Archive for July 31st, 2006
“The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.”
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NewsMax, the ultra-right wing, neoconservative news (I use that loosely) organization is conducting a poll on people’s views of Ann Coulter. Some of the questions have very poor choices for answers.
The kicker is that anyone who particpates is automatically enrolled to receive their slanted news updates. That is disclosed at the bottom but completely destroys the credibility of the poll. I get enough crap in my inbox everyday, I don’t need more. They should have included an opt-out for the emails. I guess they wanted to be sure that only like-minded neocons respond.
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Apparently Buffalo Rising is hostile towards those who don’t support their point of view. Up until recently I have been impressed with the quality of their content and the up to date information about things happening in the city. I haven’t always agreed with some of the viewpoints, but not everyone agrees on everything.
There is a comment section after each of their articles. Recently there was a piece advocating the spending of taxpayers’ money to expand public transit in the Buffalo Metro area. I, of course, being the libertarian that I am, was opposed to spending anymore money on an under-utilized, over-subsidized government created monopoly. After all, it is government overspending, paid from our wallets, that has led to the current economic mess we are in now. The current rate of high taxation, coupled with a poor climate for businesses, would only be worsened by increased spending.
My views sparked a lively debate, which is not surprising. Many people fail to look at political and government policies from an economic viewpoint. It is common to under estimate the law of “unintended consequences”. The writer of the article at Buffalo Rising made the following decision and deleted a great deal of insightful and relevant debate on economics and government.
gabe July 30, 2006 10:46 PM
mmKay, I was about to say….. :D
Alright folks I went through and deleted some of the most recent comments that veered far off-topic worse than a drunk driver on an icy road.
Quick reminder…this post was meant to spark a discussion on how Metro Bus service could be improved, not to debate economic theory.
In the site’s “Terms Of Use” it says to keep comments on-topic and relevant.
I would hope that the management staff at Buffalo Rising is not aware, and does not condone, the actions of one immature writer, barely out of diapers, when it comes to discussing issues germane to our future. The following is quoted directly from Buffalo Rising, it doesn’t reflect the actions of gabe and his single-minded vision of what should be imposed on people, whether they like it or not.
Buffalo Rising Online is an online daily born not of journalism, but of the dynamic and participatory nature of blogs. BRO engages in a fluid dialogue with our readership–a method that’s vital to establishing and maintaining relevance with an audience.
Time will tell which path they will follow – one that is respectful of differing points of view elucidated intelligently with facts or one the pushes a specific agenda that doesn’t allow people a voice in local matters.
UPDATE: I emailed BR directly with my concerns after writing this post. I am happy to report this issue has been satisfactorily resolved and should not recur.
