My hair and beard are almost all grey. I have a significant potbelly. I wear bifocals. I have had my work plagiarized by writers from Salon, Time, Slate, the Washington Post, and many other fine publications, which I take as a compliment. I joined NewsTrust because it's an interesting experiment.
An amazing article. It talks about 6 troops ("Troops" are groups of soldiers, rather like "Platoons") but doesn't tell us how many soldiers were in each troop. 4? 6? 8? 12? This is a glaring oversight, especially by a nationally-know news source.
OMG! Who would have thunk it! Tea Party linked to far right? And now to Brit royalists? I keep warning fellow Americans that back in revolutionary times our founding dads and moms were liberal radicals and the conservatives back then wanted to stick with ... More »
The Republican whine is that the Democrat-written Huge Health Bill went too far, and that most Americans wish it didn't do much. Well, reality is that it *didn't* do much -- mostly it says we will all now have health insurance through Blue Double Cross and the other lame health insurance ripoff companies we already have, with subsidies for those of us who can't afford to support their richie rich executives. In other words, this was a Republican bill, based on the Mass. health care plan signed into law a while back by Mitt Romney. Look: the least expensive way to provide universal health care is to provide clinic-style care like I get from the V.A. -- not the best, but simple and passable. If you want better care, and you can ... More »
I’m not going to rate the story. It’s an opinion piece, so I can’t rate it as journalism. However, I will use this comment space to put a question into your head that I’ve been asking a lot of people lately: If we have a lot of people out of work and running ... More »
The manager of the Winn-Dixie grocery store is Haitian, and his family lost their home in the earthquake. Here in Florida, there are many "friends and family" connections with Haiti. Of course we send money and tents and food there. The only people I personally know well from Pakistan are Amahdis who fled the country because Pakistani Muslims have a habit of killing their Amahdi neighbors. This is now sanctioned by their government, no less. And then there's Daniel Pearl. And ... More »
What nobody wants to admit is that so many of our administration people have bought into the Heritage/Club for Growth/CEI nonsense that lower taxes on the rich lead to more jobs for the rest of us. Since our rich darlings are now paying a lower tax rate than ... More »
This story meets the old MSM fairness criterion of letting the liars (in this case free trade advocates) rebut the truth, and it had as much numerical as anecdotal information in it, although I personally felt the anecdotal portion was more powerful. I have a conflict of interest because I, myself, am a Surplus American over 55, and I am starting to believe we need to either deport all Republican officeholders or try them for treason, then put them to death.
I'm too close to this topic to be a fair judge. I'm 57. I was surplussed 2 years ago, and my income is down to 20% of what it was before I was laid off. My wife, same age, has now applied fruitlessly for over 300 jobs. I get V.A. healthcare. She gets a crappy health insurance policy for a crazy-high price. Really, the question for those of us in our 50s and 60s who are running through our savings is when we should start going 2nd Amendment on America's richest greedheads and the Republicans who constantly side with nasty exploiters against America. I expect some of the blue-collar crowd in the midwest will start the blood payback long before I get to the "nothing to lose" level, but there's plenty of misery here in Florida, ... More »
A a reporter myself, I've always believed "entertain and inform" are my two jobs. Not "bore and teach." Got that? So yeah. This was a fine opinion piece, right down to the end, where it revealed the truth about Richard Nixon's communist leanings -- at least by today's tea-smoking party standards.
A decent piece. Could have talked to a few more compressed air people. Not all of them are relying on low-pressure underground storage.
Looks at medicine from a scientific viewpoint, which hardly any of the political yammerers and those who chronicle them do. We need more articles like this that get into the "why" of health care and discuss way to make it better - faster - cheaper. I was also pleased to see the reference to Edwards Deming. I also would have liked to see discussion of how the electronics industry has managed to develop ever-better, ever-cheaper devices, but the medical industry has not -- but perhaps that's a difference article, one (sigh) I may need to write myself at some point.
I'm tired of politicians talking about health care as a political issue instead of working to see how we can do it better.
I recommend this "story" purely for its humor value. The glowing quote from S. Adams didn't have a single word in it about outlawing slavery, so it's a hoot. As far as getting some ignorant people to say ignorant things... I dunno if I can legitimately get down on Beck for doing that, since I've gotten and published awfully stupid on-camera statements from his tea bag followers, too. Whatever.
It's pretty good "activist journalism," which is what we expect from AlterNet, which is a "no bones about it" leftie news purveyor, although its work tends to be far more factual than, say, Fox News at the other end of the political spectrum. So yeah, despite my general suspicion of AlterNet, I'd say this is a pretty good piece of journalism.
I can't really "review" this little article in the usual sense. It makes me too angry. I am white and my wife is black, and I have a sudden urge to drive to Peckerwood Parish, LA (that *is* where this guy is Injustice of the Peace, right?) and kick some judicial ass. Debbie and I have been "keeping company" for 20+ years and married for over 17 years, with no breakup in sight, so obviously interracial couples can stay together happily for long periods of time. Grrr......
This story is apparently an eye-opener for its intended (British) audience, who seem to think it amazing just how bad we Americans have it on the health care front.
The comments were interesting. Many of them were from American "birthers" including some who seem to feel Fox is the only trustworthy news source. Sad to see our country shown this way to our allies, but what can you do?
There just may be another side to this story, considering that every single Canadian I know personally likes their health care system better than the U.S. one.
Amusing: several years ago a friend of mine traveled from Michigan to Canada to have Lasik eye surgery done because it was 1/5 the U.S. price. He couldn't have afforded it here. Health care rationing? Yah, you bet -- in the U.S. because an awful lot of people here can't afford basic health care, let alone optional treatments.
