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Open thread 6/25
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted June 25, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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88 Comments
No, it’s about ownership stupid.
The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End ItThe Center for American Progress and Free Press today released the first-of-its-kind statistical analysis of the political make-up of talk radio in the United States. It confirms that talk radio, one of the most widely used media formats in America, is dominated almost exclusively by conservatives.
The new report — entitled “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio” — raises serious questions about whether the companies licensed to broadcast over the public radio airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans.
While progressive talk is making inroads on commercial stations, right-wing talk reigns supreme on America’s airwaves. Some key findings:
– In the spring of 2007, of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming was conservative, and only 9 percent was progressive.
– Each weekday, 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk are broadcast on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk — 10 times as much conservative talk as progressive talk.
– 76 percent of the news/talk programming in the top 10 radio markets is conservative, while 24 percent is progressive.
Two common myths are frequently offered to explain the imbalance of talk radio: 1) the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine (which required broadcasters to devote airtime to contrasting views), and 2) simple consumer demand. Each of these fails to adequately explain the root cause of the problem. The report explains:
Our conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcast, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management. […]
Ultimately, these results suggest that increasing ownership diversity, both in terms of the race/ethnicity and gender of owners, as well as the number of independent local owners, will lead to more diverse programming, more choices for listeners, and more owners who are responsive to their local communities and serve the public interest.
Along with other ideas, the report recommends that national radio ownership not be allowed to exceed 5 percent of the total number of AM and FM broadcast stations, and local ownership should not exceed more than 10 percent of the total commercial radio stations in a given market.
Time now for another installment of the WEBlog’s fastest growing news sensation, Bush Family Evil Empire: Scandal Du Jour.
Remember how we had to attack and occupy Iraq because of long-standing ties between Saddam and Al Qaeda?
Remember how BushCo kept linking 9-11 to Iraq and Saddam without evidence? Remember that?
Well if you don’t, let this refresh your memory:
“Along with the contention that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials have often asserted that there were extensive ties between Hussein’s government and Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network; earlier this year, Cheney said evidence of a link was ‘overwhelming.’”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html
Turns out, all that was a damned lie, and BushCo KNEW it was a lie.
Here’s the Phase II Senate Intelligence Report that Pat “Ol Rubberstamp” Roberts stonewalled until after he was forced out–
http://intelligence.senate.gov/pubcurrent.html
[Bin] Ladin generally opposed collaboration [with Baghdad]. (p. 65)
According to debriefs of multiple detainees — including Saddam Hussein and former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz — and capture documents, Saddam did not trust al-Qa’ida or any other radical Islamist group and did not want to cooperate with them. (p. 67)
Aziz underscored Saddam’s distrust of Islamic extremists like bin Ladin, stating that when the Iraqi regime started to see evidence that Wahabists had come to Iraq, “the Iraqi regime issued a decree aggressively outlawing Wahabism in Iraq and threatening offenders with execution.” (p. 67)
Another senior Iraqi official stated that Saddam did not like bin Ladin because he called Saddam an “unbeliever.” (p.73)
Conclusion 1: … Postwar findings indicate that Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al-Qa’ida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al Qa’ida to provide material or operational support. Debriefings of key leaders of the former Iraqi regime indicate that Saddam distrusted Islamic radicals in general, and al Qa’ida in particular… Debriefings also indicate that Saddam issued a general order that Iraq should not deal with al Qa’ida. No postwar information suggests that the Iraqi regime attempted to facilitate a relationship with bin Ladin. (p. 105)
Conclusion 5:… Postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi. (p. 109)
*****
All that linking of Saddam to Al Qaeda and 9-11 was just more of what we’ve come to expect from Worst. President. Ever.
Lies, damn lies, and a never-ending war based on lies.
Still beating that dead horse eh Capn?
All he has is politics of fear — keep them afraid, VERY afraid. Worse, it works with many. Keep posting the truth; maybe it will wake up some of those who are kept very afraid by a pack of lies.
You want to read some stuff that makes the scandal du jour look like child’s play? Read about the handiwork of one Mr. Richard Cheney:
“That same day, Aug. 1, 2002, Yoo signed off on a second secret opinion, the contents of which have never been made public. According to a source with direct knowledge, that opinion approved as lawful a long list of specific interrogation techniques proposed by the CIA — including waterboarding, a form of near-drowning that the U.S. government classified as a war crime in 1947. The opinion drew the line against one request: threatening to bury a prisoner alive.”
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/pushing_the_envelope_on_presi/index.html
At long last, the Washington Post is starting to throw their weight into looking at the inner workings of this administration. A bit late, but at least they are starting.
Wow! Fairness Doctrine! Here we come. The return of Soviet and Nazi government censorship.
Although the most successful Talk Radio hosts are more to the right, that isn’t because of some conspiracy. It is market driven and people who are professionals in the radio business. You have to remember that the likes of Rush and others were in radio long before they did Talk Radio format.
Rush explained it best when they talked about the failure of Air America, leftist Radio. He says you can’t stick a bunch of amateurs who have no idea about or ever been in the radio business and expect to be successful. It’s not about talking politics or current events, it’s selling advertisement.
And this Public Ownership of the airwaves is a crock of crap also. That was disseminated by government in order to control the content of the message. A direct violation of freedom of speech, disguised as public ownership. Now there shouldn’t be a free for all, but the only thing the government should do is regulate who has the right to what frequency on a first come first serve basis and so on. They shouldn’t monitor the content.
It would be like when you get the newspaper delivered to your home. Since the newspaper guy is using the Public Road system to deliver that newspaper, then that newspaper should be subjected to the Fairness Doctrine. Equal time for all messages.
Some of you neo-leftist on here have to understand that you will not get the censorship of the radio again. It isn’t going to happen. Even if Hillary becomes President, she will not bring back the Doctrine you so desire.
