Hey - you can't park that there!
{isn't it nice we can joke about it - kudo's all
around, especially the pilot - from Danville btw}
.
{isn't it nice we can joke about it - kudo's all
around, especially the pilot - from Danville btw}
Friday, January 16, 2009
Media Reality Check: Inauguration Day Double Standards
The news media are giddy with excitement as Barack Obama’s Inauguration Day approaches.
But it would be a mistake to think reporters are always so worshipful of new presidents. While most presidents do start with a media honeymoon, a review of the past 20 years finds reporters are more celebratory when Democrats are taking over the White House, while coverage of GOP inaugurals has included a fair number of anti-conservative stinkbombs:
■ 1989. President George Bush; ABC’s Richard Threlkeld went to Overtown, a riot-scarred area of Miami, for Inauguration Day: “a lot of those who lived through this week in Overtown seemed to think the best thing about George Bush is that he is not Ronald Reagan,”
On NBC, anchor Bryant Gumbel praised Bush’s speech as signaling “a new activism, a new engagement in the lives of others, a yearning for greater tolerance....Basically a rejection of everything that the Reagan years had been about.” [but Bush won]
■ 1993. Bill Clinton; The New York Times asked in a January 3, 1993 headline: “Clinton as National Idol” Newsweek magazine ran TV ads touting its commemorative edition “that’s sure to be a collector’s item because it covers the most important inauguration of our lifetime.”
■ 1997. Clinton-2; second inaugural inspired just as much hero-worship. Howard Rosenberg reviewed Clinton’s speech for the Los Angeles Times: “His sturdy jaw precedes him. He smiles from sea to shining sea. Is this President a candidate for Mt. Rushmore or what?...”
■ 2001. Bush 43: NBC’s Maria Shriver emphasized “millions of people who felt disenfranchised by this election, who don’t feel that he’s their President” [despite 18 recounts and a Supreme Court decision]
■ 2005. Bush43-2; ABC’s Terry Moran worried “In a time of war and natural disaster, is it time for a lavish celebration?” The AP’s Will Lester “22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami [i.e., outside the US] Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?”
ABC’s Web site pleaded for tips of “any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20.” Sure enough, then-ABC anchor Peter Jennings got his wish to report how “just about the time the president was speaking, there was a funeral for a young Marine reservist: 21-year-old Matthew Holloway was killed in Iraq last week by a roadside bomb.”
I wouldn't look for the networks to use such tactics to sour Obama’s celebration.
[Pattern? Trend? You're imagining it - move along.
BTW: the "45 million" cost figure the nets keep referring to is only what Obama’s 'inaugural committee' will be spending - the overall costs are expected to be closer to 150M$: At $150m, Obama inauguration could be most expensive ever ]
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Milblogger Michael Yon Considers Suing Michael Moore
Having just won the 2008 Weblog Award for Best Military Blog, Michael Yon is considering filing a lawsuit against schlockumentarian Michael Moore. Since last May, Yon has been trying without success to get Moore to remove from his website an award-winning picture the milblogger took back in 2005:
The misappropriated photo shows US Army Maj. Mark Bieger cradling an Iraqi girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. She died a short time later.
"The implication on Moore's Web site was that our soldiers were somehow responsible for that kid being wounded," Yon's lawyer told Page Six. "That is absolutely not true. She was the victim of an insurgent's car bomb." Yon said: "I've never sued anyone in my life. It looks like Mr. Moore might be the first."
Yon - a Special Forces vet who posts regular dispatches from the front at michaelyon-online.com - is considered by many as the "Ernie Pyle of our time."
[and someone I've relied on for the straight scoop for years now. Yon goes on to convey some concern re: the costs of prosecuting a suit - might I propose a great way to support him >
Michael's New Book Due Out in April 2008
Moment of Truth - Special Signed Edition (Hardcover, Library Binding) - by Michael Yon
* Hardcover:
* Advance Order: Estimated Ship Date April 2008
* Language: English
In Moment of Truth in Iraq, Michael sends a strong message: In 2007 we averted disaster and made great progress. But we still face grave dangers—and critical moments just ahead. That’s why he is returning to Iraq and will continue reporting exclusive material until the day the book hits the presses.
and/or 'support the next dispatch' while you're there {lower-left} - thank you]
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Rangel to reintroduce military draft measure
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) likely will introduce his controversial legislation to reinstate the draft again this year, but he will wait until after the economic stimulus package is passed. Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel last week said, “Probably … yes."
Democratic leaders have given Rangel a leading role in helping craft the new economic stimulus bill despite an array of ethics allegations that have surfaced over the last several months. The charges have ranged from failing to report rental income on a villa in the Dominican Republic to an alleged quid pro quo involving a legislative favor for a donor to an education center bearing Rangel’s name.
