Meet Sarah Seltzer.
She’s one of the great untold stories of the internet — that invention that allows everyone to have a voice whether they make good use of it or not. And, regrettably, she does not.
To wit, her essay on Alternet.org (“16 of the Dumbest Things Americans Believe – And the Right-Wing Lies Behind Them”) where she writes:
“Americans are often misinformed, occasionally downright dumb, and easily misled by juicy-sounding rumors.” Of course, it is only the “right wing…that takes full advantage of this reality.”
Setting aside that Ms. Seltzer is just your garden variety rude, insulting self-perceived elitist (Americans are neither dumb nor easily misled), the evidence she provides readers to support her case would not pass muster in a 7th grade debate class.
“Polling data during and after last week’s midterm elections suggested that many Americans genuinely believe President Obama has raised their taxes — even though the reality is that our president actually lowered them for most of us.”
Here are the facts.
Technically, the “Making Work Pay Tax Credit” passed by President Obama could be considered a “tax cut.” Then again, it was only $800 for married couples and $400 for singles. During the worst economic crisis in modern history, that $800 sure went far, I bet! It’s also only good for two years.
Then again, it’s a convenient omission that the Bush tax cuts have saved all Americans far more money since they were instituted. In 2000, a family earning $40,000 paid $6,000 in federal income tax. Between 2001 and 2008, under the Bush Tax Cuts, that same family saved $800 each and every year. Folks in the middle and higher brackets saved even more — each and every year — amounting to thousands of dollars.
It’s interesting that Ms. Seltzer chides dumb Americans for not giving Obama credit for his meager rebate and yet, she seems like one of the folks (the Left) who perpetrated the lie that those tax cuts were “only for the rich.” She must believe that she can take those dumb and easily misled Americans for granted by glossing over that inconvenient truth.
“This means that people trust pundits like Rush Limbaugh, a major force behind spreading that lie, over the numbers on their own tax returns.”
Rush was a “major force behind spreading that lie!” This statement is made — without any evidence at all. Oh, right, we’re dumb and easily misled Americans, who are supposed to take her word for it! After all, she’s….uh…wait….who is she, again? The EIB Ombudsman?
“Half of new Congressmen don’t believe in the reality of global warming.”
Okay, this claim has to be right! After all, it comes from that bastion of Left wing impartiality – ThinkProgress.org! That terrific organization is so kind as to provide links to back up their claim. Except when one actually looks behind those links, ones find that Ms. Seltzer is being a bit – what’s that word? Oh, yes. Misleading. A random click on ThinkProgress’s link for Ruth McClung’s page does not provide a question asking if global warming is a reality. The actual question asked is, “To what extent, if any, does global warming pose a threat to lives, property and the economy?” Ms. McClung provides a comprehensive answer to that question.
Moving on, Ms. Seltzer makes several allegations that she simply insists are true, and of course we should absolutely, positively, take her at her word.
Because she is…uh…who is she again?
“Nearly one-fifth of Americans think Obama is a Muslim. Thanks, Fox news, for acting like this was a matter of opinion, not fact.”
You know, it seems odd that Fox News’ influence would be so great so as to trick 20% of Americans, especially since the Pew Poll she cites says 45% of Democrats believe he’s a Muslim. I had no idea so many Democrats watched Fox News, and believed those nasty commentators who claimed Obama was a Muslim.
Who on Fox News actually pretended this was a fact, by the way? No evidence cited. Surprise! I guess Ms. Seltzer just assumes us dumb Americans will be easily misled by what she says … again.
“Two out of five Americans, despite the whole separation of church and state being a foundation of our democracy thing, think teachers should be able to lead prayer in classrooms.”
Ms. Seltzer - a member of the “tolerant” Left – deliberately mischaracterizes the desires of having classroom prayer as being a lack of awareness of the separation of church and state. Somehow wanting prayer in school makes people dumb. I don’t really care for the idea myself, but I wonder if wanting universal healthcare that we can’t pay for makes anybody else dumb?
