Monday, June 26, 2006
Why is TNR protecting an dishonest source?
I have just received an e-mail from TNR editor Frank Foer which said they thought the apology is adequate and "they had nothing more to add". It was bad enough they tacked on Gilliard-gate to their mistake on their reporting. But now, they're defending a dishonest source, who sends e-mails withour any proof of their accuracy
My question is simple: why are they protecting a dishonest source on a story? They know the person in question lied to them about my words, yet they continue to protect them. Why would they do this?
Apology or not, this is about credibility and their lack of it. How can anyone trust Jason Zengerle's words again? If they were to face legal action in the future, from an issue unrelated to this, counsel would surely contact me about this matter, as well as use it against them.
This isn't about me, except for those words. It is, however, about how badly and dishonestly this whole affair has been handled. It was sloppy, an embarassment and TNR cannot wish it away. Until they deal with this in a forthright manner, their critics will always say "how can you trust them, they posted that fake e-mail", regardless of the facts of the story.
Even if they discovered a conflict between Kos's business interests and his blog, who could ever trust them to be seen as a fair reporter on that.
I used to think the TNR, despite years of scandal, had some ethics left. I am dismayed to find out differently, and first hand.
I cannot ever imagine cooperating with TNR for any reason, not because I bear them
some grudge, I don't. Saddened and disappointed, obviously. But how can one cooperate with a magazine who's website prints fictional words and then protects the source of those words.
I think protecting that source is a moral and ethical mistake which will have a long lasting effect on their already damaged reputation. Ruth Shalit and Stephen Glass are a heavy burden to bear. It would be a shame to add Jason Zengerle and his source to that burden.
posted by Steve @ 11:55:00 PM
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World Cup open thread
Happy happy, joy, joy
Beer, bratwurst and German joy
By Sam Wilson
BBC News, Munich
The hospitality and organisation of this World Cup for visitors without match tickets has been well documented.
But such was the enthusiasm to watch Germany play Sweden in Munich on Saturday that both were stretched close to breaking point.
Umpteen thousands showed up at Munich's magnificent Olympic stadium and park to watch the match on two big screens - and that was several thousand too many.
Ninety minutes before kick-off the trains ceased to run because police had shut the stadium. A steward deliberately shepherded us onto a bus going in the opposite direction before we cottoned on.
When I eventually made it to the gate, the police were apologetic but firm. While some desperate fans scanned the perimeter for a hole in the fence, some rushed around aimlessly and others wandered confused.
Some proffered weeping children - others press passes - and in a few cases the police hustled us in.
The queue for bratwurst and beer would have made a glacier seem impatient, so those gasping in the heat turned to the ice cream stall, where cola ice lollies were being sold by the litre.
In the stadium people sat on steps, in gangways and on laps - the fanfest has become a throwback to the days before stadiums were super-policeWod. But there was no anarchy here, just a single-minded force of will behind Germany.
I think this Olympics World Cup has been fun. You have drunken brawls, but little real hooliganism. A lot of gracious behavior by everyone, a month long party. Which is a good thing. A lot of ghosts have been excised
posted by Steve @ 10:46:00 PM
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A question of character
I take money from racists
Steele's Donor List Stirs Racial Questions
Those Who Offended Blacks Contribute
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 26, 2006; B01
The fundraiser thrown for Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele on Thursday night, while ordinary in most ways, struck some African American leaders as notable because of the host.
Unlike the dozens of high-dollar events across the country in his U.S. Senate bid, this event was thrown by the producer of the famous "Willie Horton" ad, the 1988 commercial that came to symbolize the cynical use of skin color as a political wedge.
It seemed a most unusual choice for Steele, the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland and a Republican whose strategy for winning a Senate seat in a state dominated by Democrats has involved the aggressive courtship of black voters.
"Why would he go for money to those who have done us harm?" asked Elbridge James, a former leader of the NAACP's Montgomery County branch.
Steele said he sees nothing unusual about getting help from Floyd Brown's Citizens United Political Victory Fund. Brown produced the Willie Horton ad, which helped torpedo Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign by drawing attention to a weekend furlough program that released a black convicted murderer serving a life sentence.
Nor, Steele said, was there anything incongruous about donations he took from others who have offended black audiences in the past, including Republican Sens. Trent Lott (Miss.) and Conrad Burns (Mont.) as well as Alex Castellanos, the man behind the racially charged "White Hands" ad that then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) used to attack his black challenger.
It featured a close-up shot of a pair of white hands crumpling a letter as the narrator says, "You needed that job . . . but they had to give it to a minority."
In an interview, Steele said, "I appreciate all the support I get from members of my party."
The donations underscore a political quandary for Steele and the handful of other black Republicans seeking national office this year: As they look for financial help from GOP stalwarts, they risk forging relationships with people liable to turn off black voters.
Steele said the donations are not a problem. "The way I look at it, if I am in the United States Senate, I'll be a voice at the table that's probably not been appreciated that much in the past," he said.
The national GOP has touted Steele as a symbol of its drive for inclusiveness, giving him a prominent speaking role at its 2004 convention and aggressively courting him to enter this campaign. Steele has predicted he will need to peel away 25 percent of Maryland's large African American voting population to give him the edge over his eventual Democratic opponent. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Baltimore area congressman, and Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP president, are among those seeking the Democratic nomination.
Democrats said there are several names on Steele's donor list that won't help him. It includes Lott, who lost his leadership post for seeming to endorse Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential candidacy, and Burns, who drew sharp criticism for saying he found it "a hell of a challenge" to live among all the blacks in Washington, D.C.
Steele also has received support from former Reagan administration education secretary William J. Bennett, who was criticized for suggesting that aborting black babies would help reduce crime, and former first lady Barbara Bush, who turned heads when she mused that mostly African American evacuees from Katrina living at a Houston shelter "were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Steele accepted $1,000 from Castellanos, the man behind the "White Hands" ad.
He's taking money from racists. Cardin's people will hammer him stupid about this, as they should. I mean, who is he trying to kid. They want him in office because they know he won't stand up for black people and will represent their interests. His conservative buddies can say it's no big deal, but black people aren't stupid.
