Back in 1980 when CNN was just starting—some in the news business didn’t know what to make of the concept and they referred to it derisively as the Chicken Noodle Network—because its logo looked like the noodles you found in a can of chicken soup.

Over the years, CNN became the model for various other cable networks—as others copied and refined the format and techniques pioneered by Ted Turner’s techies.

Now-a-days, no one calls CNN the Chicken Noodle Network anymore… But, perhaps it’s time to revive the “chicken” part of the nickname.

WHY?

Because the network is apparently scared to practice honest journalism anymore.

There’s a huge firestorm of controversy now about the way CNN handled the YOU-TUBE Republican debate…

This link here is just one of a number of stories that slap CNN for allowing a Hillary Clinton campaign operative to ask questions at the debate and identifying him an ordinary Joe—instead of revealing who he was working for.

It’s left the network backpedaling and apologizing while critics from both sides of the aisle blast them.

But this isn’t the first time there’s been a controversy about about the way CNN conducts itself in debates. …

This story linked here quotes a student who complained that CNN forced her to ask the question IT wanted during the Democratic debate that the network hosted earlier this month in Las Vegas.

And, the student claims, all the questions CNN used in that debate in Nevada were set up because CNN chose and approved them days in advance…

Now—we’re starting to see a pattern. And as the lawyers say, when you see a pattern, there’s intent.

I’ll leave it to others to speculate as to CNN’S motive in doing this…

But one thing is clear…

We as journalists need to be unflinchingly honest in our reporting—and in how we create the settings for that reporting.

Our questions have to be legitimate—and there can’t even be the appearance of impropriety in what we do.

Of that—there can be no debate.

—Steve

Link here to the news story Steve covered today on NBC-17

As I go through life, the depths of my ignorance never cease to amaze me.

For example—-as kids often do—mine will fight with each other on road trips…. As I try my best to keep them separated—I’ll often hear “Dad, MacKenzie is looking at me!!!”

I’ll reply with something like, “Looks don’t hurt—now keep quiet and let me drive!”

Well—turns out I was wrong. Really, really wrong.

Apparently—looks not only can hurt—they can destroy objects!

This story linked here says cosmologists believe “by observing dark energy the universe has been nudged closer to its death .”

It all gets rather complicated—and involves quantum mechanics and physics that require calculations too complicated for me to do on my fingers.

The bottom line is that we apparently are sucking the life out of the universe by using telescopes and such to observe things like dark matter.

As best as I can understand it—it’s kind of like water spilled on a counter top and a paper towel.

The spill stays there until we lay the paper towel on it. The water still exists—but it’s now sucked into the paper towel instead of being on the counter top.

The same thing is apparently happening in space when we look at objects. We suck up their photons—slowly draining them of their existance in their present state…

Now— the good news is that we’re not going to kill the universe tomorrow.

We’ve got a couple of YAZILLION epochs before it occurs.

(In case you’ve run out of fingers, that’s more than a milliondy-trilliondy-gazilliondy years)

So, we’ve got enough time left to accomplish what needs to be done in our lives.

In my case—that means finding a way to get the kids to ride quietly in the back of the van so I won’t miss that turn we were supposed to make 2 miles back….

—Steve

Years ago, Charlie Rich had a hit song titled Behind Closed Doors whose refrain was: “Oh, no-one knows what goes on behind closed doors…”

But, that may no longer be the case.

Just ask the government.

The principal deputy director of the office of National Intelligence says Americans have to change their definition of privacy—because it should no longer mean anonymity.

Dr. Donald Kerr

This link here details the story where Dr. Donald Kerr says the only privacy you’ll have is what ”government and business provide for people’s private communication and financial information”…

Sounds OK right?

Well.. Maybe not.

You see that same story details a claim by a retired AT&T technician who says he installed a device in 2003 that ”diverted and copied every call, email and Internet site” accessed via AT&T’s San Fransisco switching office.

And where did this copied information supposedly go?

You shouldn’t need more than one guess.

Yep… A U.S. government computer.

The story claims there’s close to 2 dozen similar sites all over the country doing the same thing!

It appears our friends in Washington are indiscriminately collecting each and every piece of information about us without worrying about those annoying ol’ search warrants…

No wonder they’re telling us we need to change our definition of privacy.

They’ve already done it…

But, you say— at least I can travel where I want without the government knowing where I am…

Ah…. that’s sort of going away too..

Seems a New Jersey university has become the first to want to know where every student is at all times—and is REQUIRING them to carry GPS tracking phones.

The story linked here explains how Montclair State University will use the GPS tracking… The police chief there saying it “allows the students to have an extra pair or group of people watching over them when they’re going from one location to another.”

But, whose going to make sure it’s not used for other purposes?

The government?

Seems to me they’ve already set up the playing field…It’s just a matter of time before their team starts scoring.

So—what do we do?

I don’t have the answer—I’m just asking the question.

If we live with the technology—we live with the potential for its abuse.

In the meantime, I fully expect this post is going to end up in some file somewhere—marked with a notation to keep an eye on the guy who wrote it—because he’s dangerous.

—Steve

Link here to the story Steve covered today on NBC-17

Photo of Dr. Kerr courtesy of: The National Reconnaissance Office