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31 October 2003

"The Memo" is the bible at Fox News

Former Fox News Channel producer and writer Charlie Reina tells how Fox News Channel isn't so "fair and balanced" as advertised:
The fact is, daily life at FNC is all about management politics. I say this having served six years there - as producer of the media criticism show, News Watch, as a writer/producer of specials and (for the last year of my stay) as a newsroom copy editor. Not once in the 20+ years I had worked in broadcast journalism prior to Fox - including lengthy stays at The Associated Press, CBS Radio and ABC/Good Morning America - did I feel any pressure to toe a management line. But at Fox, if my boss wasn't warning me to "be careful" how I handled the writing of a special about Ronald Reagan ("You know how Roger [Fox News Chairman Ailes] feels about him."), he was telling me how the environmental special I was to produce should lean ("You can give both sides, but make sure the pro-environmentalists don't get the last word.")

Editorially, the FNC newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management. The pressure ranges from subtle to direct.  First of all, it's a news network run by one of the most high-profile political operatives of recent times. Everyone there understands that FNC is, to a large extent, "Roger's Revenge" - against what he considers a liberal, pro-Democrat media establishment that has shunned him for decades. For the staffers, many of whom are too young to have come up through the ranks of objective journalism, and all of whom are non-union, with no protections regarding what they can be made to do, there is undue motivation to please the big boss.

Reina then details the daily executive memo mechanics and its influence on reporting:

But the roots of FNC's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered. To the newsroom personnel responsible for the channel's daytime programming, The Memo is the bible. If, on any given day, you notice that the Fox anchors seem to be trying to drive a particular point home, you can bet The Memo is behind it.

The Memo was born with the Bush administration, early in 2001, and, intentionally or not, has ensured that the administration's point of view consistently comes across on FNC. This year, of course, the war in Iraq became a constant subject of The Memo. But along with the obvious - information on who is where and what they'll be covering - there have been subtle hints as to the tone of the anchors' copy. For instance, from the March 20th memo: "There is something utterly incomprehensible about Kofi Annan's remarks in which he allows that his thoughts are 'with the Iraqi people.' One could ask where those thoughts were during the 23 years Saddam Hussein was brutalizing those same Iraqis. Food for thought." Can there be any doubt that the memo was offering not only "food for thought," but a direction for the FNC writers and anchors to go?  Especially after describing the U.N. Secretary General's remarks as "utterly incomprehensible"?

Reina's letter drew a response from Fox News V-P Sharri Berg who claims Reina is merely a disgruntled ex-employee...

30 October 2003

Deal Makers for Mr. Bidwill

Bob Boze Bell with a short take on what it would take to get him to attend a Arizona Cardinals football game.

28 October 2003

Oxycontin, Pharisaicalness and Rush

KFYI listeners are sticking with Rush and sending him well wishes in reaction to his admission that he was a practicing drug addict, reportedly scoring 4,350 OxyContin pills in a 47-day period. 95% of his listeners believe he is entitled to what others who are convicted under American drug laws are routinely denied - a second chance with a clean slate. And seemingly, this compassion is applied in a most prejudicial fashion, considering Limbaugh's past remarks on drug users:
What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with illegal drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with using and trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too.

Of course, Rush Limbaugh's entire life is the epitome of right wing hyprocrisy, so this recent development should shock nobody. Limbaugh has heralded himself as a self made champion of the heartland when in fact he is from aristocratic origin. He's been a fervent hawk, pleading for war, while he himself evaded the Vietnam War because of a pimple on his ass. He decries liberals and their lifestyle yet he shuttles back and forth between Paris and New York, soaking up the culture, quaffing $2,000 bottles Chateau Haut Brion and smoking fine Cuban cigars. The OxyContin addiction is merely another in a long stream of Limbaugh's hypocritical exhibits.

But now, the latest contradiction serves as a glaring example of how flawed our so called "War on Drugs" is. Rush Limbaugh, no doubt, will escape unscathed from his latest trangression. Sure, he's serving time in a new age like Tucson rehabilitation center, but I would wager any amount that he won't be seeing any hard time, at least for this incident. Others, guilty of the same crime as Limbaugh, but devoid of his celebrity status and riches, have encountered a less fortunate fate. Oh, but the Limbaugh loyalists will retort that drug possession and drug trafficking are two different offense. Not so in today's drug war landscape - any amount in the quantity that Limbaugh is reported to possess could be construed as "intent to distribute". The crime and sentence are both in the decree and judgement of the prosecutorial agents, one of the tragic unintended consequences of the travesty of the so-called "War on Drugs". If you are politically connected, you will skate free, receive probation or serve a minimal sentence. Regular folks get shafted and pay a heavy price. Or you can end up dead like this Chandler woman, whose attempt to illegally obtain a pharmacy prescription resulted in death.

27 October 2003

A record number of women are now choosing to spend their life child-free

44 percent of women in the 25-44 age group are childless now.
The percentage of women 40 to 44, those at the end of their childbearing years, who have not given birth has hovered around 18 percent since 1994, but that's up from 10 percent in 1976.

Non-high school graduates and those with bachelor's degrees were most likely to be childless. Also women with higher incomes had the highest childless rates, in part a reflection of the increased professional options available to them, said David Popenoe, co-director of the National Marriage Project, a research group at Rutgers University.

KTAR David Leibowitz asked on his show today if this was a sign of selfishness on their (and spouse) parts?

Grocery Business Transformation

Just some thoughts on the grocery worker strike in California that has been averted in Arizona...

Krogers, Safeway, and Albertsons (and whatever their "equivalents" are called in other locales) are to K-Mart as some of their newer competitors (including Wal-Mart superstores) are to Wal-Mart and newer upstarts (Kohls). What I'm trying to say is that I don't think labor costs are a factor for their market usurpation, just that new and different grocery models are supplanting their market power. And I believe such a strike in Arizona would be ineffective. I was thinking about this thread and the economist training in my head started churning...

Back in my parents day, grocery shopping was an affair that entailed a circuitous journey. Bread was bought at a bakery, meat at the butcher shop, produce at a produce store and/or farmer stand, and the grocer supplied canned goods and daily perishables (milk and bread). Then the supermarket chains consolidated, grew larger and offered prices that put the small time grocer out of business. And while some people still frequent farmers markets and bakeries, most began to fill the bulk of their grocery list at the Safeways and Krogers. Also, in many states, it wasn't until the early 80s where grocery stores were open late and open all days of the week (in many states, grocery stores were closed on Sundays).

Now, a different transformation is taking place and the Safeway and Kroger type stores are getting squeezed from both ends. First, from the Wal-Mart superstore bit that they publicly acknowledge. But they're getting squeezed from another end too, and I think they may not have a handle on this threat as just like K-Mart, their financial prospects are headed south.
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Magnequench Outsources US Missle Technology to China

To a charge of treason by US workers...
The neodymium-iron-boron magnets made by Magnequench are a crucial component in the guidance system of cruise missiles and the Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM bomb, which is made by Boeing and had a starring role in the spring bombing of Baghdad. Indeed, Magnequench enjoys a near monopoly on this market niche, supplying 85 percent of the rare-earth magnets that are used in the servo motors of these guided missiles and bombs.

But the Pentagon may soon be sending its orders for these parts to China, instead of Indiana. On September 15, Magnequench shuttered its last plant in Indiana, fired its 450 workers and began shipping its machine tools to a new plant in China. "We're handing over to the Chinese both our defense technology and our jobs in the midst of a deep recession," says Rep. Peter Visclosky, a Democrat from northern Indiana.

It gets stranger. Magnequench is not only moving its defense plants to China, it's actually owned by Chinese companies with close ties to the Chinese government.

22 October 2003

Federal Income Taxes, as a Share of GDP, Drop to Lowest Level Since 1942

Corporate income taxes are at their lowest level since 1937 and individual income taxes fall to their lowest level since 1966.

21 October 2003

Truth From These Podia

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner has published an analysis which suggests that the White House and Pentagon made up or distorted more than 50 news stories related to the war in Iraq.

A summary of his conclusions:

The United States (and UK) conducted a strategic influence campaign that:
  • …distorted perceptions of the situation both before and during the conflict.
  • …caused misdirection of portions of the military operation.
  • …was irresponsible in parts.
  • …might have been illegal in some ways.
  • …cost big bucks.
  • …will be even more serious in the future.

George Bush Rewards Senator Kennedy with Excellence in Public Service Award

Former President George H.W. Bush, that is...
When it was announced (with amazingly little fanfare) that the pugnaciously anti-Iraq war Democrat Kennedy had been awarded the 2003 George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service, so many jaws dropped all over Washington that usually voluble politicians were only heard swallowing their real thoughts.

Is he trying to send Junior a message?

16 October 2003

The compact that created a large middle class is breaking

Arizona Republic business columnist Jon Talton chimes in on the grocery worker strike in California. Technically, it's more of a lockout, than a strike, considering that of the 70,000 workers affected, only 21,000 are on strike. The other 49,000 have been locked out by management.

The UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) claim that grocer profits are up 91% since 1998, yet the firms wish to cut in half health benefits for workers. Industry spokesmen cite increased competition from nonunion rivals such as Wal-Mart is forcing their hand.

Talton is on target in his pronouncement that we indeed have voted for this arrangement, by choosing to spend money at Wal-Mart instead of supporting local merchants.

Wal-Mart did not rise on hard work and small-town values. It rose because the government allowed it to gain an anti-competitive grip on the supply chain that would scandalize even John D. Rockefeller. It charges extremely low prices because of a workforce and sweatshop suppliers that do not have the pay and benefits that once were considered basic American values. Now it has imitators throughout the economy, its methods considered the vogue way to run a business.

Some day we may look back and say, "We never voted for this!" But we did, every time we shopped. Every time we neglected to see that a purchase was part of our connection to others. Every time we failed to patronize a local merchant, or a company that treats its workers well. Every time we crossed a picket line because, after all, if those fat union goons were replaced they got what they deserved.

And then it happened to our neighbors. And then it happened to us. And I guess we got what we deserved.

The question I wish to pose is why should it be this way? Is it collective selfishness that for saving a few dollars we're willing to sanction a return to sweatshop conditions? Or is it just brazen obliviousness? I haven't listened to much talk radio recently but I bet that caller sentiment is squarely against the workers (especially on all those right wing host shows).

If I Only Had that Fox News Channel...

This little ditty has been circulating around the net...

Up in Heaven, Alexander the Great, Frederick the Great and Napoleon are looking down on events in Iraq.

Alexander says, "Wow, if I had just one of Bush's armored divisions, I would definitely have conquered India."

Frederick the Great states, "Surely if I only had a few squadrons of Bush's air force I would have won the Seven Years War decisively in a matter of weeks."

There is a long pause as three continue to watch events. Then Napoleon speaks, "And if I only had that Fox News, no one would have ever known that I lost the Russia campaign."

Cubs Lose, Cubs Lose!

Outside of let's say 25,000 or so fervent Marlin faithful in South Florida, most of America was rooting for those lovable losers that haven't won the World Series in nearly 100 years.

Not me. I am delighted to see them fall short again in the post-season. For if they were to go on and win baseball's fall classic, it might well be the demarcation of the onset of a new cataclysmic eon. A world where upside down becomes right side up. Or a reign of chaos over order. Perhaps shifts in tidal wave patterns or violent metamorphosis in climate.

Seriously, I detest the Cubs for several reasons. The biggest factor being the WGN superstation deal. For any other major league baseball team, except the Cubs (and Braves too), I would have to dish out a couple hundred bucks to watch the games on television. But not the Tribune owned Cubs, who can beam their broadcasts into the far corners of the world for the price of a small monthly cable fee. It also pains me to see former Pirates (my team) that were basically given away at the trade deadline help the Chicago club earn a division championship. On the other hand, perhaps the ex-Pirate tally is what did the Cubbies in - if you believe in that hooey. Finally, the power play the Tribune Co. exacted on ex-Commissioner Fay Vincent in the early 1990's when Vincent attempted to enact sensible geographic realignment. Which lead to Vincent's demise and Bud Selig's term as commissioner.

