NPR Check: Weigh In on Stands for Nothing Radio

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Weigh In on Stands for Nothing Radio

Offer your comments, observations, insights, etc.

108 comments:

gDog said...: Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. What's that, a laughing maniacal Frankenprstein media behemoth animated by a giant radio tower?! It don't stand for noffin' - but it sure do get a charge out of that Ally mortgage money, and some Public Notice lettuce! ...testing...1; 10/3/10, 12:57 AM
informedveteran said...: Just heard the despicable story about the TARP ending on ATC 10/3. They had a whining wall street schill complaining about congress berating him - and that is about ALL. I can't imagine a story with any less depth.; 10/3/10, 4:37 PM
The Boss of You said...: Top of hour news called Social Security and Medicare 'entitlements' --others call it the only way to survive for old and infirm. They go on to talk about what a drag on the budget they both are.; 10/3/10, 5:27 PM
The Boss of You said...: Listening to that TARP story. So far Judd Gregg, Neel Kashkari, Paulson (I think) -- no Dems on this one. Guess they had no opinions or anything to say.; 10/3/10, 7:14 PM
gDog said...: How about some fishin' at the NPR memory hole?

Remember this charming NPR Propaganda about Guantanamo "rapists and murderers" ? I do love me some honest feelings about things I believe. An "unusal source?" I think not - looks like the same Pentagon virtual news machine at work...and that poor honest patriotic American having to suffer death threats - it's enough to make my brow sweat.

Then we have Chomsky discussing NPR's coverage of Obama. A golden oldie, no?

Then there's the on-going effort to round up the faithless liberals behind Monsanto, which has been going on for longer than I can remember.

Don't forgot Norman Solomon's takedown of Gen. Scales, which was also well coverd by MyTWords.; 10/5/10, 5:09 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: And then...

Yes indeed, I just belatedly found out that everybody's favorite auntie at Nothin' Public Relations (and in the Top Ten of Most Vain), Liane Hansen herself, is ditching her mic before she loses her pension, but not for six whole months yet.

Reason: so she can 'live by the ocean'. (Regular people would probably say 'by the sea'.)

I do hope global warming isn't too harsh on her. There are plenty of Bangladeshis who'll get it way before the salt boxes of Mass do, I suppose...

Plenty of genuine mourners at Auntie's tribute site.; 10/5/10, 6:05 PM
Anonymous said...: npr is sooo bad. Its the music in between segments which makes it appealing to the fashionally insipid and deluded.; 10/5/10, 7:24 PM
Anonymous said...: All,

++++

Hello Mr. Pasqueda,

Thank you for taking time to contact our office. NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard has investigated similar concerns in the past regarding the relationship between Ally Bank and NPR. You can read her column about it here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2009/12/ally_bank.html

She continues to keep an eye on the relationship between Ally Bank and NPR. Vince Lampone, NPR’s research manager in Development, recently reported to our office the results of a listener survey. “[…] Listeners aren’t bothered by the sponsorship. Indeed, most seem to actively appreciate the bank’s support of NPR programming, and have a higher opinion of the business as a result.”

Thank you for taking time to write and express your concern. Your thoughts have been noted and will be taken into consideration.

Best,
Lori Grisham

+++++

Don Q. Public; 10/5/10, 8:16 PM
gDog said...: DonQ -

Wow. Just wow.

Goop

ps: wow again

pss: Note the use of the words, "higher opinion," as in, "balanced and favorable." As in Sirhaadi whatsername Nelson's reporting on the invasion/occupation of Afghanistan. Consider those dots connected: the banksters and corporate oligarchs and weapons industry are connected in a circle jerk of linked sausages neatly wrapped in a skein of submucosa of Numbing PR.; 10/5/10, 8:37 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Tomorrow will the the Tenth Anniversary of Bush/Cheney's liberation of Afghanistan:

Wonder if the NPR flagship news shows will say anything, other than that things are going great?

Maybe they baked a cake for our drones that have been spreading freedom for more than ten years now.

Anyone know of any country that was bombed into submission.; 10/6/10, 5:50 PM
informedveteran said...: I can only imagine what it is like for YouEss troops heading to the Graveyard of Empires for the first time and passing the burned-out-remains of tanks from the last empire that was there.; 10/6/10, 10:45 PM
Anonymous said...: Just so we know why(y) we fight:

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~ecomisso/when_we_must_fight__even_pacifis.htm

edk; 10/7/10, 8:37 AM
informedveteran said...: "Ohio AG Sues Ally Financial for Foreclosure Fraud" - Headline from Democracy Now 10/7/10 - Any bets on whether or not Planet Monkey will dump Ally?; 10/7/10, 2:31 PM
Anonymous said...: NPR listenship is decreasing, but you would know that from this article.

If you are a member station, and you are having trouble paying your enormous NPR dues, try this:

1. Move NPR programs to spot during the day that will piss off the network drones.

2. Offer to pay less for the programs NPR offers, and if NPR doesn't dicker, threaten to dump the program for something else; cheaper, better, both.

3. Tell NPR that your station needs some of that fat, corporate cash. When they won't share, have a GM or president of a member station start commenting on the NPR Ombudsman site about how Ally Bank is a bad fit.

4. Create your own, locally-generated programming.

5. Investigate partnerships with other public radio organizations and outlets: PRI, CBC, BBC, etc. For example, pick up "The Takeway" and deprive NPR of a market where one of its flagship shows won't be heard.

