Minn. Star Tribune Leaves Out Important Parts of U.S. Terror Recruitin
It reads like the lyrics of the song in West Side Story where the "Jets" gang members sing to Officer Krupke claiming they are just misunderstood kids, not punks and criminals. The Minneapolis Star Tribune takes this approach to the story of young male Somali refugees that have taken residence in Minneapolis who have decided to go back to Somalia to "visit." The suspicion is, though, that are…
Derrick Z's Recipe For A Depression
At this time of year, columns like Derrick Z. Jackson's of today condemning the materialism of the Christmas shopping season are as traditional as Budweiser's Clydesdale-drawn sleigh commercial. And part of me is sympathetic with Jackson's call for people to spurn the malls and curtail their gift-giving budgets. But this of all years, did the Boston Globe columnist consider the disastrous…
Smith Sad Mumbai Terrorists Missed Americans, Hit Indians
Is Harry Smith sad that the Mumbai terrorists missed their intended American and British targets and hit Indians? Strange as it sounds, it's hard to interpret his remark of this morning otherwise.Smith was discussing the attacks on the Early Show with CBS terrorism expert Jere Van Dyk when he made his bizarre observation.
Obama Only Bright Spot In Bummer Of A NYT Thanksgiving Article
It's a good thing Barack Obama was elected. Otherwise, the nation's glum Thanksgiving mood might have been downright funereal. At least, that's the impression the New York Times gives in its decidedly downbeat article about the holiday."In Lean Times, Comfort in a Bountiful Meal" tells the story of people from coast to coast virtually weeping into their turkey and cranberry sauce. Whether it's…
Entertainment Weekly Takes Heat out of Marriage
Marriage is not sexy. That's the conclusion that readers might make after examining Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Sexiest Movies Ever." Of the 50 movies on the list, 42 center on unmarried adult relationships. Three of the relationships featured on the list occur between two women ("Kissing Jessica Stein," "Bound," and "Mulholland Drive"), one occurs between two men ("Yossi &…
Walters-Obama Odd Thanksgiving Message Exchange
Barbara Walters invites Great Leader to "give" Thanksgiving message to "the people." Great Leader obliges: be inspired by . . . me. Check out the clip of Barbara Walters's interview of the Obamas, aired on GMA today, and tell me whether you find something off-putting in the way Walters poses what is, after all, a very banal question. And then there's the President-elect's self-centered answer…
YouTube's Double Standard On Protests
YouTube is promoting as its "citizen news report of the day" a video of an alleged attack on Greenpeace activists at a coal plant in Poland. There are two problems with the news judgment behind this video selection.First, both the initial report on the video and YouTube's description of it overstate what actually happened. Watch the video for yourself and see. Aside from some unjustifiable…
AP Finds Race Hustler to Say Obama Isn't The Cure
The Associated Press is worried that Americans might accidentally imagine that the elevation of Barack Obama to the presidency could make people think that blacks in America really can get ahead. The AP is so worried that it sought out a race hustler to deny that blacks can make it here no matter what happened on November 4.
As the AP reports it, apparently young Kari Fulton "cringed" when…
Stop the Presses! AP's Important Story: Obama Had Corned Beef Sandwich
Ya gotta hand it to them. The Associated Press knows how to cut out all the extraneous background noise and get right to the important issues of the day. Barack Obama will surely be in the center of the vortex of some of the most important decisions in the world during the next four years and even his preparations for taking office are vitally important as a marker to what he might do in office.…
AFP: Math is Heroic? Dumbing Down the English Language
Yahoo News featured an interesting short report issued by Agence France-Presse on November 20. In it we discover that a consortium of French, German and Hungarian mathematicians are claiming to have proven that Einstein's famous equation, e=mc2, is correct. The report is all good except for one very small aspect. They call the effort of these mathematicians "heroic" in contradiction to the root…
Philly PBS Outlet Hires Inquirer Editor Who Wanted to Cancel 4th of Ju
Former Philadelphia Inquirer editorial page editor Chris Satullo, who in a July 1, 2008 editorial suggested that “America doesn't deserve to celebrate its birthday” on Independence Day due to the “waterboarding, the snarling dogs, the theft of sleep” used on some enemy combatants since 9/11, has been hired to become the director of news operations for WHYY, the PBS affiliate in the Philadelphia…
Forget Auto Bailouts, Can Michelle Obama Save the Fashion Industry
Finding Michelle Obama to be the "First Lady of Fashion," ABCNews.com's Luchina Fisher wondered if the president-elect's wife could save the fashion industry.:Michelle Obama will soon be the nation's first lady and mom in chief, but others are expecting even grander things from her, like saving the fashion industry. And who in their right mind would think that?: "We're all obviously trying to…
Turkeys: Early Show Focuses On Accused 8-Yr Old Killer's Thanksgiving
Drumstick or breast for accused daddy killer? Details at 11!If that wasn't quite how the Early Show played it, it's not far off. Of all the angles to promote its coverage of the story of the eight-year old accused of killing his father, CBS highlighted the issue of . . . where the boy would celebrate Thanksgiving.View video here.
CNN Labels Catholic Cardinal’s Criticism of Obama a ‘Diatribe
On Tuesday’s Situation Room, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer referred to a Catholic cardinal’s criticism of Barack Obama’s abortion position as a "scathing rant" and a "diatribe." A CNN graphic also used the "scathing rant" term, and Blitzer later referred to the cardinal’s words as a "blistering rant." All three of these terms came during Blitzer’s promos for a report by CNN correspondent Brian Todd,…