Actually, right-wing radio succeeds because all the liberals are out in the world working (and underpaid), and have no time to listen to the radio. The neo-cons live off government dole and have nothing else to do.
Limbaugh’s promotion of Apple Computers, Snapple and other products took him a long way down the successful Radio Talk Show advertisers.
Of course, the far Left Liberals think that this sort of capitalism is abhorrent and wouldn’t stoop to such things.
Perhaps the GORACLE’s attraction to Hollywood glitz might give them a clue on just how misguided the Liberal Left is. ;)
“The Center for American Progress and Free Press”
They’re interested in a lot of things, and “progress” (read progressive – er, uh, liberal) might be one of them, but a free press certainly isn’t on their agenda.
You know, I could sign up for the re-introduction of the Fairness Doctrine if those who propose same were remotely interested in fairness.
But that’s not the purpose here. What they seek to do, rather, is to shut up voices they don’t like, and to do so for political advantage. Yes, in that sense, they are little different than the Soviet system.
Pravda. Now that’s fairness.(And don’t bitch about it, if you know what’s good for you. And by the way, you’re not entitled to know what’s good for you. WE will decide that for you. Now shut up and pay your taxes.
What a vision of utopia that is.
Wouldn’t the Fairness Doctrine allow anyone to ask for equal time?
I mean if the Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan wanted to make commentary in response to an opinion on Black Entertainment Television, wouldn’t they have to give him equal time?
Interesting slide show and narrative on the most powerful vice president in history:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070622/GAL-07Jun22-78888/index.html?hpid=artslot
I recall when the NYT published some articles that stirred absolute hatred from Right Wing Talk Radio… They wanted the Times shut down… They wanted the Editors charged with Treason… And why?? Because of content they didnt agree with!!
Now, when the shoe is on the other foot, they cry foul!!
Toooo funny!!!
For all you P.O.E.M. members out there, that should read: “Because of content with which they did not agree.”
Censor radio broadcasts? I think not.
Worried about conservative owners dominating radio? Not sure that’s true, but I know a case can also be made that liberal owners dominate the print media – ie. Newspapers for those of you at the Eagle.
So censor radio – and newspapers will be next.
If you don’t like the radio shows today, quit listening to them. Hey, even boycott the advertisers products.
They won’t broadcast or print anything anymore without making a profit.
If you Libs think YOU dominate the market so much, go ahead boycott talk radio, boycott it’s advertisers products and we’ll find out just how many conservatives vs libs there really are!
Afraid of the challenge? At least this would be the legal approach to destroying the radio shows you hate so much – though you will NOT come close to being successful.
Maybe we need a new law that says for every LIE a newspaper writes or a TV/Radio show broadcasts, the lie teller loses a finger!
Y’all will need to quickly go out and buy speech to text software to continue your lies!
right wing talk radio is slowly croaking on its own. Did you know the clear channel pays stations to run Rush et al?
DK -
And why (if it’s true, and I doubt that) would Clear Channel do that? Because it’s profitable!!!
Rush has national sponsors. Those national sponsors pay Clear Channel, but will do so only if Rush stays on the air. CC then pays local stations to do exactly that; in effect, just passing the advertisers’ money down the chain.
Hardly a conspiracy – just good business.
Besides, DK, if your initial premise is correct, you don’t need the Censorship – uh, I mean – Fairness Doctrine. Just be patient.
Don’t hold your breath.Or, maybe do. Watching you turn blue and pass out may be amusing.
Ten years ago, I had a gig as the one liberal voice on a right-wing talk radio station. This was back during the Lewinsky affair and Clinton impeachment.
When I was fired, the producer said, “You’re making the conservatives look bad.”
I had help.
Yeah Monkey – Clinton/Lewinsky made the CONSERVATIVES look bad!
The only time conservatives look bad is when we don’t hold our elected representatives feet to the fire for straying AWAY from the conservative agenda.
(sarcasm)No doubt MonkeyHawk, that’s why you are still a household name today. (/sarcasm)
Somebody asked me about “good Jews,” well read the comment below this article, after you pull-up the link…there they are, and they don’t like what their government is doing!
ILA destroys Bedouin homes to make way for Jewish townBy Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz CorrespondentThe Israel Land Administration (ILA), with the assistance of an unusually large police force and IDF soldiers, demolished dozens of tin shack homes Monday in unrecognized Bedouin villages Um Al-Hiran and A-Tir in the northern Negev.
The ILA is destroying the village and evacuating the inhabitants so that a Jewish Community named “Hiran” can be established in the area. Fourteen shacks, which housed some 100 people, have been destroyed by bulldozers so far.
Bedouin women tried to get their children out of the house but police wanted to speed up the process so they grabbed the play pens with the children inside and did not let the mothers come near.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/874814.html—–
Guess you don’t remember, “Max,” what the “conservative agenda” was 10 years ago: it was all about Clinton getting a blow job.
Oh, and all sorts of lies made up out of whole cloth. Like when Rev. Moon’s “Insight” magazine claimed that Clinton was selling burial plots in Arlington Cemetary for campaign donations? Remember that? Turns out it was a lie, made up by “Insight” magazine with no substance whatsoever.
And then there was “Mena-gate.” Remember that? Clinton was supposedly responsible for all the cocaine entering the United States. I remember interviewing a crackpot who claimed he was a drug trafficker at Mena. A few minutes into the interview, he went off script and claimed the whole operation was lead by George H.W. Bush! Poor guy dropped off the map shortly thereafter.
I interviews one of the state troopers who broke the Paula Jones “scandal.” He admitted that she left the enounter not offended by Clinton’s advances, but that she was insulted it might be merely a one-time thing. “If he wants me as his *regular* girlfriend,” she told the trooper, “gimme a call.” She later confided in a friend that she was in it for the potential money and a nose job; all promised her by folks funded by Richard Mellon-Scaiffe’s “Arkansas Project.”
