Proof that CNN is a joke.

[Archae]

A sick joke on viewers.

The story about the dead birds in several states now, normally a news agency brings in a biologist, or vet.

Who appears with Anderson Cooper?
KIRK CAMERON??!!??

A has-been creationist Jesus freak?

Okay, can anyone explain to me why Anderson Cooper felt the need to bring on actor and Christian evangelist Kirk Cameron who starred in the Left Behind series to discuss the mysterious bird and fish deaths in Arkansas? I mean seriously Anderson... WTF? I'd like to know what the hell happened there as well, but the last person in the world I can think of that I would hope to get some answers from is this guy.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/anderson-cooper-brings-left-behind-actor-c

[valerief]

1. They were a joke a few years ago when they followed the Rapture Index.

I'm waiting for that to make a comeback on CNN.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. They follow the rapture index

need more?

And I am betting, though have not checked on it today... that it's gone up a few notches.

Oh and here

Rapture Index 173
Net Change +1

Updated Jan 3, 2011

http://www.raptureready.com/rap2.html

[Lucian]

11. Apparently it went down because activity in Satanism went down.

Lemme fix that:

All hail Lucifer, the real king of the world, the king of kings, the alpha and the omega.

There. I hope I brought the rapture index back up.

[walldude]

3. There's a new date for the end of the world

May 21,2011...

http://www.coffetoday.com/the-doomsday-is-on-may-21-2011/907618/

Can't wait for May 22.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. You know I promise to party like it is 1999

on May 21st, and then go back to work on the 22nd...

:-)

And that is a dress rehearsal for the other end of the world in 2012... yep PARTEEE!!!!!!

[stuntcat]

19. for reals! I put it on my calenders and set my iphone to alert me.

you know, just in case :scared:


.... JUST IN CASE THERE'S A PARTY!!!!!

[no limit]

25. Becareful, iphone alarms don't even work when it's not the end of the world

[DJ13]

5. They are proven to be a joke when they released Tony Harris

He wasnt always on the right side of things, but he was the least objectionable anchor on that joke of a news network.

[dreamnightwind]

29. No sarcasm intended?

No offense, maybe it's just me, I absolutely can't stand that guy. Not that anyone else on there is much better.

FWIW, I do enjoy the Spitzer/Parker show once in awhile, not bad at all.

[LibDemAlways]

6. I saw that and thought WTF? Even Kirk seemed sort of baffled

about why he was being interviewed. The idiot at CNN who booked him ought to be fired.

For what it's worth, husband thinks some sort of military op is behind it.

[Supersedeas]

30. military ops is the consensus here too

[progressoid]

7. I think you meant MORE proof that CNN is a joke.

Kirk Cameron? Yeah, wtf?

[csziggy]

8. MSNBC had Michu whathisname - the physicist

And while I respect him in his own area of expertise, his explanation of what happened to the birds was so incredibly wrong, I was yelling at the TV.

He claimed that birds blindly "follow the leader" and if the leader of a flock was startled and flew into the ground or a building, the rest of the flock would follow. Sorry, but even as a non-scientist, I have read enough information on the study of flock behavior in the last ten years to know that in most flocks there is no distinct leader. Most of the articles I read were in Scientific American or Science News, but Wikipedia gives a good synopsis of the concept:

Collective decision making
Aggregations of animals are faced with decisions which they must make if they are to remain together. For a school of fish, an example of a typical decision might be which direction to swim when confronted by a predator. Social insects such as ants and bees must collectively decide where to build a new nest.<16> A herd of elephants must decide when and where to migrate. How are these decisions made? Do stronger or more experienced 'leaders' exert more influence than other group members, or does the group make a decision by consensus? The answer probably depends on the species. While the role of a leading matriarch in an elephant herd is well known, studies have shown that some animal species use a consensus approach in their collective decision-making process.

