Topic: The ConWeb
ConWeb writers want to bring back DDT to kill mosquitoes and bedbugs, despite the fact that most mosquitoes and bedbugs are now immune to its effects. Read more >>
Monday, February 29, 2016
NEW ARTICLE -- Out There, Exhibit 63: The ConWeb's Favorite Environment-Destroying Chemical
Topic: The ConWeb ConWeb writers want to bring back DDT to kill mosquitoes and bedbugs, despite the fact that most mosquitoes and bedbugs are now immune to its effects. Read more >>
Posted by Terry K.
at 8:50 AM EST
Sunday, February 28, 2016
MRC Demands Media Bias Against Trump, Then Complains When It Happens
Topic: Media Research Center Nicholas Fondacaro devoted a Feb. 24 NewsBusters post to ranting about what he declared was NBC's Chuck Todd's claim that it's the job of opposing campaigns, not the media, to vet Donald Trump -- and get it completely wrong:
Fondacaro's interpretation is wrong -- so wrong, in fact, that Todd himself complained to the Media Research Center, resulting in a editor's note added to the top stating that the post's headline had been changed from "Chuck Todd: It's not the media's job to vet Trump's past," agreeing with Todd that "it wasn't an accurate sense of his statements." What Todd said is that the media has put critical information about Trump out there -- contrary to Fondacaro's assertion -- and the campaigns of Trump's opponents have plenty of ammuntion should they decide to use it. He's right; for instance, the Washington Post reported on the scammy nature of Trump University way back last September -- CNN was reporting on it as far back as 2013 -- but it was not until the most recent GOP presidential debate that any of his opponents called him out on it. (Not that you'll see that mentioned at the MRC, which apparently thinks "the media" is just the evening news on the three broadcast networks, and put out a piece by Mike Ciandella following that debate whining about the lack of coverage there.) Fondacaro is effectively demanding that the media be biased against Trump. So why is the MRC so mad when there's anti-Trump bias in the media? Two days later, Tim Graham complained that a Washington Post editorial pointed out that Trump's campaign declaration to deport all illegal immigrants would be " a forced movement on a scale not attempted since Stalin or perhaps Pol Pot." You'd think that would be the kind of comparison Graham would favor since his boss, Brent Bozell, is avowedly anti-Trump. But Graham instead laments the Post's "unhinged comparisons that make no historical sense," then quickly changed the subject to Clinton-bashing, perhaps remembering that it's not really company policy to be defending Trump at all.
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:30 PM EST
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Obama Derangement Syndrome Watch, Supersize WorldNetDaily Edition
Topic: WorldNetDaily
-- Barbara Simpson, Feb. 7 WorldNetDaily column
-- Jane Chastain, Feb. 10 WND column
-- Joseph Farah, Feb. 10 WND column
-- Erik Rush, Feb. 10 WND column
-- Joseph Farah, Feb. 21 WND column
-- Chuck Norris, Feb. 21 WND column
-- Erik Rush, Feb. 24 WND column
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:30 AM EST
Friday, February 26, 2016
MRC Responds To 'Union Propaganda' With Anti-Union Propaganda
Topic: NewsBusters Curtis Louder whines in a Feb. 23 NewsBusters post:
Is Louder saying that Cheyenne got pregnant in order to create the "problem" of needing maternity leave? Weird. Louder then peddles well-worn right-wing tropes against labor unions:
Labor unions haven't done anything for a century? Really? Others beg to differ. Louder concludes by cheering that the Cloud 9 superstore in "Superstore" acted like its real-world doppelganger, Walmart, when faced with employees seeking better treatment from their employer: by firing them all. "Harsh truths for the Cloud 9 employees. Certainly not the result they were all expecting," he smugly adds.
Posted by Terry K.
at 3:23 PM EST
Do Kathleen Willey And WND Endorse Roger Stone's Sleazy Sexism?
