Daily Archives: February, 21, 2014

The FCC Shelves Controversial Newsroom Study – For Now

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In the wake of a massive conservative media outcry, the FCC is retreating from its plan to put researchers in American newsrooms  to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run.

Fox News reported:

FCC spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said Chairman Tom Wheeler agreed with critics that some of the study’s proposed questions for reporters and news directors “overstepped the bounds of what is required.”

The agency announced that a proposed pilot study in South Carolina will now be shelved, at least until a “new study design” is finalized. But the agency made clear that this and any future studies will not involve interviews with “media owners, news directors or reporters.”

Chalk one up for the First Amendment, but stay vigilant. Totalitarians never quit.  The “new study design” may not be any better than the old one – considering who is in charge of conducting the study.

In 2009, when she was still just a nominee for the Federal Communications Commission, Mignon Clyburn, the daughter of Rep. Jim Clyburn, told the Senate Commerce Committee, “The FCC is not in the content business.”

But just over a year since she was confirmed, the FCC is marching forward with a questionnaire for newsrooms that critics have ripped as invasive – and possibly a shot across the bow in a push to reinstate the Reagan-era fairness doctrine.

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Clyburn, whose father is a vocal proponent of the fairness doctrine, will be running the CIN study. Interestingly, a field test of the CIN will be happening in Jim Clyburn’s own home state of South Carolina within the city limits of Columbia.

Jake Tapper interviewed the author of the WSJ piece that spurred the controversy, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who was one of the staunchest critics of the proposal, on CNN earlier today during his “Buried Lede” segment, where he covers stories that he thinks aren’t getting enough attention. The news broke of the FCC’s retreat at the end of the segment.

Louis Farrakhan Pleads With Obama To Open Area 51 To Prove Existence of Giant Mother Wheel In The Sky

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Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, has called upon the president to “open up Area 51,” a government location in New Mexico known for sparking conspiracy theories surrounding aliens and UFO landings.

Via The Blaze,  comic relief for trying times…

During the final installment of his year-long sermon series “Time and What Must Be Done,” The Minister Louis Farrakhan called on President Barack Obama to “open up Area 51,” a government location known for sparking conspiracy theories surrounding aliens and UFO landings.

“President Barack Obama, call the scientists. Open up Area 51 to the scientists to the world, because you America are the leader that Allah God has raised and made you powerful that he might make himself known through you,” Farrakhan said. “And if America calls the scientists of the earth to such place, they will respond.”

The Nation of Islam leader said that calling “the scientists” to the location would “show them the sign of the presence of God to right the wrongs of the earth and heal it.”

Farrakhan maintained that Obama would place the “shadow government” — a coalition that is purportedly “controlled by the global elite” and has seemingly veiled Area 51 and UFOs in secrecy — in danger of being exposed if he complies.

The faith leader believes that this secretive government force has hidden the presence of UFOs from American presidents and the public alike for decades. This includes The Mother Wheel, a massive spaceship that he believes remains in orbit and will eventually rescue Nation of Islam adherents from earth.

“The scientists all over the earth will know, especially through the clarity of our voice and what they see that God is present and that we whom they have destroyed would not have this knowledge if it did not come from the highest of sources,” Farrakhan continued. “We believe our words that we have shared on the presence of the Wheel could help the president and America to avert Allah’s warning of chastisement and destruction if America does not bow down.”

Farrakhan described the mother-wheel, thus in a 2011 speech:

It took 15 billion dollars in gold at that time to build it. It is made of the toughest steel. America does not yet know the composition of the steel used to make an instrument like it. It is a circular plane, and the Bible says that it never makes turns. Because of its circular nature it can stop and travel in all directions at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. He said there are 1,500 small wheels in this Mother Wheel, which is a half mile by-a-half-mile. This Mother Wheel is like a small human built planet. Each one of these small planes carry three bombs.”

“Its gonna be astounding to see how scary them people gon look bruh,” said one commenter on YouTube.

Someone is slightly off his rocker, you guys.

The Council Has Spoken!! This Weeks’ Watcher’s Council Results

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

Even taking into consideration the normal high level of quality in both the Council and Non-Council entries, this was a tough call with some exceptional pieces to choose from, and the close vote tallies reflects it.

