Their current record is 5-0 and it is their best start since 1986. Rex Grossman said about the game,” That was a fun game. Anytime you execute like that -- offense, defense, special teams -- anytime you play like that, it's so much fun."
The latest Chicago Bear news is that the national experts have anointed Lovie Smith's (head coach) as the best in the National Football League (NFL). Smith does not seem to be impressed with what the experts have done. “Once they start giving out trophies after five games, then you start patting yourself on the back,” Smith said. “We're 5-0 right now, (but) we haven't accomplished any of our goals. We have so much football left to go.
Based statistics so far, you would be very impressed with the team. They are averaging a league-leading 31.2 points a game and have only permitted 7.2 points a game. They won the 5 games by 26,27,2, 31 and 33 points for a total of 120 points, the second largest in the league. They are second to the St. Louis Rams who have 123 points.
“It's hard beating teams by those types of scores in the league,” Smith said. “All I can say is that we're pleased with where we are. I don't know how it's happened, but it has. I wish they gave out championships after five games, but they don't.”
The latest Chicago Bear news is that defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and defensive end Ian Scott. This has left the Bears team without two starting linemen who could help the league's stingiest defense even stingier.
Ogunleye has been out with a hamstring and has missed most practices the last few weeks. He has been replaced by Israel Idonije. Ian Scott has been replaced by Tank Johnson.
The latest Chicago Bear news is that the team has made some personnel changes. They have claimed defensive Marcus Maxey off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs and wide receiver Airese Currie has become the newest member of the injured reserve on the team due to a foot injury.
Maxey had first been drafted by the Chiefs last year. He did not play in the first two games of this season and was then waived.
As part of the special teams, Currie made his NFL debut in the season opener at Green Bay. He was picked in the fifth round by the Bears in 2005.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Latest SEO News and Thoughts
Yahoo! launches ’social search’ in Britain
“Yahoo! will launch a service today that allows users to ask other people’s advice, when looking for anything from a good hotel or bar to an apple pie recipe, rather than rely solely upon electronically generated search results.”
With Yahoo now joining the social search network it won’t be long before SEO dies and have to merge with SEM. In basic web site structure SEO research I have come to find that when you compare the top ten results of a search term in Google, Yahoo, and MSN you will come up with surprising results. In Yahoo and MSN you can see that keyword density, web site structure, and easily measurable results that you can just outdo to get to the top. MSN being the easiest, with Yahoo next because backlinks coming into effect more strongly, and Google last.
With Google comparing the same basic web site structure you come up with a totally different story. You will find that you cannot rely on the this data at all! Keyword density appears to have no effect with Google results. Nor does the structure, proximity, and placement of the keywords on the page. Although all of these factors are still important in Google they play a smaller part than what they used to. You will find top positions held in Google that barely even mention the keyword phrase in the copy sometimes. This is because Google grabs information from different sources to help determine high rankings.
Some of the things that Google considers are:
1. Age of the Domain Name
2. Age of the Web Site
3. Age of the Backlinks Pointing to the Site
4. Popularity of the Site through use of Social Bookmarking
5. Popularity of the Site through ISP Information
6. Popularity of the Site through Google’s Browser Toolbar
Did you know that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) sells the browsing habits of it’s customers to the search engines? This information is applied to Google’s algorithm as well.
‘Social Bookmarking’ or ‘Tagging’ is a method of bookmarking a site online with just services as DIGG, Furl, and Del.icio.us. Google takes information from these sites to determine the popularity of the site and applies it to its algorithm. This is why I see SEO going from strict results of keyword density and merging with SEM that applies ways to gain web site popularity. You can read more about this information in this search engine placement article that I wrote.
With Yahoo launching a ‘social search‘ in Britain that tells me that Yahoo won’t be to far down the road in following Google’s footsteps in bringing more accurate and relavant searches.
The next thing in SEO news is Google’s CEO joining Apple’s Board of Directors.