And just what about the “Conservative Agenda?” Twelve years in absolute control of Congress and whatever happend to the Balanced Budget Amendment? Whatever happened to term limits? Whatever happend to repealing Roe v. Wade?
The “Conservative Agenda” was, and remains, a political parlor trick; a scam to get the ignorant to the polls to vote their hate long enough to get Republican Corporate Hogs to the trough.
That corporate trough feeds off of substandard wages paid to illegal aliens. But right wingnuts are attracted by racism and xenophobia to raise the rabble. Any “Conservative Agenda” of immigration reform will leave conservatives with the same result as their votes for a balanced budget, term limits, and abortion abolition got them. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis.
I was fired for revealing the total frauds of the “Conservative Agenda.” I was fired for, “making the Conservatives look bad.”
They helped.
Say Republican, after this dissertation from MonkeyMan, it can now clearly be seen why he was fired.
He was so smart, they just couldn’t stand to leave him on the air anymore. He would’ve taken over all of talk radio.
Rush and Sean were shakin in their boots!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Sorting Bananas at Walmart now Monkey?
Max,
No matter how you differ in your views with anyone, you are belittled by taking some kind of perverse joy in another’s troubles.
I also heard that Clear Channel paid stations to carry the Limbaugh show, can’t prove it though. I do know one story about Rush and Clear Channel to show you how Clear Channel caters to Rush. On one of their stations in Florida, Clear Channel was going to run “one” liberal talk show. As the story goes, Rush told Clear Channel that if they ran the liberal talk show he would leave Clear Channel.
Guess what happen?
I’m not for bringing back the “fairness doctrine” but something needs to be done about how the FCC is regulating the airways and print media. I believe all voices should be heard, but when one side is allowed to own more of the media, than other voices go silent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/business/media/25murdoch.html?ei=5065&en=b994dee2875bfa23&ex=1183435200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Say BFAH, it was the Monkey’s own assertion that he was fired for being too good. If that isn’t humorous…..well read the rest of his post then.
And thank you BFAH for being the almighty moral guide to the Blog. Your posts are always a fine example for all of us.
Max,
I must say, typical. To have heated discussions on a web site, and to be sarcastic, snide, and all the rest happens. However, it is not the same as enjoying the pain of another. Sorry you are so prideful and arrogant that you can’t see the difference.
By way of example, lots of people here disagreed with KSMeadowlark. But when his mother-in-law died, even his vocal opponents expressed their sympathy and took no joy in his family’s suffering.
Losing a job is a trying at its best and devastating at its worst…laughing at a family’s tragedy on the basis of disagreements in a chat room is juvenile.
Please BFAH, stop lecturing us on behavior when your own dear Liberal friends do much much worse.
BFAH -
I see no evidence of deep “pain” at that firing; on the contrary, MHawk seems mighty proud of it. Nor do I see any evidence of “family tragedy” there.
We all sympathize with the personal tragedies of others; we’ve all been there at one time or another. But this “slam” seems pretty typical for this blog, and usually comes primarily from the political left.
So when MHawk serves up a hanging curve, ya can’t blame Max for driving it out of the park.
“Max” –
I didn’t claim I was fired for being “too good.” The producer fired me for being too *liberal.*
I can live with that. Thing is, that’s why I was hired. To be the token liberal on a right-wing talk radio station. I assure you I was outnumbered and, probably, sometimes out-debated. But it really bothered “conservatives” who were frequently brought face-to-face with their hypocrices.
“Republican” frequently whines about ad hominems directed at him on this forum. But when faced with substance and fact, he resorts to “Hitlerite” rhetoric just as you conjured up “banana-sorting at Wal-Mart” as some kind of contribution to the debate at hand.
In an earlier post, I pointed out how the Republic Party has repeatedly betrayed your so-called “Conservative Agenda.” Where is that Balanced Budget Amendment? Where are those term limits? What happened when 12 years of Congressional majority and 6 years of Shrub in the White House thanks to a 5-4 “conservative” majority on the Supreme Court didn’t result in the promised overturning of Roe v. Wade?
Here’s what happened: they lied to you. They duped you. The Republic Party is no more concerned with your “Conservative Agenda” than a tabby toying with a mouse. You’re being played with. And you’ll get eaten when the game is over.
MonkeyHawk, I didn’t write that about banana sorting, pull your bifocals back up on your nose.
And from your latest entry MonkeyHawk, I can see why you were fired. Most likely from making statements made on assumption rather than checking the facts.
M-H – what station? What was your on-air name?
Republican,
Many hundreds of scientists are listed in the annexes (contributors and reviewers) at this site,http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html
See if you can find ANY “news” of even 51% of them being “extremely miffed at the IPCC for misquoting them…”
“the latest news is that a large MAJORITY of these peer-reviewed scientists are extremely miffed at the IPCC for misquoting them and taking their scientific papers out of context or as completed works.”Posted by: Republican | June 24, 2007 at 12:44 PMhttp://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/06/open-thread-624.html#comment-73830210
Republican = Kansas “values” LIAR!
GMC,
If you don’t mind my saying, you need to take off the cool, logical cap once in a while and empathize with people. It is almost always a personal and family tragedy when someone loses a job. In addition, how does one express pain and tragedy with text.
So, if I read you correctly, you would take this question “yes”:
Is it generally acceptable to make fun of people less fortunate than myself?
Pretty telling.
As to your comments about “liberals”, all depends on your point of view. Change “liberal’ to “conservative” and I might agree with you. In any event it’s using a general label that doesn’t usually apply in and of itself. No one is purely one or the other, and the words have different contexts in different situations.
