Facts

"And the stock market fell 500 points today due to the White House's actions."

I've never understood why the public is so gullible about the media, especially in business matters. The first question should be that if media members were so informed as to make such statements - and that is a statement, not reporting - wouldn't they likely be doing something else that makes a lot more money than journalism? And that's about everything.

There's no way to really know why the stock market moved. Yes, the highest profile thing that happened today may have been out of the White House. And China may have made a financial move. Or the bloggers may have rumored oil had run out. Or the computer-based investors may have just been cranky hung over and decided to dump stocks in volume. But to point to a single action driving the decisions of tens of thousands is simply ludicrous unless it is as big as airplanes crashing into the main financial buildings of our nation.

We are willing to be naive about so much "reporting." The size of a problem in China is said to be the worst in the world because the numbers are the highest. But isn't that probably influenced by the fact there is greater opportunity for those numbers because there are billions of Chinese? Or we so often hear how little people in some countries make per day. But we're trying to compare that to the United States. A reasonable meal here may be $5, but in that nation, it might be 50 cents. So, if they make a tenth of what an American makes, it's really even, not despicable.

The media is like a child. It needs boundaries. It will give you what you ask of it. You want front page Brangelina and octuplets and indicate you don't care how much money is pissed away in Iraq, the media will try and give it to you to draw numbers and make money. And if you're willing to swallow statements that lack logic if examined at all, the media is more than willing to take the easy way.

"The United States collapsed today because its residents were too naive to care."

Don't believe that one either.