After reading this article it makes me wonder if Google will become more integrated with Apple Computers. It is true that Eric Schmidt would offer great experience to the board, but it makes me wonder what would become of this. Did Google’s idea of creating ‘Google Computers’ phase out? Will Google become the default search engine on Apple computers?
We will find out more in the future.
This is Michael Rock signing off. Have a great day!
“Yahoo! will launch a service today that allows users to ask other people’s advice, when looking for anything from a good hotel or bar to an apple pie recipe, rather than rely solely upon electronically generated search results.”
With Yahoo now joining the social search network it won’t be long before SEO dies and have to merge with SEM. In basic web site structure SEO research I have come to find that when you compare the top ten results of a search term in Google, Yahoo, and MSN you will come up with surprising results. In Yahoo and MSN you can see that keyword density, web site structure, and easily measurable results that you can just outdo to get to the top. MSN being the easiest, with Yahoo next because backlinks coming into effect more strongly, and Google last.
With Google comparing the same basic web site structure you come up with a totally different story. You will find that you cannot rely on the this data at all! Keyword density appears to have no effect with Google results. Nor does the structure, proximity, and placement of the keywords on the page. Although all of these factors are still important in Google they play a smaller part than what they used to. You will find top positions held in Google that barely even mention the keyword phrase in the copy sometimes. This is because Google grabs information from different sources to help determine high rankings.
Some of the things that Google considers are:
1. Age of the Domain Name
2. Age of the Web Site
3. Age of the Backlinks Pointing to the Site
4. Popularity of the Site through use of Social Bookmarking
5. Popularity of the Site through ISP Information
6. Popularity of the Site through Google’s Browser Toolbar
Did you know that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) sells the browsing habits of it’s customers to the search engines? This information is applied to Google’s algorithm as well.
‘Social Bookmarking’ or ‘Tagging’ is a method of bookmarking a site online with just services as DIGG, Furl, and Del.icio.us. Google takes information from these sites to determine the popularity of the site and applies it to its algorithm. This is why I see SEO going from strict results of keyword density and merging with SEM that applies ways to gain web site popularity. You can read more about this information in this search engine placement article that I wrote.
With Yahoo launching a ‘social search‘ in Britain that tells me that Yahoo won’t be to far down the road in following Google’s footsteps in bringing more accurate and relavant searches.
The next thing in SEO news is Google’s CEO joining Apple’s Board of Directors.
After reading this article it makes me wonder if Google will become more integrated with Apple Computers. It is true that Eric Schmidt would offer great experience to the board, but it makes me wonder what would become of this. Did Google’s idea of creating ‘Google Computers’ phase out? Will Google become the default search engine on Apple computers?
We will find out more in the future.
This is Michael Rock signing off. Have a great day!
Getting Into Google and Yahoo News
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 50 million Americans get news online on any given day. In comparison, only 27 million Americans watch network TV news on a typical evening. The Internet is quickly becoming the preferred news source over television, magazines, and trade publications.
News web sites like Yahoo News, Google News and MSNBC Searchbot receive millions of visitors every day. If fact, Yahoo News ranks ahead of MSNBC.com and even CNN.com, while Google News ranks ahead of USAToday.com and the NYTimes.com.
You can tap into these massive traffic sources through the use of press releases. Additional benefits of distributing your press release include possible media exposure, pickup of your release in online publications, increased link popularity to your web site, additional search engine rankings on your target keywords, and increased traffic to your web site.
However, there's much more to press release marketing than simply whipping up an article and sending it out to the world. You must take time to optimize your press release properly.
Press releases should be optimized in much the same way that search engine optimization specialists optimize ordinary web pages to achieve higher rankings. In doing so, you will receive much higher visibility.
For example, one press release from MarketingExperiments.com resulted in 2,200 visitors and 5 interview requests by journalists. This is the power of a highly optimized press release.
Listed below is an outline of how to create an optimized press release for your own website and how to distribute it for maximum exposure.
The first and most important element is to search for keywords and phrases that are likely to deliver qualified leads to your website. A good press release combines targeted keywords with creative writing that makes for a compelling read.
