The Unknown BloggerThe Unknown BloggerThe best political college blog anywhere discusses news, entertainment, the media, and current events without holding back! Written by a journalism student at West Virginia University. Articles
Why The AP Deserves Applause
2006-12-02 15:41:04 Political hypocrisy always makes me laugh. What's even better is when the mainstream media (MSM if you prefer) laughs with me. At a press conference today, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.)called for the House ethics committee to investigate Republican members of Congress with ties to Jack Abramoff. She repeatedly referred to them as "corrupt." But this time, despite all of Pelosi's attempts to spin this, Associated Press writer Jim Abrams called her on it.See, there are two things that Pelosi never mentions. For one - and this doesn't make the article, sadly - scandalized lobbyist Abramoff has also given money to Harry Reid (as I wrote last week) and Hillary Clinton, among other Democrats. Secondly, as Abrams points out, both a letter from Pelosi to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and her aforementioned comments did not ask for an investigation of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson has been accused by a former aide of demanding bribes in exchange for promoting business opport... More About: Applause , The A , Serve
Changing The Elevator Music
2006-12-02 15:41:04 A new report from English researchers has basically concluded what I already suspected: Our generation no longer cares very much about its music. Not to say that we don't generally like it; obviously, that much isn't true, or you wouldn't hear everything from Dave Matthews Band to Kanye West blaring through dorm halls. The researchers concluded that the problem here is how impersonal music has become, partially due to the rise of downloading and MP3 players. "The accessibility of music has meant that it is taken for granted and does not require a deep emotional commitment once associated with music appreciation," said music psychologist Adrian North on Tuesday. [...]They concluded that because of greater accessibility through mass media, music was nowadays seen more as a commodity that is produced, distributed and consumed like any other.From the perspective of a media scholar (which I'm not, though some of my readers are, Dr. H), music is a commodity, and a very profitable on... More About: Music , Changing , Elevator , Chang , Chan
Link Attack #2: Special MLK Day Edition
2006-12-02 15:41:04 The second Link Attack has arrived! To mark Martin Luther King Day, I figured I'd hold off on releasing it until today. I've still not decided if Link Attacks will show up on a specific day of the week, as Fridays do get hectic sometimes. Send me your thoughts, please.-Mark your calendars: On Thursday at 9 a.m., a 400-page report involving the Clinton administration will be released. As you might imagine, Dems have been trying to block it for months. And you thought the independent counsels were done with Slick Willy....-Hardcore Bush critic David Corn has written the unthinkable...an article that says trying to impeach Bush would be a waste of time. Gratuitous political moves usually are.-I am not NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer. But oddly enough, our writing styles are kind of similar. The link goes to his analysis of what would happen during the Seattle-Washington playoff contest, and his final prediction was perfect (low scoring, Seattle wins). The difference between us?... More About: Edit , Special , Edition
Not The Return You Were Expecting
2006-12-02 15:41:04 LA Daily News - NewsThe link will take you to a story about a mysterious blob in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. Why should you care? Because it's awesome, that's why. Assuming the reporter didn't take dramatic license with the facts, this thing sounds like it's straight out of a B-grade 1950's horror movie.(And yes, I know this is an odd way to break a month-long silence. Never fear, more will come later, be it today or tomorrow [*cough* or after that *cough*].)UPDATE (2/22/06): This story dropped off the radar quicker than I expected, but I managed to dig up this UPI article. The "blob" was actually oil. Seriously. It took the fire department, plus who knows who else, way too long to figure it out.It was then authorities remembered that St. James Oil Co. had a petroleum drilling site two blocks away and discovered workers were injecting water at high pressure and temperature to extract leftover crude from old wells. When the company stopped pumping Monday, the s... More About: Expect , Return , The Return , Turn , Were
The Stereotype Breaker
2006-12-02 15:41:04 If you follow politics at all, you've most likely heard all of the stereotypes. Republicans are supposed to be the hawkish wackos, Democrats are supposed to be either immoral or pansies (depending on what part of the country you're in), and Greens supposedly really, really love trees.(Notice how I left out libertarians. There's rarely much to suppose with them: they're usually structural conservatives who may not like wiretaps much and tend to know how to party hard. Needless to say, a lot of Republicans at WVU are not-so-closet libertarians. But I digress.)But what if I were to tell you a new study just came out today that turns some of these stereotypes on their heads? It's true. The report, a special to the Toronto Star, claims that whiny kids grow up to be conservative adults. The article goes on to say that "the confident, resilient, self-reliant kids" usually turn out liberal. Wimpy conservatives? Tough-as-nails liberals? It almost sounds sacrilegious.Alright, r... More About: Break , Breaker , Type , Brea , Stere
Sidebar Update
2006-12-02 15:41:04 A quick note about the links: I came across the WVU College Republicans website the other day and added it to the sidebar. Should the Young Democrats also happen to have a website, I'll link to that as well for the sake of fairness. Keep sending me your links, people! More About: Update , Sidebar , Side
Another Weapon In The Stalker Arsenal
2006-12-02 15:41:04 Normally, discussing competition in the field of technology is about as exciting for me as folding my laundry. This case, however, is a little different. The college networking site Facebook (which you know about unless you've been living with cavemen for the past two years) has been running banner ads at the bottom of each user's home page. One of the ads in rotation is a banner for the new Windows Live Local mapping service. This, like the Windows Live main page, appears to be Microsoft's answer to Google. WLL works in a manner similar to that of Google Maps, but it focuses more on its "bird's eye" functionality. If a location is supported, the resulting view is incredible, allowing for closer and more realistic-looking imaging than Google Maps. As an example, compare Google's version of New York City with the Microsoft version. A little more crisp, a slight angle for added depth...yes, Microsoft has the goods right now.The implications for a student should be obviou... More About: Arsenal , Other , Talk , Another , Stalker
The Scalia Chin Shuffle
2006-12-02 15:41:04 Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been a major topic of discussion across the country today for reportedly flipping the bird at the media as he was leaving Sunday mass in Boston. Thoughts on this from bloggers and the MSM have been varied, ranging from amusement to admonishment. Some people don't even seem to think he should be a Supreme Court justice if he can't act in a more dignified manner. (Most of those people were also probably right behind Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal, but that's to be expected.)What you're not hearing very much about is the question that provoked Scalia's response, which the AP now reports was actually a dismissive Italian hand gesture. You've probably seen it before; the post title is a fairly accurate description of what it looks like. I have yet to find an exact quote of the question. However, according to the article above, a reporter from the Boston Herald asked Scalia, as he was leaving Catholic mass, if he "faces much q... More About: Cali , Shuffle
Why I Don't Like Politics
2006-12-02 15:41:04 For a little while now, I have been debating whether to continue with my blogging. I only did any kind of truly regular (read: almost daily) posting during the spring of 2005, when the dialogue between the DA and myself was moving at its highest speed. I have found plenty of topics worth getting passionate about since then, but somewhere along the way, I fell into a trap that I now realize almost destroyed my blog.Yes, I said ?almost? ? I?m going to continue as the Unknown Blogger, so this is certainly no goodbye. In fact, it may be a hello of sorts after a four-month hiatus plus intermittent posting beforehand. My leave from blogging was self-imposed, so that I could better see my way out of the rut I was stuck in. I can finally describe to you the trap that I was just talking about. It has two names: journalism and politics. But especially politics.As I continued studying politics with more than a passing interest, I became even more moderate than I was before. Don?t get me... More About: Politics , Like , Poli , Politic
Quick Info For Those Wondering
2006-12-02 15:41:04 After a lot of debate with myself, I've decided that I will post roughly once a week. There may be a few more posts than that occasionally, but I expect this to become my new regular pace. I am more of a longform blogger anyway, and the quality always suffers when I post too much. I think this will keep me fresh. I'll still probably blog more frequently than most newspaper columnists would get printed, so it all works out. So if I go a little quiet for a few days...just check back the next week!UPDATE (8/1/06): It appears that the site hosting my news submission script has been taken offline. I'll leave the submission box up for a little while in case it comes back again, but if it stays down, I'll reclaim the sidebar space for other purposes. In the meantime, send your tips to my e-mail address. I check out everything I get, believe me. More About: Info , Quick , Ring , Wonder , Those
Because Your Baby Isn't Metal Enough
2006-12-02 15:41:04 Just when you think you've seen every specialty version of a popular band's music, another always seems to turn up. Many platinum-selling acts, including My Chemical Romance and Hawthorne Heights, already have string quartet tribute albums. (I believe the Arctic Monkeys do as well, though they aren't as big Stateside as in Britain.) But these acts all have a lot of catching up to do to Metal lica, both in terms of sales and in bizarre tribute albums.Let's see here: the public already has Fade to Bluegrass, a Metallica tribute recorded by, yes, you guessed it, bluegrass musicians. The string quartet thing was already outdone by the full live band and orchestra of S&M, so there's no reason to go there at this point. The only logical solution left to tribute hounds would be...a collection of lullabies?!?No, I'm not making this up. There's even 30-second sample clips at the link. From what I've heard, the album will be very soothing; that is, i... More About: Baby , Your , Enough , Because
A Bulletin
2006-12-02 15:41:04 In case you're wondering, I didn't disappear again. I've been adjusting to another year in Morgantown, which has included fighting multiple computer crashes. That's a big rarity for me, but everything seems to be working now. I'll try to blog again within the next few days...there's certainly enough going on here and in the world to write about. Bookmark my RSS feed if you have a reader and have not done so already; that way, you won't miss my posts when they come up. I'm trying to keep the blog relevant to my fellow Mountaineers, so I will probably be focusing on local issues more than within the last year. Don't worry if you're not from these parts, I'll still be sticking my nose in national business as well. More About: Bulletin , Bull , Bullet
Broken Halo
2006-12-02 15:41:04 If you've posted comments here before, you may have noticed that they periodically disappear. This is the fault of Halo scan, not me. So to counteract this annoyance, I've reset comments to be strictly Blogger-controlled. It doesn't make Trackback as simple, but I'd rather have that be a hassle than have the things everyone has written on my blog keep vanishing. That, and Blogger's comment system had a major upgrade since I started this two Octobers ago. More About: Broken
News Script Update
2006-12-02 15:41:04 A quick bit of blog maintenance news is in order. The server that hosts my news tips submission script is down right now, so I can't access the tips that any of you have sent or will send to me. If you have any information for me, direct it to theunknownblogger@gmail.com until the domain is back online.UPDATE (1/12/06): The server is back online. Feel free to use the news tip submitter as you like. More About: News , Script , Update
The Day They Stopped The Sky From Falling
2006-09-26 11:45:02 As probably everybody knows by now, a terrorist plot to destroy as many as 10 planes flying from England to the US on August 16th was foiled by British officials this week. - Ed.] More About: Alli , They , Stop , Fall , The D
The First Ever Link Attack
2006-01-06 21:45:00 Because I almost never post on weekends, I thought it might be a good change of pace if I started providing a small load of quick links on Fridays. Yes, that's right...for one day each week, I will make a post that looks strangely similar to InstaPundit's entire blog. Except, unlike Glenn Reynolds, I will do my best to weed out the chaff. [Buuurrrrn-Ed.]With respect to dial-up users, I will try to keep the number of links fairly low. With that in mind, I give you the first, soon to be weekly...Link Atta ck !-Ever wonder what happens to merchandise that gets printed up for a would-be sports champion? Volokh found out that the clothes get donated to children in poor countries. So even though some Haitian kid is about to get a free shirt, he'll still think USC won the Rose Bowl.-The Washington Post reports that Men's Fitness magazine has named Baltimore, a land where crab cakes and beer flow like water, as the fittest city in America. Chicago, home of Da Bears and the deep-dis... More About: First
I Just Couldn't Help Myself
2006-01-06 07:13:00 As I was on my way to bed, I was scouring the Internet for links to be used for an as-yet unannounced addition to my blogging. Though I rarely link to satire, this fake headline from ScrappleFace got me laughing pretty hard. The article's good, but boy, this headline....Stewart to Host Oscars, Rumsfeld to Give GOP Response More About: Myself , Help
Two Sides Of A Similar Coin
2006-01-06 04:35:00 If you turned on the news at any point today, you already know that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has had a massive stroke. The reason I say "former" is because:1.) I'm being realistic (sadly),and 2.) Doctors have told reporters that Sharon is "unlikely to return" to his position.While the power struggle begins to quietly play out in Israel's government, certain forces have no intention of sending the would-be Middle Eastern peace architect any get-well cards. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who recently made headlines and irked 99 percent of the free world by claiming the Holocaust was a "myth," stated that he hoped Sharon died. Another typically heartless statement from a radical who seems to be begging for war with every country in the United Nations, right? Absolutely. But an equally heartless, and possibly even more tasteless, statement has emerged from the lips of none other than America's own Pat Robertson.The Christian broadcaster has stirred the... More About: Sides , Side , Mila , Coin
Last Year From The Rear View
2006-01-04 02:19:00 As I wind down from celebrating WVU's Sugar Bowl win over Georgia last night (Coach Rod, if you're listening, that fake punt was absolutely genius), I think it's time to take a look back at 2005. Most news sources would do a fairly bland overview covering the major stuff, but because I'm sure you've all seen those already, I'm going to put the emphasis on the things you may not have heard much about. Without further ado, here are my award winners.Book of the Year This choice will come as a surprise to many people, but I wanted to pick a non-fiction work that's having some influence. After all, picking Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince wouldn't seem fair, now would it? So this award goes to 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America by Bernard Goldberg. As many of you may remember, I asked people to recommend me some new reading last summer. Though all of those choices were very good, there was nothing I enjoyed more than 100 People. In the book, former CBS anchor Goldb... More About: View , Rear
Frequently Asked, Finally Answered
2005-12-25 05:48:00 I thought it was about time for me to post some of my most frequently asked questions from readers. And so, on this night right before Santa can make his grand arrival, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'll probably link to this post in the sidebar for reference. This is all stuff that people have asked me in the past; should you want to ask me something else, contact me at theunknownblogger@gmail.com. I always check my letters and comments, and I read every last one of them.So what are you waiting for? On to the questions:What do you care about?God, the truth, and the balanced pursuit of both. I never mix religion and politics unless I have to (it gets ugly), so I try to stick to a more official sense of truth when I blog. That means I aim to get to the heart of an issue, no matter how ugly the facts become.What do you like about politics?I love the intrigue of politics, and I love talking about political issues because it keeps the mind open and thinking. But contrary to ... More About: Final , Finally , Fina , Ally
The Scourge Of Braxton
2005-12-14 15:06:00 Somebody get ahold of Ry Rivard (DA columnist and semi-inactive blogger), because I've got some news for him: His home in Braxton County, WV, might be getting an unexpected visitor. Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo has posted a photograph of a creature that might just rival Point Pleasant's Mothman. Captured by a motion-activated wildlife camera about a week ago near a home in Braxton, the "Braxton Beast" appears to be an animal of some sort in the Bigfoot mold. What makes this bizarre is that two other similar sightings happened previously; one in 1952, the other in 1960. Before you ask, no, I don't give a lot of credit to Bigfoot and Loch Ness sightings. Leave the overblown conspiracy theories to the liberals, right? But my journalistic curiosity demands that I at least take a look. The link above has a picture (I think it's just a leaf, but see for yourself) as well as a ton of comments from readers discussing the whole thing. Check it out. By the way, who knew that ther... More About: Scourge , Urge
Freedom Of Choice
2005-12-14 04:08:00 New drug acts as marijuana in the brain (UPI) Now this is interesting stuff. According to a study at McGill University in Canada, a new drug called URB597 has an impressive anti-depressant effect. It works by raising the brain's levels of endocannabinoids. Translation: It's kind of like smoking up. Lead investigator Dr. Gabriella Gotti was very much encouraged by the results. The results were similar to the effect we might expect from the use of commonly prescribed antidepressants, which are effective on only around 30 percent of the population....Our discovery strengthens the case for URB597 as a safer, non-addictive, non-psychotropic alternative to cannabis for the treatment of pain and depression. If she is implying that this is more effective than traditional anti-depressants, then this is big news for sure. What makes it even bigger news is that the study says it might be a safer alternative to medical marijuana. Somewhere, I can hear a NORML rep crying. I've really... More About: Freedom , Freedom of Choice , Choice , Reed , Choi
An Executive Decision
2005-12-13 22:15:00 Once again, I can't help being reminded of how much more socially liberal Europe is than we are. In the wake of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision not to commute the death sentence of convicted killer and Crips founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams, there was speculation of rioting in that state. But so far, it looks as though the strongest reaction has come from - of all places - Austria, Schwarzenegger's homeland.In Austria, leaders of the opposition Green Party actually called for Gov. Schwarzenegger's citizenship to be revoked. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel rejected these demands as being "absurd," which is exactly what they were. Many have been talking up the fact that Williams showed a reformation by speaking out against gangs and the violence they create. He even wrote children's books on the subject. That's all fine and good, and I commend him for having turned himself around to that extent.But what often gets ignored here is a very simple truth: Willia... More About: Executive , Decision , Sion
Consumer Inconfidence
2005-12-07 00:30:00 Since Viacom is splitting into two companies (Viacom and CBS), the two corporations just began trading on the stock market today. The new, MTV-owning Viacom rose 5.8 percent from its initial price. But oddly enough, CBS Corp.'s stock fell 11 percent from its starting price. I wonder why people wouldn't want to buy CBS? I mean honestly, who wouldn't want a piece of that fine, reputable organization with a history of quality journalism? *snicker* More About: Consumer , Confidence , Cons
A Long Time Coming
2005-11-16 00:54:00 Something supremely cool is about to happen. Tomorrow, a new media website called Open Source Media (OSM for short) will launch. Normally when you say "media website," there's a temptation to zone out for a second. (There's a reason why only journalists and bloggers read Editor and Publisher - Ed.) No worries here: This site is going to attempt to blend standard journalism with blog commentary. In other words, what I currently have to go to about 14 different websites to see can now be found in one. Nice.Roger L. Simon (whose blog isn't in the Blogroll, but always very good) and Charles Johnson co-founded the venture, and although both are conservatives, OSM will feature bloggers from every part of the political spectrum. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, The Nation editor David Corn, and roughly 70 other Web journalists have agreed to participate. OSM itself will link to blog postings, carry news feeds from the wires, and form blog-like discussion panels on major news events.Giv... More About: Time , Long , Ming |
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