Don't believe NPR audience data. NPR is worried about listenership caving. They are desperate, but NPR will find many ways NOT to talk about it.

Fly on the Wall; 10/7/10, 4:05 PM
Anonymous said...: NPR continues to run wire service stories and superficial blog entries about Ally Financial. I guess Adumb Davidson is too busy to investigate.

FotW; 10/7/10, 4:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Sound Less Elite. Got it...
See how NPR addresses the issue?

FotW; 10/7/10, 4:19 PM
Anonymous said...: Not directly NPR related, but anyone interested in reading (and listening) to stories regarding "Foreclosuregate" should check out NakedCapitalism the blog. You won't read or hear stories like this on NPR. Is it any wonder?

FotW; 10/7/10, 4:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Grab Bag: Where In The World Is The Ombudsman?
FotW; 10/7/10, 4:29 PM
gDog said...: FoTw-

Naked Capitalism is a good show. Love the tree frog!; 10/7/10, 8:47 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: As a strong supporter of human rights (it "torture" not "aggressive interrogation"), I was glad to see the following:

"The Nobel committee's decision to award the honor to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo has angered Chinese officials"

I wonder if the (not an)Ombudsman is embarrassed about this?

"I just met with six officials from China National Radio who mostly wanted to learn about NPR's Emergency Alert System."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2009/07/china_national_radio_1.html

Nothing says you server the public like helping the the world largest authoritarian government distribute it's propaganda.

Kinda explains why Ally Bank isn't deemed a problem?; 10/8/10, 12:45 PM
Anonymous said...: Ally Bank's big buy on NPR corresponded to its re-branding from GMAC. I wonder what their new name will be?

DonQP; 10/8/10, 2:56 PM
gDog said...: Using John Lennon's voice to make Snot (flushable wipe) Simon's point that pacifism is pointless if you just end up getting shot was...shameless, as usual.

"What does it mean when you're such a pacifist that you get shot? I could never work that out," says Lennon on the tape. I expect Scott (flushable wipe) Simon was stifling an arrogant snort at that moment: he's worked it out, hasn't he? You advocate preemptive war that kills millions. That's what you do, yeah!; 10/9/10, 11:25 AM
gDog said...: Harry Shearer's spoof on underwriter Ally: "Ally Bank, because we're worse. Our fraudulent paperwork wouldn't fool a kid. Member, FDICK" or something like that. The needles are out and sticking in.; 10/10/10, 12:51 PM
gDog said...: FotW, Current warned last August 5th that there is trouble afoot with CPBS and KCET. Well, now two months later, it's an undone deal: KCET is breaking with CPBS over their usury fees and overbearing control on programming. Hooray!; 10/11/10, 11:55 AM
informedveteran said...: Any of you guys know where to get reliable statistics on the subprime mortgages that the media keeps telling us sank the world economy? Who got them, how many of those actually qualified for prime loans but ended up with subprime anyway, what percent went to minorities, what percent of the foreclosures now are subprime, etc????; 10/11/10, 1:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Informed vet:

Sorry, I listen to Stands4Nothing radio (the network formerly known as National PUBLIC Radio) so I don't know shit from shinola. But . . . I think the entire "collapse" was engineered by the Masters of the Universe along with their vassels in Congress and the White House.

edk; 10/12/10, 8:22 AM
Porter Melmoth said...: Pentagon-Approved Soriyasahaddinelson gave an 'Entertainment Tonight' style chitchat coverage of Ahmadinejad's visit to Beirut this morn. Always suave Linda Wertenheimermuller asked her, with just the right touch of annoyance in her voice, 'What's he 'doing' there?' The report was a classic hangover from the old Cold War days, when it was Khrushchev who was the all-purpose bad boy.

Condi Roundup: in today's Publish or Perish mania, big news: CONDI HAS A BOOK COMING OUT. Like MeeShill, who beat her to it, Condi's cashing in on the Birmingham ferment, revealing that she did indeed have a bad-ass dad of her own. Problem is, at least MeeShill has a faux-sexy voice, while Condi is nothing but shallow dreariness. She still uses the very same condi-scension she used in a 60 Minutes interview years ago when she referred to the 'little girls' who were blown up in the church bombing, a detachment that served her well in being in on pulling off two indescribably horrible wars. Betcha though, that Condi's bad-ass book outperforms pipsqueak MeeShill's.

A blatant sign that NPR is severely anxious about declining ratings: the local stations are being FLOODED with promos from even the more obscure NPR superstars. Even superstar Jean Cochrane is stepping up (Jean who?) by doing the tedious work of customized promos. We salute her!

Also a bad sign for NPR. The other day NPR tied into an 'enemy' resource: an AL JAZEERA reporter!! Horrors! Weren't they working for Bin Laden and in on 9/11, or what? When Murdoch seizes control of a dying NPR, such practices will STOP, ya hear?

In spite of all this worthless rubbish, Philip Reeves gave what I thought was a wonderful profile of Billingsgate fish market in London. It's not hard to distinguish the rare gems in the NPR gutter. I think NPR maintains Reeves as an 'exotic'. You know, a sort of old fashioned guy like Andy Rooney who appeals to the geezers, So the management can say that yes, indeed, we are diverse, and we allow Reeves to do his thing unimpeded. Or whatever. Talk about condi-scension.; 10/13/10, 12:15 PM
Anonymous said...: It's another funder at WHYY (a wholly owned subsidary of News Corpse) and I am walking on air! They are doing something "new" this time around, an "open-ended" fund drive. Because they haven't been able to meet a goal in 10 tries they have switched to this way. Of course they could end today (goal of 640k and 7300 memberships) but my guess is they will run on until at least until 10/25. I did contact them to express my taking note and suggesting that they star "afflicting the comfortable . . . etc etc" instead of their usual BS. They also have not gotten the memo to dumb it down cause they are still telling the rubes that this (supporting WHYY) is the "smart" thing to do.

