Too close to the dang Washington, D.C. beltway
Thoughts of media and politics
9/05/2013
4/18/2013
Imbeciles pretending to be journalists at MSNBC
MSNBC: NRA 'in the Business of Helping Bombers Get Away With Their Crimes'
MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell made the case this evening that the National Rifle Association is to blame for the slow investigation into the Boston bombings:
"There are new developments tonight in the bombing investigation here in Boston," said O'Donnell. "But that investigation could be moving faster were it not for the successful lobbying efforts of the National Rifle Association. The NRA's efforts to guarantee that American mass murderers are the best-equipped mass murders in the world is not limited to murderers who use assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The NRA is also in the business of helping bombers get away with their crimes. Gunpowder could be traced by investigators to a buyer at the point of sale if gunpowder contained a taggant, an element that would enable tracing of the purchase of gunpowder. But thanks to the National Rifle Association, identification taggants are required by law only in plastic explosives. The NRA has successfully blocked any requirements for such taggants in gunpowder. So such supremely helpful evidence as taggants are not available to the FBI in this investigation."
2/26/2013
MSNBC really is more partisan than Fox, according to Pew study
How does Comcast allow such wretched bias in presidential coverage?
The bias Pew has cataloged on MSNBC and Fox News in presidential… (AFP/Saul Loeb )
November 02, 2012|By David Zurawik | The Baltimore Sun
Check out the full Pew study here. It's a good one, and there is much food for thought in its findings as we approach the end of an election cycle marked by poor media performance.
In writing about the Pew study released today, I was struck by the big story of how negative coverage on several levels of presidential politics had become.
I think this is big trouble for democracy, especially the hostile level of discourse in social media. And that it's something the media need to address collectively after the election.
But here's one of several fascinating smaller findings of the study that are kind of stunning -- even if they seem obvious and ho-hum to some of my more jaded, postmodern, aren't-we-cleverly-ironic colleagues:
ON MSNBC, the ratio of negative to positive stories on GOP candidate Mitt Romney was 71 to 3.
That's not a news channel. That's a propaganda machine, and owner Comcast should probably change Phil Griffin's title from president to high minister of information, or something equally befitting the work of a party propaganist hack in a totalitarian regime. You wonder how mainstream news organizations allow their reporters and correspondents to appear in such a cauldron of bias.
I thought show host Sean Hannity of Fox News defined party propagandist. But while his channel was bad, it wasn't as bad-boy biased as MSNBC.
The ratio of negative to positive stories in Fox's coverage of President Obama was 46 to 6.
Idiots at MSNBC
"With Gibbs and Axelrod, MSNBC now worse than Fox on propaganda: How a so-called 'news' channel becomes a organ of state policy," http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-02-25/entertainment/bal-gibbs-axelrod-msnbc-propaganda-20130225_1_msnbc-axelrod-and-gibbs-fox-news
MSNBC following the fine tradition of the old Soviet propaganda publication Pravda. The sad thing is, MSNBCs so called "journalists" are the biggest bunch of morons on TV. Fox has its own issues, but the blatant horse manure coming from MSNBC is utterly laughable.
MSNBC following the fine tradition of the old Soviet propaganda publication Pravda. The sad thing is, MSNBCs so called "journalists" are the biggest bunch of morons on TV. Fox has its own issues, but the blatant horse manure coming from MSNBC is utterly laughable.
2/20/2013
2/19/2013
Colorado College Advises Vomiting Or Urinating To Stop Rapists After Lawmakers Pass Gun Control Bills
By CONNOR SHEETS | FEBRUARY 18 2013 10:36 PM
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Department of Public Safety has updated an online statement advising female students to consider a variety of unusual actions if they are attacked, including vomiting, urinating and claiming that they are menstruating.
The advisory was updated Monday evening, just hours after the Colorado state House of Representatives passed a package of gun control bills that includes one that would make it illegal for people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns on the campuses of public universities. The bills still have to go to the state Senate and governor.
Some of the pieces of advice which were updated Monday evening on the university's public safety website are ones that many would find familiar, from running away without looking back to "yelling, hitting or biting" your attacker.
