The National Geographic Society essentially turns over its "media assets," including its flagship magazine, to 21st Century Fox. And the National Geographic Society's Chief Executive called the deal "bold"! Doesn't he know that "bold" is the word Our Glorious Elites use to mean "something unconscionably stupid that will befuddle the inattentive while making us even richer"? I'd rather not watch Rupert Murdoch turn National Geographic into a mountain of dung, which he'll do -- I mean, Fox helped give us the National Geographic cable channel, and is that worth your time? At least I've got their first 127 years on disc and on my bookshelf, so I can remember when they did great work.
Warren Buffett, everyone's favorite rich man, praises Bernie Sanders for the campaign he's running. But remember when Mr. Buffett said Elizabeth Warren was too "angry" and "violent" when she criticized Wall Street banksters? Now that he seems more sanguine about a male politician who stands to Ms. Warren's left and whose tone toward the banks is about the same as hers, I'm more inclined to think Mr. Buffett was being sexist back then.
Speaking of Bernie Sanders, a Manhattan College history professor reminds us that the "liberal" media calls his positions "left" when they're actually supported by a majority of Americans. If you remember how the "liberal" media called opposing the Iraq war a "far-left" position after it had become the majority position, then you know that's how they do it -- they take the things most people want and they call them "left," or "liberal," or "extreme." Or "un-American." If they can just convince you that the things you want are things those people people want, they can win. But don't let them win. They don't deserve to win.
PR hack runs campaign purporting to show small businesses affected adversely by minimum wage hikes -- but the Center for Media and Democracy finds that several of the small businesses depicted in the campaign actually favor minimum wage hikes, and are none too happy about being misrepresented. When America's small businesses finally get tired of being taken hostage by right-wingers ("don't raise taxes on rich people, or this small business gets it!), then we will truly have progress in America. In the meantime, I'll do my part to remind small businesses that they're tired of it.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the FCC's rule helping consumers block robocalls. They act like "consent" from a consumer is so hard to get (it's only hard when you're trying to trick people into giving it!), and that's not very can-do of them. Seriously, though is there any cause so unpopular that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce won't support it? Next, I guess they'll tell you that you should always let your neighbor's dog poop on your lawn, because TEH GUBMINT OVERREACHEZ!!!!!
Finally, this really did have to be said, and I'm glad James O'Malley at The Independent said it: Syrian refugees are not somehow "unworthy of our help" if they happen to possess smartphones. Mr. O'Malley makes at least a dozen good points (like, hey, they're not fleeing Syria because they're poor so much as because their government is shooting them). But do people who point out refugees with smartphones (or poor Americans with debit cards) really not understand how easy it is to get a smartphone with very little money down (particularly, as Mr. O'Malley, reminds us, an older model)? Or are they just jerks who need to prove how smart they are, or who like to hit people when they're down? This probably won't surprise you, but I think they're just jerks.
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