# What the fuck is wrong with CNN? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 24, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663 "2002-05-24T14:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/21 "2002-05-24T17:35:03Z")
Well, you Chicken Littles needn’t worry because the sky is not going to fall. India and Pakistan may bluster all they like, but even they aren’t stupid enough to commit mass suicide, which is what a nuclear war would be. The UN, or the US, or the EU, or the UK, or some organization with a U, will intervene and enable the two sides to back down with no loss of face. There will be no nuclear war. I agree that the US news media are quite insular in their view of the world, but that is to be expected. We’re a big nation, and enough local and national news occurs about things that **have** happened that there is not much room for speculation on news that **might** happen. And just as a side rant: The governments of India and Pakistan retarded, sabre-rattling fuckwads. Hey Musharraf and Vajpayee your countries are squalid shitholes. I know because I’ve been there. You can’t provide clean water, jobs, sufficient food, or decent health care to the majority of your citizens, but you can afford nukes. Morons. I saw people bathing from old-fashioned pump-handle faucets on the street because that’s their apartment block water supply. I saw piles of garbage lying in the streets and beggars everywhere. Doesn’t it occur to the fucktards in charge that they might get more respect if they cleaned their countries and made their countries clean, safe, and prosperous through a market economy? The citizens of both countries deserve better than they have gotten from the assfaces who are leading them into a really bad sci-fi After-thebomb scenario. Enjoy your wrecked cities, starving, dispossessed citizens, and the giant cockroaches. Oh, I forgot, you already have all three. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/22 "2002-05-24T17:44:14Z")
Is it that the US media is insular, or that they simply don’t believe that the bluster is actually going to turn into anything? Well, let’s see. When revelations came out that India and Pakistan had actually been closer to nuclear war in '00 than anyone realized, the Washington Post spread it all over the front page of their website. **kabbes** , what’s going on isn’t some major new development out of the blue- it’s merely one more step in six months of the two countries sparring over Kasmir. Tommorrow, there’ll be another step. And then the day after, maybe a step back or an “understanding”. But to castigate the American media as insular for not covering a single event in six months of stand-off… that’s seriously overblown. ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/23 "2002-05-24T17:50:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*Next time a Merkin complains about the rest of the world considering them insular, I’ll point them at this thread. > \*\* So Americans are pubic wigs? You think that’s a “cute” name? Fuck off. Not quite sure what shithole country you are from, but I’m pretty sure the “A Merkins” have made more positive contributions to the world than yours. BTW, Gobear, you are my hero! ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/24 "2002-05-24T17:51:58Z")
Yesterday, while I was at home, NPR was rattling off updates on the half-hour, but they were not very detailed. I’ve been reading the [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_2006000/2006349.stm), trying to keep up, but their coverage hasn’t been particularly illuminating, either. But it’s definitely better than CNN and the Post. I have wondered if this dearth of reporting is an indication of just how serious the situation is: \*Producer: \* Wolf, we’ve got a hot situation brewing in Kashmir how 'bout you go check that out? _Reporter:_ I’m sorry, boss, but with all due respect I have taken a freelance job reporting on Emperor Penguins in Antartica. Gotta go! \*Producer: \* Well, Mandrake, this looks like your big break. How would you like to get some face time in front of the cameras? _Cub Reporter:_ Jack, I’d love to go. But, what’s happened, you see, is the string in my leg’s gone. \*Producer: \* The what? _Cub Reporter:_ The string. I never told you, but, you see, I’ve got a gammy leg. Oh dear. Gone. Shot off. _Producer:_ All right, fuck it. We’ll send a camera crew out there and have Christiana do a voice-over. Spiro? _Television crewman:_ Fucking right! I’m not gonna glow like a fookin’ Arkansas manger scene just so you can get some bleedin’ footage. \*Producer: \* Well, shit. I guess we’ll just pretend it’s not happening, then. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/25 "2002-05-24T17:52:52Z")