“Many Americans still believe in witchcraft, ESP and other supernatural phenomena.”
Of course, such things do not exist. However, exactly how many does “many” refer to? Just enough to maintain an elitist tone, make an emotional appeal to her audience, and toe that 7th grade debate team line, is my guess.
I could go on and on, but I want to address one last statement Ms. Seltzer makes in her essay. It really says volumes about who she is.
“25 percent of Americans don’t believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution while less than 40 percent do. Consider the fact that several of our newly elected officials, specifically newly elected Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, share that belief.”
For all of Ms. Seltzer crowing about how dumb Americans are so easily misled, it would really help her case if she did not willingly distort Gov. Brownback’s own words – words printed in the New York Times on May 31, 2007. Read his essay in its entirety.
Then-Senator Brownback provides a very eloquent and rational statement of his beliefs. His presentation acknowledges the profound mysteries that face human beings, and how a balance between faith and reason can exist, without one excluding the other.
Ms. Seltzer mocks how Americans are uneducated about religion. In doing so, she not only exposes her own ignorance concerning the multiple and varied ways in how people conceive of God, but she demonstrates a provincial conception of the Divine. Indeed, she projects her own feeble-minded crayon drawing of the Old Man With A Beard On A Heavenly Throne onto Gov. Brownback, and then proclaims the Governor is a dolt for believing that this cartoon image created the Universe. If there is any better way to expose the woeful shallowness of her metaphysical perspective, I am at a loss to find one.
We are fortunate that, to date, Ms. Seltzer’s writings have been relatively confined. With any luck, she will be further pushed to the fringe, where she belongs.
Finally, I have to wonder – if Ms. Seltzer believes that Americans are as dumb and easily misled as she believes – does that include the millions who voted for Barack Obama?
Online video is well and truly, having the best time of its life right now. It seems to be factoring in every marketing plan worth its salt, with some incredible videos being produced by brands that are lighting up social media. I wanted to explore the state of the online video industry a bit further and delve into the stats that show the huge growth curve online video is currently on. Right now it is one of the most fascinating aspects of online, as brands continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible and engaging the audience in completely new ways. It is a seriously big business and one that every brand wants to be a part of. And it’s easy to see why..
Over 35 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
This stat on its own is pretty stunning and quite hard to get your head around. But when you look at in in the context of the past 3 years, or even 6 months, you realise just how impressive this is. The graph below from Youtube shows the average hours of video uploaded every minute, back to June 2007. While this started at 6 hours, in the past 6 months it stood at 23. That’s a huge increase of 12 hours per minute in just 6 months :
That is some seriously impressive growth and also shows that just as much as brand video is growing, ugc is growing at a staggering rate, due largely to the growth in mobile and ease of uploading. As Youtube note themselves there are other factors, such as upping the time limit in videos, which would obviously attribute for an increase in the total length of video uploads. But this is impressive nonetheless.
Blinkx shares up by 400%
At the business end of video, Blinkx are showing that online video is starting to become a profitable industry. While Google still won’t reveal whether Youtube is making them money or not, Blinkx have recently announced their first ever turn in profit in the 6 months up to September. And it comes 3 years after they first launched. Blinkx make money through running ads alongside the videos they index, acting as a huge video search tool. They have certainly had a good year, as the 400% share increase shows. It’s also encouraging to see that online video isn’t just about Youtube and there are some other serious players in the market with unique offerings.
Online video ads reach half of U.S. users
While some research shows that advertisers are cautious over online video advertising, due to factors such as standardisation of ad formats, online video advertising is going from strength to strength. A recent study from ComScore (the people who measure things), found that just over 45.4% of users in America viewed at least one video ad over a month. But more impressively, were exposed to 32.2 videos each, on average. That’s over 4.3 million video ads that were served to the online U.S. population in September 2010. This shows the power of online video ads to get right in front of your target audience. And while there are some definite rights and wrongs in the content of the video ad, I think we’ll see this grow even more and prove itself as a valuable industry up there with TV.
