O'Reilly needs some Fresh Air provides more detail from the interview.

11:05:06 PM      trackback [] 

O’Reilly smacks down Terry Gross

I listened to the NPR Fresh Air interview with Bill O’Reilly that aired today (taped yesterday). Now I had a vaguely negative opinion of O’Reilly, mainly because of the silly lawsuit of Al Franken that Fox News sought on O’Reilly’s behalf. But I’ve never watched his show. I listened recently to Franken’s interview on Fresh Air and thought he made sense in his criticism of O'Reilly. My dad loves O’Reilly, as do many ordinary Americans. Franken said his parents used to love O’Reilly. Used to.

Anyway, at the start of the interview, O’Reilly got very testy when asked about criticism of him, and he personally attacked his critics. Through the middle of the interview, the bulk of it, he came across reasonably well, I thought, as he discussed his book and his beliefs and opinions. I missed 5-10 minutes somewhere in the middle. Then towards the end, when he was asked again about some criticism, he came unhinged – said the whole interview was set up to personally attack him – and he walked off the set.

He seems remarkably thin-skinned for the business he’s in. (I know. I'm naïve.) He could have easily used the opportunity to deflect the criticism. Then today he was heard on his show chortling gleefully about how he put “the woman” (meaning Gross) down. Simply childish.

8:46:57 PM      trackback [] 

1:42:10 PM      trackback [] 

Fool’s look at happiness

Back in the roaring ‘80s, when my co-workers and I would see someone dripping in wealth, we’d say, “I bet she’s miserable.” As in, yeah right. But a recently published scientific study provides hard data for the idea that money does not equal happiness, according to this rather chipper article in The Motley Fool.

Paying your bills right away makes you happy?

A money columnist at Time and author of a book on financial happiness says that it's not about having more. It’s the little things like paying your bills on time rather than once a month, and it's being organized and therefore in control. More here and here.

Congenitally happy
Then again, maybe it’s a good set of genes.

12:33:57 PM      trackback [] 

We are the web

Yesterday my father responded to something I’d emailed him with: “Boy, you are a fountain of useless information.” That’s me all over. Actually, I’m merely a few molecules of spray compared to the fountain that is the web. It’s a whole universe of useless information – and useful information, too. Dave Winer calls it a medium for writers. Doc Searles says it’s for writers and readers. Jim Moore calls it the beautiful mind of the second superpower. It’s also a purveyor of smut and bomb-making recipes. It’s a shopper’s paradise. It’s how we keep in touch with far-flung friends and family. It’s how we meet new friends and create new families. It’s what lets me work at home and others telecommute. It’s the 10,000 things. It’s a reflection of everybody who uses it. It’s whatever you want to make of it.

Oh, and here's the piece of useless info I sent my dad. I suppose he's right.

10:31:23 AM      trackback []