| Subject: Re: STD testing |
| From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
| Date: 12/29/10, 15:40 |
| To: Karen Lancaster <lancaster.karen@gmail.com> |
Summary
In 2003, Thomas Friedman won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. In 2005, Friedman was invited to join the board of the Pulitzer committee. Our nation is killing itself from within.
Most every industry contains within itself a system of negative feedback by which to ensure that those who fail in their efforts are discouraged whereas those who succeed are encouraged. The most notable exception is the opinion media, which is itself among the most crucial and fundamental of all industries, being fundamental to the manner in which the public thinks - and thus votes, donates, and convinces its fellows, with the cumulative process thereafter being translated into action on the part of the greatest superpower to have ever existed. Thus it is that one of the most influential institutions in the world - the institution of the American punditocracy - is the least accountable. Once a pundit is made, he is rarely unmade.
Thomas Friedman is one of the most influential individuals to work in the most influential of industries, having written a popular New York Times column for well over a decade, having graced the various network news and cable networks for a similar period of time, and having written several bestsellers which are themselves read and respected by a large swath of the nations decision makers right on up to the current United States president. That Thomas Friedman has made a large number of terrible predictions while not elsewhere having made any particularly astute predictions, that his assertions sometimes directly and hilariously contradict assertions he mas made elsewhere, and that other columnists and even bloggers of far lesser influence have exhibited a far superior track record without having won any comparable acclaim is among the most obvious of indications that the United States is incapable of managing and distributing the information it requires to perform its role as a global superpower with reasonable regard for the consequences. It does not help matters that he is famously read by the current U.S. president.
To the extent that we actually examine the output of the most influential and widely-read of what a hippie or Nixon might term to be the "establishment" pundits, we find the same extraordinary failures perpetrated by the majority of them. Charles Krauthammer has managed to get entirely and profoundly wrong every U.S. military conflict of the past twelve years as well as a smattering of other nation's engagements. Having opposed the surge before a year later supporting it and attacking those who opposed it, Krauthammer even missed out on the conservative consolation prize. Nonetheless he has grown only more influential over this period and is now commonly counted as being among the finest of commentators.
The picture remains grim or hilarious - depending on ones sense of humor - even as we expand our view of it. Richard Cohen remains a respected staple of The Washington Post despite mounting evidence that he is unqualified for such a role by intellect and temperament. William Bennetts mediocre partisanship and routine delivery of demonstrably incorrect information on topics ranging from Prohibition to the present day have not prevented CNN from drawing on his talents for the benefit of historical election-night coverage that one might prefer consist largely of the competent. Martin Peretz continues to do his part in making anti-Arab bigotry acceptable by way of his purchased stewardship of The New Republic even as he earns further contempt from many of his own writers and others who share his views but can't help but notice the bizarre manner in which he seeks to advance them. And then, there are those less respectable pundits with whom we need not bother to criticize but with whom we nonetheless ought to concern ourselves in the literal sense of the term.
There are two bits of silver lining to a situation that is all the more serious by virtue of not being widely acknowledged. For one thing, the communications age has barely begun to make its presence felt in comparison to the new solutions it will soon bring thanks to those who have decided to take advantage of them. Secondly, the pundits who have caused all the aforementioned trouble are largely douchebags whose profitable forays into douchebaggery are just as profitably outlined, as the author has discovered over the past few years. This second piece of good news is, of course, a subtle hint.
On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Karen Lancaster
<lancaster.karen@gmail.com> wrote:
How are you and how are things?
On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 2:37 PM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Well, she's half Asian.
On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 3:33 PM, Karen Lancaster
<lancaster.karen@gmail.com> wrote:
Huh! Well, she sounds smart.
You can call here and ask how much it is/ make an appointment, clinic near Baylor Hospital:
or the gay-focused Nelson-Tebedo clinic near you on Cedar Springs at Oak Lawn also has it:
Let me know if you get an appointment/ need a ride/payment for it.
On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 2:03 PM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
My new girlfriend wants me to get tested for STDs since I've never been tested before. Can you look into this for me?
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Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
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Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
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Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302