Republicans are likely to seize on the reintroduction of Rangel’s unpopular military draft bill. When they controlled the House in 2004, Republicans scheduled a vote on the Rangel measure, which was defeated 402-2. Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.) supported it... [ snip]
If a draft had been in place in 2002 when members were making the decision on whether to support the war in Iraq, Rangel has said, Congress never would have approved the war resolution, because the pressure from constituents would have been too great.
[Liberals hate that we've an all volunteer force - the unparalleled dedication of its members really makes their standard divide-and-conquer methods difficult.]
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An Exercise in Comparing and Contrasting
J.G. Thayer - 01.15.2009 - 8:16 AM
Israeli hospitals take in sick and wounded Palestinians and give them aid and comfort.
Palestinian hospitals take in healthy Palestinian terrorist leaders and give them shelter in reinforced basements.
Israelis make shelters for children.
Palestinian terrorists make shelters of children.
Israel often forgoes attacks when civilians are endangered.
Palestinian terrorists hope and pray to kill civilians.
Israeli schools are rocket targets.
Palestinian schools are rocket launch facilities.
…And which side garners international protests and demonstrations against “war crimes” again?
Here’s a hint: look at the guy on the right.
To steal one of Meryl Yourish’s favorite lines:
“What time is it, folks? That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time. It occurs every day of the week that ends with a 'y'.“[demagogue? did you follow the links?]
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"Les Juifs sont nos chiens"
... or "The Jews are our dogs": The enthusiastic chant on the streets of Montreal, along with cries of "Hezbollah! Nasrallah!"
It's easy to think all this stuff is just about the Jew troublemakers, and who cares about them, right? But the thuggery on display in western cities is meant to intimidate not the despised Jew dogs but a more general audience — and it seems to be doing the job. Powerline notes the bizarre response from the French government to a Molotov cocktail attack on a synagogue in St-Denis:
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France has faced a "very clear increase" in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks since Israel started an offensive against the militant group Hamas in Gaza on Dec. 27.
Would it be too much for a French reporter to ask Mme Alliot-Marie to provide an example of an "anti-Muslim attack" since December 27th?
None seems to have been reported in the French press, unlike the daily attacks on synagogues, kosher butchers, schools, and individual Jews in Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, etc. So the Interior Minister would appear to be promoting a wholly false equivalence. Why would she do this?
Well, halfway through the Montreal video, you'll briefly see the demonstrators taunt the police, daring them to enforce their authority. For a clearer picture, look at this "pro-Palestinian" protest in London and the Metropolitan Police retreating in the face of a crowd jeering, "Run, run, you cowards!" and "Fatwa!"
The west's deluded multiculti progressives should understand: In the end, this isn't about Gaza, this isn't about Jews.
It's about you.
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Smouldering tensions over the UN’s smoking ban
After spending a week watching United Nations diplomats flagrantly ignoring their own "no smoking" rules, it was hardly surprising when Israel and Hamas were similarly unmoved by the organisation's somewhat more serious ceasefire resolution in Gaza. The UN's protracted and unhappy battle to ban smoking inside its New York headquarters doesn't exactly encourage confidence in its ability to enforce its will anywhere else.
[well, their rules aren't really intended for themselves, they're smart. They're meant for us simple 'common' folks...]
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CNN’s Lou Dobbs: Belief in Global Warming 'Almost a Religion'
[credit where due: this is CNN?]
On his program on Monday evening, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs criticized the proponents of the theory of manmade global warming in response to a report by correspondent Ines Ferre about the latest climate data:
“They bring this thing to a personal belief system. It’s almost a religion, without any question...” He went on to criticize the “crowding out of facts and objective assessment of those facts...there’s such selective choices of data as one discusses and tries to understand the reality of the issues that make up global warming.”
Dobbs set the tone early as he introduced Ferre’s report, which began 41 minutes into the 7 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program:
“ Well, tonight, relax, we have another report for you, and all of who you believe in global warming will be challenged, and the facts, if you’re not interested in the facts, you shouldn't pay attention..."
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New FDA inhaler ban worries some Treasure Coast patients
To save the earth, the U.S. government might be leaving some people short of breath.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency have banned production, as of Dec. 31, of all inhalers using chlorofluorocarbons to propel medication into people's lungs. CFCs deplete the ozone layer... [snip]
But 40 million Americans rely on inhalers, and not all of them are convinced the new inhalers — which rely on environmentally friendly aerosol hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA — are as medically effective. The new inhalers also cost about $50, more than twice the price of the ozone-depleting versions..."If the amount of drug that is being delivered to the lung is not adequate, then clearly the solution is not to switch over from CFC to HFA," Light said. "I think that you have to listen to people when this happens."