We learned from Clarence Thomas about how skin color doesn't equal loyalty. Michael Steele is taking money from Floyd Brown? Support from Bill Bennett? He doesn't care about black votes, and white voters are going to walk away from him. Even a white candidate can use black surrogates to hammer this home. He thinks like them, so they support him, don't believe anything else
posted by Steve @ 12:33:00 PM
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An apology
GILLIARD-GATE: Steve Gilliard claims that he did not write the email I attributed to him in this post. After doing some further investigating, I'm afraid to say that he is correct. He did not write that email. I apologize to Gilliard for not checking with him before publishing my post, and I regret the error. Here's how the error happened: A source forwarded The New Republic three emails purportedly written by members of the "Townhouse" list--Glenn Greenwald, Mike Stark, and Steve Gilliard--expressing concern about the Armstrong-SEC story. The emails lacked timestamps and headers, so TNR checked the emails with two other sources who belonged to "Townhouse." Both of these sources vouched for the authenticity of all three emails (and two of the emails, Greenwald's and Stark's, are indisputably authentic). After returning to these two sources this weekend, TNR learned that when initially shown the three emails, both sources immediately recognized the 181-word Greenwald email and the 389-word Stark email; having determined that those two emails were authentic, the sources just assumed the 22-word Gilliard email was authentic, as well. We now know it wasn't. These were clearly honest mistakes on the parts of the second and third sources; and TNR has been unable to determine why the first source--who has not responded to messages--included this one piece of incorrect information along with the accurate information the source sent us. Therefore, I won't abide by Glenn Greenwald's demand to disclose the identities of these sources. If Greenwald thinks that makes me, as he's hyperventilated, "a new Stephen Glass," then he can take that up with my editor Frank Foer, who knows the identities of the sources and has reviewed all the relevant materials they provided. I believe that this error is of a relatively minor nature--I did not, as Matt Stoller has maliciously alleged, "fabricate" anything--but any error is of course unacceptable. I sincerely regret not checking with Gilliard before quoting his purported words, not only because this was unfair to Gilliard--who has behaved more responsibly than anyone involved in this particular matter, myself included--but because the mistake that resulted from this failure has allowed Greenwald and others to try to use this minor error to distract people from much larger issues. Those issues are: Armstrong's troubles with the SEC; Armstrong's relationship with Moulitsas and Moulitsas's pattern of supporting politicians who hire Armstrong as a consultant; Moulitsas's attempts to silence liberal bloggers from commenting on these matters; the seeming acquiescence of so many of these liberal bloggers (including Greenwald) to Moulitsas's demands; and now, strangely, stuff like this. --Jason Zengerle
I don't think Zengerle has handled this well, and this grudging article tries to minimize the gross error he has committed.
I don't think this is a minor error, nor does Frank Foer. Zengerle attributed to me words I have no record writing and is still protecting a source who sent him an e-mail which cannot be verified. He admits that he doesn't have have the headers to the e-mails he was sent from the list and then gracelessly raises the same issues for which he has relied upon on at least
one unverifivable e-mail for.
What I would have liked to see is an admission that his refusal to actually consult with anyone he quoted was a fundamental mistake. His first reply to me snottily suggested that I didn't know anything about journalism for wondering why he quoted my words to a private e-mail list.
Well, I stayed awake when my journalism advisor discussed these things at my college paper and in class. I paid attention to the idea that you confirmed quotes when you didn't hear them personally. I also learned that fairness was an objective goal. So before quoting me, it would have served us all well to make sure those were my words.
Matt Stoller may be wrong in accusing you of making up my words, but you are still protecting a source who clearly sent you a doctored e-mail. So until that person is revealed, he can, like Zengerle, assume facts not in evidence.
Glenn Greenwald isn't the only one demanding that you reveal your source for my e-mail. As I have said in private comunications with the TNR editors, I want the chance to compare that e-mail to any I may have written. I fully expect that unreliable and probably dishonest source be revealed, expediciously .
I do not do this lightly. I was taught as a teenager that one protected sources at all cost, even going to jail. Myron Farber was a collegue of many of my professors, so this was taken seriously, even in class. Sources need to be protected, as I do and many other bloggers do. But not dishonest and mailicious ones.
But until the person who lied to the the New Republic is exposed,this apology is hollow. This person thought they were defaming me by using words I have no record of writing. They refuse to answer questions from Zengerle, and now I expect, Frank Foer. This clearly reeks of malice to imply, falsely, that I said something I didn't. To continue to protect this source serves as an ongoing wrong to me.
And I'm sorry, I don't think this is minor or a disraction. I find it unseemly to attempt to defend yourself after commiting a major breach of journalistic ethics by repeating the unproven charges which landed us here in the first place. This stoppped being about Kos the minute TNR published an e-mail which they cannot confirm coming to me.
Then it became about their ethics and practices.
All of the questions Zengerle has are legitimate, but he should do some reporting and talk to people about them, not just sit back and draw conclusions from purloined and now unverifiable e-mails.
Do I agree with TNR? No. I don't even agree with all the conclusiuons in Frank Foer's soccer book, which I liked. But I have tried to treat them fairly in all this, because that is the way to handle such matters.
Again, and I will be e-mailing Foer with the same request: I fully expect TNR to reveal the source of the e-mail I was quoted from and in a timely manner.
posted by Steve @ 3:45:00 AM
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Betting on books
Jodi Hilton for The New York Times
The author Janet Evanovich at Foxwoods Resort
Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., before her book
reading in the theater on Tuesday.
Casinos to Book Lovers: Let Us Entertain You, Too
By MOTOKO RICH
MASHANTUCKET, Conn., June 20 — To mark the release of the 13th novel in her best-selling Stephanie Plum mystery series, the author Janet Evanovich hired a Tom Jones impersonator, brought her future son-in-law on stage in drag to act as one of her characters, and gave away 500 balloons, fortune cookies and stickers.
It was not your standard book reading. But then again, the location — Foxwoods Resort Casino — was also far from standard. Just outside the theater where Ms. Evanovich addressed more than 1,200 ardent, hooting fans, were the vast halls filled with more than 7,000 slot machines, clanging and flashing 24 hours a day. The nearby Fuddruckers was advertising a "25 lb. party burger."
To the roster of musicians, comedians and magicians appearing at casinos these days, add your favorite author. Next month, Foxwoods, which began offering book signings last fall, will bring in Augusten Burroughs, author of "Running with Scissors" and "Possible Side Effects." A few miles away, Erica Jong and Robin Cook will be appearing this summer at the Mohegan Sun casino, where best-selling thriller writers including Nora Roberts and Sue Grafton have done readings over the past three years.
In Las Vegas, a bookstore in Mandalay Place, the mall connected to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, averages about four author signings a month, with writers including Mary Higgins Clark and the celebrity chefs and cookbook authors Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.
It is one thing to see Siegfried & Roy or even Cirque du Soleil between playing the slots, but an author? For casinos, which are trying to attract visitors interested not so much in gambling as in a broad range of entertainment, it can make sense.
"Casinos historically limit themselves to the types of activities that they think their customers will be interested in — boxing, rock concerts or sporting events," said Mitchell Etess, chief executive of Mohegan Sun, which has worked mostly with Penguin Group USA, the publisher, to bring in authors over the past three years. "But obviously, many people read books and everybody has got their favorite authors, and it just seemed like it would be a logical extension of our program offering."
posted by Steve @ 2:14:00 AM
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Not so simple
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
I watch for immigrants
On Lucille Avenue, the Immigration Debate
By NINA BERNSTEIN
ELMONT, N.Y. — The streets where Patrick Nicolosi sees America unraveling still have the look of the 1950's. Single-family homes sit side by side, their lawns weed-whacked into submission to the same suburban dream that Mr. Nicolosi's Italian-American parents embraced 40 years ago when they moved to this working-class community on Long Island.
But when a school bus stops at the white Cape Cod opposite his house, two children seem to pop up from beneath the earth. Emerging from an illegal basement apartment that successive homeowners have rented to a Mexican family of illegal immigrants, they head off to another day of public schooling at taxpayer expense.
.............................
"Two children are in school, and one is handicapped — that's $10,000 for elementary school, $100,000 a year for special education," he said. "Why am I paying taxes to support that house?"
............................
Instead, unlike most people, Mr. Nicolosi joins the civic fray. A self-appointed watchdog, he tries to get local officials to investigate houses that he and his allies suspect of violations, and to crack down on day laborers spilling into front yards.
But this spring, as the immigration debate ignited nationally, the results of his crusade unfolded like a parable about being careful what you wish for — leaving the Mexican family uprooted, neighbors unhappy, and Mr. Nicolosi himself more frustrated than ever.
