Billie’s Quickies … If a particular one of these quickies catches on, we’re all gonna catch the stupid

I have this odd obsession with pinhole cameras, tho I’ve yet to build one.

• Someone who will do the work of finding the best breadmaker …. priceless.
• The freedom to criticizeis another great part of being an American.  The will not to sometimes is an art.
• Well, if this catches on, we’re all gonna catch the stupid: “ A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren’t. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded–permanently.”
• An awesome list of foods chefs hate. I can agree with this sentiment: “Another thing that I just can not warm up to is sweet pickles. To me it seems like a contradiction. When I bite into a crunchy pickle, I expect it to be sour.”
• The truth about baby carrots … you’re gonna be shocked!  Shocked I say!
• Truth spoken by Tommy: “Journalism isn’t about what we know, it is about what we can verify. Attribution isn’t just some rubber stamp that we seek, mindlessly, in order to get something published. It allows readers to judge the credibility of the information offered.”
• Classic: “I am a former Republican. And I wasn’t merely the libertarian, live-and-let-live, fun-at-parties kind of conservative whose primary concern is balancing the budget; I was a spiteful, narrow-minded, fire-breathing paranoid lunatic who questioned the patriotism and morality of my liberal fellow citizens. Recognizing the error of my ways has done wonders for my mental health but left me with constant, unremitting remorse; I really want to go back in time and kick my own ass.”
• Agreed: “President Obama’s promise to close Guantánamo was an important commitment that must be honored, and quickly. But it will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture if we continue its shameful policies elsewhere. We can’t go back in time and stop the tragedy of Guantánamo from happening. We can, however, stop it from happening again.”
• Lovely and sad story: “The clock with no hands: Because normal time seems suspended in a health emergency.  The nurse at a computer with the dark screen: Because records aren’t shared with patients.  The doctor with her hands tied: Because one part of the health care system doesn’t communicate with others.  Regina Holliday is looking for new walls to paint, but not now. The cold makes the paint too brittle. In the springtime, she’ll take out her colors again.  Maybe by then, there will be health care change signed into law. But there will still be stories to tell. “
• Well, here’s a thought I can certainly agree with: “After the heavily publicized spinach recall in 2006 because of E. Coli, food safety experts have a special place in their hearts for leafy greens.  Slashfood thinks: Just wash your salad!  And, there’s more.

Billie’s Quickies … Physics, Feminism, and Imprisonment

Sometimes my quickies link to oldish news, but just such as the first quickie, the sentiment stands the test of time, or the thing is just too neat not to repeat.

• I totally agree with this sentiment, and am sad I have posted it so late – “If I were Robert Gibbs, I would open EVERY SINGLE press briefing, from here on out, with a five minute daily athletic/gender report, detailing what activities Obama took part in and what the male-female make-up was. And then I would deliver, daily, right there in the press briefing, a stack of signed affidavits from Hillary, Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius, and every other major female in the White House, stating that they were asked if they wanted to work out with Obama and Reggie Love this morning but they declined.”
• “Greatest Physics Class Ever? “
• Sound familiar? “A startling petition arrived at the New York City Bar Association in October 2008, signed by 100 men, all locked up without criminal charges in the middle of Manhattan. “ Deplorable.  Mr. President, please release those held by the Federal Government without charge.  New York, get it together.
• I can really never understand why people heckle comedians.
• OH.MY.GOD. The internets could run out of addresses because users can’t figure out how to write http://www.somedumbasswebsite.us or http://www.youvegot2bkidding.ca.  Pfft.
• Yes please!  “What do you think is missing in hip-hop today?  KRS ONE: “I am not just saying this because you [a woman] are asking the question, this is my real answer: More women. More women. Not just emcees or b-girls, but women taking control of hip-hop. Let me be culturally-specific- hip-hop’s women should teach hip-hop’s men how to speak to them. Because when we learn how to speak to you, we can learn how to speak to the whole business world. It’s not just about respecting you…it is…but it’s deeper than just respecting another human being. Everytime you degrade a person, you degrade yourself, because you are standing next to that person. You can’t diss a person, and not diss yourself…I should say ’she’s a queen.’ And what does that make me? A king. So now at the end of the day, what’s missing in hip-hop? Knowledge of self, that should only come from women.”
• A round up of books that all look worth reading.
• Word! “… it is not empowering for a group of college-age men to tell women what is or is not attractive. It is not helpful for men to point at women and say ‘This one is healthy, that one is not’ … the worst thing I could do is to point to this study and say to all thin women, naturally underweight women, dangerously underweight women, or women with eating disorders, ‘Now, I am the ideal and you are not.’ This is not progress.”
• Well said, well asked, thank you VERY much.“ … why do reporters keep reaching to assign significance to these races, even as they acknowledge it may not be there? Any answer to that question is itself speculative, but here’s one idea: it just makes politics more fun. Much as sports fans create extra meaning for games by seeing every choke or victory in moral terms, political journalists make elections more meaningful by threading them into a broader narrative.”
• I could NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER! “In other words, Coburn is—at least on this point—full of it.”

