By David Swanson
According to an Associated Press story on Friday, more than a half-million people have toured the creationism museum in Kentucky since it opened in May 2007. However, at least one of those people was there to make fun of it with a video camera.
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ACORN President Maude Hurd released the following statement today in response to the McCain campaign's new ad claiming that, among other things, ACORN is responsible for the mortgage crisis:
”For almost a decade, ACORN, a community organization of 400,000 families in neighborhoods across the country, has been fighting against the predatory lending practices that have robbed our members of their homes, destabilized neighborhoods, and roiled the global economy.”
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By David Swanson
The McCain-Palin campaign is running an advertisement "accusing " Barack Obama of once training ACORN members in Chicago. Obama should be proud of that. I've done it myself and am proud of it. I trained Chicago ACORN members in how to talk to the media about the wonderful work they do.
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By David Swanson
Of the hundreds of corporate and independent media outlets that falsely claimed this week that ABC News had broken a story about NSA spying that I broke at AfterDowningStreet over a year ago, only the guys at McClatchy (formerly Knight Ridder, the same people who have done better reporting on Iraq than any other corporate journalists) have had the decency to put out a correction, and only the Sacramento Bee has posted (though probably not printed) it:
Working-Class Whites Slipping From McCainQuinnipiac Study Shows Change Since Conventions October 10, 2008KITTANNING, Pa. -- The steel mills and coal mines of western Pennsylvania helped fuel the nation's economic engine. Today, old factory shells and boarded-up storefronts stand as bleak reminders of those once- prosperous times.But the voters in working-class enclaves such as this still are a sought-after prize in presidential politics, and many are belatedly coming around to Democratic nominee Barack Obama. [...]
The Woman Greenspan, Rubin & Summers Silencedposted by Katrina vanden Heuvel 10/09/2008 "Break the Glass" was the code-name high-level Treasury Department figures gave the $700 billion bailout; it was to be used only as a last- resort measure.Now millions have been sprayed and damaged by broken glass.
A Republican Mob SceneJohn McCain's supporters are madder (and scarier!) than he is.By John Dickerson Slate Magazine Posted Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008
The Fall of Thabo Mbeki and the Future of South AfricaBy Bill Fletcher, Jr. BlackCommentator.com October 9, 2008
1 Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Undermine McCain 2 Music: Gonna Take Us All 3 Election Videos: Don't Vote; Wake Up Everybody, Respondele a ObamaOld, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Steal Support From McCain ===Gonna Take Us All is an inspirational song about the power we have together to bring about real change and peace in the world. From a new CD by Jon Fromer. [...]
By David Swanson
1. WMD Lies
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By David Swanson
I think that's a fair question. When Rood worked for TPMMuckraker he complained to CBS News about the life of a blogger.
When he got hired by the Disney Corporation (ABC News) he begin tackling such tasks as burying a story of war lies and war crimes in order to blog about phone sex.
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By David Swanson
From 2000 to 2003 I was the communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. I don't know whether to be sorry or relieved that I don't have my old job now.
ACORN has been through some scandals of its own making, but it is currently all over the news because of a pair of absolutely fraudulent and nationally coordinated attacks.
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By David Swanson
On Thursday, ABC News reported a big new break in the story of illegal and unconstitutional spying that our government has engaged in for years now, except that there was nothing new in the story and the important parts were left out.
The ABC News announcer began the video report thus:
"This is the first time any of the actual intercept operators, the people who listen in and record phone calls on behalf of U.S. intelligence agencies, the first time any of them has come forward."
Readers Respond: The Essential Lessons of the Rosenberg CaseRe: David Arocho on the Rosenbergs From: *Leonard J. Lehrman, Co-Director, National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case *Jay Schaffner *Pearl Volkov *the original message from David Arocho1. From: Leonard J.Lehrman
Sarah Palin's Extreme SportsBy Dave ZirinOctober 8, 2008, The Nationhttp://www.thenation.com/doc/20081020/zirinEver since Andrew Johnson welcomed the New York Mutuals to the White House in 1867, presidential politics has exploited professional sports. It's a foolproof way for politicians to show voters they enjoy competition, fair play and are salt- of-the-turf
States' Actions to Block Voters Appear IllegalBy IAN URBINAOctober 9, 2008, The New York TimesTens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times. [...]
Subprime SuspectsThe right blames the credit crisis on poor minority homeowners. This is not merely offensive, but entirely wrong.By Daniel GrossOct. 7, 2008, Slatehttp://www.slate.com/id/2201641/
Exclusive:Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on AmericansU.S. Officers' "Phone Sex" Intercepted; Senate Demanding AnswersBy BRIAN ROSS, VIC WALTER, and ANNA SCHECTEROctober 9,2008, ABC Newshttp://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5987804&page=1
By David Swanson
Here's a typical example of how the news cycle works now that the blogosphere interacts (or doesn't) with independent and corporate media:
July 1, 2007, AfterDowningStreet.org Breaks Story of NSA Whistleblower Adrienne Kinne
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/24183
John R. MacArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine, has a new book out called "You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America." Sort of an odd topic at the very moment that we're expecting to elect the first African-American president. But this is probably going to be a very valuable book for a lot of people to read on November 5th, if McCain wins, if McCain steals it, and -- especially -- if Obama wins the White House.
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