Corsi Touts Claim By Discredited Scientist Topic: WorldNetDaily
A May 17 WorldNetDaily article by Jerome Corsi promotes a claim by Russian scientist Habibullo Abdussamatov that a new "Little Ice Age" could begin in 2014. Corsi tries to boost Abdussamatov's credibility by writing:
In 2007, National Geographic published Abdussamatov's explanation that the global warming observed in the shrinking of the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mar's South Pole was caused by increased solar activity.
"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," Abdussamatov wrote.
But Corsi cagily ignored the fact that NatGeo essentially debunked the claim. From the NatGeo article:
"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.
"And they contradict the extensive evidence presented in the most recent IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report." (Related: "Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused by Humans, World Climate Experts Say" [February 2, 2007].)
Amato Evan, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, added that "the idea just isn't supported by the theory or by the observations."
[...]
Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in Abdussamatov's theory is his dismissal of the greenhouse effect, in which atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide help keep heat trapped near the planet's surface.
He claims that carbon dioxide has only a small influence on Earth's climate and virtually no influence on Mars.
But "without the greenhouse effect there would be very little, if any, life on Earth, since our planet would pretty much be a big ball of ice," said Evan, of the University of Wisconsin.
Most scientists now fear that the massive amount of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the air will lead to a catastrophic rise in Earth's temperatures, dramatically raising sea levels as glaciers melt and leading to extreme weather worldwide.
(CNSNews.com and NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard previously touted Abdussamatov's claim without acknowledging criticism of it.)
Only a dishonest writer like Corsi can twist a citing by NatGeo into something positive, even though NatGeo is destroying it. But then, dishonestwriters are the only kind of writers WorldNetDaily is interested in employing.
Newsmax's Patten Slobbers Over Thompson's Book Topic: Newsmax
In a May 17 Newsmax article, David Patten fawns over Fred Thompson's new book, "Teaching the Pig to Dance":
Thompson's willingness to accept happenstance and pursue the unexpected is one of the key themes of the charming, funny, and delightful book birthed by his wise decision to follow his muse where it led him.
This is tied to a Newsmax interview of Thompson in which he, predictably, attacks President Obama:
The good news, Thompson says, is that America's future depends on its people, not its President Obama.
"If our values and perspectives on the role of our government, or the role of ourselves for that matter, change, it's our own fault. It's not his,” Thompson tells Newsmax. “Presidents come and go. But our country will remain. And it's everybody's duty while they're on watch, in their own generation's time, to do what we can to preserve these things."
Patten sycophantically adds, "Thompson's book makes the odds of preserving America's timeless values just a little bit better."
Patten, remember, is Newsmax's managing editor, and this fawning little promotion exemplifies the kind of "journalism" coming out of Newsmax.
The MRC Still Has No Sense of Humor Topic: NewsBusters
The Media Research Center has long lacked a sense of humor regarding jokes about Republicans (while shoveling out jokes about, say, Clinton's sex life). That humorlessness surfaces again at NewsBusters, where Brad Wilmouth dedicated not one but twoposts to scowling at jokes about Sarah Palin and other conservatives made by Andy Borowitz on a PBS show.
Wilmouth sure knows how to kill a joke:
Catching up on an item from the first episode of PBS’s Need to Know program, which aired on Friday, May 7, liberal satirist Andrew Borowitz suggested that Sarah Palin and Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse during the show’s regular "Next Week’s News" humor segment: "Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will announce that they are looking for, quote, ‘two additional horsemen.’" Imagery of fire burning behind Palin and Bachmann was shown as Borowitz read his item.
According to the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are four beasts that will arrive before the end of the world, and will represent pestilence, war, famine and death.
Even with Wilmouth's treating the joke like he was analyzing convention coverage, Borowitz is still funnier than anything you'll find in the MRC's NewsBusted "comedy" videos.
Aaron Klein Kagan-Bashing Fail Watch Topic: WorldNetDaily
Is Aaron Klein even capable of behaving like an honest reporter, particularly when it comes to Elena Kagan? Apparently not.
