tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post5646841587084170957..comments2023-11-03T03:17:27.053-05:00Comments on NPR Check: Q TipsMytwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04307620268159811668noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-17827688244615167502011-02-07T16:16:47.633-06:002011-02-07T16:16:47.633-06:00Of course, EVERY organization has biases.
NPR jus...Of course, EVERY organization has biases.<br /><br />NPR just tries to pretend they don't which uis what makes their self-righteous criticism of others so disgusting and so dishonest.<br /><br />Then again, dishonesty seems to be a prerequisite for working at NPR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-30264630348371717682011-02-07T11:10:21.388-06:002011-02-07T11:10:21.388-06:00NPR took time out from its Egypt/Wikileaks propaga...NPR took time out from its Egypt/Wikileaks propagandising to have a remarkably hostile interview about the AOL/Huffington Post merger. God forbid that any media outlet self identify as liberal for that matter, oh, my God! AOL might turn liberal!!Patrick Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-256120965760564192011-02-05T17:59:33.242-06:002011-02-05T17:59:33.242-06:00Like Obama and Clinton ("Hillary Clinton Sign...Like Obama and Clinton (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/05/hillary-clinton-omar-suleiman-egypt" rel="nofollow">"Hillary Clinton Signals US Backing for Omar Suleiman"</a>), <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/01/31/133372690/jimmy-carters-guess-egypts-mubarak-will-have-to-leave?print=1" rel="nofollow">NPR is selling Egyptian "Intelligence" Chief for the past 20 years, Omar Suleiman</a> (using Jimmy Carter as the salesman):<br /><i><br />"He's an intelligent man whom I like very much," Carter said.<br /><br />Carter has maintained a relationship with Suleiman over the years.<br />"In the last four or five years when I go to Egypt, I don't go to talk to Mubarak, who talks like a politician," Carter said. "If I want to know what is going on in the Middle East, I talk to Suleiman. And as far as I know, he has always told me the truth"</i><br /><br />Then again, Jimmy Carter was never a prisoner "rendered" to Suleiman, either. I wonder if the latter got "truth" from Suleiman, or something else?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/30-2" rel="nofollow">The Torture Career of Egypt's New Vice President: Omar Suleiman and the Rendition to Torture Program</a><br /><br />It now looks like the author of that article on Suleiman may have been a little too optimistic about Obama when he said that<br /><br /><i>There are some signs, however, that the Obama administration may not accept Suleiman's appointment. Today they criticized the rearrangement of the chairs in Egypt's government. If so, that will be a welcome sign that the Obama administration may have some limits beyond which it is hesitant to go in aligning with our most brutal "friends</i><br /><br />Limits? Limits are for wimps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-61111163813627102882011-02-05T15:39:23.353-06:002011-02-05T15:39:23.353-06:00Was it Tom Brokaw's red-glared face I saw alte...<i>Was it Tom Brokaw's red-glared face I saw alternately turning from/toward the camera from his perch over Tahrir Square? </i><br /><br>No, it was Brian Williams. I can't tell these guys apart. To be sure, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw6kMjALcYk" rel="nofollow">here</a> they are together. Brokaw is the one who says "coalesce" as if he's having his tonsils removed in the process.geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04300772545812600392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-36885912987267840992011-02-05T13:04:52.777-06:002011-02-05T13:04:52.777-06:00I'd love to see a people's revolt in the U...I'd love to see a people's revolt in the US that started with, say, an occupation of Wall St.<br /><br />The viral contagion of uprising may well come to our shores. Freedom is contagious - the trouble is, outfits like NPR keep telling us how free we are. This morning the Simonizer <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/02/05/133518817/in-america-home-and-abroad-are-one-and-the-same%22" rel="nofollow">waxed revolting</a> with "Americans are comfortable in their own environment." He says,<br /><br><i>Americans can ski snowy peaks and salute Saguaro cacti in stark deserts without ever needing a passport.</i><br /><br>And without ever being able to afford a lift ticket, huh?