Elmont, just over the Nassau County line from Queens, has always drawn immigrants or their children. In the decades since Mr. Nicolosi's father, a bus driver, moved his family here from the city, families from every continent have joined the Italian and Central European generations who settled the first subdivisions. Its population of 33,000 is about 46 percent white, 35 percent black and 9 percent Asian, and 14 percent of its residents are Hispanic.
Mr. Nicolosi, a compact, animated man, says he is fighting to save the modest suburban lifestyle that these families seek, regardless of ethnicity.
....................
Recently, for example, to the dismay of his wife, a police crossing guard, he publicly cited their children — a doctor, a teacher and a law school applicant — as examples of a generation that is being priced out of Long Island by soaring property taxes.
........................
But even among those who echoed Mr. Nicolosi's concerns, many called him a busybody and a troublemaker. There was sympathy for the family in the basement, and for their landlords, the Cervonis, a young couple with a baby and a construction business who bought the house from an absentee landlord in 2004 and moved in.
"What could we do, throw them out?" asked Luciana Cervoni, who called the tenants hard-working and quiet. "They've lived here for six, seven years now."
.............
"If that were the case, we would have moved a long time ago," said the mother in the basement, Ariana O., 30, allowing a glimpse of its two-bedroom finished interior that showed how homey the couple had made it for their three children: a boy of 10, a developmentally disabled girl of about 6, and a year-old baby — the last two born in the United States.
.....................
"They will never, ever better themselves," he said of the Mexican family.
And as he drove his black S.U.V. through a neighborhood where garden shrines outnumber basketball hoops, his world view darkened what he saw. Passing a small house, he shared his suspicion that it illegally harbored multiple immigrant families, because a dozen children regularly played out front.
But the homeowners later set the record straight. "We're a family here — we're no immigrants," declared Fanny Echeverria, 40, quickly adding, "What makes him better than immigrants?"
She and her husband, George, have five children between them, and their yard is a magnet for neighbors' children. Ms. Echeverria is a native New Yorker of Greek and Dominican heritage, her husband a naturalized United States citizen born in Chile. And they own one of Long Island's most highly rated French restaurants, Soigné, in Woodmere.
......................
From the basement, what struck the Mexican couple, however, was that Mr. Nicolosi did not work.
"The man has nothing to do except look," the wife said in Spanish as her husband cooked dinner. Recalling the Latino workers she saw renovating his house, she added, "If we weren't here, who would do the work?"
....................
But upstairs that day, their landlords were deciding to evict the family. An official had called, alerting them to a new complaint by Mr. Nicolosi, the Cervonis said. This time, with heightened public attention, it would lead to hefty fines unless the basement was vacated.
Joseph Cervoni broke the news to the tenants the night President Bush spoke to the nation about immigration. As word spread, neighbors blamed Mr. Nicolosi. Carolyn Gilbert, a retired secretary who advocates an electrified fence at the Mexican border, said he had no conscience. "People forget the human dimension," she said.
Louise Cerullo, 84, a registered Republican like Mr. Nicolosi, protested: "They're human beings. If they can work and pay their rent, what's wrong with that?"
Even his wife is embarassed by this 21st Century Archie Bunker
But the GOP has a problem. For every guy like this, there are the neighbors who want no part of his crusade., They find it repellent. A small family with a sick child evicted because of him, Nicolosi is now the pariah. Because what he did was unfair and unneighborly.
posted by Steve @ 1:54:00 AM
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Do you want to change the world?
Chris Machian/Bloomberg News
Warren E. Buffett
Buffett to Give Bulk of His Fortune to Gates Charity
By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN and STEPHANIE SAUL
Published: June 26, 2006
Warren E. Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and one of the world's wealthiest men, plans to donate the bulk of his $44 billion fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four other philanthropies starting in July.
The donations, outlined in a series of letters that Mr. Buffett released yesterday and will execute today, represent a singular and historic act of charitable giving that vaults him into the top tier of industrialists and entrepreneurs like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller Sr., Henry Ford, J. Paul Getty, W. K. Kellogg and Mr. Gates himself, all men whose fortunes have endowed some of the world's richest private foundations.
Mr. Buffett plans to give away 85 percent of his fortune, or about $37.4 billion, all in Berkshire stock. Of that amount, he will channel the greatest share, about $31 billion, into the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation, dedicated to improving health and education, especially in poor nations, is already the United States' largest grant-making foundation, with current assets of almost $30 billion. Mr. Buffett's huge contribution may permanently solidify that philanthropy's standing as the biggest and most influential organization of its kind. Mr. Buffett will join Mr. and Mrs. Gates as a trustee of their foundation.
The immense size of the assets at the disposal of the Gates Foundation as a result of the partnership is apparent when compared with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, which had a budget of $610 million for 2004-05. The Gates Foundation made $1.36 billion in grant payments in 2005; at a minimum, Mr. Buffett's contribution may eventually allow the foundation to more than double that amount annually once he transfers all of his stock.
Mr. Buffett's contribution will not be made all at once, but rather in smaller annual increments. Moreover, the distribution could change in an as-yet unspecified way if Mr. Buffett dies before the entire sum is paid. The terms of the donation also require the continued active participation of at least one of the Gateses for the payments to continue.
The genius of this is that it will save millions in administrative costs compared to setting up his own foundation. Most wealthy men don't have the lack of ego to pool their money in this way.
posted by Steve @ 1:44:00 AM
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Sunday, June 25, 2006
World Cup open thread
Overflowing Fan Fests
* Martin Richardson - Sport Interactive journalist
* 24 Jun 06, 07:53 PM
LEIPZIG - As Fletch and I approached Leipzig city centre via tram this afternoon we thought it unusually quiet, assuming tonight's game here between two American teams was not accompanied by many travelling fans.
That illusion was soon shattered as the Hauptbahnhof honed into view - thousands of fans were spilling out of the main station and into the city's pedestrian district.
There were many wearing the light blue and white of Argentina, many more wearing the green and sombreros of Mexico, but today Leipzig was painted black, red and gold.
The German's enthusiasm for the tournament has steadily grown since their opening win over Costa Rica.
They had waited so long for it to roll around and doubts surrounded Juergen Klinsmann's team's capabilitiy.
All the aprehension and doubt is now gone and following the World Cup is now national obsession number one.
The newspapers are overflowing with stories about the tournament and the bars are overflowing with fans trying to catch a glimpse of the games.
A feature of the tournament, and something which has been praised to the hilt, is the host's willingness to invite ticketless fans to come along and enjoy the football on a big screen in the centre of almost every town of any size.
Today, Leipzig's Augustusplatz had to be closed more than an hour before the start of Germany v Sweden due to overcrowding.
Thousands were crammed in, in front of two massive screens and a stage with live music and cheerleaders going through their routines.
Thousands more were left outside, unable to see the screens due to some strategically placed trees and monuments, with police trying to direct them, in three languages, to a stadium 20 minutes out of town with it's own big screen.
Our experience of the Fan Fests has varied, from seeing only half a screen in Dortmund to partying the night away with the Dutch in Stuttgart - but it seems they are very much the place to be.
After trying to persuade the staff at the hotel opposite to let us on their roof, or at least up to a higher floor so we could shoot some video, we were lucky enough to stumble across the local press club.