Comedian makes $315,000 from online video
A recent study found that comedians top the bill for online video earnings, and one in particular is doing very well. A recent study found that comedian Shane Dawson, who amassed 431.7 million online video views in the past year made $315,000 from his content, through ad revenue. He came out top for independent earners on Youtube and it’s certainly an aspirational case study that shows the business of online video isn’t just for big brands.
Kia spend a third of budget on online video
In a bold move, Kia Motors have invested a third of their £2 million marketing budget for the new Sportage model, into online video. We’ve seen the motor industry embracing social media more and more – with Ford launching a model through Facebook – and this shows the commitment that some brands are making to online video. Not so much an add-on or a nice to have, but a central facet of a multi-million pound campaign. The online campaign will focus on the central characters from the TV adverts and include home-page takeovers and video ads. Cases like this help to solidify online video as a serious marketing avenue that can bring a campaign to life and help you get that extra bang for your buck.
20% of downstream internet traffic is to Netflix
In a huge coup for Netflix, a recent study found that 20% of peak time donwstream internet traffic was streaming video from their site. This is great news for Netflix, and perhaps not so great news for the DVD market. If Netflix were available in Ireland I would be there in an instant and would choose to view all films in this way, as it simply doesn’t make sense to invest in a DVD anymore and I expect that even the gift market for this may eventually die out. 20% is a huge figure and shows how much Netflix has staked its claim in this market.
2 billion videos viewed each month Facebook
In June 2010 Facebook released some interesting stats into their online video offering, which show the huge potential it has to own this market. They revealed that as well as 2 billion video views on its site each month, there were 415,000 online video uploads each day. While it may not be a contender to Youtube just yet, the sharing capabilities within Facebook and the ease of connecting with your community show the potential for this to grow. Interestingly, Youtube now offer the option of connecting with Facebook instead of logging in with your gmail account. This shows Youtube recognises the power to use the huge community on Facebook, something it can’t compete with, to combine with its own wealth of online video.
Live stream video viewing up by 650%
In their most recent report into online video, Comscore announced that the amount of live-streamed video we’re watching has grown by 648% over the past year. This is absolutely phenomenal growth and compares to a (still impressive) 68% increase in video views on Youtube. While it may still form a minor part of the online video market, live streaming is growing in popularity and use, as we become more accustomed to this form of content, both as consumers and producers. UStream are owning the market here, but Facebook are quickly getting in on the game – recently introducing LiveStream integration with Facebook pages. This has the potential to hugely increase the live stream video market and see it really reach the mainstream.
bench craft company
Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
bench craft company
Meet Sarah Seltzer.
She’s one of the great untold stories of the internet — that invention that allows everyone to have a voice whether they make good use of it or not. And, regrettably, she does not.
To wit, her essay on Alternet.org (“16 of the Dumbest Things Americans Believe – And the Right-Wing Lies Behind Them”) where she writes:
“Americans are often misinformed, occasionally downright dumb, and easily misled by juicy-sounding rumors.” Of course, it is only the “right wing…that takes full advantage of this reality.”
Setting aside that Ms. Seltzer is just your garden variety rude, insulting self-perceived elitist (Americans are neither dumb nor easily misled), the evidence she provides readers to support her case would not pass muster in a 7th grade debate class.
“Polling data during and after last week’s midterm elections suggested that many Americans genuinely believe President Obama has raised their taxes — even though the reality is that our president actually lowered them for most of us.”
Here are the facts.
Technically, the “Making Work Pay Tax Credit” passed by President Obama could be considered a “tax cut.” Then again, it was only $800 for married couples and $400 for singles. During the worst economic crisis in modern history, that $800 sure went far, I bet! It’s also only good for two years.
Then again, it’s a convenient omission that the Bush tax cuts have saved all Americans far more money since they were instituted. In 2000, a family earning $40,000 paid $6,000 in federal income tax. Between 2001 and 2008, under the Bush Tax Cuts, that same family saved $800 each and every year. Folks in the middle and higher brackets saved even more — each and every year — amounting to thousands of dollars.
