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Daily Kos Watch: Pay to Play in the Blogosphere?
Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos
“My only sources of revenue are this site (advertising and subscriptions), some freelance writings in places like the American Prospect, and CTG (eventually. It takes publishers ages to send out royalty checks). At some point in the future, SportsBlogs will be a source of revenue, but it’s nowhere near that point yet. No politician, campaign, issue group, nor any other organization has directly or indirectly paid me for anything.”
The New Republic: THE BLOGOSPHERE’S SMOKE-FILLED BACKROOM:
Are Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas (of the famous Daily Kos) engaged in a pay-for-play scheme in which politicians who hire Armstrong as a consultant get the support of Kos? That’s the question that’s been bouncing around the blogosphere ever since The New York Times‘s Chris Suellentrop broke the news last Friday about a 2000 run-in Armstrong had with the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged stock touting. But Armstrong, Kos, and other big-time liberal bloggers have almost entirely ignored the issue, which is a bit surprising considering their tendency to rapidly respond to even the smallest criticism.
Why the strange silence in the face of such damning allegations? Well, I think we now know the answer. It’s a deliberate strategy orchestrated by Kos. TNR obtained a missive Kos sent earlier this week to “Townhouse,” a private email list comprising elite liberal bloggers, including Jane Hamsher, Matt Stoller, and Christy Hardin Smith. And what was Kos’s message to this group that secretly plots strategy in the digital equivalent of a smoke-filled backroom? Stay mum!
Glenn Reynold has THE BLOGOSPHERE’S “SMOKE-FILLED BACKROOM:”
As usual, I wasn’t invited, but then I don’t smoke that stuff. As for the scandal aspects, well, this seems to me like politics as usual. Perhaps, following Kinsley’s Law, that’s the real scandal, but — except to the extent, probably small, that this causes Kos’s readers to lose faith in him as something new and special — I don’t see a big
scandal in this, though I can’t help noting that if something like this were going on on the right, the bloggers of the “Townhouse” list would probably be somewhat less charitable.But remember — it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up!
Well, it is typical and disclosures are important.
Is Kos being paid? And by whom?
Remember when Armstrong Williams, a syndicated columnist and conservative commentator failed to disclose that he was paid $241,000 by the U.S. Department of Education to promote the No Child Left Behind Act. and all hell broke loose in the media world.
Is Kos ethically dishonest like Armstrong?
Hard to say ,yet. But Kos is sure attempting to “starve the story of oxygen.”
Why?
Blogosphere:
Technorati Tags: DailyKos, YearlyKos, MarkosMoulitsas, GlennReynolds
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North Korea Watch: United States Says “NO” to Direct Talks
US Ambassador John Bolton, who is pictured here on 7 June 2006, ruled out direct talks with North Korea over Pyongyang’s plan to conduct a intercontinental ballistic missile test.
AP: U.S. says no to talks with North Korea
North Korea said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, but a top U.S. envoy rejected the request.
North Korea this week issued a bristling declaration of its right to carry out the launch and said U.S. concerns should be resolved through negotiations. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said a missile threat wasn’t the way to seek dialogue.
“You don’t normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, and it’s not a way to produce a conversation because if you acquiesce in aberrant behavior, you simply encourage the repetition of it, which we’re obviously not going to do,” Bolton told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Yes, Bolton is absolutely correct. The United States needs to “EXTINGUISH” this rogue behavior of North Korea.
President Bush said North Korea faces further isolation from the international community if it test-fires the missile believed capable of reaching U.S. soil.
“It should make people nervous when non-transparent regimes who have announced they have nuclear warheads, fire missiles,” Bush said at a meeting with European leaders in Vienna, Austria. “This is not the way you conduct business in the world.”
The U.S. and Japan have said they could consider sanctions against North Korea if it goes ahead with the launch, and Washington was weighing responses that could include attempting to shoot down the missile.
The United States continues to have three options:
1. Preemptive destruction of the missile prior to launch with B-2 delivered Smart Bombs.
2. Missile interception by Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) or Aegis Ship-Based BMD or both.
or…..
3. Do nothing and await diplomatic resolution through the United Nations Security Council.
When the weather clears the United States MUST be poised to take action.
Stay tuned……
A commercial satellite photo of North Korea’s Nodong missile launch site taken on by a Digital Globe satellite and annotated and released by analysts at GlobalSecurity.org on May 24, 2006. The United States and Japan warned North Korea on Monday against a missile launch that experts say could reach as far as Alaska and threatened harsh action if the test flight goes ahead.
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Previous:North Korea Watch: Direct Talks with the United States?
North Korea Watch: Korea Says it “Is NOT Bound†by Missile Test Ban
North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield – Part 2
North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield
North Korea Watch: North Korea Threatens to “Mercilessly Wipe Out†US Forces In Case of War
North Korea Watch: Preparing to Launch A Long Range Ballistic Missile?