In any event GMC, although I doubt it will happen, if you DO ever lose your job, Ihope that the people with whom you interact will have more sympathy and empathy than you’ve expressed.
I’ve read the papers cosmos and most of the use the words of probability and also that their studies are incomplete – no conclusions should be drawn and etc.
However, you look at the IPCC reports and they state emphatically there is proof and it is proven, finished and done science.
When in reality, none of the Scientists use any such language in their reports.
Now, the Politically driven Scientists like Hansen might say things like that, but what I’ve read on scientists that submit work to the IPCC consortium, there is no such language in their papers that say guaranteed, proven or other wise done science.
It is all incomplete and to state otherwise would be contrary to what a Scientist actually represents. No self-respecting professional scientist is going to make such statements as you often refer to cosmos.
Besides, I already showed you the statistics in the other Open thread on how many agree on GW. It was at a high of 28 percent in the survey.
That’s not very convincing.
“Is it generally acceptable to make fun of people less fortunate than myself?”
Of course not. But that wasn’t the issue, nor the question. You created this strawman, and you’ve knocked it down.
Congratulations.
Sure was the issue. I said, in no uncertain terms, that it belittled Max to make fun of MonkeyHawk’s loss of a job.
Maybe in a courtroom you could knock this statement down on some technicality, but in the real world, if you were to ask a disinterested observer, they would know exactly what I was talking about.
Republican,
So you have ZERO “news” of them being “extremely miffed at the IPCC for misquoting them…”
Republican = Kansas “values” LIAR!
“Besides, I already showed you the statistics in the other Open thread on how many agree on GW.”
Dennis Bray’s survey?? You’re joking, right??
‘Science’ rejected it, so SEPP published(sic) it.http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SEPP
‘Science’ probably rejected it because it wasn’t done scientifically.
‘Useless on-line survey of climate scientists’http://timlambert.org/2005/05/bray/“Since the survey was anonymous, there is no way to ensure that only climate scientists participated and no way to prevent people from submitting the survey multiple times. Furthermore, the survey was distributed on the climatesceptics list which has over 200 members, almost all of them strongly skeptical about global warming. Since the total number of participants was just 557, this could serious skew the results. I don’t believe that the results of this survey are representative of the views of climate scientists.”
And the questions were vague, such as no timeline re climate change.
Republican = Kansas “values” LIAR!
what’s the big deal about the fairness doctrine. if your argument is sound than your facts or lack of should support it.
Note BFAH, how cosmos uses such friendly (cough) terms when he addresses what I write. :)
Why are you not making these comments to cosmos BFAH? Hypocrite perhaps?
Anyway cosmos, show me in any legitimate Scientist report on GW that has scientific data where they use the words “settled science” and that the “argument is over.” I’ll wait right here.
The IPCC can’t even get a good handle on what the definition of Climate should be as they keep moving the goalposts. You know, the averaged temperature thing and global systems. They haven’t identified fully what all the “Global Systems” are, but use their theoretical base to show that anthropometric Climate Change is rapidly changing.
I mean come on…how can one say something is rising, when one has thousands of uncertainties of what the baseline is?
If one looks at global satellite temperature measures the margin of error is greater than the 0.05C per decade rise that the IPCC predicts! Now that should send up an alarm.
Leaving it there for now, I’ll wait for cosmos to call me a liar once again without BFAH calling him on it.
You know, BFAH that guy who only criticizes the conservatives and let’s his Liberal hyenas run wild with their comments.
Hell, BFAH, MHawk was BRAGGING that he was fired for “making the conservatives look bad.” How is there any “pain” or “family tragedy” there?
No, this is a contrived attack, on a contrived issue, an issue that YOU’VE contrived entirely. Build the man of straw, beat on it. How impressive!!!
For the record, I was not making fun of the Monkey getting fired. (Over a 50-year working career – that happens to most of us at some point) I was making fun of his statements which led to his firing. Totally baseless and unfounded in fact. It’s no surprise that someone who makes false statements on conservative radio will be fired. (If Monkey was on Lib media, they would probably promote him)
Also for the record, I never said I was Republican. Conservative yes. And when Conservatives fail to hold Conservative Representatives feet to the fire, we get liberal action – eg. Highest Federal Spending in the history of the land.
Last November was not a victory so much for the Dems, as many on the left proclaim, it was a sound scolding of the Republicans – who mostly proclaim to be conservative, by the grass roots, which is conservative.
Not sure when BFAH became so sensitive and caring, it really warms my heart to see this side though. I really look forward to BFAH policing both conservatives and liberals on this blog too.
Republican,
I’m only stating an obvious fact — you ARE a liar.
You lied about the peer-reviewed climate scientists being “extremely miffed at the IPCC…”.
You’ve lied about the IPCC reports and data.
You’ve lied about the Sierra Club re New Orleans levees.
You’ve lied about my posts, education, etc.
And since you claim to represent Kansas “values”, you’re a Kansas “values” LIAR!
Nothing personal… it’s just the truth.
The unrepentant cosmos will suffer his sins. :)
Max,
Thanks for the clarification.
An English writer has explained the US-Israeli/Palestinian struggle with absolute accuracy, which might interest some of you…
“Three years ago, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas won an election in which Israel/US made it clear that the electorate should vote for Abbas or else. This election followed the unexplained death of Yasser Arafat whom both Israel and US had struggled to demonize and to blame as a “terrorist” for the failure of the peace process, which most of the world considered US/Israel had absolutely no interest in furthering if it required any Israeli compliance with international law over refugees, settlements and occupation. The Palestinian people did as they were told and Abbas was elected. There followed a year in which the peace process made not a millimeter of progress and during which Israel poured scorn on Abbas. Understandably when the parliamentary elections came round, the Palestinian people largely rejected the “instructions” of Israel/US/EU and voted for Hamas.
