DropFox Blog
-
Does Fox Want The U.S. To Invade Russia For Oil?
April 25, 2012 9:43 am ET by Jocelyn Fong
A Fox Nation headline shouts: "RUSSIA HIRES EXXON MOBIL TO GET OIL OBAMA DOESN'T WANT." The headline accompanies a Breitbart.com post of the same title by AWR Hawkins about ExxonMobil's deal to develop Russian oil resources in the Arctic. The post is only a few paragraphs long but it gets an impressive number of things wrong. Let's take them one at a time. Hawkins begins by stating:
Here's the picture--Alaska contains a wealth of oil both on land, in ANWR, and off shore in its outer continental shelf. But President Obama and the Democrat party are staunchly opposed to allowing us to avail ourselves of it.
In fact, President Obama is expanding offshore drilling in the Arctic. You don't have to take it from me -- the VP of Shell Alaska has described the Obama administration as having responded "favorably" to its drilling plans. Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office questions whether regulators will be able to provide "sufficient oversight" of Arctic drilling operations given the "environmental and logistical risks associated with the remoteness and environment of the region." Hawkins continues:
And via the Keystone Pipeline, Canada could supply nearly 1,000,000 barrels of oil a day that we're not getting from Alaska, but Obama and the Democrats have stopped that too. As a result, the price we're paying per-gallon for gasoline is steadily climbing, and other countries are choosing to go where we won't for oil. Thus the oil Canada was going to sell us via Keystone will now go to China....
No serious energy analyst would agree that the administration's decision to delay Keystone XL is why gasoline prices have risen. And once the pipeline was up and running at full capacity in a decade or so, the impact on gasoline prices would be a matter of pennies, if anything. As for U.S. oil production, due to the scale of the global market, "we probably couldn't produce enough to affect the world price of oil," in the words of Ken Green from the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Hawkins claims that the U.S. will be missing out on Canadian oil in the absence of the Keystone XL pipeline, but as FactCheck.org has noted, "There's nothing to prevent more Canadian oil from coming into the U.S. right now" since "existing cross-border pipelines already have much more capacity than they are using" and will have excess capacity until at least 2020. An analysis conducted by the oil consulting firm EnSys for the Department of Energy found that U.S. oil imports are "insensitive" to "whether or not KXL is built and projected that in 2030, the amount of oil we import from Canada would be the same with or without the pipeline. Hawkins again:
-
Dick Morris Claims The Media Was "Too Harsh During The Iraq War," Which "Ruined A Presidency With Bush"
April 25, 2012 8:16 am ET by Media Matters staff
Previously:
Fox's Iraq War Cheerleaders Are Crestfallen Over Withdrawal
-
Fox's Carlson Thinks It's "Nutso" That Obama Is "Going On These Comedy Shows" Like Jimmy Fallon's
April 25, 2012 8:13 am ET by Media Matters staff
Previously:
Shockingly Petty: News Corp. Outlets Attack Obama Over Paper Clip
Fox's Obama Derangement Syndrome Extends All The Way To Children's Easter Egg Roll
"Summer of rage": Obama Derangement Syndrome grips conservative media once again
-
Fox's Carlson: Obama Went On "A Big Apology Tour" But "Mitt Romney Says He'll Never Apologize For America"
April 25, 2012 7:23 am ET by Media Matters staff
Previously:
Krauthammer Urges GOP To Attack Obama Using Ridiculous Apology Tour Line
-
Bill O'Reilly Omits Fox News In Criticizing "National News Programs" That Mislead Voters
April 25, 2012 1:52 am ET by Zachary Pleat
O'Reilly: "We Live In An Age Where Truth Really Doesn't Matter Anymore"
O'Reilly Criticized "National News Programs" That Don't Tell Viewers "What's True And What's Not True." On his Fox News show, O'Reilly stated:
O'REILLY: The problem for American voters is that anything goes these days. The Internet is full of unbelievable nonsense, as well as gross defamation. And now on some national news programs, we're getting the same craziness. So if you're uninformed, how can you possibly know what's true and what's not true?
And the problem is not exclusively on the left.
How many times have we heard that Barack Obama was not born in America, that he's a Muslim, a Manchurian candidate, a plant from outer space? Whatever madness the anti-Obama forces can think up.
We live in an age where truth really doesn't matter anymore. Greedy news executives and the net have obliterated it. Journalistic standards have collapsed -- the Trayvon Martin case proves that.
You can pretty much do anything you want in the media, and the courts don't care. It's almost impossible for a well-known person to win a judgment of defamation.
