news are the discussions themselves, and the journalists don't spend enough time asking whether or not any of this garbage is actually correct, or engaging in real debate. I commend CNN for dumping the likes of Crossfire, but they, like most major media outlets, have a long way to go before the thinking public truly respects them again.

- Quoted from Ars Technica

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Sims 2 Hacks Spread Like Viruses
SecurityFocus reports that players sharing house designs through Electronic Arts' Sims 2 Exchange are finding their game behaving oddly: espresso machines mysteriously satisfy all the Sims needs, Sims are suddenly comfortable with open relationships, and the social worker no longer cares how they treat their children. It turns out hacks were spreading invisibly with Sims 2 lots, infecting thousands of downloadable homes, and catching Electronic Arts by surprise. The hackers, who never intended their hacks to be viruses, have even written their own AV scanner to find and control the outbreak.

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greetings to all... and to all a great night of partying!

i have every intent of partying tonight. sooooo saturday will be my day of rest and letting my tummy mend from all the stuff i plan on imbibing tonight; muh hahahahaha. [kind of like the strongest man keg-toss contest... but my game plan is to drain the keg b4 tossing it... lol]

the moral of my story is that after sobering up saturday... i'm still working weekends at ITT, so i have to return to work sunday. booooooo. but i'm off the clock at 18:00 and i will then head directly to joels pad for the lan party and stay through wednesday. wednesday night i'll be packing up ~midnight b/c i have to return to work thursday. boooooooo!

so i look forward to seeing you all sunday night through wednesday night.

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AND by the way rYan thanks for yet again NOT returning my phone call [the merry christmas one]... at least your a consistantly negligent phone call returner.

oh and steve, could you bring my paintball service kit? thanks!

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LAN PARTY NOTICE

I'm leaving in the morning for Emerald Isle and will be gone until New Year's day. I will be getting home on the 1st. The LAN Party will start sometime that day. Later in the week I'll try to get in touch with someone who has website access so they can post an update but for now the info is as follows:

Starts Saturday the 1st
End either Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Preliminarily Joel, Marie, Ryan, Robbie, Craig, Steve, Wendy, Aaron are coming. If you are reading this please let Shannon and Neil know about it.