Hopefully, the sorrowful fan who snatched that eighth inning foul ball from the hands of Cub fielder Moises Alou won't contemplate suicide or suffer the wrath of deranged and manic fans looking for a scapegoat.

Spring training is less than six months away and the Cubs, along with the other already eliminated teams, can dream of a world series victory in 2004.

15 October 2003

Linus Torvalds: Leader of the Free World

Wired interview with Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, is the link of the day.
Torvalds is a work-at-home dad with no formal management training. He confesses to being terribly disorganized. His approach to voicemail is to let messages stack up and then delete them without listening to any. His memory is so lousy that he can't recall whether he was 6 or 8 or 10 when his parents divorced. And he's awfully absentminded: We are heading out the door for lunch when Torvalds suddenly remembers that his wife is out and that if we leave, his kids will be home alone. Then there's his ambivalence about his role as Linux's leader. "I don't have a five-year agricultural plan," he says. "I don't want to dictate: This is how we're all going to march in lockstep." Yet the 12 years he's presided over an unruly group of volunteer programmers is worthy of study by those who teach leadership inside the world's finest MBA programs.

13 October 2003

36 Reasons To Vote For Bush and Republicans In 2004

From an OpEdNews.com article by James Boyne.

My top three of his list of 36:

  • You think $900/month ($10,800/year) is a fair price for a health insurance policy.

  • You are planning to move to China or India and want a job with an American company there. (Working for 35 cents an hour with no benefits).

  • You don’t mind transferring your computer technology skills to serving coffee in Dunkin’ Donuts for $6.00 an hour with no health insurance.

12 October 2003

State Agency Charged with Job Creation Outsources Work to India

Another story in a similar vein to the previous one on Andy Grove's remarks regarding outsourcing is this one in Indiana that truly boggles the mind.
Jeff Drozda, a Republican from the Indiana district of Westfield, says he was "outraged" when he found out that a state agency charged with job creation in Indiana had outsourced work to Tata Consultancy Services of India. Drozda says Tata, which was hired by the state's Department of Workforce Development, has a long track record of replacing American high-tech workers with lower-paid L-1 visa immigrants.

And here is another article from the same publication that echoes the future security risks in abandoning our technical workers in America for cheaper, lower cost labor in foreign locales:

Ten years from now we will not have the skills in this country to support our own infrastructure.

Intel Founder Says Government Intervention is Necessary To Stem Tech Job Siphon to Asia

Intel chairman Andrew Grove acknowledges that the offshore job migration that Intel itself has embraced threatens economic recovery and growth in the United States.
Grove acknowledged under questioning that the tech industry itself is responsible for numerous jobs leaving the United States, as firms take advantage of considerably cheaper labor costs in India and elsewhere.

Grove said he is torn between his responsibility to shareholders to cut costs and improve profits, and to U.S. workers who helped build the nation's technology industry but who are now being replaced by cheaper labor. Grove did not offer a solution, saying only that the government needs to help decide the proper balance between the two. Otherwise, he said, companies will revert to their obligation to increasing shareholder value.

Interesting that Grove is basically saying that without a public policy plan on this critical matter, the U.S. will continue to hemorrage information technology jobs and the resultant displacement is a serious threat in many ways...

9 October 2003

Robin Williams Peace Plan?

According to snopes.com, this widely circulated piece was falsely attributed to Robin Williams.

I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan:

  1. The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present........ You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosovich and the rest of those 'good ole boys.' We will never "interfere" again.

  2. We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We will station troops at our borders. No one sneaking through holes in the fence.

  3. All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France should welcome them.

  4. All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. NO ONE! If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

  5. No "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.

  6. The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while....... The Sierra Club, etc. will have to deal with it.

  7. Offer Saudi Arabia, and other oil producing countries, $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

  8. If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah, or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need..... Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.