Keeping up his perfect record in attacking Kagan using cherry-picked information and distorted claims, Klein's May 17 WorldNetDaily article carries the headline "Kagan: Flag-burning OK" and notes that Kagan has "argued the government may not ban flag-burning protests." Klein does not note that this position is the same one the Supreme Court holds, and that none other than Antonin Scalia joined the majority in that ruling.
Klein also again takes Kagan's words out of context by falsely suggesting that Kagan wants the government to "disappear" certain types of speech -- even though Klein buries Kagan's complete statement later in the article, in which she is referring to "uncoerced disappearance" of offensive speech.
Ronald Kessler uses his May 17 Newsmax column to launch an anti-intellectual screed against colleges:
College catalogs are as enticing as brochures for shiny new cars. They promise intellectual stimulation, critical thinking, and preparation for a rewarding life. But like come-ons for underwater land, the claims of liberal arts colleges are bogus.
Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato began the liberal arts tradition of learning in ancient Greece. They advocated systematic reflection and a search for truth. The term liberal arts itself comes from the Latin word liber, meaning free.
Today, colleges impose rigid conformity. Rather than encouraging students to find the truth for themselves, they propagandize, usually with a far-left cast. Rather than encouraging open-mindedness, they promote stereotypical thinking and adherence to preconceptions and dogma.
In short, a college education — at roughly $40,000 a year — has become a consumer fraud.
Kessler goes on to name all the fabulously successful people who dropped out of college -- including himself. Then he cites the sole piece of evidence he provides in his article to support his screed: an author and college instruction sorting first ladies into three categories. All she's doing is "postulating a theory and shoe-horning reality into it" because "placing labels on people focuses attention on apparent similarities while shifting attention away from differences."
But then, it's back to whining:
At least 90 percent of college professors are registered Democrats. That would not be a problem if they honestly sought to open students’ minds rather than brainwashing them.
While exceptional professors still exist, portraying Republicans as evil, Americans as Nazis, and capitalism as a way to subjugate minorities is the norm in too many college classes. Protected by tenure, professors replicate themselves, blackballing teachers who do not have ultra-liberal views.
Isn't Kessler making the same baseless generalizationsabout college professors that he's complaining about professors making? He's just disproven his entire column.
Not that Kessler's intended audience will notice that contradiction -- NewsBusters is promoting it as an "open thread" discussion.
WND Touts Obama 'Trial' By Crazy Person Topic: WorldNetDaily
Hhow far over the birther edge has WorldNetDaily gone? It's endorsing the work of someone who despises President Obama even more than Joseph Farah and crew do.
A May 12 WorldNetDaily article by Stewart Stogel uncritically promotes what is "in essence a citizen's court" by the Atlah World Missionary church in Harlem that will purport to examine President Obama's "birth place, his citizenship status, his academic credentials and alleged ties to the Central Intelligence Agency as a student." Stogel quotes church leader Rev. James Manning as sahing that "the proceedings are not a mock trial and are permitted under the U.S. Constitution," though he concedes that "any verdict such a trial might produce would likely not be enforceable."
Stogel benignly describes Manning as someone who believes "the mainstream media has consistently ignored important questions on the Obama presidency and the time has arrived to push for answers," and allows Manning to uncritically portray the Harlem community as taking a "wait and see attitude" regarding him and and his trial.
Stogel is providing a strikingly dishonest portrait of Manning -- starting with editing his name. He's better known as James David Manning, as his website proclaims. It'sunclear why Stogel felt the need to edit out Manning's middle name when he clearly uses it on a regular basis.
Even more egregious than editing Manning's name, however, is Stogel's whitewashing of Manning. Rather than being some benign pastor merely showing concern about Obama, Manning has been hurling unusually vicious smears against Obama, most infamously describing him as a "long-legged mack daddy."
