Howard Kurtz didn't have a good Father's Day. After being shocked that Republicans would actually prefer Obama jokes over those about Republicans, the “Reliable Sources” host expressed dismay that Fox News analyst Dick Morris would actually toe the GOP's line (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD KURTZ: One question I always ask about commentators on the left and the right is whether we're getting their unvarnished opinion, or are they toeing some kind of party line? Fox News analyst Dick Morris made clear in a radio interview that he'll throw his support to anyone the GOP puts up, or as conservative host Mike Gallagher put it, whoever the Republicans prop up. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) DICK MORRIS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: I agree so much with that, Mike. I decided a couple of — a month or two ago to stop jumping on Mitt Romney. MIKE GALLAGHER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, me too. Me too. MORRIS: Not because I approve of Romneycare, not because I approve of his flip-flop-flip on abortion, but because I may have to be one of those who carries this guy for a couple of months when he's running against Obama, and I don't want to make my own task harder. (END AUDIO CLIP) KURTZ: He may have to carry this guy against Obama. Those are Morris' own words. Talk about falling into line. Exactly why would this be surprising to a media analyst? On Kurtz's own network, there are contributors such as Paul Begala and Donna Brazile who do nothing but toe the Democrat Party line every time they're in front of a camera. Why is it acceptable when they do it on CNN but inappropriate for Morris to do it on Fox? As I said at the onset, this wasn't one of Kurtz's finer days.
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This is no light-hearted camp: your child will learn “the principles of liberty, free markets, and limited government.” Based on the principles of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project, the Tampa chapter of the organization tuned in to the Tea Party ideals is looking to bring a younger generation under their wing. That’s right, they’re offering a
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Survey reveals clients not being given proper help with eating or drinking and being left in bed for long periods The basic human rights of some older people receiving care at home are being abused, with “worrying” instances of the elderly being left in soiled beds or clothing for long periods, claims a report. The Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed it had identified a number of significant problems, such as old people not being washed properly, not being given proper help with eating or drinking, and being left in bed for 17 hours in some cases, as part of an EHRC inquiry into home care in England. Staff turnover in the sector was “huge” with one woman said to have had 32 different carers over a two-week period. Some home care visits were just 15 minutes, forcing people to choose between having a cooked meal or a wash. Others were put to bed at 5pm and not helped to get up again until 10am the following morning, said the report. Lack of privacy was also a problem, with one person complaining of being dressed by care staff in front of his bungalow window, and another in front of family members. But there was a reluctance to complain because many did not know how to, or were fearful of repercussions. “The full extent of the potential human rights breaches is likely to be masked by the fear of complaining and the low expectations about the quality of home care that many older people believe they are entitled to,” said the EHRC, due to publish the findings of its inquiry in November. “One in five older people who responded to the call for evidence said that they would not complain because they didn’t know how to, or for fear of repercussions. “In addition, we are exploring what protection and support is in place for whistleblowers who want to expose poor or abusive practices,” said the report, drawn from more than 500 submissions from individuals, organisations and home care staff. Social care Long-term care Equality Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Carers Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media (h/t Karoli) It’s rare on the Sunday shows to give a Democrat uninterrupted air time and even rarer still the chance to respond to a Republican’s segment on earlier. Watch the shows, most of the time Democrats appear with a Republican at his/her side and almost never given the last word. Which is why Chuck Schumer appearing after Mitch McConnell to refute all the same tired talking points is such a novel experience. Schumer says EXACTLY what every Democrat should say the minute a camera is pointed in their direction: “Hey GOP, where are the jobs???” In the five months of the Republican majority, we’ve had nary a single jobs bill, but bills reducing regulations on corporations and increasing them on women seeking reproductive health . But that’s not what Americans wanted…the Republicans promised jobs and that’s what Americans are looking for. The New York Democrat said his colleagues in the Senate would be introducing a number of measures aimed at creating jobs – including one that provides tax breaks to companies that hire new workers. “That is aimed at sort of bringing our Republican colleagues along to do something” about the struggling U.S. economy, which created just 54,000 jobs in May, Schumer said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “If they are against a business tax cut to help employment, they have always been for business tax cuts in the past, you gotta wonder, maybe they don’t want the economy to grow,” said Schumer, the number three Democrat in the Senate. Listen to Bob Schieffer, still holding onto those Republican talking points that the MOST important issue facing us is the blasted deficit, absolutely incredulous of the Democrats plan of investing in the infrastructure, of a strong jobs program , calling it “grandiose”. Um…Bob, how would you have characterized the New Deal that Roosevelt proposed? That’s exactly what the country needed to put the economy back on track. The Democrats’ plan is not nearly that extensive, and in a hat tip to the whiny, petulant Republicans, includes tax breaks.
