A see-saw day on Wall Street is ending with an 11-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, the seventh straight daily drop. (August 1)
Continue reading …Will The Media Ban Pam Geller After Trying to Justify Anders Breivik Shooting
August 1, 2011 No Comment
Check out the above video to see Pam Geller getting grilled about her anti-Muslim views. Republicans always get away with it. ( Pam Geller insists she “loves” Muslims. Too bad they’re also the enemies of America ) You’ve probably heard all about Ground Zero Pam and her anti-Muslim rants and behavior. She’s as radical as they come. Her brand of extremism is the kind we covered in our book, Over The Cliff and it’s the type of extremism that attracts her to FOX News, the Birthers and the Norway shooter. As soon as the NY Times linked her to Breivik, she’s been trying to scrub her site as fast as she can. Charles Johnson has been all over this story. Get a load of her latest unconscionable defense of herself and Anders Breivik : Popular hate blogger Pam Geller has received scrutiny in recent days as the public became aware that the right-wing terrorist in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, had praised her blog and thoroughly cited her writing in his political manifesto. After a number of blogs made the connection, as well as the New York Times , the Atlantic , and other major outlets , Geller became incensed and began lashing out at her critics. In a post defending herself yesterday, Geller — who has called Obama “ President Jihad ” and claimed that Arab language classes are a plot to subvert the United States — reached a new low. Geller justifies Breivik’s attack on the Norwegian Labour Party summer youth camp because she says the camp is part of an anti-Israel “indoctrination training center.” She says the victims would have grown up to become “future leaders of the party responsible for flooding Norway with Muslims who refuse to assimilate, who commit major violence against Norwegian natives including violent gang rapes, with impunity, and who live on the dole.” To get her point across, Geller posts a picture of the youth camp children Breivik targeted. The picture was taken on the Utøya island camp about 24 hours before Breivik killed over 30 children, so it is likely Geller is mocking many of the victims. Under the picture, Geller writes: “ Note the faces which are more MIddle [sic] Eastern or mixed than pure Norwegian .” View a screen shot (click to enlarge) of Geller’s blog post below: enlarge Credit: AP Norway shooter victims Could Geller’s outburst of smears be a distraction against mounting evidence that she might have communicated with Breivik in the past? A post from Geller in 2007 reprints a reader-submitted letter in which an anonymous Norwegian complains of Muslim immigration and boasts that he is “ stockpiling and caching weapons , ammunition and equipment.” In the comment section, Geller claims that she provided anonymity to the reader to protect him from being prosecuted. Although Geller recently deleted the ammunition line from her post, a cached version is available. As Glenn Greenwald notes, “If this were an attack by a Muslim group, and a Muslim had something like this on his/her website, the FBI and multiple other groups would be swarming.” Doesn’t that picture look like a normal gathering of youths? Will the media start acting responsibly and stop transmitting extremist kooks like Pam Geller once and for all on our TV’s? I’ve been reading an excellent Noregian crime fiction writer, Jo Nesbo ‘s book, The Redbreast , about neo-Nazis. Eerie that I was reading it just as the shootings in Oslo happened. Nesbo posted an op-ed in the NY Times about the shooting.
Continue reading …Will The Media Ban Pam Geller After Trying to Justify Anders Breivik Shooting
August 1, 2011 No Comment
Check out the above video to see Pam Geller getting grilled about her anti-Muslim views. Republicans always get away with it. ( Pam Geller insists she “loves” Muslims. Too bad they’re also the enemies of America ) You’ve probably heard all about Ground Zero Pam and her anti-Muslim rants and behavior. She’s as radical as they come. Her brand of extremism is the kind we covered in our book, Over The Cliff and it’s the type of extremism that attracts her to FOX News, the Birthers and the Norway shooter. As soon as the NY Times linked her to Breivik, she’s been trying to scrub her site as fast as she can. Charles Johnson has been all over this story. Get a load of her latest unconscionable defense of herself and Anders Breivik : Popular hate blogger Pam Geller has received scrutiny in recent days as the public became aware that the right-wing terrorist in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, had praised her blog and thoroughly cited her writing in his political manifesto. After a number of blogs made the connection, as well as the New York Times , the Atlantic , and other major outlets , Geller became incensed and began lashing out at her critics. In a post defending herself yesterday, Geller — who has called Obama “ President Jihad ” and claimed that Arab language classes are a plot to subvert the United States — reached a new low. Geller justifies Breivik’s attack on the Norwegian Labour Party summer youth camp because she says the camp is part of an anti-Israel “indoctrination training center.” She says the victims would have grown up to become “future leaders of the party responsible for flooding Norway with Muslims who refuse to assimilate, who commit major violence against Norwegian natives including violent gang rapes, with impunity, and who live on the dole.” To get her point across, Geller posts a picture of the