Your choice of

It's the Tenth Annual Rocktivity/DU "You Call This NEWS?" Awards!

[div style="text-align:center"]

Thank you and welcome -- has it REALLY been TEN years since I first snarked, "You call this NEWS?" This is also our second pre-Democratic inaugural awards ceremony. Last year, I advocated being optimistic but not complacent: it turned out to be an understatement.

It helped, of course, that Mitt "R-Money" Romney's campaign platform quickly degenerated to only one plank: He wasn't black. And while he did have an edge with independent voters who felt that Obama hadn't changed enough, Romney threw them away by refusing to release more of his income tax returns (a tradition begun by his own father -- ironic much?). However, Obama's dim performance at the first 2012 debate breathed new life into mainstream media coverage of the race.

Spurred on by the mantra "Controversy SELLS!", and aided and abetted by polling companies that weren't profiting by telling the GOP the truth, a scramble began to turn the 2012 election into a gigantic dead heat. But between Romney and Ryan getting their clocks cleaned at the remaining debates and the visit from superstorm Sandy, it melted down into a suicide mission. Which dovetails into the reason why I started giving out these awards in the first place.

It took me only four days after 9/11 to get so fed up with the jingoistic, lockstepping turn the MSM had taken, I yelled, "Goddammit, stop telling me how to feel!" at my TV. That launched me on a three-week Internet search to find news I could really use on 9/11 and the Bush regime (I never to referred to it as an administration). Michael Moore's page led me to Democrats.com, which in turn led me to DU.

Finally, a safe haven from the pro-Bush crazies! Equally important, DU also placed me in the company of people who were so far ahead of the MSM's propaganda curve that I noticed a pattern of stories that seemed too redundant, reality-challenged, or both to qualify as actual journalism. I realized that it was part of a new American civil war that was under way -- a war against a cunning and merciless ideological enemy. So in 2003, I gave out my first "You Call This NEWS?" award, and held the first of these ceremonies two years later. To paraphrase MSNBC, let's see how far forward we leaned in 2012:


[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
2003 - Bush's Ancestor's Bank Seized (Grandad - Germany/Nazi)
2004 - Cheney May Help or Hinder Bush's Chances


[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD CEREMONIES
2005 - U.S. Army Report: Military Lost Dominance In Iraq After Invasion
2006 - Iraq On Brink Of Becoming A Failed State
2007 - Iraqis Blame U.S. Invasion For Discord
2008 - Bush sees no recession coming
2009 - Bottled water sales dry up - Industry Asks 'Why?'
2010 - Former Head of FEMA says Bush Administration Downplayed Severity of Hurricane Katrina
2011 - Wal-Mart: Our Shoppers Are "Running Out Of Money"


[div class="excerpt" style="text-align:center;border: 2px #000000 ridge"]TENTH ANNUAL ROCKTIVITY/DU "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS WINNERS

[div style="text-align:center"]SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

WE DESERVE BETTER!
Media Source: USA Today
Posted by: TalkingDog
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "I like how 'Dangers Remain' and 'Life After Paterno' remain on the scene." -- XemaSab


[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION
Study Shows Frequent Sex Increased Pregnancy Chances
Media Source: The Winchester Star
Posted by: Incitatus
Best Posts (Other Than Mine):
"I call BS - I've been having sex as frequently as possible for my entire adult life, without even a hint of pregnancy." -- Petronius
"It might help if you had a partner." -- Bluesbassman

GOP Strategist: "It's Devastating." Majority Of American Women NOW Side With Democrats
Media Source: The Washington Post
Posted by: Kpete
Best Posts (Other Than Mine):
"Pardon me, but does this actually surprise anyone with a functioning brain?" -- Sikorsky
"It does seem to surprise Republicans...Oh wait, never mind." -- Sarge43


[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION: THE "TO FIGURE THIS OUT, YOU HAD TO DO A FREAKING STUDY?" CATEGORY
Raw milk causes most illnesses from dairy, study finds
Media Source: USA Today
Posted by: Snake Alchemist
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "There is a technical/scientific term for this: Duh." -- qazplm


[div style="text-align:center"] THIRD RUNNER UP
Poll Finds Americans Reject Republican Assault On Unions
Media Source: Think Progress.Org
Posted by: Babylonsister
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "I'm thinking some Tea Baggers finally figured it out...especially after they looked at their union membership cards!" -- Atreides1


[div style="text-align:center"]SECOND RUNNER UP
NYPD Caught Spying on Al Sharpton, National Action Network
Media Source: Your Black World.Net
Posted by: Kas125
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "They are just spying on him to find out how he lost the pounds." -- Loudmxr


[div style="text-align:center"]FIRST RUNNER UP
Republicans suffer among female voters
Media Source: The Washington Post
Posted by: DearAbby
Best Post (Other Than Mine): "'Female voters suffer among Republicans.' There! I fixed it for you." -- Hootinholler


[div class="excerpt" style="border: 2px #000000 ridge"][div style="text-align:center"] AND THE WINNER OF THE TENTH ANNUAL ROCKTIVITY/DU "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS:
CIA DOCS CONFIRM: CHENEY IS A LIAR!!!
Media Source: Huffington Post
Posted by: Kpete

Best Post (Other Than Mine):
"Time to repossess a heart!" -- Lint Head


[div style="text-align:center"]

And give yourselves a round of applause while you're at it, because we can look back over the past ten years and note that while we didn't stop Georgie Bush's second term, we did stop them from stopping Obama's. And in honor of the way we stopped Neil Munro, we're sending him all the bills we run up at the after-party!


rocktivity