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Click here to view this media (h/t Karoli) It’s rare on the Sunday shows to give a Democrat uninterrupted air time and even rarer still the chance to respond to a Republican’s segment on earlier. Watch the shows, most of the time Democrats appear with a Republican at his/her side and almost never given the last word. Which is why Chuck Schumer appearing after Mitch McConnell to refute all the same tired talking points is such a novel experience. Schumer says EXACTLY what every Democrat should say the minute a camera is pointed in their direction: “Hey GOP, where are the jobs???” In the five months of the Republican majority, we’ve had nary a single jobs bill, but bills reducing regulations on corporations and increasing them on women seeking reproductive health . But that’s not what Americans wanted…the Republicans promised jobs and that’s what Americans are looking for. The New York Democrat said his colleagues in the Senate would be introducing a number of measures aimed at creating jobs – including one that provides tax breaks to companies that hire new workers. “That is aimed at sort of bringing our Republican colleagues along to do something” about the struggling U.S. economy, which created just 54,000 jobs in May, Schumer said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “If they are against a business tax cut to help employment, they have always been for business tax cuts in the past, you gotta wonder, maybe they don’t want the economy to grow,” said Schumer, the number three Democrat in the Senate. Listen to Bob Schieffer, still holding onto those Republican talking points that the MOST important issue facing us is the blasted deficit, absolutely incredulous of the Democrats plan of investing in the infrastructure, of a strong jobs program , calling it “grandiose”. Um…Bob, how would you have characterized the New Deal that Roosevelt proposed? That’s exactly what the country needed to put the economy back on track. The Democrats’ plan is not nearly that extensive, and in a hat tip to the whiny, petulant Republicans, includes tax breaks.
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Click here to view this media Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) thinks that the some of the massive wildfires in Arizona are the fault of illegal immigrants. “We are concerned about, particularly, areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” the former Republican presidential candidate said at a press conference Saturday . “They have set fires because the want to signal others. They have set fires to keep warm and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them.” “The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border,” he added. UPDATE : John Amato: John McCain, who once led an effort for immigration reform until he was beat back by Rush Limbaugh, FOX News and hate talk AM radio now has joined them in their demonization of illegals. We don’t know what caused the fires in Arizona as of yet, but McCain saw an opportunity and grabbed it. The Arizona senator, however, did not say what the evidence is, prompting a swift rebuke from Latino civil rights advocates. “It’s easier to fan the flames of intolerance, especially in Arizona,” said Randy Parraz, a civil rights advocate who ran unsuccessfully against McCain as a Democratic candidate in 2010. Parraz called McCain’s remarks “careless and reckless” but not entirely surprising given the political climate in Arizona. The Latino advocate is co-founder of Citizens for a Better Arizona, a group trying the recall the legislator who authored the state’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law. Parraz said McCain “should know better” than to make such an accusation without presenting any facts. – Parraz said it is particularly distressing that immigrants are being blamed for destructive fires at a time when many are also being targeted given the state’s unemployment, foreclosure and other economic issues. “People are looking for someone to blame,” he said, claiming it is too easy and convenient to target what he called one of Arizona’s “most vulnerable populations.” Angelo Falcon, the president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, criticized McCain for what he called “increasingly blatant” political opportunism. “The degree of irresponsible political pandering by Sen. McCain has no limits,” Falcon said in an email to CNN. “With the lack of evidence, he might as well also blame aliens from outer space for the fires.”
