Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Call to MSM Supporters

Truthhurts is a regular poster here who recently raised the question of the veracity and believability of CNN. When I think of CNN I think of Lou Dobbs screaming illiterate remarks in favor of protectionism and regulation of banking, unaware that banks' current financial problems stem from regulation and government pressure. As well, Dobbs' unawareness of the elementary theory of comparative advantage suggests to me a simple mind, incapable of grasping common sense ideas. Likewise, Jack Cafferty, another simpleton, who is well past the age of normal onset Alzheimers (as is Dobbs, whom I suspect it afflicts) ranting endlessly about John McCain's age. Cafferty's problem is that he starts to think he is talking about Richard M. Nixon midway through his monologue.

In a response to Truthhurts's comment below I have made a suggestion, and I would like to offer it to all who trust in the mainstream media. Do an experiment. When your favorite news station or news source recommends a buy on a stock or bond, then buy it. Keep track of your returns. How much money you lose will be an index of how unreliable your news source is. If you have half of your money left at the end of five years, you can probably safely conclude that you can believe half of what your news source says, etc. For instance, when the stock indexes fell last week, I was in the fitness room where I stay in the city and I heard news announcers saying to sell stocks. I think that was on CNN. Every time you hear a recommendation like that on your favorite news source, act on it. At the end of five years, see how much money you have. If you have 1/3 left, conclude that the stations are about 1/3 truthful, etc.

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