After a quick flash of Fletch's accreditation, and a quick bluff from myself, we were on a balcony overlooking the Fan Fest.
Mind you we weren't the only ones.
It seemed every press man from around the region had targetted this terrace and was enjoying a free bottle of beer in the sun - well you would, wouldn't you?
It's my first experience 'behind the scenes' in Germany, so I felt perfectly justified enjoying the game as much as the locals.
The streets are still packed with celebrating Germans, and hopeful Mexicans, all singing the same refrain: "Berlin, Berlin, we're going to Berlin!"
That's true enough, for a quarter-final against this evening's winners, but I'll have more on their aspirations tomorrow.
posted by Steve @ 12:48:00 PM
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About organizing
Si, Commandante, what are your
orders?
It's a funny thing. First, TNR, now Newsweek and David Brooks, all claiming that Daily Kos is the control center of the left blogosphere and we all follow his orders.
I've never seen such a bunch of mindless bullshit in my life, not even when Yankee fans discussed Billy Martin.
Then there was shock that there was an actual mail list used by people to organize.
Holy shit, katy bar the door, the lefties are organizing, we have to express astonishment.
OK, let me explain:
Townhouse was created by Matt Stoller based on the same drinking watching sessions held in a DC bar. Since I've known and worked with him for two years, I was one of the original members. It quickly expanded to include a group of left activists and bloggers from various thinktanks, the Hill and blogs like this one.
Since Matt has requested the specifics remain confidential, I won't go into great detail, but the idea of the mail list was to discuss ideas, send around notices and do basic organizing. Nothing nefarious.
What TNR got so incredibly wrong is that Kos was both latecomer, he's no longer on the list, and a very minor participant. It is Stoller's list, he's the driving force behind it. Kos commented rarely, Atrios is a much more frequent participant.
This idea that Kos is some kind of driving force for the blogs is just wrong. DK has some influence on electoral politics, but that's it. And most of that comes from the diaries.
By focusing on one man, they miss the point. Eschaton has nearly as many readers and is directly written by Atrios. Juan Cole dominates Iraq discussions. Josh Marshall does a lot of reporting.
But the reason we communicate with each other and organize is simple: it works. Townhouse was kept private because mail lists are private. You simply cannot organize in public. It allows for more accuracy in what we write and a better understanding of issues and campaigns
As to the specific issue regarding Armstrong, Kos simply asked us not to say anything until Jerome could defend himself. It wasn't an order of any sort. Which made sense to me , having written about stock issues, because the SEC doesn't play. Was he touting stocks for money? I guess so. It's not anything which affects me, so I can't say for sure.
Kos can't even order people on his own site around, much less a variety of people on different sites. The idea that he could order people silent is a joke.
As for the pay for play allegations, most border on a tort. First, Armstong never wrote,as far as I know, for Kos. Kos hasn't worked as a consultant in two years. So how does paying Armstong benefit Kos?
This is sloppy reporting on the level of Wen Ho Lee. Charges with no basis in fact. And here's why: Kos is a minority voice on his own blog. One of the charges the NRO dug up was that there was a slant toward Sherrod Brown. Except for one thing, the Paul Hackett partisans were all over the place.
No one recalls the brutal fights over voter fraud in 2004, because it isn't convient.
The idea behind this smear campaign is to scare pols away from Kos and his community organizing. Joe Lieberman is the victim of this, and this scares people.
It also comes from the perception that Kos is leading a bunch of teenagers. Which is silly, most are professionals over 25.
Because organizing and cooperation are powerful tools, and they want the left to remain weak and divided. So when you see this crap, which has nothing to do with this site, except tangentially, we don't endorse candidiates, the reason is to cause fear.
posted by Steve @ 11:50:00 AM
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The taxman throws up a yellow card
Daniel Barry for The New York Times
Jay Skelton is president of the Fairfield United
Soccer Association, which has 45 teams that
travel around the state and beyond.
It's Goalkeeper vs. Bookkeeper as I.R.S. Audits Youth Soccer
By TINA KELLEY
Published: June 25, 2006
FAIRFIELD, Conn., June 22 — Soccer seemed a simpler game when Jay Skelton coached his eldest son's kindergarten team nine years ago. This was before 5-year-olds went to goalie clinics, before teams took two-week trips to Europe, before the world's most popular game consumed his suburban life.
Jay Skelton is president of the Fairfield United Soccer Association, which has 45 teams that travel around the state and beyond.
Today Mr. Skelton is president of his son's league, the Fairfield United Soccer Association, and he presides over a far more complex enterprise. Its 45 elite teams travel across the state and beyond for tournaments, training rigorously with paid college-level coaches. And its budget has boomed, with the group raising $392,000 in dues in 2004, according to tax returns.
The Internal Revenue Service has taken notice.
For the past two years, the association has been grappling with an I.R.S. audit that found the association failed to withhold taxes for a dozen paid coaches and scores of referees in 2003 and 2004. The I.R.S. assessed the association $334,441 in back taxes and fines, an amount Mr. Skelton says will drive the nonprofit league out of business.
The audit, which became public this month and is now under appeal, was not just a rude awakening for the association. It has raised this deeper, almost theological question relevant to many youth sports clubs across the country: Are they growing too fast for their parent managers to keep up?
"We didn't do anything wrong; we're volunteering to help our kids," said Mr. Skelton, a 46-year-old lawyer from Fairfield. "I'm not Joan of Arc, I'm not Rosa Parks; I'm just trying to get through this without losing my mind."
The Fairfield case — which centers on a dispute over whether coaches and referees are employees or, as the league contends, independent contractors — is not the first time the I.R.S. has fined a nonprofit youth sports league. But the penalty is one of the largest, and it has sent worried sports officials from Connecticut and other states scrambling to review the finer points of the tax code.
"A lot of clubs are going through the same type of audit situations, and they're watching our case to see how it turns out," Mr. Skelton said.
Indeed, youth sports clubs, literally once mom-and-pop operations, have grown so large and sophisticated that they now require payrolls, registrars and 1099 forms. Some boards have hired accountants and lawyers. United States Youth Soccer, a nonprofit umbrella group, even offered a seminar on the use of independent contractors at its national convention in Houston in February, run by an I.R.S. representative.
Soccer may have run afoul of the I.R.S. partly because of its immense growth, from a pickup sport 30 years ago to a national phenomenon today, as judged by the avid interest in the World Cup this month.
In 1974, United States Youth Soccer counted 100,000 players; today it says there are over 3 million. Fairfield United, which had 350 players a decade ago, today has 800. And while many of its coaches were parent volunteers back then, today it pays $2,500 a season to 25 skills coaches.
posted by Steve @ 1:33:00 AM
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You know, this might be a good argument...........except that it isn't
Oprah doesn't like you.
Rappers Aren't Feeling Oprah's Love
By Yvonne Bynoe, AlterNet. Posted June 21, 2006.
Oprah has refused to bring Ice Cube and Ludacris on her show. But it's not their music she hates -- it's their message of contempt for black women.
Ludacris was the first rapper to complain about Oprah. In the May 2006 issue of GQ, he said that Oprah only grudgingly invited him to her show because of his role in the Oscar-winning film "Crash." Ludacris called Oprah "unfair" and said that she edited his comments and lectured him about his music.