It’s interesting that Ms. Seltzer chides dumb Americans for not giving Obama credit for his meager rebate and yet, she seems like one of the folks (the Left) who perpetrated the lie that those tax cuts were “only for the rich.” She must believe that she can take those dumb and easily misled Americans for granted by glossing over that inconvenient truth.
“This means that people trust pundits like Rush Limbaugh, a major force behind spreading that lie, over the numbers on their own tax returns.”
Rush was a “major force behind spreading that lie!” This statement is made — without any evidence at all. Oh, right, we’re dumb and easily misled Americans, who are supposed to take her word for it! After all, she’s….uh…wait….who is she, again? The EIB Ombudsman?
“Half of new Congressmen don’t believe in the reality of global warming.”
Okay, this claim has to be right! After all, it comes from that bastion of Left wing impartiality – ThinkProgress.org! That terrific organization is so kind as to provide links to back up their claim. Except when one actually looks behind those links, ones find that Ms. Seltzer is being a bit – what’s that word? Oh, yes. Misleading. A random click on ThinkProgress’s link for Ruth McClung’s page does not provide a question asking if global warming is a reality. The actual question asked is, “To what extent, if any, does global warming pose a threat to lives, property and the economy?” Ms. McClung provides a comprehensive answer to that question.
Moving on, Ms. Seltzer makes several allegations that she simply insists are true, and of course we should absolutely, positively, take her at her word.
Because she is…uh…who is she again?
“Nearly one-fifth of Americans think Obama is a Muslim. Thanks, Fox news, for acting like this was a matter of opinion, not fact.”
You know, it seems odd that Fox News’ influence would be so great so as to trick 20% of Americans, especially since the Pew Poll she cites says 45% of Democrats believe he’s a Muslim. I had no idea so many Democrats watched Fox News, and believed those nasty commentators who claimed Obama was a Muslim.
Who on Fox News actually pretended this was a fact, by the way? No evidence cited. Surprise! I guess Ms. Seltzer just assumes us dumb Americans will be easily misled by what she says … again.
“Two out of five Americans, despite the whole separation of church and state being a foundation of our democracy thing, think teachers should be able to lead prayer in classrooms.”
Ms. Seltzer - a member of the “tolerant” Left – deliberately mischaracterizes the desires of having classroom prayer as being a lack of awareness of the separation of church and state. Somehow wanting prayer in school makes people dumb. I don’t really care for the idea myself, but I wonder if wanting universal healthcare that we can’t pay for makes anybody else dumb?
“Many Americans still believe in witchcraft, ESP and other supernatural phenomena.”
Of course, such things do not exist. However, exactly how many does “many” refer to? Just enough to maintain an elitist tone, make an emotional appeal to her audience, and toe that 7th grade debate team line, is my guess.
I could go on and on, but I want to address one last statement Ms. Seltzer makes in her essay. It really says volumes about who she is.
“25 percent of Americans don’t believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution while less than 40 percent do. Consider the fact that several of our newly elected officials, specifically newly elected Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, share that belief.”
For all of Ms. Seltzer crowing about how dumb Americans are so easily misled, it would really help her case if she did not willingly distort Gov. Brownback’s own words – words printed in the New York Times on May 31, 2007. Read his essay in its entirety.
Then-Senator Brownback provides a very eloquent and rational statement of his beliefs. His presentation acknowledges the profound mysteries that face human beings, and how a balance between faith and reason can exist, without one excluding the other.
Ms. Seltzer mocks how Americans are uneducated about religion. In doing so, she not only exposes her own ignorance concerning the multiple and varied ways in how people conceive of God, but she demonstrates a provincial conception of the Divine. Indeed, she projects her own feeble-minded crayon drawing of the Old Man With A Beard On A Heavenly Throne onto Gov. Brownback, and then proclaims the Governor is a dolt for believing that this cartoon image created the Universe. If there is any better way to expose the woeful shallowness of her metaphysical perspective, I am at a loss to find one.