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• Fourth sub-par round leaves Ulsterman 16 under • Jason Day second, Lee Westwood tied for third Next stop world domination, but on a glorious afternoon at Congressional Country Club the boy wonder of European golf was content with prize he had just won. Rory McIlroy, 2011 US Open champion. How does that sound? Pretty good, but for those who wanted more there was plenty. How about Rory McIlroy, winner of the 2011 US Open championship with a record low score of 268, 16 under par. How about Rory McIlroy, winner of the 2011 US Open by a margin of eight shots. How about Rory McIlroy, who followed the disappointment of his Augusta National collapse just two months ago with a display that will go down in the annals alongside that of Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach in 2000 – a performance acknowledged by many as the greatest in the tournament’s history. By such celestial standards, McIlroy might have come up short but it was a close-run thing as the Northern Irishman exerted his dominance over a famously brutish golf course, as well as a collection of the world’s best. YE Yang, a PGA Championship winner, Lee Westwood, the world No2, Sergio García, a fallen idol on the road to recovery, and Jason Day, one of the leading lights of golf’s new generation – great players reduced to the status of Holywood extras. If only McIlroy had stayed at home this week they would have contested a hell of a golf tournament. But he didn’t, and they didn’t. Their consolation was a top-10 finish at a major championship and a ringside seat on the day potential greatness became greatness. “Rory is going to have a great career, there is no question about that. He has got all the components,” said Jack Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion who has become something of a mentor to McIlroy over the last few years. “He is a great kid. He is humble when he needs to be, and confident when he needs to be confident. He’s a got a great swing. He looks a little cocksure when he walks, which you need to have. I like it.” Nicklaus is not alone. Over the past four days the American public, and the American media, have treated McIlroy like one of their own. He has been cheered on to the driving range, and cheered on the practise putting green. Most of all he has been cheered on the golf course, never louder than he was on Sunday. No wonder. Eight shots ahead overnight, then immediately extended with a birdie at the 1st, where he hit an exquisite approach shot to eight feet and holed the putt. Another great approach, and another birdie, at the 5th extended the lead into double digits. Thereafter, it was simply a case of cruising home, although McIlroy could not resist a few flourishes. At the 10th – a brutish par-three requiring the players to hit their tee shots over a vast expanse of water to a distant green – he hit a six-iron to three inches. He did not miss the putt. So much for Westwood’s contention, uttered in hope and not in malice on Saturday, that “big leads are sometimes hard to play with”. Not when you play as McIlroy did. Did the Northern Irishman drop a shot at the 12th hole? Yes he did. Did it matter? Of course not. By then he was in full procession mode, smiling, waving to the crowds and, one has to believe, breathing deep sighs of relief at having finally reached the destiny many have predicted for him since his arrival on the golfing scene. When he stepped on to the 18th tee he held an eight-shot advantage over Day, knowing that anything less than a sextuple bogey 10 would be enough to win. In the event he needed only four shots for a final round of 69 to add to his three previous rounds of 65,66 and 68. When the final putt dropped, he feel into the arms of his father, Gerry, and when he stepped off the green it was into a hug from his friend and countryman Graeme McDowell, who won this tournament last year. All hail golf’s new global superpower, Northern Ireland. McIlroy now has one major championship to his name. The temptation to ask how many more is hard to resist but the truth is no-one knows. More than one? Five? Ten? Padraig Harrington swung for the fences, as they say in baseball, declaring that the Northern Irishman and not Tiger Woods presented the biggest threat to Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championship victories. Harrington is famously tee-total, never having let a drop of alcohol cross his lips, so it can assumed he was speaking from the heart. But surely this was hyperbole above and beyond the call of cross-border Irish co-operation. Yet McIlroy is still only 22 years old. He is fit, he is ambitious and, most importantly of all, he now knows he can win on golf’s biggest stage. The sky truly is the limit. US Open Golf 2011 US Open Rory McIlroy Lawrence Donegan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Marsha Blackburn Praises Reagan, as Though He’d Still Be Welcome in Today’s Republican Party