North Korea Watch: North Koreans Can and Have Made a Few Nuclear Devices
North Korea Harvesting More Plutonium for Nuclear Weapons
Technorati Tags: NorthKorea, KimJongIl, MissileDefenseAgency
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California Election 2006 Watch: San Francisco Gay Pride Group Throws a “Pink Brick” at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Graphic Courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. gay pride group hurls a ‘Pink Brick’ at Gov. Schwarzenegger
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to embrace gay Republicans at a fundraiser in Southern California next week — but back in San Francisco, a brick is headed his way over his veto of last year’s same-sex marriage bill.
Schwarzenegger is this year’s recipient of the “Pink Brick” award, a raspberry handed out annually by organizers of the San Francisco gay pride parade.
The governor received nearly a third of the 3,043 mail-in ballots cast in advance of this Sunday’s parade. That was well ahead of the second-place Concerned Women for America, a Christian-based group that campaigns against same-sex marriage.
Last year’s brick winner was Sen. Dianne Feinstein, for her analysis that the “too much, too fast, too soon” push for same-sex marriage rights had helped cost the Democrats the 2004 presidential election.
“It’s just another way to put pressure on a leader to look at our community … and take our issues seriously,” said Lindsey Jones, executive director of the San Francisco pride parade.
The brick wasn’t the only snub Arnold got in repayment for his veto in September of Assemblyman Mark Leno’s bill granting same-sex partners the right to marry.
The Governor is attempting to reach out to voter constituents and the radical Gay Left wants to slap him for his failure to support Gay Marriage.
No California Governor or candidate for Governor will EVER support Gay Marriage.
Why?
The majority of California voters do NOT support it.
Asked about his refusal to back same-sex marriages during a Webcam conversation with the public Tuesday, Schwarzenegger — whose chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, is a lesbian — emphasized his support for domestic partner rights. But he said voters had sent a loud and clear “no” in 2000 when they passed Proposition 22, which reaffirmed the state’s definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.
But, the Lefty Gay groups will continue to fight the 20,000 strong GOP supporting Log Cabin Republicans.
And you can bet he will be singing much the same tune June 29 when he’s scheduled to appear at a big Hollywood gathering benefiting the gay Log Cabin Republicans. It’s his first appearance before a gay audience since taking office in November 2003.
“It’s a way of saying ‘thank you’ to an organization that supported him during the recall and during his reform agenda last year, and that has supported his re-election — and it’s the only gay group that frankly did that,” said Chris Bowman, a local GOP gay activist who plans to attend the dinner.
As for the governor’s veto of the Leno bill, Patrick Guerriero, national president of the 20,000-member Log Cabin Republicans, said, “The governor has signed scores of (gay) supportive legislation.
“We recognize that there is a lot of education work to do, not only with the governor, but with Californians, as well,” Guerriero said.
And what has Democrat Treasurer and Gubernatorial candidate promised to the Left Gay folks?
Will he promise to sign a Gay Marriage Bill?
Well, will he?
Stay tuned……..
Previous:
California Election 2006 Watch: Angelides v. Schwarzenegger
Technorati Tags: ArnoldSchwarzenegger, PhilAngelides, California Election2006
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Iran Nuclear Watch: President Bush Rejects August Iranian Response to Big 6 Proposal
Iran should not need until late August to answer an international offer for a nuclear deal, US President George W. Bush said in reaction to Iranian timing for a response. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pictured here on 16 July 2006, said Tehran will reply in August to an international call for a freeze of its sensitive nuclear work, despite calls for a reply by the end of June.
AFP: Iran should be able to answer nuclear offer before August — Bush
Iran should not need until late August to answer an international offer for a nuclear deal, US President George W. Bush said in reaction to Iranian timing for a response.
“It seems like an awful long time for a reasonable proposal . . . It shouldn’t take the Iranians that long to analyze what is a reasonable deal,” Bush told a press conference after an EU-US summit in Vienna.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday Tehran will reply in August to an international call for a freeze of its sensitive nuclear work, despite calls for a reply by the end of June.
“We will study the offer and, God willing, will give our opinion at the end of the Mordad,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech, referring to the Iranian month that ends on August 22.
Stall and obfuscate are the modus operandi of Iran and North Korea.
In the meantime, Iranian centrifuges are enriching uranium.
Bush said Iran had “weeks not months” to answer the offer by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States that European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana delivered in Tehran on June 6. Diplomats say Iran was asked to reply by June 29.
I said weeks not months and I believe that is the view of our partners,” Bush said. “We’ll come to the table when they verifiably suspend,” Bush said.
The Iranian answer is NO in any case. They have stated over and over that there will be NO preconditional suspension of uranium enrichment. So, it doesn’t matter whether they answer NO now or in August.
The United States NEVER expected Iran to say yes. And Iran will never agree because they covet a nuclear weapons program as a matter of sovereign right.
Condoleezza Rice’s gambit has boxed in Iran’s Mullahs/President Ahmadinejad and delay/stalling is their only way out. Iran hopes that over time the discussion will evolve around “talks” and not the threat of Iran’s nuclear program. Europe abhors confrontation and Iran plays upon European reluctance to force issues.
Will the United States force Iran’s hand prior to the G-8 summit in mid-July?
Probably, but listen to China and/or Russia scream about a rush to judgement.
Will Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council?
Probably, but will the UNSC be able to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions?
