Even the establishment magazine Foreign Policy ran a piece highlighting the illegality of Pres. Obama's war against Libya.
Update: Obama's spokesman offered a defense of the imperial presidency that would have made Karl Rove blush (if such a thing were possible). Liberals would not doubt have burned him in effigy were his name George W. Bush. Instead, the silence of liberals who once patted themselves on the back for being “anti-war” is deafening.
I saw somewhere a Q&A on the War Powers Act and I was going to forward it to Obama and to Congress, but apparently there are actually a few lawmakers who are familiar with the law. 10 of them filed suit against the president and secretary of war for violations of the act.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
No News May Be Good News, But Less News Is Bad News (guest essay)
5th in a series on troubles at the Post-Star
by Mark Wilson
In his Sunday column, From the Editor, Post-Star Editor Ken Tingley this week announced the latest cutbacks in store for the troubled regional daily. Owing in part to the rising price of newsprint, starting next week the paper will resort to eliminating an entire newspaper section (one of five*) from Monday and Tuesday editions.
*-Editor's note: the fifth section is classified advertising.
To accommodate the decreased comics and puzzle pages on those days, the paper will also axe four nationally syndicated comic strips throughout the week. The abbreviation of the newspaper’s content for the first two days of the work week may be seen as an unfair burden by readers who buy their papers at the newsstand on those days—a burden not shared Wednesday through Sunday. Subscribers to the Post-Star’s e-edition who receive digital PDF files of the paper as laid-out in print, will also bear the cost of the lost content, even though their subscription requires no commitment of newsprint whatsoever.
The new round of economizations comes on the heels of the paper’s promotion of a new director of circulation, Michelle Giorgianni, following the departure of former director Matt Lang. After doubling their newsstand prices fourteen months ago, the Post-Star has seen a dramatic decline in circulation numbers for its print editions.
Despite the evident turmoil in daily operations, Editor Tingley seems preoccupied by the future of news distribution. Even while admitting to conflicted feelings on how to treat digital media scandals in his paper, Mr. Tingley has been bringing himself quickly up to speed. In May he spent a couple days in Washington attending seminars on the future of newspapers in the digital age. He returned to report many “fascinating factoids,” perhaps unaware that a factoid is not, in fact, a fact.
Mr. Tingley also tuned into an American Society of Newspaper Editors webinar last week on the future of print news. He now sees the Apple iPad and similar tablets as the most promising technology for delivering an increasingly digitized news product. The Post-Star, having devoted time and resources most recently into developing software to convert its content to the black-and-white interface of Kindle, is now hard at work coming up with an app to adapt itself to tablets. Tingley hopes to have it ready by fall.
Recently, in defending the newspaper’s sudden doubling of its newsstand price to a dollar last year, Mr. Tingley stated in his blog, “there is essentially nothing you can get for a dollar anymore.” (Countless dollar stores to the contrary notwithstanding.) The passage of time has provided at least one: a share of stock in the Post-Star’s parent company Lee Enterprises ended last week trading at 95¢ per share, the first time it has ended a trading week below the one dollar mark since the depth of the recession in 2009. Along with the stock certificate and a few pennies change, you also get an invitation to the annual shareholders’ meeting in Davenport, Iowa, in February.
Last month, In the wake of a failed attempt to refinance the corporation’s crushing debt, Lee CEO Mary Junck assured investors and the market in general that they will continue tightening their belts. That may be good news for the bottom line, but it would appear to be bad news for regular Monday and Tuesday readers of the Post-Star.
Mark Wilson is a freelance artist and writer who contributed cartoons for the Post-Star from 2001—2003.
Editor's note: Tingley bragged about how much more local content the paper has now as compared to 1900 and 1956; but a more ingenuous comparison would be to 10 or 20 years ago. A Tweet from the Federal Communications Commission notes that the Baltimore Sun produced 32% fewer stories in 2009 than in 1999. I wonder what percentage drop the local daily has seen.
by Mark Wilson
In his Sunday column, From the Editor, Post-Star Editor Ken Tingley this week announced the latest cutbacks in store for the troubled regional daily. Owing in part to the rising price of newsprint, starting next week the paper will resort to eliminating an entire newspaper section (one of five*) from Monday and Tuesday editions.
*-Editor's note: the fifth section is classified advertising.
To accommodate the decreased comics and puzzle pages on those days, the paper will also axe four nationally syndicated comic strips throughout the week. The abbreviation of the newspaper’s content for the first two days of the work week may be seen as an unfair burden by readers who buy their papers at the newsstand on those days—a burden not shared Wednesday through Sunday. Subscribers to the Post-Star’s e-edition who receive digital PDF files of the paper as laid-out in print, will also bear the cost of the lost content, even though their subscription requires no commitment of newsprint whatsoever.