Then 50 Cent -- the infamous crack dealer turned rap artist -- joined the fray, telling the Associated Press that Oprah rarely invites rap artists on her show. Revealing his disdain for what he characterized as Oprah's older, female, and primarily white audience, he said, "[I] couldn't care less about Oprah or her show."
And now Ice Cube, the former frontman for controversial rap group N.W.A, has expressed his displeasure with Oprah. He told FHM magazine that he's been involved with three projects that were pitched to Oprah but has yet to receive an invite. "Maybe Oprah's got a problem with hip hop," Ice Cube said.
But contrary to what Ludacris, 50 Cent and Ice Cube have implied, Oprah has had rap artists on her show, but her tastes lean more toward John Legend and Alicia Keys than to Lil Wayne and Trina. To promote the film "Barbershop," Oprah invited rapper-actress Eve and comedian Cederic the Entertainer. Sean "P-Diddy" Combs was on before he ran the New York City marathon to raise money for local public schools. Incendiary rap artist-producer Kanye West, whose religious anthem "Jesus Walks" stirred up controversy among church folks, has also appeared on her show. Queen Latifah and LL Cool J have sat on Oprah's stage. More importantly, rap artist-producer Missy Elliott and "queen of hip hop" Mary J. Blige were both part of Oprah's Legends Weekend celebrating accomplished black women.
Earlier this month Oprah responded to her critics, explaining to MTV: "I respect other people's rights to do whatever they want to do in music and art. ... I don't want to be marginalized by music or any form of art. ... I feel rap is a form of expression, as is jazz. I'm not opposed to rap. I'm opposed to being marginalized as a woman."
In case Oprah's comments need some decoding, what she's saying is she believes rap artists should be free to record songs that call women "bitches" and "hos," and she should be equally free not to invite them on her show. Oprah does not have a problem with rap music -- she has a problem with rap that degrades women.
There's a particular arrogance that permeates Ludacris, 50 Cent and Ice Cube's statements, as if Oprah owes them a spot on her show. It's Oprah who has issues by refusing to celebrate black men who've made millions by demeaning black women?
If songs such as Ludacris' "Move Bitch" or NWA's "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" are not Oprah's cup of tea, then why should she be obligated to give them a platform? It doesn't seem to occur to these black men (or their supporters) that Oprah has the right not to use her show -- which is seen by 21 million viewers a week in 105 countries -- to promote performers whose work she feels is misogynistic or offensive. Oprah may not be kicking any black feminist credentials, but rather than blindly using her influence to "help the brothers," she is choosing not to support black entertainers whose work denies the humanity of black women.
.........................
In his FHM interview, Ice Cube claims he deserves an invite to Oprah's show because of his "rags-to-riches story." Sure, Ice Cube has made millions -- but his success was founded on songs like NWA's "One Less Bitch," and the extremely raunchy "Giving Up the Nappy Dugout" (a solo release).
What Ice Cube fails to understand is that Oprah herself is the prototype for the "rags to riches" stories she highlights on her show; her life has been much more dramatic than those of many rap artists. She grew up dirt-poor in rural Mississippi to unwed parents. At age 9 -- and repeatedly thereafter -- she was sexually abused by a relative. She endured years of bad relationships, drug addictions, weight problems, and a career-changing demotion that moved her from her news anchor seat to co-hosting a morning talk show.
Oprah credits her fortune to education and faith; her shows reflect her strong belief in self-transformation. For over 20 years, Oprah has featured "success" stories on her show. Most of these have been women who became influential through perseverance and creativity, as well as people who have overcome adversity, tragedy or abuse to create richer lives for themselves, their families or communities. For Oprah, success is not predicated on amassing large sums of money; it is based on the contribution a person makes to improving his or her world.
Oprah has her detractors, mainly because she uses her show to promote the subjects she cares about. Implicit in all of the criticism from rap artists is the idea that because Oprah is black, she is expected to push every black entertainer's latest film or album, regardless of her opinion. The underlying sentiment is that if she is unwilling to set aside her values, then she can't be down for black people.
This position assumes that what is good for black entertainers is good for all black folks -- a highly arguable notion. There are many media outlets that expose U.S. rap artists to the global marketplace. But Oprah is virtually alone in her ability, through her selection of guests, to provide the world with a broader view of black Americans and their achievements. For black women, who are so commonly equated with the stereotypes of half-naked, gyrating women found in rap music videos, an opposing portrayal is welcome.
If the brothers feel they need more media visibility, they should use their millions to finance their own talk shows, instead of jocking Oprah Winfrey.
I'm sorry but this is bullshit.
All the little lemmings on Alternet chiming in make me laugh. Because this ain't about rappers, but black men.
Ask yourself a simple question: how many prominent black men appear on Oprah period. Who did Oprah launch into stardom? Tavis Smiley? Carlos Watson?
Nope, Dr. Phil McGraw, a balding middle aged jury consultant. White as a football coach.
Does Oprah have on successful black businessmen like the heads of Time Warner and Amex? Aaron McGruder? Not that I can remember. Cornell West? Skip Gates? Only rarely. Al Sharpton, TD Jakes? Please.
Oh, she'll have on someone safe like Chris Rock or Terence Howard, people she can't ignore, but I am pissing my pants with laughter when she says she objects to rappers. Because that's just the start of black men she doesn't have on her show.
If I was Ludacris, I'd have suggested to Oprah that she save her mysoginy lecture for Alice Walker. After all, the Color Purple, now on Broadway, is a monument to demeaning black men.
I've seen some black men on Oprah recently. Her most famous guest of the last year was JD King, who wrote about being on the down low. Did she have an openly gay black man to refute that? No. She let him prattle on for an hour without being challenged. And the fall out has been serious, ask Michael Strayhan about that. Any black, male friendship is now potentially a homosexual one, and that came from one Oprah show.
Then there were the cheating husbands and the ones going broke. But positive black men are few and far between. She rarely shows them as responsible fathers and parents. Even when it comes to actors, she'll drool over Matt Damon, but the idea that Dennis Haysbert played the president for four years on 24 never seemed like a topic worthy of discussion. Tom Cruise can insult women on her stage and he gets a pass.
Ice Cube, who is a successful actor and married father , well, he doesn't make the cut.
Oprah has little to say about black men, unless they screw up.
So this idea that she doesn't like the lyrics of albums? Please. She doesn't like a lot of things a lot of successful black men do, isn't interested in mentoring them, and isn't really interested in having them on her show.
Ice Cube and friends are talking around the argument. Sure, you can argue mysoginy all day long. But what about Alice Walker and Terry McMillian, who dragged her gay ex-husband to be humiliated on Oprah.
When has Oprah ever had a male black author on to be lavished with the love and attention given James Frey. Who was revealed to be both junkie and liar. Has she ever defedned a black man with such passion?
So let's stop talking about rappers. Because I don't see a lot of other black men on there either.
posted by Steve @ 12:51:00 AM
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About that peace plan
NO
Key insurgents vow to reject Iraq peace plan
Ali Rifat and Hala Jaber, Baghdad
IRAQ’S main insurgent groups intend to reject a peace plan that Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, will present today in an attempt to halt the country’s spiral of violence.
Maliki is expected to go before parliament with a 28- point plan for national reconciliation aimed at defusing the Sunni insurgency and sectarian conflict in which thousands of people have died.
The prime minister is believed to be ready to offer the Iraqi insurgent groups inclusion in the political process and an amnesty for prisoners who renounce violence and give up their weapons.
