tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post4727240251088909497..comments2023-11-03T03:17:27.053-05:00Comments on NPR Check: Q TipsMytwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04307620268159811668noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-6799470654020678302010-02-16T10:03:52.578-06:002010-02-16T10:03:52.578-06:00Pamel says "Alterman felt the need to disavow...Pamel says <i>"Alterman felt the need to disavow Zinn before crying foul on NPR's obit, and I'd like to know his reasoning. I don't understand it any more than I understand his seething hatred of Nader.</i><br /><br />Both have the same source: a desire on the part of pundits like Alterman to remain "credible' in the eyes of the American media.<br /><br />Those who admit that Zinn or Nader might have something valid to say (or even worse, claim that they are actually great Americans!) are ostracized -- sent to the wilds of Borneo.<br /><br />It's really little more than a manifestation of lack of self-confidence and desire to be 'accepted" by one's (journalist) peers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-27627392193284585662010-02-14T15:59:09.044-06:002010-02-14T15:59:09.044-06:00Thinking back to the revelation that Harry Reid ma...Thinking back to the revelation that Harry Reid made very racist comments about Obama, I now believe that many of our AIPAC senators may not trust a black man, or in Reid's eyes, a negro, with US foreign policy.<br />When Obama made the Cairo speech calling on Israel to end settlement building, many senators<br /> in fact most(79) protested and signed a letter asking Obama to lighten up on Israel/Nutanyahoo. <br />Now we see the Senate jump ahead of Obama with their own sanctions on Iran with the Iran Refined Petroleum Act http://www.correntewire.com/not_so_sluggish_senate_sledgehammers_iran_five_minute_vote_unsmart_sanctions<br />to agian tie his hands.<br />You also see the lack of confidence in another high profile man, Eric Holder, questioned as much by Democrats as by Repuglicans. Case in point is the KSM trial. Chuck Schumer even rolled out his buddy Mukasey to smear the decision and Feinstein had no problem casting doubt on the handling of the undie bomber.<br />These are not only big AIPAC beneficiaries but Clinton people who may also share Reid's lack of confidence in people of colour making high level decisions, regardless of fact that these are probably the most qualified people to have held these positions.<br />Jane Meyer has said Rahm had made a backroom deal not to hold KSM trial in NYC. That would help explain strength of the opposition to Holder and is evidence of the fight Obama has within his own party, that Republicans never face. <br />I can't help but wonder if this is a "token" administration that the Clinton/AIPAC folks are eager to replace asap.Gracenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-72301302186729426762010-02-14T09:21:13.829-06:002010-02-14T09:21:13.829-06:00enpeeArgh's
I love it!enpeeArgh's <br /><br />I love it!ellen rosnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04750403674470123759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-45011612864928729152010-02-14T04:49:22.628-06:002010-02-14T04:49:22.628-06:00Soraya Nelson straight off the Schwarzenegger beat...Soraya Nelson straight off the Schwarzenegger beat for the OC Register?!!<br />Actually it explains how perfectly she will fit the NPR narrative of US good guys, Afghans either bad guys or expendable.<br />I guess she won't be reporting on our good guys handcuffing, then executing young schoolboys but I bet she gets in the favourite two words of todays war propagandists in a pinch: "girl schools". Whenever a mission goes awry for us, they are always on the way to/from a "girl's school" or there in an effort to build a "girl's school". There must be polling that shows Americans support them so when the objective seems inexplicable(paying off Taliban for road access so we can battle them)fall back on "girl school"!<br />Yes, Nelson will be perfect for the job!Gracenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-43320296947404638562010-02-14T04:16:44.224-06:002010-02-14T04:16:44.224-06:00Speaking of getta life, I look a bit too forward t...Speaking of getta life, I look a bit too forward to reading NPRCheck's comments and links, at times(like these!)<br /><br />Grumpy, glad you have recovered.<br />It is surprising how often Dallas loses power, often for days.