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Category Archives: News, Spin

Current national and global events.

The Future, Exactly

Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock. “Today is your birthday.” (This is the special section of the Daily Newspaper Horoscope. You remember newspapers — impartial facts, reasoned commentary, comics for the kiddies, and a Zodiac that isn’t truth, comment or let’s face it healthy for children. Now more than ever, Newspapers Are the Future, especially this [...]

It’s Just a Show

Here we are, 2010, a week before the national midterm elections. Where does the president appear to support his party and his policies and other endeavors. Not an interview with Katie, Brian or Diane — or their seconds, even though they’re all trained journalists. He didn’t drop in on Dave or Jay. The prez is [...]

Helen Thomas, Ripped in Pieces

A statement on Helen Thomas from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, written by Ben Pollock as its vice president, edited by informal committee: For decades, Helen Thomas has been a paragon for younger journalists and her closing her career as a bad role model provides lessons as well, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists [...]

Robo Fall

Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Dear Democratic and Republican parties of Arkansas, and all the interest groups at sea: On behalf of the news media of the state — and independent blogs such as this, seeing that the corporate media don’t pay me to represent them but instead to shape text — I want to [...]

Run Down for Runoff

That’s why we have the committee system.” Let’s nominate this as the quote of the spring 2010 primary campaign season. Dave Bisbee is executive of Benton County, Ark. He’s seeking re-election. The field of candidates was narrowed in May, and the runoff for county judge is Tuesday the 8th. It’s a Republican primary, no Democrats [...]

Spring into Business

What a world this is, what a country. That’s today’s controversial opinion, based on local news articles and a national item. Those pieces from last week come to mind the morning after massive health-care legislation passed the U.S. House, where opposition spanned from principled and reasonable to name-calling. Two Northwest Arkansas reporters last week reviewed [...]

Wild Things in the Air

Brick doesn’t usually have movie reviews. But it’s the turn of the year — not the decade as it actually ends Dec. 31, 2010 — and a couple are worth a shout. It’s far from a complete assessment, as I often wait to see movies on DVD. Also, this comes from Northwest Arkansas where so [...]

Answering machine’s new message

You’ve reached the voice mail of Ben Pollock. I can’t answer the phone right now because I’m floating above the Ozark foothills inside a balloon — which explains my high-pitched voice — looking for radioactive rabbit droppings. If you now must ask Where the Wild Things Are, they’re eating supper in their room. And it’s [...]

Can’t Vote or Don’t Vote?

Last week, bored with NPR and between audio books, I had the radio scan for AM talk radio and ended up at KURM-AM, 790. Despite being a Rogers station, longtime host Kermit Womack kept getting calls about today’s Fayetteville school millage election. It’s not a vote on building a new high school, because that is [...]

Pink “Ayes”

Let’s get this straight. Nationalized health care — which would replace greedy insurance companies with overwhelmed government bureaucrats as middlemen between patient and doctor [that's the image being sold], ending the tragedy of uninsured and underinsured Americans –  is socialism. Rescuing banks — that award huge bonuses to undeserving executives and neared bankruptcy because of [...]