Do you want pie or would you like a kidney infection?

Started by TehBorken, Sep 21 06 06:26

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TehBorken

 via WebProWorld....
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Ted Stevens thinks we're stupid. Trying to put this Net Neutrality debate to rest in the Senate, Stevens (R-AK) distributed the results of a "bipartisan" poll indicating that the vast majority of Americans would rather watch more TV than have a neutral Internet. [hr align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="90%"] Neither Stevens nor the pollsters mention that Verizon paid $60,000 for [a href="vny!://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/MemoonVideoChoiceUSandPAOHMO.pdf" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]the poll[/a], or that the questions were phrased using classic push-poll tactics.
 
In fact, the poll didn't seem to even be about the "[a href="vny!://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060707TedStevensGetsAnInternet.html" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]series of tubes[/a]" that comprises "an internet."  
 
 The poll questions centered around cable TV choice and didn't mention anything related to [a href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]Net Neutrality[/a] until the end of the poll. There was mention of a Consumer Bill of Rights, which would guarantee full access to legal Internet content, matching language already in Stevens' telecom bill. Opponents have said the "bill of rights" doesn't provide any meaningful protection of Net Neutrality.
 
The majority of respondents agreed that the bill of rights was important, but it was last on the list of important issues when compared to making sure nobody dies because communications networks don't work, or ensuring that poor kids get an education, or getting more TV channels, or making sure the blind and deaf can "participate more fully in the modern information economy."
 
But the real kickers came at the end of the poll. When the 800 respondents were asked if they'd heard of Net Neutrality (this is the first mention of the concept in the poll), about 7 percent had heard of it.
 
Does this mean that Net Neutrality is a non-issue because America doesn't care? Or does it mean that the pollsters at Glover Park Group and Public Opinion Strategies conducted a biased, telecom-funded poll, asking people that know nothing about the issue how they felt about it?

The last question tops it off:

[div style="margin-left: 10px;" margin-right:10px=""]Which of the following two items do you think is the most important to you:

 Delivering the benefits of new TV and video choice so consumers will see increased competition and lower prices for cable TV
 
 OR
 
 Enhancing Internet neutrality by barring high speed internet providers from offering specialized services like faster speed and increased security for a fee[/div]
Well, since you put it that way...more TV sounds a lot better than slow Internet and bad security. Turns out 73 percent of respondents agreed.

"The rest of the questionnaire is similarly structured along the lines of 'do you want lots and lots of pie or would you like a kidney infection'," writes [a  href="vny!://www.mydd.com/story/2006/9/18/173929/838" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]Matt Stoller[/a].

"What's particularly amazing is that 17 percent of the respondents chose the kidney infection," answers Tim Karr at [a href="vny!://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]SaveTheInternet.com[/a], where 1.3 million people have heard of Net Neutrality, compared to Stevens' 800 people who missed part of a Seinfeld rerun to answer the poll.

A rough translation of the questions:

 [div style="margin-left: 10px;" margin-right:10px=""]1. Do you like TV?
 
2.   Would you like to watch more TV?

3.   Which is better: cheap TV or expensive TV?

4.   What if your TV breaks? Would you like someone to fix it?

5.   Do you like good TV or bad TV?  

 6. Put these in order from most important to least important:
 [/div]                      [div style="margin-left: 25px;" margin-right:15px=""] a.)   helping people stay alive
                      b.)   more TV
                      c.)   healing the blind
                      d.)   slow Internet, less TV, and killing people
[/div]
Stevens and company [a href="vny!://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=248662&Month=9&Year=2006" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]interpreted[/a] the results to mean that "onerous Net Neutrality regulations" would interfere with the nation's TV watching and therefore should be put to rest.

This poll is the next in a string of recent dirty tricks attempted by bridge-to-nowhere-but-a-series-of-tubes Stevens. The octogenarian telecom-funded senator in charge of rewriting telecommunication laws recently tried to [a href="vny!://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060801TedStevensTriesToPullaFastOne.html" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]sneak a vote[/a] while opposition was away for the August recess, and secretly put [a href="vny!://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/marketinginsider/wpn-50-20060831BloggersUnearthSecretSenator.html" class="bluelink" target="_blank"]a hold [/a]on a bill that would make federal funding more transparent.  

But it's not all so bleak. Rumor has it that Stevens plans to retire soon. But then, who will protect our TV?
 
 
The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music.

Mutilated Mind

Can I have the best of both worlds ?

Kidney pie ?

Mutilated Mind

Steak & Kidney Pie Recipe.




INGREDIENTS

    * 1 pound kidney (500 grams)
    * 1 pound (500 grams) topside steak
    * 1 onion
    * Salt & pepper to taste
    * 2 - 3 tablespoons flour mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
    * 1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional)

Flaky Pastry

    * 8 ounces (250 grams) all-purpose flour
    * 5 ounces (150 gram)s butter or shortening
    * 1/2 cup (125 mls) cold water
    * Salt to taste
    * 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

METHOD

Dice kidney, steak and onion. Almost cover with water and cook until tender.

Season with salt and pepper. Thicken with gravy mix or flour and water. If a very brown gravy is required a little soy sauce can be added. If using soy sauce, be careful with amount of salt.

Add a good tablespoon of chopped parsley and mix. Pour into lined pie dish. To allow steam to escape, either place a pie chimney in the centre and cover with pastry dough, or cut a design into pastry after covering.

Preheat oven to 390° F (195° C).

Pastry: Sift together flour and salt. Rub one quarter of the shortening into flour using tips of fingers. Add water and lemon juice and mix into a firm dough. Knead well and roll out into an oblong. Spread two thirds of the pastry with a further quarter of the shortening, sprinkle with some flour, and fold into three the unbuttered side first. Press open ends of pastry together, half turn the pastry and roll out again. Spread with shortening as before. Repeat rolling and spreading until the shortening is all used. Fold and roll once more without fat to the size and shape required for the pie dish.

Glaze top with a little milk.

Bake in a preheated 390° F (195° C) oven until the pastry is brown, about 45 minutes.

From : vny!://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/meats/stkkidneypie.html