DOUBTFUL
It is up to the United States and Israel.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Accuses the United States of Pushing Europe Away from Compromise
Iran Nuclear Watch: President Ahmadinejad – Big 6 Proposal a “Step Forwardâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would “Use Nuclear Defense†If Threatened
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Sends Mixed Signals on Big 6 Proposal?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei REJECTS Suspension of Uranium EnrichmentThe Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, MahmoudAhmadinejad
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North Korea Watch: Direct Talks with the United States?
This is an Orbview-3 satellite image provided by GeoEye showing the Taepodong missile launch complex in North Korea, called Musudan-ri, in May 2006. North Korea referred to its missile program Monday, June 19, 2006 in its official media for the first time since it apparently began preparations for a test launch, as a U.S. official confirmed the North has completed fueling a missile that is poised to fire.
AP: North Korea wants direct talks with U.S.
North Korea said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, a day after the country issued a bristling statement in which it declared its right to carry out the launch.
Tensions in the region have soared following intelligence reports that the North was fueling a ballistic missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. The U.S. and Japan have said they could consider sanctions against the impoverished country if it goes ahead, and Washington was weighing responses that could include attempting to shoot the missile down.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung cited the missile crisis as the reason for canceling a trip next week to the North that could have offered a rare chance for talks to soothe tensions.
North Korea said in comments published Wednesday that its self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles from 1999 no longer applies because it’s not in direct dialogue with Washington, suggesting it would hold off on any launch if Washington agreed to new talks.
“Some say our missile test launch is a violation of the moratorium, but this is not the case,” Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of North Korea’s mission to the United Nations, told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency in an interview from New York.
“North Korea as a sovereign state has the right to develop, deploy, test fire and export a missile,” he said. “We are aware of the U.S. concerns about our missile test-launch. So our position is that we should resolve the issue through negotiations.”
Pyongyang has consistently pressed for direct dialogue with the United States, while Washington insists it will only speak to the North at six-nation nuclear talks. The North has refused to return to those nuclear talks since November because of a U.S. crackdown on the country’s alleged illicit financial activity.
A commercial satellite photo of North Korea’s Nodong missile launch site taken on by a Digital Globe satellite and annotated and released by analysts at GlobalSecurity.org on May 24, 2006. The United States and Japan warned North Korea on Monday against a missile launch that experts say could reach as far as Alaska and threatened harsh action if the test flight goes ahead.
These Axis of Evil countries are very good at creating a crisis and then wishing to negotiate.Threaten and then bargain is their modus operandi.
Will the United States call North Korea’s bluff and take out that missile before it is launched?
Or is North Korea bluffing in order to seek negotiated concessions from Washington?
A big world poker game?
You bet…….
Flap handicaps a North Korea stand down and a return to the bargaining table for all parties.
Stay tuned…..
Picture released on June 16 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. North Korea has offered the United States talks on its missile launch plans, indicating it might put off a flight test that has raised tension and drawn sharp international warnings
Previous:North Korea Watch: Korea Says it “Is NOT Bound†by Missile Test Ban
North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield – Part 2
North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield
North Korea Watch: North Korea Threatens to “Mercilessly Wipe Out†US Forces In Case of War
North Korea Watch: Preparing to Launch A Long Range Ballistic Missile?
North Korea Watch: North Koreans Can and Have Made a Few Nuclear Devices
North Korea Harvesting More Plutonium for Nuclear Weapons
Technorati Tags: NorthKorea, KimJongIl, MissileDefenseAgency
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Cindy Sheehan Watch:President Bush’s Vienna Arrival Met by Cindy Sheehan
U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan gestures during a demonstration against the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Vienna June 21, 2006. Bush is in Vienna to attend an annual U.S. – European Union summit.
Austria Police outnumber protesters by about three-to-one in Vienna, Austria, where President Bush’s arrival was met by anti-war demonstrators including American Cindy Sheehan. On the agenda for the European Union summit are oil dependency and aid for Palestinians.
More Photos:
U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, California, center, is seen between Austrian police officers while marching in downtown Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, June 21, 2006, along with leftist protesters as they rally against U.S. President George W. Bush ‘s visit. President Bush is in Vienna to attend the EU-US summit.
Head of the Austrian Socialists Alfred Gusenbauer, right, listens to U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, California, during a press briefing after her arrival at Vienna’s Schwechat airport, Monday, June 19, 2006. Sheehan will join a demonstration against the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday in Vienna.
The notion that President Bush is a terrorist is over the top and UNHINGED. Obviously sponsored by old European Socialists/Leftists/Communists (Flap thought Communism was a failed system) Sheehan is nothing more than a “turd in the punchbowl” MORON. And how much credibility does Sheehan have?
NONE
Doesn’t this woman ever work at a REAL JOB?
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Previous:
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Supporting United States Deserters in Canada
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Support the Troops?
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Cindy Down Under And the War Machine Conspiracy Theory
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Return to Crawford for Easter
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Don’t Attack Iran
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Susan Sarandon to Portray Sheehan in Biopic Film?Cindy Sheehan Watch: A NO SHOW in Germany Protest
Cindy Sheehan Watch: ARRESTED Again
Technorati Tags: CindySheehan
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
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