MeShill is coming! MeShill is coming! OMG, MeShill is coming to Philly to help ramp up drive. Larry from Newark get your tickets now, they are flying off the shelves. Or maybe not. She has appeared on 4 shows now since her scribblings were released. She was on Radio Slimes with Mommy Most-Inane - if you dare to be flooded with real emotion and powerful narratives (along with the patented Simon Snuffles) check it out.

Long and pretty good report on shadow campaign funding groups but they did not include ThePublicNotice which is exactly like the couple they did discuss. I'm sure the fact that ThePublic Notice is pouring tons of money into the coffers had absolutely no influence on the is report.

I am hearing that the housing "crisis" started in 2006 which seems to be a backward time-line. It does give me a chance though to see how MarketPlace covered this implosion and WHEN they started noticing that there was something rotten in Denmark.

edk; 10/14/10, 7:52 AM
Anonymous said...: sort of a ps:

Condi was called by some "the Warrior Princess" according to the meme. I guess the fact that she was also called an international war criminal, an apologist for torture and a failure as NSC director doesn't really count cause that's only by disgruntled employess of USA inc.

edk; 10/14/10, 7:55 AM
bigger!pinker!fuzzier!bunnier! said...: ^ and ^^^ --- It's like I always quipped about Rice-a-Phony:

When that head starts a-bobbin', that hairdo starts a-bobbin', that voice starts quaverin', and that forehead starts a'wrinklin'... the b-tch is clearly lyin'.

Book, schmook. Poor trees.; 10/14/10, 8:42 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Hmmmmm,

"NPR has reminded its employees that they are not allowed to participate in the upcoming rallies led by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/13/npr-bans-employees-from-j_n_761528.html

They can't go to a satirical rally, but it's OK for employees to work for FOX News(Juan Williams, Mara Liasson, Scott Simon)? $2 million donations to GOP groups and counting.

Fair and balanced.; 10/14/10, 9:21 AM
informedveteran said...: "US Agents Spying through Social Networking Sites" Dem. Now headline 10/15- I guess we all pretty much assumed this already on some level. The part about POSTS is grrrreat! "The documents also show the Department of Homeland Security monitored posts on a wide range of websites to analyze public communication during President Obama’s inauguration. In addition to popular social networking sites, government agents also tracked activity on news sites such as NPR, the political commentary site Daily Kos, and dating sites for African Americans and Latinos."; 10/15/10, 10:40 AM
Anonymous said...: Ooo -- Ooo Can we have some more news about the Tea Party, please NPR? And I just LOVE that ME series on American home-grown "terrorists". Too bad you didn't start at the top, though -- then we could take off the quotes and we'd be talking about the real thing. Still, since when was the real thing of any interest to NPR?; 10/15/10, 12:24 PM
The Boss of You said...: Follow up on Grumpy Demo's story from yesterday about the ban on employees going to the Stewart/Colbert rally. Clarifications have been made:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2010/10/npr_fires_back_in_wake_of_stew.shtml; 10/16/10, 12:48 AM
The Boss of You said...: Try this link: http://jr.ly/5gn3; 10/16/10, 12:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Here's the word from Michelle: WHYY is a "jewel" and she also claimed that she wasn't "just saying that" because she was there. As a plus Steve was also in Philly and the two of them appeared together I guess at Free Library but they both appeared separately at WHYY to pitch for funds. I don't know how steve did but Michelle's appearance co-incided with a failure to meet mini goal of member signups.

As US begins to acknowledge defeat in Afghanistan it will be truly interesting to watch the Bloody Quaker refudiate (Shakesphere invented words too so there!) his previous stance regarding the sanctity of the war on terrorism. I guess a little more in the paycheck will make it all good once again.

edk; 10/16/10, 8:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Since I hardly ever listen anymore, I'm late to noticing the reliance of NPR on Kaiser Health News for supposedly "independent" medical journalism. But heard a story last week, and so I went looking, and found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Family_Foundation which says in part:KFF has progressed from funding polls through Harvard-Washington Post "partnerships," to giving reporters in health care awards, to funding reporters with "fellowships," and to finally hiring many of them full time to run the Kaiser Health News.

The launch of the Kaiser Health News (KHN) in 2009 meant that KFF could through the news outlet tell people - in side to side comparison - what the two political parties were saying on health topics. And the legitamacy of KHN was and is to be assumed because the reporters were coming from former jobs at national newspapers (often the same ones that had contracts before like the Washington Post, the USA Today, etc.).

But the website did not and does not describe the previous and current "partnerships" with newspapers. Clearly the Kaiser name gets out with each article. The implication of a any poll involving KFF, Harvard University, and the Washington Post would be "trust" as if they came together in neutrality rather than the article being a KFF pay-for-view. Also, unmentioned is the permanently funded professor chairmanships at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University. These are Henry J. Kaiser Professorships. The same four universities have experts who often show up in newspaper articles supporting the Kaiser Permanente (Health Plan) organization.

In one blog article (without a bibliography) called the "Legacy of Henry J. Kaiser" written in 2008, the author suggests that the original purpose of the KFF was to support the "medical plan." Also, there were comments that Mr. Kaiser had accumulated $2.5 billion. One blog responder to this was a KHN editor - Mr. Fairhall - who countered a comment that the KHN reporters seemed to lean Democratic in polotical donations - by saying that the Kaiser Health News was, in fact, "an editorially independent part of KFF."

In the end, salary dependence and editorial independence become the question of every media organization. Certainly any lead group that controls information going both to the politicians and to the voters has a lot of power over this large area of the state and federal budget. Moving the reporters inside KFF took almost 20 years of planning by CEO Altman. But the "Kaiser" brand name does get an "overhaul" as promised by him.

Despite the continuous assertion that the Kaiser family only "started" the two separate organizations - KFF and KP - (same Washington Post article), the announced profits of KP ("excess revenue") of over $2 billion a year (Fitch bond analysis of the 2007 year) suggest that the parallel efforts of KFF and KP on the "Kaiser" brand name has money consequences way beyond just family name legacy. At the same time, the online KFF budget has over the years become less transparent and history shorter.

Those newspapers that might wish to explore these topics know that the Kaiser Permanente Thrive (health plan) organization spends $45 million a year in ads. There is an excess of silence as noted by the Wikipedia invitation (at the beginning of this article of KFF) that someone should try to explain more."; 10/16/10, 3:26 PM
Anonymous said...: So what is "Kaiser Health News" that I heard NPR acknowledging the other day in a story about more doctors working for hospitals ...?
Is that some front for Kaiser Permanente or one of its tentacles?; 10/16/10, 3:29 PM
gDog said...: Hey Boss, So that's that url compression business, huh? Neat.

Meanwhile, when public schools detractor Oprah is the one corralling people to the Sanity/Fear meeting, I'm ready to get behind the NPR memo: miss it.; 10/16/10, 8:53 PM
gDog said...: Combining my disgust with privitization of public schools champion Oprah coming on The Daily Show to direct the studio audience to look under their chairs for tickets to sanity/fear fest with Michelle Norris' using NPR to advocate her book we have Harry Shearer having his "studio audience" look under their chairs for Meshill's book.

How's that for a sentence? Don't answer that.; 10/17/10, 12:05 PM
Anonymous said...: How about this commercial for a very special benefactor of Stands4Nothing radio:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130612737#commentBlock

If you can'ty make the link work it's 4 1/2 minutes of McRibs.

Someday I will stumble across the CDS that NPR "retired". Here in the Dutch WonderLand we retired 2 of these "instruments" and it only cost us 26m.

edk; 10/17/10, 12:24 PM
gDog said...: Ed, I'd better copy what I wrote there before it too is expunged:

I can imagine what Lisa Boucher said that was so offensive. Let's see..."that news release is really a Kroc of spit." Except she didn't say spit?; 10/17/10, 2:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Larry from Newark:

Man, you are missing one humdinger of a funder! We got us an "open-ended" fundraiser WITH mini-goals that have to be met. Huh?

Here we are in day number six and not once have they mentioned their cable bill or their coffee purchases. Who says we can't affect WHYY. I have long mocked them for these stupid remarks and see . . . insto presto not one mention. They have gone to magazines and restaurant meals.

As of this morning they are not even half way to their stated goals of 7300 (still need 4900 calls) and hundreds of thousands (about 1/4 of the goal) of dollars.

Ah, Larry, it "puts a spring" in my step as Ed Cunningham blathers on about "web pings".

Speaking of the blathering idiot he said yesterday that Radio Slimes with Mommy Most-Inane was going to have an update on Afghanistan. He added that there was "light at the end of the tunnel". I expect that Mommy will soon have somebody on to explain how America has achieved "victory with honor".

I love fund drives!

edk; 10/19/10, 8:20 AM
Anonymous said...: All,

I am in Paris on vacation, watching and listening to the French strikes and protests. I sure hope that no NPR employees are participating in this political event.

Don Q. Public; 10/19/10, 9:57 AM
gDog said...: In his latest column, Justin Raimundo asks, "Is it something in the water, or are Americans so inured to the crimes of their government that they no longer care?"

I think it's something in the air: radio waves, maybe? NPR has reported on this story, but only to make it seem mysterious while omitting many of the salient details - like that he was a heroin addict who got a get-out-of-jail free card to become DEA agent come Muslim fanatic.; 10/19/10, 11:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Don Q: Ahh, Paris in October! You got to wonder why American workers choose to cut their own throats while the French (and students? shades of 68) at least put up a fight. I think they will lose but you got to make the powers-that-be pay some cost because otherwise you get rolled over. Ask the UAW.; 10/20/10, 8:11 AM
Anonymous said...: Just for a minute I want to be really serious because I heard something last night during the funder at WHYY that I find truly "interesting".

It all started when Patrick Stoner came in on a Tuesday evening/afternoon. He is their go to guy with these charades and has a style that fits the word martinet to a T. He stated that they were aiming to end the drive on Friday afternoon. WTF? This was touted as open-ended; we go until we get the goals we set. I wondered why then have mini goals if that was the case. This morning Christine Demsey also started to talk about ending the drive Friday afternoon. They were lying from jump. That's blatant lie #1.