I am a liberal, tree-hugging hippie, card-carrying member of Green Peace and Sierra Club. I care about the Earth. I don't want to see us destroy it,"
said Christine McKean of Vero Beach, 28, who has cystic fibrosis, another common ailment that requires the use of inhalers.
"If I thought that the CFCs in inhalers were a major factor in the destruction of the ozone layer, I might be more against them."
[translation: he never meant for his religious fatwas to effect him ]
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Energy pick ardent about climate change
A decade or so ago, his brother says, Chu began to take an interest in global warming and energy supply. Those close to Chu can't explain exactly how he came to seize on these issues, but with typical intensity, he quickly came up to speed and became passionate about them.
Chu coauthored a 2007 report about energy that in part concluded:
"What the world does in the coming decade will have enormous consequences that will last for centuries. It is imperative that we begin without further delay."
Chu is "arrogant" with a "we-know-best attitude," says Ignacio Chapela, a UC Berkeley ecologist who clashed with Chu over Chu's plan for the university and the Lawrence Berkeley lab to take part in a research effort funded by energy giant BP.
"Chu will … want to implement his own policies. So there's this potential for conflict," says Patzek, who clashed with Chu for the Nobelist's enthusiasm for biofuels, gasoline substitutes derived from plants. "I actually don't know why he agreed to do this."
[Obama's 'moderate' energy {remember? the position's about securing the energy we need} czar...]
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RUNNING ON EMPTY PROMISES
Vaclav Smil, author of "Energy at the Crossroads"
In 2007, the United States derived about 1.7 percent of its energy from new renewable conversions -- corn-based ethanol, wind, photovoltaic solar and geothermal -- all of them combined. In 2008, coal-fired power plants produced half of all U.S. electricity, nuclear stations 20 percent.
The forecasts and anticipations have failed miserably because their authors and promoters ignored one of the most important realities ruling the behavior of complex energy systems: the inherently slow pace of energy transitions:
• It took oil about 50 years since the beginning of its commercial production to capture 10 percent of the global primary energy market, and then almost exactly 30 years to go to reach 25 percent.
• Analogical spans for natural gas are almost identical: approximately and 50 years and 40 years.
• Nuclear fission reached 10 percent of global electricity generation 27 years after the commissioning of the first nuclear power plant in 1956.
• But coal has reigned supreme since the late 1890s; in 2008, it supplied twice as much energy as it did in 1973.
The historical verdict is unassailable, and barring some extraordinary circumstance, none of the promises for greatly accelerated energy transitions will be realized. We should prepare ourselves for a slow transition.
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FLASHBACKS:
NYT: Winter Weather Stifles Alternative Energy Sources, Will Nets Follow?
Enviro Economics
Looming Energy Disaster
ENERGY ECONOMICS NONSENSE
U.S. FACES SERIOUS RISKS OF BROWNOUTS IN 2009
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Higher Learning...
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Anti-Semitism Rising at Penn State
Here is how Pennsylvania State University’s Daily Collegian described yesterday’s student protest of the war in Gaza: Waving vibrant Palestinian flags and holding head-turning signs, students and community members gathered Wednesday at the Allen Street gates to protest the conflict in Gaza. About 20 protesters braved frigid weather to brandish signs such as “You can’t bomb a resistance out of existence” and “Use tax $$$ for jobs, not bombs in Gaza.”
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Speech is not free for all at FSU
If there's one thing America's students (especially disadvantaged ones) do not need, it's to be inundated in classrooms with noxious notions about revolution, violence and tyranny. Every real education reformer worth his salt, whether conservative or liberal, agrees that the ideology of victimization that Ayers preaches is toxic. Pupils learn best when taught reading, writing and math in disciplined environments by teachers who accept no excuses for failure.
So: The harmful and flawed educational notions of a man who hid from the law after bombing buildings in which served our nation's police, elected officials and military personnel is, according to FSU, protected speech that public money should fund.
But protestations against Ayers' ideas apparently do not deserve similar protection.
The Democrat reported that two men — one dressed as Osama bin Laden, the other as Timothy McVeigh — attempted to make evident their disapproval of Ayers' views and actions by distributing, outside the student union, fliers mockingly described as "from the terrorist community." The men were removed to Landis Green, a designated "free-speech zone" that has the considerable drawback of being nowhere near the ballroom where Ayers spoke and, thus, allowing only the free speech that nobody is free to hear.
Oh well: At least neither was tased.
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