<br />Tucson loses power often during the monsoons but it is a border town. Dallas is a major US city, with more than a handful of very wealthy, influential people who also go without power. I find it astonishing that so many people just accept it.<br />Pretty clever to think of the library!<br /><br /><br /><br />Goop, great job exposing(quickly!) the George Jahn, AP piece(Iran's nuclear enrichment) NPR ran,as total propaganda.<br />When an AP piece is that ripe with<br />inaccuracies/disinformation that it is pulled, that's amazing.<br />More amazing was how shamelessly NPR ran the slightly revised version.<br />Jahn and Aaronovitch seem to be two of a kind!Gracenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-67038278648352089202010-02-13T21:05:21.323-06:002010-02-13T21:05:21.323-06:00Hey, zumadogg on broidy. GoopDog is a different d...Hey, zumadogg on broidy. GoopDog is a different dog, really! This is good for chuckle.<br /><br />http://ladailyblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/doofus-shady-fuck-elliot-broidy-is-goin.htmlgDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-40974827724264004762010-02-13T20:48:22.874-06:002010-02-13T20:48:22.874-06:00It's "interesting" that when you sea...It's "interesting" that when you search NPR for <a href="http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=%22elliott+broidy%22&tabId=all&dateId=0&prgId=0&topicId=0" rel="nofollow">Elliott Broidy</a> (who I'm interested in because he's funneling my retirement fund to Goldman/Sachs and Israel) you find only <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/secretmoney/2008/09/jewish_group_against_obama_cat.html" rel="nofollow">this story</a> from the heat of the fall campaign. There is much more to say about Broidy, some of which is said by WSJ blog <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/privateequity/2009/12/03/just-who-is-elliott-broidy-anyway/tab/article/" rel="nofollow">Private Equity Beat</a>. <br /><br>Well, I find it interesting, but maybe that's just cause I'm interested.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-18074844320900445332010-02-13T14:56:20.450-06:002010-02-13T14:56:20.450-06:00Surprise! Both the NYT and Huffpo have scooped NP...Surprise! Both the <a href="http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/programmer-indicted-in-goldman-code-theft-case/" rel="nofollow">NYT</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/sergey-aleynikov-goldman_n_458931.html" rel="nofollow">Huffpo</a> have scooped NPR on the indictment (takes some serious gumshoeing to discover federal indictments as they are published in the public record for all to see) of Sergey Aleynikov.<br /><br>As "getta life" (good advice, for goop, huh?) comments at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-goldman-programmer-sergey-aleynikov-indicted-by-us-attorneys-office-2010-2" rel="nofollow">Business Insider</a>,<br /><br><i>They should give this guy the Nobel Prize for exposing this front running scheme, even if he did so inadvertantly. We now know that GS is basically skimming the markets daily like a mafia bag man skimming a casino. Since GS owns all 3 branches of Government and the Fed I am not surprised they have control the Justice Department and the FBI also. As the economy crumbles the banksters know that they control the last cushy jobs for retiring regulators and former legislators. They literally become more powerful as they destroy everyone else.</i>gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-76073763924246504852010-02-13T12:20:53.771-06:002010-02-13T12:20:53.771-06:00~sigh!~
Scott (moist flushable wipe) Simon is bac...~sigh!~<br /><br />Scott (moist flushable wipe) Simon is back from the hospital where he claims to have gotten a <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123684060" rel="nofollow">wisdom implant</a>. I guess that's how he knows what a hero Charlie Wilson was (no negative contributors to the obit <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123684095" rel="nofollow">here</a>). Just a refutation of such:<br /><br><i>In recent years, Charlie Wilson disputed those who said that arming Afghan rebels just put weapons in the hands of people, most notably the Taliban, who would use them against US forces after 2001.</i><br /><br>As I understand it, Wilson chose the the most ardent and rabid reckless religious zealots from the Taliban and infused them with the same slice of the Wahabis and, insto-presto: Al Qaeda. So what could have been an honest resistance that the Afghans would have won on their own became a fanatical religious extremist movement that reigned terror over Afghanistant when the Soviets left.<br /><br>Also missing from SS's new wisdom is the fact that Wilson opposed the current US occupation of Afghanistan.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-48720287062028979762010-02-13T10:49:07.565-06:002010-02-13T10:49:07.565-06:00hi pamela
