CountyFair had an important and much-needed lesson in journalistic ethics for us this morning. The key points: First: it should never, ever be considered acceptable to quote a candidate or official making a false claim without noting its falsity. Reporters do this all the time, justifying it by saying they’re just presenting both sides, or that they aren’t making the
Read moreLast night we watched the Final Cut of Blade Runner again, and if you don’t have this package I can’t recommend it highly enough. 25 years on, Ridley Scott was able to finally re-craft the film as he wanted it originally, and the result is a stunning achievement. Scott has been one of our greatest directors for a very long
Read moreWe just did another audio session with Edmundo Rocha, who’s still under curfew in Houston. He talks about the aftermath (as he’s able to perceive it) and examines where the preparations may have gone wrong. edmundo_houston_530_1 edmundo_houston_530_2
Read moreWe’ve been asked if we can pull together an index page with links to all of our Hurricane Ike coverage. If you want, bookmark this and we’ll add everything we do in here as the story develops. Edmundo Rocha on Ike: one third of 911 calls are from Latin areas that should have been evacuated Audio w/ Edmundo, 8:35 CDT:
Read moreI spoke with Edmundo about an hour ago. He’s fine, but Ike is all that was advertised and then some. Power is out for 99% of those in the area and they’re being told it will be weeks before it’s fully restored. As of 8:30 Houston time he was reporting that the worst of the storm – the back side
Read moreEdmundo has some video taken from his apartment. Still looks fairly tame, huh?
Read morePost Updated at 4:35 PM MDT. Click on “Full Story” to read the update. First, Ann Ivins reports that “traffic is starting to pick up along Interstate 10 coming in from Houston. They haven’t created evacuation lanes yet. Gas prices have jumped in the last two hours by a few cents.” Second, Edmundo Rocha will be tweeting on Ike from
Read moreA couple disparate pieces of information have come together in a way that’s potentially a little scary. Earlier, Ann Ivins noted that: Even with the terrible planning and deadly highway gridlock, San Antonio was full by the time Rita hit – and she was headed further north. Galveston’s already flooding. There’s no one here. The hotels and motels along 37
Read moreAs Edmundo Rocha noted earlier today, things are looking pretty dire for those in Ike’s path. For those interested in what it looks like on the ground, he’s liveblogging as best he can over at ¡Para Justicia y Libertad! Meanwhile, we’ve gotten a few more e-mails from him. Here are the relevant parts: Most of Surfside Beach was submerged by
Read moreEditor’s Note: The S&R team just received the following e-mail from our friend and colleague Edmundo Rocha, who lives in Houston. The city has had time to prepare, but it sounds as though significant errors have placed people in greater danger. Fingers crossed for Edmundo and everybody else down there – we’ll keep you posted as we hear more. UPDATE:
Read moreReach out and touch me now Aphrodite said You aren’t the only one with armies in your head We’re fond of calling our great rock stars poets. Dylan is a poet. Springsteen is a poet. John Lennon was a poet. Jim Morrison (*gag*) was a poet. And so on. Certainly the first three (have) produced some marvelous words, but as
Read moreWell, well, well…. There’s been a spurt of 527 activity on behalf of Sen. John McCain, but Barack Obama campaign has suddenly gone silent on the subject.That’s because, after of year of telling donors not to contribute to 527 groups, of encouraging strategists not to form them and of suggesting that outside messaging efforts would not be welcome in Obama’s
Read moreWelcome back to another episode of SVR. The very timely word for today, kids, is “owch.” I’ll let this one sing for itself.
Read moreIn part two of the S&R Interview, comedian Lee Camp talks with me about the relationship between politics and comedy and has high praise for those who, like Jon Stewart and Chris Rock, are able to infuse their work with important insights about our society. “Thank god for The Daily Show,” he says. “I wish there was a network that
Read moreOn February 23, comedian Lee Camp appeared on FOX News, where he proceeded to sound off on the hosts and their audience. “What is Fox News?” asks comedian and activist Lee Camp on the air. “It’s just a parade of propaganda, isn’t it? It’s just a…festival of ignorance.” Obviously Camp is a man with some political convictions. He’s also a
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