The new round of economizations comes on the heels of the paper’s promotion of a new director of circulation, Michelle Giorgianni, following the departure of former director Matt Lang. After doubling their newsstand prices fourteen months ago, the Post-Star has seen a dramatic decline in circulation numbers for its print editions.
Despite the evident turmoil in daily operations, Editor Tingley seems preoccupied by the future of news distribution. Even while admitting to conflicted feelings on how to treat digital media scandals in his paper, Mr. Tingley has been bringing himself quickly up to speed. In May he spent a couple days in Washington attending seminars on the future of newspapers in the digital age. He returned to report many “fascinating factoids,” perhaps unaware that a factoid is not, in fact, a fact.
Mr. Tingley also tuned into an American Society of Newspaper Editors webinar last week on the future of print news. He now sees the Apple iPad and similar tablets as the most promising technology for delivering an increasingly digitized news product. The Post-Star, having devoted time and resources most recently into developing software to convert its content to the black-and-white interface of Kindle, is now hard at work coming up with an app to adapt itself to tablets. Tingley hopes to have it ready by fall.
Recently, in defending the newspaper’s sudden doubling of its newsstand price to a dollar last year, Mr. Tingley stated in his blog, “there is essentially nothing you can get for a dollar anymore.” (Countless dollar stores to the contrary notwithstanding.) The passage of time has provided at least one: a share of stock in the Post-Star’s parent company Lee Enterprises ended last week trading at 95¢ per share, the first time it has ended a trading week below the one dollar mark since the depth of the recession in 2009. Along with the stock certificate and a few pennies change, you also get an invitation to the annual shareholders’ meeting in Davenport, Iowa, in February.
Last month, In the wake of a failed attempt to refinance the corporation’s crushing debt, Lee CEO Mary Junck assured investors and the market in general that they will continue tightening their belts. That may be good news for the bottom line, but it would appear to be bad news for regular Monday and Tuesday readers of the Post-Star.
Mark Wilson is a freelance artist and writer who contributed cartoons for the Post-Star from 2001—2003.
Editor's note: Tingley bragged about how much more local content the paper has now as compared to 1900 and 1956; but a more ingenuous comparison would be to 10 or 20 years ago. A Tweet from the Federal Communications Commission notes that the Baltimore Sun produced 32% fewer stories in 2009 than in 1999. I wonder what percentage drop the local daily has seen.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Food co-op to start in Glens Falls
The Post-Star had a report on an organizational meeting held by those hoping to start a food co-op in Glens Falls.
The group is also keeping people updated via its Facebook page.
The group is also keeping people updated via its Facebook page.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Risking a fracking mess in southern NY
One of the important debates in the New York relates to hydrofracking (“fracking”), a natural gas extraction technique that’s incredibly destructive and threatening to the safe drinking water supply. Fracking companies are salivating over the possibility of operating in southern New York’s Marcellus Shale, which also extends into Pennsylvania where it’s already been very damaging.
The public radio show On Point had a good discussion about the basics of fracking.
Then-New York governor David Paterson issued an executive order imposing a temporary moratorium on fracking. Planet Albany blog reports that the state Assembly wants to extend that ban until June 1 of next year, so that the state Department of Environmental Conservation can complete a study into its damage to the environment and drinking water. It is unclear if the Senate will follow suit. The deputy majority leader, Republican Tom Libous, is from Binghamton, in southern New York, where some officials want the jobs that fracking would bring.
This is also called into a question by a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle report that the state’s pension fund has over $217 million invested into natural gas and fracking companies and $1 billion in total invested in the energy industry. "The main objective [of the pension fund] is to make money, so that's always a primary concern,” said state comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who is sole trustee of the fund.
The great non-profit journalistic website Pro Publica had a telling story on the fracking industry’s well-funded and –organized opposition to any safety disclosure requirements whatsoever. ProPublic has done a series of articles on hydrofracking and the natural gas industry.
The public radio show On Point had a good discussion about the basics of fracking.
Then-New York governor David Paterson issued an executive order imposing a temporary moratorium on fracking. Planet Albany blog reports that the state Assembly wants to extend that ban until June 1 of next year, so that the state Department of Environmental Conservation can complete a study into its damage to the environment and drinking water. It is unclear if the Senate will follow suit. The deputy majority leader, Republican Tom Libous, is from Binghamton, in southern New York, where some officials want the jobs that fracking would bring.
This is also called into a question by a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle report that the state’s pension fund has over $217 million invested into natural gas and fracking companies and $1 billion in total invested in the energy industry. "The main objective [of the pension fund] is to make money, so that's always a primary concern,” said state comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who is sole trustee of the fund.
The great non-profit journalistic website Pro Publica had a telling story on the fracking industry’s well-funded and –organized opposition to any safety disclosure requirements whatsoever. ProPublic has done a series of articles on hydrofracking and the natural gas industry.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Important Wikileaks stories ignored by the corporate media
Alternet has a good summary of five stories revealed by the whistleblower website Wikileaks that are being ignored by the corporate media.