To find these lucrative keyword phrases, begin brainstorming what people would search for when looking for your products. If your products or services are targeted to a particular geographic area, you might want to include these locations in your keyword phrases as well. It is best to target up to 3 keyword phrases.
Once you have done this, you can head on over to http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/ to do some additional keyword research. Simply type in your list of potential keyword phrases and this tool will give you a list of related keywords and how many times they are searched for per day. This information can aid you in choosing which keyword phrases will bring your press release the highest amount of exposure.
Now that you have chosen the best possible keywords, it's time to integrate these targeted keyword phrases into your press release. You should include your keywords in the headline, the title, sub-headings and the first two paragraphs. Search engines place much of their emphasis on the title and the beginning paragraphs.
Your title should reflect your strongest keywords, not the name of the company. Include local modifiers if possible. Although it's often nice to see your company's name in print, it's unlikely to bring you the exposure you deserve. Instead, use targeted search phrases that are likely to be used by your potential customers.
You should also optimize your press release by integrating targeted links within the content. Many press release distribution services and news wires now offer the option of purchasing a hyperlink. You simply convert a keyword phrase within the release into an active hyperlink. This will increase search engine visibility for that keyword phrase and also drive additional traffic back to your website.
Where to Send Your Press Release
There are a wide variety of places that will allow you to syndicate your press release. However, there are only a select few that you really need to focus on. Here are some distributors that will help you get the exposure you deserve.
News web sites like Yahoo News, Google News and MSNBC Searchbot receive millions of visitors every day. If fact, Yahoo News ranks ahead of MSNBC.com and even CNN.com, while Google News ranks ahead of USAToday.com and the NYTimes.com.
You can tap into these massive traffic sources through the use of press releases. Additional benefits of distributing your press release include possible media exposure, pickup of your release in online publications, increased link popularity to your web site, additional search engine rankings on your target keywords, and increased traffic to your web site.
However, there's much more to press release marketing than simply whipping up an article and sending it out to the world. You must take time to optimize your press release properly.
Press releases should be optimized in much the same way that search engine optimization specialists optimize ordinary web pages to achieve higher rankings. In doing so, you will receive much higher visibility.
For example, one press release from MarketingExperiments.com resulted in 2,200 visitors and 5 interview requests by journalists. This is the power of a highly optimized press release.
Listed below is an outline of how to create an optimized press release for your own website and how to distribute it for maximum exposure.
The first and most important element is to search for keywords and phrases that are likely to deliver qualified leads to your website. A good press release combines targeted keywords with creative writing that makes for a compelling read.
To find these lucrative keyword phrases, begin brainstorming what people would search for when looking for your products. If your products or services are targeted to a particular geographic area, you might want to include these locations in your keyword phrases as well. It is best to target up to 3 keyword phrases.
Once you have done this, you can head on over to http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/ to do some additional keyword research. Simply type in your list of potential keyword phrases and this tool will give you a list of related keywords and how many times they are searched for per day. This information can aid you in choosing which keyword phrases will bring your press release the highest amount of exposure.
Now that you have chosen the best possible keywords, it's time to integrate these targeted keyword phrases into your press release. You should include your keywords in the headline, the title, sub-headings and the first two paragraphs. Search engines place much of their emphasis on the title and the beginning paragraphs.
Your title should reflect your strongest keywords, not the name of the company. Include local modifiers if possible. Although it's often nice to see your company's name in print, it's unlikely to bring you the exposure you deserve. Instead, use targeted search phrases that are likely to be used by your potential customers.
You should also optimize your press release by integrating targeted links within the content. Many press release distribution services and news wires now offer the option of purchasing a hyperlink. You simply convert a keyword phrase within the release into an active hyperlink. This will increase search engine visibility for that keyword phrase and also drive additional traffic back to your website.
Where to Send Your Press Release
There are a wide variety of places that will allow you to syndicate your press release. However, there are only a select few that you really need to focus on. Here are some distributors that will help you get the exposure you deserve.
Avoid Highway Robbery by Using The New Crude--WATER
Engines waste gasoline! Up to 80% of the high-priced gas that you pump doesn't get you anywhere because it goes UNBURNED to the catalytic converter. That means you are getting 0 MPG (zero, zilch, nada) from most of the over-priced gasoline you pump into your tank.
WHY DO COMBUSTION ENGINES WASTE SO MUCH GAS?
That's what they are designed to do--WASTE GAS--because every second of every day, everywhere in the world, every single gas and diesel engine on the planet puts money into the deep, deep, DEEP pockets of Big Oil.
Automotive and fuel technology has been deliberately held back, and people have been kept in the dark about AMAZING inventions and discoveries, in order to sell us lots of gasoline. Sorry, but that's how it is.
For example, the gas could be preheated and better formulated for better combustion--but it's not. The fuel vapor droplets could be smaller for efficient combustion--but they're not. The pre-set computer-controlled air-to-fuel ratio could be more economical--but it's not. The exhaust could be reprocessed to contribute to mileage (there are patents on that)--but it's not. Cars could be using a better carburetor design--but they're not because the patent for a 100 MPG carburetor was bought and buried years ago. Cars could be running completely on water fuel--but they're not because those patents were also bought and then buried along with the inventor (however, the patents ran out recently!). Even the hybrids that Big Auto is selling at luxury car prices don't optimize gasoline combustion and consumption.
HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS.
You can do something about it, ONE CAR AT A TIME, starting with YOUR car.
How? By using ENERGY from WATER.
If that sounds impossible, or crazy, or delusional, I understand. This is something that none of our trusted sources of information--TV, radio, teachers, movies, professors, magazines, dad, scientists, books, Sesame Street--have told us about. Why? See the bad news, above.
I mentioned amazing inventions and discoveries. Many of them have very sophisticated technical patents on them. But the kind of water energy system I am talking about, the one that is affordable and do-able by ME and YOU in OUR cars (not by buying a Big Auto hybrid with a luxury car pricetag), is a do-it-yourself technology, specifically designed for beginners with basic tools and very limited budgets. A working system can be built at home for $20 to $200 worth of parts and installed in your car, truck, or SUV on a weekend. It's a 90-year-old technology that has been revived and developed into a simple, affordable, SAFE system based on low-cost hardware.
It works like this: The main component of the low-cost water energy system is an electrolyzer-a container of water with electrodes in it. The electrolyzer takes a tiny bit of electricity from your car. The electricity "splits" water into hydroxyl gas and feeds it immediately to the engine cylinders. The improved air/fuel mix gets very efficient combustion.
WHY DO COMBUSTION ENGINES WASTE SO MUCH GAS?
That's what they are designed to do--WASTE GAS--because every second of every day, everywhere in the world, every single gas and diesel engine on the planet puts money into the deep, deep, DEEP pockets of Big Oil.
Automotive and fuel technology has been deliberately held back, and people have been kept in the dark about AMAZING inventions and discoveries, in order to sell us lots of gasoline. Sorry, but that's how it is.
For example, the gas could be preheated and better formulated for better combustion--but it's not. The fuel vapor droplets could be smaller for efficient combustion--but they're not. The pre-set computer-controlled air-to-fuel ratio could be more economical--but it's not. The exhaust could be reprocessed to contribute to mileage (there are patents on that)--but it's not. Cars could be using a better carburetor design--but they're not because the patent for a 100 MPG carburetor was bought and buried years ago. Cars could be running completely on water fuel--but they're not because those patents were also bought and then buried along with the inventor (however, the patents ran out recently!). Even the hybrids that Big Auto is selling at luxury car prices don't optimize gasoline combustion and consumption.
HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS.
You can do something about it, ONE CAR AT A TIME, starting with YOUR car.
How? By using ENERGY from WATER.
If that sounds impossible, or crazy, or delusional, I understand. This is something that none of our trusted sources of information--TV, radio, teachers, movies, professors, magazines, dad, scientists, books, Sesame Street--have told us about. Why? See the bad news, above.
I mentioned amazing inventions and discoveries. Many of them have very sophisticated technical patents on them. But the kind of water energy system I am talking about, the one that is affordable and do-able by ME and YOU in OUR cars (not by buying a Big Auto hybrid with a luxury car pricetag), is a do-it-yourself technology, specifically designed for beginners with basic tools and very limited budgets. A working system can be built at home for $20 to $200 worth of parts and installed in your car, truck, or SUV on a weekend. It's a 90-year-old technology that has been revived and developed into a simple, affordable, SAFE system based on low-cost hardware.
It works like this: The main component of the low-cost water energy system is an electrolyzer-a container of water with electrodes in it. The electrolyzer takes a tiny bit of electricity from your car. The electricity "splits" water into hydroxyl gas and feeds it immediately to the engine cylinders. The improved air/fuel mix gets very efficient combustion.
According To News, Happiness Is No Longer Possible; World Too Crazy
If you listen to the news without the healthy defense of perspective, you can easily begin to think that the world is so crazy happiness is no longer possible or, at least, a highly irresponsible proclivity.
As you well know, from the time we wake up until the time we doze off, the news presents the most egregious outrages it can assemble, as if to demand of us, “With all this mayhem and other craziness going on, how can you dare to be happy?”
Since it would be a sorry world if nobody was happy, we began to think about how to manage the pleasant state and concluded you either have to be very stupid or very smart. Everybody in between is bound to be swamped with the world’s collected and concentrated agony.
Here’s why.
If you’re really just plain stupid, you probably don’t listen to the news much anyway. You long ago gave up on trying to keep up with things you hardly understand anyway.
On the other hand, if you’re even reasonably savvy, you discovered the enormous difference that almost always obtains between the news and your personal life. While bombs and lunatics are always starring in the news and most of the other media that attempt to monopolize your mind, you notice that your personal life is actually generally quite peaceful and, when the reverberations of the news dissipate, still alive with occasions for happiness.
Why, you even find that there are still splendid and, in much of the media, little-regarded values like sincerity, kindness, love and, yes, laughter.
Meanwhile, if you’re not too dumb or intelligent enough, you’re right there on the receiving end of all the outrages the news can whip into a frenzy to engage your rapt reactions and elicit your legion of laments. Result: sorrow, with any hope of happiness long abandoned. '
Of course, everyone who reads NewsLaugh is smart enough to keep the news in perspective. Or we wouldn’t have the capacity to laugh at it. Which means, happy or sad, at least we’re primarily responding to the events of our personal lives, instead of
As you well know, from the time we wake up until the time we doze off, the news presents the most egregious outrages it can assemble, as if to demand of us, “With all this mayhem and other craziness going on, how can you dare to be happy?”
Since it would be a sorry world if nobody was happy, we began to think about how to manage the pleasant state and concluded you either have to be very stupid or very smart. Everybody in between is bound to be swamped with the world’s collected and concentrated agony.
Here’s why.
If you’re really just plain stupid, you probably don’t listen to the news much anyway. You long ago gave up on trying to keep up with things you hardly understand anyway.
On the other hand, if you’re even reasonably savvy, you discovered the enormous difference that almost always obtains between the news and your personal life. While bombs and lunatics are always starring in the news and most of the other media that attempt to monopolize your mind, you notice that your personal life is actually generally quite peaceful and, when the reverberations of the news dissipate, still alive with occasions for happiness.
Why, you even find that there are still splendid and, in much of the media, little-regarded values like sincerity, kindness, love and, yes, laughter.
Meanwhile, if you’re not too dumb or intelligent enough, you’re right there on the receiving end of all the outrages the news can whip into a frenzy to engage your rapt reactions and elicit your legion of laments. Result: sorrow, with any hope of happiness long abandoned. '
Of course, everyone who reads NewsLaugh is smart enough to keep the news in perspective. Or we wouldn’t have the capacity to laugh at it. Which means, happy or sad, at least we’re primarily responding to the events of our personal lives, instead of
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Horse News, Horse Articles And Horse Stories – The Internet Has It All
The Internet is a powerful tool that has become the major portal for finding information on all subjects. If you are an avid lover of horses there is a wealth of horse stories, articles and news to wet your appetite.
There are sites specifically full of horse articles that you can learn from. These sites cover everything from breeds of gaited horses to articles on how to fit English saddles and everything related to horse care.
Other sites carry horse news. The equestrian world is full of information about up and coming shows, information on it’s leading riders and everything you could ever want to know about the latest products to be launched onto the market.
Some of the horse news sites come in the form of Ezines, an Ezine is an online magazine that is packed full of horse articles and stories on top of the latest news
Sites are even available that are filled to the brim with horse stories of fact and fiction. These horse stories can be anything from real stories about brave horses that have saved lives to stories like my personal favorite called fear treks the moor which is a children’s book about the wonderful story of 3 children whose father is a farmer who was injured in an accident so the children try to keep the pony trekking business going. Horse lovers from around the globe enjoy sites with horse stories as they normally let people submit their own stories to share with other people within the equestrian world.
Like many people in the horse world it is great to see such a wide variety of information available and have the opportunity to mix with like-minded people from around the world, sharing horse stories of all types.
For more horse articles, horse news, horse stories please visit www.horsegalore.com where you will find a wealth of information contributed from all around the world. These horse articles range in topics including but not limited to health, veterinary, training, cleaning, breeding, raising foals and much more. If you have articles you would like to contribute we would be glad to post them as well.
There are sites specifically full of horse articles that you can learn from. These sites cover everything from breeds of gaited horses to articles on how to fit English saddles and everything related to horse care.
Other sites carry horse news. The equestrian world is full of information about up and coming shows, information on it’s leading riders and everything you could ever want to know about the latest products to be launched onto the market.
Some of the horse news sites come in the form of Ezines, an Ezine is an online magazine that is packed full of horse articles and stories on top of the latest news
Sites are even available that are filled to the brim with horse stories of fact and fiction. These horse stories can be anything from real stories about brave horses that have saved lives to stories like my personal favorite called fear treks the moor which is a children’s book about the wonderful story of 3 children whose father is a farmer who was injured in an accident so the children try to keep the pony trekking business going. Horse lovers from around the globe enjoy sites with horse stories as they normally let people submit their own stories to share with other people within the equestrian world.
Like many people in the horse world it is great to see such a wide variety of information available and have the opportunity to mix with like-minded people from around the world, sharing horse stories of all types.
For more horse articles, horse news, horse stories please visit www.horsegalore.com where you will find a wealth of information contributed from all around the world. These horse articles range in topics including but not limited to health, veterinary, training, cleaning, breeding, raising foals and much more. If you have articles you would like to contribute we would be glad to post them as well.
Can the News Media Ever be Responsible to Society?
Managing stress of society. Can the news media ever be responsible to society?
Reporting the news is the function of the news media. And that can be done responsibly or it can be done irresponsibly to society. In fact, every news program ought to have a responsibility rating--say between zero to ten. If the manner in which the news is being presented is totally responsible to society it receives a rating of ten. If it unnecessarily ads stress to society and it totally irresponsible, the program should be ranked a zero.
Fact is we're at war with terrorism--nothing new there. The news can take on the role of being informative or it can take on the role of Tokyo Rose during World War II.
Usually I write about managing stress using biofeedback, hypnosis, nutrition... for the individual to aid in one managing physical reactions to stress or getting rid of unwanted habits such as smoking, overeating... Just as stress affects an individual, stress also affects society and sometimes with lynch mob results.
Now if you were a terrorist, what would you like to hear? Firstly we know that terrorists want to kill all infidels--they deem everyone other than those who have their beliefs (including those of their own race and religion) as infidels. Their goal is to disrupt our lives physically and mentally: Physically by killing us and mentally by reeking havoc with fear.
The bigger their slaughter the more successful they are. But it doesn't stop there. The more mental terror evoked, the more successful they are--they win on two fronts.
What does a terrorist want? The terrorist wants to raise the stress level and fear of infidels. He also wants creative ideas such as garbage can bombs at airports, civic centers, shopping malls--ideas he might not have thought of on his own.
It's ironic, thousands of humans can be slaughtered by genocide in Somalia or some other part of the world and we hear little of it, yet, a car bomb in England can be thwarted and we hear it on all the news media regurgitated for days followed up by the garbage can bomb idea. Let's spread more fear for the terrorist to gloat.
Reporting the thwarted car bombs should be no different than reporting the score of a football game--basic facts without regurgitation of interviewing a dozen experts who less than those investigating the incident.
Now if I were a terrorist, I'd give the news media a ten for publishing my cause, a ten for instilling fear in the hearts of millions, and another ten for the garbage can bomb idea. The cumulative stress on society has gone off the wall. The news media did everything I could possibly want. They've taken my bomb and magnified it ten fold--a great moral victory--and made us afraid of garbage cans too boot. And aren't many wars won on moral victories? The ten score for the terrorist is a zero score for the news' responsibility to society.
Now, I'm not for the war in Iraq--never have been, but we're there and it seems to me that the news media provides far more moral victories to the enemy than it does for our society. They may argue that they are only reporting the news, but I doubt that any group of new casters have had a meeting to discuss what can be done to be less supportive of the terrorist. Is it possible that how the deeds of terrorists are reported actually can morally support their goals? Or do we think that they are ignorant of the news?
Reporting the news is the function of the news media. And that can be done responsibly or it can be done irresponsibly to society. In fact, every news program ought to have a responsibility rating--say between zero to ten. If the manner in which the news is being presented is totally responsible to society it receives a rating of ten. If it unnecessarily ads stress to society and it totally irresponsible, the program should be ranked a zero.
Fact is we're at war with terrorism--nothing new there. The news can take on the role of being informative or it can take on the role of Tokyo Rose during World War II.
Usually I write about managing stress using biofeedback, hypnosis, nutrition... for the individual to aid in one managing physical reactions to stress or getting rid of unwanted habits such as smoking, overeating... Just as stress affects an individual, stress also affects society and sometimes with lynch mob results.
Now if you were a terrorist, what would you like to hear? Firstly we know that terrorists want to kill all infidels--they deem everyone other than those who have their beliefs (including those of their own race and religion) as infidels. Their goal is to disrupt our lives physically and mentally: Physically by killing us and mentally by reeking havoc with fear.
The bigger their slaughter the more successful they are. But it doesn't stop there. The more mental terror evoked, the more successful they are--they win on two fronts.
What does a terrorist want? The terrorist wants to raise the stress level and fear of infidels. He also wants creative ideas such as garbage can bombs at airports, civic centers, shopping malls--ideas he might not have thought of on his own.
It's ironic, thousands of humans can be slaughtered by genocide in Somalia or some other part of the world and we hear little of it, yet, a car bomb in England can be thwarted and we hear it on all the news media regurgitated for days followed up by the garbage can bomb idea. Let's spread more fear for the terrorist to gloat.
Reporting the thwarted car bombs should be no different than reporting the score of a football game--basic facts without regurgitation of interviewing a dozen experts who less than those investigating the incident.
Now if I were a terrorist, I'd give the news media a ten for publishing my cause, a ten for instilling fear in the hearts of millions, and another ten for the garbage can bomb idea. The cumulative stress on society has gone off the wall. The news media did everything I could possibly want. They've taken my bomb and magnified it ten fold--a great moral victory--and made us afraid of garbage cans too boot. And aren't many wars won on moral victories? The ten score for the terrorist is a zero score for the news' responsibility to society.
Now, I'm not for the war in Iraq--never have been, but we're there and it seems to me that the news media provides far more moral victories to the enemy than it does for our society. They may argue that they are only reporting the news, but I doubt that any group of new casters have had a meeting to discuss what can be done to be less supportive of the terrorist. Is it possible that how the deeds of terrorists are reported actually can morally support their goals? Or do we think that they are ignorant of the news?
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