youth camp children Breivik targeted. The picture was taken on the Utøya island camp about 24 hours before Breivik killed over 30 children, so it is likely Geller is mocking many of the victims. Under the picture, Geller writes: “ Note the faces which are more MIddle [sic] Eastern or mixed than pure Norwegian .” View a screen shot (click to enlarge) of Geller’s blog post below: enlarge Credit: AP Norway shooter victims Could Geller’s outburst of smears be a distraction against mounting evidence that she might have communicated with Breivik in the past? A post from Geller in 2007 reprints a reader-submitted letter in which an anonymous Norwegian complains of Muslim immigration and boasts that he is “ stockpiling and caching weapons , ammunition and equipment.” In the comment section, Geller claims that she provided anonymity to the reader to protect him from being prosecuted. Although Geller recently deleted the ammunition line from her post, a cached version is available. As Glenn Greenwald notes, “If this were an attack by a Muslim group, and a Muslim had something like this on his/her website, the FBI and multiple other groups would be swarming.” Doesn’t that picture look like a normal gathering of youths? Will the media start acting responsibly and stop transmitting extremist kooks like Pam Geller once and for all on our TV’s? I’ve been reading an excellent Noregian crime fiction writer, Jo Nesbo ‘s book, The Redbreast , about neo-Nazis. Eerie that I was reading it just as the shootings in Oslo happened. Nesbo posted an op-ed in the NY Times about the shooting.
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(Caroline Valetkevitch) – Stocks ended the worst week in a year as time runs out on Washington to reach agreement before the government loses its ability to borrow money. The S&P 500 fell every day this week and was down 3.9 percent for the week as legislators failed to work out an agreement to raise the federal borrowing limit, which expires on Tuesday. Investors also worry about the likelihood of a U.S. credit downgrade. The CBOE Market Volatility Index .VIX, a gauge of investor fear, jumped as much as 9 percent to its highest level since mid-March before paring its rise. Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, said investors are taking a more defensive stance, possibly moving more into cash. “It’s frustrating for investors and for U.S. citizens to see this unfold in the way it has been,” she said. “From an overall asset allocation standpoint, in an environment like this, you get bigger moves into cash and safe havens.” The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 96.87 points, or 0.79 percent, at 12,143.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX was down 8.39 points, or 0.65 percent, at 1,292.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 9.87 points, or 0.36 percent, at 2,756.38. President Barack Obama told Republicans and Democrats to find a way “out of this mess.” The United States will be unable to borrow money to pay its bills if Congress does not raise the debt limit by August 2. A second attempt for a vote in the House of Representatives is expected after the close of trading on Friday after a bill was modified to try to win over more conservative lawmakers. The measure has little chance of passing in the Senate, however. At least one credit rating agency has said it is likely to lower the United States’ prized tripe-A rating if the cuts in Washington don’t go far enough. “Will the deal be enough to satisfy the credit rating agencies is really what’s at stake here,” Trunow said, whose firm manages about $14.8 billion. The S&P utility index .GSPU is down 2.1 percent for the week, while the Dow is down 4.2 percent and the Nasdaq is down 3.6 percent for the week. The S&P 500 briefly fell below its 200-day moving average, seen as key support, and bounced back from its worst levels of the day. Weak economic data also weighed on equities. The U.S. economy stumbled badly in the first half of this year and came dangerously close to contracting in the January-March period. Among declining stocks, Chevron Corp (CVX.N), the second-largest U.S. oil company, fell 1 percent to $104.02 despite reporting a 43 percent jump in quarterly profit that beat estimates. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry) Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
Continue reading …(Caroline Valetkevitch) – Stocks ended the worst week in a year as time runs out on Washington to reach agreement before the government loses its ability to borrow money. The S&P 500 fell every day this week and was down 3.9 percent for the week as legislators failed to work out an agreement to raise the federal borrowing limit, which expires on Tuesday. Investors also worry about the likelihood of a U.S. credit downgrade. The CBOE Market Volatility Index .VIX, a gauge of investor fear, jumped as much as 9 percent to its highest level since mid-March before paring its rise. Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, said investors are taking a more defensive stance, possibly moving more into cash. “It’s frustrating for investors and for U.S. citizens to see this unfold in the way it has been,” she said. “From an overall asset allocation standpoint, in an environment like this, you get bigger moves into cash and safe havens.” The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 96.87 points, or 0.79 percent, at 12,143.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX was down 8.39 points, or 0.65 percent, at 1,292.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 9.87 points, or 0.36 percent, at 2,756.38. President Barack Obama told Republicans and Democrats to find a way “out of this mess.” The United States will be unable to borrow money to pay its bills if Congress does not raise the debt limit by August 2. A second attempt for a vote in the House of Representatives is expected after the close of trading on Friday after a bill was modified to try to win over more conservative lawmakers. The measure has little chance of passing in the Senate, however. At least one credit rating agency has said it is likely to lower the United States’ prized tripe-A rating if the cuts in Washington don’t go far enough. “Will the deal be enough to satisfy the credit rating agencies is really what’s at stake here,” Trunow said, whose firm manages about $14.8 billion. The S&P utility index .GSPU is down 2.1 percent for the week, while the Dow is down 4.2 percent and the Nasdaq is down 3.6 percent for the week. The S&P 500 briefly fell below its 200-day moving average, seen as key support, and bounced back from its worst levels of the day. Weak economic data also weighed on equities. The U.S. economy stumbled badly in the first half of this year and came dangerously close to contracting in the January-March period. Among declining stocks, Chevron Corp (CVX.N), the second-largest U.S. oil company, fell 1 percent to $104.02 despite reporting a 43 percent jump in quarterly profit that beat estimates. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry) Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
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My great-grandfather used to pepper his talk with a lot of timeless quotations from wise men. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. If God had wanted you to smoke, he would have put a chimney in your head. Having now reached adulthood myself, I find that I do the same thing–but that the sources of my quotes are a bit more recent: I have been, and always shall be, your friend. With great power comes great responsibility. The spice must flow. Inconceivable! Ray, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes. Don’t panic. No matter where you go… there you are. So say we all. Geeks like me toss around these pop proverbs–from books, movies, games, comics–as if they were a whole new cultural canon, every bit as profound as the classic aphorisms from Shakespeare and Bible. Well, guess what: That’s because they are. My new book, “Geek Wisdom,” presents nearly 200 mini-essays exploring the most beloved quotations from nerd culture. Here’s a taste of some favorites: Check out more “Geek Wisdom” at Quirk Books.
Continue reading …My great-grandfather used to pepper his talk with a lot of timeless quotations from wise men. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. If God had wanted you to smoke, he would have put a chimney in your head. Having now reached adulthood myself, I find that I do the same thing–but that the sources of my quotes are a bit more recent: I have been, and always shall be, your friend. With great power comes great responsibility. The spice must flow. Inconceivable! Ray, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes. Don’t panic. No matter where you go… there you are. So say we all. Geeks like me toss around these pop proverbs–from books, movies, games, comics–as if they were a whole new cultural canon, every bit as profound as the classic aphorisms from Shakespeare and Bible. Well, guess what: That’s because they are. My new book, “Geek Wisdom,” presents nearly 200 mini-essays exploring the most beloved quotations from nerd culture. Here’s a taste of some favorites: Check out more “Geek Wisdom” at Quirk Books.
Continue reading …Liberals are just a wee bit unhappy with the deal President Obama struck to increase the debt ceiling. The Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus will hold a press conference today to announce their opposition to the deal, Raw Story reports. Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver delivered the real money…
Continue reading …MSNBC’s Alter and Bashir Agree: ‘We’d Be in a Depression Now if There Had Been a Balanced Budget Amendment in 2009′
August 1, 2011 No Comment
On Monday's “Martin Bashir,” MSNBC analyst Jonathan Alter proclaimed that America would “be in a depression now if there had been a balanced budget amendment in 2009.” Bashir, concurring with the former Newsweek editor, added, “Indeed.” Reacting to Rep. John Boehner's (R-Ohio) press conference about the debt-ceiling deal , Alter and Bashir mocked the speaker's suggestion that a balanced budget amendment is needed to “handcuff” Congress. [Video will be posted soon] “Yeah, I mean, I'm laughing at that because let's say we'd had a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in early 2009 when we were losing close to 800,000 jobs a month and headed for another Great Depression,” groused Alter, a former Newsweek editor. “By Speaker Boehner's terms, we wouldn't have had any government efforts to try to end that near depression.” Alter's implicit assumption that President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package was successful belies a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, an anemic housing market, and public opinion polls showing Americans think the country has been, and continues to be, on the wrong track . Not only that, but a balanced budget amendment does not preclude the possibility of injecting stimulus in times of economic distress, but rather, it forces Congress to prioritize spending to live within its means. It's not surprising that Alter would employ hyperbolic language to denigrate Republican proposals. After all, Alter told MSNBC's Cenk Uygur in April that in supporting the Ryan plan, the GOP voted to ” throw granny into the snow .” A transcript of the segment can be found below: MSNBC Martin Bashir August 1, 2011 3:45 p.m. Eastern LUKE RUSSERT, NBC congressional correspondent: The most interesting thing that he said though, was when he spoke at length about a balanced budget amendment. MARTIN BASHIR: Indeed. RUSSERT: That is a direct attempt to cater to the Tea Party part of his conference, essentially saying hey look, I know this is the framework of your Cut, Cap, and Balance that we tried to pass a couple weeks ago. The idea of this balanced budget amendment, saying this is the best chance I've had for it in the 20 years I've been here to try and garner support for it, that is trying to say to these Tea Party folks, hey come on board. If we extend this plan, albeit it's not perfect, but we'll have a great opportunity to try to pass a balanced budget amendment down the line. BASHIR: Indeed. Speaker Boehner actually said we would never have gotten into this mess in the first place had we had a balanced budget amendment. (Laughter) RUSSERT: Correct. That's the code word for the Tea Party, this balanced budget amendment. BASHIR: Jonathan Alter, you were laughing at that. JONATHAN ALTER: Yeah, I mean, I'm laughing at that because let's say we'd had a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in early 2009 when we were losing close to 800,000 jobs a month and headed for another Great Depression. By Speaker Boehner's terms, we wouldn't have had any government efforts – BASHIR: Stimulus, nothing. ALTER: To try to end that near depression. Does he really think the country would have been better off if the Congress had been handcuffed and unable to take any measures to fight a coming depression? I think we'd be in a depression now if there had been a balanced budget amendment in 2009. BASHIR: Indeed. Jonathan Alter, Luke Russert, and Joy Ann Reid, thanks so much for joining us. –Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading …MSNBC’s Alter and Bashir Agree: ‘We’d Be in a Depression Now if There Had Been a Balanced Budget Amendment in 2009′
August 1, 2011 No CommentOn Monday's “Martin Bashir,” MSNBC analyst Jonathan Alter proclaimed that America would “be in a depression now if there had been a balanced budget amendment in 2009.” Bashir, concurring with the former Newsweek editor, added, “Indeed.” Reacting to Rep. John Boehner's (R-Ohio) press conference about the debt-ceiling deal , Alter and Bashir mocked the speaker's suggestion that a balanced budget amendment is needed to “handcuff” Congress. [Video will be posted soon] “Yeah, I mean, I'm laughing at that because let's say we'd had a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in early 2009 when we were losing close to 800,000 jobs a month and headed for another Great Depression,” groused Alter, a former Newsweek editor. “By Speaker Boehner's terms, we wouldn't have had any government efforts to try to end that near depression.” Alter's implicit assumption that President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package was successful belies a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, an anemic housing market, and public opinion polls showing Americans think the country has been, and continues to be, on the wrong track . Not only that, but a balanced budget amendment does not preclude the possibility of injecting stimulus in times of economic distress, but rather, it forces Congress to prioritize spending to live within its means. It's not surprising that Alter would employ hyperbolic language to denigrate Republican proposals. After all, Alter told MSNBC's Cenk Uygur in April that in supporting the Ryan plan, the GOP voted to ” throw granny into the snow .” A transcript of the segment can be found below: MSNBC Martin Bashir August 1, 2011 3:45 p.m. Eastern LUKE RUSSERT, NBC congressional correspondent: The most interesting thing that he said though, was when he spoke at length about a balanced budget amendment. MARTIN BASHIR: Indeed. RUSSERT: That is a direct attempt to cater to the Tea Party part of his conference, essentially saying hey look, I know this is the framework of your Cut, Cap, and Balance that we tried to pass a couple weeks ago. The idea of this balanced budget amendment, saying this is the best chance I've had for it in the 20 years I've been here to try and garner support for it, that is trying to say to these Tea Party folks, hey come on board. If we extend this plan, albeit it's not perfect, but we'll have a great opportunity to try to pass a balanced budget amendment down the line. BASHIR: Indeed. Speaker Boehner actually said we would never have gotten into this mess in the first place had we had a balanced budget amendment. (Laughter) RUSSERT: Correct. That's the code word for the Tea Party, this balanced budget amendment. BASHIR: Jonathan Alter, you were laughing at that. JONATHAN ALTER: Yeah, I mean, I'm laughing at that because let's say we'd had a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in early 2009 when we were losing close to 800,000 jobs a month and headed for another Great Depression. By Speaker Boehner's terms, we wouldn't have had any government efforts – BASHIR: Stimulus, nothing. ALTER: To try to end that near depression. Does he really think the country would have been better off if the Congress had been handcuffed and unable to take any measures to fight a coming depression? I think we'd be in a depression now if there had been a balanced budget amendment in 2009. BASHIR: Indeed. Jonathan Alter, Luke Russert, and Joy Ann Reid, thanks so much for joining us. –Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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