Among them: how "the worst of the worst" of the kidnapees in Guantanamo Bay include children and the elderly; how key US allies are among the world's top sponsors of international terrorism; and yet another story about the US government acting as a surrogate for corporations, both at home and abroad.
Among them: how "the worst of the worst" of the kidnapees in Guantanamo Bay include children and the elderly; how key US allies are among the world's top sponsors of international terrorism; and yet another story about the US government acting as a surrogate for corporations, both at home and abroad.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Panning the New York state ethics bill
The Glens Falls Post-Star is generally known for offering poorly thought out, small-minded editorial positions completely devoid of any nuance or forward thinking. The one exception is that they typically run pretty good editorials on issues related to governmental transparency, the topic which earned its editorial writer, Mark Mahoney, his Pulitzer Prize.
An editorial earlier this week dealt with the proposed bill in the New York state legislature on ethics and public integrity (try saying that without a snicker). The governor and two legislative leaders fell over themselves patting themselves on the back and describing the agreement as ‘historic’ about as often as Rudy Giuliani invokes 9/11.
The Post-Star points out that the bill is seriously flawed and said that it is, at best, a mere first step. Unfortunately, we know that it’s not to be; Albany only ever does the bare minimum necessary to give the illusion of something meaningful.
It points out that the new ethics commission would have even fewer investigators and less time to do its work than the current, ineffectual panel. The bill makes it virtually impossible for the commission to actually take action, since nearly everyone has veto power.
State electoral law is rigged to ensure that the two corporate parties are the only ones realistically able to win any party-based election. Leaders are so confident of the rigged system that the ethics bill contains no provision for enforcement against elected officials who are outside the two corporate parties. They can’t conceive that there would ever be a non-Democrat or –Republican in state government to worry about.
Ethical standards as well as the organization and conduct of elections are supposed to be non-partisan, not bipartisan. Kudos to my friend Bob over at Planet Albany for being one of those rare mainstream journalists aware enough to actually understand the difference.
An editorial earlier this week dealt with the proposed bill in the New York state legislature on ethics and public integrity (try saying that without a snicker). The governor and two legislative leaders fell over themselves patting themselves on the back and describing the agreement as ‘historic’ about as often as Rudy Giuliani invokes 9/11.
The Post-Star points out that the bill is seriously flawed and said that it is, at best, a mere first step. Unfortunately, we know that it’s not to be; Albany only ever does the bare minimum necessary to give the illusion of something meaningful.
It points out that the new ethics commission would have even fewer investigators and less time to do its work than the current, ineffectual panel. The bill makes it virtually impossible for the commission to actually take action, since nearly everyone has veto power.
State electoral law is rigged to ensure that the two corporate parties are the only ones realistically able to win any party-based election. Leaders are so confident of the rigged system that the ethics bill contains no provision for enforcement against elected officials who are outside the two corporate parties. They can’t conceive that there would ever be a non-Democrat or –Republican in state government to worry about.
Ethical standards as well as the organization and conduct of elections are supposed to be non-partisan, not bipartisan. Kudos to my friend Bob over at Planet Albany for being one of those rare mainstream journalists aware enough to actually understand the difference.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Weiner's pickle and how journalism blew it
The Anthony Weiner controversy is a great example of the hypocrisy of political horse race junkies. They hold their noses up to view their interest as intellectually superior to estrogen-driven soap operas or 'white trash' hobbies like pro wrestling or Jerry Springer.
But ultimately, it's the same thing: the voyeuristic glee of watching others take a fall. Even more so than those other forms, this is quite literally navel gazing.
Yes, Weiner's a bald faced liar and should resign. But unless he's your Congressman, you shouldn't waste emotion on it.
It's a zillionth example of a national "scandal" that would be nothing more than a local story if we had a responsible journalistic profession.
But ultimately, it's the same thing: the voyeuristic glee of watching others take a fall. Even more so than those other forms, this is quite literally navel gazing.
Yes, Weiner's a bald faced liar and should resign. But unless he's your Congressman, you shouldn't waste emotion on it.
It's a zillionth example of a national "scandal" that would be nothing more than a local story if we had a responsible journalistic profession.
Monday, June 06, 2011
No more taxpayer funded health insurance for state legislators
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise ran a piece how some of the region's town and village boards are stopping board members from getting taxpayer-funded health benefits because they are only part-time elected officials.
As an excuse against ethics regulations relating to disclosure, state legislators in Albany claim that, despite their very hefty salaries, they are part-timers as well...
As an excuse against ethics regulations relating to disclosure, state legislators in Albany claim that, despite their very hefty salaries, they are part-timers as well...
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