Category: Media

ACORN Threatens Legal Action Against Filmmaker Over Investigative Film

logo180px-Sonyhdrfx1ACORN has fired the two employees shown in the recent undercover video by filmmaker James O’Keefe of Veritas Visuals— showing the staffers advising a faux pimp and prostitute (here) on how to get federal assistance and lie on federal forms. Now, however, it is threatening legal action in what would be part of a trend of cases involving companies and organizations suing investigative reporters and filmmakers.
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Danish Viral Video of Mother Seeking the Father of Her Son is a Fake — and Possible Pitch for Tourism

This is an amazing story. This video went viral and shows an attractive Danish woman who used YouTube (and other sites) to look for the father of her baby boy (“August”) after a drunken one-night stand in Denmark. It now appears that she is actually an actress named Ditte Arnth Jorgensen and the video was a publicity stunt to get people to come to Denmark – apparently by highlighting the availability of drunken one-night stands with beautiful blond Danish girls.

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Federal Judge Blasts Lenient Treatment of Blogger Andrew M. Sullivan in Drug Case

225px-Andrew_Sullivan_croppedmarijuana-leafIn a rare rebuke to prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings has criticized the decision of the United States Attorneys office to drop charges against well-known blogger Andrew M. Sullivan, who was arrested by park rangers on a Cape Cod national beach for possession of marijuana on July 13th. A conviction would have caused problems for Sullivan — a British citizen — in remaining in the United States.
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Movie Selection of the Fittest: Creationists Block Internationally Acclaimed Movie on Darwin From Being Shown in U.S.

n39212784860_1315In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appear to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movie Creation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
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Pressing the Flesh: Newt Gingrich’s Group Awards Porn Executive with “Entrepreneur of the Year Award”

225px-Newt-2004-clippedNewt Gingrich’s selection for “Entrepreneur of the Year” came not only as a surprise to executive Allison Vivas but Gingrich’s supporters. You see, Vivas is the president of adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, a porn operation. It has now turned out to be little more than a one-night stand, as the group rushed to rescind the award.
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British Express Anger Over Deaths in Rescue of New York Times Reporter Who Ignored Repeated Warnings Not to Go Into Taliban Stronghold

Afghanistan Harrison225px-NewyorktimeslogoNew York Times reporter and blogger Stephen Farrell is being criticized in the wake of his rescue by British commandos, a rescue that claimed the lives of a woman, child, and a British soldier, Corporal John Harrison, 29. Commanders are expressing anger that Farrell not only ignored repeated warnings not to go to the site in hostile territory, but was specifically told by a local man that the Taliban was coming.

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Now Playing at the Supremes: Hillary the Movie (The Sequel)

hcws_2p_kl_trailer_640Most of us despise sequels, but the Supreme Court has a hankering to rehear the case of Hillary: the Movie. Today, the Supreme Court will be taking up the case for a second time — and its ultimate reviews could hold great significance for campaign financing. We have been following the case involving “Hillary: The Movie” since it first came out during the last presidential campaign. The legal dispute over the film was always more interesting than the film itself — whether this is a film or a 90-minute campaign ad. I will be discussing the case this morning on the CNN Morning show.

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Taliban Call For An Investigation of a Bombing — By Someone Else

250px-Taliban_conference_will_not_exile_without_evidence_2001There must have been a bit of confusion in the German military headquarters. The Taliban has called for an investigation into a bombing ordered by the German commander in Afghanistan. That’s right, the Taliban who routinely bomb civilians, throw acid on little girls, and commit acts of terrorism as a matter of religion. That Taliban.
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Things That Tick Me Off: The History Channel

150px-History_Channel_logo.svgAs a history nut, one of the most annoying contradictions in life is the fact that the History Channel continues to use history in its title after abandoning such programming in a mindless rush for ratings. Just as you rarely hear music on MTV, you rarely see history on the History Channel.

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Dutch Prosecutors Charge Arab Group With Hate Speech Over Cartoon

stone-1We have been following the trend among Western countries in rolling back on free speech with different forms of blasphemy laws, here. Much of this attack on free speech began after the controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad. Now, Dutch prosecutors are charging an Arab group for publishing cartoons questioning the Holocaust.
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Reich Message All Wrong? German AIDS Awareness Video Under Attack

preview_320_260_1There is an interesting controversy brewing internationally over the use of the advert (shown below) entitled “Aids is Mass Murder” featuring Adolph Hitler as engaged in unprotected sex. It is a PETA-like shock video that has many activists complaining that it vilifies HIV-positive people here.

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Australian Man Faces Twenty Years for Sharing Baby-Swinging Video

man_arrested_for_posting_baby_swinging_videoCoa_QueenslandThere is an extraordinary case out of Queensland, Australia. Chris Illingworth, 61, is charged for merely copying and watching a viral video of a man swinging a baby. Prosecutors have charged that he distributed a child abuse video –even though the government itself rated the video as MA15+ (appropriate for anyone over 15). It is part of an ongoing trend in the West in rolling back on free speech rights.

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Stevens: Speculation Grows Over Stevens Resignation

250px-John_Paul_Stevens,_SCOTUS_photo_portraitDue to its cultural insularity and secrecy, legal commentators often have to act like old Sovietologists who would predict shifts in power by who in the Politburo was standing where on top of Lenin’s tomb. For Supremologists, there are other common indicators: the most prominent is the reduction of judicial clerks. Speculation over Stevens’ retirement is now at its peak with news that he has selected only one clerk for next year. I will be discussing this story on tonight’s Rachel Maddow.

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New York Settles Mass Arrest Case — Drops Charges

232px-NYPD_BadgeThere is a mass arrest story. As has been discussed earlier, we have an ongoing arrest case in Washington, D.C., here. In May 2007 police arrested dozens of young people who police alleged were basically rioting through the streets. The students insisted that they were on their way to a funeral for a murdered friend. Now, there has been a settlement of the case with all charges dropped and the payment of damages.

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The First Thing We Do Kill All The Lawyer Blogs

210px-King_Henry_VI_from_NPG_(2)When Dick the Butcher declared in Shakespeare’s Henry VI “The first thing we do let’s kill all the lawyers,” he may have been prophetic. Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann has written on his blog that his unscientific survey shows that legal blogs tend to have a lifespan of less than a year.

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