His package of measures is also reported to include the promise of a United Nations- approved timetable for withdrawing the coalition forces and action to curb Shi’ite death squads.
Representatives of 11 Iraqi insurgent groups told The Sunday Times yesterday that they would reject the peace offer because they did not recognise the legitimacy of the government.
A senior commander authorised to speak on behalf of other groups warned that they would continue to fight. “As long as there is an occupation and an illegitimate government, the resistance and insurgency will continue,” he said.
Maliki’s plan follows talks involving Jalal al-Talabani, the president, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, and seven Sunni insurgent groups.
However, the groups that have taken part in the negotiations are understood to be relatively small. Those rejecting the peace offer include larger organisations such as the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of Ansar al-Sunna.
These bodies have drawn up a separate set of demands. They want a more rapid withdrawal of foreign troops, the release of all prisoners from American and Iraqi jails and compensation from the United States and other coalition countries to fund the rebuilding of infrastructure and homes destroyed in the war.
The 11 groups have indicated that any future talks should be conducted with American officials under UN or Arab League supervision, but not with the Iraqi government.
posted by Steve @ 12:12:00 AM
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What will Tancredo do?
REUTERS/Mario Castillo (MEXICO)
Sit on my finger Tancredo
Mexican standoff as firebrand of left edges ahead in polls
Ronald Buchanan, Mexico City
WEALTHY Mexicans are nervous that next Sunday’s presidential election will be won by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist who proclaims himself a champion of the poor and whose supporters dress as cockerels. They are equally nervous about what might happen if Lopez Obrador loses.
After a hard-fought race against Felipe Calderon, his main conservative rival, Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, enters the final week of campaigning with a two-point opinion poll lead.
The closeness of the campaign and the passions it has aroused have raised the spectre of an inconclusive result that could lead to paralysis if Lopez Obrador claims he is being cheated of victory.
The threats of mass demonstrations and court challenges are complicating the outlook for the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country.
Concerned that delays in the counting process might inflame accusations of fraud, the local election commission promised last week to announce the result within hours of the polls closing. One aide to Lopez Obrador forecast that the candidate would not call on his supporters to “shut down offices, cause chaos or problems” if Calderon emerges the winner: “We will go to the courts instead.”
Yet all the evidence suggests that Mexico is split down the middle about the charismatic 52-year-old candidate whose critics have likened him to Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president who is attempting to build an anti-US alliance across Latin America.
With the tropical sun beating down last week Lopez Obrador appeared at a raucous rally in Salina Cruz, southern Mexico, wearing a straw hat and a garland of flowers. Shrugging off criticism from President Vicente Fox, who has described him as a “dangerous populist”, the man universally known by his initials, Amlo, brought the house down with a sharp riposte: “I say to Fox: shut up, chachalaca.”
.....................
If he wins, the US right deserves a lot of credit
posted by Steve @ 12:10:00 AM
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Perv a boo
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Sara Payne, who rides the No. 1 train to work in the
Bronx, says she has been flashed
Women Have Seen It All on Subway, Unwillingly
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: June 24, 2006
It is a hidden reality of the New York City subway system, and perhaps mass transit systems everywhere since the first trolley car took to the tracks. It begins with a pinch or a shove, someone standing too close. But it can be much worse.
This week, as the Police Department announced the arrest of 13 men charged with groping and flashing women in the subways, women around the city nodded. Yes, they said, this had happened to them. Yesterday. Last month. Last fall. Twenty years ago.
"Every girl I know has at least one story," said Barbara Vencebi, 23, a studio photographer standing outside the No. 6 train station at 116th Street in East Harlem yesterday.
It is a crime abetted by the peculiar landscape of the underworld that is the subway system, by the anonymity of a crowded car where everybody is avoiding eye contact. And by the opportunity for a quick escape at the next stop, to disappear behind a pillar, into a tunnel, up an escalator.
An impromptu survey of riders during the morning rush yesterday found that, for many women who have experienced it, the worst part of the crime is the sense of helplessness. What is the right way to react to a humiliating, but not life-threatening, situation? Should you announce to an entire car of strangers that you have just been violated?
Most of the time, the women said, they seethe inwardly but say nothing.
"I looked back and I couldn't do anything because a lot of people were behind me," said Suany Baca, 32, a waitress who was going up the stairs at 86th Street in the No. 6 train station last November, when she was groped by a man who passed her going down.
"I pretended like it didn't happen," she said. "I don't know what they get out of it."
Those who single out women on the subways do not care about race, if yesterday's interviews were any indication — black, Asian, Hispanic and white women all had stories to tell. But they do seem to discriminate by age.
Most of the women who reported recent incidents were in their 20's and younger. But the experience, women said, is so universal, and so scarring, that they continue to feel paranoid and to put on their body armor — the big bag, the bad face — no matter how old they get.
Women know the drill. Just as some men reflexively check to see if they have their wallets on a crowded train, women check their bodies.
Pull in your backside and your front. Wedge a large bag for protection between yourself and the nearest anonymous male rider, who might, just might, be planning something. Put on your fiercest face, and brace yourself for contact that seems too deliberate to be accidental, too prolonged to be random.
And not just in New York. Mexico City and Tokyo have reacted to subway gropers by instituting all-female subway cars. But as one New York woman said yesterday, wouldn't that make a nice target?
The crackdown in New York followed a number of highly publicized cases in which women helped the police arrest flashers by snapping pictures of them with their cellphone cameras.
Some women said yesterday that they did not expect the police effort — 13 suspected gropers and flashers were arrested over 36 hours last month — to make a big dent in the problem. But, they added, it was a start.
posted by Steve @ 12:09:00 AM
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Blogs are not easy targets
 He got served
You Got Served: BlogNYC Retains Legal Counsel to Defend Its Right to Free Speech and Squash the Frivolous Lawsuit Filed by Stephanie Adams
by James Poling
It's both a sad and happy day here at BlogNYC. My official reign of pretending to be my own lawyer has officially come to an end. My parents were so proud of my time as my own fake attorney. Alas, I have passed on the baton to a real attorney, One Mr. Neal Johnston of Johnston & Johnston LLP.
Here is the official BlogNYC response to Martin Siegel from the official attorney of BlogNYC (btw, that picture above is of me personally serving Martin Siegel with our response):
Martin S. Siegel, Esq.
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP
7 Times Square
New York, NY 10036
RE: Adams V. Poling
Dear Mr. Siegel:
I enclose a Notice of Appearance in connection with the above litigation. Please get me the Complaint as soon as you can.
In your letter to Mr. Poling you state that if he should fail to accept receipt of your email "summons" you "would have no choice but to ask [your] process server to serve [him] personally."
That statement is not exactly true. You have a number of other choices. You could serve him by mail, CPLR §312-a. You could whistle Dixie. Or you could swallow the $210 cost of the Index Number and turn your attention to something of slightly greater relevance to some issue of substantive justice.
I'm quite serious about the latter point. If you actually do come up with a complaint, I suspect it will be the most embarrasing single document to come out of Brown Rudnick this year - and the year is no longer young. I am reasonably confident that your firm will wind up looking considerably more foolish than does your client, and, unlike your client, you will not have the excuse of not knowing any better.
