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We stopped by Zuccotti Park to see the birthplace of the Occupy movement.  As you might know, police cleared Zuccotti Park of the protester element in the middle of the night on Nov. 15, 2011 because they caused problems. “Conditions at the park had deteriorated to the point that serious concerns about crime, fire hazards and public health needed to be addressed,” said Sheryl Neufeld, senior counsel with the New York City Law Department, building the case for the city to clear the park.  Seeing the park, the first thing that struck me is that park is almost completely made of granite.  So, you can imagine the fire hazard potential. [Read more →]

It is an article of faith with the political far right that the mainstream news media are, in the words of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the “lamestream media.”

The conservatives are correct – the mainstream news media often are lame.  But, it’s not because the news media are liberal, which is the point of Palin’s name-calling.  In fact, the mainstream news media far too frequently accept conservative propaganda as news.  That’s not liberal, just lame.

James O'Keefe at Courthouse, 2010

The most recent example of lameness came in the news media’s response to the latest stunt by conservative activist James O’Keefe.  On March 8, 2011, O’Keefe posted an 11 minute, 38 second video on his Project Veritas website (whose tagline is “Promoting Modern-Day Muckrakers”). Two of O’Keefe’s associates presented themselves as representatives of a Muslim organization, and asked leading questions of NPR Foundation executives Ronald Schiller and Betsy Liley in what was presumed by them to be a fundraising lunch meeting.  A hidden camera captured the audio of the meeting and a shot of Schiller.  Schiller reportedly called Tea Party activists “racists” and suggested that National Public Radio would be better off without federal funding. [Read more →]

The big news on Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s historic Feb. 1 televised speech, according to most U.S. news media,  is that he decided he would not run for reelection in September.  In Mubarak’s less-than-categorical words,  “I say in all honesty and regardless of the current situation that I did not intend to nominate myself for a new presidential term.”

It was a 10-minute speech, but from the reports, one might think he said nothing else of consequence. See, for example, the Associated Press.  AP Online’s Feb. 1 breaking story reported, in full:

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he will not run for a new term in office in September elections and will work during the rest of his term for a “peaceful transfer of power” in a new attempt to defuse massive protests demanding his immediate ouster.

In a speech aired on state TV Tuesday night, Mubarak said, “In all sincerity, regardless of the current circumstances, I never intended to be a candidate for another term.”

He says he will work during “the final months of my current term” to carry out the “necessary steps for the peaceful transfer of power.”

Sounds like a nice, reasonable guy.  No wonder he’s been “elected” by the people for the past 30 years. [Read more →]

Andrew Breitbart has a job to do and he does it well. Breitbart’s job is to lie and distort the truth in order to advance a right-wing agenda, embarrass liberals, and undermine the Obama administration.

Breitbart is not a journalist, researcher, or pundit. He is a propagandist. [Read more →]