But the following two suggestions are a little stranger and are already causing quite the outcry on social media : "Tell your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating," and "Vomiting or urinating may also convince the attacker to leave you alone."
But the following two suggestions are a little stranger and are already causing quite the outcry on social media : "Tell your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating," and "Vomiting or urinating may also convince the attacker to leave you alone."
These less-conventional methods for fighting off a would-be rapist are apparently part of Rape Aggression Defense Systems , a class that the school's public safety department promotes as a means for female students to boost their self-defense skills.
But the fact that the site providing the pointers was updated at 6:30 p.m. Monday suggests that the move may have been motivated by the Colorado House's passage on Monday of HB 1226 , which would ban all people -- including concealed-weapons permit holders -- from carrying guns on the campuses of the state's public universities.
The House passed the bill on Monday by a vote of 34-31, but not before it became the center of a major controversy when Democratic state Rep. Joe Salazar made comments during Friday's debate arguing that students should not have access to guns to protect themselves from being raped.
“It’s why we have call boxes, it’s why we have safe zones, it’s why we have the whistles," Salazar said, according to KDVR News . "Because you just don’t know who you’re gonna be shooting at. And you don’t know if you feel like you’re gonna be raped, or if you feel like someone’s been following you around or if you feel like you’re in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop -- pop around at somebody.”
The comments drew the ire of a number of conservative pundits, as well as several Republican Colorado lawmakers who were offended by the insinuation that would-be rape victims should rely on rape whistles and safe zones rather than arm themselves against potential attackers.
Salazar eventually apologized for any offense he may have caused, but he did not back down from his premise that guns are not needed to protect women from attacks on the campuses of Colorado's public universities.
“I’m sorry if I offended anyone. That was absolutely not my intention,” Salazar said, according to KDVR News. “We were having a public policy debate on whether or not guns makes people safer on campus. I don’t believe they do. That was the point I was trying to make. If anyone thinks I’m not sensitive to the dangers women face, they’re wrong. I am a husband and father of two beautiful girls, and I’ve spent the last decade defending women’s rights as a civil rights attorney. Again, I’m deeply sorry if I offended anyone with my comments.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic-led Colorado House of Representatives passed the final two gun measures brought to a vote Monday, the Denver Post reported.
After previously passing measures limiting gun magazines to 15 rounds and requiring universal background checks on private firearms purchases, the House approved two more bills: the ban on concealed weapons on public college campuses and a bill requiring gun buyers to pay the cost of their state background checks.
The bills will now go to the state Senate, which is also controlled by Democrats.
The entire text of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Public Safety Department's advisory is posted below:
"Updated message from February 18, 2013 at 6:30pm from the Department of Public Safety:
The ten points of information below were used in a context supplemented with additional information during the in-class training covered in the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class. The R.A.D. class is offered free of charge as a public service to women who are part of the greater UCCS community.
Rape Aggression Defense Systems (RAD Systems) is a hands-on, women only self defense and risk reduction education program designed to teach women realistic ways to defend and protect oneself from sexual and abductive assaults. RAD is an international organization of certified law enforcement instructors.
For more information regarding the RAD class, classes scheduled for the spring semester, or any other crime prevention programs, please visit the following pages:
What To Do If You Are Attacked
These tips are designed to help you protect yourself on campus, in town, at your home, or while you travel. These are preventative tips and are designed to instruct you in crime prevention tactics.
1. Be realistic about your ability to protect yourself.
2. Your instinct may be to scream, go ahead! It may startle your attacker and give you an opportunity to run away.
3. Kick off your shoes if you have time and can't run in them.
4. Don't take time to look back; just get away.
5. If your life is in danger, passive resistance may be your best defense.
6. Tell your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating.
7. Vomiting or urinating may also convince the attacker to leave you alone.
8. Yelling, hitting or biting may give you a chance to escape, do it!
9. Understand that some actions on your part might lead to more harm.
10. Remember, every emergency situation is different. Only you can decide which action is most appropriate."
2/07/2013
FREE Obama-phones!!!