In reality there was little or no difference in the aims of Fatah and Hamas, although the constitution of Hamas made demands that the leaders clearly had put on long-term hold. Both parties required Israeli compliance with international law over refugees, settlements and occupation. Both parties wanted to “negotiate” this result. The difference was that Hamas retained the right to armed resistance to Israeli occupation if “negotiations” failed, while Fatah offered absolutely no alternative. Inevitably, Israel/US had wanted a Fatah victory. Israel had made it repeatedly clear that it had absolutely no intention of complying with the law and that would be less painful with Fatah.
US/Israel, with the collusion of EU, responded to the democratic election by declaring a boycott of the Palestinian government, with the obvious intention of starving the Palestinian people into denying their own democracy and submitting to Israeli refusal to comply with the law. This boycott was very painful but failed to achieve its objectives.
From the start, Hamas sought to have a government of national unity with the involvement of Fatah. According to Alvaro de Soto, the chief UN representative in the area at that time, Fatah succumbed to US/Israeli pressure and refused to join the government. Eventually Mahmoud Abbas, following the Makkah Accord, agreed that Fatah would join such a government.
It was inevitable that Hamas would seek to pre-empt this Israeli/US-inspired rebellion. The pre-emption was tragic and brutal but could it have been achieved any other way? Under US demands, Abbas claimed to issue decrees, sacking the unity government, and appointing a number of unelected people in their place. Hamas has declared such decrees illegal but US and Israel have recognized them, promising to end the starvation of the Palestinian people, except of those in Gaza who have clearly supported Hamas, and a renewal of the “Peace Process”.
Only those who believe in Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy can have any belief in Israeli promises. The future is very bleak. Perhaps it is inevitable that the endless and agonizing Palestinian struggle has produced quislings but it is very sad. They offer no way forward.”
GMC,
He wasn’t bragging about it, he was stating his view for the reason(s) he was let go.
Based on that, Max took delight in his losing status, money, and everything else that goes along with a lower wage job.
So, in the end, you are condoning mockery for the enjoyment of mockery.
I’ll bet you’d enjoy hanging a bag full of cats over a fire and slowly lowering them in to hear them scream. Lotsa fun at your house, I’m sure.
“Bragging” that I was fired “for making conservatives look bad”?
Not bragging at all. It’s a direct quote from the producer who fired me.
“Ben,” I used my real name on the air, co-hosting with conservative Mike Shannin on KPHN and doing weekends on KCMO. I filled in a lot on KMBZ subbing for Steve Glorioso opposite Jack Cashill.
It’s been a while ago.
My name is Joe Myers. I wrote a regular column in “Ingram’s” magazine until I pissed off Bob Dole and the Kempers, who threatened to pull their advertising unless I was fired.
Them’s the breaks of free enterprise, I guess. “Conservatives” get the best media money can buy and use their dollars to suppress opinions they cannot deal with out in the open.
“I’ll bet you’d enjoy hanging a bag full of cats over a fire and slowly lowering them in to hear them scream. Lotsa fun at your house, I’m sure.”
Posted by: BFAH | June 25, 2007 at 02:18 PM
Don’t think that action ever crossed my mind BFAH. But it does say more about your mindset that it does of GMC.
Republican,
Thought you were a Renaissance man? That was common entertainment during the Renaissance.
Does Republican really believe this survey is accurate?
What a sloppy way to take a survey:username = “respondent”, password = “ccsurvey”And no tracking.
Oct. 14, 2003http://aslo.org/pipermail/dialognews/2003/000105.html“SURVEY OF CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENTISTSIf you do choose to participate, the survey can be reached by opening your web browser and going to the following link: http://w3g.gkss.de/G/Mitarbeiter/bray.html/When the page opens click the link to “survey of climate scientists”Here you will be asked for a username and password.For username enter “respondent” (without quotation marks)For password enter “ccsurvey” (again without the quotation marks).”(continues)
BFAH,
Nope sorry, I was too young back than and would have been busy carrying tankards of mead to tables. :)
>>I was fired for revealing the total frauds of the “Conservative Agenda.” I was fired for, “making the Conservatives look bad.”They helped.Posted by: MonkeyHawk <<Or you were fired because you believed that pile of dune you cited and fair and balanced doesn’t mean stupid.
BFAH,
Republican prefers to shoot cats with a shotgun. It’s part of his Kansas “values”?
‘New ideas for parks: Don’t forget the cats’
“Shotgun best for cats, no aiming necessary.”Posted by: Republican | June 02, 2007 at 11:33 PMhttp://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/06/new_ideas_for_p.html#comment-71463208
cosmos,
I believe that study also commented on Oreske’s study of the peer reviewed scientist’s report.
How convenient to do a study just on a closed set of papers with no alternative theories in the mix.
That cosmos, is evidence that the IPCC is quite biased in their evaluation of themselves by only using their papers as a standard.
This is akin to calling yourself, Champions of the World, when your team has played against no other team outside your country.
“370″ –
Unlike “Republican,” I don’t claim to have all the answers.
Funny thing, I wasn’t fired for claiming to have the answers, I was fired for asking uncomfortable questions. I wasn’t fired for making Liberals look bad, but for asking the questions that made conservatives feel uncomfortable.
The cons had the bucks; the Golden Rule was imposed. I’m enough of a realist to accept that. But “those who have the gold make the rules” is not the same as “those who have the gold make the truth.”
There’s nothing truly “conservative” about the last decade or so of Republic Party rule in the United States. Government wiretapping, denial of habeus corpus, consolidation of unilateral power in the Executive Branch, unilateral unprovoked war waged halfway across the world? Show me any “conservative” position paper prior to George WMD Bush’s Reign of Error that staked out those positions as “conservative.”
You can’t.
