Your librul media
They really do have a problem with calling a spade a spade! Talk about fiddling while the planet burns:
New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan believes the paper is making progress when it comes to using the more accurate term “denier” — rather than “skeptic” — to refer to those who reject the scientific consensus on climate change.
In an interview with Media Matters, Sullivan described “denier” as the “stronger term” and the appropriate label “when someone is challenging established science.” Sullivan said that “the Times is moving in a good direction” on the issue, adding that the newspaper is using the term “denier” more often and “perhaps should be doing it even more.”
She also likened the discussion to the Times’ process for evaluating whether to refer to “enhanced interrogation techniques” as torture, stating: “After a long time the Times came around to calling it torture and I thought that was a very good thing. I think we’re sort of in the same realm with the business about skeptics and deniers.”
Sullivan, who briefly addressed the distinction between “skeptics” and “deniers” in her May 7 column, said she doesn’t have any immediate plans to return to the topic. But she reiterated that “language choice is something that interests me a lot because I think it’s something that matters.”
Philip Corbett, the Times’ associate managing editor for standards, confirmed to Media Matters that Times staff are “aware of the issue and have discussed it.” Corbett said Times reporters and editorial staff “do our best” to keep the proper use of labels in mind “even if the process is not always perfect,” and that “[w]e intend to continue scrutinizing future stories with these concerns in mind.”
However, Corbett said he does not expect The Times to “set a hard-and-fast rule” on the subject. Sullivan also said she doesn’t “think there needs to be a policy,” and that she and Corbett believe it makes more sense to handle the issue “on a sensible case-by-case basis.” According to Sullivan, the term “denier” doesn’t fit “when people are kind of wishy-washy on the subject or in the middle.”
How’s your internet service?
Interesting, because my Comcast internet service has been sooooooo slow lately:
Net neutrality has been a big issue in recent months, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued new rules aimed at assuring all data is treated equally and to prevent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from holding data speeds hostage.
But a study released by BattlefortheNet concludes that the major internet access providers in the nation–AT&T, Time Warner, Comcast, and Verizon–are indeed slowing down data in dozens of cities across the United States, which affects 75 percent of all internet users in the country.
Tim Karr of Free Press, one of the groups that comprises BattlefortheNet, remarked:
“For too long, internet access providers and their lobbyists have characterized net neutrality protections as a solution in search of a problem. Data compiled using the Internet Health Test show us otherwise – that there is widespread and systemic abuse across the network. The irony is that this trove of evidence is becoming public just as many in Congress are trying to strip away the open internet protections that would prevent such bad behavior.”
And yet these same companies are seeking to get even bigger, which would leave customers with fewer options when it comes to who provides them access to the World Wide Web. AT&T recently announced plans to merge with DirecTV. Charter Communications has also filed notice of a plan to acquire Time Warner in a deal valued at $55 billion.
Um…
As someone (I forget who) pointed out today, campaign contributions of that amount are solicited. So yes, they knew exactly whose money they were taking:
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators and one congressman from Nebraska and Iowa received political donations from the leader of a white supremacist group cited by Charleston church slaying suspect Dylann Roof.
The Guardian newspaper first reported that Earl Holt of Texas has given more than $60,000 to Republican campaigns in recent years. Holt is the leader of the Council of Conservative Citizens.
Those donations included $1,000 to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and $2,000 to Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., in the last cycle. Both won in open-seat contests in their respective states.
Tyler Grassmeyer, Sasse’s deputy chief of staff, provided a written statement to The World-Herald.
Walmart pulls Confederate flag merchandise
The nation’s largest retailer announced today that it will no longer sell any productsemblazoned with a Confederate flag. No more t-shirts, no more belt buckles, and no more actual Confederate flags. They sold Confederate flags!?
According to CNN, Walmart says it acquired the products “improperly”:
We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer. We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our web site,” said Walmart spokesman Brian Nick. “We have a process in place to help lead us to the right decisions when it comes to the merchandise we sell. Still, at times, items make their way into our assortment improperly — this is one of those instances.
A search on Walmart’s website revealed that URLs which directed to much of the Confederate flag-themed merchandise had already been taken down.
Don’t get chumped
Again: Just enough truth to tie in knots anyone who tries to rebut it. This is the next level of Republican propaganda — don’t fall for it. If you want to vote for Bernie, do so. Just don’t poison the well, because Clinton is the likely nominee:
For months now, America Rising has sent out a steady stream of posts on social media attacking Mrs. Clinton, some of them specifically designed to be spotted, and shared, by liberals. The posts highlight critiques of her connections to Wall Street and the Clinton Foundation and feature images of Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, interspersed with cartoon characters and pictures of Kevin Spacey, who plays the villain in “House of Cards.” And as they are read and shared, an anti-Clinton narrative is reinforced.
America Rising is not the only conservative group attacking Mrs. Clinton from the left. Another is American Crossroads, the group started by Karl Rove, which has been sending out its own digital content, including one ad using a speech Ms. Warren gave at the New Populism Conference in Washington last May.
“Powerful interests have tried to capture Washington and rig the system in their favor,” intones Ms. Warren, as images of Mrs. Clinton with foreign leaders flash by.
The new-style digital campaign captures some basic facts about 21st-century communication: Information travels at warp speed on social media, it is sometimes difficult to know where that information comes from, and most people like to read things with which they agree. The result, said Ken Goldstein, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco who specializes in political advertising, is something more sophisticated.
“Politics is usually basic math,” he said, “and this is a little bit of calculus, thinking a couple steps ahead.”
Continue reading “Don’t get chumped”
Can’t let go
Lucinda Williams:
https://youtu.be/tCA-jjO-XW0
Only you know and I know
Delaney, Bonnie and Duane Allman:
Hell in a bucket
Grateful Dead: