Newspapers in the tank for fully realized, feminized, democrat

NEW YORK (Updated Sunday) "The Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for daily newspaper endorsements, by

• 160 to 59, an almost 3-1 margin

and an even wider spread in the circulation of those papers (see full tally below).

• Obama's lopsided margin, including most of the major papers that have decided so far, is in stark contrast to John Kerry barely edging George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004 by 213 to 205."...

Here is proof, but no, no don't pay attention to it. These people are not to be questioned under any circumstances. By all means, resume your passivity. (sm)

The hubris of politicians and back room deals. NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg must be stopped.

• Bloomberg should be arrested for this and related acts in my opinion:
  

NEW YORK -- "Mayor Michael Bloomberg is strong-arming City Council members to support his plan to change the city's term-limits law so he can run again, the city comptroller said Sunday.

Comptroller William Thompson said some council members had been threatened with losing perks such as committee chairmanships or funding for programs in their districts. He did not say who they were.

"Undue pressure has been placed on them," Thompson said.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said no inappropriate pressure was being applied.

"We're certainly making our case to members of the council and asking for their votes, but those allegations are untrue," Loeser said.

Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, announced this month that he would aim to modify the city charter so he could seek a third term. Existing law limits city officeholders to two consecutive four-year terms, and he is set to leave office at the end of 2009.

The billionaire founder of the financial information company Bloomberg LP said he decided to pursue a third term because he believes his financial expertise is crucial during the economic crisis.

The City Council could vote on the term-limits proposal as early as this week.

Thompson, a Democrat who had been considered a likely mayoral candidate, said two public hearings last week were not enough to give New Yorkers a chance to air their views on the issue.

• He said the matter should be put before voters in a referendum following hearings in all five boroughs. Voters set the current limit in a 1993 referendum and reaffirmed it three years later.

• "This rush to judgment in a 2 1/2-week period of time is wrong," Thompson said.

The New York Times reported Friday that organizations that receive both city funds and grants from Bloomberg's personal giving have been asked to call undecided City Council members to make the case for a third term. Loeser told the newspaper the mayor was careful to keep his philanthropic giving separate from his management of the city."

Free Speech an outdated notion--unless you agree with the power structure

• photo via Lucianne.com

Intolerance for Republicans is socially acceptable prejudice

• When I saw this article I thought of Neil Best-sadly:
  

"Before we sprain our shoulders patting ourselves on the back for our color-blind, bias-free selves, let's acknowledge that

• certain prejudices are far from taboo. In fact, in some quarters
  
• they are ascendant and celebrated.

I'm thinking of the overt, outrageous prejudice that infuses some of the contempt on the left for Palin. Scrape away the surface excuses and much of it is because she is a Republican. And an anti-abortion one at that. How dare she!

• That the bias comes from people we think of as sophisticated makes it disappointing, but not surprising. After all, contempt for Republicans is the only
  
• socially acceptable prejudice remaining among
  
• many educated people today.

A celebrated retired journalist, a man I've long admired, was surprised when I told him I hadn't decided whom to vote for. "You're too smart to vote for John McCain," he said, thereby insulting 50 million Americans.

A well-to-do, middle-aged professional woman who identifies herself as very liberal casually declared at a recent social gathering that Palin was unqualified to be vice president. "Look at all those children; she would be neglecting them," the woman said, before adding she herself has five grown daughters.

I could hardly contain myself. "How," I managed to say relatively calmly, "would you feel if a man just said what you said?"

"Oh, I didn't mean anything; I was just thinking of the children," she said sheepishly.

Of course she was thinking of the children. And Jimmy the Greek was just talking history when he discussed slavery and black anatomy and Al Campanis was misunderstood when he said blacks lacked the "necessities" to be baseball executives.

• Those unmaskings of raw bigotry came on TV 20 years ago. Times change, and so does prejudice. And not all sightings are dramatic.

George W. Bush appointed the first two black secretaries of state, but does anyone on the left regard him as a racial trailblazer? When I raised that question to another liberal, she dismissed the idea, saying Bush "never thought about race."

That exchange took place three years ago, but I still can't grasp her logic. How does she know what Bush thought? Why would it be more important than

• what he does?

A similar blind spot toward the political "other" explains much of the contempt for Palin.

• If she were a Democrat, her unusual life would be spun into a compelling narrative that would make her
  

• the darling of the coastal elite.

How she's raising that lovely brood of kids, her care for that severely handicapped baby, her relationship with that rugged hubby who often cares for the kids and is part native, her unlikely rise through the political minefields, her tough knocks and gutsy performance on the national stage -

all would be testament to a breakthrough of historic proportions we would be ordered to celebrate in the name of

• diversity and equality.

