CNN Pole 1

[Scott24x7]

You know, I am a big fan of CNN, especially their web site, it helps keep me connected to what's going on back in the US while I'm living abroad. But sometimes I HATE the way they put their on-line poles together. And here was today's:

What's causing the record heat?
Global warming
Normal heat trend

What's to say that Global Wraming isn't a normal heat trend? This has got to be the stupidist question they have ever asked...


Best Regards,
Scott

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[addy]

As this forum deals with the use of language, wouldn't it be a CNN [red]Poll[/red]?





/runs away from Scott.

 

[Scott24x7]

LOL... It has been a VERY long day for me today, and it's not over yet. Have now been in my office for 12 hours, and still have 2 to go... so forgive anything that comes out of these fingers tonight.


Best Regards,
Scott

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[CajunCenturion]

That's a good question and there is a semantic aspect of the poll question; that is the definition of 'global warming'.

To many people, 'global warming' is defined as the gradual increase in worldwide temperatures. To others, 'global warming' is an anthropogenic gradual increase in worldwide temperature.

Until we can all agree on the definition of the terms, the poll results are meaningless.

Maybe we should ask the following question:
Is the CNN poll ambiguous?
-- Yes
-- No

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[DataDog]

The only good thing that has ever happened at the Communist News Network was when Ted divorced Hanoi Jane.

DataDog
"Failure Is Not An Option'

 

[gbaughma]

As this forum deals with the use of language, wouldn't it be a CNN Poll?

... and I was about to make a tongue-in-cheek comment about being politically correct to our Polish friends.

Uh-oh... not the "global warming" discussion again.

I think I'll stay out of it this time.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[fumei]

Communist News Network

????

You have got to be kidding. To my view CNN is tiny, blinkered, rather right wing. Not as bad as the laughable Fox, but myopic nonetheless. Neither have any use to get a real view of the world. But then....neither of them have any interest (or so it seems) to give a real view of the world. The bias shown is truly amazing.

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[flapeyre]

With regard to politics, everybody thinks they are the "moderates", and everybody else is extreme.

Just remember - "All generalizations are false, including this one".

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui!

 

[Lunatic]

Anyone else remember when CNN was actually just news and CNN-Headline news was just the Reader's Digest condensed version?

I miss those days

The website is still good though.

 

[buck2506]

But think how many eyes they would pick up if the new was delivered by the young lady on the CNN Pole.

 

[Gooser]

fumei

If you think the Crescent News Network is on the Right, you must be WAY out in left! [small]--not that there is anything wrong with that.[/small]

...I don't even own a TV. Or even a stereo...

...Wait a minute! You don't even own a TV!


v/r

Gooser

Why do today
that which may not need to be done tomorrow --me

 

[AnotherHiggins]

[OT]I think by and large the bias shown by most news organizations is towards sensationalizing stories more than left or right.[/OT]

Given that the two options in the poll are "Global warming" and "Normal heat trend", I think the intention of the question is obvious and clearly asked. As CC pointed out, there are two definitions of "Global Warming". The fact that one of the options is "Natural", the other is obviously meant to be anthropogenic.

Just because the political implications of the question might upset someone doesn't mean that the language is flawed.

Remember - our focus in this thread (because it is in MAI) should be on the language, not the politics.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

Help us help you. Please read FAQ181-2886 before posting.

 

[Gooser]

What makes men so arrogant that they think that they are not a part of Nature?

--Gooser

 

[Gooser]

Oh, and back on-topic. What is the point of a Poll on this subject? There they go sensationalizing global warming [still just a theory] again. Any time it is warm, it must be global warming again.

Spent the day out in the sun without sunblock and got a sunburn?... Must be global warming.

Forgot to water the grass and it turned brown?... Must be global warming.

Sunglass prices on the rise?... Must be global warming.

Dropped the top scoop of ice cream off your cone?... Must be global warming.

RIDICULOUS!

--Gooser

 

[AnotherHiggins]

What is the point of a Poll on this subject?

Good question. I don't see what difference it makes whether largely-uninformed people, without a decent understanding of the science at hand, believe in it or not. That won't change if it is happening or not. Then again, public policy is swayed by what the masses believe.