During Stoner's pitching they started out with a "challenge" of 300 calls between 4 and 6 pm (ATC time slot). They were no where making that so Stoner then set the time as 6:30 (the end of the repeat of first 1/2 hour of ATC). They were obviously going to fail there also so .. . the time went to 7pm! I didn't have time to see if they made that but . . .

I have a rule of thumb in my life which is: if someone lies about small matters consistently that usually indicates that in the big matters or things that are important the lying just gets worse.

Usually this is just something I sort of do as a hobby cause I listen as the best of the worst and I might as well pay attention. But I am beginning to harden my attitude toward this thing called NPR. At this point I don't even believe Alicia Shepard is her real name. I don't believe that this is a non-profit operation; somehow, somebody is making a profit (beyond their coporate advertisers that is).

Thanks for the space to vent a little.

edk; 10/20/10, 8:25 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: NPR's Juan Williams himself and NPR:

O’Reilly asked Fox News’ “liberal” Juan Williams if he’s wrong. Surprisingly, Williams joined with the other Fox Newsers in circling the wagons around O’Reilly, citing “political correctness” and seemingly because Muslims scare him"

via Think Progress:

Williams Defends O’Reilly’s ‘Muslims Killed Us On 9/11′ Remark: ‘I Get Worried’ With Them On Airplanes.

I understand bro: I get worried every time I hear a FOX News employee 's voice on NPR.

It just been disclosed that FOX News gave another $250,000 to the US Chamber.

At least Juan can't go to the Stewart/Colbert rallies.; 10/20/10, 8:30 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: My usual good editing this AM:

Should be; "Juan Williams embarrass himself"

On to my second cup of coffee,; 10/20/10, 8:31 AM
informedveteran said...: One more nail in the coffin........

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4178

Please give.; 10/20/10, 10:26 AM
The Boss of You said...: And Wan is outta there!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/business/media/21npr.html?_r=1; 10/20/10, 11:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Uncle Juan,
GONE!

DonQP; 10/21/10, 1:30 AM
bgpnkfzzbnn !!!! said...: ^ Copy that (came as a sort of shock as it was announced in the headlines). And look - now Grumpy has one less thing to grumble about. Something equally as heinous surely to take its rightful place.; 10/21/10, 7:24 AM
informedveteran said...: Adios Uncle Juan! Thats what happens when the weak minded hang around Fox (or watch it) too long, they start to actually believe what is said there.; 10/21/10, 7:25 AM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Re: Juan Williams

Let's not lose site of the real victim here.

Scott Simon.

Who will the "Bloody" Quaker have to recite FOX News talking points and chuckle with on Saturday mornings now?; 10/21/10, 8:54 AM
Anonymous said...: I know this can't possibly compare but I heard back from WHYY! They are 'sorry" I feel so negative toward their fundraising (as if that was the main complaint).

And for all you haters out there? Good work in getting rid of one Stands4Nothing radio's lesser lights. I wonder how soon him and Bill'O will begin to describe this as a "lynching"?

And what is the Bloody Quaker gonna do? Maybe resign in protest. Hey, it could happen; all depends on his investments and entitlements from stands 4 nothing radio.

edk; 10/21/10, 8:54 AM
gDog said...: Talkingpointsmemo has the tweets on the wan one.

Williams has been French kissing Bill's butt just a little too much, it seems. Grumpy's point is well taken: it's the exceptional pacifist Flushable Scott who will be most put out. As Condi and Obama have proven, nothing adds cred to war-mongering xenophobia like a bit of skin pigment. Mara has some female bona fides, which is good as far as it goes, but she can't really play the "I'm a champion of civil rights" card with wanton abandon the way Wan can. Maybe Condi will fill for him now as Simon's go-to guy for war crimes apologizing? She's got the Birmingham burnish and the Nigerian experience to slicken her unctuous argument with a supertanker's helping of snake oil. That ought to do it.; 10/21/10, 11:14 AM
JayV said...: I'm certainly a happy camper today. Posted this over at the NPR story re: the firing.

A recommendation to "one post wonders" whose bowels are in an uproar about the firing: search Juan Williams on the blog NPRCheck.blogspot.com/ to see why this (Fox) analyst was hardly fair and balanced.

Anxious to see if it stays up.; 10/21/10, 11:31 AM
Anonymous said...: Watching Yawn and Mara be "Foxy" one vacation (limited channels on the tube) was what ultimately got my to swear off NPR for good. So I'm glad he's gone. It should've been done a long time ago.

With that said, does anybody else feel totally nauseated by this whole "Juan is a martyr" meme that's going on?

I guess it's only fitting that someone who spewed ignorance should have the argument over his firing filled with ignorance.

Makes me crazy that someone who didn't follow the rules - NPR's rules as we all know - is now a "hero."; 10/21/10, 12:19 PM
!!b!! said...: ^ Yah, I hearz ya. I find it rather suspicious, too, that NoPR felt the need to make the announcement so blatantly (even invading my "headlines only" policy) as opposed to stuffing it down the memory hole behind its back, as we'd think would be its customary procedure when caught in their usual embarrassments.; 10/21/10, 1:54 PM
informedveteran said...: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/NPR_and_journalisms_new_Sharia_law.html

I don't even know where to start with this one.