But Talking Points has had enough. So every time I see craziness in the national media during the campaign, I'm going to show it to you. And I hope you will vote with the clicker. That's the only solution to the problem. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 4/24/12]
O'Reilly Also Complained That "Crazy People" Are "Being Taken Seriously" On Cable News. O'Reilly also lamented that "what's happened now is that the crazy people behind some of these websites and are on cable television are actually being taken seriously." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 4/24/12]
Fox News Has Spent Years Promoting "Whatever Madness The Anti-Obama Forces Can Think Up"
O'Reilly: "Barack Obama Was Not Born In America"
During 2008 Campaign, Fox News Promoted Birtherism. In August 2008, Fox hosted WorldNetDaily writer Jerome Corsi to cast doubt on Barack Obama's birth certificate. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/15/08, via Media Matters]
In 2009, Fox Continued To Push Birther Theories. In May 2009, Fox Nation posted the headline, "Should Obama Release Birth Certificate? Or Is This Old News?" [Fox Nation, 5/28/09, via Media Matters]
Fox News Embraced Birther Conspiracy Theory Promoted By Donald Trump. Following Donald Trump's lead, Fox News figures repeatedly embraced or hyped the birther conspiracy theory by falsely claiming that President Obama has not produced his birth certificate, or by hosting birthers to hype their discredited theories unchallenged. [Media Matters, 4/20/11]
Fox Promoted Birther Myth In At Least 52 Segments In March And April 2011. A report from Media Matters shows that between March 2, 2011, and April 21, 2011, Fox News hyped the birther conspiracy theory in at least 52 segments. [Media Matters, 4/27/11]
For more examples of Fox personalities promoting birther conspiracies, click here
O'Reilly: Obama Is "A Muslim"
Special Report On Obama: "Islam Or Isn't He?" During a June 2009 segment, Special Report aired a quote by Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough, in which he talked about how Obama "experienced Islam on three continents" and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia with a Muslim father. Special Report included this question above the quote: "Islam Or Isn't He?" [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 6/3/09]
Charles Krauthammer: Obama "Does Have A Muslim Upbringing ... And An Affinity for Islam As A Result." On Special Report, discussing an Obama trip to the Middle East, Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer stated: "I think it's good for the president to use the fact that he does have a Muslim upbringing, relations, contacts, and an affinity for Islam as a result. That's important. He should use that in trying to warm relations with the Muslim world." [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 6/3/09]
Brian Kilmeade Asked:"If [Obama] Was Worried" About People Thinking He's Muslim, "Wouldn't He Have ... Kept His Name As Barry And Not Barack?" On the August 30, 2010, edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade reacted to news that "24 percent of this country thinks the president is a Muslim" by asking, "If he was worried about that, wouldn't he have changed -- kept his name as Barry and not Barack?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/30/10]
Fox Guest Suggested Obama Is Secretly Muslim. Fox & Friends hosted controversial Pastor Robert Jeffress, who said:
JEFFRESS: Steve, let's look at what really is going on here. On the one hand, we have a president who never met a Muslim holiday he didn't like, or at least wasn't willing to issue a proclamation for, and on the other hand, here he is refusing to acknowledge publicly the most important event in Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And yet the White House is wondering, why do 20 percent of Americans think the president is a Muslim? Well, as my kids would say, duh. I mean, it's actions like these that really make people wonder what it is the president really believes. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/26/11]
For more examples of Fox personalities casting doubt on Obama's faith, click here
O'Reilly: Obama Is "A Manchurian Candidate"
Fox News Hosted Aaron Klein To Push His Book, The Manchurian President. Fox & Friends invited WorldNetDaily writer Aaron Klein to promote his falsehood and conspiracy-ridden attack book on President Obama called The Manchurian President. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/24/10; Media Matters, 5/7/10]
Fox Later Hosted Klein To Red Bait About Occupy Wall Street. On October 26, 2011, Fox & Friends hosted WorldNetDaily's Aaron Klein, who claimed that Occupy Wall Street is linked to a "red army" of liberals that had "infiltrated" the White House. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 10/26/11]
O'Reilly: Obama Is "A Plant From Outer Space"
Hannity Endorsed ABC Show V, Suggested Alien Leader Was Similar To Obama. On November 4, 2009, Sean Hannity said:
HANNITY: And a new ABC drama seems to be taking aim at Obama-mania. That's right, you heard me right. The show is called V, and it focuses on a telegenic leader who arrives from outer space offering a message of hope and compromise and promising, you guessed it, universal health care. Sound familiar? Oh, and the media? They love this new leader. Now, V premiered last night. Let's take a look at a few clips.
[...]
You know, I think this is one TV show that I can actually get behind. [Fox News, Hannity, 11/4/09]
For more examples of Fox personalities likening Obama to an alien, click here
Fox Has Repeatedly Mainstreamed Guests To Propagate Conspiracy Theories
Fox Has Hosted Serial Conspiracy Theorist Joseph Farah. Joseph Farah, founder of the notorious conspiracy theorist website WorldNetDaily, has appeared more than once on Hannity. Farah has pushed the birther campaign against Obama and has engaged in other conspiracy theories as well. [Media Matters, 11/15/11; Fox News, Hannity, 1/31/12]
Fox News Has Legitimized Birther Propagandist Jerome Corsi. Since late July 2008, Fox News has hosted birther author Jerome Corsi and forwarded his conspiracy theories about the president's birth certificate several times. [Media Matters, accessed 4/24/12]
Fox Lifted Content From Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones. In February 2011, Fox Nation posted an article from well-known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, suggesting President Obama was responsible for power blackouts in Texas. That August, the Fox News show The Five picked up a story from Alex Jones' website. [Media Matters, 2/4/11; 8/1/11]
FoxNews.com Host John LeBoutillier Pushed Birther Conspiracies On The Air. Former Republican congressman John LeBoutillier was hired by Fox News in 2011 to co-host an online show with Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen. In November 2010, LeBoutillier appeared on Fox & Friends to push a fictional book, which he said contained "real stuff," including debunked conspiracy theories about Obama's birthplace. [Media Matters, 9/28/11; 11/29/10]
Fox Mainstreamed Islamophobic Blogger Pamela Geller. Fox News hosted anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller multiple times in 2010 through early 2011. Her hate speech against Islam was reportedly cited in accused Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik's manifesto. [Media Matters, 7/25/11]
-
Bill O'Reilly On Sex Workers As Victims: "It's Like A Drug Dealer Saying I Got Ripped Off"
April 25, 2012 1:44 am ET by Solange Uwimana
While discussing the Secret Service prostitution scandal, Bill O'Reilly said he sympathized with police officers who don't view sex workers as people with legitimate human rights. Talking to sex workers' rights advocate Sienna Baskin, O'Reilly stated that he understood police who "don't put a top priority on ladies who are engaged in prostitution because it is a crime," and added:
O'REILLY: It's like a drug dealer saying I got ripped off, you know. And they're going to say, "that's too bad, don't deal drugs." It's the same thing -- theoretically, from the police's point of view.