We are fortunate that, to date, Ms. Seltzer’s writings have been relatively confined. With any luck, she will be further pushed to the fringe, where she belongs.
Finally, I have to wonder – if Ms. Seltzer believes that Americans are as dumb and easily misled as she believes – does that include the millions who voted for Barack Obama?
Online video is well and truly, having the best time of its life right now. It seems to be factoring in every marketing plan worth its salt, with some incredible videos being produced by brands that are lighting up social media. I wanted to explore the state of the online video industry a bit further and delve into the stats that show the huge growth curve online video is currently on. Right now it is one of the most fascinating aspects of online, as brands continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible and engaging the audience in completely new ways. It is a seriously big business and one that every brand wants to be a part of. And it’s easy to see why..
Over 35 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
This stat on its own is pretty stunning and quite hard to get your head around. But when you look at in in the context of the past 3 years, or even 6 months, you realise just how impressive this is. The graph below from Youtube shows the average hours of video uploaded every minute, back to June 2007. While this started at 6 hours, in the past 6 months it stood at 23. That’s a huge increase of 12 hours per minute in just 6 months :
That is some seriously impressive growth and also shows that just as much as brand video is growing, ugc is growing at a staggering rate, due largely to the growth in mobile and ease of uploading. As Youtube note themselves there are other factors, such as upping the time limit in videos, which would obviously attribute for an increase in the total length of video uploads. But this is impressive nonetheless.
Blinkx shares up by 400%
At the business end of video, Blinkx are showing that online video is starting to become a profitable industry. While Google still won’t reveal whether Youtube is making them money or not, Blinkx have recently announced their first ever turn in profit in the 6 months up to September. And it comes 3 years after they first launched. Blinkx make money through running ads alongside the videos they index, acting as a huge video search tool. They have certainly had a good year, as the 400% share increase shows. It’s also encouraging to see that online video isn’t just about Youtube and there are some other serious players in the market with unique offerings.
Online video ads reach half of U.S. users
While some research shows that advertisers are cautious over online video advertising, due to factors such as standardisation of ad formats, online video advertising is going from strength to strength. A recent study from ComScore (the people who measure things), found that just over 45.4% of users in America viewed at least one video ad over a month. But more impressively, were exposed to 32.2 videos each, on average. That’s over 4.3 million video ads that were served to the online U.S. population in September 2010. This shows the power of online video ads to get right in front of your target audience. And while there are some definite rights and wrongs in the content of the video ad, I think we’ll see this grow even more and prove itself as a valuable industry up there with TV.
Comedian makes $315,000 from online video
A recent study found that comedians top the bill for online video earnings, and one in particular is doing very well. A recent study found that comedian Shane Dawson, who amassed 431.7 million online video views in the past year made $315,000 from his content, through ad revenue. He came out top for independent earners on Youtube and it’s certainly an aspirational case study that shows the business of online video isn’t just for big brands.
Kia spend a third of budget on online video
In a bold move, Kia Motors have invested a third of their £2 million marketing budget for the new Sportage model, into online video. We’ve seen the motor industry embracing social media more and more – with Ford launching a model through Facebook – and this shows the commitment that some brands are making to online video. Not so much an add-on or a nice to have, but a central facet of a multi-million pound campaign. The online campaign will focus on the central characters from the TV adverts and include home-page takeovers and video ads. Cases like this help to solidify online video as a serious marketing avenue that can bring a campaign to life and help you get that extra bang for your buck.
20% of downstream internet traffic is to Netflix
In a huge coup for Netflix, a recent study found that 20% of peak time donwstream internet traffic was streaming video from their site. This is great news for Netflix, and perhaps not so great news for the DVD market. If Netflix were available in Ireland I would be there in an instant and would choose to view all films in this way, as it simply doesn’t make sense to invest in a DVD anymore and I expect that even the gift market for this may eventually die out. 20% is a huge figure and shows how much Netflix has staked its claim in this market.