This August 2009 video rant by Manning is a prime example. Not only is the "long-legged mack daddy" slur prominent, Manning also calls Obama a "prolific liar and killer and murderer" and a "long-legged half-breed usurper illegal alien, a man who isn't even a citizen. ... Dick Cheney knows he's not a citizen," as well as a "quasi-Muslim socialist communist Marxist freak," an emissary of the devil" and the "vice president of genocide in hell." Manning adds: "Where's Larry Sinclair when we need him?" And he sings about the alleged "love affair" between Obama and Sinclair. (Sinclair, if you'll recall, is another favorite of WND.)
This is the man who is leading the "trial" of Obama.The only hint WND provides of Manning's looniness is the inclusion (albeit unexplained) of this graphic:
Even WND hasn't claimed Obama was a CIA operative.
Unsurprisingly, this is not the first time WND has promoted this crazy person. In a November 2009 WND column, Alan Keyes -- not exactly on the correct side of sanity himself -- ran to Manning's defense when his YouTube account was canceled. Keyes whitewashes Manning as well, omitting any reference to his repeated "long-legged mack daddy" references.
Why don't Stogel and WND want you to know the truth about James David Manning?
Why doesn't Alan Keyes want you to know the truth about James David Manning?
Because they agree with every Obama slur he makes. Obviously they must, or they wouldn't promote him.
But they don't have the guts to follow in Manning's footsteps and call Obama a "long-legged mack daddy" in public. Wimps.
UPDATE: Right Wing Watch has more insanity on Manning and his "trial."
Kagan's educational and professional biography reveals disturbing associations with some of the country's best-known leftist radicals and judicial activists, including Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama (the most leftist president in American history) and liberal activist judges Abner Mikva and Thurgood Marshall, whom Kagan clerked for in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
[...]
Until Congress gets the guts to do its sacred constitutional duty, to impeach all progressive and socialist activist judges whose jurisprudence imposes social justice (Marxism) rather than equal justice under rule of the law, until Congress begins to purge the judiciary of all judges who legislate from the bench and pervert the ideas of the constitutional framers, then political scoundrels like President Barack Obama and other future presidents will continue to insult the collective intelligence of America by nominating such an unremarkable, anti-intellectual anti-constitutionalist as U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
This time, Klein asserts that Kagan was a "listed member" of and donated money to a "pro-abortion group," the National Partnership for Women & Families. At no point does Klein identify where Kagan was a "listed member"; while Kagan has previously described herself as a member of the group, she also stated in a questionnaire for her nomination for solicitor general that "I have no current memory of whether such contributions ever made me a member of this organization." That seems to run contrary to Klein's assertion that Kagan was a "listed member" of the group.
Klein also misportrays the nature of the group she may or may not have been a "member" of. As Media Matters details, the National Partnership for Women & Families "promote[s] fairness in the workplace, reproductive health and rights, access to quality affordable health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family." Portraying it only as an abortion-related group is highly dishonest.
But hey, dishonesty is what Klein is all about when it comes to "reporting" on Kagan.
MRC's Waters Outs His Secret Commenting Identity: Will MRC Punish Him? Topic: Media Research Center
Via Romenesko, we learn that Clay Waters, operator of the Media Research Center's TimesWatch, accidentally (maybe) posted the same comment on a Columbia Journalism Review article under both his own name and that of a pseudonym, "SamTyler."
This obviously raises serious ethical questions -- namely, why is a supposedly professional media analyst resorting to pseudonymous media criticism on media websites? It is, at a minimum, clearly unprofessional.
Yet, we have as of this writing seen no response from the MRC regarding this, or it Waters has been disciplined for his unprofessional behavior. Meanwhile, Waters has continued to post items at TimesWatch, suggesting that any discipline, if indeed there was any, was mild at best.
The MRC's silence is strange given that it has a record of disdaining the use of pseudonyms -- a 1989 MRC article was offended to find out that the person who wrote for CJR under the name William Boot was not using his real name.