Baskin, co-director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York, was criticizing the "criminalization system" in the United States, which often makes sex workers "afraid to go to the police when they are themselves victims of crime." She called for legalizing prostitution as a way to reduce crimes against sex workers.
While O'Reilly agreed that there "would be harm reduction" with legalization, he also said that his "beef" with "legalizing prostitution is basically the same thing about legalizing marijuana -- that it sends a message that this is OK. And I know you represent some of these ladies, but I think that selling your body is -- diminishes a human being. It diminishes that person. And it -- and it does harm to them." He continued:
O'REILLY: In my reporting over 35 years, I've seen that almost 100 percent of the time in this industry, and I'm sure you have, too. Do you really want to say it's OK to do this? And that's what you would be doing by legalizing it.
O'Reilly later stated that the "message to society is, hey, look, if you want to be a hooker, go ahead. And we, the society, there's nothing wrong with it -- but there is. There is something wrong with it." He went on to ask: "Why do they have to sell their bodies to make a living? Why can't they get a legitimate job like 99 percent of the population?" O'Reilly concluded: "You can wait tables and drive a cab anytime you want in this city."
-
Bill O'Reilly Now Claims His Robert Reich "Communist" Accusation Was "A Joke"
April 25, 2012 12:36 am ET by Leslie Rosenberg
Bill O'Reilly is now laughing off his claim that former Labor Secretary Robert Reich is "a Communist" who "secretly adores Karl Marx." On his Fox News show tonight, O'Reilly said to Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer: "I called him a Communist with Lou Dobbs -- and we were both laughing. And on the Huffington Post, there it is: 'O'Reilly Calls Reich A Communist.' And he writes -- actually writes a column about it, Reich -- he's so indignant."
However, during the April 20 segment in which O'Reilly called Reich a "communist," neither he nor Dobbs appears to be laughing.
On April 23, Reich responded to O'Reilly in a Salon.com blog post in which he wrote, "For the record, I'm not a Communist and I don't secretly adore Karl Marx." Reich went on to write:
Ordinarily I don't bother repeating anything Bill O'Reilly says. But this particular whopper is significant because it represents what O'Reilly and Fox News, among others, are doing to the national dialogue.
They're burying it in doo-doo.
Reich added: "Ad hominem attacks are always the last refuges of intellectual boors lacking any logic or argument."
-
Doocy Also Pushed "Silver Spoon" Misquote On Fox Radio
April 24, 2012 11:31 am ET by Eric Hananoki
This morning, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy addressed his recent misquote of President Obama during an interview with Mitt Romney. On April 19, Doocy told Romney, "Speaking of rhetoric, [President Obama] had some fiery rhetoric pointed at you yesterday. He said, 'Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth.'"
As several outlets pointed out, Doocy put words into Obama's mouth. Obama never used the words, "unlike some people," which undermined Doocy's claim that the remark was "fiery rhetoric pointed at" Romney. During brief comments this morning, Doocy said he "did some paraphrasing that seemed to misquote the president" but didn't fully explain what he exactly got wrong on last Thursday.
Doocy's Fox & Friends misquote wasn't an isolated incident. After Fox & Friends on April 19, Doocy appeared on co-host Brian Kilmeade's Fox News Radio show where he again claimed that Obama said, "Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth." Listen:
KILMEADE: You just got done talking with the former governor of Massachusetts. Seems since getting the nomination, it is like a huge weight off his shoulders.
DOOCY: It does. And you know what? I think he's loosening up a little bit. He -- he did react to what President Obama said yesterday. Where he said, you know, I wasn't -- unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. And Mitt Romney said, you know what, I'm not -- I'm not going to attack fellow Americans. [Fox News Radio, Kilmeade & Friends, 4/19/12]
After Doocy made the remarks, the radio program actually played a brief clip of Obama stating, "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth." Doocy didn't react to the clip.
-
Reich On O'Reilly's Communist Accusation: It's Burying The National Dialogue "In Doo-Doo"
April 24, 2012 11:09 am ET by Emily Arrowood
In an April 23 Salon.com blog post, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich responded to Bill O'Reilly for labeling him a Communist who "secretly adores Karl Marx." Reich stated: "For the record, I'm not a Communist and I don't secretly adore Karl Marx."
Reich added that ad hominem attacks such as these are destructive to public discourse and are merely "the last refuges of intellectual boors lacking any logic or argument."
From Reich's post:
For the record, I'm not a communist and I don't secretly adore Karl Marx.
Ordinarily I don't bother repeating anything Bill O'Reilly says. But this particular whopper is significant because it represents what O'Reilly and Fox News, among others, are doing to the national dialogue.
They're burying it in doo-doo.
O'Reilly based his claim on an interview I did last week with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, in which I argued that because America's big corporations were now global we could no longer rely on them to make necessary investments in human capital or to lobby for public investments in education, infrastructure, and basic R&D. So, logically, government has to step in.
Since when does an argument for public investment in education, infrastructure, and basic R&D make someone a communist or a secret adorer of Karl Marx?
But obviously, O'Reilly has no interest in arguing anything. Ad hominem attacks are always the last refuges of intellectual boors lacking any logic or argument.
This is what's happening to all debate all over America: It's disappearing. All we're left with is a nasty residue.
In Washington, Democrats and Republicans no longer even talk. They just vent charges and counter-charges.
Reich's whole piece is well worth a read.
-
Steve Doocy Addresses "Silver Spoon" Misquote, But Doesn't Mention What He Got Wrong
April 24, 2012 9:58 am ET by Media Matters staff
After misquoting President Obama in an interview with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy this morning addressed the fabrication, stating that he "did some paraphrasing that seemed to misquote the president." From today's Fox & Friends:
DOOCY: Last week, President Obama talked about not being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. That was interpreted as a big dig at Mitt Romney. When I was interviewing Governor Romney on this show, I asked him about it. However, I did some paraphrasing that seemed to misquote the president. So to be clear, the president's exact quote was, "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth." And I hope that clears up any confusion.
In the original segment, Doocy said to Romney: "Speaking of rhetoric, [President Obama] had some fiery rhetoric pointed at you yesterday. He said, 'Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth.'" But as several outlets pointed out, Obama never said "unlike some people," which would have undermined Doocy's claim that the comment was "fiery rhetoric pointed at" Romney.
During his clarification this morning, Doocy did not explain what part of the quote was fabricated and that including the phrase "unlike some people" may have contributed to Obama's comment being "interpreted as a big dig at Mitt Romney." As Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple wrote of Doocy's misquote: "Romney gobbled it all up, saying, among other things, 'I know the president likes to attack fellow Americans.'"
Doocy's misquote of Obama also spread to the mainstream media. A Washington Post blog post and a New York Post editorial each included Doocy's misquote. Both outlets later issued corrections.
-
Fox's Carlson: The NAACP Is "An Absurd Fringe Group" That Is "Bankrupt Literally And Morally"
April 23, 2012 10:51 pm ET by Peter Anderson & Media Matters staff
Previously:
Tucker Carlson: NAACP Is "Totally Discredited, Some Would Say Pathetic"
MSNBC's Carlson Called NAACP "A Sad Joke That Should Be Shut Down"
-
Fox's Eric Bolling: For Environmentalists, Earth Day "Is About Undoing What Makes America Great"
April 23, 2012 6:35 pm ET by Media Matters staff
Previously:
Conservative Media Mark Earth Day By Demonizing Environmentalism
Happy Earth Day: Solar Panels And Green Construction Among Fastest-Growing Industries
-
Breitbart.com, Fox Nation Put Words In Van Jones' Mouth
April 23, 2012 5:51 pm ET by David Shere
Van Jones Was Discussing Health Benefits Of Environmental Regulations
Jones: EPA "Keep[s] Poison and Pollution Out Of Our Children's Water And Food And Bodies." From video of the NYC Green Festival at The Huffington Post (transcript begins at about 1:24:20; bolded text was left out of Breitbart video):
JONES: We've got some good principles like America the beautiful. That's a good principle. And some of us don't just sing the song and go home. You've got a lot of cheap patriotism right now, they just sing the song, America the Beautiful, and they go home, and they're nowhere to be found when it's time to defend America's beauty from the clear-cutters, and the oil spillers, and the mountaintop removers. How about we just stick up for America the beautiful? That's a good principle. And when people attack the agencies that defend America's beauty like the EPA, how about we stand up for EPA? They say EPA is a job killer. You heard of this? EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, probably has saved more American lives than the Department of Defense in the past 30 years, keeping poison and pollution out of our children's water, and food and bodies. [The Huffington Post, 4/21/12]
Jones: People Who "Call Environmental Regulations Job Killers" Should Be Asked, "How Many American Children Are You Willing To Kill For A Job?" From the NYC Green Festival:
JONES: They attack EPA, and say EPA is a job killer. No, no, no. The stuff EPA is dealing with are people killers and kid killers. I want to know, how many -- these people call environmental regulations job killers. How many American children are you willing to kill for a job? Why don't we ask them that? How many American children are you willing to poison per job? Why don't we stand up for our principles? I think actually respecting the air and the water and our children's health is a good principle. [The Huffington Post, 4/21/12, begins at approx. 01:25]
Jones Is Right -- EPA Rules Save Lives
WSJ: EPA Estimates Boiler Standards "Will Prevent As Many As 8,100 Premature Deaths." From The Wall Street Journal:
Friday's proposal, which aims to reduce mercury, soot and other toxic emissions, will apply primarily to about 5,500 boilers that emit the majority of pollution in this area. That's less than 1% of all boilers in the U.S. The remaining 99% of boilers either comply with the standards already or require only routine maintenance to stay in compliance, the EPA said.
EPA air-quality chief Gina McCarthy said Friday that the new rule hits a "sweet spot" between improving air quality and weighing the costs of implementation. "With this action, EPA is applying the right standards to the right boilers," said Ms. McCarthy.
The EPA said the standards will prevent as many as 8,100 premature deaths a year by 2015. [The Wall Street Journal, 12/2/11]
Congressional Research Service: Boilers Emit At Least Six "Known Or Probable Human Carcinogens." From the Congressional Research Service, hosted at the National Resource Defense Council:
Boilers emit at least 20 of the listed HAPs, including mercury, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, selenium, nickel, lead, manganese, phosphorous, antimony, beryllium, polycyclic organic matter, benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, dioxins, furans, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrogen fluoride. Six of these 20 are classified as known or probable human carcinogens. Others affect the lungs, skin, central nervous system (including adverse developmental effects), and/or kidneys. By controlling emissions of these substances, EPA expects to avoid 1,900 to 4,800 premature deaths annually, as well as many other health effects, including 1.5 million cases of acute respiratory symptoms. [NRDC.org, 1/24/11]
EPA: Air Toxics Rule Would Prevent Up To 17,000 Premature Deaths. From EPA's Regulatory Impact Analysis of the proposed air toxics rule:
The proposed Toxics Rule is expected to yield significant health benefits by reducing emissions not only of HAP such as mercury, but also significant co-benefits due to reductions in direct fine particles and in two key contributors to fine particle formation. Sulfur dioxide contributes to the formation of fine particle pollution (PM2.5), and nitrogen oxide contributes to the formation of PM2.5.