2 billion videos viewed each month Facebook
In June 2010 Facebook released some interesting stats into their online video offering, which show the huge potential it has to own this market. They revealed that as well as 2 billion video views on its site each month, there were 415,000 online video uploads each day. While it may not be a contender to Youtube just yet, the sharing capabilities within Facebook and the ease of connecting with your community show the potential for this to grow. Interestingly, Youtube now offer the option of connecting with Facebook instead of logging in with your gmail account. This shows Youtube recognises the power to use the huge community on Facebook, something it can’t compete with, to combine with its own wealth of online video.
Live stream video viewing up by 650%
In their most recent report into online video, Comscore announced that the amount of live-streamed video we’re watching has grown by 648% over the past year. This is absolutely phenomenal growth and compares to a (still impressive) 68% increase in video views on Youtube. While it may still form a minor part of the online video market, live streaming is growing in popularity and use, as we become more accustomed to this form of content, both as consumers and producers. UStream are owning the market here, but Facebook are quickly getting in on the game – recently introducing LiveStream integration with Facebook pages. This has the potential to hugely increase the live stream video market and see it really reach the mainstream.
bench craft company>
Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
bench craft company
bench craft company
bench craft company
Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
bench craft company
Meet Sarah Seltzer.
She’s one of the great untold stories of the internet — that invention that allows everyone to have a voice whether they make good use of it or not. And, regrettably, she does not.
To wit, her essay on Alternet.org (“16 of the Dumbest Things Americans Believe – And the Right-Wing Lies Behind Them”) where she writes:
“Americans are often misinformed, occasionally downright dumb, and easily misled by juicy-sounding rumors.” Of course, it is only the “right wing…that takes full advantage of this reality.”
Setting aside that Ms. Seltzer is just your garden variety rude, insulting self-perceived elitist (Americans are neither dumb nor easily misled), the evidence she provides readers to support her case would not pass muster in a 7th grade debate class.
“Polling data during and after last week’s midterm elections suggested that many Americans genuinely believe President Obama has raised their taxes — even though the reality is that our president actually lowered them for most of us.”
Here are the facts.
Technically, the “Making Work Pay Tax Credit” passed by President Obama could be considered a “tax cut.” Then again, it was only $800 for married couples and $400 for singles. During the worst economic crisis in modern history, that $800 sure went far, I bet! It’s also only good for two years.
Then again, it’s a convenient omission that the Bush tax cuts have saved all Americans far more money since they were instituted. In 2000, a family earning $40,000 paid $6,000 in federal income tax. Between 2001 and 2008, under the Bush Tax Cuts, that same family saved $800 each and every year. Folks in the middle and higher brackets saved even more — each and every year — amounting to thousands of dollars.
It’s interesting that Ms. Seltzer chides dumb Americans for not giving Obama credit for his meager rebate and yet, she seems like one of the folks (the Left) who perpetrated the lie that those tax cuts were “only for the rich.” She must believe that she can take those dumb and easily misled Americans for granted by glossing over that inconvenient truth.
“This means that people trust pundits like Rush Limbaugh, a major force behind spreading that lie, over the numbers on their own tax returns.”
Rush was a “major force behind spreading that lie!” This statement is made — without any evidence at all. Oh, right, we’re dumb and easily misled Americans, who are supposed to take her word for it! After all, she’s….uh…wait….who is she, again? The EIB Ombudsman?
“Half of new Congressmen don’t believe in the reality of global warming.”
Okay, this claim has to be right! After all, it comes from that bastion of Left wing impartiality – ThinkProgress.org! That terrific organization is so kind as to provide links to back up their claim. Except when one actually looks behind those links, ones find that Ms. Seltzer is being a bit – what’s that word? Oh, yes. Misleading. A random click on ThinkProgress’s link for Ruth McClung’s page does not provide a question asking if global warming is a reality. The actual question asked is, “To what extent, if any, does global warming pose a threat to lives, property and the economy?” Ms. McClung provides a comprehensive answer to that question.
Moving on, Ms. Seltzer makes several allegations that she simply insists are true, and of course we should absolutely, positively, take her at her word.
Because she is…uh…who is she again?
“Nearly one-fifth of Americans think Obama is a Muslim. Thanks, Fox news, for acting like this was a matter of opinion, not fact.”
You know, it seems odd that Fox News’ influence would be so great so as to trick 20% of Americans, especially since the Pew Poll she cites says 45% of Democrats believe he’s a Muslim. I had no idea so many Democrats watched Fox News, and believed those nasty commentators who claimed Obama was a Muslim.
Who on Fox News actually pretended this was a fact, by the way? No evidence cited. Surprise! I guess Ms. Seltzer just assumes us dumb Americans will be easily misled by what she says … again.
“Two out of five Americans, despite the whole separation of church and state being a foundation of our democracy thing, think teachers should be able to lead prayer in classrooms.”
Ms. Seltzer - a member of the “tolerant” Left – deliberately mischaracterizes the desires of having classroom prayer as being a lack of awareness of the separation of church and state. Somehow wanting prayer in school makes people dumb. I don’t really care for the idea myself, but I wonder if wanting universal healthcare that we can’t pay for makes anybody else dumb?
“Many Americans still believe in witchcraft, ESP and other supernatural phenomena.”
Of course, such things do not exist. However, exactly how many does “many” refer to? Just enough to maintain an elitist tone, make an emotional appeal to her audience, and toe that 7th grade debate team line, is my guess.
I could go on and on, but I want to address one last statement Ms. Seltzer makes in her essay. It really says volumes about who she is.
“25 percent of Americans don’t believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution while less than 40 percent do. Consider the fact that several of our newly elected officials, specifically newly elected Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, share that belief.”
For all of Ms. Seltzer crowing about how dumb Americans are so easily misled, it would really help her case if she did not willingly distort Gov. Brownback’s own words – words printed in the New York Times on May 31, 2007. Read his essay in its entirety.
Then-Senator Brownback provides a very eloquent and rational statement of his beliefs. His presentation acknowledges the profound mysteries that face human beings, and how a balance between faith and reason can exist, without one excluding the other.
Ms. Seltzer mocks how Americans are uneducated about religion. In doing so, she not only exposes her own ignorance concerning the multiple and varied ways in how people conceive of God, but she demonstrates a provincial conception of the Divine. Indeed, she projects her own feeble-minded crayon drawing of the Old Man With A Beard On A Heavenly Throne onto Gov. Brownback, and then proclaims the Governor is a dolt for believing that this cartoon image created the Universe. If there is any better way to expose the woeful shallowness of her metaphysical perspective, I am at a loss to find one.
We are fortunate that, to date, Ms. Seltzer’s writings have been relatively confined. With any luck, she will be further pushed to the fringe, where she belongs.
Finally, I have to wonder – if Ms. Seltzer believes that Americans are as dumb and easily misled as she believes – does that include the millions who voted for Barack Obama?
Online video is well and truly, having the best time of its life right now. It seems to be factoring in every marketing plan worth its salt, with some incredible videos being produced by brands that are lighting up social media. I wanted to explore the state of the online video industry a bit further and delve into the stats that show the huge growth curve online video is currently on. Right now it is one of the most fascinating aspects of online, as brands continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible and engaging the audience in completely new ways. It is a seriously big business and one that every brand wants to be a part of. And it’s easy to see why..
Over 35 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
This stat on its own is pretty stunning and quite hard to get your head around. But when you look at in in the context of the past 3 years, or even 6 months, you realise just how impressive this is. The graph below from Youtube shows the average hours of video uploaded every minute, back to June 2007. While this started at 6 hours, in the past 6 months it stood at 23. That’s a huge increase of 12 hours per minute in just 6 months :
That is some seriously impressive growth and also shows that just as much as brand video is growing, ugc is growing at a staggering rate, due largely to the growth in mobile and ease of uploading. As Youtube note themselves there are other factors, such as upping the time limit in videos, which would obviously attribute for an increase in the total length of video uploads. But this is impressive nonetheless.