“There is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and defended a people’s safety and greatness.” -President Grover Cleveland

“I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air” – Margaret Thatcher

“Use your enemy’s hand to catch a snake.” – Persian Proverb

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This week’s winner,The Noisy Room’s Iran and the New Axis of Evil looks at the alliance betweenIran and Russia and the danger it poses for America. Here’s a slice:

For now we see through a glass, darkly the liaison between Russia and Iran that I have written at length on. As the faux interim nuclear deal between Iran and the world takes effect, Iran is cozying up to Mother Russia and suggesting joint military exercises. How long do we let this progress before America takes steps to stop the New Axis of Evil from crippling us permanently with an EMP, cyber attack or worse?

Middle East officials are stating that the joint naval exercises would take place in May. According to Aaron Klein of WND, Russia has not accepted yet and is still pondering the offer. Right. Do you really think that Russia will rebuff their proxy Iran? Iran and Russia have already agreed to expand ties.

Meanwhile, we move the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman outside of the Gulf as a gesture of goodwill. This is so the bogus interim nuclear agreement with Tehran can kick in. I’ve got a gesture or two for Iran, for Russia, for China and heck, for Obama… We’re opening our borders and allowing terrorists and spies into the US, we move our battleships away from the enemy to placate them, our country is sharing our personal data and secrets with Russia and the list goes on and on concerning actions that look clearly to me as outright attempts to aid our enemies and to help them bring us to our knees as a nation. It’s like watching Jurassic Park and just knowing the goat is going to get eaten by Trex, but you can’t look away. Hint: we’re the goat.

A week ago, I wrote about Iran’s ships headed towards US maritime borders:

The fleet, which consists of a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship, shoved off last month from the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. The ships are carrying some 30 navy academy cadets, supposedly for training, along with their regular crews. Instead of a three hour cruise, these sailors are on a three-month mission. This move is in response to the US naval deployments near its own coastlines. Emboldened by a weak US President and a weakened super power in general, the Iranians are poking the badger with no expectation of the Americans defending themselves. Why should they worry? It’s nukes and EMPs away and the most Obama would do is hit the golf course one more time.

And just as I predicted, what does Obama do? He hits the golf course – again. The EMP threat by this little band of merry Jihadists is not a laughing matter and I am not the only one warning people that the Iranians are coming:

Iran’s surprising decision to move warships off the Atlantic coast poses a potential catastrophic threat to America from a nuclear or electromagnetic pulse attack, according to an expert who foresaw Iran’s move.

Peter Pry, an expert on EMP attacks, said the ships are likely a dry run for a future attack, a maneuver meant to lull Washington into complacency while also embarrassing President Obama and his effort to convince Tehran to give up production of a nuclear bomb in return for a lifting of some economic sanctions.

“Yes, patrols by the Iranian Navy off our coasts could pose threat of a surprise EMP attack,” said Pry, who with others such as former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, has convinced several state legislatures to take moves to harden their electric and energy grids from EMP attack because Washington won’t.
Pry said the ships are probably conducting a test for a future visit from an Iranian freighter that would launch the attack.
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“I and my colleagues, including Reza Kahlili, who warned six months ago that these Iranian patrols were coming, think it more likely Iran would make an EMP attack by launching a missile off a freighter, so they could do the deed anonymously, and escape retaliation,” Pry explained.

“Iran has demonstrated the capability to launch a missile off a freighter. Iran has also purchased Russia’s Club-K missile system. The Club-K is a complete missile launch system, disguised to look like a shipping container, that could convert any freighter into a missile launch platform. The Club-K, if armed with a nuclear warhead, could be used to execute an EMP attack.”

Woolsey recently told Secrets that Iran was just months away from finishing production of their first nuclear bomb.
He also has joined with Pry and others, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in warning about a nuclear blast in the atmosphere that would knock out electric transformers and facilities in the mid-Atlantic.

And we just sit here and watch like none of this is real — like we are untouchable. Except we’re not and our enemies are getting ready not to just reach out and touch us, but clobber us. We have let the enemies within and without grow strong and emboldened, while we dither weakly and whine that we can’t do anything because our politicians won’t let us. This is our country, our government, our military… We better man up and force action here or get ready to face a new dark age.

Much more at the link

In our non-Council category, the winner was Doug Ross@Journal – Dear beautiful America, please, stop moving Forward (Guest Post by Aleksey) submitted by Rhymes with Right. It’s a moving plea from someone who has already seen where we’re headed if we don’t change course and begs us to do so for our freedom’s sake.

Here are this week’s full results. Only Simply Jews was unable to vote this week, but was not subject to the usual 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in…don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!