Our analyses suggest this rule would yield benefits in 2016 of $59 to $140 billion (based on a 3 percent discount rate) and $53 to $130 billion (based on a 7 percent discount rate). This estimate reflects the economic value of a range of avoided health outcomes, including 510 fewer mercury-related IQ points lost as well as a variety of avoided PM2.5-related impacts, including 6,800 to 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 5,300 hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, 850,000 lost work days and 5.1 million days when adults restrict normal activities because of respiratory symptoms exacerbated by PM2.5." [EPA, March 2011]
EPA: Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Would Prevent Up To 34,000 Premature Deaths. From the EPA's information on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which "requires states to significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that cross state lines and contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in other states." From EPA:
The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will help avoid tens of thousands of premature deaths and illnesses, achieving billions of dollars in public health benefits. By 2014, the required emissions reductions will annually avoid:
-13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths
-15,000 nonfatal heart attacks
-19,000 hospital and emergency room visits
-1.8 million lost work days or school absences
-400,000 aggravated asthma attacks [EPA, 7/6/11]
American Lunch Association: Restricting Air Toxics Would Protect Against "Cancer, Heart Disease, Neurological Damage, Birth Control, Asthma Attacks, And Even Premature Death." From a letter to the EPA from the American Lung Association:
When final, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Rule--required by the Clean Air Act--will protect Americans against life-threatening air pollution such as mercury, arsenic and other toxics linked to cancer, heart disease, neurological damage, birth defects, asthma attacks and even premature death.
[...]
More than 400 coal-fired power plants located in 46 states across the country release in excess of 386,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants into our air each year. The wide range of uncontrolled pollutants from these plants includes: arsenic; lead and other metals; mercury; dioxins; chemicals known or thought to cause cancer, including formaldehyde and benzene; and acid gases such ashydrogen chloride.
Those at risk of health effects from breathing these hazardous air pollutants include: infants, children and teenagers; older adults; pregnant women; people with asthma and other lung diseases; people with cardiovascular disease; diabetics; people with low incomes; and healthy adults who work or exercise outdoors. [American Lung Association, 5/18/11]
Breitbart.com, Fox Nation Distort Jones' Words To Claim He Attacked Right As "Willing To Kill Children To Weaken The EPA"
Breitbart.com: Jones "Claimed The Right Is Waging An Open Campaign And Willing To Kill Children To Weaken The EPA." From a post headlined "Van Jones: Conservatives Have 'Cheap Patriotism', Will 'Kill' Children For Jobs":
Speaking at the New York City Green Festival April 21st, Van Jones (Obama's former Green Jobs Czar) claimed the right is waging an open campaign and willing to kill children to weaken the EPA to create a new job.
[Breitbart.com, 4/22/12]
Fox Nation Headline: "Van Jones: Conservatives Willing To 'Kill Children' For Jobs." Fox Nation posted both the video and text commentary (cited above) from Breitbart.com.
[Fox Nation, 4/23/12]
-
Fox Cherry-Picks Glaciers To Hide Global Melt
April 23, 2012 12:39 pm ET by Shauna Theel
Study: One Mountain Range Is Bucking The Global Melting Trend
Study: Karakoram Range In Himalayas "Is Holding Steady, And May Even Be Growing." LiveScience reported that a study published in Nature Geoscience found that glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range did not shrink between 1999 and 2008:
Glaciers and sea ice around the world are melting at unprecedented rates, but new data indicates that this phenomenon may be lopsided. It seems that some areas of the Himalayan mountain range are melting faster than others, which aren't melting at all, a new study indicates.
Specifically, the Karakoram mountain range is holding steady, and may even be growing in size, the study, published in the April 2012 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, suggests.
"The rest of the glaciers in the Himalayas are mostly melting, in that they have negative mass balance, here we found that glaciers aren't," study researcher Julie Gardelle, of CNRS-Université Grenoble, France, told LiveScience. "This is an anomalous behavior."
The Karakoram mountain range spans the India-China-Pakistan border. It is home to the world's second highest peak, K2, and has the highest concentration of peaks over 5 miles (8 kilometers) high in the world. It is home to about half of the volume of the Himalayan glaciers. [LiveScience, 4/16/12, via The Christian Science Monitor]
It Was Already Known That Karakoram Glaciers Are Anomalous. The Carbon Brief reported on the recent study:
The research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, used satellite data to assess the state of glaciers in the central Karakoram mountains between 1999 and 2008, and found that the glaciers gained ice slightly over that period. The finding confirms evidence from the late 1990s of growing glaciers in the Karakorum, but suggests that previous estimates of how much the Karakoram glaciers contribute to sea level rise have probably been too high. [The Carbon Brief, 4/16/12]
Globally, Glaciers Are Losing Ice Rapidly. Skeptical Science explained:
Globally glaciers are losing ice at an extensive rate (Figure 1). There are still situations in which glaciers gain or lose ice more than typical for one region or another but the long term trends are all the same, and about 90% of glaciers are shrinking worldwide (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Long-term changes in glacier volume adapted from Cogley 2009.