He is supposedly from the "left" - but he is posting this blog - and read the comments - since when do so many right wing nuts read Will Bunch's Blog? WTF? His book "Backlash" looks decent. I don't get it. I guess I need to watch more (some) Fox News.; 10/21/10, 10:08 PM
informedveteran said...: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/NPR_and_journalisms_new_Sharia_law.html; 10/21/10, 10:09 PM
informedveteran said...: It keeps cutting off the link. I will try it again

www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/
www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/NPR_and_journalisms_new_Sharia_law.html; 10/21/10, 10:13 PM
larry, dfh said...: thrusday 21 October, atc had a really good segment on pharmaceutical company payola. The only problem is that the whole bit should have come more than a year ago, when obama was busy negotiating away the public option for pharma support. Or rather, selling off the public option. But at the time, in real time, stands-for-nothing was busy denigrating the public option and single payer. Today's story could have had an influence had it been run at the right time, but I guess the real influence was from the kaiser foundation.
Ed: I happened to catch stoner's mad appearance at fund-whiner, or fund-wanker. I wonder if the man is available for bar-mitvahs!
Concerning the wan-man: I can't imagine standing for nothing and not having a wan-man. I expect him to get a schorr or stamberg gig eventually.; 10/21/10, 11:41 PM
Unknown said...: Finally, something the Tea Partiers and the liberal left can find common cause about! Hurray for contrism!

From an email I received this morning from the FreePress Action Fund:

Yesterday, former governor Sarah Palin called on Congress to cut all funds for National Public Radio. "It's time for Congress to defund this organization," Palin wrote after NPR fired analyst Juan Williams for comments he made disparaging Muslims on Fox News Channel.

Palin set off a firestorm that spread from extreme right-wing blogs to Bill O'Reilly to Capitol Hill. Later today, Sen. Jim DeMint (R - S.C.) plans to introduce legislation that slashes all funds to one of the last, best sources of journalism we have in America.; 10/22/10, 8:48 AM
bun. said...: ^ Not willing to side with the Behived Banshee, no way no how. Let's not forget the "good guys" like DN/Pacifica - doubt that Ally, Snapple, FrackingIsKewl, Hair Club for Men etc. etc. will be willing to underwrite their lot.; 10/22/10, 10:37 AM
informedveteran said...: Don't miss the 3 ring circus over at the obbudsman's page about Juan Williams! The right is really off its meds today. They must have recieved orders to post comments. I wonder how they can delete the "offensive" posts when there are thousands of them:) Fire away!; 10/22/10, 11:05 AM
gDog said...: Finally, I have common ground with Sara Palin: The Pentagon has enough control over the media without NPR control. Stop the sham of "public" in "Stands for Nothing" radio. Acknowledge NPR's status as wholly corporate controlled government mouthpiece and take the fig leaf of public funding off.; 10/22/10, 11:18 AM
Anonymous said...: They are getting disgusted with me at WHYY as I pointed out tyo them that their counts actually went backwards today. And I asked who it was that came up with this "open-ended" lie. They told me I don't get the "messaging" that they use in their fund drives. Actually i do get it

I am pushing the ignorant righties who think with either their penis or their stomachs to push for a forensic audit of NPR inc, PRI and American Public Media. Investigate the relationship between banks and hedge funds. I never lied (not once) but I did employ a certain amount of "truthiness".

edk; 10/22/10, 11:53 AM
informedveteran said...: JuanGate is turning into a huge spectacle! That one NPR story has over 8000 posts.; 10/22/10, 1:07 PM
Porter Melmoth said...: Bill-o finally got to steal a ratings boost away from his rival Frankenmonster, the Beck-oid. The rest is nothing but the MSM Silly Circus in action.

Nonfiction entertainment ratings will continue to tank. Tweeters 'n Texters and other Future Demographic Participants don't give a rat's sphincter about yawns like Juan (who?).

I thought Alec Baldwin's mission to destroy NPR, supposedly a bit of satire for Pledge Week, says much more about eNdingPR than any other professional reactor voice.

In the meantime, choleric discharge is clogging the sewers in Haiti, and I imagine they've lost count of how many empty coffin funerals there are in Af-Pak, due to bodily atomization from the droning that goes on and on...; 10/22/10, 1:15 PM
b.p.s. said...: ^ Aye that, Port. Before this whole kerfluffle went down (talk about onomotopeia!) Juan O' could hardly get arrested.

And yes, as is the custom in the Land o' the Plenty (o' excrement) an event more dire is given the shortest of the short shrift. And the Hooterville band played on...; 10/22/10, 2:27 PM
informedveteran said...: Yeah who knew Juan Williams was such a superstar? UNCLE JUAN 2012!!!! I bet Paris Hilton is rehearsing an anti-muslim screed as we speak.; 10/22/10, 2:31 PM
b. yet again. said...: ^ Oh yeah, Vet. That new, cool 2 mil can go into his campaign coffer. Oh the pathos!; 10/22/10, 2:43 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: My preferred acronym for NPR is National Propaganda Radio. I think Juan Williams' firing has more to do with not losing fund drive money from people who still thinks NPR is a liberal news outlet. He's been such a Fox News scumbag for so long they could have let him go long before now. I'd like to see NPR wipe out the whole scurvy crew: Inskeep,Block,Simon,Cokie,Liasson,Norris, et.al.

Speaking of fund raising, my local station WEKU has embarked on another nauseating fund drive week. If there is anything I cannot stand is to hear all of the self congratulatory crap that comes for the local people about how wonderful NPR news is and chime in about how fantastic their local coverage is. Well, if you're King Coal, the local news coverage is just fine....