The reason liberals have different rule...hi pamela<br /><br />The reason liberals have different rules is the other side doesn't play fair. It sucks.<br />I think its good that a person who didn't even like Zinn (no matter how dumb his reasons) agreed that this obituary was shameful. That theoretically stop arguments that our complaints are lefty kneejerk.<br />It's strategy not right vs. wrong.<br />Thanks for responding to my comment. Yay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-90291329354879281412010-02-13T08:09:57.740-06:002010-02-13T08:09:57.740-06:00Anon: Not to belabor the issue, but I don't un...Anon: Not to belabor the issue, but I don't understand why only liberals must be concerned about "kneejerk" reactions. Examples of WHY Howard Zinn's history was inaccurate or simplistic or schematic, whether the accusation comes from "liberal" Alterman or right-wing Horowitz, would be appreciated.<br /><br />Alterman felt the need to disavow Zinn before crying foul on NPR's obit, and I'd like to know his reasoning. I don't understand it any more than I understand his seething hatred of Nader.pamelanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-33479241691720560542010-02-13T06:05:24.860-06:002010-02-13T06:05:24.860-06:00More on Billy Tauzin from the NYT:
http://www.nyti...More on Billy Tauzin from the NYT:<br />http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/health/policy/13pharm.html?hp<br /><br /><i>After about two dozen years in Congress, Representative Billy Tauzin of Louisiana was after bigger game — the giant, 200-pound whitetail deer that run through the area of south Texas that hunters call the Golden Triangle.<br /><br />So in 2003 Mr. Tauzin, then chairman of the powerful energy and commerce committee, made a deal. Though still on a modest Congressional salary, he paid more than $1 million for a 1,500-acre ranch there. And he invited a dozen friends — mostly executives and lobbyists with interests before his committee — to cover its mortgage by paying him dues as members of a new hunting club. It did business as Cajun Creek L.L.C., based in the Baton Rouge office of a lobbyist who was a member.<br /><br />...his spokesman said that the House Ethics Committee had approved of the clubs...<br /><br />...PhRMA lured him away from Congress with its $2 million-a-year offer.</i><br /><br />All of this, out in the open and he not only gets to keep his job in Congress, but leverages it into a sweetheart lobbying deal.<br /><br />I know I shouldn't be surprised, but when I read the details, it's galling.Nate Bowmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-85132347688597628802010-02-12T22:45:41.651-06:002010-02-12T22:45:41.651-06:00I've heard Dr. Michael Hudson use the phrase, ...I've heard <a href="http://kpfa.org/archive/id/58530" rel="nofollow">Dr. Michael Hudson use the phrase, "useful idiot," when referring to Helicopter Ben Bernanke</a>. I think the phrase may well extend to many of our public servants...not least of which are the staff at NPR.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-14172761903011621692010-02-12T20:47:48.199-06:002010-02-12T20:47:48.199-06:00Civilian casualties are inevitable.<a href="http://www.afghanvoice.com/news/english/civilian-casualties-in-marjah-%E2%80%9Cinevitable%E2%80%9D-201002111106.html" rel="nofollow">Civilian casualties are inevitable.</a>gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-45762623165155502652010-02-12T20:46:05.640-06:002010-02-12T20:46:05.640-06:00Oh dear: the one-two punch of enpeeArgh's embe...Oh dear: the one-two punch of enpeeArgh's embedded <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7407153" rel="nofollow">Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson</a> (fresh from the Orange County Register's Schwarzenegger beat) <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123662567" rel="nofollow">talking</a> about separating the "good guys" and "bad guys" in Marjah where civilian casualties are inevitable - followed by mush-brains Schorr <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123659372" rel="nofollow">talking</a> about the failure of diplomacy - more or less implying that diplomacy is a fool's errand.