Ah, the irony: Writing for CJR under a fake name was offensive, but Waters sees no apparent problem hiding his real identity when commenting at CJR.
UPDATE: The scandal grows: Turns out that Waters, as "SamTyler," has posted comments at his nemesis (and our employer), Media Matters, despite the fact that the "MRC, as a rule, doesn’t comment on Media Matters."
MRC's Baker Endorses Military Insubordination Toward Obama Topic: Media Research Center
In a May 14 NewsBusters post, Media Research Center vice president Brent Baker dismisses as "sycophantic" at a new book by Jonathan Alter on Barack Obama's first year in office, and goes on to portray an anecdote from the book cited by Alter in an appearance on the "Today" show as "a laudatory anecdote about Obama told to him by self-interested members of Obama's staff," in which "Obama supposedly lectured those who dared criticize him," specifically military generals.
But Baker didn't tell the rest of the story. From a May 3 Associated Press article:
President Barack Obama reprimanded top Pentagon officials last year for pressing publicly for a troop increase in Afghanistan.
That's according to "The Promise," a book on Obama's first year in office by Newsweek writer Jonathan Alter. It goes on sale May 19.
The book says Obama laid into Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen in an Oval Office meeting last October.
Obama was irked by the leak of a confidential report by Gen. Stanley McChrystal calling for an expanded military presence in Afghanistan, and by McChrystal saying he could not support a strategy relying on special forces and unmanned drone attacks.
Obama was conducting a lengthy review of operations in Afghanistan at the time. He largely sided with the generals and agreed to deploy 30,000 more troops.
So Obama wasn't merely "lecturing those who dared criticize him." He was criticizing generals who were trying to influence policy by speaking outside the military chain of command and through strategic leaks to the media.
It seems that Baker is endorsing military subordination against the President of the United States. Does anyone think Baker would encourage this behavior if these generals were doing the same thing to a Republican president?
Also, Baker's knee-jerk description of a book he has clearly not read as "sycophantic" is, unsurprisingly, at odds with the facts. A Washington Post review of the book by Matthew Dallek points out that Alter's book "reveals the gap between Obama's image as a great orator and his flagging efforts to communicate his policies lucidly," and notes that his administration "lost control of the message on bailouts, health care and jobs," and that "He is seen having difficulty escaping 'the bubble' and anticipating how the politics will unfold on a given issue." Some sycophant.
WND Columnist: Women on Birth Control Are Like Rutting Cattle Topic: WorldNetDaily
After starting her May 15 WorldNetDaily column with an anecdote about trying to keep a bull from impregnating a cow because "we didn't want a calf born in the middle of winter," Patrice Lewis finds a disturbing analogy she likes and runs with it:
Right now feminists are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pill, lauding its effects and congratulating society for allowing women to act like rutting cattle. See how far we've advanced in the past half-century?
[...]
Just think of the implications if America kept its pants on. If women kept their bloomers buttoned. If men kept their wick zipped.
But no, instead we got the Pill, lauded by feminists the world over for allowing us to rut like cattle.
"For the first time in human history," says Letty Cottin Pogrebin, a founding editor of Ms. Magazine, "a woman could control her sexuality and determine her readiness for reproduction by swallowing a pill smaller than an aspirin. Critics warned that the Pill would spawn generations of loose, immoral women; what it spawned was generations of empowered women who are better equipped to make rational choices about their lives."
Empowered, that's it. Women acting like rutting cattle are empowered.
Proponents of the Pill point out the ability for couples to plan their families rather than having more kids than they can support. While the Pill has undoubtedly been used for this, it's pretty obvious the majority of women who take it aren't planning families with their husbands. They're single women enjoying the freedom to rut like cattle with no side effects. And if there should be a "side effect," then Planned "Parenthood" (what a laughable name) stands in the wings waiting to "liberate" them. Gosh, I feel empowered.
Economic historian Claudia Goldin says, "The Pill was a great 'enabler.' With the Pill, large numbers of college women could embark on careers that involved long-term, up-front time commitments in education and training as physicians, lawyers, veterinarians, managers and academics, among others. The Pill fostered women's careers by effectively lowering the costs of training."
Well, for Pete's sake, it's the easiest thing in the world to obtain all the education and career advancements you want. You simply keep your pants on. But this isn't good enough for "liberated" women. Somehow they've concluded that mindless rutting is empowering.
[...]
Sure, go ahead and rut like an animal, sweetie. I hope it makes you feel empowered.
Are feminists telling me they can't control themselves? That, like our cow in heat, they are mindlessly controlled by hormones? That they are incapable of keeping their pants on and therefore need artificial methods to allow them to advance their careers between sessions of mindless rutting? This is empowerment?
Oh, and it gets better, for she explains how she handled her impregnated cow problem:
Because of our cow's ill-timed heat cycle, we will be giving her a shot of Lutalyse (an abortant) so she won't have her calf in the middle of a bitterly cold north Idaho winter. Bingo, problem solved.
But is this really how you want to "solve" the problem of your teenage daughter's ill-timed pregnancy? A quick trip to Planned Parenthood and bingo, an abortion? Have we really "advanced" this much?
I suppose 50 years of the Pill has done some good. It's shown us that returning to the roots of our morality isn't such a bad thing. It's demonstrated that sinking into the depths of hedonism doesn't bring lifelong peace and joy.
C'mon, folks, don't let a bunch of cows show us up. Keep your pants on, America.
This sounds like a job for Amanda Marcotte (who has, coincidentally, written on a related subject).
When you don't care about reporting all the facts -- as WorldNetDaily has repeatedlydemonstrated it doesn't when it comes to birther lawyer Orly Taitz -- you come off as a lazy, biased hack. And that's exactly what Bob Unruh looks like in a May 11 WND article promoting a lawsuit against one of Taitz's opponents for secretary of state.
Unruh's first bit of lazy hackery in his article is to bury the connection between the filer of the lawsuit, Pamela Barnett, and Taitz. Unruh describes Barnett as "a lead plaintiff in the case Barnett v. Obama that sought a court ruling that Obama does not qualify to be president under the Constitution's demand for the president to be a 'natural born citizen.'" Unruh adds, "Some of the plaintiffs in the case were represented by Taitz, an attorney and dentist who has spearheaded several of the high-profile cases against Obama. Other plaintiffs were represented by Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation."
What Unruh never states: Taitz represented Barnett in the case. Kreep, as we've noted, represented only two plaintiffs, Wiley Drake and Markham Robinson, who were originally represented by Taitz but switched to Kreep because they believed Taitz was "in over her head."
Unruh also curiously mentions another connection between the two: Barnett is apparently managing Taitz's campaign for secretary of state. This raises serious conflict-of-interest questions -- namely, whether Barnett is acting under Taitz's orders in filing the lawsuit -- but because Unruh is a lazy hack, that question goes unexplored.
Unruh's second bit of lazy hackery is ignoring evidence that the Barnett/Taitz lawsuit is without merit.
The lawsuit claims that Damon Dunn, who's competing with Taitz for the Republican nomination for California secretary of state, is not qualifed to run because he was registered as a Democrat less than a year before running as a Republican, which state law prohibits. We'll let the OC Weekly explain:
Dunn freely admits to being a "recovering non-voter" who made his voice heard at the polls for the first time in last May's special election on ballot measures. He has said that he registered shortly prior to that election--as a Republican.
That checks out. OC voter registration records show Dunn registered as a Republican on March 17, 2009. He then voted absentee in the May 19 election.
But a Sacramento Bee article from November of last year says that Dunn previously registered as a Democrat. Taitz has seized upon that information, claiming that Dunn was technically a Democrat until he registered as a Republican last year, and thus fails the test of not being affiliated with another party within a year of filing to run.
Taitz, though, hasn't checked her facts. According to database records, Dunn registered as a Democrat in Jacksonville, Florida on May 12, 1999. Dunn spokesman Hector Barajas says this happened while he was playing football for the Jacksonville Jaguars and was snagged by a DMV "motor voter" registration drive.
Dunn's Florida registration is now expired, according to Angelia Wiggins of the Duval County Registrar of Voters. According to Florida law, she says, if the registrar's mail to your registered address begins bouncing back, as it did for Dunn, your registration becomes inactive. If you then fail to vote in two consecutive federal elections, your registration expires. That's what happened to Dunn, leading his Democratic registration in Florida to become void on June 16, 2005.
Unless Dunn was registered elsewhere between then and now--and Taitz has presented no evidence that he was--Dunn should be fine, legally.
That OC Weekly article was posted on May 8 -- three days before Unruh's article. Unruh could have included this information in this article, but he didn't. Instead, all he does is quote a Dunn spokesman saying about Taitz, You're looking at someone who's really trying to get her name in the paper."
And in Unruh, we are looking at someone who's a lazy, biased hack. There's really no other way to describe it.
WND, CNS Published Buchanan's Jew-Bashing Column Topic: WorldNetDaily
Pat Buchanan has gotten a lot of attention, and not the good kind, for his May 14 column essentially claiming that there are too many Jews on the Supreme Court and lamenting the lack of white Protestants on the court.
Any chance WND or CNS will explain why they found Buchanan's column acceptable to publish despite his borderline anti-Semitic statements? Well, we know WND doesn't care; after all, it decided one Ann Coulter column wasn't offensive enough and restored an attack on Helen Thomas that had been removed by Coulter's syndicate.
First, it was Christopher Ruddy. Now Dick Morris is the second Newsmax columnist to bravely defend Teddy Roosevelt while serving a promotional purpose.
In political campaigns, we consultants are always seeking opportunities for our candidates to speak for themselves without passing through the prism of editorial and journalistic opinion. We buy ads, we schedule debates, we set up town hall meetings, all to reach and communicate directly with the public without media intermediaries.
Imagine the frustration of a dead historical figure from the past, now able to communicate with modern generations only through the distorted lens of history. If you think journalists are bad, wait until you meet historians!
Now, Daniel Ruddy has freed former President Theodore Roosevelt from these shackles and given him a chance to address us directly, articulating his view of American history without the varnish of modern historical fashion. In his new book, Theodore Roosevelt's History of the United States, Ruddy has mined the words of the great man and organized them into a newly created history of the US up to the time of TR's death in 1919.
[...]
But the most fascinating aspect of Ruddy's history is what it tells us about our modern era. As we see history through the eyes of a president writing from 1890-1919, we realize how distorted is our view of our past. We come to see that to take for granted what we have been told about our ancestors is a bit like only learning about our modern era from the New York Times! We come to realize a need to step outside of ourselves and learn about the past as our ancestors saw it without the bias and prejudice with which a largely liberal group of historians has jaundiced it.
Daniel Ruddy, by the way, is Christopher Ruddy's brother. The latter disclosed this conflict of interest in his column shilling for the book; Morris does not.
Then again, Morris has a history of failing to disclose his personal or financial interests in the causes he shills for.
P.S. The logrolling isn't confined to the website. The May issue of Newsmax's magazine contains Christopher Ruddy's column on Roosevelt -- as well as a full-page ad for Daniel Ruddy's book.
Laura Bush Derangement Syndrome Topic: WorldNetDaily
America is getting soft on sin.
The latest example is Laura Bush coming out of the closet on her views in favor of abortion and same-sex marriage – just in time to promote her new book.
It's really sad.
[...]
Man's ways are not God's ways. That's tough for people to swallow. But, if you read the Bible and accept it as God's Word, you can't come to any other conclusion. Sure, you can make up your own rules. You can do what's right in your own eyes. But it always ends badly when you do.
I'm sorry to hear Laura Bush is at war with God.
She's probably a role model to many American women.
I truly hope she repents for misleading so many and encouraging our culture to follow man's laws at the expense of God's.