What makes men so arrogant that they think that they are not a part of Nature?

I'll try to only address this inasmuch as it pertains to language....

Humans are animals, similar to other animals inhabiting this planet. But no other animal has as much effect on his surroundings as man. Cows don't clear cut forests. Pigs don't drive cars. Monkeys don't build neighborhoods of houses. Armadillos don't build factories. Giraffes don't build jet aircraft (can you imagine the headroom required). Tigers don't dig hundreds of feet into the ground, pull out coal, and place it in an armadillo's factory to burn. And though I hear they're getting close, gazelles have not yet managed to split an atom - no matter how hard they but heads. It is true that dingoes may occasionally eat my baby, but that's a different story.

It isn't arrogant to recognize that things in the world would be significantly different without humans around; it's common sense.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

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[fumei]

Excuse me, I think I kind of mis...ummm, spoke. I care nothing for left/right. Both "sides" are equally Vis-a-vis CNN...let me tell a story.

In 1991 there was the longest solar eclipse that anyone now living could possibly see. There will not be one be one as long (6m 27s at maximum possible), for over 400 years. It was The Big One for eclipse chasers.

The maximum duration was about 70 km south of Mazatlan, Mexico. I don't want to get into technical details, but the shadow on the earth is an ellipse - a circular shadow expressed on a spherical body. (and please, yes, i know th earth is not perfectly spherical). The shadow of an eclipse is about (and it changes across the land fall path), 110 miles long and about 40 miles wide. So NOT very big. It also moves fast, about 700 miles an hour.

Now...and here is the point...the shadow touched earth surface about 300 miles west of the Big Island of Hawaii. The maximum duration over Hawaii was 2m 23s - so MUCH MUCH shorter than Mexico and Central America. Guatemala City was 6m 8s for example.

PLUS, from Hawaii the sun during the eclipse was just rising. It only reached 20 degrees altitude. From Mexico, it was directly overhead, which makes seeing shadow bands possible. Shadow bands can not be seen during a low angle eclipse.

Needless to say, most of the serious gazers, and photographers went to Mexico. It was a fabulous eclipse.

That night, in a hotel in Mazatlan, a bunch of us were watching the CNN coverage of the eclipse. They actually had a fairly long piece on it. But at NO TIME, EVER, either by voice, or by the "map" of the eclipse path, was it mentioned - EVER - that the eclipse happened anywhere, but over U.S. soil. They had 7 - 8 minutes on it, with cameras on Hawaii, showing people excitedly watching the eclipse.

They never mentioned - at all - that the best view was from Mexico; they never mentioned it happened ANYWHERE but over U.S. soil. The graphic of the eclipse path had it start correctly, west of Hawaii, passing over Hawaii....and that was that.

Literally millions of people watched in Mexico and Central America. However, for CNN...they simply did not exist.

News? I guess. However, to even remotely consider that CNN has an interest in any world perspective is laughable. Oh they can do a very good impression that they have a world perspective, but really...it is a joke.

No, I don't own a TV anymore. Haven't for almost 10 years. However, I travel a bit, and I stay in hotels, which generally speaking have TV sets in them.

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[SantaMufasa]

...CNN Pole...

Maniac had it right in the first place...most of what CNN and Network News do is "pleasuring" their own Pole.


I wish I could find a source anywhere in The Media where I could get "Just the facts, Ma'am." Instead, I must listen to the Agenda Spin of someone with (either a Left- or Right-handed) axe to grind.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[SilentAiche]

Okay, I've seen a lot of commentary here about the perceived failings of CNN and Fox. Does anyone wish to offer an alternative?

And I'm not talking about that "al-justazero" terrorvision network over in sandland.

Tim

[blue]_______________________________________________________
"Although many figures are strange, prime numbers are truly odd."[/blue]

 

[fumei]

Certainly not BBC, their bias is as bad as CNN & Fox; not CBC (here in Canada) as they have their nose up BBC's butt. They are so "neutral" and "independent" that they have not noticed they are so left they are lying on their side.

I don't know. I taste all of them.

The U.S. used to have fairly decent public radio, but it seems to have disappeared.

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[CajunCenturion]

How well do these networks stack up when it comes to language use?

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