Figure 2: Percentage of shrinking and growing glaciers in 2008-2009, from the 2011 WGMS report
It is also very important to understand that glacier changes are not only dictated by air temperature changes but also by precipitation. Therefore, there are scenarios in which warming can lead to increases in precipitation (and thus glacier ice accumulation) such as displayed in part of southwestern Norway during the 1990s (Nesje et al 2008).
The bottom line is that glacier variations can be dependent on localized conditions but that these variations are superimposed on a clear and evident long term global reduction in glacier volume which has accelerated rapidly since the 1970s. [Skeptical Science, 12/17/11]Climatology Professor: Study Concerned "A Very Short Period" And Doesn't Contradict Global Melting Trend. The Guardian reported that Jonathan Bamber, an expert on sea-level rise and climatology, cautioned that the study covered "a very short period":
Prof Jonathan Bamber, at the University of Bristol, said Gardelle's research was consistent with global gravity work. But he cautioned: "Nine years is a very short period to draw strong conclusions about trends in glaciers. If you are looking for a climate effect - as opposed to a weather effect - you usually take a 30-year period as a minimum, on the assumption that this averages out the interannual variability."
Cogley emphasised that, despite the relatively ice small growth seen the Karakoram, global glacier and ice cap melting is continuing and contributing to rising sea levels. "The world exhibits enormous variety, but that doesn't mean we cannot make valuable generalisations about how it is changing," he said. [The Guardian, 4/15/12, via Carbon Brief]
Lead Researcher: "We Cannot Expect The Climate To Be Uniform Over The Whole Range." From an article at CNN.com:
Lead author, Julie Gardelle from University of Grenoble in France says explanations for this increase are still not clear, but might lie in the localized climate.
"Studies have already reported an increase in winter precipitation and a lowering of summer temperatures since the 1960s in low-altitude valleys of Karakoram," Gardelle said.
"Given the wide extent of high mountain Asia, we cannot expect the climate to be uniform over the whole range, so a peculiar atmospheric behavior over Karakoram may not be surprising," she added.
The study confirms an anomaly in the region which was put forward in 2005 and contrasts with the experience of the central and eastern Himalayas where most glaciers are shrinking, say researchers.
[...]
Despite the slight gains, Gardelle says, the message on climate change remains the same.
"Global warming is far from spatially homogeneous and continuous with time. In our warming world, there are regions of the Earth where, during a few years or decades, the atmosphere is not warming or even cooling," Gardelle said.
"Karakoram may be one of those, but we lack consistent high elevation weather station to conclude firmly on this." [CNN.com, 4/17/12]
But Fox Hides Global Trend To Cast Doubt On Climate Change
Fox Suggests Study Refutes Global Warming. On the April 20 edition of Fox & Friends, Fox News co-host Steve Doocy and guest Chris Horner never made clear that the study concerned one particular range in the Himalayas, and actually claimed that most glaciers are "getting bigger" and that this shows "their theory is wrong":
STEVE DOOCY, CO-HOST: Global warming hysterics could soon face a cold, hard truth. Some glaciers are actually growing. French scientists studying satellite images have discovered the glaciers in Asia have actually increased in size over the past nine years. Oh, hope Al Gore is not watching this. Chris Horner is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute; he joins us today from Virginia. Chris, I thought the glaciers were all disappearing and now you're telling me that they're getting bigger.
CHRIS HORNER, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: You could say most are getting bigger because most of the glaciers are found down under in Antarctica and that is cooling despite Al Gore's prior claims and growing. But around the world -- around the United States, South America, Canada, Asia, Europe -- glaciers are in fact growing, as well as some are shrinking. But frozen things have a very limited repertoire and they tried to read much too much into select ones shrinking.[...]
DOOCY: So Chris, what does this do to their argument that everything, you know, the globe is getting warmer and everything is melting?
HORNER: Well they have yet to let facts stand in the way of their argument, but what it does is it continues to educate the public because glaciers have this emotional tie to people and you can point to them. But we're going to point to the ones growing -- Mount Shasta, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Ferry National Park in Canada, all over -- and point out that their theory is wrong. You don't -- we could continue spending money on the pursuit of knowledge, which seems to terrify them, instead of redesigning the American economy fundamentally, as the president wants.
DOOCY: Sure. This is surprising. You know, I haven't heard on any of the other channels that some of the glaciers are getting bigger, but that's why people watch Fox. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/20/12, emphasis added]
-
The "Silver Spoon" Misquote: Fox Pushes Blog Fabrication Into Mainstream Press
April 22, 2012 5:13 pm ET by Terry Krepel
On the April 19 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy said to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney: "Speaking of rhetoric, [President Obama] had some fiery rhetoric pointed at you yesterday. He said unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth."
But that's not what Obama said. As Newshounds and Talking Points Memo note, in his April 18 speech, Obama did not preface his "silver spoon" remark with the words "unlike some people" [9:00]:
OBAMA: That's why we've got the best universities and colleges in the world. That's why we have cutting-edge research that takes place here, and that then gets translated into new jobs and new businesses, because somebody did the groundwork. We created a foundation for those of us to prosper. Somebody gave me an education. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Michelle wasn't. But somebody gave us a chance, just like these folks up here are looking for a chance.
As TPM points out, Obama has used similar "silver spoon" constructions since at least March 2009, suggesting that the comments were not "pointed at" Romney.
Doocy appears to have taken his misquote of Obama from a Hot Air blog post that appeared the previous day, which carries the headline "Obama: Unlike some people, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth."
