NYT Front|Back: Noisy Gym Grunting vs. Putin's Quiet Dictatorship

FRONT:

No Grunting, They Said, and He Was at the Gym
Man grunts too loudly in gym. Gym management throws him out. And, well, that's pretty much it. A story unworthy of your local free weekly's police blotter. Nevertheless, The Times manages to pump more mileage out of this piece of piffle than any of us deserve - 22 paragraphs of the journalistic equivalent of Pop-Tarts. At least The New York Post, holy rag as it is, would've opted for brevity with this one.

Excerpt:

“I said to her, ‘I’m not grunting, I’m breathing heavy,’” recalled Mr. Argibay, 40, an energetic man with the hulking appearance of a pro linebacker. “I guess she didn’t like the fact that I challenged her, because she said to me, ‘Meet me up front; I’m canceling your membership.’”

BACK (Page A9):

Russia: Lawmakers Move to Abolish Voter Turnout Rule
Bush's old friend "Pootie-Poot" has been steadily dismantling his country's once budding, albeit struggling, democratic institutions. Welcome to another foreign policy debacle by the Bush White House.

The latest? New laws to keep voter turnout low and "a ban on criticizing one’s opponents or even encouraging a vote against them." Sounds fair. If only Bush had slipped that provision into the Military Commissions Act, Republicans may have retained Congress.

Meanwhile, in addition to this story landing on the back pages, The Times didn't feel it warranted more than a one-paragraph blurb under the "World Briefing" section.

Oh, and don't miss the use of "critics have said" in the opening line. Those darn critics and their distaste for tyranny.

Together, it's enough to make you want to grunt. Loudly.

Intro (which is the whole piece):

Parliament’s lower house gave final approval to new election laws that critics have said would further erode democratic competition and shore up parties loyal to President Vladimir V. Putin in advance of parliamentary elections next year. The new amendments would abolish the minimum turnout requirements — now 25 percent for parliamentary and local elections and 50 percent for presidential elections — and allow the authorities to bar candidates deemed to be extremist or those with criminal convictions. Among other provisions are a ban on criticizing one’s opponents or even encouraging a vote against them. The changes, supported by the pro-Kremlin majority, still need approval by the upper house and Mr. Putin’s signature.

Comments

[MediaBloodhound]

Noisy Gym Grunting vs Putin's Quiet Dictatorship

[Dan]

This is exactly the kind of media brainwashing that keeps people clueless about global warming, the real facts about Iraq, and other real issues. As a Canadian, I tend to get a slightly less filtered version of the news since the CBC is the definition of liberal media, but I resent commercial news sources that put emphasis on drivel while cramming the real news into the back corner of the innermost page of the World section.

[MediaBloodhound]

Would you say CBC is roughly on par with the BBC as far as less filtered news goes?

[Dan]

Probably; I don't listen to a great deal of BBC broadcasting so I don't have a good yardstick. But it's government funded, so there's no commercial agenda and no advertisers to pander to.

On an unrelated note, you might want to check out what your Google ads are linking. On the page on which I write this, I see the following:

USA Is In Bible Prophecy
What every Christian should know Could the Final Conflict be Here?
www.artisanpublishers.co

Free Restoration DVD
God's plan is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been restored.
www.mormon.org

[MediaBloodhound]

Yeah, I know. Long story short, Google is horrible at filtering out such ads, even though in the sign up process they ask you what your site's about. It doesn't make any sense. It's frustrating. From looking at other progressive sites, it seems they have the same problem with this. Google's filter sucks. If I can't find a way to get them to filter more effectively, then I'm sure they'll be gone soon. I'm trying to get better advertisers in general, but since I'm a one-man operation I've been pretty strapped for time. Though, just so you know, there are progessive ads in that Google strip too (depending on the refresh, in between the promotions for Armegeddon). Anyway, my apologies, Dan. I am trying to address that.

[Dan]

Doesn't bother me any, I generally avoid ads in general (my own site has none and I have no plans to add them). I just thought it was an interesting dichotomy between content and advertising; it's a good thing your content doesn't have any bearing on your ads.

:)

[MediaBloodhound]

Haha. Yeah. And I can promise you that it never ever will.