I like unadorned facts -- enough of them to allow me to form my own opinions. I also like reading different view points to help sharpen my view. However, I see most issues in shades of gray. NewsTrust allows me to gather information from facts to view points in a fairly efficient manner and to contribute my view as to where articles fall in that spectrum.
This is classic Krugman -- clear, well reasoned, sprinkled with facts (eventhough sources are not cited), hewing to economic theory but predictable and casually dismissed by the current conservative ideologues as more "far left" propaganda.
This is an insightful but depressing opinion piece. I kept asking myself if Klein's analysis was over the top but concluded that it was a polite and objective assessment.
While this article is entertaining, it is certainly not good journallism. The obvious bias and hyperbole lead me to dismiss it as a piece of entertaining character assassination. If I really want to know more about Michele Bachmann, I'll have to go elsewhere.
This is a report on the Kochs' reaction to recent scrutiny. In spite of having been threatened with arrest while waiting to eat, the reporter provides a straight forward and objective story on the subject and avoids value judgements and a hatchet job.
This is a straightforward report with some background to provide perspective but with very little politcal posturing.
This is better as an opinion piece than as a news article. There is a world of difference between Stephanie McCrummen's article in the Post and this one. McCrummen pretty clearly has a point of view but strives for a modicum of objectivity. This piece is riddled with assertions and quotes from others making assertions. It strikes me as part of the echo chamber of the internet.
In my opinion achieveing integrated schools is essential and dismatling what racial and economical integration we have achieved is a big mistake. I believe strongly in public education and believe that intentionally integrated schools do a better job of working down performance gaps and attacking elitism than segregated ones. I believe that those who are willing to allow resegregation, for whatever reason, are really working against their long term interests and those of their ... More »
This is an article that presents a lot of data but is written like a hatchet job -- which leads me to view the data skeptically.
This article appeals to and agrees with all my prejudices. That always sets off my alarm gong. I thought that it was a fun read but I wouldn't rely on it for accuracy or quote it as a source.
This is a well researched, well written and objective assessment of the effect that the health care law will have on employment and on balancing the budget.
As mentioned by others, an objective assessment such as this will likely have little effect on the views held by a broad swath of Americans. Sound bites are more compelling than facts.
This is a well written piece and well reasoned if you buy that statesmanship and doing the right thing is more important than winning elections.
This article deals with the facts concerning safety in the border region. While there are numerous issues associated with illegal immigration, this article and many others assessing statistics demonstrate that safety really isn't one of them.
This is more an opinion piece that a news report. It is passionate and well written but its passion and skimpy documentation give it the air of bias. Nevertheless, it is worth reading if for no other reason that to prompt the question, "is it true?"
A non Jew, I am a great admirer of the Jewish tradition of social justice and freqently attend lectures and events at my local Reform Temple. However, I do have a hard time reconciling a tradition of social justice with unflinching apology for the current direction of Israeli politics.
This is a somewhat rambling piece that is more opinion than news report. It argues that ACORN is being singled out for punishment because of the misdeeds of some specific underlings while the excesses of the Republican war on ACORN, including dismissal of US Attorneys by the Bush administration, have gone unpunished. Some other points are made along the way but overall the looseness of the piece diminishes its effectiveness.
Yet, while bending to Republican demands to speak out against a poor people’s group, Obama continued to resist the notion that powerful Republicans from the Bush ... More »
There are indirect suggestions that Politico has confirmed that the document given them is indeed the one delivered at the RNC conference; however, confirmation is never stated. Assuming it is legitimate, the content is cynical and indiscreet but not particularly surprising.
It appears that the RNC is continuing to bet that the American public has no idea what constitutes socialism but exhibits irrational fear any time the word is invoked. Sad to say, they are probably right.
Broder exhibits the skepticism of one who has smelled rats before. The skepticism is well reasoned. It is unfortunate, though, that his sources are as anonymous as Dana Milbank's.
A blog post that dismisses without basis global warming based on "climate gate" (which has yielded no flaw in the basic science) and social science based on general anti-intellectual principle.
As a news report this would be biased; however, I believe that as an opinion piece -- which it clearly is -- it is reasonable. I don't agree with the author's position but he makes his case clearly.
While I find fault with one of the "if banks oppose it, I should be for it" arguments and believe that the faith in "independence" is overstated, I thnk that Krugman presents a persuasive argument.
This is essentially a human interest story -- short on economic detail but long on individual stories of human impact and the stoicism of the Irish. Good journalism for what it is.
This critique of Beck's speech appears to me to be over-the-top, parsing Beck's language to the same degree that it accuses others of doing -- but in a different direction.
Beck's speech is disturbing enough when read literally. Inferring greater menace isn't warranted or necessary.
While I have read of selfless missionaries providing aid to the world's impoverished, I have dealt with some religious relief groups that appeared to put the message obove assistance. Kristof's column together with some recent positive experiences lead me to believe that perhaps I have been unduly wary.
This is a factual but non-quantitative and somewhat nitty assessment of Schultz's statement. Nevertheless, it is fair. The standard, after all, is "truth", not "almost truth".
This article describes our apparently voracious appetite for mundane information about travelers to the US (in the name of security). It is somewhat one sided; however, there is value in pointing out some of our clumsiest requests for action by other nations.
This is a well written and well reasoned opinion piece. One may not agree with Pollack but the path to his conclusion is clear.
I too believe that a public option is one of the better options for the US and that extending Medicare would be the best way to achieve it -- both for the health of our citizens and for the health of Medicare. However, in the current environment, it's going to be difficult to just get the camel's nose under the tent.
An opinion piece citing quotes from the leading contenders for becoming the next Republican presidential candidate that appear to deny a role for secular Americans in national life. The piece does a credible job in raising a warning flag.
While the potential candidates may just be posturing for their audiences, the fact that they feel free to posture in such a manner is in itself alarming.
By carefully selecting quotes from CBO reports and citing views of other organizations without checkable references, this piece advances a preconceived conclusion -- a conclusion that is actually in conflict with the lastest CBO report.
This is a simple report by Reuters on information in the latest CBO assessment of the effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on employment and the economy.
This article addresses loan guarantees for nuclear power and derides news coverage as one sided for mentioning only some of the nuclear negatives. The article then fails itself to mention any of the positives.
It's difficult to have a rational discussion of the global warming threats, health care issues, teaching of evolution or nuclear power when some blind ideological orthodoxy trumps facts and consensus.
This is a fine human interest story about a quasi-interesting person but if you're looking for meat, keep looking.
This is a well reasoned opinion piece that relies on experience of the credit card industry and analysis of the Congressional Budget Office as well as logic. However, judging from the course of the health care debate to date, few minds will be changed by this argument.
This is a teaser article that says survey results to be reported on Monday show that the percentage of troops that object to serving with openly gay individuals has dropped substantially. Links are provided to the questions and the raw data but I'm not enough of a data wonk to try to analyze the results.
This is a well written piece on the Texas school board fight to ensure Christianity as a founding principle of the US is included in text books. The author's view is pretty clear but he prominently displays comments from both sides of the issue.
Articles like this are dangerous for a reader like me. Based on other reading over the last several years, I had concluded that Michele Bachmann is a zealot, a crackpot, one who has no regard for the truth and a danger to good government. But faced with the mocking vitriole and assertions of this article I ask myselft, "If she's really so bad, why would one stoop so low to discredit her?"