A couple of weeks ago I commented on how a local television station suffered considerable embarrassment by airing what was thought to be the names of the four pilots involved in the recent Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco. The station had done its due diligence: the names came from a normally reliable source and […]
Last year I wrote about the conviction for manslaughter of a group of seismologists in the Italian courts for their predictions related to the L'Aquila earthquake. Now the Italian courts have upped the ante. Five employees of the Costa Crociere SpA cruise company have been convicted on multiple counts of manslaughter related to the wreck […]
Last week I wrote about the importance of checking your facts before passing on information. However, I should probably have also mentioned that the source you use to check those facts is important. Confirming one Facebook posting by using another does not count. Also, a little common sense goes a long way towards keeping you […]
The Internet has given everyone the power to be a reporter. This is not necessarily a bad thing – I know better than most how little gets reported in the mainstream media and how ofter what is reported is distorted. Unfortunately, the average Internet user doesn't receive a journalist's training in fact-checking and ethics. Case […]
The Founding Fathers were not universally nice people. The were venal and indecisive, made decisions based on political or economic gain, and had hidden vices. They were not gifted with prescience or an ability to see the future. In short, they were just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Yet somehow they managed to craft […]
Kona keeps Cody calm by playing with as stick. Kona's best friend Cody got into a bit of a scuffle in the dogpark the other day. Cody is very jealous where Kona is concerned, particularly when he first arrives and has to separate her from the crowd. This was the case here and Cody mixed […]
The Salvation Army has been under fire for alleged discrimination against homosexuals, so when Major Andrew Craibe, Territorial Media Relations Director for the Southern Territory in Australia, was invited to be interviewed by two LGBT journalists for a local radio station last June he probably thought it was a good chance to set the record […]
FEMA has just released the National Preparedness Report for 2012 and it makes for interesting reading. The NPR is intended to report on progress towards developing the capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Goal. This is the second year that the report has been published. What I found interesting was the summary of current capabilities. […]