June 19, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As C&L’s Jon Perr wrote earlier this year, today’s “tea partiers”, otherwise known as the extreme right wing of the Republican Party, which seems to be about all that remains of them right now, would have considered Ronald Reagan a RINO , or Republican in name only. That didn’t stop Tennessee Representative and one of my least favorite flame throwers Marsha Blackburn from praising St. Ronnie at the Republican Leadership Conference this weekend as the one who’s “values” they should “coalesce around.” BLACKBURN: Well it is absolutely fantastic to be here with you in New Orleans for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, and I am thrilled that we are holding this during the centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth. Those values that he coalesced around, faith, family, freedom, hope, opportunity; those are the values that he took with him to Washington in 1980. Those are the values that we need to take back to Washington today. And we need to remember that those are the values that need to be in the White House in November 2012 and we need to get out there and win this one for the Gipper! Whoo-hooo! Let’s win one for St. Ronnie! I’m not holding my breath for anyone in our corporate media to ever ask any of them about whether their patron saint would survive a GOP primary today now that the John Birch Society, libertarian, extreme right wing of their party has apparently become the mainstream.
Continue reading …BBC’s Salford rebels are living in the dark ages – shadow culture secretary
June 19, 2011 No Comment
Ivan Lewis says critics of BBC’s partial relocation to Salford should drop their ‘outdated prejudices’ against north of England Opponents of the BBC’s decision to relocate parts of its television and radio output to Salford are living in the dark ages and should drop their “outdated prejudices” against the north of England, the shadow culture secretary, Ivan Lewis, will say on Monday. In a direct challenge to BBC stars such as presenter Chris Hollins, who have criticised the move, Lewis will say the corporation will be strengthened by employing a “more diverse talent pool” and viewing events not solely through a “London-centric prism”. Detractors, he said, should stop seeing Britain as “London plus the rest”. The BBC has faced intense criticism over its decision to relocate its Breakfast television programme and Radio 5 Live to MediaCityUK in Salford. Sian Williams, the main presenter of Breakfast, has declined to move north for family reasons. Hollins, the sports presenter and winner of Strictly Come Dancing, has also refused after condemning the move as “merely a political decision”. In all, 46% of the team working on Breakfast have declined to relocate to Salford, where the programme will be based from April 2012. Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid, the show’s other main presenters, are staying with it. Turnbull said the move to Salford would be a challenge though he added that he was “confident the programme can be as successful in its new home as it has been for the past few years in Television Centre”. Lewis, a Mancunian who is the MP for Bury South, will dismiss the criticisms of the relocation. In an address at the Impact of MediaCity conference in Manchester, he will tell the audience: “Let me say this to those commentators, celebrities and BBC staff who have railed against the BBC move to Salford and the investment in MediaCity – shame on you for your outdated prejudices, one-dimensional view of Britain and negativity about the north, which belongs in the dark ages. “Alongside the NHS, the BBC is one of our great national institutions, one of Britain’s greatest achievements. “It is right that she accepts her responsibility to support the regions, but also the quality of her output will be immensely strengthened by seeking out a more diverse talent pool and range of experiences. If the BBC is to be the authentic voice of Britain it must look like Britain.” The shadow culture secretary will say that the relocation to Salford will offer economic and cultural benefits and could help to challenge the way in which debates are conducted. He will say that detractors have short memories because they fail to remember the days when Manchester was a major media centre. “This move should be seen as the ‘high speed media link’ between north and south, not an opportunity to perpetuate a backward-looking north-south divide,” Lewis will say. “The critics should be challenged not only for their prejudice but a small-minded, limiting view of Britain as London plus the rest. Their memories do not stretch to the halcyon days of the Manchester Guardian or the great pioneers who founded Granada TV.” Monday’s speech is designed to show that the north-west of England can play a central role in rebalancing the British economy away from its dependence on financial