Topic: WorldNetDaily WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi gave Kathleen Willey's latest rantings an uncritical platform in a Feb. 22 article that touts the unsubtly named "Rape PAC," which has a goal of attacking Hillary Clinton's campaign. Corsi adds: "Roger Stone, a confident of former presidents Nixon and Reagan, and author of the 2015 bestselling book 'The Clintons’ War on Women,' has been working with Willey to create the anti-Clinton Rape PAC." Rsther than explain on what planet Stone's book is "bestselling" -- Amazon ranks it at No. 5,359, hardly a bestseller -- Corsi then quotes Stone whining about "the Clintons’ chronic abuse of women and how Hillary has destroyed any woman who has potentially gotten in the way of their lust for power and wealth. Corsi failed to mention Roger Stone's own abuse of women, which makes him a very ironic representative of Kathleen Willey. Just this week, Stone was banned from appearing on CNN for his vicious attacks on Republican strategist Ana Navarro, whom he has called a "Diva Bitch" and "Borderline retarded," and insulting her looks by stating that "Black beans and rice didn't miss her."Stone has also hurled sexist epithets at other women, including "muff-diver," "elitist c*nt," "professional Negro," and "all around bitch." And we haven't even gotten to his proud swinger lifestyle which includes possibly more sexual partners than Bill Clinton. Or that the co-author of Stone's book, Robert Morrow, has some bizarre and creepy sexual fantasies about Hillary. By associating herself with Stone, Willey is associated with this guy too. How does Willey feel about teaming with a sleazy political operative who has waged his own war on women? Corsi doesn't seem very interested in finding out the answer, and Willey -- whose latest campaign to get Clinton-haters to buy her a house to make up for her apparently terrible financial management skills has stalled out at a paltry $6,795 of the $100,000-plus she wants -- hasn't publicly addressed the issue.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:42 AM EST
Updated: Friday, February 26, 2016 12:43 AM EST
Thursday, February 25, 2016
MRC Uses Man-In-Women's-Restroom Incident To Freak Out About Transgenders
Topic: Media Research Center The Media Research Center has a habit of freaking out about transgenders in general, as well as pushing the right-wing "bathroom myth" -- in which allowing transgenders to use the restroom or locker room of their gender identity will somehow create perversion and danger to women -- regardless of the facts. Mairead McArdle gives the myth another go in a Feb. 19 NewsBusters post, derisively referring to the issue as "confused commodes." She howled about how "a cisgender man invaded a women’s locker room last week" in Seattle. But the article McArdle cites about the incident does not describe the culprit as "cisgender" -- indeed, McArdle later flip-flops and admits that "this particular man seemed only to be making a clumsy statement about the new rule and did not try to identify himself as a woman." McArdle goes on to baselessly claim that the incident -- even though it had nothing to do with gender identity and may, for all we know, been perpetrated by a right-wing activist protesting the idea of using the bathroom of one's gender identity -- as a "dangerous precedent" and "The man could just as easily have been a predator pretending to identify as a woman." Well, no. McArdle refuses to acknowledge that there's simply no evidence to support the right-wing claim that allowing transgenders to use facilities consistent with their gender identity opens the door to predators. But, apparently, hating transgenders gets clicks at the MRC, so expect McArdle and others to keep forwarding their factually deficient propaganda.
Posted by Terry K.
at 6:43 PM EST
WND's Still Kinda Pushing Scalia Conspiracy Theories
Topic: WorldNetDaily WorldNetDaily's attempt to promote conspiracy theories about Antonin Scalia's death may be fizzling out, but that doesn't mean it's stopped nudging the thing along. This time around, Cheryl Chumley does the honors. She writes in a Feb. 24 article that a doctor whotreats members of Congress pointed out that Scalia died from "his many medical conditions" and that "there was nothing suspicious to see and those who thought otherwise were not fully informed." But WND dog-whistles the conspiracy with the headline "Scalia death: Nothing to see here, doctor says" (which remains in the URL but has since been changed on the article itself). And Chumlmey herself highlighted "the failure of authorities to perform an autopsy that could confirm or deny much of the information put forth by law enforcement and medical officials," as pointed out by Donald Trump, and quoted a "close friend" of Scalia who was "stunned and shocked" at his death. Chumley followed that up with an article credulously quoting comedian Dick Gregory effectively repeating the conspiracy theories that WND has tried to promote: "You know they murdered him, right? ... They said they found him with a pillow over his face. That place where he was, it’s a place where money folks go and do their freak stuff. One of the most powerful people in the world and he ain’t got no bodyguard, man?" Chumley added that "Gregory’s quips underscore the questions that still remain over Scalia’s February 13 death, despite the findings from authorities that nothing unusual or suspicious occurred, as WND reported." We shouldn't be surprised -- WND did continue to push Obama birther conspiracies for years after the facts undermined them.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:51 AM EST
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
MRC's Baker Unhappy Scalia's Questionable Ethical Behavior Is Reported
Topic: Media Research Center The Media Research Center's Brent Baker whines in a Feb. 19 NewsBusters post:
Baker offered no evidence to contradict the claims made in the article, which means he's upset those claims were made at all. That seems to make him a would-be censor. And it's quite hilarious that the the MRC, which can't stop bringing up Chappaquiddick even though Ted Kennedy's been dead for years, has now declared any mention of possible ethical breaches by Scalia to be verboten because he just died.
