If there is one lesson that has already been learned from the 2016 election, it is that the media does actually matter . . . just not in the way that we had hoped. There has been a pronounced and rising bias against Donald Trump in the media. Some of the negative stories can be laid at the candidate’s own feet for controversial statements and actions. However, it has taken me back how consistent and aggressive the anti-Trump coverage has been in the mainstream media. It is as if Trump was declared the sole exception to the cherished media neutrality rules in this country. However, there has been an interesting response from the public, which views the mainstream media as a critical part of the “establishment.” The more the media drumbeat the call to defeat Trump, the more the public seems to swing toward the candidate. At the end of this election, the media needs to seriously examine its conduct in coverages, including the many Wikileaks emails showing both bias and coordination in favor of the Clinton campaign. One start would be something that I have long advocated: the media must stop endorsing political candidates.
Just two days before the election, FBI Director James Comey has announced that the new emails found on Huma Abedin’s computer does not change his earlier conclusion in July that there is no basis to criminally charge Hillary Clinton over her use of a private server, including emails containing classified information.
We previously discussed the emails of Doug Band, founder of global strategies company Teneo and Bill Clinton’s personal assistant since the 1990s. Band was previously shown discussing what he called “For-Profit Activity of President Clinton (i.e., Bill Clinton, Inc.).” in securing personal wealth and gifts from donors. Now, Band is back in newly released Wikileaks emails from 2012 that suggest that Chelsea Clinton used Clinton Foundation resources “for her wedding and life for a decade.” Various sites have exploded with the news. Another report stated that Hillary Clinton sent Chelsea classified emails. To make matter worse, a new report states that Clinton also forwarded classified emails to her maid to print out. What I find fascinating in all of this controversy is the role of this person, Band, who appears at times cautionary and at times self-serving in his warnings to Podesta. This allegation however is quite specific and, as discussed below, hard to believe without additional support to show foundation assets used for the Clinton wedding. I have to give the presumption to Chelsea Clinton absent some real proof of intermingling of funds and resources.
Few people can claim to have gone to pick up a family member in jail only to jailed themselves. Appropriately enough, his name is Rex Crooks, 52.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
I took to the Billy Goat trail this morning in the dark and hiked as the sun came up. It was cold and crisp and gorgeous. I saw a lot of deer, fox, and other animals as the first on the trail. Below are some of the pictures from dawn in the Billy Goat in Fall.
One of the controversies that has been raging in this election is the allegation of Republicans, including Donald Trump, that illegal immigrants have been voting around the country. An interview with Hispanic activist group “Mitú” has now magnified this controversy after President Barack Obama appeared to say that non-citizens could vote and that there is no way that they would be investigated. Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and dozens of sites cried foul at what they saw as an explicit encouragement of such voting. The statement came in an interview with Mitú’s Gina Rodriguez who asked the President is “undocumented citizens” are at risk if they vote. The President assured them that they have nothing to fear. It is a extremely poorly crafted question from what appears an amateur interviewer. I do not believe that President Obama was trying to encourage illegal voting but both the question and answer left many incensed.
I have long been a critic of Rolling Stone magazine and its contributing editor Sabrina Rubin Erdely (right) in its handling of the infamous campus rape story as well as the University of Virginia in not protecting the fraternity and its students in the controversy. (here and here and here). A jury has found that Erdely and Rolling Stone did defame Nicole Eramo, a U-Va. administrator who oversaw sexual violence cases at the time of the article’s publication. It is a victory for students and academics who are critical of the loss of due process rights for those accused of wrongdoing at universities, the subject of a prior column.
One of the issues that was raised repeatedly by Bernie Sanders and later by Donald Trump is the alliance between Hillary Clinton and David Brock, the founder of Media Matters. Brock has been widely attacked for what critics view as sleazy and vicious work on behalf of Hillary Clinton. You may recall Bernie Sanders denouncing Clinton for her continued alliance with Brock and use of his controversial PAC organizations. Sanders referred to Brock as simple “scum” but Clinton refused to denounced Brock or to discourage Democrats from working with or contributing to his PACs. It turns out that even Clinton aides were disgusted by Clinton’s refusal to cut off Brock or to denounced his work. In the latest batch of Wikileaks, Neera Tanden, the President of Center for American Progress, allegedly emailed John Podesta that “I hope Hillary truly understands now how batshit crazy David Brock is.”
Below is the column in USA Today after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. It was a victory that demanded more than hits and pitches . . . it required goats.
Continue reading “THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE CHICAGO CUBS WINNING THE WORLD SERVES AFTER 108 YEARS”
Four same sex couples are seeking more than $233,058 in legal costs from Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County last year. The demand raises some interesting questions over the right to recover fees and costs in such a case.
Continue reading “Same-Sex Couples Seek Fees and Costs For Suing County Clerk Kim Davis”
Attorney Paul Newton Jr. clearly no longer joins the mantra of “Love that chicken from popeyes.” Newton is suing Popeyes Louisiana Chicken after he choked and required an emergency surgery. He had taken to great of a bite of his chicken and blames the chain for only supplying him with a combination spoon and fork, or “spork,” rather than a knife. I find the lawsuit dubious at best.
Continue reading “Mississippi Lawyer Sues Popeyes After Choking On Chicken Meal”
I have waited over five decades, but I can check off one of my bucket list items. This evening I was able to watch the Chicago Cubs win the World Series with a commanding performance. We can now begin our new era as the “lovable losers winners.” The USA Today has posted my column on the victory.
Continue reading “CURSED NO MORE: THE CHICAGO CUBS WIN THE WORLD SERIES AFTER 100 YEARS”
One can understand why Paula D’Amore is a tad confused. The South Florida mother gave birth in a car in a hospital parking lot. When the bill from the hospital came in, she was charged the full cost for a hospital delivery of $7,000. It is a story that sums up what many of us view is the inherent dishonesty in hospital charges.
Continue reading “Florida Woman Has Baby In Car . . . Hospital Charges Her The Full Delivery Costs”
One of the few beneficiaries of this presidential election has been the virtually unknown company before made a household name by the Clinton aides in attempting to not only delete emails but guarantee that no one could retrieve them. Suddenly everyone was saying “BleachBit” as a virtually self-contained term-of-art. Now the company has used Hillary Clinton’s infamous quip about whether she would use a “cloth” to clean a server as the basis of a new product.
Continue reading “BleachBit Spoofs Clinton In New Product Campaign”
Liang Zhao Zhang, a janitor for Bay Area Rapid Transit in downtown San Francisco, promised to clean up and he did just that. Transparent California, a nonprofit organization, released records that show that the janitor earned four times more than his base pay last year in overtime — bringing his earnings to $235,000 in 2015.
Continue reading “Cleaning Up: BART Janitor Cleans Up With $235,000 In One Year”