You can’t defend the positions of the so-called “conservative” governance of the Republic Party over the past decade.
So do what most people do. Come up with a banana joke. It’s all ya got.
M-H – KC area I gather? Not familiar with the stations.
One thing I have noticed is that liberals I know have no desire to listen to ‘all-liberal-all-the-time’ (BORING!) while it seems that conservatives do. So, we see very little ‘point-counterpoint’ scheduling.
I guess that is why I don’t listen to much talk radio at all.
One of my favorite programs on TV is Charlie Rose. He has guests of all stripes. He did a great interview a few weeks ago with Paul Wolfozicz; largely about conditions in Africa. Definitely NOT easily characterized as ‘left’ or ‘right’
Republican,
“That cosmos, is evidence that the IPCC is quite biased in their evaluation of themselves by only using their papers as a standard.”
Oreskes did not use IPCC’s papers.
‘The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change’Naomi Oreskeshttp://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/306/5702/1686
‘Climate myths: Many leading scientists question climate change’http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn11654
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-consensus
Don’t get to visit here very often. I see GMC remains a public servant with an inordinate amount of free time during office hours. Perhaps his conservatism should rise to the fore and he should volunteer to reduce the size of government by one position? Just an idea.
Fairness doctrine baby. Until NO truck driver or roofer or any other person who works for a living votes GOP again! Stop the flag waving rah rah liars.
The Conservative Supreme Court upheld the suspension of a student suspended from school for displaying a banner that said “Bong hits 4 Jesus”on public property after school hours.
Let me reiterate. Student on public property, school closed, suspended by the principal.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote:
“Schools may prohibit student expression that can be interpreted as advocating drug use.”
Funny but I didn’t know that was in the Constitution. Is the new Conservative Supreme Court legislation from the bench?
Supreme Court Tightens Limits on Student SpeechNewsMax.com WiresMonday, June 25, 2007
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court tightened limits on student speech Monday, ruling against a high school student and his 14-foot-long “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner.
Schools may prohibit student expression that can be interpreted as advocating drug use, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court in a 5-4 ruling.
Joseph Frederick unfurled his homemade sign on a winter morning in 2002, as the Olympic torch made its way through Juneau, Alaska, en route to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Frederick said the banner was a nonsensical message that he first saw on a snowboard. He intended the banner to proclaim his right to say anything at all.
His principal, Deborah Morse, said the phrase was a pro-drug message that had no place at a school-sanctioned event. Frederick denied that he was advocating for drug use.
“The message on Frederick’s banner is cryptic,” Roberts said. “But Principal Morse thought the banner would be interpreted by those viewing it as promoting illegal drug use, and that interpretation is plainly a reasonable one.”
Morse suspended the student, prompting a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Students in public schools don’t have the same rights as adults, but neither do they leave their constitutional protections at the schoolhouse gate, as the court said in a landmark speech-rights ruling from Vietnam era.
The court has limited what students can do in subsequent cases, saying they may not be disruptive or lewd or interfere with a school’s basic educational mission.
Frederick, now 23, said he later had to drop out of college after his father lost his job. The elder Frederick, who worked for the company that insures the Juneau schools, was fired in connection with his son’s legal fight, the son said. A jury recently awarded Frank Frederick $200,000 in a lawsuit he filed over his firing.
Joseph Frederick pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor charge of selling marijuana at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nagodoches, Texas, according to court records.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Yeah and the SC also ruled the taxpayer status of faith based initiatives can’t be questioned. This is what you get when you put neanderthal Republican luddites in a robe.
Enjoyed Steven’s editorial yesterday. But…
Steven? I don’t WANT to be nice to the people on the right. I do not LIKE them or much in the way of anything about them. Most people on the right are either willfully clueless or just folks with very little redeeming value… at all. My take. I am sure they feel much the same about me. We are in an undeclared civil war with these people. Dif is they’ve known it alot longer than us on the left. Or formerly of the right as is my case. To heck with pretense. Ya can’t negotiate with people who live to kneecap you.
Looks like “Bong Hits” Frederick paid a dear price for his High School stunt.
———Why did you hit him? He has the right to free speech!
“Well,” said the Redneck, “He also has a broken nose to go along with it.”
Oh to meet such a redneck! Most of them have pulled their bush stickers off their bumpers outta fear. Or shame. I’d LOVE for one of those yeahoos to get in my face.
I don’t WANT to be nice to the people on the right. I do not LIKE them or much in the way of anything about them. Most people on the right are either willfully clueless or just folks with very little redeeming value… at all. My take. I am sure they feel much the same about me. We are in an undeclared civil war with these people.
Oh to meet such a redneck! Most of them have pulled their bush stickers off their bumpers outta fear. Or shame. I’d LOVE for one of those yeahoos to get in my face.
Brought to you by the politics of hate. And apparently, violence
Huh, I don’t remember a “little john” Probably a newbie kook. Already I don’t like him.
JR -
You used to be a reasonable sort. Often wrong, in my opinion, but reasonable. Apparantly life has been particular hard recently, and you’ve turned up particularly bitter.
That’s too bad. Life’s too short to wear the hate chip on your shoulder all the time.
I hope your circumstances get better.
Don’t get the chance to get the word out as much these days counsel. And I see there are newer arrivals who will need my attention when that situation changes. Just tellin’ it like it is. Hey your side made it. We are just starting to hit back. I am sorry if this is intimidating to you. But I do understand.
Something amusing for cosmos to read. Although he probably won’t think it amusing at all, but I do! :D
http://newcriterion.com:81/weblog/2007/06/little-quiz.html
Compares the writings of Ted (Unibomber)Kaczynski and Al Gore. It is very spooky how they are so similar!!!
Huh, I don’t remember a “little john” Probably a newbie kook. Already I don’t like him.
