The Hollywood Liberal

Marriage Vow Renounces Slavery
A social conservative Iowa group has retracted language regarding slavery from the opening of a presidential candidates’ pledge signed by Michele Bachmann and supported by Rick Santorum. The Family Leader’s Marriage Vow seemed to indicate that black children born to slavery were more fortunate than children born today: “Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President,” it read.

Late Late Night FDL: I Didn’t Fuck It Up
Katie Goodman — I Didn’t Fuck It Up.

Katie Goodman — I Didn’t Fuck It Up.

What’s on your mind?

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Time to pay up
Months after going off on GE for not paying taxes, comes information that Rupert’s enterprises not only did not pay, but made a profit.

Pic via dfarber at flickr.com

While waiting for the eventual story of Murdoch papers phone-hacking cancer-wards, Jerry’s Kids, Tom Hanks, the Pope, and Nelson Mandela, it is good to remember there are further crimes and hypocrisies for Rupert to mine.

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Remember when it was reported that GE didn’t pay any taxes last year and Fox News went nuts because GE owned NBC and GE head Jeffrey Immelt supports Obama?

Why yes I do, good times.

Over the past four years Murdoch’s U.S.-based News Corp. has made money on income taxes. Having earned $10.4 billion in profits, News Corp. would have been expected to pay $3.6 billion at the 35 percent corporate tax rate. Instead, it actually collected $4.8 billion in income tax refunds, all or nearly all from the U.S. government.

Why that little scamp — not paying taxes is the epitome of good citizenship if you are conservative and only became a citizen to acquire media properties. Why it is, I dare say, the very height of patriotism — if you are a Republican.

Poor misunderstood Rupert, just ask Roger “Go Ahead and Call me Richard” Cohen.

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Study: More U.S. Men Than Women Die of Cancer
This is one of those scientific categories in which it’s better to come in second: According to a new study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, men in the U.S. are more likely to die of cancer than their female counterparts. However, unlike other studies that attribute the gender divide in cancer mortality rates to differences between men’s and women’s preventive care strategies, as one example, the take-away in this case is that men develop some form of the disease more often than women, according to one of the cancer researchers who worked on the study.  —KA WebMD: Our research suggests that the main factor driving greater frequency of cancer deaths in men is the greater frequency of cancer diagnosis, rather than poorer survival once the cancer occurs,” says study researcher Michael B. Cook, PhD, BsC, of the National Cancer Institute. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Cook says that if investigators “can identify the causes of these gender differences in cancer incidence, then we can take preventative actions to reduce the cancer burden in both men and women.” Read more

This is one of those scientific categories in which it’s better to come in second: According to a new study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, men in the U.S. are more likely to die of cancer than their female counterparts.

However, unlike other studies that attribute the gender divide in cancer mortality rates to differences between men’s and women’s preventive care strategies, as one example, the take-away in this case is that men develop some form of the disease more often than women, according to one of the cancer researchers who worked on the study.? —KA

WebMD:

Our research suggests that the main factor driving greater frequency of cancer deaths in men is the greater frequency of cancer diagnosis, rather than poorer survival once the cancer occurs,” says study researcher Michael B. Cook, PhD, BsC, of the National Cancer Institute.

The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Cook says that if investigators “can identify the causes of these gender differences in cancer incidence, then we can take preventative actions to reduce the cancer burden in both men and women.”

Read more

Soldier Suicides and the Politics of Presidential Condolences
President Barack Obama just announced a reversal of a long-standing policy that denied presidential condolence letters to the family members of soldiers who commit suicide. By Amy Goodman

President Barack Obama just announced a reversal of a long-standing policy that denied presidential condolence letters to the family members of soldiers who commit suicide.

Cintra Wilson: C-Word 40: A Man Like America
You have been married to America for a long time. You invested all your money in a house which he allowed to deteriorate, along with your relationship. He has always been evasive — now you strongly suspect he is constantly lying to you.

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Want to Solve All your Problems, Rupert Murdoch? Become A Banker.
Rupert Murdoch’s got problems. His employees are being arrested, he’s losing his latest acquisition, and he’s just been called to testify before Parliament. But there’s…

Arizona Immigration Law Mastermind Faces Recall Election
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has announced a Nov. 8 recall election for the leader of the state Senate who was the chief sponsor…

Fox “News” Judgment: Media Matters Tax Status More Important Than NY Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Since June 23, Fox News has devoted 35 full segments to discredited attacks on Media Matters for America that suggest that the Internal Revenue Service should revoke the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax status. By contrast, over the same time period, the network devoted only six full segments and 13 news briefs to New York’s passage of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

Fox News Gave Significantly More Coverage To Discredited Attacks On Media Matters Than To NY Marriage Bill 

Fox Aired Five Times More Full Segments Attacking Media Matters‘ Tax Status Than It Did On Same-Sex Marriage in NY. Fox News aired 35 full segments that attacked Media Matters and questioned the organization’s tax status between June 23 and July 10, but only six full segments on the passage of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in New York during the same period, according to a Media Matters analysis. Fox also ran 13 news briefs on the marriage bill.

To see Media Matters data on Fox News’ attacks, click here.

To see Media Matters data on Fox News’ coverage of same-sex marriage in New York, click here.