TBogg is the Boyfriend Keith Olbermann Deserves?

I hate to break it to you, TBogg, but KO is spoken for.

The Firedoglaker is at it again, attacking yours truly in a fit of blind partisan snrage (that’s “snark” and rage”), and once again getting his facts wrong.

The provocation this time was the fact that I pointed out Keith Olbermann’s fingerbang salute to Carrie Prejean. I actually took it pretty easy on KO, of whom I am a big fan. Unfortunately, some liberals require blind idolatry, even when it runs counter to actual liberalism.

I went on to critique the left’s treatment of Prejean, another big no-no in TBogg-land.

First, though, he references the last story he got wrong about me:

When we last saw  Conservative Pet Liberal Tommy Christopher he was getting blog-killed by Big Bunny because he had the blogdacity*  to go “shame shame” over Guy Cimbalo’s hatefuck article/post thingy. As it turned out, pretty much anyone who was familiar with Cimbalao’s article shared Tommy’s opinion, but the timing of AOL’s de-Tommyfying was enough to throw the wingnuts into a frenzy.

Well, they’re always in a frenzy, but it was kismet that day because the Mexicans, Muslims, and Negroes  were  behaving themselves. At least for for a few hours.

Now we see that Tommy has washed up on the shores of the  Mediaite (I don’t know how to pronounce it either) blog which is kinda of like the crackbaby lovechild of Politico and Tiger Beat (”Who’s Hot Who’s Not!” “Win a Dream Date with Dreamylicious Jake Tapper!” etc.).

The “wingnuts” in a frenzy? Right, like The Huffington Post, or Howard Kurtz? He also displays the same class that led him to make fun of special needs children last time, tossing his barbs at crack babies here. Real nice.

He also forgot to check his facts again. I got fired from Politics Daily, asshole. I still work for AOL now, still write about politics for them. AOL offered me a new job the next day.

He also posits that I only defend young, hot, conservative women. You know, like Kevin Jennings or Van Jones. Boing!

True, I was also fortunate enough to land a great gig with Mediaite that permits me to get out of my jammies and into the real world once in a while.

Factual lapses aside, he also goes on to miss the entire point of my post. By attacking Prejean’s tits and masturbatory habits, the left has amplified her importance well beyond what it should be, and made themselves look ugly in the process. Keith Olbermann’s (thankfully non-glistening) fingers may be worth a chuckle to some, but at what price? What average American is going to watch that and say “My, that Keith Olbermann is a clever fellow. Let me probe his views on marriage?”

TBogg says “As to his point that she has been amplified, her book sales (#846) at Amazon tell another story.” I say the problem was never that she was selling books.

Finally, before TBogg tries to accuse someone of being a “Conservative pet liberal,” maybe he should think about elevating his own editorial standards to at least equal Hannity’s. At least he admits he’s “mistaken” when somebody busts him.

Billie’s Quickies … “How degraded, barbaric and depraved a society becomes when it lifts the taboo on torturing captives.”

• What a GREAT idea! “Recognizegood.com was created by the Samaritan Center and high-tech services and products supplier TyRex Group Ltd. earlier this year to raise money for local charities. The site is free to use, but for each recognition of a good deed, TyRex gives the Samaritan Center $1.”

Hillary Clinton has discussion with Pakistani press

Good example of FANTASTIC and RELEVANT questions plaguing the citizens of the country and its neighbors in a time of conflict.

Also an excellent showcase of Hillary Clinton’s knowledge as she serves as Secretary of State.

 

Part One

Part Two

In Defense of Mike Hendricks, and…Bad Bad Pitch Blog

I just got done reading Mediaite’s rundown of the Mike Hendricks saga, and the material to which it links.  I have to say, with the amount of virtual ink that has been spilled over this, everyone seems to have missed the most glaring issue.

Mike Hendricks is a columnist for the Kansas City Star who wrote a somewhat douche-y email feeler for a job with a PR firm.  The email exchange was leaked, anonymously, to the Bad Pitch Blog, who proceeded to tear Hendricks untold holes of various types.

The whole thing has, apparently, damaged Hendricks’ job prospects and reputation.

Although the Bad Pitch Blog tried to hide the identity of the leaker and her firm, Hendricks obviously knew that he had sent the emails to Brandy Ernzen at Ogden Publications.  Here’s what she told Poynter Online:

Ernzen told me that she regrets putting Hendricks’ reputation at risk by sending his e-mails to Richard Laermer, one of the people who runs the Bad Pitch Blog. She said she did so because she wanted to “vent” to someone about the e-mail exchange.

“I was shocked at the way [Hendricks’ e-mail] was presented to me, in part because I felt like it was kind of putting down our industry as a whole,” she said. “But from the moment the blog went live I was nauseous. I didn’t like it at all and I realized I made a major judgment error.”