Posted by: J R | June 25, 2007 at 04:40 PM
Guess I am a newbie. could be a “kook” since that seems to apply to those who disagree with you.Too bad you already don;t like me, we hardly go to know one another.—–
Well, we all knew this was coming. Reminds me of what the oil companies and “Republican” are doing to Al Gore over this stand on climate change.ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, AND ATTACK.
“HEALTH CARE — INSURANCE AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LAUNCH SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST MICHAEL MOORE: In his new documentary SiCKO, filmmaker Michael Moore exposes the deplorable tactics practiced by some health insurance and pharmaceutical companies who deny coverage to individuals who are insured. Moore is now facing “a multifaceted counteroffensive” from front groups supported and funded by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. FreedomWorks, for example, recently launched a new campaign claiming that under policies favored by Moore, “healthy individuals” would “wind up subsidizing people like Moore, who are overweight and and/or live decidedly unhealthy lifestyles by frequenting fast-food restaurants, smoke, or use drugs.” Several health care industry members serve on the FreedomWorks board of directors, and the group is run by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, whose PAC has received significant contributions from the health care industry. The CatoInstitute, which has written numerous pieces attacking Moore’s film that argue that he “ignores the positive side of American health care,” receives funding from multiple insurance and pharmaceutical companies, including Amerisure Insurance, Pfizer, and Merck. Additionally, a senior fellow at The Manhattan Institute, which receives funding from multiple pharmaceutical giants such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, started a site called Free Market Cure, which argues SiCKO is “set to inject a large dose of misinformation and propaganda into our national dialog about health care policy.” Other health care industry front groups — such as the Galen Institute, Pacific Research Institute, and the Heritage Foundation — have also recently launched their own attacks on Moore’s film. The health insurance and pharmaceutical industries clearly view Moore’s film exposing some of their misdeeds as a serious threat, and they have no shortage of funds to try to attack it.
Republican,
Instead of comparing a few carefully selected, out-of-context Gore vs Kaczynski quotes,
Read all of this,’The following is full text of the Unabomber’s Manifesto:’http://www.thecourier.com/manifest.htm
Then compare that to this legislation,http://thomas.loc.gov/home/multicongress/multicongress.htmlNational High-Performance Computer Technology Act of 1989High-Performance Computing Act of 1990High-Performance computing Act of 1991Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992
Gore’s books,The Assault on ReasonAn Inconvenient TruthEarth in the Balance (2000 revised edition)Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less
And this site,http://www.climatecrisis.net/
Gore blames scientist for global warming crisis (to let you know that Albert Gore Jr. isn’t a scientist himself, but a sliver-spoon fed aristocrat still hanging off this Daddy’s coat tails).
http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2701314.ece
“The Tiahrt Amendment, which has been written into every Justice Department spending bill since 2003, prohibits the bureau from releasing information from the database unless a law enforcement agency or prosecutor certifies that it will be used solely in connection with a bona fide criminal investigation or prosecution.
In practice, opponents say, this means that a local police department can learn the history of the gun it has recovered and little else. Scott Knight, chairman of the firearms committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, is one such critic.
“Someone goes into a convenience store in my city, uses a gun and commits a crime, I can get information on that gun from the ATF,” said Knight, the police chief in Chaska, Minn. “I cannot find out if the same supply source provided five, two, three, six guns in my neighboring communities.”
OK, Scott Knight, assuming you can find out if a gun retailer sold other guns in your neighborhood (and of course they did or they would not be in business)- Just exactly WHAT will you do with the information?
Go interview every legal gun purchaser from that store? And then what? Take their guns?
Max
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.guns25jun25,0,7339111.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
The NRA is pushing for legislation that would call for thighter background checks. The National Instant Background Check database would be enhanced to require states to automate and update databases of felons and the mentally ill.
Nice step, but then the government then needs to follow-up and prosecute those who fail the background check – as they have committed a felony by attempting to illegally buy a gun.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17415977.htm
Here is what Bloomberg want’s to do Nationwide – but he needs to get rid of the Tiahrt Amendment (and ignore the 1968 Gun Control Act) to do this. A Special Gun Master will have complete control over reviewing ALL legal gun sale records:
“Close to half of the 27 dealers named in the two lawsuits have now settled out of court and agreed to unprecedented oversight of their firearms sales. Under the terms of the agreements, a Special Master has been appointed who will have unlimited access to the dealers’ records and the power to impose escalating fines for any new violations of federal, state, or local gun laws.”
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/litigation/litigation.shtml
Remember 20,000 Existing gun laws are NOT being enforced. Why do we need a new law, when we are not enforcing existing laws? What will Bloomberg do with this new Special Master Power?
1.4 million denied by the instant background check. Even when the government has the names and addresses of 1.4 million felons, the government chooses not to enforce the law.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearm and Explosives’ (ATF) field offices investigated 9,575 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) denials that were referred by the FBI in 2005.• In 2005 agencies reported 1,400arrests of persons denied a firearm or a permit.• In 2005 U.S. attorney officesaccepted for prosecution 135 NICSdenial cases investigated by ATF.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/bcft05.pdf
Joe Williams,
‘Gore takes “swipe” at dithering climatologists.. or does he?’http://scienceblogs.com/islandofdoubt/2007/06/gore_takes_swipe_at_dithering.php
A book review from Joe Wiliams’ source, ‘The Independent’.
‘Earth in the Balance’ by Al Gorehttp://shop.earthscan.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/800/“‘The frankest and most important publication by a current politician I have read in a long time’William Rees-Mogg in The Independent”
Thats fine! I have no time to read Al Gore’s ghost written books. I have other, more important things to tend to and more important books to read.
I would suggest “The World is Flat” and “The Commanding Heights”
But I know they aren’t religious books like Gore’s ghost written books.
