FlynnFiles has been fighting a long battle with spambots. I spend several hours every week deleting inappropriate comments. You may have noticed that certain words--ones commonly used in spam--have been banned in the comments section. When unsophisticated spammers fail to mask their comments with multiple ISP addresses, I blacklist the ISP address. In one instance, I tracked down a company issuing spam messages and engaged their representative in an animated conversation. I even issued a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. All of this, and the spam still comes.
To further combat spam, I've decided to close comments for posts that have been on the blog for more than a month. You'll still be able to read archived posts and the comments they elicited from the readership, but you won't be able to comment. I've already closed comments for May '04. You'll be able to comment on June '04 posts for just a few more days. So, to encourage visits to the site's back pages, I'm highlighting some worthy posts from when the readership was less than a tenth of what it is now. Last June, William F. Buckley made news by ceding control of National Review and admitting in hindsight that going to war in Iraq was a mistake. President Bush earned praise for turning over governance to the Iraqis, while his enemies earned scorn for their fanaticism. FlynnFiles exponentially expanded its readership in June through my interview with the Ultimate Warrior. The death of Ronald Reagan stood as the month's biggest story, with posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And my piece comparing the chart success of The Knack in 1979 to Velvet Revolver in 2004 is definitely still worth reading. June's threads will be closed for comments in a few days, so speak now or forever hold your peace.
Those bring back memories. Glad to hear of the remarkable growth of the site, keep it up!
Speak now...
Is it news, or is it an infomercial? Bush's hubris undermines what is left of the credibility of ABCNNBBCBS.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Wednesday that the U.S. government's practice of sending packaged news stories to local television stations was legal and he had no plans to cease it.
His defense of the packages, which are designed to look like television news segments, came after they were deemed a form of covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office watchdog agency.
GAO, an arm of Congress, said this ran counter to appropriation laws and was a misuse of federal funds.
But Bush cited a Justice Department opinion that disagreed with the GAO.
"There is a Justice Department opinion that says these -- these pieces -- are within the law, so long as they're based upon facts, not advocacy," the president told a news conference.
Among the packages the GAO looked at was one produced by the Health and Human Services Department to promote the Medicare prescription drug law. The story included a paid actor who narrated the piece in a similar style to the way a television reporter would.
"The entire story package was developed with appropriated funds but appears to be an independent news story," the agency said.
It added that some stations were airing such pieces without a disclaimer saying they were produced by the government.
Bush said government agencies, such as the Agriculture Department and the Department of Defense, had been producing such videos for a long time and he said it was appropriate so long as they were "based upon a factual report."
s it news, or is it an infomercial? Bush's hubris undermines what is left of the credibility of ABCNNBBCBS.
He said it was up to the local news stations to disclose that the segments were produced by the government.
It was not the first time the Bush administration has been criticized for blurring the line between media and government. Earlier this year, the Education Department acknowledged that it paid conservative commentator Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind Act.
Article originally posted at www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7923729
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5359
Truth: Leave the site and don't come back. In addition to being a plagiarist and a troll, you are a spammer--abusing the comments section to promote websites that have nothing to do with the thread at hand. I've asked you not to do this, and you agreed not to, but now you're doing this again. This is the second time I've had to say this: you are not wanted here. Leave. Don't come back. The comments section is for people who have their own thoughts. By pawning off the words of others as your own (twice), and by continuing to mindlessly cut and past web addresses in the comments section, you've marked yourself as someone who detracts from rather than contributes to the discussion.
Thank you so much Dan, you took the words right out of my mouth!
Dan, my deepest apologies. If I post at all, I will try to stay on track. Alternative viewpoints are healthy, even if everybody wants to do away with the Truth's presence or report me to homeland security as a "domestic terrorist" lol. I assure you I am not! Also I never had any intent to plaigarize or "spam", as it were. Some things should just be exposed. I have a link that I think you personally ought to take a look at before my "two cents" are used up here. I will get back to you on it. I am curious of your opinion on the subject. God Bless the World
The mainstream media just does not spread the word of what is really going on out there. Thank god for the internet, eh?