My question is, why is Ernzen expressing “regret” instead of looking for a job?  Furthermore, how does Ogden Publications expect to keep any clients or business relationships?  Even if you don’t grant that Hendricks had an expectation of privacy, have you ever heard of a company that allows its internal business communications to be used this way?

This whole episode seems to be propelled by Ernzen’s and Bad Pitch Blog’s offense at Hendricks’ air of journalistic superiority over the PR industry.  Ironically, they prove him correct in their handling of his email.  As Hendricks points out, BPB never even tried to verify the authenticity of the exchange, nor did they reach out to him for comment.

They also took gratuitous shots at him, including publishing an unscientific internet push-poll that had a sample size of 32.

I don’t know a thing about Mike Hendricks as a journalist, beyond the fact that he has been gainfully employed as a professional writer since 1984.  Could he have been less of a dick about pointing out that he’s more than qualified to write a press release?  Sure.  Did he deserve to be pilloried, to have the starvation of his family nearly wished upon him?

Apparently, BPB isn’t so sure.  They published this weird pseudo-apology several days later:

8/26 UPDATE: Comments on this post are now closed. Feedback from readers, the ones who’ve identified themselves, has made it clear this is not a post that represents our three years of content here. We’re taking this to heart and we’re already reflecting it in content moving forward.

Due to the tone of the last few anonymous comments, which we’ve left up for posterity, I’ve made the decision to close comments. If someone wants to add their opinion to this post, please feel free to email us at badpitchblog AT gmail DOT com. Thanks. — Kevin Dugan

Billie’s Quickies

Less than one year after Campbell Brown ponders whether Barack Obama is the Antichrist she says, “CNN is the only cable news network doing journalism.”

Good one!

The Last Word on Michael Jackson…From John Ziegler

I know we’ve already had Michael Jackson stories from Christina and Alex, and my own modest effort, but as my able colleagues pointed out, this is the model of restraint when compared to other media outlets.  Like CNN.

Even so, I was happy to close the book on MJ, until I got a glimpse of this farcical clip from the folks who put the FAIL in #CNNFAIL.  Thanks to uber-Tweep TenGrain for this:

Really? You “tracked Bubbles down?”  He’s in a cage in Florida.  It ain’t exactly “Hungry Like the Wolf.”  (On a side note, how much must it suck to be a chimp who doesn’t quite rate inclusion in the “Great Ape” category?  You get stashed in the “Mediocre Primate Hovel and Bait Shop?”)

Earlier this week, CNN also tracked down a rabbi who was Jackson’s friend.  Not Jackson’s Rabbi, for that might have actually been a story.

I touched on this in yesterday’s WaPo story, but after seeing this video, I had to go back and find the John Ziegler interview that I referenced.

Media Lizzy Dismissed by Politics Daily:Playboy’s Hate F*** List Strikes Again

For those of you who followed the saga of the Playboy “Hate F*** List,” it’s deletion by Playboy (then by Politico), my firing from Politics Daily, and its Editor-in-Chief’s campaign of lies to cover it up, there is a newer, sadder, much more unjust wrinkle to this story.  You may recall that Media Lizzy played a pivotal role in outing Melinda Henneberger as a liar, providing a smoking-gun email that detailed Politic’s Daily’s internal decision not to address the Playboy story at all.

Now, a month later, Melinda Henneberger has struck again.  From Lizzy’s new site: (bookmark it!)

I was informed yesterday by the (Politics Daily) Hot Seat editor that our relationship was being terminated.  Zero notice.  No reason given.  Nada.  Gee, do ya think it could be because of the Playboy controversy – and publicly outing Melinda Henneberger for lying about her relationship to the firing of Tommy Christopher?

As of this writing, Politics Daily hasn’t explained the dismissal.  I checked with other Hot Seat contributors, and none of them have been let go, although that may change if Melinda wants to cover her tracks again.

There are multiple ironies here, but chief among them is that this is an achievement of the Playboy article’s mission, to harm and marginalize conservative women.  In this case, it has managed to do so to a wonderful woman who was spared inclusion on the original list.

Along with the injustice, I object to the cowardly manner in which this was done, quietly, a month after the fact.

I take comfort in knowing that, although the intent here was not benevolent, my friend Lizzy will feel less harm from this than Politics Daily will.  Disagree with her as I might, it won’t be a tango without her.

Air America Declares Politics Daily a Conservative Website

You wouldn’t know it by the way they go out of their way to bury attacks on conservative women, but Air America makes a decent case:

Although PoliticsDaily.com, one of AOL’s daily political news suppliers, aims to offer “smart pieces from across the ideological spectrum,” it may be pandering, intentionally or not, to AOL’s increasingly conservative audience.

…On AOL’s political page, the top most-commented articles from today report “Sarah Palin Launches New Attacks on Government Stimulus,” “Meghan McCain Accuses Brian Williams of ‘Bowing’ to President Obama,” and “Obama on Clinton: A ‘Loose Cannon’ Who Tells ‘Bald-Faced Lies’.”

It’s a tough to argue with that, especially given its new Chief Editor’s platypus ideology: