Rating News...Something happened...very odd...

[Only Me]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040910/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_national_guard&cid=544&ncid=716

This story was rated fairly low, 387 votes 2.47 rating, and in about 5-10 minutes it got about 40+ votes. I added votes as well and then the count went up to 8432 votes with a ratting of 2.47. I checked it twice added to more votes, from other emails..and noticed the votes would go up with the votes, then as I was going to copy this for you all to vote on... it went DOWN to THIS.
Avg Rating: 2.87, 434 votes right now

I really believe the Freepers are messing with votes, but something
else happened. Everyone please vote on as much news as you can.
It keeps the news on the front page...Also keep an eye on the votes
something fishy is happening with them. I am not technical
but that was extremely odd.

[tuvor]

1. Yahoo can be seriously buggy, too.

[teryang]

2. The more unpleasant the news in political terms

...the lower the rating. Americans really don't like to hear that their government and its leadership are bad, corrupt and operating in violation of law. It's especially hard on the simple minded, the rightists who are hypocritically authoritarian by nature, and the religious right that has to be hammered with irrefutable proof in court before they concede that the minister their supporting is a thief or a kiddie diddler.

No doubt there is a group of propagandists, self appointed or not, whose job it is run down ratings on especially repugnant anti security state news such as the recent Army study that revealed that the true number of "ghost detainees" hidden from the International Red Cross in violation of international law was actually unknown and being concealed from the government's own agencies and propably much higher than hitherto disclosed. This story dropped like a stone earlier today.

[Lindacooks]

3. I've been on Yahoo when some ratings went over 5.0

which means somebody was messing with the system - how, I don't know. I do remember that the pixs and stories highly rated (actually too highly rated) were favorable to Repukes and chimpy.