Rush, hannity, o’riely and the rest of them are just pukes and full of hate. They don’t care about you or I they just want to make their money
I hope they all croak on air. I would record that and listen to it over and over
The latest issue of The Smithsonian has a major article entitled “Chronicling the Ice” p. 66.
Glacialogist Lonnie Thompson says, “what really stands out is how unusual the last 50 years have been compared to at least the last 2,000 and perhaps the last 5,000 years. Well befort eht end of this century, much of the ice that caps high mountains will be gone.”
But don’t worry, CONs, if you’re right, the entire planet doesn’t DIE.
And your predictions on the outcome of the Iraq War, the effect of the tax cuts, and the last election have all been RIGHT ON THE MARK, so you’re record has been just f***ing stellar, baby, just stellar.
Hey, Jr – how are you doing?
Sorry the editorial in the paper was a problem to you. I was in a venting mode, I guess. I miss hearing from you. Let me know what I can do to assist your non-profit.org in delivering truth to dumb butts in ICT and other parts of the world. I hope you still have my email address. If not mail me at darwinsdisciple@hotmail.com . I hope to talk to you soon.
Take care. Your freind,Steven
Sorry: freind = friend – I should let microsoft do my spelling work.
Joe Williams,
You’re so completely blinded by stupid, irrational hatred, it’d be a waste of your time to read his books.
I am a bit confused… Anybody who has ever been in a major industrial, highly “materials oriented” area, such as steel mills, or foundries, or heavy manufacturing, can visually SEE the pollution created by these smoke stack spewing industries…
You all with me so far??
Good — Now, is that pollution caused by some “normal” cycle of the planet, or the sun, or some other natural force?? NO!! Obviously, it is anthropogenic…
Still with me??
ALL of that pollution created by all of those factories, foundries, and steel mills, is pumped into OUR atmosphere… It STAYS in our atmosphere, because it isnt going fast enough to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull… Still with me?? Good!!
NOW… ALL of that pollution, from ALL OVER the PLANET, meets up in our atmosphere… Thats the way it works… I dont have to make it up… It can even be seen in satellite pictures…
Now, I find it extremely STUPID for ANYBODY… on this Blog, or in the White House, or Anywhere else, to stomp around, and belch and fart that Humanity isnt causing any of the greenhouse effects otherwise called Global Warming (or, if you like, Climate Change)…
Now shift gears….
The PLANET is on a journey throughout the Galaxy… The Galaxy is on its journey throughout the Universe…. Changes will be encountered along the journeys… Many of those changes will not have EVER been encountered before in all of History… (unless you want to insist on this 6,000 year old existence nonsense)….
NATURALLY, there is SOME degree of Climate Change (say Global Warming) that is bound to happen by all of this nomadic travel throughout the Galaxy and the Universe…
Still with me???
Good!!!
Conclusion: WE humans have done some pretty heavy damage to our own breathable atmosphere, due to our industrial outputs… We will continue to do more… We have made MANY inroads into cutting back on MUCH of the pollution we have made over the years… Compare the breathability of the air in, say, Pittsburgh, PA now, to what it was, say, in the early 1960’s… It is a WORLD of difference!! I use Pittsburgh, because I can relate to it personally…. There are many other areas like it… California emmissions are MUCH better today, than 40 years ago… Chicago/Gary/Hammond area emmissions are MUCH better now than 40 years ago…
I defy ANY of you to challenge this… It has been MAN(human) MADE, and it has been MAN(human) repaired to the extent it is now…
Climate change caused by natural forces, by the travels of this planet throughout the galaxy and universe, we can do little about those… They always have, and always will happen….
BUT, greenhouse gasses, and pollutant emmissions, and car emmissions, we CAN, we HAVE, and we MUST control!!!
YES, Al Gore is right… We CAN make large dents… Can we FIX it?? Probably not… Can we make some dents in the damages we have done, and continue to do??? ABSOLUTELY!!!!
SO, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR???
This is not a talking point for Right Vs. Left, or Repub. Vs. Dem.
This is a problem for HUMANS to address, because we are HUMAN!!
Hoo
Rah
…
JR -
“intimidated” ?!?!?!?
LOL!! – not hardly. Try mildly amused, with a side order of pity.
We are all responsible for ourselves, JR. You too. Quit worrying about who to blame, and put the hate aside. Life’s too short.
Come on out with Hank, Ben, and a few others and blow holes in some eeeevil paper targets with us. It’ll be cathartic.
Or you can wallow in accusations, hate, and blame. Your call. No one elses.
Bush’s “New Way Forward” in Iraq is working. The surge is killing more American soldiers.
BAGHDAD The deaths of 10 U.S. troops Saturday in Iraq, seven in roadside bomb attacks, brought to 30 the week’s toll for American military personnel.
>>Gore blames scientist for global warming crisis (to let you know that Albert Gore Jr. isn’t a scientist himself, but a sliver-spoon fed aristocrat still hanging off this Daddy’s coat tails).Posted by: Joe Williams <<
JW, we have a silver-spoon fed aristocrat in the White House right now and his name is George Walker Bush JR.
Sorry Republican, I read your post yesterday and meant to answer but forgot. No hypocrisy at all. Cosmos attacks you, you attack him. In all cases of which I’m aware (and I may not be aware of all instances) the harangues and insults have been directed at the opinions of the other side and on occasion against the person himself. I have never seen either of you gleeful at the misfortune of the other. If someone were to make a denigrating statement about you based on misfortune in your life (born with a withered limb, lost a job and had to accept a lower status one, suffered from some type of incurable disease, lost a loved one) I would do the same thing I did in the case of Max/Monkey. While I don’t particularly like even the personal insults chucked around here (and I admit I do it too) I think it is really bad form to involve other family members, illnesses, losses, medical conditions and the like. Hope that clarifies things.