Blinkx shares up by 400%
At the business end of video, Blinkx are showing that online video is starting to become a profitable industry. While Google still won’t reveal whether Youtube is making them money or not, Blinkx have recently announced their first ever turn in profit in the 6 months up to September. And it comes 3 years after they first launched. Blinkx make money through running ads alongside the videos they index, acting as a huge video search tool. They have certainly had a good year, as the 400% share increase shows. It’s also encouraging to see that online video isn’t just about Youtube and there are some other serious players in the market with unique offerings.
Online video ads reach half of U.S. users
While some research shows that advertisers are cautious over online video advertising, due to factors such as standardisation of ad formats, online video advertising is going from strength to strength. A recent study from ComScore (the people who measure things), found that just over 45.4% of users in America viewed at least one video ad over a month. But more impressively, were exposed to 32.2 videos each, on average. That’s over 4.3 million video ads that were served to the online U.S. population in September 2010. This shows the power of online video ads to get right in front of your target audience. And while there are some definite rights and wrongs in the content of the video ad, I think we’ll see this grow even more and prove itself as a valuable industry up there with TV.
Comedian makes $315,000 from online video
A recent study found that comedians top the bill for online video earnings, and one in particular is doing very well. A recent study found that comedian Shane Dawson, who amassed 431.7 million online video views in the past year made $315,000 from his content, through ad revenue. He came out top for independent earners on Youtube and it’s certainly an aspirational case study that shows the business of online video isn’t just for big brands.
Kia spend a third of budget on online video
In a bold move, Kia Motors have invested a third of their £2 million marketing budget for the new Sportage model, into online video. We’ve seen the motor industry embracing social media more and more – with Ford launching a model through Facebook – and this shows the commitment that some brands are making to online video. Not so much an add-on or a nice to have, but a central facet of a multi-million pound campaign. The online campaign will focus on the central characters from the TV adverts and include home-page takeovers and video ads. Cases like this help to solidify online video as a serious marketing avenue that can bring a campaign to life and help you get that extra bang for your buck.
20% of downstream internet traffic is to Netflix
In a huge coup for Netflix, a recent study found that 20% of peak time donwstream internet traffic was streaming video from their site. This is great news for Netflix, and perhaps not so great news for the DVD market. If Netflix were available in Ireland I would be there in an instant and would choose to view all films in this way, as it simply doesn’t make sense to invest in a DVD anymore and I expect that even the gift market for this may eventually die out. 20% is a huge figure and shows how much Netflix has staked its claim in this market.
2 billion videos viewed each month Facebook
In June 2010 Facebook released some interesting stats into their online video offering, which show the huge potential it has to own this market. They revealed that as well as 2 billion video views on its site each month, there were 415,000 online video uploads each day. While it may not be a contender to Youtube just yet, the sharing capabilities within Facebook and the ease of connecting with your community show the potential for this to grow. Interestingly, Youtube now offer the option of connecting with Facebook instead of logging in with your gmail account. This shows Youtube recognises the power to use the huge community on Facebook, something it can’t compete with, to combine with its own wealth of online video.
Live stream video viewing up by 650%
In their most recent report into online video, Comscore announced that the amount of live-streamed video we’re watching has grown by 648% over the past year. This is absolutely phenomenal growth and compares to a (still impressive) 68% increase in video views on Youtube. While it may still form a minor part of the online video market, live streaming is growing in popularity and use, as we become more accustomed to this form of content, both as consumers and producers. UStream are owning the market here, but Facebook are quickly getting in on the game – recently introducing LiveStream integration with Facebook pages. This has the potential to hugely increase the live stream video market and see it really reach the mainstream.
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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: November 18, 2010 <b>...</b>
IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Tea Party: Smart development is really a global conspiracy; EPA: Major US cities violate lead standards; UN, World Bank say act now on climate change or pay much more later; Illinois Spending $2M ...
Fox <b>News</b> Decoded - Swampland - TIME.com
What do you do to amp ratings after you've won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante.
Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable <b>News</b> Death Panel
Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...
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