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If only it were The Onion. But its Breitbart News.

Liberals explode with vitriol as #NotMySuperBowlChamps trends on social media is the headline atop this profound cultural revelation:

As the New England Patriots took yet another Super Bowl win, liberals from coast to coast exploded with vitriol on social media, furious that a team with tangential links to President Donald Trump came out on top Sunday. Since that final touchdown, the hashtag #NotMySuperBowlChamps and other similar tags have been trending. (Breitbart)

Huh?

The left-wing sports media has been out for blood for the better part of a year because Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick, and team owner Robert Kraft all came out as unapologetic fans of President Trump. And now that theyve won the Super Bowl, the left has turned apoplectic.

It even bought into one tweet whose author conceded he was joking with a faux anti-left diatribe. He later wrote, Even Breitbart thought I was being serious. I guess parody doesnt work when its so close to the loony reality. (lamknight7)

But if I had to guess, this looks like it was made up out of whole cloth by Breitbart. Shouldnt they be reporting on all the terrorist attacks you guys are ignoring? said Andrew Rudalevige, a Patriots fan whos a political scientist at Bowdoin College in Maine.

Given that the goal here is to blame anything Trump cant control like the media, like the judges for everything that goes wrong, yes, theyre serious, said Keith Olbermann, whos starring in a series of web videos called The Resistance for GQ.

As even the kind of quick perusal of the Goebbels approach that the late Andrew Breitbart and his cheesier successors wouldve made, the propaganda has to get wilder and wilder, but more importantly it has to get faster and faster, as you move forward.

Oops

For a very early print edition Sunday, The Boston Globe assumed that the giant deficit faced by the New England Patriots would stand. A Bitter End fronted that edition. (USA Today)

While the cutline reflected that the game wasnt over, it was below the fold. So, readers who got the early edition of the Globe were treated to a headline that boldly implied the Patriots lost.

Foxs O.T. bonus

Because ad sales are about managing contingencies, Fox had pre-sold a number of bonus spots on the odd chance that Super Bowl LI would require a little temporal wiggle room, and as that prospect became a reality, other brands began making inquiries of their own. (Ad Age)

We always have overtime agreements in place, and did so this year, said Fox Networks Group Exec VP-Ad Sales Bruce Lefkowitz. We were also garnering commitments in real-time. We would have liked the greatest Super Bowl in history to go on forever, and were prepared if it did.

Trump, Bannon vs. The Times

As Trump and Steve Bannon fulminate about the awful media, notably The New York Times, they might look at both a news story and an analysis by longtime Supreme Court and legal affairs writer Adam Liptak. Smart, measured, non-judgmental, fair. On the legal issues at hand on the immigration flap:

A ruling by the court on Mr. Trumps travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries could help answer some crucial legal questions: How much independent constitutional authority does the president have over immigration, and how much power has Congress given him?

The likely answer to both questions: a lot. But other parts of the Constitution may temper or defeat that power. Among them are the due process and equal protection clauses and the First Amendments ban on government establishment of religion.

Bannon would be hard-pressed to find anything remotely as strong at, lets say, Breitbart News.

Headline of the day

This White House list contradicts Trumps claim the news media ignores terror attacks (BuzzFeed) Yes, more confirmable falsehoods.

Watching the governments overseas media

This is from BBG Watch, a long-time, and at times decidedly contentious, newsletter by activists in an outside the Broadcast Board of Governors, which oversees media that includes the Voice of America:

Correction: An earlier version of this commentary had a reference to tweets and retweets allegedly posted on by a manager in the Voice of America Persian Service. We were subsequently informed that the Twitter account, which showed as having been started in March 2013 and, until it was shut down by last week, belonged to an impostor and not to any manager or staffer in the VOA Persian Service.

...How such an allegedly impostor VOA Persian Service directors Twitter account could have existed for so long and be followed by the VOA Persian Service itself, as well as VOA journalists and managers, without anybody at the VOA and the BBG alerting the public that it was a fake account, is still a mystery and a stunning admission of management failure at the Voice of America and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

The take from Cambodia

William Holland, a retired former State Department official who lives half the year in Cambodia, saw a piece here about the use of social media by the right-wing. He chimes in:

Cambodia offers an interesting example of the powerful impact of social media in expected and perhaps unexpected ways. The original view was that social media in Cambodia (use of which is surging) would help opposition parties get their message out in an environment where the government/ruling party essentially controls the media.

They have had in fact some success in this, but as the attached article argues, clever leaders can also use social media to great effect as well at worse as another tool of authoritarian power. The author may overstate the danger in the US, but worldwide this is a fascinating phenomenon to watch. (East Asia Forum)

Real reason tech firms fighting Trump immigration move

Its not that tech firms get much talent from any of the seven countries. But, According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 percent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce in computer-related occupations is foreign-born, compared with 16.7 percent of the general U.S. workforce. Thats only possible because the U.S. is so strong in the international competition for tech talent. (Bloomberg)

Now a court says Google must fork over emails

Just south of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals district, a Pennsylvania (3rd Circuit) federal judge has come to (nearly) the opposite conclusion on law enforcements access to emails stored overseas. The first case deals with Microsoft, this with Google, in particular two FBI SCA (Stored Communications Act) warrants seeking emails that Google says arent stored in the United States. (TechDirt)

Google, however, also says the sought emails could be at any of its data storage sites which would include those in the US. It all depends on when its asked to retrieve the communications.