Posted by Terry K.
at 9:08 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 9:09 PM EST
WND Takes The Side Of Another Tax Protester
Topic: WorldNetDaily WorldNetDaily has a soft spot for scofflaws and activists who refuse to pay the taxes they owe. After all, one of WND's early financiers was a businessman who's currently in prison for tax evasion (not to mention threatening a judge and fleeing the country to avoid an earlier attempt at justice). In that spirit, Alex Newman wrote a lengthy Feb. 21 WND article on Doreen Hendrickson, who he claims is now "sitting behind bars" for "sign a form under penalty of perjury that she believed to be inaccurate" -- her tax returns. In WND tradition, Newman is highly biased toward Hendrickson's plight, to the point that he leaves out inconvenient facts. At no point in his 77-paragraph article does Newman bother to quote from the prosecution's case (though he claims that "The Justice Department did not respond to repeated requests by phone and email for information from WND") or even to describe exactly what Hendrickson did, let alone demonstrate what was supposedly false about the amended tax returns she was allegedly compelled to sign. Apparently, Newman was incapable of performing a simple Google search that would have quickly uncovered the DOJ press release on Hendrickson's sentencing (which occurred last April, meaning Newman had many months to work on this story) that explained exactly what Hendrickson did:
Newman never explains why Dorren Hendrickson's claim that she made no money in 2002 and 2003 is accurate, given that the DOJ apparently provided evidence that she did, in fact, have income. He also fails to mention that Pete Hendrickson spent time in prison for filing false tax returns. And even though Newman had months to write this story, the only thing he says of Pete Hendrickson's anti-tax screed is that "WND has not reviewed the book nor its arguments" and quotes him as asserting "This entire affair is an effort to discredit my book." Newman went on to repeat Pete Hendrickson's assertion that "many Americans had successfully used the arguments he advances and posted the evidence of success online." Well, that's notquite true: there's at least one case in which someone using his arguments was fined $2,500 for doing so. That case also noted that Pete Hendrickson has a previous conviction for conspiring to blow up a mailbox on tax day, and it exposes the tricks he pushes in his anti-tax book, such as an "unduly narrow -- indeed, wholly unreasonable -- definition of 'person.'" It adds that "Mr. Hendrickson has been enjoined 'from filing any tax return, amended return, form * * * or other writing or paper with the IRS that is based on the false and frivolous claims set forth in Cracking the Code that only federal, state or local government workers are liable for the payment of federal income tax or subject to the withholding of federal income, social security and Medicare taxes from their wages.'" The ruling sums up Hendrickson's book as "an antitax screed, short on substance and long on invective" and is "largely an exercise in twisting the meaning of words into what the author wants them to mean, even if statutes, regulations, and case law define those words otherwise." The fact that Newman could not or would not find any of this information tells us he's serving as a stenographer and propagandist, not a reporter. We've previously noted that Newman -- co-author of a WND-published book -- thinks teachers are criminals and likes to whitewash white racism in South Africa.
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:30 AM EST
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
CNS Serves Up Ridiculous Anti-Hillary Bias As 'News'
Topic: CNSNews.com The mission statement for CNSNews.com states in part that it tires to "cover stories that are subject to the bias of omission and report on other news subject to bias by commission." And how does it do that? By engaging in a lot of bias by commission. Take, for example, this Feb. 17 "news" article by Susan Jones on a Hillary Clinton speech:
Again: This is a "news" article from a "news" organization that purports to loathe "bias by commission." If a reporter for the so-called "liberal media" used a "news" article to dismiss a Republican presidential candidate's speech as nothing but "promises and platitudes," CNS' parent, the Media Research Center, would be screaming bloody murder. But the MRC apparently has no problem with such a heavy political slant as long at its own right-wing agenda is being furthered in the process. If someone from CNS can explain why such egregious bias is not just permitted but encouraged on its pages when it's run by an organization that attacks media bias, feel free to contact me.