<br /><br>Consider it a KO: I'm tuned out of NPR consciousness.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-53417922825941186532010-02-12T18:25:40.743-06:002010-02-12T18:25:40.743-06:00hmmm Pension funds raids, the Mortgage crisis and...hmmm Pension funds raids, the Mortgage crisis and Iran/Contra/Cocaine are related?<br /><br />http://www.dunwalke.com/gideon/q301.pdf<br /><br /><i>Using government guarantees to insure mortgages in a neighborhood [West Philadelphia] makes sense. It protects investors from concern about the value of real estate.<br />The value of residential real estate reflects first and foremost the safety and well being of the neighborhood. If West Philadelphia were financed with private mortgages from big Philadelphia banks, then they would lose money on the economic withering of neighborhoods. If they pooled all the mortgages in mortgage pass-throughs and sold them to the pension funds without government guarantees of any kind, the pension funds would start losing money if defaults started to happen.<br /><br>For the banks, of course, it is impossible to refuse to make mortgage loans in a neighborhood in which they are channeling the reinvestment of narcotics profits. First, there is the branding problem: they can not tell people they won't finance their homes because they prefer to reinvest the profits of folks who sell narcotics to their children and they can not make money on both. That is a problem as well because the banks' core business is based on using taxpayer's credit, and moving the losses to the taxpayers when things go wrong. For large<br />banks and corporations to extract equity out of a neighborhood, it is essential that the local values not impair their assets or the mortgage securities they create and service. That is where government credit provided by agencies like HUD comes in.</i>gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-66751966070588490532010-02-12T16:46:22.576-06:002010-02-12T16:46:22.576-06:00Given the hugeness of the news about Wall Street r...Given the hugeness of the news about Wall Street raids on public pension funds, NPR's last <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/07/california_pension_funds_lose.html" rel="nofollow">feeble attempt to cover it on The Two-Way</a>, or whatever it's called, is pathetic.<br /><br>I read with interest an article in the LA Times recently: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-weinstein-broidy9-2010feb09,0,6569880.story" rel="nofollow">PENSIONS: Two L.A. firms to pay settlement in probe of New York 'pay-to-play' scandal</a><br /><br>and that reminded me of another recent story: <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/29/business/la-fi-calstrs29-2010jan29" rel="nofollow">Teachers pension fund is $43 billion short</a><br /><br>Both are by Marc Lishfer. <br /><br><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2521802.html" rel="nofollow">The SacBee also has the story</a><br /><br>Some of the back story is <a href="http://www.iimagazine.com/article.aspx?articleID=2307542" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <br /><br>This is broad daylight thievery is flabbergasting. How is it possible for NPR to miss it so thoroughly?gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-24292921432410310492010-02-12T16:05:46.101-06:002010-02-12T16:05:46.101-06:00The Boss of You said: "Billy Tauzin retiring ...The Boss of You said: "Billy Tauzin retiring after years of contributing pharma perspective to health car[e] reform. "<br /><br /><br /><br />Click here to find out more!<br />Your request is being processed...<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <br /> <br />Paul Blumenthal says:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-blumenthal/the-legacy-of-billy-tauzi_b_460358.html" rel="nofollow">The Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House-PhRMA Deal</a><br /><br />Obama's deal with Tauzin has destroyed his credibility.<br /><br />His presidency is effectively over and he has only himself to blame for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-10919120809676107362010-02-12T15:45:15.758-06:002010-02-12T15:45:15.758-06:00Been looking into Marcello Truzzi's developmen...Been looking into Marcello Truzzi's development of the idea of a <a href="http://www.wikisynergy.com/wiki/Pseudoskepticism" rel="nofollow">pseudoskepticism</a>, and much of it seems to apply to NPRism.