Sincerely yours,
Neal Johnston
Mr Johnston has taken pity on us and taken on our case pro bono and has been very supportive. There are however certain costs that we will have to come up with so don't be afraid to throw a few bucks in the defense fund to help us defend our right to free speech. And just in case Mr. Johnston needs any help, which I doubt, there are a few lawyers chomping at the bits to take on this case for free who have all said they more than willing to out in any way they can.
Basically, they're being sued for posting up on someone who didn't want to be posted on and is litigious.
Which is a hazard of writing.
The problem for the ligitious plantiff is that first amendment torts are difficult, if not impossible to prove in court. They would have to prove a malicious untruth behind the comments they made.
So many people think they can shut bloggers up by threatening legal action, but the First Amendment Bar loves these cases. They can quickly turn into protracted battles because the bloggers can and will fight. They can reach people around the world.
What the lawyer should have told his plantiff is that there is little chance of this going to trial and there may be risk of legal action against here on the respondents part.
Libel law doesn't stop at the internet.
posted by Steve @ 12:08:00 AM
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Uh, stick to the facts
Sen Robert Menendez
New Jersey Senator's Rival Faults Him in 80's Corruption Case, but History Disagrees
By JIM DWYER
Published: June 25, 2006
A few days into the campaign for United States Senate in New Jersey, the Republican candidate, Thomas H. Kean Jr., called a news conference in Newark to declare that the integrity of his opponent, Robert Menendez, was a nail he would hammer.
For starters, he scoffed at a claim of early civic virtue by Mr. Menendez, the current senator and the Democratic nominee.
In particular, Mr. Kean said that Mr. Menendez had distorted his own role in the political corruption of Union City, the Hudson County community where Mr. Menendez came to public life 30 years ago as a protégé of an old-fashioned political boss, William V. Musto.
Mr. Kean said that while Mr. Menendez now poses as a brave truth teller who helped topple a regime of political crooks, he had actually issued $2 million in public money to a corrupt contractor "as part of a massive illegal kickback scheme." Had Mr. Menendez not cooperated with prosecutors, aides to Mr. Kean said, he might have gone to jail himself.
To a depth unusual for events that are decades old, the Kean campaign's accusations can be measured against a robust historical record — including F.B.I. tapes and volumes of trial testimony — of a roiling human and legal drama between 1978 and 1982 in Union City.
The Kean accusations find no support in those records or from independent authorities of that era.
The four former federal prosecutors who prosecuted senior Union City officials say that, in fact, Mr. Menendez did nothing wrong and much that was right under difficult circumstances.
"It's a sad commentary that Menendez's role in the trial is being used against him," said Samuel Rosenthal, one of the prosecutors, "when it was certainly an act of courage for him to testify against the entire city government, as well as an influential state senator, and people who are accused of being members of organized crime."
Mr. Kean's aides say they continue to see in Mr. Menendez's conduct today echoes of the gamy political culture of Union City in his early years. A film about Mr. Menendez is being made with guidance from a Kean campaign contractor; that contractor, without disclosing his affiliation or the nature of the project, asked for help from this reporter, who covered Union City 26 years ago.
From the public records, Mr. Menendez emerges as a young man who plainly thrived from his first moments in public life, thanks to the backing of a political machine; just as plainly, the full record shows that he helped thwart a group of politicians and organized crime figures who ran that machine and were looting public funds.
That process brought down Mr. Musto, the mentor and surrogate father whom Mr. Menendez publicly beseeched to abandon his corrupt associates. He ended up going to federal prison. So did six other people, all of them convicted of racketeering in one of the longest criminal trials in New Jersey's history.
The fact is that Tom Kean should be ashamed of himself. He knows Bob Menendez wasn't a crook in the 80's and to pretend otherwise is wrong.
Jim Dwyer covered North Jersey earlier in his career. I covered the same towns in the mid-1980's. I can say that Menendez was not a crook, considering the number of people who went to jail in that period and after, if Bob Menendez was a crook, his ass would be in jail. Everyone else went. The county leader, mayors, school board officials. All crooks, all jailed.
Let me put it this way, if Menendez was a private citizen, Tom Kean would be facing a libel suit. North Jersey politics is no joke, it's rough and tumble. It's the Sopranos without the guns. To survive that without an indictment is amazing. You can't be cutting corners, because they all go to jail.
To say he was taking kickbacks without proof is disgusting. And there is no proof, only the opposite.
posted by Steve @ 12:02:00 AM
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Saturday, June 24, 2006
About e-mails.
Time to fight boys
In the ongoing pigfight between the blogs and the New Republic, Glenn Greenwald wrote the following post
Does The New Republic have a new Stephen Glass in Jason Zengerle?
Over the last few days, Jason Zengerle of The New Republic has been engaged in a bizarre crusade to depict "liberal bloggers" as a bunch of mindless, obedient zombies who take orders about what to write from Markos Moulitsas, all in order to ensure that they can continue to enjoy the great financial wealth lavished upon them by virtue of their participation in the "Advertise Liberally" network, which Markos founded but does not operate. To prove this "point," Zengerle published what he purported to be various e-mails regarding recent accusations against Jerome Armstrong, which Zengerle claimed were sent to the "Townhouse" Google group -- comprised of 300 or so journalists, political operatives, bloggers, advocacy organizations, and others designed to facilitate communication between these usually isolated groups. To the extent the "substance" of Zengerle's accusations are worth responding to, Ezra Klein and Max Sawicky (among many) have done so quite thoroughly, respectively here and here.
But in spinning his laughable conspiracy, Zengerle published -- based on what Zengerle said was "three sources" -- what appears to be a completely fabricated e-mail, which Zengerle falsely claimed was sent to the "Townhouse" list by blogger Steve Gilliard. Yesterday, Zengerle wrote:
At the risk of engendering more charges that I'm violating the off-the-record nature of "Townhouse" (which, by the way, I'm not, since I am not a member of "Townhouse" and therefore am not bound by any off-the-record agreements, in the same way that any reporter who's leaked "confidential" documents is not bound to protect their confidentiality), let me reprint some of the e-mails that were going to the "Townhouse" list, according to three sources, before Kos sent out the e-mail I quoted in my original post on this topic. . . .
Also on the same day [June 18], the blogger Steve Gilliard wrote to the "Townhouse" list:
I dont see how this can be ignored. We should all write in defense of this once we know the facts. Jerome?
That e-mail is completely fictitious. Gilliard never sent any such thing to the Townhouse list, nor did anyone else do so. Nor, according to Gilliard, did he ever write any such e-mail at all, to Townhouse or anyone else. Zengerle caused The New Republic to print a completely fabricated e-mail and then falsely attribute it as one Gilliard sent to the Townhouse list. How and why did that happen?
Only problem: I have no record of sending such an e-mail to the Townhouse list, Kos, Armstrong, who did not participate in any of the discussions, or anyone else. I didn't send any e-mail with that phrase at all. There's a similar phrase sent to Hubris Sonic a month before on an entirely different topic, and the Greenwald e-mail
To be fair, I told Glenn I disagreed with the characterization of it being false, because I may have express some kind of sentiment close to that. The issue to me is not that Zengerle created it out of whole cloth, but if he got it from a source that he was too lazy and sloppy to confirm it with me. Let me be clear, I didn't deny writing the e-mail. I said that I had no record of writing such an e-mail with that phrase, to the list on that day.
I told Zengerle the same thing and that he needs to provide the provenance of the e-mail so I can confirm or deny it. If it turns out I didn't write those words, I'm going to write Franklin Foer, the editor of the New Republic and demand a retraction and an apology.
