NGOs

Have you noticed that NGOs are acting more and more like they are actual governmental bodies at least so far as believing that they have power and representational rights?

1. At various world conferences on the environment and trade the NGOs are getting seats at the table and input into the agreements and white papers coming out of the conference.
2. This story shows that the NGOs would like to share revenue just like the states in the US expect a share of the federal revenue.
   

Media

I was reminded today that one of the subjects that get me on my soap box is the way the media treats the "news".

1. Playing word games with editorials - Some, many, pundits seem to believe that their editorials or opinion pieces are their personal playground. That they don't have to meet the same standards of journalism as we were taught in school. At least taught when I was a student. For instance this Fisking of Krugman or this one of Bob Herbert also of the Times.
   
2. Treating news articles as editorial - Many reporters feel that their news reports are really their very own opinion piece and play the same games with the way they report the "news" as pundits with their editorials. For instance this NY Times report on Geraldo in New Orleans or this one of Starbucks impoverishing students from the Washington Post.
3. Reporters who don't understand what they are reporting on and just print what they believe. Here is one trying to address the idea of Peak Oil and getting the economics miserably wrong.
   
4. "News" articles that "report" just that part of a story that makes their view look better - This article from Reuters that I found on Yahoo Science news purports to report that global warming can't be tied to Katrina and Rita. However most of the article is about how some "think" it is or that it "may be". There have been many blog postings like this one over the weekend that showed how the news reports on last weekends anti-war protests were at the least very poor reporting if not outright propaganda. Or this one that tells the truth about an anti-war activist that has been protesting with signs claiming to be a Republican when he isn't.

I was discussing this with a colleague today who majored in journalism and she thinks that this is more of a case of the news trying to give their customer want they want as it is good business. While I believe there is some of that, I believe more of it is based on those many journalism graduates since Watergate that are out to "change the world" and make it "better". Of course "better" is in the eye of the beholder.

Driving

So the number one source of rant-worthy events I usually encounter are driving so here are a few of them;

1. People that drive 10 miles an hour UNDER the speed limit what ever that limit is. If traffic is light you can usually get around this characters, however I only seem to encounter them when traffic is busy. Since traffic signals in the city are usually set to the expected speed (read speed limit) this can mean that you end up stopping at every red light along the way.

2. People in the left lane (going straight) who begin to slow down for a red-light long before they get close to the light. I understand why, but if you want to get in the left turn lane this can prevent you from getting there for long seconds which can cause you to miss the turn signal.

3. People who are entering merging traffic who feel it is their RIGHT to get in in front of you. The other day I was leaving a shopping center and a woman in came up on the right where I had the right of way. I was prepared to allow her to go in ahead of me. But then she RAISED HER HAND indicating that I should stop and let her in! Almost pissed me off enough to not let her in.

4. People who won't let you in where there is no given right of way. I usually prefer to wait until most people have left the parking lot after a concert or sports event just so I don't have to put up with this. I went to a school in Texas with almost 3000 students almost all of which had a car. People played chicken so much going out the two lane gate when school was out that they had to replace the fence about ten times a year. I think 90% of the fence runners were from the rodeo club, but I could be wrong.

5. People who slow down to gawk at a accident or even worse just at somebody pulled off the highway. When I lived in Salt Lake City in the '80s the locals were rather famous for this. A car left on the side of the highway could cause a traffic backup for several days running even though it was the same drivers slowing down to stare at it each day.

Why?

There are few things (course I discover a new one almost everyday) that really peeve me. I created this blog to capture those for myself and hopefully others. Maybe if enough perpertrators of those rant-worthy actions see this they might change their ways.