Good GOD MacroMan. Fly off the handle much? ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/26 "2002-05-24T17:57:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*Good GOD MacroMan. Fly off the handle much? \*\* Not really. Just curious why Kabbes would choose to refer to my fellow countrypeople in a derogatory fashion. Seemed uncalled for to me. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/27 "2002-05-24T18:00:06Z")
Are you kidding me? We call people goatfelching assratchets in the pit 3,000 times a day. And you take offense to Merkin? I’d give my left arm to be called a Merkin as opposed to some of the names I’ve seen on here. And Kabbes is from England I believe…not really a shithole country. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/28 "2002-05-24T18:02:43Z")
Now, now, **MacroMan** , let’s not get into a pissing match about our respective nations. **Kabbes** is a proud citizen of the United Kingdom, and I believe thay have given the world one or two trifles, including, oh, I don’t know, the United States! I ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/29 "2002-05-24T18:09:13Z")
Hello. Is my mike on? The OP makes the claim that CNN has nothing on the conflict. I post a link that leads to 14 different articles and videos. A couple of people make the claim that the Wasington Post has nothing. Well what the hell is this: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A819-2002May23.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A819-2002May23.html) With additional links to other stories and updates as well. Do I somehow get the special non-insular version of websites that no one else can see? Unless the complaint is about it not being the top story or something, I don’t see evidence for the OPs argument. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/30 "2002-05-24T18:12:36Z")
Oh, come on! “Merkin” is one of the funniest terms around! I expect that somewhere, you’ll be able to find one on the shelf, between the Kiwis and the Frogs. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/31 "2002-05-24T18:40:07Z")
Sorry, **rsa**. We have no time for people who go check up on the OP or try to post rational arguments. We’re too busy browning our shorts over “Merkin.” Priorities, man. ---
**Author:** ![Macro\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Macro\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macro_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/32 "2002-05-24T18:53:28Z")
Merkin is a pretty funny word, I gotta admit. Just seems like it came out of the blue and muddied the waters in the discussion. I now understand that Kabbes is from the Yuck, therefore he’s Tittish. I make allowances for folks from Dingleland. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/33 "2002-05-24T18:55:01Z")
\*\*Fucktard \*\* is my new favorite word and when combined with \*\*Merkin \*\* you have the \*Fucktard Merkins \* which is a great band name! My beef with CNN is purely shallow: When they show the weather map of Alaska / Hawaii you know, the one in the corner. \*Every single friggin time \* I think " It’s thirty degrees in north Alaska right now and …wow…95 degrees just off the coast in the Aluetian Islands. Wow, coastal water temps may vary…"…which is where they put Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/34 "2002-05-24T19:10:59Z")
Man, this is all pretty ridiculous. If you are an avid news buff you would realize that CNN is about the shittiest media source available and has only become worse since it’s aquisition by AOL. Stop trying to defend American journalism. It is there to sell papers, the Washington Post is about the best we have to offer, with maybe the Wall Street Journal coming after that. The NY Times is mostly a lifestyle rag these days. Stop caring, that’s what I did. I just go and read the more comprehensive sites, portals such as [Worldnews.com](http://Worldnews.com). BBC is fairly decent, but I find that [Worldnews.com](http://Worldnews.com) provides everything you need, as it links to press all over the globe. Until you start reading a better news site, CNN is going to continue to piss you off, because it’s a shitty quality news source, and unlike some people in this thread would have you believe, our mainstream respected journals are not worthy of respect, that’s just the way of it, get used to it, read foreign press if you want the ACTUAL news, that’s why the internet is so great. Oh yeah, as to Gobear’s characteristic uber-patriotic post, American journals underreport all that important domestic stuff too, they don’t just discriminate on foreign affairs. Erek ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/35 "2002-05-24T19:56:23Z")
