The Maddening Freedom that is the Internet: This week Congress established some basic rules to establish who is a Journalist and who is not. I suspect that the root of this issue is the California blogger who spent a ton of time in jail because he wouldn't give up a video tape that he had, claiming that he was protected as a journalist. The House basically said that if you receive any money from your blog you are considered a journalist, but if you don't then you receive no such protection.
So, since I receive no money for this blog, and in fact no one really cares what I have to say, I am unprotected as a journalist. But, I am protected under our government's free speech.
This idea of free speech is a good thing, even if some times it makes little sense. Let me give you an example. What if the government is covering up something? Isn't it great that we can talk about that? But the problem comes when anyone can say anything and it has no basis of truth. This is the world of the conspiracy theorists.
Yesterday I was listening to the radio and heard two things that really made me wonder. The first was a guy who called to say that the bridge collapse was the fault of President Bush because he had diverted funds from bridge work to pay for the war. Didn't take long for someone to try to blame the President. Besides the Cindy Shehan wannabe, I did hear a great new conspiracy, this one from Russia (a country that doesn't allow for the same levels of freedom of speech). This one was fascinating. The theory that a research station in Russia detected a burst of ELF (extra low frequency waves) at the same moment as the bridge collapse, and that the burst was located at almost the same spot as the bridge. Well, the story follows that there is a college just a mile from the bridge is a college, Ausburg College, which is well known for its research in ELF weapons.
Here is the rub. If you try to search out the facts you will quickly find that there is a college named Ausberg which is indeed about a mile or so from where the bridge collapsed. And if you look (here) you will find that indeed a group of students did meet in 2003. But the leap from some students meeting on ELF 4 years ago to the destruction of a bridge is a far reach. But, isn't it grand that someone can post stuff like this, just in case?
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1026.htm
So, since I receive no money for this blog, and in fact no one really cares what I have to say, I am unprotected as a journalist. But, I am protected under our government's free speech.
This idea of free speech is a good thing, even if some times it makes little sense. Let me give you an example. What if the government is covering up something? Isn't it great that we can talk about that? But the problem comes when anyone can say anything and it has no basis of truth. This is the world of the conspiracy theorists.
Yesterday I was listening to the radio and heard two things that really made me wonder. The first was a guy who called to say that the bridge collapse was the fault of President Bush because he had diverted funds from bridge work to pay for the war. Didn't take long for someone to try to blame the President. Besides the Cindy Shehan wannabe, I did hear a great new conspiracy, this one from Russia (a country that doesn't allow for the same levels of freedom of speech). This one was fascinating. The theory that a research station in Russia detected a burst of ELF (extra low frequency waves) at the same moment as the bridge collapse, and that the burst was located at almost the same spot as the bridge. Well, the story follows that there is a college just a mile from the bridge is a college, Ausburg College, which is well known for its research in ELF weapons.
Here is the rub. If you try to search out the facts you will quickly find that there is a college named Ausberg which is indeed about a mile or so from where the bridge collapsed. And if you look (here) you will find that indeed a group of students did meet in 2003. But the leap from some students meeting on ELF 4 years ago to the destruction of a bridge is a far reach. But, isn't it grand that someone can post stuff like this, just in case?
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1026.htm
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