Don’t Give In To Outrage Fatigue
I’m suffering from outrage fatigue. Between gun-toting mass murderers, hurricanes, wildfires, health care sabotage, shameless racism, and the serial rape and harassment of young women, I feel sick at heart. And I’m not sure what to do about it. I guess there’s no choice but to muster up a little more outrage. If you love this country, and I do, what other choice is there? You may remember our former half-governor, once she mounted the national soapbox, screeching about the “lamestream media.” Why? She didn’t know much, but she knew she didn’t like many of the stories about her and…
Reacting to the ‘Syrian Boy’
During her daily CNN show Kate Bolduan started to cry while discussing the video of the small Syrian boy. The video is going viral on facebook even after the footage of the 5 year old boy – Omran Daqneesh had already hit the news cycle. Bouldan wasn’t trying to make the story about her – she was just responding as I am right now as I write this. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to respond to this as journalists, as commentators or just as human beings. Walter Cronkite in an interview with Terry Gross spoke of the moment that he told America that President…
5 years on – Fukushima Still in Meldown
By Greg Palast Friday, March 11, on Democracy Now: Palast on Rubio, his Billionaire and their attacks on Argentina Also, the Fukushima facts “Completely and Utterly Fail in an Earthquake” The Fukushima story you didn’t hear on CNN On the Fifth Anniversary of the meltdown, the con continues I’ve seen a lot of sick stuff in my career, but this was sick on a new level. Here was the handwritten log kept by a senior engineer at the nuclear power plant: Wiesel was very upset. He seemed very nervous. Very agitated. . . . In fact, the plant was riddled…
Sarah Palin, Speaking American, and Donald Trump
Authors note: Since every other blog and news site on the planet has commented on this, I felt that the Mudflats should share in at least some of those clicks. Because let’s be honest here, the only reason any of us are covering her at this point is for the traffic; she doesn’t have the influence to really justify it. So with that statement out of the way, enjoy the slow moving train wreck. You’re reading this because, like me… you quietly hate yourself. But look at it this way; you didn’t have to transcribe 15 minutes of Palin-Speak. There seems to be two out…
You Want Fear Mongering? We got your fear mongering right here.
Everyone calm the hell down. I shook hands with with someone from Liberia. Her name is Christine Tolbert Norman – she’s the Mayor of Bentol City, Liberia. Bentol City is just outside of the capital, Monrovia. Mayor Norman is the daughter of former President William Tolbert and like most Liberians and 99.999% of all people from Africa does not have ebola. She likely never will have ebola and neither will I. And neither will you… or anyone you know. Every year FoxNews, CNN and the rest of the news media give you something to be terrified about. Bird flu, swine flu……
CNN: Why Not Use Water Cannons on Ferguson Protestors?
As we drift into another night of likely arrests and police violence against protestors and journalists in Ferguson, MO a CNN anchor has given us this ethical and historical quandary. Rosemary Church: “Talk to us about what police are saying to you. Why they are using this strategy? Why the use of tear gas, stun grenades? Why not perhaps use water cannons?” Watch the video below, but really watch the fantastic understated reaction from her co-host Errol Barnett. For those of you that aren’t history buffs here’s a reminder of why this might be a bit awkward. And maybe we need to have…
Revolution 2.0 – Where to Get the News from Egypt
The US networks are doing (in my opinion) a terrible job covering the ouster of Morsi in Egypt. From spelling Morsi’s name wrong, to interviewing those who previously supported the dictator Mubarak. This is why I turned off my TV, and tuned in to aljazeera.com. For those that don’t know, there’s an excellent 24-hour live stream on Al Jazeera’s website. I’m sure people have their problems on both the left and the right with me promoting AJ, but compared to the US coverage right now, it’s the gold standard. If you have better or just different news sources, please post them…
Open Thread – Reading Rainbow
One of television’s finest moments in 2012 was Jimmy Fallon singing “Reading Rainbow” in the style of Jim Morrison. Although there was a more “produced” version with the band, his “unplugged” take on CNN/Piers Morgan was my favorite.