There are 50,00,000 sad unemployment and underemployment stories in the naked country. This is one of them. Great title, too
I 'm biased here, what with being a laid-off middle aged man myself, unlikely to ever find another job as good as the one I had. Reality these days is that the richies and robber barons get all the money, and when they declare "bankruptcy" they usually end up as rich as they were before, if not richer. But when those of us who Work for a Living declare bankruptcy, as many of us are being forced to do, we end up lucky if we still have someplace indoors to live.
Good investigative piece. I didn't even know anyone imported honey into the U.S., since I live in a part of Florida where local honey dominates.
I saw this as more of an analysis piece than pure journalism. While it was factual, the facts tended to support the overall thesis rather than stand on their own.
The story didn't answer the question posed in its headline. But then, how could it? No one seems to have a good idea what will happen to the stock market next year. The Times reporters laid out several possible scenarios in as even-handed a manner as possible, with quotes from several authoritative-sounding sources. That's about all anyone can -- or should -- do when predicting future economic moves.
This is not really news to those of us who live in this part of Florida. Kim and his friends were a little more blatantly fraudulent than most, but this kind of "get rich quick" mentality combined with incredible stupidity on the part of the lenders -- who were really loan brokers, not lenders -- and a total lack of federal oversight are what cause first the housing price runup that priced honest working people out of the real estate market, then led to its collapse. I note that comments from antisocials on this article blame the Community Reinvestment Act and "liberals" who boosted it for our housing and lending problems. I don't know whether these antisocials are stupid, deluded or lying. But around here our big default ... More »
I don't see how anyone could NOT expect major unemployment given the end of Real Estate Madness and its accompanying construction boom.
Mentioned many sides of the issue (and there *are* many sides), plus solutions as viewed through a number of eyes.
We have at least a dozen promising automotive start-ups in the U.S. that are more likely to succeed in developing new automotive technology than the old car companies whose bosses fly to D.C. in their private jets to beg for taxpayer handouts. Let the old companies go, support the new ones. Or -- better yet -- just send ME a few billion to invest in building a better car. I'll spend it making a modular series hybrid with wheel-mounted motors and the simplest, most efficient drive ... More »
I was not thrilled with this piece because it started out talking about McCain and veered off into Hillaryville. If Ms. Collins had stuck to McCain, it would have been a tighter and stronger piece. She could have used the Hillary material in another column.
This is a rare journalistic effort in that it goes behind the obvious and looks "behind the curtain" at forces that drive our economy. As a reporter who often covers business and economic matters, I have been amazed that the dollar's value drop and the factors that have made it obvious that this was going to happen haven't been covered by major media outlets. Kudos to Smirking Chimp for carrying a story that *really* should have been in the Wall Street Journal.
Pretty good story... didn't break any new ground for me, because I've been following Muslim issues for years. A fine overview for someone who *hasn't* been following how Islam gets along with the modern world, though.
As a Florida resident I love the condomizers as much as I love Rippy the Gator ending children's lives. Shaky con-job financing built on the premise that "stupid is as stupid does" condomites will buy units for much more than they're worth as rentals, plus attendant corruption as the condomizers bribe local planning boards and city councils into letting them violate height and density regulations. And all of this is supported by the U.S. taxpayers who subsidize the flood insurance programs that makes barrier island condomization financially possible in the first place.. Luckily, it looks like Real Estate Madness in Florida (and elsewhere) is ending. Hooray!
This isn't a typical "everything about an event" news story, so it can't be rated as such. It is, however, an excellent example of the "facts that may have been overlooked by others" story, which is a breed unto itself.
A thoughtful look at how Arab countries are trying (and often failing) to move into the 21st century. It's commentary, not reporting, and should be rated as such. But it's intelligent, fact-based, informed commentary; a fine example of its genre.
I'm surprised that I haven't seen more articles about "upside down" car loans and their long-term ramifications. Cars depreciate, and even in a three-year loan someone who finances 100% of a car purchase owes more than the car's value for at least the first year. With five and seven year car loans, the problem is worse. Next. we need to see some articles about practices in the "buy here - pay here" used car business, which often gets people into as big a debt trap as the payday loan crowd.
I see that other NewsTrust reviewers don't believe this is an important story. I think it is. Consistent tardiness at campaign events shows that the candidate doesn't respect the people who are waiting for him, and that he doesn't believe their time is as valuable as his.
Oh, those poor secular libertarian Ron Paul zealots! What will they do now? :( An unimpeachable story, since it quotes The Man himself.
This was a thought-provoker that left me wanting to know more about the subject. I would now like to read a 5000+ word piece, possibly with some graphs or other numerical data, about income inequality throughout history and in different cultures.
I loved the (predictable) token quote from one of the Heritage Foundation apologizers-for-the-rich. Guess those people don't have black relatives who have been laid off from $15/hour warehouse jobs and replaced by minimum wage illegals. Unfortunately, I do. This article mirrors my family's experience.
"Self-serving" is a great description of this piece. As insight into the mind of an unrestrained non-journalist with a blog, it was great. But as a view of the real world.... the "no one gives us young female bloggers a chance because we aren't white males" tone showed an amazing disconnect from reality. The last "new media" conference I attended had young, female bloggers all over the place, handily outnumbering Ms. Marcotte's stereotypical "30-something nerdy young white men who wear khakis." This story could have been retitled "Why editors are still needed, and why serious bloggers should have them." That, to me, was its underlying message.
Color-coded terror alerts may end
It’s a rewritten press release. And I’m a little irritated. I’ve been working for years to get the TSA to adopt new, more interesting colors including fuschia, mauve, silver, peach, and aqua. Now suddenly it seems that my efforts are wasted. ... More »