Since then, the misquote has spread to the mainstream press. A Washington Post blog post by Philip Rucker reporting on Romney's Fox & Friends interview falsely puts "unlike some people" in quotes - even while linking to the Post's own report on the speech, which does not include those words. A New York Post editorial and blogs like Instapundit have also repeated the misquote.
This isn't the first time Fox News has promoted a misquote; last year, for instance, Fox ran with a fabricated quote of Teamsters president James Hoffa to accuse him of inciting violence against conservatives. And in 2010, Doocy made a similar mistake of apparently believing what he had read on a blog by suggesting that Obama was lying about Hawaii being struck by an earthquake in 2006.
UPDATE: As TPM noted on Sunday night, The Washington Post has corrected its article that included the "silver spoon" misquote.
-
Fox News Dismisses Voter ID Law Concerns Using Fox Opinion Poll
April 20, 2012 3:27 pm ET by Zachary Pleat
This week, Fox News correspondent Shannon Bream continued the network's campaign to advance the Republican narrative that states need to implement voter identification laws to stop voter fraud by pointing to a poll showing results that validate those concerns. The poll, commissioned by the network, found that a majority of respondents agreed that "voter identification laws are needed to stop illegal voting." But evidence shows that such laws have kept many eligible voters, including the elderly and racial minorities, from voting.
During an April 18 Special Report segment on voter ID laws, Bream highlighted the concerns of the NAACP and Color of Change that the laws could depress minority turnout during elections, but countered those concerns by touting a Fox News opinion poll:
BREAM: A brand-new Fox News poll shows by a two-to-one margin Americans do not believe those who support voter ID laws are trying to block legal votes by minorities. In fact, 70 percent reported they believed the laws are necessary to stop illegal voting.
But the poll is problematic in several ways, namely that it ignored the facts surrounding the issue.
-
Fox "Straight News" Anchor Rick Folbaum On Romney Assertion Of "Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy" In Media: "Isn't It True?"
April 20, 2012 1:32 pm ET by Media Matters staff
Previously:
Facts Bust Media Narrative That Obama Favored Health Care Over Economy
Fox Spreads Romney's Dubious Talking Point On Women's Job Losses
Romney Says Fox News Is "Pretty Fair And Balanced" And Not "Shilling For Anyone"
-
Fox's O'Reilly, Carlson Warn That Glee Makes Kids Experiment With Homosexuality, Identify As Transgender
April 20, 2012 11:30 am ET by Carlos Maza
During the April 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly hosted a segment attacking this week's episode of Glee for featuring a storyline about a transgender teenager struggling with her gender identity. O'Reilly was joined by Fox & Friends' Gretchen Carlson and Judge Jeanine Pirro.
Throughout the segment, O'Reilly and Carlson criticized Glee for encouraging "dopey kids" to experiment with homosexuality and possibly identify as transgender, comparing LGBT youth to smokers and "drug-fueled" celebrities:
O'REILLY: Here's the problem with a show like this, though. If you make the behavior of these people ... if children hear it, unsupervised children, okay who don't have parents watching their -- they might go out and experiment with this stuff.
PIRRO: Do you really think that this is the kind of thing that's contagious?
O'REILLY: I don't know.
PIRRO: That if kids see this, that they're going to say 'gee, I want to be a girl even though I'm not going to wear my mom's high heels tonight.'
[...]
O'REILLY: When I was a teenager and I saw James Dean smoking, it made me want to smoke.
[...]
CARLSON: I don't think that watching Glee is going to suddenly make kids want to be transgender or suddenly make them wake up one morning and say that they're going to be -
OREILLY: Experimentation. Experimentation.
CARLSON: But experimentation. I'm with you on this Bill because I wholeheartedly believe, in today's society, that kids are experimenting with homosexuality. We see it in celebrities who maybe just do it on the side, and it may be drug-fueled.
[...]
O'REILLY: If you make it glamorous in a program like Glee, which is undeniably a good program... a lot of these dopey kids are confused about who they are. They're confused.
PIRRO: Yeah, but you know what Bill, that's one of the things you can't change about yourself because you think it's interesting or it's new.
O'REILLY: But do you want to encourage experimentation in these areas?
[...]
CARLSON: Why do we have rules for anything then Bill?
PIRRO: We all parent our kids but you can't parent their sexuality. You're saying they have a choice in it.
CARLSON: No I'm not saying this is suddenly going to turn somebody gay, but I totally agree with Bill that this causes kids to experiment. And if we didn't- why do we have any rules in society then if we don't try and set some parameters for our children to live their lives? I just think that this is way over the top. [emphasis added]
O'Reilly and Carlson's fear-mongering is reminiscent of last years Fox News meltdown over Chaz Bono's appearance on Dancing with the Stars. Back then, medical professionals widely condemned the idea that transgender people on television could cause kids to identify as transgender.
John Oldham, president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), stated that there was "no evidence" that television shows could induce Gender Identity Disorder in young people. Dr. John Grohol, editor-in-chief of PsychCentral, agreed, writing that there isn't a "shred of scientific evidence to support such a ridiculous premise."
-
Fox News Promotes Another Anti-Gay Attack On NIH Over "Homoerotic" Website
April 20, 2012 10:00 am ET by Carlos Maza
On Thursday, FoxNews.com published an article parroting right-wing criticisms of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over an allegedly “homoerotic” website it created to promote safe-sex practices among gay men. According to FoxNews.com:
The National Institutes of Health has spent millions of dollars over the past decade to fund the construction of an HIV-prevention website that, among other sexually explicit features, includes a graphic image of homosexual sex and a Space Invaders-style interactive game that uses a penis-shaped blaster to shoot down gay epithets.