I quit giving them money years ago.; 10/22/10, 4:30 PM
gDog said...: Ok, so I read Justin Raimundo, it doesn't mean I always agree with him. I am refreshed by the existence of anti-war sentiment on the "conservative right," whatever that is. His column today is on Juan Williams and NPR.; 10/22/10, 7:15 PM
gDog said...: Patrick,

HELLOOOOOOO KY!

Looks like WEKU may soon follow in the footsteps of KCET. FoTW?

g; 10/22/10, 10:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Patrick:

I love fund drives because it gets the drones out of Afghanistan and puts them "on air". Here in Philly (WHYY a wholly owned subsidary of Fox News Corpse) is mired in yet another failed effort. This is the 11th in a row that they have failed to meet goal and had to extend. I predicted when it all started that they would have to run until 10/25 and it looks like I'm on the money.

I have gone to many right sites and pushed for forensic audit of this ultra-progressive thing called NPR. Who knows but it doesn't cost me a dime so . . .

WARNING Will Robinson:

Do not, I repeat, do NOT read any of the dribble, lies and blather that is being written by robo posters (got to be, cause they are almost word-for-word).

And as if I couldn't get enough irony in my daily diet WHYY is running something called "Fact Checking"! They look at political ads and see how "true" they are.

And finally? I have not heard a thePublicNotice advert since last Friday. hard to believe they would give up this revenue source/stream in the middle of their begathon.

edk; 10/23/10, 8:42 AM
gDog said...: Be sure to sign the petition at fair.org asking PBS to bring back Now.; 10/23/10, 2:29 PM
gDog said...: Juan Williams is a sexist pig - discuss.; 10/23/10, 9:29 PM
Patrick Lynch said...: Not all that long ago, WEKU ran a series about coal in Kentucky that was that was a disgusting love fest for the industry that managed to say nothing about mountaintop removal. It was both amazing and appalling, their local news department totally destroyed their credibility in less than a week.

They also recently underwent a massive change in their programming schedule leaning towards talk and very little in the way of music before 10 PM. If you want the classical music that used to be the main core of their programming, you have to stream it online. Well, I don't have internet access in my car. In any case they must have decided they were losing listeners because of the classical music. If that was the case, the reason is fairly simple. The music playlists have become as sterile and worn out as all of the "classic rock" suckfests that litter the FM dial in Kentucky.

Some of the programming between EKU and nearby WUKY has an awful lot of duplication in it. How much Ennui Home Companion can a person stand and does two stations only 20 miles apart from each other need to run Car Talk at the same time?

WEKU appears to be targeting a younger hipper crowd with some of their evening stuff but during the afternoon, I got reacquainted with why I quit listening to Fresh Air years ago. Terri Gross when she bothers to show up sounds as bored as Garrison Keiller.

So when the local folks get on during pledge drive to tell me how important it is to keep zombie programming on the air, I just turn the radio off altogether. It's bad enough that NPR news does the bidding of their corporate masters but even worse to find that the local station is just as bad.; 10/23/10, 9:36 PM
gDog said...: Sigh. Jason Beaubien reporting on drug war in Mexico is blissfully unaware of (1) NAFTA (2) Calderon stealing the last election (3) Prop 19 (4) The most vicious, blood-thirsty drug gang in Mexico, The Zetas received special-forces training under the U.S. Army at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. In must be nice not knowing disturbing things.; 10/24/10, 12:46 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm gonna cop to perhaps, "sleeping with the enemy (not literally but . . .) I e-mailed Alicia and said that 1() I'll bet she wishes the clock could turn back to Tuesday when all she had to deal with was SanPete, Ed, WhoMi and the rest of those people who at least came up with different posts; (2) were the comments that were being allowed currently "the new normal?"; (3) and that if she went to right wing sites she could see that she was being tea-bagged and sand-bagged because so many posters there are simply c&p ing on her blog.

edk; 10/24/10, 12:54 PM
a.m. said...: Jay Rosen on l'affaire Williams. Worth reading.; 10/24/10, 5:27 PM
JayV said...: Love this! Max Blumenthal posted his Twitter message as his Facebook status this morning. It made my Monday indeed!

"Why isn't Juan Williams afraid when he walks into Fox News studios and sees Glenn Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity, and other leading racists?"

Harrumph. There are 2 million reasons why. :-P; 10/25/10, 7:26 AM
Anonymous said...: When I get on an airplane with people dressed in their NPR garb (tote bags, sippy cups, and t-shirts) I get nervous because, and some of my best friends are banal, I fear becoming vanilla ice cream topped with mayonaise.

edk

PS: Some how WHYY reached their goal of 1000 pledges with a total value of 48k on Saturday. I'll bet. Either they just rigged the numbers OR they took a huge "pledge" from one of their corporate advertisers and gave up on the pledge members. it doesn't pay them to get new members because that increases the costs to them (bigger market=more members=larger payments to NPR inc). I could be wrong.; 10/25/10, 8:50 AM
Anonymous said...: All,

Ira Glass today on Marc Maron's WTF Podcast. NPR: Where the precious meet the smug to congratulate each other.

http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/

Don Q. Public; 10/25/10, 9:36 AM
Anonymous said...: All,

Alicia Shepard on NPR's OnPoint today, 10/25/201; talking about Uncle Juan.

Alicia Shepard, Ombudsman for NPR. She responds to the public’s complaints. Read her latest article, “NPR’s Firing of Juan Williams Was Poorly Handled.”

Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and political analyst. She is author of “Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us).”