  9. We will ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter, or lockup for illegal aliens.

  10. All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer.

  11. The Statue of Liberty will no longer say "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, "You want a piece of me?"

Now, ain't that a winner of a plan?

6 October 2003

The Big Lie About the 9th Circuit

The San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ruled that the FCC cannot follow through with plans to allow cable companies to exclude rivals from selling competing internet service over their lines.

But that's not topic of this entry. Instead I want to address the accepted adage about the 9th circuit being a liberal bastion of justice and how it's "the most overturned court in the federal system".

Chalk it up to the pervasive influence of the Moonie Times, Scaife funded foundations and Father Limbaugh ... proving that if something gets repeated enough, it is accepted as truth, despite facts to the contrary.

From a NY Times response by Judge Noonan Jr. of the aforementioned 9th circuit - you'll probably have to pay to get the article but here is a blurb:

"In the calendar year 2001, the Ninth Circuit terminated 10,372 cases, and was reversed in 14, with a correction rate of 1.35 per thousand. The Fourth Circuit, reputedly the most conservative circuit and the circuit with the second-largest number of cases reviewed by the Supreme Court, terminated 5,078 cases and was reversed in 7, making a correction rate of 1.38 per thousand."

Of course, you're free to adhere to the Moonie Times myth that the 9th circuit court is some aberration of justice totally out of alignment with the rest of the world and other judicial bodies...

Pig Arnold and Conservative Hypocrisy

Once again, hypocrisy gushes from the lips and pens of conservatives. The latest example is the comparisons between celebrity gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger's penchant for groping women and former president Bill Clinton's peccadilloes. Phil Boas, in a Arizona Republic editorial, argues that "Clinton paved the way" for Arnold and that his accusers were more credible and that Arnold has not lied.

Mr. Boas, please unlodge your face from that conservative kaleidoscope you have strapped on too tightly that has severely warped your perception. First, Mr. Schwarzenegger has been less than forthcoming about his transgressions, and has peppered a vapid "I've behaved badly sometimes" while denying the specific allegations. Sorry, but that does not qualify as coming clean with the truth. His admission of "behaving badly" without acknowledging individual instances is akin to previous politicians laments that "mistakes were made". Both figures only issued vague apologies after discovery was made.

Next, by granting credibility to Clinton's accusers, Boas committs another grave error. Joe Conason and Gene Lyons have done yeoman work in exposing how ludicrous the nature many of President Clinton's accusers were and how many of those charges originated with white supremacist organizations, intent on bringing down a popular leader in an extremist right wing agenda, no matter the truth. If one takes the time to study the facts of these reports, instead of beguiled by the headlines, it is clear that credibility is deficient in just about all of the charges brought forth.

Most important, however, is that Boas and others of his ilk disregard an essential difference between Clinton's faux pas and Schwarzenegger's unwelcome touching of intimate parts. Clinton's adulterous affairs were completely consensual and in the most celebrated cases, initiated by the opposite sex. That's in stark contrast to an ogre engaging in unwanted and undesireable clutching and grasping. One deed may indeed be morally condemning, but the other is a brazen act of sexual assault.

5 October 2003

Bush administration have no plans to impede companies from moving IT jobs to India

Instead, their answer is a vapid, ineffectual platitude about "growth and innovation".

Once upon a time in American history, there existed another president who idly sat by while the economic health of the nation deteriorated and its workers beset with the plague of unemployment and accompaning economic hardship. And George W. Bush is on pace to be the first president to end a term and oversee a net loss of jobs since that aforementioned other president. That president's name became synonymous with the words dirty and dilapidated.

