Miss-enlightened!

A bias is "an inclination of temperament or outlook ; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment."

Some reasons a person may be biased include:

• Religion
• Learned values, particularly from family or personal experience.
• Ignorance, lack of information.
• Motivation from another source (particularly monetary).

Having a bias in not necessarily a bad thing, especially if it is based on reason and logic, but the absense of those two qualities almost always leads you into dangerous territory

Biased news coverage can be especially dangerous. It is very easy for a reporter to skew a story so that it appears 180 degrees away from what it actually is; because of this it is important to know that the news coverage you are getting is as objective as possible.

If you are a busy person it might be hard to research your news sources. So how does someone with a crammed schedule get reliable news coverage? Here are some easy to spot signs that something is a little fishy:

• The reporter says "some say" instead of giving the name of someone.
• The article seems to use general statements more than specific.
• The reporter does a "character attack" when an interview gets too hot.
• The article is missing the author's name.
• A quick google does not provide any similar stories.
• The reporter seems more interested in keeping you afraid than keeping you informed.

It is not possible for journalism to be completely unbiased, so if all else fails find a news source that shares similar biases with you.

George Bush has not been President for nearly a month, and yet everyday I continue to hear about how horrible/wonderful his administration was. I have spent the last eight years of my life listening to the media frenzy surrounding the Bush Administration, and I am in DESPERATE need of a break.

This week I have heard that George Bush:

• has never apologized.
• left stuff at the White House.
• is ranked 36 out of the last 43 presidents.
• was welcomed home by some people.

And in the midst of hearing a parody of "Can't Get You Outta My Head" play in the back of my mind, there is another development in the endless waiting for George Bush to go away. Senator Patrick Leah has proposed a "truth and reconciliation commission" to air out the last administration's dirty laundry.

Part of me is predictably pleased with this new development, after all, with so much controversy surrounding the Bush Administration it would be nice to have the truth out in the open for every American citizen to know and believe.

On the other hand, what ever shady schemes Cheney and Bush were involved in, at least part of that was our fault. After all, what kind of nation looks the other way while it's president lines the pockets of his rich CEO buddies and rigs the election- twice? Wouldn't it have been better if we all had collectively decided that we were going to get to the bottom of "it" years ago?

President Obama has said that he's all for prosecuting "clear" wrongdoings anytime, but generally he prefers to look ahead. I am not one to rue the past either, but I sure don't mind making the past rue me. I just hope that if we spend millions of tax payer dollars on investigating the last administration that it moves us ahead- and not backwards.