Jay Rosen, professor of journalism at New York University. He writes the “Press Think” blog.

Don Q. Public; 10/25/10, 10:11 AM
informedveteran said...: In the credit-where-credit-is-due department This American Life had a great episode about the Surge (or "Unsurge" as H. Shearer calls it) and the current state of governmentless Iraq. Episode 416; 10/25/10, 11:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Re: Alicia Shepherd OnPoint

She is a lot dumber than I gave her credit. But, to assume propagandists are little more than tools is my mistake. For that, I apologize, Alicia.

Don Q. Public; 10/25/10, 11:51 AM
informedveteran said...: How interesting that the word "Iraq" doesn't appear on NPR's main page, especially after this torrent of new Iraq info. NPR, always the good soldier.; 10/25/10, 12:47 PM
Anonymous said...: Why NPR Matters, by James Fallows
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/10/why-npr-matters-long/65068/; 10/25/10, 5:06 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: More fun with Juan:

The Two Million Dollar Martyr
by James Wolcott

"on Fox News's Special Report with [then-host] Brit Hume, where NPR voices such as Mara Liasson and Juan Williams had to hew a wobbly median strip of moderation (because of NPR's identity and guidelines), while Brit, Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard, and Charles Krauthammer held court unconstrained, tap dancing their talking points atop Williams' head."

Williams has gone from a muddled sincere victim of sound-bite to full Bernie Goldberg blowhard apostate.

More here, (warning you might get hooked on his blog):; 10/25/10, 9:34 PM
GRUMPY DEMO said...: Fie! Fergot the link, here it is:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2010/10/-when-the-camera-is.html; 10/25/10, 9:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Wolcott is pure genius: "Well, now he can Uncle Tom to his heart's content and feel like he's Solzhenitsyn."; 10/26/10, 7:25 AM
Anonymous said...: NPR: Where Wan Williams meets Meeeeshell Nooooris to talk about nothing ad nauseam (or is it "nauseam ad nothing"?)

I espcially like how Vivian Schiller chided (and fired) Juan Williams for "thinking out loud" in a public forum by thinking out loud in a public forum herself: Williams should keep his thoughts about Muslims to his "publicist and psychiatrist".

Williams and Schiller seem to have been made for one another.

Both clowns.

Both contributing factors to the disease that has transformed NPR into National Propaganda Radio.; 10/26/10, 8:13 AM
gDog said...: Eleanor Beardsly claims to be in Paris, where all hell is breaking loose because the retirement age is being raised from 60 to 62. Well, my parents are in Paris and they say that's a lot of hooey. And that the issue is 65 to 67. And that things are very normal there.

But oooooo, I am sooooo concerned about food safety.....in China?; 10/26/10, 9:36 AM
informedveteran said...: "Eleanor Beardsly claims to be in Paris, where all hell is breaking loose because the retirement age is being raised from 60 to 62. Well, my parents are in Paris and they say that's a lot of hooey. And that the issue is 65 to 67. And that things are very normal there."

This is a big problem across our state-run - oops, I mean free press. FAIR has been covering it well. "NewsHour Fails French Public, Too". The Philly Enquirer at least mentions (in the last paragraph) in an article that the current French MINIMUM retirement age is 60. Much better to keep the sheeple hating the French than getting any ideas about how to properly respond when their OWN retirement age potentially goes up similiarly.; 10/26/10, 10:17 AM
informedveteran said...: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/washington/19gates.html

‘Stop-Loss’ Will All but End by 2011, Gates Says NYT

Not that the NYT is better, but why no mention of this on NPR? I guess running this story might offend their pentagon pals. Much better to ignore it and let the sheeple think all this icky stuff ended when the new warmonger-in-chief took over. Holding someone past their EAOS (end of active obligated service) is pure evil.; 10/26/10, 11:19 AM
informedveteran said...: Stop Loss; 10/26/10, 12:18 PM
gDog said...: Asia Times is reporting that "US Dug in for Long Haul in Afghanistan". Not sure how that squares with various other plans for 2011 - like withdrawal or stopping stop loss...; 10/26/10, 2:40 PM
informedveteran said...: What happened to the Alley Financial ad?; 10/26/10, 3:26 PM
informedveteran said...: Long Haul is right.; 10/26/10, 3:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Alicia Shepard, Ombudsman for NPR...responds to the public’s complaints. Read her latest article, “NPR’s Firing of Juan Williams Was Poorly Handled.”

I'm just surprised Shepard hasn't suggested "handling" Juan Williams the way Gary Webb was "handled"; 10/26/10, 4:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I have been listening to the begging for more money on the local NPR fundraiser here in Mich. It was more tastfully done 20 years ago. Just how much of the money they take in goes for the salaries of the announcers? Are they actually "panhandling" in a weird kinda way?...
I get most of my news from Democracy Now and hope some day that Diane Rehm will have Amy on her show. Probably won't happen.

Bob in rural Michigan; 10/26/10, 5:40 PM
Anonymous said...: googDog,

Agreed. I was in Paris all last week. There were some well organized protests and some delays here and there. But I did not see, hear or read about the all the drama. EB is an NPR mouthpiece -- on contract.

Don Q. Public; 10/27/10, 1:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Nice catch regarding the Ally Financial ad missing from Planet Monkey.

Don Q. Public; 10/27/10, 1:17 PM
Genie said...: Juan Williams is a house negro and I stopped listening to NPR a long time ago for the same reason.; 10/29/10, 8:26 PM