Alas, this new decision part company with the appeals decision, which concluded that emails in an Irish data center are not subject of warrants issued by U.S. law enforcement. The court explains Googles process for handling user data, which is built for efficiency, rather than whats central to the FBIs demands: efficiency of retrieval in response to law enforcement requests. Heres the latest ruling.

Trying to keep sane

Outside of work, I dont speak very much about my job reporting on crime and violence in my hometown of Chicago anymore, writes The Chicago Tribunes William Lee. Im sure this is a relief to my weary friends and family. (Lee)

The truth is that I stopped talking shop outside of work for the same reason chefs dont discuss the unsavory things they witness in their work kitchens some topics just arent very appetizing, and few things are less enticing than the citys much discussed violence.

And, as a result, As a result, my home is a news-free zone on my off days; Ill only scan a newspaper, allow for short visits to chicagotribune.com and avoid TV news broadcasts altogether. Im not alone, knowing plenty of other journalists who cover crime and some cops who avoid news on their own time.

Now, my mind is an endless log of murder victims names, faces and intersections where the shootings occurred. I can feel the pain of family and friends like I couldnt as a young man.

White House rattled by Melissa McCarthys Sean Spicer

As they should be, White House rattled by McCarthys spoof of Spicer. (Politico) You did see the SNL segment, did you not?

More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicers portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the presidents eyes, according to sources close to him.

And the unflattering send-up by a female comedian was not considered helpful for Spicers longevity in the grueling, high-profile job, where he has struggled to strike the right balance between representing an administration that considers the media the opposition party, and developing a functional relationship with the press.

Does Gorsuchs claim of assisting criminal defendants matter?

There was a very thoughtful pushback on a pushback on a pushback on a pushback on Rachel Maddows MSNBC show last evening. It involved her clear sympathy for a Wall Street Journal story, mentioned here yesterday (with skepticism), that made a lot (too much) out of Neil Gorsuchs claim of having done volunteer criminal justice work while at Harvard Law School.

Dahlia Lithwick, a fine legal affairs reporter for Slate, said this question was ultimately irrelevant to considering him. This is a referendum on norms, a referendum on a stolen seat, Lithwick said, and I always think these questions of Are you a good person? as represented by these handful of behaviors never goes well. Ive learned to call it sort of the cardiologic model of confirmation hearings.

Maddow came back at her friend to say she felt it is in no small measure a matter of White House and Gorsuch biographical integrity. But, on this matter, Lithwick seemed far closer to getting it right during what remained an insightful exchange.

I hope this is not the main event at a confirmation hearing that might be the last best chance to talk about an independent judiciary and Donald Trump. Plus, the guys record on prisoner rights is good, she noted, so shift the focus in any interrogation to what he thinks of Trump calling somebody a so-called judge and on his view of an independent judiciary, not his volunteer work 25 years ago.

Cheddar inks another partnership

You do have to check Cheddar, the very good sort-of CNBC for a younger crowd, especially strong on the tech sector. Its smart and fun and airs live for several hours from the New York Stock Exchange floor and Smart Flatiron Building in Manhattan. Now it will be on 60 percent of smart TVs in the U.S. as it launches on XUMO, the live and video-on-demand over-the-top digital service.

Its the first network on XUMO to boast live daily shows on XUMO. Says founder Jon Steinberg, I want people to open up their TVs, connect to the Internet, and get a taste of Cheddar. With Xumo, we achieve that for 60 percent of the new smart TVs sold in the United States. Now everyone can get the free hours we provide on Facebook right on their TV.

Tiger Woods tanking

What is the deal, at least to journalists who cover golf? After a long layoff, Woods returned and has been both miserable and, now, hes injured again.

Says Ed Sherman, a long-time golf writer who co-hosts a golf talk radio show on WSCR in Chicago:

The history of golf is full of great players who said they would stop playing when they were no longer competitive, and they continued to play. I would think Tiger Woods would be the same way, assuming his health allows. It might be his health wont let him play anymore. The guy hasnt played a full season since 2013. There is a lot of scar tissue. Plus, the Golf Channels Brandel Chamblee said he looked like the oldest 41-year old golfer hes ever seen.

Adds Sherman, who also writes for Poynter, Yet having said that, Woods is going to find inspiration from Darren Clarke, who won the 2011 British Open at age 42 when he was supposedly toast. Hes going to look at Davis Love III winning the 2015 Wyndham Championship at age 51 after suffering through years of injury problems. He has to be thinking if they can do, I can do it.