Politico: Legal Expert Says “The Law Is On Media Matters’s Side.” From a July 7 Politico article:

In the past 10 days, Fox has run more than 30 segments calling for the nonprofit group to be stripped of its tax-exempt status. Its Fox Nation website has even provided a link to pre-completed complaint forms against Media Matters to send to the Internal Revenue Service. […]

Its argument was first laid out in a June 22 column in the Washington Times by C. Boyden Gray, former President George H.W. Bush’s White House counsel, who cited two actions by Media Matters: its “unsupported” claims about Fox News being the voice of the Republican Party and a “sophisticated, Democratic-leaning media training boot camp” sponsored by the group that, Gray said, in essence, provided support to the Democratic Party. […]

Marcus Owens, a partner at Caplin & Drysdale and former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS, said the law is on Media Matters’s side on both counts. […]

Owens argues that Media Matters is no different from its competitors on the right when it comes to these criteria. 

“The bottom line is, as long as an organization is following a process and establishing or attempting to establish that its views have some basis in fact, then as long as it isn’t doing something like the equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater or encouraging people to commit crimes, then it probably is going to qualify as educational,” he said. “As a result, we have Media Matters, and we have Brent Bozell and the Media Research Center, and we have all kinds of other organizations that are doing the same thing.”

He argues that MRC’s website is not substantially different from Media Matters in that both attack media companies on what they feel is the opposite side of the ideological aisle. 

“I’m afraid Fox loses this round,” Owens said. [Politico, 7/7/11]

Methodology

Media Matters compiled coverage of Fox News’ attacks on our organization’s tax status as they aired.

Media Matters reviewed Fox News transcripts in Nexis, TVEyes.com, and Snapstream databases featuring the words “marry,” “marriage,” or “york” to count the network’s coverage of the New York marriage bill.

News segments in which an issue was a main topic of discussion or reporting were coded as “full segments.” Shorter reports (less than one minute) on an issue were coded as “news briefs.” Passing mentions were not coded. Reports in rebroadcast programming were not coded. Packaged reports that ran on multiple programs were coded each time they ran.

Feds Take 3,194 Days To Decide They Still Don’t Like Marijuana
Nearly nine years ago, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis challenged the Drug Enforcement Administration’s classification of marijuana as a schedule I drug, asking them to reschedule cannabis as a schedule III, IV or V drug instead. On Friday, they got their answer: no thanks.

Human Rights Group Demands Obama Investigate Bush Over Torture
A leading human rights group is criticizing the Obama administration for failing to criminally investigate anyone from the Bush administration for approving the use of torture against detainees.

Feds: Louisiana Not Providing Voter Registration Forms At Public Assistance Offices
Federal officials are suing the state of Louisiana for failing to provide voter registration forms at public assistance and disability services agencies. The Justice Department said that the state is in violation of section seven of the National Voter Registration…

“My war gone by, I miss it so”: Violent death revisited
Where was I during the Bosnian War? How come I didn’t know anything about what actually went on during the breakdown of the former Yugoslavia? Was it because I was busy dealing with raising children and working in a law office and teaching at juvenile hall? Or because the internet hadn’t been available back in […]

Romney Continues to Lead GOP Field
A new Quinnipiac national poll finds Mitt Romney leading the Republican presidential field with 25%, followed by Michele Bachmann at 14%, Sarah Palin at 12% and Rick Perry at 10%. No other contender is over 6%.

President Obama holds double-digit leads over all of the GOP White House contenders, hitting the all-important 50% mark against every candidate but Romney. Obama leads Romney, 47% to 41%.

Said pollster Peter Brown: “The question about Rep. Bachmann is whether she is the flavor of the month, like Donald Trump was for a while, or does she have staying power? Perhaps more than any of the other GOP contenders, Bachmann’s fortunes may depend on whether Governors Palin or Perry get into the race. All three of them are likely to appeal to the GOP’s Tea Party constituency.”

Hahn Holds CA-36 Seat in Democratic Column
Janice Hahn (D) has defeated Craig Huey (R) in the special election for California’s 36th congressional district 55% to 45%, according to the AP.

Hahn’s margin is underwhelming for Democrats, who hold an 18-point registration advantage in the district, and largely tracks with the results of a recent poll in the district.

Wisconsin Democrats Defeat “Fake” Candidates
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that six fake Democratic candidates “put up by the Republican Party to buy time for Republican state senators subject to recalls” were defeated handily, though they were still successful in their goal of delaying the general election until August 9.

“That the primaries were held at all is a function of the twists and turns of political strategy played out in recent months as the state broke into warring camps over Walker’s attempt to restrict collective bargaining for public employees.”

More upcoming tests: “Three Democratic state senators also face recall elections… Elections in the recalls of the Democrats are July 19. Two of those races will be Republican primaries; the third, between Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Republican challenger David VanderLeest of Green Bay, is a general election. The other two general elections will be Aug. 16.”

The Fight for WI Workers Is Still On: Activism Is Alive and Well, Now Focused on Recalling Republicans
Nine recall elections over the next six weeks will help gauge the strength of the resistance effort against Scott Walker, and how long it will take to reverse his course.

Obama Nuclear Arms Reduction Blamed for Proliferation Threat
The world faces mounting threats of nuclear proliferation in Iran, North Korea, and potentially Saudi Arabia. Do you want to know why? Well according to Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation, one major cause is the US administration’s own nuclear…

What Blinds Murdoch Apologists Like Roger Cohen?
Why is it that journalists who’ve written very credibly as impassioned defenders of the public sphere also swoon over Rupert Murdoch, the brilliant entrepreneur, as if his business triumphs cleansed what he does to every public sphere he touches? In…

Murdoch’s America in 170 Words
Here’s what Rupert Murdoch means for American public discourse, in 170 words — the closest I’ll come to a tweet-like summary of the longer argument in the post here below: Alexander Hamilton founded the New York Post because he was…