Bitz'n'Pieces

Conservative Media Strikes Back:
boots~ had a post about a news article he found and I made a comment about the 'liberal' media. It got me thinking, and that's never a good thing.
You see, I'm always amused by the term 'liberal media' because it's generally spewed by FOX News and conservative talk radio hosts who all seem to fail to realize that THEY are apart of the media themselves! It would be as if I said "God, Dr. Bitz never criticizes himself. What an arrogant jerk!"
Even so, the liberal media is at it again. This time in the form of Wikipedia. For those of you living in a cave with no Internet access (ummm....how are you reading this?) Wikipedia is an open source online encyclopedia that allows anybody to edit any entry. The theory is that everybody knows something about something, right? So let them write what they know online. Sure, somebody could write an inaccurate entry, but the theory is someone else would correct the entry. It's self policing. In my opinion, Wikipedia shoud not be cited in your thesis paper but is perfect for settling bets.
Anyway, like Wikipedia, what I said above is only mostly accurate. You see, not EVERYBODY can change entries in Wikiepedia. Apparently, only liberals are allowed to edit Wikipedia. Well, that's according to the people who started their own website, www.Conservapedia.com. It has become the alternative to the anti-American, anti-religion Wikipedia. Take that liberal media!

Instead of stating my opinion on the stupidity of creating an alternative to Wikipedia, Mathew Sheffield states my opinion much better than I could have here: http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/

However, I do have a point of my own to make.
In order to do some research I delved into the depths of Conservapedia. It's pretty silly, really. Right down to it's refusal to accept any dates that are BCE/CE. They will only allow BC/AD dates, because those are good Christian dates. Well, actually, they say BCE/CE have no known historical context and thus make no sense. I would argue that while BC/AD originally began by referring to a historical event, it has since degenerated and is now as arbitrary as the BCE/CE dates. But I would first have to gather some more information on the modern calendar and its changes over the years before fully fleshing out that argument.
I also looked up Conservapedia's entry on atheism. The entry explained what atheism is and then proceeded to discuss why atheism is bad. The entry spewed statistic after statistic on why atheists are more likely to do evil things, less likely to give to charity, and so on. I have no idea how valid the studies that produced those statistics are, however I could listen to an argument saying that those statistics do belong in a purely informational encyclopedia entry. But at the end of the day the whole idea of Conservapedia and the whole 'liberal media' argument in general just makes me laugh and cry at the same time.
It's humorous to me because I'm all for eliminating biases in the media as far as information is concerned. There's a place for opinions in the media and there's a place for unbiased information. So I can actually get behind the idea of eliminating liberal biases from Wikipedia, if you such biases do exist. (Just like I can get behind eliminating liberal bias in cable news.) But like Fox News, Conservapedia doesn't eliminate bias from its information. All it does is replace liberal biases for conservative biases. As if to say, it's unacceptable to have a website with a liberal bias, but a website with a conservative bias is just fine. I guess the conservatives believe two wrongs do make a right.
It's saddens me though, because it feels like I have to choose which bias I agree with more and then go to places where the information given leans towards that bias. And in doing so, I simply feed my own ego and start to think I'm always right without my views ever being challenged. The idea of going to a place strictly to get straight information without any filtering or ulterior motives seems impossible these days.
Basically, if I want to get the straight facts on what's going on over in Iraq, I'd have to hop on a plane and go see things for myself. I long for a news source I can trust. But I guess this is just the world we live in.
All that being said, I've never found Wikipedia to be that biased in the first place. Then again, I'm a liberal, so I have the tendency to turn a blind eye to the inherent liberal biases in all "media".

Sarah Palin's hot...hot like Dr. Elsa Schneider from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/09/politics/animal/main4430259.shtml OK...comparing Sarah Palin to a book burning Nazi is going a bit too far. Well, way too far. I just can't resist a good cheap shot. Still, even if she didn't officially ban any books, just the thought of someone in power considering to ban books from a public library sends shivers down my spine.
What's next? Sarah Palin's against lesbian porn?

Speaking of the liberal media, this story just plain amused me: http://mediamatters.org/items/200809090009?f=h_latest

Oh, and finally, I read this story, there's no reason to lie about it, but I still refuse to believe it: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdxoX11mNeMos6lXUITnhxQQyy6w

Dr. Bitz's Answers to Life!

For those of you who don't know, boots~ has put together a little book. What he did is he went and asked around 300 people the same three questions. He then compiled the questions into book form and sprinkled in his own wrong opinion and some wrong opinions of other. By 'wrong' I pretty much mean that they don't agree exactly with what I think. Which I'm pretty sure is the definition of 'wrong' in Merriam-Webster's dictionary. You could look it up if you don't believe me.
Anyway, I know you probably all think that I'm upset that someone would have the audacity to write a book without my permission. You'd be right. But what really grinds my gears is the fact that I, the one and only Dr. Bitz, was never asked these three questions for the book. (And no, the fact he didn't know me very well at the time is no excuse. Everybody knows me, even if they don't know it.)
But now I've realized why boots~ couldn't ask me his questions for the book. My answers would be too good. In fact, my responses would end up being the 'answer key' you'd find at the back of the book. And having the indisputably right answers in a book that's designed to spark discussion simply wouldn't do. That has to be the reason I was not included in the book.
However, this blog is not a part of the book so I am free to ruin the questions with my correct answers. So, without further ado, here are Dr. Bitz's answers (and therefore the definitive answers) to the three questions raised in "A Book Called Life."

1. What is Life? Life is any organism that reproduces or anything that is sentient.

2. What are four things that you personally need to live/survive? Nourishment (Food/Water), Shelter, A Willingness/Drive to keep on living, and Masturbation. (Frankly, you could scratch out 'personally need' and pencil in 'everybody needs' for this question.)

3. What is the meaning of life? I know what you all think I'm going to say, "lesbian porn." And I'll admit that it's a close second. However, there is a better two-part answer to this question. First, if you're not sentient then the meaning of life is to reproduce. Otherwise, if you are sentient, the meaning of life is to leave the world in better shape than when you came into it. (You can do this in a large scale way or a small personal way. Just make sure you remain happy while doing it.)

And there you have it. Those are my answers. Right now I'm doing a crotch chop and telling you all to 'suck it' because I just came up with the best possible answers to those questions. And yes, I'm aware that the year 2000 just called and wants its lewd gesture and phrase back. WHAT-EV!

Anyway, if you'd like to learn more about "A Book Called Life" and other intellectual endeavors by boots~ feel free to visit his website.