Hmmm… this got nastier than I thought, quicker than I thought. Look, I check the CNN, [Ireland.com](http://Ireland.com), BBC and Ha’aretz Daily websites on a regular basis, as well as others on an occasional basis, to see a) what’s going on in the world, and b) how different events are being interpreted in different parts of the world. Maybe I’m mental - call me on it if I am - but two huge nuclear nations squaring off and exchanging fire between a million troops is a **fucking** big story - I still do. Hardly ‘overblown’. **Gobear** , Chicken Littles you may consider us, but do you not think that the _potential_ for this to get nasty warrants a story more important than a Finnish nuclear power station? **rsa** is indeed correct in his assertion that there are a lot of stories on the subject on the site, but at the time of my rant, CNN had no mention of it _whatsoever_ of this story on its front page. I faithfully copied-and-pasted the headlines direct from that front page. Lastly, I did _not_ intend this to be a “my country’s better than yours” rant, but one thing I do have to say: put your schlong away, **Macro Man**. I know you think it’s bigger than everyone else’s, but nobody else cares. ---
**Author:** ![eponymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@eponymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eponymous)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/36 "2002-05-24T20:36:02Z")
\*Originally posted by gobear \* > [@](#): > > Well, you Chicken Littles needn’t worry because the sky is not going to fall. India and Pakistan may bluster all they like, but even they aren’t stupid enough to commit mass suicide, which is what a nuclear war would be. Let’s hope that this is the case. However, why not check out this interesting article from the Atlantic Monthly a few months ago: > **[A Modest Proposal From the Brigadier](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/a-modest-proposal-from-the-brigadier/302441/)** > > What one prominent Pakistani thinks his country should do with its atomic weapons I don’t know about you, but if the above article is reflective of the thinking found at the highest levels in the Pakistani or Indian government, then everyone (especially the US since we have troops over there) should be very concerned. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/37 "2002-05-24T20:53:06Z")
I was worried before this, eponymous, but now :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/38 "2002-05-24T21:28:07Z")
[Wait, let me worry you more.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A6820-2002Jan19¬Found=true) It seems that war colleges and military services who do simulated war games of what would happen in a full-scale military conflict between India and Pakistan all reach one conclusion: the conflict will almost inevitably go nuclear. And [here](http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992326) it says: > [@](#): > > A minimum of three million people would be killed and 1.5 million seriously injured if even a “limited” nuclear war broke out between India and Pakistan, warns a new study uncovered by New Scientist. > > The estimates are comprised of the immediate casualty list from blast, fire and radiation if only a tenth of both countries’ nuclear weapons were exploded above 10 of their largest cities. It does not take account of the inevitable suffering that would result from the loss of homes, hospitals, water and energy supplies, or the cancers that could develop in future years. Have a nice weekend! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/39 "2002-05-24T22:39:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh yeah, as to Gobear’s characteristic uber-patriotic post, American journals underreport all that important domestic stuff too, they don’t just discriminate on foreign affairs. “Uber-patriotic”, my Aunt Agatha, you pompous assmonkey! EVERY country regards its local and national news as more important than global affairs. South Korea’s news, for example, is all a-twitter about the president’s son getting arrested for corruption. [BBc.co.uk](http://BBc.co.uk)’s third leading story is about animal cruelty at Cambridge University. We’re more interested in stories that we can relate to. Not that potential trouble with India and Pakistan isn’t worrisome, but you can always watch CNN International for world news. In short, fuck off, you lacertilian scumsucker who is not unfamiliar with the embraces of barnyard animals! ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663/40 "2002-05-24T22:56:15Z")
One would think a few nukes lobbed back and forth would at least teach India and Pakistan the importance of not being complete dickheads. Hopefully, there will be no international aid for the rebuilding, either, since if you’re stupid enough to start a nuclear war, you should rightfully live (or die, as the case may be) with the consequences. But I don’t think they’re quite stupid enough to let it happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-cnn/110663.md?page=3)