A recent investigation showed that small groups of fish used consensus decision-making when deciding which fish model to follow. The fish did this by a simple quorum rule such that individuals watched the decisions of others before making their own decisions. This technique generally resulted in the 'correct' decision but occasionally cascaded into the 'incorrect' decision. In addition, as the group size increased, the fish made more accurate decisions in following the more attractive fish model.<17> Consensus decision-making, a form of collective intelligence, thus effectively uses information from multiple sources to generally reach the correct conclusion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_animal_behavior#Collective_decision_making

Unfortunately our media has been dumbed down to the point that a "scientist" is now a generic term to be applied to any science geek and no matter what their specific area of knowledge, any "scientist" is supposed to be an expert on all areas of science. The media talking heads have no clue about how different science is among the many thousands of areas of study encompassed by the term "science".

After all, any talking head can immediately become an expert talking head on any subject so long as they have that ear piece and a teleprompter to feed them their info. Why shouldn't any "scientist" be an expert scientist on any subject if put in the same situation?

I am so tired of stupid media!

[IDemo]

17. Still worse was a supposed expert on network tv

Sorry, can't remember his name, but the best he could offer was a lot of shoulder shrugging and a few statements along the lines of "these things just happen from time to time, no one knows why."

:shrug:

[csziggy]

24. I'd rather that they say "We don't know why" than pontificate in ignorance!

It is much more honest scientific method to admit a lack of knowledge than go on and imply an expertise on a subject that you know little about.

[Blue-Jay]

9. Did he bring his banana?

[Overseas]

10. Sad K&R. //nt

[Duppers]

12. saw that p.o.s.

when flipping through channels. A new low for them.

[Doctor_J]

13. They're hosting a teabagger hate fest this month

can't figure out why anyone watches.

[blondeatlast]

14. So I watched the clip--I spewed my caffeine when Cameron himself said "maybe they

ought to call a veterinarian instead of me." Even Cameron seemed baffled up until he got to pimp his flick.

Ridiculous, CNN.

[Yavin4]

15. Did They Bring In Punky Brewster to Offer a Rebuttal?

Oh, Punky.

[stuntcat]

16. Embarrassing.

:patriot:
















.

[hatrack]

18. Kirk Camerion is a wildlife biologist?

Now I'm really confused . . .

[blondeatlast]

20. No--but he actually told Cooper that he thought that they should have talked to a veterinarian

rather than him about the massive kill. He stopped just THIS short of rolling his eyes. Watch the clip--it was a giggle. See my post 14.

[Canuckistanian]

21. I guess Nancy Reagan's Astrologer wasn't available

Or Dick Morris. They both have the same credibility.

[blondeatlast]

22. Cameron very politely pwned Cooper with this (and don't get me wrong, I'm not defending

the religionutjob, just mocking CNN):

KIRK CAMERON, ACTOR: Well, I first think that they ought to call a veterinarian, not me. You know, I'm not the religious conspiracy theorist go-to guy particularly. But I think it's -- it's really kind of silly to try to equate birds falling out of the sky with some time -- some kind of an end-times theory.

Cooper realizes he looks foolish, then tries to sensationalize the issue:

COOPER: But it is interesting the whole notion of end of times and the whole "Left Behind" series which deals with Jesus coming back to take his people to heaven, the believers and nonbelievers. Why do you think there's such fascination in that and when something like this happens, people kind of turn to those thoughts?

Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Cooper--because your ratings improve when you suggest this silliness, even when the nutjob rejects your theory!

[LibDemAlways]

23. I don't agree with Kirk Cameron's religious views. However,

he used to live next door to a friend of mine and I met him a couple of times. He was friendly, polite, and never once brought up religion. My friend liked him a lot as a person. Her family is not at all religious, and he respected that.

Just thought I'd add another perspective.

[Rex]

26. CNN was a joke the very first minutes of it birth.

Now it is a tragedy.

[Rex]

27. Dupper

[elehhhhna]

28. signs of the fuckupocalypse

[stuntcat]

31. fuckupocalypse

:7

[deutsey]

32. I guess they see their function as entertaining not informing

Entertainment keeps viewers watching, which then helps bring in those all-powerful advertising bucks.

I don't find CNN (or any corporate news network) entertaining or informative.