But back to the Information Technology brain drain. It's an assault on our nation's knowledge workers and a crippling blow to aspiring computer scientists. The number of students studying technical disciplines will continue to plummet, as falling wages and diminished career prospects transform a once lucrative career field into the occupational equivalent of flipping hamburgers. And consider the wholesale relocation of engineering, programming and systems support to offshore locales in the third world. Our position as world leader in technology is eroding as we sacrifice our privacy and security to countries that do not champion freedom and justice. The national stockpile of bright minds is being sacrificed for next quarter's stock price.
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4 October 2003

Unintended Consequences: Five Years Under the DMCA

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a report detailing how the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been used to "stifle a wide array of legitimate activities" and has developed into "a serious threat"...

All the Shah's Men

Stephen Kinzer's All the Shah's Men is a comprehensive account of how the U.S. CIA orchestrated a coup to topple Iran's only democratic leader ever back in 1953. It's an eye opening tale of how imperialistic motives triumphed over freedom and justice, and the author suggests that the seeds of Islamic revolution were sown then - that the Americans, previous to this transforming event, were viewed as benevolent and most favorable. In contrast to the British who are recounted as ruthless overseers of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, engaging in oppressive exploitation of Iranian nationals. Unlike Aramco, who forged a more favorable arrangement in Saudi Arabia, the Anglo-American Oil Companly only returned a miniscule portion of profits back to Iran. Furthermore, Iranian workers were precluded from any management posts and subject to harsh working and deplorable living conditions.

Kinzer hails Mohammad Mossadegh as a saint, not without warts, but a genuine hero principally concerned with the welfare of his fellow Iranians. Mossadegh's nationalizing of the British oil company granted him immense popularity with his country's citizens, but drew the ire of the British government officials, who were unmitigatedly uncompromising in their standoff with Mossadegh. The British turned to the Americans and Truman for assistance in dealing with Mossadegh, Time man of the year in 1951, but Truman was adamant that it was an affair for Iranians to resolve, that it was a new era where the old tenets of colonialism no longer applied and Britian should take heed. However, the newly elected Eisenhower administration's views on the matter were attuned to the British. The Dulles brothers, John Foster who served as secretary of state under Eisenhower and CIA head Allen, executing staunch anti-Communism script, believed Iran's nationalization of the British oil company posed a worldwide threat to western civilization.

Another interesting part of the story is the role of Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Teddy Roosevelt, who according to Kinzer's account, singlehandedly directed the coup, even after failing once and receiving orders to pull back. Roosevelt spread a million dollars to rouse protests, bombed the house of a prominent Muslim, disseminated propaganda, planted news stories and incited unrest. Even Norman Schwarzkopf, the father of the Persian Gulf war commander, was even brought in to convince a reluctant Shah, whom he befriended a decade earlier, to assume power.
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2 October 2003

Rush Limbaugh Resigns From ESPN NFL Countdown Show for Insensitive and Inappropriate Comments

And I was just getting ready to pen a piece on how I would not watch ESPN NFL Countdown again until his evil, hate filled presence on the show was no more.

It was a ridiculous decision by the braintrust at ESPN to instill such a vitriolic, politically charged blowhard. What on earth were they thinking? Though, I lament that it's a sad sign of the times that the viewing audience increased - I hope the rise was more due to the trainwreck factor than the hordes of intolerant dittoheads flocking to their annointed shepherd.

On Sunday, Limbaugh put his foot in his mouth and has been defiant, using his daytime talk show to defend himself for this absurd, inexcusable comment:

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,'' Limbaugh said.

There's a conspiracy in "the media" to have a black quarterback do well?
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1 October 2003

Gulf War II Iraq Civilian Death Count: 37,137

According to a former Wall Street Journal reporter who has struck up a correspondence with Mohammad al-Obaidi, an Iraqi doctor living in Britain...
Al-Obaidi told Wanniski that "hundreds of our party's cadre" spent five weeks interviewing undertakers, hospital officials, and ordinary citizens in all of Iraq (except for what's controlled by the Kurds) and came up with a total figure of 37,137 civilians killed since the beginning of the invasion, 6,103 of them in Baghdad. Those figures, according to al-Obaidi, do not include members of unofficial militias, paramilitary groups, or Saddam's Fedayeen units.

The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002-2003

From the folks at the aptly named Project Censored.