Posted by Terry K.
at 5:16 PM EST
WND Not Even Bothering To Do Real Birther Reporting Anymore
Topic: WorldNetDaily How much does WorldNetDaily not want to cover birther stories involving people other than Barack Obama? It's not even assigning reporters to write about it anymore. The last bylined birther-related story at WND was a Feb. 12 article by Douglas Ernst on Donald Trump's threats to file a lawsuit challenging Trump's eligibility. It's a relatively balanced article -- not somsething that happened when WND covered the issue of Obama's eligibility. Since then, WND has simply copied-and-pasted (read: stolen) the works of others in reporting on new birther issues:
By contrast, WND assigned reporter Paul Bremmer to cover Glenn Beck's declaration that he's fasting to benefit Cruz's campaign. Priorities!
Posted by Terry K.
at 12:17 AM EST
Monday, February 22, 2016
MRC Loves That Spanish-Language Channel Is Spreading Anti-Clinton Sleaze
Topic: Media Research Center The Media Research Center couldn't be more psyched that a news program on the Spanish-language network MegaTV spread a sleazy report about Hillary Clinton. From a Feb. 22 post credited only to "MRC Latino Staff":
So it's good that a media outlet is expressing "real market differentiation" by acting like the obsessive Clinton-haters at WorldNetDaily -- which, unsurprisingly, promoted the same claim -- by promoting a woman who's widely considered to have no credibility? Apparently it is at MRC Latino. When we pointed it out to MRC Latino on Twitter, he/she/they responded, "the post simply observes, takes note of the dynamics of the coverage out there." They later added: "focus is not promotion or endorsement, but analysis of what's already out there and going on in media segment." That's a disingenous defense. MRC Latino could have distanced itself from the content of the smear it was promoting has it talked about "market differentiation," but it didn't. And MRC Latino is not afraid to judge content, at least when it comes to content that doesn't mesh with its ideology: Five days earlier, "MRC Latino Staff" dedicated a post to attacking the very same news show for a story on sanctuary cities, declaring that it was "breathtaking, to say the least, in the scope of its bias." MRC Latino, meanwhile, chearly has no problem with the breathtaking bias of the Hillary smear promulgated by the very same people. That's some very shoddy "media research" there. But that's what you get when people who aren't very fond of Latinos monitor Latino media.
Posted by Terry K.
at 10:08 PM EST
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Christopher Ruddy's Jeb Fail
Topic: Newsmax Jeb Bush is out of the presidential race now, though Newsmax editor Christopher Ruddy shilled hard for him of late, writing two columns in the past few weeks to boost him. Ruddy wrote on Feb. 5:
Ruddy went to bat for Jeb again on Feb. 17, doing his best to spin Bush's electoral problems:
Remember, Ruddy is a player in Florida Republican politics, where Bush is from and where Newsmax is headquartered. He's tried to play kingmaker for various Republican candidates there, and at one point was a possible candidate for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Bill Nelson. Of course, in between thouse two columns on Bush, Ruddy wrote one praising Donald Trump, gushing, "Donald Trump is a born winner."
Posted by Terry K.
at 11:44 PM EST
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Logrolling In Our Time, Jim Fletcher Edition
Topic: WorldNetDaily We've documented that one of Jim Fletcher's duties as a WorldNetDaily columnist is to crank out rave reviews of WND-published books. He does this yet again in his Feb. 14 WND column:
Fletcher fails to mention even once that not only is the book published by WND, Kupelian is WND's managing editor. Yet every single mention of the book's title in this purported review is linked to WND's online store. Hype over substance!
Posted by Terry K.
at 1:37 PM EST
Updated: Saturday, February 20, 2016 1:39 PM EST
Friday, February 19, 2016
MRC-Mark Levin Business Arrangement/Love Affair Watch
Topic: Media Research Center It says something about the business relationship the Media Research Center has with right-wing radio host Mark Levin that the lead story on MRC's "news" website CNSNews.com yesterday was Levin starting a TV channel, with the giant patriotic handout shot of Levin that being the lead story entails (screen shot above). And CNS managing editor Michael W. Chapman has all the fawning details:
Chapman didn't mention that the MRC is apparently one of those platforms where Levin can speak "uncensored, without middlemen, and commercial free." Nor did he mention that Levin's PR firm, CRC Public Relations, also does work for the MRC. But that wasn't enough Levin boosterism for CNS. It followed up with an article by Susan Jones that's nothing more than a transcription of a speech by Levin.
Posted by Terry K.
at 4:17 PM EST
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