Month: September 2006
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My old boss is a genius
From 2001-2003, I worked for Benetech, a social entrepreneurial nonprofit that uses technology to address issues like disabilities and human rights. So I’m proud to say that Jim Fruchterman, Benetech’s CEO and founder (and my former boss), just won a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation. Please help keep the ball rolling — check out
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Blackburn slurs Pelosi’s loyalty
The indefatigable Dana Milbank of the Washington Post notes the latest incident from “Treason Season”: The California Democrat has been the focus of the GOP attack since her remark last week that capturing Osama bin Laden wouldn’t make us safer… Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stood next to a poster of Pelosi and her words about
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More wacky govt. kids mascots
Back in February, I mocked (here and here) the silly cartoon mascots of government websites for children, which included Rex the mountain lion from the Department of Homeland Security: Herman, the FEMA hermit spokescrab for disaster response: And the National Security Agency’s CryptoKids, including Crypto Cat and Decipher Dog: The new issue of the Washington
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Times correction watch: 2 for 3
My experiment in New York Times corrections is going well. Out of the three errors identified by me (here and here ) and FAIR, two have been corrected. First, the error FAIR caught was corrected on Sept. 12: An article that appeared on NYTimes.com for part of the day on Sept. 5 incorrectly described President
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Tricky WSJ editorial on interrogation
In an editorial backing the Bush administration’s position on coercive interrogation today, the Wall Street Journal suggests that this position is necessary to prevent an attack in the so-called “ticking bomb” scenario: Now the four GOP Senators and most Democrats are working to put CIA interrogators under similarly restrictive rules. If they get their way,
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More on Nazi/Communist comparisons
On The Horse’s Mouth last week, I wrote a post that criticized Nazi/fascist comparisons made by various public figures, including Sean Penn’s recent suggestion that fascism has come to America under President Bush. In it, I specifically disavowed any equivalence between the importance of Penn and more powerful conservatives who used rhetoric comparing war opponents
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Media Matters wrong on Bush 9/11 speech
In his column on the Media Matters website this week, Jamison Foser criticizes my Horse’s Mouth post about a New York Times article on reactions to President Bush’s primetime address on 9/11. Here’s what I wrote: [New York Times reporter David] Stout also fails to directly contradict Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi, who mischaracterized President
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Peggy Noonan: Bush not trying to polarize
Things that make you go hmm: Peggy Noonan claiming President Bush is “not trying to polarize: Pundits and historians call Mr. Bush polarizing–and he is, but in some unusual ways. For one thing, he’s not trying to polarize. He is not saying, “My team is for less government, your team is for more–my team, stand
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George Will goes monocausal
In his column today, George Will, a political philosopher turned pundit, offers a monocausal explanation of social behavior that would make Karl Marx blush. Apparently, “most social pathologies” ranging from “crime to schools that cannot teach” are caused by single parent families: [Washington Post reporter and author Thomas] Edsall notes that one-third of American children
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College Republicans disavow Michigan intern
The article I linked to last week on a College Republicans intern who wanted to hold a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day” has caused an uproar, and the GOP is running for the hills, as Michael Crowley notes: Republicans on campus and in Washington distanced themselves yesterday from controversial political activities discussed by an intern