<br /><br />Pseudoskeptics exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: <br /><br /> 1. Denial, rather than doubt<br /> 2. Double standards in the application of criticism.<br /> 3. Lack of scholarship, where judgments are made without full inquiry.<br /> 4. The tendency to discredit and debunk, rather than investigate.<br /> 5. Use of ridicule or ad hominem attacks in lieu of arguments.<br /> 6. Pejorative labeling of proponents as 'promoters', 'pseudoscientists' 'woo-woo's' 'kooks' (etc.) or practitioners of 'pathological science.'<br /> 7. Presenting insufficient evidence or proof for claims.<br /> 8. The assumption that criticism requires no burden of proof.<br /> 9. Making unsubstantiated counter-claims.<br /> 10. Making counter-claims based on plausibility rather than empirical evidence.<br /> 11. Suggesting that unconvincing evidence is grounds for dismissal.<br /> 12. The tendency to dismiss all evidence: "There is no evidence for..."<br /> 13. Unwillingness to consider evidence in probabilistic terms.<br /> 14. Advocating a narrow view of what constitutes scientific evidence, in such a way as to rule out undesirable evidence which in other circumstances would be accepted.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-34778684932154471642010-02-12T14:11:42.264-06:002010-02-12T14:11:42.264-06:00Good brief and this fill someone in on helped me a...Good brief and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you on your information.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-65014978214344949962010-02-12T13:37:57.595-06:002010-02-12T13:37:57.595-06:00I think Alter's criticism of Zinn was good str...I think Alter's criticism of Zinn was good strategy. It shows his disgust with the obit wasn't kneejerk. The more poltically varied the critics of the outcry against this shameful incident, the better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-37942982805382286902010-02-12T13:21:31.914-06:002010-02-12T13:21:31.914-06:00Me too, bunny. He nails NPR for pissing on Zinn...Me too, bunny. He nails NPR for pissing on Zinn's grave, but basically levels the same criticism (polemicist, not historian), though in more civil terms than Horowitz.pamelanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-26915907658045571922010-02-12T11:40:54.079-06:002010-02-12T11:40:54.079-06:00Earache Alterboy?! ("thanks Ralph thanks Ralp...Earache Alterboy?! ("thanks Ralph thanks Ralph thanks Ralph")<br /><br />Yuck - I personally detest his whiney-ness as much as any NPR-er.bee!pee!eff!bee!noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-18444841245599797992010-02-12T11:33:18.808-06:002010-02-12T11:33:18.808-06:00The only thing worse than a grumpy is a grumpy wit...The only thing worse than a grumpy is a grumpy with a flu.<br /><br />Welcome back, grumps! Glad you're feeling better.<br /><br />I don't know if you missed this, but in her interview (link at her blob) Ms. Shepard said that it was time to get away from the word objectivity and replace it with the word professional...getting the facts, putting them in context...<br /><br />That, to me, was a cause for optimism.<br /><br />At the end of the interview, she is asked what the hardest part of her job is and she says, you guessed it, "Dealing with the problem of objectivity and balance."Nate Bowmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-52595816543698493182010-02-12T11:21:47.076-06:002010-02-12T11:21:47.076-06:00Ok guys, had just recover for a four day fun fest ...Ok guys, had just recover for a four day fun fest of flu/cold, I felt like I was hung over for four days! (Without any of the pre-hung over fun). Slept most of the time when wasn't on sofa simultaneously watching Bonanza, Syfy (hate the new title), and Food Network.<br /><br />What did I miss?<br /><br />Was feeling better yesterday, than a 4PM during a record Dallas 12 inch snowfall-BAM!-Power went out. Last time it went out in July, and our deregulate power company only need four days to fix the problem. So now at library using their computer network: Good news, free-Bad news, Dells, not Mac.<br /><br />Hooray for libraries!<br /><br />Hooray for librarians!<br /><br />Horray for Matt!GRUMPY DEMOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14076837066633851919noreply@blogger.com