Friday, July 15, 2011

FOX News Responds: Stop Piling On

The phone hacking scandal surrounding News Corp is a huge, huge story—except to "Fox and Friends" co-host Steve Doocy.

Doocy and his guest, the colorfully-named Bob Dilenschneider dismissed the hubbub on Friday's show. Doocy said that the media was "piling on" and was ignoring more important issues.

"We've got some serious problems in this country ... and what do they do?" he said. "They talk about this."

Dilenschneider agreed, saying that there has been "too much" coverage of the scandal, and that people should "move on." Doocy said, "I think you're right."



Incredulous:

These are the folks that gave wall to wall coverage of Casey Anthony's trial, Jesse Jackson's live mic insult of then candidate Barack Obama, ACORN investigation, the fake Black Panther rise, Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair, and Barack Obama's Reverend Wright connection.

And now the biggest journalism scandal (hacking phone messages, bribing cops and spying on the Royal Family, celebrities, politicians and crime victims) in generations and they say folks are piling on- are they kidding?

Rupert Murdoch's news empire was built on sensationalism, yellow journalism, hack reporting, tabloid gossip, pandering to the lowest common denominator and right wing propaganda.

Fox News is a toxic cancer. It has infected and spread an ugly news reporting style to cable TV. It has poisoned and irreparably damaged American politics - creating a bombastic, emotionally high charged, hostile and in-your-face confrontational environment that has paralyzed effective governing.

Now, these same folks want to cry Foul!


This is eons beyond the pot calling the kettle black. This is a career criminal getting caught in the act of breaking the law, and complaining about being single out.

I'm enjoying this one from the bleachers and hoping for Over-time. I call it poetic justice.

Philly DJ: It's Time To Snitch


An 8-year-old's grisly murder would shock any community, but there's an added layer of astonishment in this neighborhood because the alleged killer appears to hail from the same close-knit religious community as the victim.

"You can't possibly describe how tragic this is and how upset people are this boy was murdered by a person living in the community, who shares his religion and his neighborhood," said Ezra Friedlander, who lives in Borough Park, the neighborhood where Kletzky went missing on Monday.
CNN News

I read this story with great sorrow for the victim, his grieving family and community. I watched the community coalesce in shared tragedy - banding together to express outrage over this heinous crime.

Their sentiment (other than sadness) seemed to uniformly suggest this is not going to be an accepted norm! We do not prey on each other. His alleged killer was quickly apprehended by a tip from a community informant.

Juxtapose this sentiment with the mantra of urban terrorist living in black communities (thank you Fieldnegro):
Snitches get Stitches


Violent crime, brother on brother, black on black or neighbor against neighbor is an accepted urban norm. When we turn on the evening news, night after night, we see stories of Urban Terrorist - and we are rarely surprised by their heinous violence.

Prominent athletes and hip hop artist - via the Stop Snitching campaign - have associated and joined forces with the gansta forces that are killing their own people. In this convoluted arena, a kid gets his thug props for killing someone that looks just like him.

And I may add, understanding the socioeconomic forces, broken families and the role of media are all vital to relieving the crisis (and it is a crisis) - however the community (all of us) can still do much better. For this reason, I was elated to read the following story regarding a Philly DJ's campaign to encourage people to Start Snitching.


For years, one of the most common, if not infamous, expressions on the streets of urban America has been "stop snitching," which has evolved from a warning among those who mistrust the authorities to a mentality that threatens innocent people who witness violent crimes and major felonies, and establishes street cred just for avoiding cooperation with police under any circumstances.

But DJ Star (Troi Torain), who is one half of the morning crew on the long-controversial Star & Buc Wild show on WPHI-FM (100.3) in Philadelphia, is determined to change that regardless of what the streets say or what it does to his reputation in hip-hop. He's bringing out a "Start Snitchin'" campaign in response to an overt rash of violent homicides in his town over the past few years. He spoke with NewsFeed after his show to explain why he wants people to report crime and cooperate with police, despite threats that "snitches get stitches" permeating hip-hop culture.
Time Magazine Story

Monday, July 11, 2011

Newt declares: This is the Obama Depression




Newt Gingrich labeled the economic situation in the U.S. as the “Obama depression,” just days after a dismal jobs report and signs negotiations on the debt deal are faltering.

“At 9.2 percent now for month after month after month, this is the Obama depression,” Gingrich said on Fox and Friends Sunday morning. “Housing prices have dropped deeper than in the great depression and it’s very clear that under Obama’s job killing policies, we’re not going to get out of this deep unemployment.”


Wow, where do I start with this one?

First of all Newt, the Great Recession - as most economist agree - began in 2007.

Second, the Great Collapse - stock market plunge, housing market meltdown, credit freeze and soaring unemployment rate - happened in the fall of 2008 after the fall of Lehman Brothers.

The late-2000s recession, more often called the Great Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world economy, with higher detriment in some countries than others. It is a global recession characterized by various systemic imbalances and was sparked by the outbreak of the late-2000s financial crisis.

These events transpired on the watch of George W Bush.

Third, upon the inauguration of President Obama the sentiment of the GOP - as expressed by Mount Rush Limbaugh - was for failure of the new president and our country's economy.

Instead of being constructive partners in a time of crisis, the GOP opted to be obstructionist. Thus, they sat on their fannies and just said No - even to legislation and ideas they supported before President Obama endorsed them.

But despite having no GOP partner, President Obama and the Democratic congress have somewhat righted the ship - even though high unemployment remains (something the GOP seems strangely aglow about).

By the economic-science definition of the word "recession", the Great Recession ended in the U.S. in June or July 2009. However, economic hardship remains in the U.S. and many other countries, prompting others to declare that the recession continues

Just think where we could be if the cynical GOP decided to roll up their sleeves and pitch in.

So Newt, please exit the stage and sit your a$$ down - even your fellow GOP voters stated you were an embarrassment.

You are the same Newt that lambasted Clinton for having an affair with an intern while you were having an affair with an intern.

BTW, on you way out pay your Tiffany bill.