After the Climate-gate email leak last November, new leaks are springing in the "settled science" in the once arid, airtight debate over global warming, aka "climate change" (as it's been known ever since temperatures stopped rising). Yet the Times has been AWOL for four days on the latest major development - a revealing BBC interview Saturday with climate researcher Phil Jones, head of the Climatic Research Unit at East Anglia and source of the notorious Climate-gate emails suggesting collusion and unacknowledged problems with the data purported to show rising temperatures. Jones was interviewed by the BBC on Saturday and made... continue reading
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith teased an interview with the Vice President: "We got a great chance yesterday to spend some quality time with Vice President Joe Biden. He's got a lot to say on a lot of different topics." During the interview, Smith shilled for the failed stimulus package: "The Vice President says the stimulus created or saved 2 million jobs. Many of them green." At the top of the show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez announced: "Today is the first anniversary of the economic stimulus package." Smith treated it like a celebration, joking: "Where's the stimulus package... continue reading
Newsweek's latest issue features an article by managing editor Daniel Klaidman that blatantly associates Republican criticism of the Obama administration with terrorism . Its title in the table of contents is "Terror Begins at Home: The GOP's Scare Tactics." Inside the magazine, the headline is "Terror Begins at Home: Fearmongering Politicians Are Scoring Cheap Political Points at the Expense of the American People." In the magazine, the article is illustrated with a blurry drawing of male underwear. Online, its lead image is a finger-pointing photo of Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). Is there an article in Newsweek that isn't an editorial?... continue reading
Director/producer James Cameron was invited on the Today show Wednesday, for a second time , to promote his movie Avatar (as if the top grossing movie of all-time really needed it). Co-host Meredith Vieira allowed Cameron to brag about screening his anti-military sci-fi flick to servicemen and women on an aircraft carrier but never brought up the criticism, coming from the enlisted , that his movie portrays them as villains. Using the booking hook that Cameron is a Canadian, Vieira, hosting the show from the Olympics site in Vancouver, first prompted him to talk about the pro-environmental theme of Avatar,... continue reading
NBC's Nightly News and ABC's World News on Tuesday provided drastically different reports on the Obama administration's announced plans to build the country's first new nuclear power plant in 30 years. Nightly News host Brian Williams showcased liberal concern and fretted, " ...[Obama's] critics are openly wondering what it is he's up to. " The segment by correspondent Anne Thompson attacked Obama from the left on the plans for the "controversial" new plant. She highlighted Friend of the Earth CEO Erich Pica complaining, "There are reactors across this country that have tons of waste just sitting there, waiting for something... continue reading
In a Tuesday NBC Nightly News story, reporter Ron Mott actually acknowledged that the decision to use "environmentally friendly" ice resurfacing machines "that kept breaking down" had led to lengthy delays for speed skating competitions at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the piece on problems at the games, Mott reported: In the past two days, men's speed skating was slowed to a standstill because of poor ice conditions, further complicated by the environmentally friendly machines , used in place of the tried and true Zamboni, that kept breaking down. A Zamboni is being brought in from Calgary. On USAToday.com,... continue reading
On Tuesday, MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan suggested Sarah Palin was hypocrite for criticizing a Sunday episode of the Fox show "Family Guy," that tangentially mocked her son with Down Syndrome, but not quitting her job as a Fox News contributor. Featuring Palin in the "Busted" segment near the end of his 4:00PM ET show, Ratigan acknowledged her rightful anger over a girl with Down Syndrome on the animated series claiming her mother was the former governor of Alaska. However, Ratigan then observed: "If Palin really wanted to make a statement, she would reject her paycheck from Fox and remove herself... continue reading
Beware those Tea Party wackos! The front page of Tuesday morning's New York Times was dominated by investigative reporter David Barstow's 4,500-word foray into the Tea Party movement - focusing on a local group in Sandpoint, Idaho," Lighting a Fuse for Rebellion on the Right - Loose Alliances of Protesters Join Under Tea Party Umbrella ." Barstow made sure to mention claims of Idaho groups "stockpiling food and survival gear, and forming armed neighborhood groups," though he doesn't present evidence that's actually occurring in significant numbers. He also sidled up to allegations (from a "civil rights activist") "of a puzzling... continue reading
Good Morning America on Sunday derided the idea that Democratic retirements in Congress spell bad news for the party in 2010. John Hendren, a day before Evan Bayh announced he's leaving the Senate, dismissed, "But, for now, despite all the passionate, anti-incumbent tea parties, the math suggests limited changes on Capitol Hill. A tempest in a teapot ." [Audio available here .] Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland appeared and offered an optimistic spin. However, Hendren failed to mention that Van Hollen is also the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). So, when Van Hollen touted, "For... continue reading
On Tuesday, both CBS Early Show co-host Maggie Rodriguez and ABC Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos lamented the announced retirement of Democratic Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and proclaimed that his reelection would have been a virtual certainty. Rodriguez described it as "a lock," while Stephanopoulos asserted that it was "almost assured." In reality, a January 25 Rasmussen poll showed Bayh losing to Republican Congressman Mike Pence, 44% to 47%. While Pence has since decided against running, the poll also showed former Republican Congressman John Stutzman, who has formerly announced his candidacy, getting close at 41% to Bayh's 44%. Numbers... continue reading