Remember the Obama-phone lady prior to the elections?
Well, post election here is a story further expanding the Obama-phone program, giving us a fine example of this administrations practice of crony capitalism.
Wireless exec with ties to Obama wins contract to supply poor with smartphones
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/wireless-exec-with-ties-to-obama-wins-contract-to-supply-jobless-with-smart/print#ixzz2KFguvSio
Well, post election here is a story further expanding the Obama-phone program, giving us a fine example of this administrations practice of crony capitalism.
Wireless exec with ties to Obama wins contract to supply poor with smartphones
Published February 07, 2013
A cellphone company run by a major Democratic donor and President Obama backer has extended its foray into government contracts, from the so-called “Obama phone” to a project intended to provide high-speed Internet access to low-income families -- amid criticism its product is ill-equipped.
Critics also suggest TracFone Wireless CEO F.J. Pollak used his Obama connections to help his company get one of the 14 contracts.
At issue is a $13.8 million pilot project by the Federal Communications Commission that attempts to find the best ways to increase the broadband access rate among the poor and help improve their digital skills – to eventually help them manage household finances, look for work and do other tasks.
The contracts were awarded late last year, though it's unclear how much went to TracFone.
Pollak and his wife, Abigail, are major Obama bundlers and Democratic donors. The couple hosted a $40,000-a-plate fundraising dinner in June at their Miami Beach home. And Abigail Pollak alone raised at least $632,000 for the Obama re-election effort, a total $1.56 million for him since 2007, according to a financial documents obtained by The New York Times.
In addition, F.J. Pollak has been to the White House at least twice. And he and his wife gave an estimated $270,000 to Democratic candidates in the last election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org.
"That has absolutely nothing to do with business,” Jose Fuentes, a spokesman for TracFone's parent company, America Movil, told The Washington Times. “There's been no pay-for-play — or even favors. What he does in his private time is his."
But critics also say TracFone, by supplying project participants with its top-line smartphone, would not accomplish the goals of the FCC project.
John B. Horrigan, a researcher at the Pew Internet & American Life Project, writes on the Social Science Research Network website that small screens and keyboards on so-called smartphones, and perhaps connectivity issues, result in their users having trouble engaging “as deeply with the Internet” as home broadband users.
An FCC spokesman told FoxNews.com on Wednesday the one-year projects were chosen through a competition intended to find ones that would gather facts and data about “technologically diverse approaches to increasing broadband adoption, including fixed and mobile broadband.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/wireless-exec-with-ties-to-obama-wins-contract-to-supply-jobless-with-smart/print#ixzz2KFguvSio
2/06/2013
Obama unleashes the drones!
Disturbing news has been in the limelight about the Obama administrations justification for its use of drone strikes against American citizens as a way to curb terrorism.
This story covers a DOJ document that...
EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/04/16843014-exclusive-justice-department-memo-reveals-legal-case-for-drone-strikes-on-americans?lite
It states that "an “informed, high-level” official of the U.S. government" can make the determination on who gets killed in a drone strike. Who exactly is an informed, high-level official?
The absurdity of all of this stems from this being an Obama policy, given to us by the Democrats. These are the same Democrats who were screaming bloody murder about Ashcroft, Bush, and Cheney with their warrant less wiretap searches. There were protests and people were calling for the impeachment of Bush because his policies violated civil rights.
'Judge, jury and executioner': Legal experts fear implications of White House drone memo
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/05/16855539-judge-jury-and-executioner-legal-experts-fear-implications-of-white-house-drone-memo?lite
Where are all of those people who were protesting Bush about the Iraq war and Patriot Act abuses? Their silence simply proves that since "their guy" is the President, they are just FINE with it. It further examples what hypocrites liberal Democrats are.
The below story details how drone strikes killed a 16 year old American citizen because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but obviously the informed, high-level official did not care. This abuse of civil rights and state sponsored murder by Obama is so ironic because people game this man the Nobel Peace Prize.
American drone deaths highlight controversy
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/05/16856963-american-drone-deaths-highlight-controversy?lite
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