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27 Sep 2011 10:13

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U.S.: NYT indirectly calls Occupy Wall Street protesters stupid

  • So even as the members of Occupy Wall Street seem unorganized and, at times, uninformed, their continued presence creates a vexing problem for the Police Department.
  • New York Times writer Joseph Goldstein • In an article about the NYPD’s seemingly poor handling of Occupy Wall Street. The article as a whole makes intelligent and understandable points (and goes in-depth about the use of pepper spray on Saturday), but this particular line really bothered us. This comes off as The New York Times ripping the dirty hippies for being dirty hippies, which is just an approach they should not take here. It’s condescending and shows a lack of respect for the protesters. What if they just dropped a line like that into an article about the Tea Party? It’d get savaged by the blogs! Instead of just interviewing your sources at the NYPD, Mr. Goldstein, why don’t you interview the protesters (who, we don’t know if you’ve noticed, have been clamoring for media attention), instead of discretely calling them idiots? You did it before, with this article. This piece feels like you’re writing an article about one side of the story. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2011 17:00

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Politics: President Obama dismisses congressional “fuss” on Libya

  • A lot of this fuss is politics… I said there would be no troops on the ground. I said we would not be carrying the lion’s share of the operation, but as members of NATO we would be supportive of it because it’s in our national security interest and it’s the right thing to do. We have done exactly what I said we would do.
  • President Obama • Defending his military intervention in Libya, and dismissing complaints from Congress. In the process of doing so, Obama struck a more confrontational tone towards his critics than is common for his administration. There’s a definite argument that one can make for the warfare going on in Libya, on fairly simply moral grounds — nobody really doubts what would have happened in Benghazi had nobody moved to stop it. Making that sort of argument would, we think, go a lot further to appeal to American sensibilities than judicial wrangling over defining “hostilities” would. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2011 17:24

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Culture: LeBron James isn’t (not) bothered by the haters

  • All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. So they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy … But they got to get back to the real world at some point.
  • Miami Heat forward LeBron James • Speaking during his post-game press conference after losing the championship to the heavy underdog Dallas Mavericks in six games. This is exactly the sort of remark that feeds the public’s disdain for James, a disdain that’s been steadily growing since his decision to help form a Voltron-style superteam down in South Beach (and being not so humble doing it). What’s especially illuminating about this quote, besides the implication that the common NBA fan rooting against him is probably some tribulation-addled scrub with an unenviable life, is that it completely defeats the point he was trying to make; that he isn’t bothered by people being happy that he lost. “I don’t care what you think, cause you’re a loser with a loser life compared to mine?” Yeah, doesn’t sound like you’re quite at ease with this, man. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 16:58

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Politics: GOP braces for damage from Gingrich remarks

  • Newt tries to stop the bleeding: There’s a problem that Newt Gingrich created in his criticisms of the Paul Ryan budget that goes very far beyond Newt himself — a rapidly approaching torrent of Democratic ads using his words against any Republican opponent who supported or voted for said budget. This stern denouncement is an attempt to blunt that effect, but will it work? Not on Senator Chuck Schumer, at least: “What Newt seems to realize is that it would be impossible to win the White House if they embrace the Ryan plan. If Republicans make endorsing the Ryan plan the standard in the Republican primary, it will make the nominee unelectable.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 11:52

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Politics: In this post, we call Newt Gingrich’s bluff on food stamps

  • What I said is factually true. And to hide behind the charge of racism? I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.
  • 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich • Defending himself from charges of racism after he referred to Obama as the “Food Stamp President.” Gingrich claimed is was “factually true” because one in six Americans receive them. OK, Newt, we checked your numbers and you’re right — over 44 million people out of roughly 307 million received food stamps in February 2011, a record level that’s jumped by nearly 20 million since 2008. (Though we’ll add this much: The number is closer to one in seven, brah.) But the problem is tone, Newt. By calling a president a “Food Stamp President,” you make an attack that sounds less like a reasonable criticism and more like a broadside: Would you have said this about Clinton? Or Bush? Exactly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 15:11

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Politics: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is not very impressed

  • Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations, our president, has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for?
  • Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin • Calling out President Obama’s leadership on the floor of the Senate today. That this criticism came from freshman Senator Manchin shouldn’t come as a big surprise, as he’s a very conservative Democrat (you may remember him shooting the cap-and-trade bill with a rifle). With the looming departure of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman in 2012, the West Virginia senator seems primed to hoist the title of “Democrat who most antagonizes his own party” going forward. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 10:22

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Politics: Rick Scott pissing off everyone – in both parties – in the legislature

  • The governor doesn’t understand there is a State Constitution and that we have three branches of government. They are talking about the attitude that he is still the CEO of his former health care corporation, and that is not going to work in this state, in Tallahassee, in my district. The people believe in three branches of government.
  • Republican Florida State Senator Mike Fasano • Criticizing Tea Party-backed Gov. Rick Scott for pretty much acting LIKE A BOSS instead of a guy who has to answer to the legislative branch. He’s been making some pretty bold decisions – like, for example, selling state-owned jets because he had one of his own – without getting Congressional approval. “It’s necessary at this time, I think — because our governor’s new — to let him know this is not a monarchy,” said Democratic State Senator Arthenia L. Joyner. “He’s not a king. This is a democracy.” Joyner brought a lawsuit against Scott because he killed a plan for high-speed rail. Scott, who recently unveiled his budget plan hundreds of miles away from Tallahassee, shouldn’t get too cocky – the GOP has a supermajority in both houses and can override his veto easily. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Nov 2010 09:52

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Politics: Sarah Palin, circa 1988: For a newscaster, her accent’s pretty thick

  • OK guys, next time we talk about Sarah Palin’s dislike of journalists or how she’s gonna clean up the field of journalism, or how all Katie Couric is biased against her or something, let’s keep in mind this chestnut from 1988, where Palin, as sportscaster, shows her chops as a journalist. For some reason, we still prefer Katie Couric after all of this. (thanks nbclocal) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Sep 2010 00:19

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Politics: Bill Gates’ “death panels” fracas: We got his back here

  • Look, you know how this kind of thing works. Pretend that Bill Gates is shaped like an ACORN employee. Or maybe he’s looking a bit like Shirley Sherrod nowadays. Because, like those examples, this clip is only a minute long and takes some stuff he said out of context and makes him look like a monster. This guy is giving nearly all of his money away to charity! Not buying it. It’s a hit piece, pure and simple, and you should view it as such. And let’s face it – the way it was presented, it’s basically designed to be the kind of thing that’s going to gain traction in the mainstream press. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. Let’s criticize him for things worthy of criticism, like that Seinfeld ad he did. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

08 Sep 2010 21:04

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Tech: Google Instant Search looks awesome but has downsides

  • Google’s Instant Search is pretty darn cool, yes, but it has some possible downsides. A lot of businesses have built their models around Google’s SEO and paid search benefits, which could be harder to grab using this model. (If people aren’t misspelling words, for example …) Search Engine Land is particularly concerned about the effects on “long tail” searches: “With our example, starting the query with “Las”, shows ads for Las Vegas. Some of those ads are for hotels. Why would a user continue typing if they see hotel ads already?” Gawker, on the other hand, is more concerned with finding unfortunate word combinations that come up, such as the one above. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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