Yes, I know there are many legitimate reasons to vote against her and McCain. And I am not arguing for a second they should be supported, least of all because of her gender.

But couldn't we all at least acknowledge Palin's moment and what it means for America?

Apparently not. She must lose, the liberal narrative goes,

• because she is unqualified, case closed.

Some day, we will look back with disgust at the abuse Palin has taken and wonder how it could happen in this great nation, circa 2008.

• Spare me. We already know the answer." Michael Goodwin, NY Daily News, 10/5/08

via Lucianne.com

New York Daily News publisher hosts lunch for Fidel Castro with media elites

Thursday, September 18, 2008, the Publisher of the NY Daily News, Mortimer Zuckerman, hosted a luncheon in New York for brutal Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Invited guests included numerous media elites. Zuckerman has pursued and spent hundreds of hours with the totalitarian ruler as he detailed in a 2006 article. Rush Limbaugh has an acquaintance who attended yesterday's luncheon which is how Limbaugh was able to mention its occasion on his radio program today.

• Every person in Cuba is held prisoner by Castro, literally.

• Having Fidel Castro as a personal hero would be fine if Zuckerman were in another line of work. It's not fine to idolize a pillar of state controlled media and censorship as a US major daily publisher.
  
• The idea that any news or sports coverage in the paper is 'journalism' is imaginary.
  
• Why are former Nazi supporters any worse than present day Fidel Castro supporters? (sm)
  

Bankrupt Lehman Brothers lead alleged global warming deals

2/6/08 Reuters

• "SEC Denies Lehman Brothers Bid to Block Global Warming Shareholder Proposal;

Lehman Climate Policy Based on Erroneous Information Says Free Enterprise
Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission denied a bid by Lehman Brothers to block shareholders from voting
on a global warming-related shareholder proposal from the Free Enterprise
Action Fund (Ticker: FEAOX).

• "Lehman Brothers says it wants to make money from global warming, but basic information on which the firm relies and presents to shareholders is
  
• clearly erroneous," said Steve Milloy, portfolio manager of Action Fund Management...
  

"When a $34 billion company is touting misinformation as a basis for its
actions, it makes you wonder about the soundness of its business plan," Milloy
added.

• Lehman Brothers' management uses the so-called "hockey stick" chart, for example, to support the notion that "the Earth's mean temperature has risen sharply in recent decades."(1)
  

But the hockey stick graph was scientifically discredited long before Lehman
issued its February 2007 report.(2)

• "As shareholders, we expect that management will undertake reasonable due diligence before undertaking action with corporate assets," said AFM's Tom Borelli. "Corporate action and statements based on erroneous information may
  

not be 'sustainable' for shareholders or the environment," Borelli added.

• "Lehman Brothers should also be concerned about potential legal liability for false and misleading statements," said Milloy.
  

Based on the 2003 California case of Nike v. Kasky, citizens may sue
businesses over false or misleading statements.(3) The California Supreme
Court ruled that statements made on company websites are considered commercial
speech and therefore subjected to legal challenge.

"We think that Lehman is in way over its head when it comes to global warming
and that management is recklessly risking shareholder value," said Milloy.
"Shareholders will be looking for an explanation from CEO Richard Fuld at the 
annual shareholders meeting."...

References:

1. See Lehman's "The Business of Climate Change: Challenges and
Opportunities," p.6 (February 2007).

2. See e.g., U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, "Inhofe
Says NAS Report Reaffirms 'Hockey Stick' Is Broken" (June 22, 2006),
here

3. Kasky v. Nike, Inc., 27 Cal.4th 939, 947, 45 P.3d 243, 248, 119 Cal.Rptr.2d
296, 302 (Cal. 2002)

Baseball media choose to make Krod famous, PENALIZING OTHER GOOD PITCHERS WHO WEREN'T LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE THE 'OPPORTUNITIES'

Tim Marchman, NY Sun, adds some context: 9/12/08: "What really matters, though, is that...this value derives from context, which is very different

• from value deriving from innate excellence.

(Francisco) Rodriguez may have been wonderful in the clutch so far this year, but playing well in the clutch isn't really an inherent skill. Even if it were, it would be of dubious use —

• without save chances to give him this October, for instance, even magic Rodriguez talents would do the Angels no good.

This last would be most worth keeping in mind for the Mets, or any other team tempted to solve a bullpen problem quickly this fall

• by helping Rodriguez to set another record,

• as the best-paid reliever in baseball.

When a player's value depends on what happens around him, it's hard to say just what he's worth at all."

• (Just as post season opportunities "penalize" those who don't have them (as the mafia pushes), regular season opportunities are
• just as 'injurious' to players who simply
  
• aren't lucky). sm