<br /><br>How about this closer for disgusting propaganda:<br /><br><i>As astronaut Mark Kelly told the National Prayer Breakfast this week, he has been able to see our planet as he goes around the world—and around and around—from space, and now sees our earth, "as God created it, in the context of God's vast universe, with the heavens as its ceiling." </i><br /><br>In this world view, "God", is a benevolent autocrat, like Mubarak.<br /><br>As to more secular matters, Sciman introduces a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/02/05/133088089/collecting-garbage-memories-on-chicagos-streets" rel="nofollow">garbage story</a> by saying, <br /><br><i>Politicians are often heard to say that teachers make less than garbage men. But how many teachers would work as a sanitation worker?</i><br /><br>There are so many things wrong with this attitude that I'll have to break the space limit to comment further.geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04300772545812600392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-45853854274588806182011-02-05T12:12:29.878-06:002011-02-05T12:12:29.878-06:00Now on NPR.org's mainpage "Egyption Turmo...Now on NPR.org's mainpage "Egyption Turmoil Could Be Trouble For Investors". Typical American-centric BS coverage. I guess a story called "Could Egypt Be a Blueprint For American Protest?" would ruffle too many white house feathers.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-39836146524513473512011-02-04T20:27:22.196-06:002011-02-04T20:27:22.196-06:00What I meant to say was: believing that Reagan ...What I meant to say was: believing that Reagan 'sensed' that the Berlin Wall was coming down is like Rumsfeld going along with BushCo's Iraq war desires because he was 'distracted' at the moment by his son's drug problems.<br /><br />Psychotic reasoning is always a criminal's best defense.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-44542803503159613202011-02-04T19:56:53.219-06:002011-02-04T19:56:53.219-06:00Ashbrook had a classic Neocon approach to Egypt on...Ashbrook had a classic Neocon approach to Egypt on On Point this Fri.<br /><br />That is, David Sanger and - get ready - Tom Gjelten. Uh-huh. And yesterday he had Nick Burns on, whose lullaby-voiced BS has caused a lot of trouble in the world. (One caller-in astutely labeled Burns 'part of the problem' of Mubarakism (my term).)<br /><br />Anyway, just an observation about Gjelten (who deserves sustained criticism for the foreseeable future): on this show, he said absolutely NOTHING. Not only nothing of value (naturally), but nothing but filler words parroting what's already known. And he got paid for it.<br /><br />My point: when he's got a CIA-approved script in front of him, he's Mr. Gravitas, but when he's semi-off the cuff (he couldn't survive without a 'cuff' of some kind), he's as vacuous as Sarah Palin.<br /><br />Thus, as we know, Gjelten is the perfect vessel to fill by others then pour out onto Neocon Public's airwaves.<br /><br />Prediction: these overpaid blab-heads in their comfort zones will really start to lose their audiences, because their audiences have already figured out this stuff and have advanced past it. They will get their info from other sources, making things like NPR irrelevant, unnecessary, and prohibitively costly.<br /><br />Gjelten's most profound statement in the show: 'Ronald Reagan's genius was his sense of timing. He sensed that the Berlin Wall was about to fall...' etc. Spoken by a true believer.<br /><br />And not bad for an Alzheimers' dude! They can have epiphanies we can't even guess at - I guess. Viz: Ron Reagan's insights on his dad's illness; Gjelten & Co. will no doubt deny Ron's 'skewed' outlook. It's like The Don (Rumsfeld) blaming the rush into Iraq on his son's drug abuse. If you were The Don's son, you'd do drugs, too. And there’s no one better to blame a war on than a druggie.<br /><br />Job opportunities for otherwise disenfranchised sociopaths are always available in top leadership positions in this world.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-64024687658258145612011-02-04T12:09:25.768-06:002011-02-04T12:09:25.768-06:00So, now that Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is a victim of...So, now that <a href="It%20is%20clear%20that%20the%20Hosni%20Mubarak%20regime%20does%20not%20want%20what%20is%20happening%20here%20to%20be%20broadcast%20to%20the%20world." rel="nofollow">Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is a victim of the attacks</a> by Mubarak government thugs, she's changing her tune.<br /><br />When it's just ordinary Egyptians who are getting attacked, by all means, if you mention who is behind them at all, present the claims as he-said/she-said "balanced" with official denials from the Mubarak government.<br /><br />But now that she is the victim, she magically gains some certainty about just who is behind these attacks -- on journalists at least: It remains to be seen whether she will change her tune when it comes to attacks on ordinary folks.<br /><br />"It is clear that the Hosni Mubarak regime does not want what is happening here to be broadcast to the world."<br /><br />No s*** Lourdes?<br /><br />How did you come to that brilliant conclusion?<br /><br />How pathetic is Garcia-Navarro?<br /><br />She should be fired, IMHO.<br /><br />But, I'll settle for complete defunding of NPR and all member stations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-79949802563771997392011-02-04T08:31:52.426-06:002011-02-04T08:31:52.426-06:00Ha! Scrubby McNews. All the news that's fit to...Ha! Scrubby McNews. All the news that's fit to misprint (and then revise without citation).<br /><br />And it's during this fundraising time, I am especially reflexive in gripping my billfold and defensively jerking it back (like the protagonist of Kurosawa's 'Ikiru' grabbing protectively for his new fedora from the barmaid after the grief of having his old one already stolen).<br /><br />Not that I'm really listening in much, mind you.beepeeeffbeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-77543988360810247292011-02-03T21:39:47.356-06:002011-02-03T21:39:47.356-06:00"the more we point out their flaws, offences,..."the more we point out their flaws, offences, etc., the more stonewalled they become."<br /><br />That's just it, though.<br /><br />the change I mentioned above (removing the double quote) might just have been done coincidentally shortly after I pointed it out (or someone else may have pointed it out as well), but the fact that they change stuff like this willy nilly all the time (I pointed out several instances just above) without even acknowledging or annotating the changes means they are trying to HIDE their mistakes -- not own up to them.<br /><br />Hiding your mistakes and acting as if they never existed to begin with IS a form of stonewalling.<br /><br />It's kind of entertaining to play these games but at the same time it just shows how truly pathetic NPR has become. <br /><br />Not only do they not have editors who catch the errors, but they also don't have ethical journalistic standards in place in order to prevent "leave no trace behind" rewrites to their articles.<br /><br />The latter is exceedingly bad journalistic practice -- to say nothing of exceedingly dishonest.<br /><br />The perfect example is the artcile that reported that Congresswoman Giffords had died.<br /><br />Instead of leaving the article up with a red line through it and a prominent correction (perhaps in BOLD above the part that was in error) -- which would have been the honest thing to do -- NPR "disappeared it" entirely and replaced it with an entirely new one an then buried the correction way down in the article.<br /><br />I have been monitoring these articles on their website fairly regularly and these "changes without traces" are a regular pattern, not an anomaly.<br /><br />Whoever is writing the articles on the website (some of which come from NPR programs) seems to be under the impression that they can rewrite them as many times as they want and make corrections and changes at will and not even acknowledge the changes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-88087780697473054902011-02-03T18:58:31.340-06:002011-02-03T18:58:31.340-06:00Sorry for this shallow yak at such a time, but NPR...Sorry for this shallow yak at such a time, but NPR's other great communicators abroad sound like they're competing for roles in the cheesiest soap opera ever.<br /><br />I mean, Eleanor de Beardsley's STILL in Tunisia and she sounds more conceited and snotty than ever. Why? Just WHY?<br /><br />And Miss Julie McCarthy's in LaHORRR, talking about an important legal case, but her ersatz blue-blood drawl is so contorted and distracting that - OK, OK, I'm going back to where I belong: NOT near NPR.<br /><br />(And Julie, honey, if you insist on saying 'Pawk-ees-stawn', try saying 'Pun-jabb' instead of 'Poon-jawwb', and with no emphasis on either syllable. Actually it's a subtle grey area between 'pun' and 'pan' in 'Punjab', that is, if she wants to ape the locals. The inconsistency of these vain, bush-league people is most tiresome.) <br /><br />I know they're doing all this just to torture me.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-47351932326890860152011-02-03T18:38:15.554-06:002011-02-03T18:38:15.554-06:00Congrats, Anon, if you have indeed made a differen...Congrats, Anon, if you have indeed made a difference with NPR's control freaks, but I know I haven't. NPR is the Mubarak of news organizations, as it were. That is, the more we point out their flaws, offences, etc., the more stonewalled they become. Why else would NPR be getting worse in just about every way?<br /><br />At any rate, I've been so busy at Al Jazeera, BBC, DN!, Link TV, Grit TV, etc, I thought, boy, I've neglected NPR. So I checked in with the Blob and MeeShill. Now that the western media superstars are being treated with equality 'on the scene' in Cairo, let the indignant responses rage.<br /><br />Anyway, in hearing Lourdes' run-in and Suraya's (boring) train trip to Alexandria, there's still that TONE in Blob/M-Shill's voices that has a bit of the 'oh ick' to it. In Tucson a nut shoots a crowd, but it isn't 'icky', while in crude, boorish Cairo, HOW DARE a reporter get hassled?<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of reporters being roughed up or worse, but in dictator lands, rustling up a gang of thugs is one of the easiest things a thuggish Pharaoh can do. Casualness or fostering expectations that merely being a reporter is one's passport to a safe passage is out the window. There's no 'embedding' in this case.<br /><br />Mubarak may have a point when he said that Obama didn't understand Egyptian society. Yeah, a society he molded, influenced, and coerced.<br /><br />Bottom line though, NPR? I don't need no NPR.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-31818376241861163972011-02-03T17:48:08.130-06:002011-02-03T17:48:08.130-06:00By the way, if you want to see the original articl...By the way, if you want to see the original article above BEFORE NPR took out the repeat of the quote (after my note?), <a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/feb/03/mubarak-warns-chaos-if-he-leaves-office-early/" rel="nofollow">click here</a><br /><br />Isn't the internet great?<br /><br />Nothing is ever lost no matter how many times the hacks/quacks at NPR delete it!<br /><br />What a bunch of morons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-64373197723857654732011-02-03T17:43:03.557-06:002011-02-03T17:43:03.557-06:00ha,
NPR has now changed the report I commented ab...ha,<br /><br />NPR has now changed the report I commented about immediately above so that it NO LONGER contains the following quote TWICE:<br /><br />"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," he said.<br /><br />Too funny!<br /><br />If I were not sure that the folks at NPR can't read, I might think there is someone at NPR following this blog! (and madly making corrections as they are pointed out so they don't look like complete idiots)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-12250409174808461132011-02-03T16:22:38.606-06:002011-02-03T16:22:38.606-06:00Just when you thought NPR could not go any lower, ...Just when you thought NPR could not go any lower, you get this report entitled<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/02/03/133456631/egyptian-army-moves-between-rival-camps-in-cairo" rel="nofollow">"Mubarak Warns Of 'Chaos' If He Leaves Office Early"</a> with a picture of what NPR describes as "An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator battles pro-government opponents in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Thursday."<br /><br />NPR also makes sure to quote an "interview with ABC's Christiane Amanpour, Mubarek said his government was not responsible for the violent clashes in Cairo that continued into the night Thursday."<br /><br />Well, I guess that proves Mubarak had no hand in the marauding camels and horsemen, doesn't it?<br />Nothing to see here.<br />Move along.<br /><br />For some odd reason, NPR also includes a quote from Egypt's VP twice:<br /><br />"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," he said.<br /><br />You know what they say. If you repeat something enough times...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-71918232662533912692011-02-03T13:48:44.288-06:002011-02-03T13:48:44.288-06:00The Middle East is seeing popular uprisings the li...The Middle East is seeing popular uprisings the likes of which it has never seen before (in Tunisia, Egypt, and now Yemen)<br /><br />...and our illustrious "leader" Obama is acting like Chance Gardner in "Being There"<br /><br />"I like to watch" was his favorite line.<br /><br />Once again, Obama is handed the opportunity that happens once in a lifetime (if that) to effect REAL, lasting POSITIVE change for the lives of millions of people in that region and he is sitting on the sidelines:<br /><br />"I like to watch".<br /><br />Pathetic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-62315955161873882912011-02-03T12:19:54.190-06:002011-02-03T12:19:54.190-06:00Sometimes silence can say as much as speech...
Fo...Sometimes silence can say as much as speech...<br /><br />Following is from <a href="http://www.progressive.org/rc020211.html" rel="nofollow">Obama, Mubarak: We Love Pro-democracy Protesters!</a><br /><i><br />"Nicholas Kristof, blogging from Cairo, can't get over the giddiness of the Egyptians he is interviewing on the streets. They are disappointed in the United States' focus on what could go wrong, on the repercussions for oil prices, for Israel, for U.S. influence in the region.<br /><br />"These pro-democracy protesters say overwhelmingly that America is on the side of President Mubarak and not with them. They feel that way partly because American policy statements seem so nervous, so carefully calculated - and partly because these protesters were attacked with tear gas shells marked "made in U.S.A." -- Nicholas Kristof, blogging from Cairo<br /></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-23916977971821824342011-02-03T12:08:08.027-06:002011-02-03T12:08:08.027-06:00BTW,
even though Obama has not said much, people ...BTW,<br /><br />even though Obama has not said much, people around him have said lots of stuff:<br /><br />Hillary has talked about the importance of "stability" (code for "dictatorship") in the region.<br /><br />And Biden said "I don't think Mubarak is really a dictator".<br /><br />IE: NPR has no monopoly on circus acts. It's a comedy of clowns all around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-45214811695336626262011-02-03T11:46:28.164-06:002011-02-03T11:46:28.164-06:00If it looks like NPR is thrashing around -- and dr...If it looks like NPR is thrashing around -- and drowning -- in the whole Egypt thing, that's because they have no clue HOW they are "expected" to "cover" it. <br /><br />As noted by Chomsky, Obama has been very careful not to say anything so that he will keep all options open:<br /><br />If Mubarak survives, he can become his buddy again, just like before this happened.<br /><br />ONTH, if Mubarak is forced out, Obama can claim he was with the people all along.<br /><br />But because Obama has not said anything and because NPR gets their cue from Obama (or whoever happens to b ein the White House), they are currently lost at sea without a life vest.<br /><br />It's actually kin dof humorous watching them change their stories around from one hour to the next (noted above) to fit what they guess to be the tone of the Obama administration.<br /><br /><br /><br />doesn't really know how to comeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-63325544228706214312011-02-03T09:59:24.448-06:002011-02-03T09:59:24.448-06:00Gag, 'Knead to Blow' is pathetic, especial...Gag, 'Knead to Blow' is pathetic, especially in light of the programs it superseded. I started calling it NPRtv from the git-go.bgpkfzbnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-18633295145621516692011-02-03T09:54:05.279-06:002011-02-03T09:54:05.279-06:00Well, its not npr, but pbs. Apparently (I haven&#...Well, its not npr, but pbs. Apparently (I haven't watched it), their new show in the old Moyers timeslot is drawing lots of <a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Programmers-frank-direct-by-Rory-OConnor-110202-694.html" rel="nofollow"><br />criticism.</a> In the article is a letter from the president of WNET, whcih produces the show 'Need to Know', as in "you DON'T need to know that there were no WMDs in Iraq (so we didn't tell you)." The sickening letter tries to tie the show to the coat tail of the disgraced poseur Tim Russert (exposed by Moyers on PBS!). It seems these folks want nothing more than residence in the echo-chamber. That is what management at npr and pbs is all about.larry, dfhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-88589573366789012942011-02-03T09:45:14.110-06:002011-02-03T09:45:14.110-06:00I noted the change in tone of the Egypt coverage S...<i>I noted the change in tone of the Egypt coverage Saturday night into Sunday morning.</i><br /><br>Yes the play book seems to have moved on from the failed, "don't make so much chaos and mayhem", to "we're the only ones who can save you from those horrible Mubarak thugs." Was is Tom Brokaw's red-glared face I saw alternately turning from/toward the camera from his perch over Tahrir Square? What brave souls are these Americans to perch above liberty like birds of prey?geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04300772545812600392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-47141695462393558342011-02-03T08:27:50.392-06:002011-02-03T08:27:50.392-06:00WHYY is 425k off their mark of 760k so in 8 days o...WHYY is 425k off their mark of 760k so in 8 days of funding they got a grand total of 335k. It is beginning to show on the talking heads as they try to remain ever up-beat and positive. And of course the last day is supposed to be tomorrow and the corporate "challenges" have not been in play as much as usual - yet.<br /><br />I noted the change in tone of the Egypt coverage Saturday night into Sunday morning.<br /><br />edkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-90018916577341947432011-02-02T23:20:17.180-06:002011-02-02T23:20:17.180-06:00More Fisk:
http://www.linktv.org/programs/
robert...More Fisk:<br /><br />http://www.linktv.org/programs/<br />robert-fisk-lies-and-<br />misreporting-in-the-middle-<br />east?hmPorter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.com