NC Reader Smacks Down Consumer Reports on Medicaid Clawback Advice
It’s fun to see someone who got themselves in a hole keep digging deeper.
Read more...Category Archives: Media watch
PBS Pimps Itself Out to Billionaire Who Campaigns Against Pensions for Gov’t Employees to Produce Scaremongering Series About Government Pensions
Now we know how much it takes to buy PBS programming: $3.5 million.
Read more...The Debt Crisis in Puerto Rico: Why Is It Not More Newsworthy?
The escalating debt crisis in Puerto Rico, where default or bankruptcy look to be likely outcomes, has gotten only cursory notice from the media. That’s quite an oversight when you look at the size and potential impact.
Read more...Washington’s Military Aid to Israel: Fake Peace Process, Real War Process
Yves here. Chase Madar describes the curious phenomenon of how, on an economic and military basis, Israel should be regarded as a client state, yet operates as an equal partner and even tries to dictate US policy. America’s involvement in the Middle East is one of the big drivers of our ongoing military commitments (which increasingly look like overreach) and our ties to Israel help keep the US mired. This in turn has implications for domestic policy, since high levels of military spending compete with other uses, most notably, social programs.
Read more...Jealous The New Republic Takes Potshot at The Onion for Being….Marxist!
When Lambert sent me the link to a New Republic article, “The Onion Has Become America’s Finest Marxist News Source,” I first assumed that TNR was engaging in a bit of humorous flattery, as in taking a page from The Onion’s own book in highlighting its success. But on further inspection, I could be wrong. Readers, please help!
Read more...Bill Black: Jamie Dimon’s $10 Million Raise is a “Common Sense” Fraud Reward
Yves here. This has been such a busy week that I’ve been remiss about commenting on how Dimon’s board rewarded him despite the London Whale fiasco and the revelation of pervasive regulatory abuses. Clearly, they thought he bought the bank’s way out of trouble on the cheap, disproving the wailing in the financial firm toadying media that the Morgan bank had been ill-treated by the Administration.
Read more...Blogroll Amnesty Day!
Today is the day when bloggers are asked to promote less-well-trafficked sites they like.
Read more...Tom Engelhardt: Ending the World the Human Way – Climate Change as the Anti-News
Here’s the scoop: When it comes to climate change, there is no “story,” not in the normal news sense anyway.
Read more...Are Banks About to Win on Commodities Trading After Their Success in Watering Down Basel III Capital Rules?
You know it’s bad when Bloomberg’s editors attack the banks’ win against regulators, in this case, their success in watering down already-too-generous Basel III capital requirements. And they look primed to score a twofer on pending rulemaking on trading in physical commodities.
Read more...Bob Goodwin: Mainstream Medicine Capture of Wikipedia
Yves here. Wikipedia has become widely accepted as a highly credible source (I use it and even contributed in their recent funding appeal). It’s therefore important to know its limits and how they arise. Unfortunately, it appears, like most information sources, that it is subject to pressure, in this case, as Bob Goodwin contends, the medical-industrial complex.
Read more...Open Thread: Best and Worst of 2013
What do you flag as the standout events of 2013 and why?
Read more...Yes Virginia, Obama and the Democrats Are Mussolini-Style Corporatists, Just Like the Republicans
Reader dSquib flagged a “bizarre” article by Mike Konczal in the New Republic titled, “Corporatism” is the Latest Hysterical Right-Wing Accusation: The secret history of a smear.” dSquib seemed quite perplexed that anyone would deem calling Obama a corporatist, which as we’ll demonstrate is patently true, a smear.
Read more...Is Krugman Running on Brand Fumes? (TransPacific Partnership Edition)
It may seem a bit de trop to take on a Paul Krugman blog post yet again, but the reason for focusing on his post yesterday on the TransPacific Partnership is less for its substance and more as a political zeitgeist indicator.
Read more...New Zealand’s Latest Dodgy Export: Why FX Investors Should be Wary of Software Sold by Irish Company Paymark Autotrader
A dubious FX trading software operation closes down in New Zealand and sets up shop in Ireland.
Read more...Obama Kept His Head in the Sand During Healthcare.gov Fiasco
The New York Times has an instructive account, Inside the Race to Rescue a Health Care Site, and Obama, of the scrambling in the Administration to deal with the beyond-redeption-by-the-power-of-spin disaster of the Healthcare.gov launch.
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