services. Lewis believes that Britain’s creative industries, as the second largest driver of jobs and growth after financial services, will be at the forefront of this rebalancing. He will say: “We do not want to be the passive, grateful recipients of the proceeds of growth created in London and the south-east. We want to be the wealth creators and innovators playing our full part in steering our country through this difficult time and into a period of new, sustainable growth. “Britain needs a thriving London and south-east but our country will never fulfil its potential unless we balance the important contribution of our financial services with other key sectors of the economy and ensure all of our regions are firing on all cylinders. That is why recent developments are so important and signpost the many opportunities which lie ahead to support locally produced, high quality content and facilitate the creation of new partnerships with organisations including independent producers, cutting-edge digital companies and universities across the north-west.” BBC Salford move BBC Arts policy Ivan Lewis Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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UN refugee agency’s report reveals majority of forcibly displaced people are in countries that cannot cope with the influx The number of forcibly displaced people around the world has reached a 15-year high, according to the UN high commission for refugees (UNHCR), with the vast majority languishing in poor countries ill-equipped to cater to their needs. The UNHCR’s 2010 trends report estimated that there were 43.7 million refugees and people displaced within their country by events such as war and natural disasters at the end of last year. More than half of the total are children. The figure does not take into account the new wave of migration set in train by the upheaval of the Arab spring. The figure breaks down into a global total of 15.4 million refugees, 27.5 million internally displaced people and a further 840,000 people waiting to be given refugee status. The 48-page report also reveals that there has been a fall in the number of returning refugees to 197,600, the lowest in two decades. This has resulted in the number of long-term refugees in “protracted situations” making up almost half of the total of all refugees, the highest number for a decade. The report puts the blame for this on “humanitarian crises and the political situation in a number of countries”. However, there has been a slight dip in the total number of refugees worldwide on 2009 levels. The agency has also estimated that there are 12 million stateless people around the world. The main reason cited for the drop was the number of Afghans returning home. But after 30 years of almost continuous war, it is still the leading country of origin for refugees, generating 30% of the global total. Iraqis make up the second largest group with 1.7 million people.However over the last decade there has been a dramatic fall in the number of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, falling by 1.2 million from the start of the millennium. Developing countries host 80% of the world’s refugee population. Pakistan leads the rankings with 1.9 million people, followed by Iran and Syria, who host more than a million. Germany is fourth with 600,000 with the UK coming in tenth with 238,000 registered refugees, 26,000 fewer than the US in 9th place. UNHCR UK spokesman Mans Nyberg said it was difficult to pinpoint certain crises which had added to the growing number of displaced persons but said that industrialised countries needed to do more to take on their fair share of the burden: “Europe has the impression that the industrialised countries are being flooded. But the flood is into poorer countries. They can’t cope. That’s why richer countries have to step into to help,” said Nyberg. Nyberg also called for greater urgency in conflict resolution. “We are also concerned with the 7m people in protracted situations who are living in camps for more than 10 years, sometimes even 30 years. We are really appealing to the international community to put more efforts into conflict resolution so that these situations can be resolved.” He added that the agency, which was set up with temporary status in the aftermath of the second world war was also asking for an increase in resettlement quotas from developed countries. The report also revealed that in September 2010 Japan became the first Asian country to accept refugees as part of the official resettlement programme and rehoused 18 families from Myanmar. In March the agency estimated that 590,000 Japanese people were displaced because of Fukushima tsunami. Refugees United Nations Arab and Middle East unrest Iraq Afghanistan Pakistan Africa Germany European Union United States Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
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