[...]
[T]he site used unorthodox methods to get subjects' attention and keep them interested. The site includes pornographic images of homosexual sex as well as naked and scantily clad men. It includes several risqué interactive features, like the Space Invaders-style arcade game.
Fox’s reporting is based on complaints raised by the anti-gay hate group Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), which started complaining about the “gay porn” website earlier this week. The article quotes TVC president Andrea Lafferty, who condemned the funding of “cockamamie grants” during tough economic times.
The FoxNews.com article prioritizes focusing on the “homoerotic” aspects of the website – and that lens seems to have trickled down to the rest of the network. Fox Nation quickly picked up the story:
And Fox Radio reporter and hate-group mouthpiece Todd Starnes wasn’t far behind, echoing the “gay porn” attack on his Twitter account:
Fox’s obsession with gay pornography, of course, wildly misrepresents the purpose of NIH’s “Sexpulse” website. The website is part of a broader effort to determine the effectiveness of internet-based interventions into public health problems. Far from being a “homoerotic” porn website, Sexpulse is geared towards encouraging safe-sex practices by using programming targeted at sexually active gay men. As the Star Tribune reported in 2008:
At first glance, Sexpulse looks like a sexually explicit gaming website, with provocative pictures of nude men, cartoons and cheeky icons. But it's not a game. Far from it.
The website, in development at the University of Minnesota, is the newest strategy to slow a second wave of the HIV/AIDS epidemic rising among young gay and bisexual men.
[...]
A lot of health education websites are "Debbie Downers," said Michael Allen, chief executive officer of Allen Interactions. The company is working with Rosser and other experts at the university to build the site. "They [other websites] are constantly trying to scare you or tell you how bad things are," Allen said.
Sexpulse is different. It's fun, funny and designed to change behavior both through education and boosting self-esteem, Allen said -- the model he uses for all kinds of e-learning.
"If we don't change people's behavior, we are not doing anything that matters," he said.
Sexpulse sports 14 compartments with titles such as Hit the Gym, addressing body image, and Sex Calculator, which helps the user understand what leads him to do something risky. There is a practice chat room with tools for teaching how to set expectations.
This isn’t the first time that Fox has ginned up one of TVC’s anti-gay meltdowns about NIH funding. Last July, the same FoxNews.com reporter, Judson Berger, peddled TVC’s outrage over an NIH-backed study that allegedly focused on the penis sizes of gay men. TVC’s criticism of the study was eventually determined to be both inaccurate and misleading, but that doesn’t appear to have deterred Fox from relying on the group for its anti-gay horror stories.
-
Jewish Justice Organization Condemns Ailes Following Gawker Publication Of Emails On Soros
April 19, 2012 6:54 pm ET by Joe Strupp
The chief executive of a leading Jewish policy organization is condemning Fox News president Roger Ailes for reportedly urging his hosts to push the false claim that Jewish philanthropist George Soros aided the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Alan van Capelle, CEO of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, criticized Ailes following a report today that Ailes had emailed Fox host Bill O'Reilly suggesting he promote the false claim about Soros. Van Cappelle said that those emails indicate "the hate at Fox starts at the top."
According to a story on Gawker, which obtained the emails:
On November 1, 2010, Ailes sent an email to Bill O'Reilly and his producer David Tabacoff. It contained a partial transcript from a 12-year-old 60 Minutes profile of George Soros in which Soros, a Jew, acknowledged that he posed as a Christian under the Nazi regime and helped confiscate property from other Jews being shipped off to death camps.
The emails indicate Ailes received the transcript from Mitchell Kweit, Fox's vice president for news research and strategic information, in an email titled "Soros No Nazi Guilt," and forwarded it to O'Reilly and Tabacoff with the note, "FYI. This guy has no conscience."
In reality, as a fourteen-year-old boy in occupied Hungary, Soros was hidden from the Nazis by a Christian family. The man hiding Soros was assigned to go inventory the estate of a wealthy Jewish family and brought Soros along to protect him. Soros himself was never part of any property confiscation.
O'Reilly's producer Tabacoff replied to Ailes with a single word: "ugly." Ailes responded by asking, "Do you think you guys will use it or should I give it to someone else?"
That someone else was likely Glenn Beck. The following evening during the 5 p.m. hour of his show, Beck promoted a special about Soros. Beck referred to the billionaire philanthropist as a "puppet master" and questioned his Jewish identity. Earlier that day on his radio show, Beck said Soros "saw people into gas chambers."
Beck's "special," which was broadcast a week later, included the information Ailes forwarded to O'Reilly. Beck claimed Soros "had to help the government confiscate the lands of his fellow Jewish friends and neighbors." On his radio show Beck went even further, saying that Soros helped "send the Jews" to "death camps." His comments were widely condemned by Jewish leaders.
"It's obvious that Glenn Beck could not have carried on his insane tirades against George Soros without the support of Roger Ailes, so these emails really just confirm what common sense tell us - the hate at Fox News starts at the top," van Capelle told Media Matters in a statement Thursday.
"George Soros lost family members in the Holocaust. As a 13 year old boy he survived because his father arranged for him to be hidden with a non-Jewish family willing to take an enormous risk to do the right thing. Six decades later Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck exploited these circumstances to call Soros a Nazi-collaborator. It's a characterization that speaks volumes about Ailes and Beck, and says nothing at all about George Soros."
Bend the Arc was formed in April 2012 from the merger of Jewish Funds for Justice and the Progressive Jewish Alliance.
