Pre-Birthday Blues?

So, I'm turning 23 soon. This leads me to one thought... damn, I'm getting old! On an un-age-related note, all sorts of disasters have been happening to me lately. Today, I found out that the sink is leaking and overflowing onto the floor. Last week, I failed to even get an interview for a job because the other candidates were more qualified. Also last week, I was arranging to send two teams to a debating tournament in Calgary and then found out that the people from the university across town who offered to let our debaters travel with them on the bus, aren't going by bus at all, thus leaving me in a lurch.

So what did I do? Well, for starters I got drunk on Thursday night. Then on Saturday I did absoltely nothing of value. Well, that's not totally true. I did figure out why my computer was crashing whenever I played a game. Apparently, the computer is overheating. I don't know how that causes crashes, or why it only happened when I was playing games. So I figured out a novel solution: shove my three hole punch underneath to let more air flow in and cool it off more. It hasn't crashed since.

On a related note, I hate Windows XP SP2. I decided to uninstall the update recently because it made my system far too slow. Besides, I'm more skilled than the average computer-using fool and am unlikely to get caught offguard by viruses, spyware, etc. In any case, my computer needs servicing to deal with the overheating.

Okay, I'm off track. Back to my birthday... So invited lots of people. I invited them to simply chill with me at the bar across the street. I prefer conversation to dancing like a fool (though that changes with enough alcohol). I've had a few of my good friends get back to me right away. So, I'm looking forward to it. Well, I would be much more eager if the girls (each of which I fancy) I invited weren't too busy to come. Well, I guess it could be worse. At least they e-mailed me back.

Fox News Comes to Canada

I thought I wasn't going to give commentary on the news anymore, but I can't help myself. Fox News is being offered as a subscription channel on digital cable in Canada. Normally, I wouldn't comment on something as banal as this. In this case though, Fox News has been drawing some fire lately from media critics regarding it's apparent (and actual) bias. Whether you think it is biased depends on your point of view. I'm very much inclined to believe that it is (from my narrow exposure to it). They claim to report the news as they see it and to not be biased (a charge, by saying so, they level at the competition). This wouldn't normally be alarming (just business as usual) except that Fox News has captured a large market share in America. From what I've seen, many of their commentators have made big names for themselves by telling off people of other political views. I've also seen anecdotal evidence that some commentators are not beyond using lies (or self-delusions) if it serves their political interest.

Is there such thing as unbiased media? I don't think so. The issue is where each individual places the centre of the their political spectrum. Really, left and right are not a good model for explaining one's politics, but they are used widely. Personally, and as a Canadian, I would put CTV News probably in the middle. CBC would be a bit left of centre, but quite close. Network American News and CNN would probably be in the centre or a bit to the right. That would put Fox News much further on the right. On the left I could put various "independent, unbiased" sources as the campus newspaper, the Indymedia Centre, and websites like rabble.ca. On the far right (possibly further than Fox News) would be right wing online rags like worldnetdaily.com. The Economist, which I read, is difficult to place because it advodates social and economic liberalism. Some people think it is really right wing. At least The Economist doesn't try to hide its bias.

So, if we equate "unbiasedness" with one's political centre, if you think Fox News is "unbiased," what is a right wing source? Likewise, if you think zmag or IMC are "unbiased" give me an example of a left wing news source. What is reality? Is there one true interpretation of the news? Personally, I think that sources on far left and right have blinders on. They cannot understand anyone else's viewpoint and attack it as fascist/corporate/communist drivvel. Absorbing the same sources over and over again reaffirms the same old beliefs. I don't know who's reading this, but I challenge you to get your news from various sources if you can. Don't just get it from the same place all the time. Question what you believe from time to time. This is a apolitical request (if you can believe that).