I write thousands of words a day between e-mails, IM, posts and comments. It is easy to lose a phrase or e-mail in that, which I why I can't call it a fabrication. It may be taken from another e-mail, or a post, but I cannot find those words in my mailbox
This means he needs to provide me with the entire e-mail in context.
Now, I could have claimed to have not written it, and then say I forgot if it came up, but I'm not going to play that way. I was taught journalistic ethics at NYU, and I still practice them. I told Zengerle I couldn't find the words, and that Greenwald had a piece up, because I'm not going to sandbag anyone, I'm not going to make shit up and I'm not going to leave anyone unable to respond. Greenwald is unable to post now, so I may not hear from him until tomorrow
Why? Because unlike the New Republic, I'm not going to take cheap shots. I can treat them fairly, ethically and responsibly because that's what I have always done.
Zengerle sent me a list of questions, which I will answer publicly when this is resolved. After all, with a massive breach of journalism ethics in the air, I need a resolution before answering any of his questions.
But even if Greenwald goes farther than I would, the question remains why didn't Zengerle do any interviews for his pieces. Why didn't he extend the basic journalism courtesy of asking if these were my words and if they were sending to the Townhouse list? I mean that's basic shit, Reporting I stuff.
The whole TNR jihad has bordered on reckless. Accusations based on e-mails and assumptions, not even the courtesy of an interview or even an e-mail, all to prove that the left blogs are Kos's slaves.
I don't think anyone at TNR has met Kos. Because if they did, they would probably like him. Yeah, he has his politics, but on a personal level, he's a really sweet, considerate guy. He was at the DMI benefit being honored last night, which Jen and I and a bunch of other bloggers attended. We were filled with booze and tiny bits of food. But Kos was gracious, funny, and especially nice to Jen.
If you wanted someone to give orders, he's not the guy. He's much quieter than Matt Stoller, Big Media Matt, Tom Mazzie, Chris Bowers or a bunch of other people I've met. He can make a case, but he's not bullying anyone. And the traditional media makes a massive mistake in trying to turn him into some kind of villain. He's a freaking vegan, I mean, that's a pretty hefty set of ethics to live by. The idea of him being on the make is a joke, a cheap attack.
Now, some people may wonder why I didn't hammer Zengerle up and down the blog and call him a bald faced liar.
Let me explain something: presenting something false as something real and attributed to a person is a firing offense. This is not a game, if he was misled by a source; he deserves the chance to prove it. If he just pulled it out of his ass, I expect Frank Foer to fire him
Because this would be the third major breach of ethics for TNR. Before I lead a charge to ruin a life, I need evidence I was done a wrong, and I can't say that exists yet. It may not. It may.
But as of now, I can't say either way.
That doesn't mean I am not appalled at the sloppy, underhanded and unprofessional way this was handled. If you are going to accuse people of being corrupt, they need a chance to respond. If you're going to quote me, and imply something, you need to ask me what I meant. This all could and should have been done.
And it wasn't.
posted by Steve @ 5:03:00 AM
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World Cup Open thread: rise of the Socceroos
Kewell and Tim Cahill are two of Australia's
brightest stars
Football on top Down Under
By Julian Shea
Australia fans celebrate
The issue of republicanism may have divided Australia in recent years, but on Thursday night the country hailed a new king.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard dubbed Harry Kewell "King Harry" after his equalising goal in their 2-2 draw with Croatia, and few people in Australia would have disagreed.
The sight of Howard watching football in the early hours of the morning and jumping out of his chair with excitement summed up how Australia has fallen in love with football. And things may never be the same again.
For years, football was the poor relation in the sports-mad country.
Despite a steady stream of talented individuals, fate seemed to conspire against the Socceroos, with just one appearance at the World Cup finals - in 1974 in West Germany - to show for years of effort.
Former Liverpool striker Craig Johnston was one of those voices in the footballing wilderness, so he is relishing seeing football finally take centre stage.
"The World Cup has completely galvanised Australian society," he told BBC Sport.
"There was always a great prejudice against soccer when I grew up.
"You were made to feel you were playing an immigrant game, but now all those years of hurt have been swept away because the other sports can't match the global nature of football.
"We've waited 32 years to qualify. It's been a long wait by what we call the Soccer Tragics - of which I'm one."
In the 1980s Johnston played in England for Middlesbrough and Liverpool and remains the only Australian to have scored in an FA Cup final, as Liverpool beat Everton 3-1 in 1986.
He was a standard bearer for Australian football in an era when Australian Rules Football, the two rugby codes and cricket were dominant back home.
But Johnston says Australia's success at the World Cup has changed all that - and the other sports are worried.
"The other codes have always been terrified of Australia having a good World Cup," he said.
"That would mean the sport having Australian heroes for kids to look up to."
posted by Steve @ 2:02:00 AM
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The GOP and Satan, together forever
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Karl is my best employee
St. Petersburg ‘Times’: Best Newspaper in America
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Compiled from Times wires
Published June 23, 2006
At a joint press conference today in Washington, White House adviser Karl Rove said that he would be plotting the Republican Party’s fall election strategy with his longtime comrade-in-arms, Satan.
The Prince of Darkness, wearing his traditional red horns and cape and carrying a smoldering pitchfork, appeared to beam as Mr. Rove, his protege, talked about how much he was looking forward to working with him on the fall campaign.
“Every time Satan and I get together, good things happen,” Rove said, adding, “Or should I say - bad things happen!”
The two of them then dissolved in laughter, demonstrating an easy collegiality that has made them an unbeatable team in past GOP campaigns.
Satan’s partnership with Rove goes back to 1994, when the two of them teamed up to orchestrate George W. Bush’s first election as governor.
But their work together reached its apogee, perhaps, during the 2004 presidential election, in which Rove and Satan devised the infernal “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” campaign.
While Satan let Rove have most of the spotlight in the hour-long press conference, he did take the microphone to say that he had been “relieved” recently when the White House advisor was cleared of all charges in the CIA leak investigation.
“I can’t imagine running a Republican campaign without my buddy here,” he said, giving Rove a bear hug. “There are plenty of Satans out there, but there’s only one Karl Rove.”
Elsewhere, Dan Rather retired from CBS after 44 years there but said that he would remain active in news and misinformation.
posted by Steve @ 1:58:00 AM
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Jesus's spyware
Killing infidels? I want a copy
Evangelical apocalyptic schlockfest 'snoops' on gamers
Spyware Revelations
By Chris Williams
Published Friday 23rd June 2006 13:56 GMT
Watchers of right-wing Christian groups in the States say a new apocalyptic videogame released by cultish Revelations-based fiction series Left Behind is riddled with spyware.
Developers have incorporated software from an Israeli firm called Double Fusion. It incorporates video advertising and product placement into the game, and reportedly records players' behaviour, location, and other data to be uploaded to Left Behind's Bible-powered marketing machine.
Aimed at 13 to 34-year-old males, Left Behind: Eternal Forces casts the player as a director of God's Earthly militia, left behind in the Rapture to roam the streets of New York, battling Satan's minions and shooting unbelievers.
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One reviewer noted: "The only way to accomplish anything positive in the game is to 'convert' nonbelievers into faithful believers, and the only alternative to this is outright killing them
Like they don't deserve this. You play hate, you get spyware.
posted by Steve @ 1:55:00 AM
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