In one of the stupidest things I've read in a while, the executive editor of The New York Times has decided to equate right-wing sting artist James O'Keefe and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange.
O'Keefe is well known for his controversial videos about NPR and ACORN. Assange is well known for his role in leaking various secret documents from the US government and other governmental and private institutions.
O'Keefe is under fire for deceitful editing.
Assange is under fire for not editing at all.
O'Keefe is being attacked for not telling the whole truth.
Assange is being attacked precisely because he did tell the whole truth.
Yeah, they’re doing the same thing. *face palm*
As one blog put it, according to the NYT, true may equal false, but better false than left or right.
The corporate media's appetite for simplistic dichotomies and fake moral equivalency knows no end.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
One of the great propaganda coups of our time
Take $700,000,000,000 away from working Americans to bailout crooked bankers and then convince the public our fiscal woes are the fault of a teacher earning $40,000 a year. This has to be one of the great propaganda coups of our time.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Obama (secretly) deepens US involvement in Libyan civil war
According to Reuters, Pres. Obama has signed a ‘secret order’ authorizing covert US support for the rebels in Libya.
Nice move by the man who promised the most transparent administration in American history. So he breaks his promise on transparency (yet again) but his people aren't even competent enough to keep it secret.
Then again, this was also the same man who said the US attacks in Libya were solely to impose a no-fly zone and protect civilians and implement the UN mandate, not to take sides in the Libyan civil war.
Apparently, he'll say whatever he thinks will make neutered liberals feel warm and fuzzy.
Fortunately, Rep. Dennis Kucinich is not one of those. He asked why the president had time to consult with the international community before launching attacks on Libya but not the US Congress.
Incidentally, the folly of liberals supporting humanitarian interventionism (as I once did) is that it’s based on the premise that militaries can be primarily governed by humanitarian interests. It’s not their raison d’etre nor can it ever be.
Nice move by the man who promised the most transparent administration in American history. So he breaks his promise on transparency (yet again) but his people aren't even competent enough to keep it secret.
Then again, this was also the same man who said the US attacks in Libya were solely to impose a no-fly zone and protect civilians and implement the UN mandate, not to take sides in the Libyan civil war.
Apparently, he'll say whatever he thinks will make neutered liberals feel warm and fuzzy.
Fortunately, Rep. Dennis Kucinich is not one of those. He asked why the president had time to consult with the international community before launching attacks on Libya but not the US Congress.
Incidentally, the folly of liberals supporting humanitarian interventionism (as I once did) is that it’s based on the premise that militaries can be primarily governed by humanitarian interests. It’s not their raison d’etre nor can it ever be.
Bullying series a worthy read
I've been critical of The Post-Star for many things, but their present series on bullying is excellent and commendable.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Blowing hot air about wind power
This story from North Country Public Radio on opposition to wind power in Parishville and Hopkinton is a great example of not only NIMBYism in action but sheer stupidity.
Here's the deal.
Fossil fuels create greenhouse gases and climate change.
Nuclear risks a Fukashima-like disaster.
Hydrofracking for natural gas destroys drinking water supplies.
Solar's good on a micro scale but not useful on a wide scale.
New York state has pretty much maximized what it can in hydropower.
People have shown that they are not willing to make lifestyle choices to significantly reduce their consumption.
The energy has to come from somewhere.
So the question is which downside is least palatable: the destruction of humanity by climate change, potentially another Chernobyl or Fukashima, poisoned drinking water or having a less than stellar view out your window?
Let's get in touch with reality, people.
Here's the deal.
Fossil fuels create greenhouse gases and climate change.
Nuclear risks a Fukashima-like disaster.
Hydrofracking for natural gas destroys drinking water supplies.
Solar's good on a micro scale but not useful on a wide scale.
New York state has pretty much maximized what it can in hydropower.
People have shown that they are not willing to make lifestyle choices to significantly reduce their consumption.
The energy has to come from somewhere.
So the question is which downside is least palatable: the destruction of humanity by climate change, potentially another Chernobyl or Fukashima, poisoned drinking water or having a less than stellar view out your window?
Let's get in touch with reality, people.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Welfare queens
The New York Times did a revealing article on General Electric. On $5.1 billion ($5,100,000,000) profits it made in the US, its federal tax ball was... zero ($0).
A teacher or prison guard making $40k with good benefits enrages American society but grotesque welfare queens like this are barely a blip on our radar.
A good example of political bribes... I mean... "donations" well spent.
A teacher or prison guard making $40k with good benefits enrages American society but grotesque welfare queens like this are barely a blip on our radar.
A good example of political bribes... I mean... "donations" well spent.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
First hand report from Japan, media sensationalism
I received this email from an American friend of mine living in Japan. It is published here with his permission.
**
From an article in The Japan Times about sensationalized overseas media reports in the past 2 weeks:
"For example, Japanese and foreigners who know a little about the country reacted in shocked disbelief when America's FOX News displayed a map of Japanese nuclear power stations that included the Shibuya Eggman plant in the Tokyo region. It remains a mystery as to how this ended up on a news program watched daily by around 1.8 million people."
Shibuya Eggman is the name of a live music club, not a nuclear plant. There are no nuclear plants in Tokyo.
Not that we're exactly in a comfortable situation here, of course, but some of the media have been pretty irresponsible. I saw headlines on CNN like, "Nuclear Fears Soar as Death Toll Rises"... suggesting a link between the two which does not exist. On another site I clicked on what was supposed to be an educational piece about the nuclear situation and at the top of the page was a photo of dead bodies being carried off. These were of course tsunami victims and the photo had nothing to do with the nuclear plant.
Foreigners have been leaving the country in droves. I am still here, by the way. It's been one of the tougher experiences in my life but we are far luckier than many. There are cracks in my walls but no cracks in my family; we're strong and unified as ever. Anyway, Japan is my home.
**
From an article in The Japan Times about sensationalized overseas media reports in the past 2 weeks:
"For example, Japanese and foreigners who know a little about the country reacted in shocked disbelief when America's FOX News displayed a map of Japanese nuclear power stations that included the Shibuya Eggman plant in the Tokyo region. It remains a mystery as to how this ended up on a news program watched daily by around 1.8 million people."
Shibuya Eggman is the name of a live music club, not a nuclear plant. There are no nuclear plants in Tokyo.
Not that we're exactly in a comfortable situation here, of course, but some of the media have been pretty irresponsible. I saw headlines on CNN like, "Nuclear Fears Soar as Death Toll Rises"... suggesting a link between the two which does not exist. On another site I clicked on what was supposed to be an educational piece about the nuclear situation and at the top of the page was a photo of dead bodies being carried off. These were of course tsunami victims and the photo had nothing to do with the nuclear plant.
Foreigners have been leaving the country in droves. I am still here, by the way. It's been one of the tougher experiences in my life but we are far luckier than many. There are cracks in my walls but no cracks in my family; we're strong and unified as ever. Anyway, Japan is my home.
From the wisdom of Twitter
"38 percent of Americans would fail the citizenship test. I think I speak for the other 62 percent when I say, por que?" -@DennisLeary
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