The morning babble

We get all these calls from people off the press, pushing this Bannon story, said Joe Scarborough on MSNBCs Morning Joe, pooh-poohing notion that Steve Bannon is running the show. Still, Donny Deutsch, the ad executive-turned-bloviator, claims that Bannon is in the business of promoting Steve Bannon and is a leaker par excellence, a greater self-promoter than Trump. Witness his mug on the current Time magazine profile.

Fox & Friends went after a California state politician who said half of my family would be eligible of deportation under the executive order. As co-host Brian Kilmeade said, Because they dont belong here, they should be eligible for mass deportation (though they doesnt think theyll be targeted initially). Steve Doocy jumped from that claim to suggest validity to Trumps claim of million of illegal voters, though, We dont know the numbers.

CNN took us to the Senate floor, where Democrats had been blabbing all night themselves to delay a confirmation vote on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. As underscored, it was a Hail Mary pass to find a Republican to break a 50-450 tie.

Well, this made it imperative to check out C-SPAN2 where Sen. Chuck Schumer was talking to a virtually empty chamber shortly before 6:30 a.m. Eastern. He was talking about Vladimir Putin and his inclination to go to any lengths to silence political dissidents, including murder.

Its relevance to, say, charter schools was unclear but thankfully he gave way to solid, sober Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who is languorous even in the midday sun. He informed that Rhode Islanders dont think billionaire DeVos understands working people.

As he spoke, The Washington Post was offering a Dana Milbank column arguing that Democrats in the long run may thank the majority Republicans for confirming DeVos. In the fight against President Trumps agenda, the new administrations incompetence is their friend. The droning went on at C-Span2.

Back at Fox & Friends, there was one of its quintessential B-list debates, on media coverage of Trump, with journalist and author Cathy Areu defending the press and The Federalists Bre Payton telling Doocy what he wanted to hear. Yes, yes, the press were lapdogs to president Obama and now the reverse is true as it serves media elites and audiences. All very pedestrian.

Lets hope tonights CNN 9 p.m. health care debate between Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz is rather more engaging.

Corrections? Tips? Please email me: jwarren@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.

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How Breitbart Turned Tom Brady Into an Alt-Right Hero | Vanity Fair - Vanity Fair

The Associated Press is the best kind of a self-correcting news agency. But its not infallible. Because its a distributed news organization - more precisely, many news organizations that have come together in an association - it can police many of its own members errors.

And thats why its important to talk about the APs representation of the alt-right. The phrase has become very, very important lately, with the ascension of Steve Bannon (of Breitbart News) to White House adviser, and even closer to home, with the appearance last week of some fliers around town allegedly touting an alt- right groups ideology.

The AP has some guidelines that are misleading about the alt-right.

Whenever alt-right is used in a story, be sure to include a definition: an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism, or, more simply, a white nationalist movement, the AP says.

But thats inaccurate.

As we are sure the AP would agree, words mean things. And conservatism has a clear meaning. Its an ideology with tenets that include limited government, personal freedom, free markets and the rule of law.

The alt-right holds to none of those things. The AP is more accurate when it goes into a more lengthy description of the movement.

The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism, the AP reports.

How, then, is it an offshoot of conservatism? Its not. One of the best analyses of the alt-right movement comes from Robert Tracinski in The Federalist.

This alt-right agenda is not really part of the right because it is thoroughly collectivist in a vile and personal way, Tracinski explains. It says that your most personal, individual, deeply meaningful decisions - such as whom you marry and have children with - should be determined by some larger social program based on group identity. Thats why they are openly opposed to free markets in favor of economic nationalism: this is an anti-freedom, anti-individualist movement.

Nor is the alt-right movement a defense of Western civilization, as it sometimes claims.

The central theme of the Western intellectual tradition is about rising above tribalism to arrive at universal values, Tracinski writes. Thats a common theme that connects both secular and Christian traditions in the West. It was the whole distinctive idea behind the Ancient Greek revolution in thought. Philosophers like Socrates launched the Western tradition by asking probing questions that were meant to sort out which ideas and practices are based merely on historical accident and social convention, versus those that are based on universal laws of human nature.

The alt-right movement isnt alone in its errors, of course.

As Tracinski points out, Yes, of course the left does it, too. They have their own racist theories dressed up under the heading of identity politics. So what? Your mom told you the answer to this when you were 5: two wrongs dont make a right.

The Associated Press must be more careful. The alt-right movement is in no way an offshoot of conservatism. Just ask conservatives - who are its frequent targets.

See more here:
Editorial: 'Alt-right' movement isn't conservatism - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Salman Rushdie, the writer marked for death by the Ayatollah of Iran for writing The Satanic Verses, is working on a new novel set in contemporary America.

His new book, The Golden House, is a thriller set against the backdrop of modern-day American culture. It covers the eight-year Obama presidency and incorporates the cultural zeitgeist. It includes the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement, 2014s GamerGate hashtag campaign, social media, identity politics, and the ongoing culture war against political correctness.

In other words, its the modern world through the lens of Salman Rushdie, an author who received numerous death threats and even attempts on his life after he penned a novel critical of Islam.

Many stores refused to carry the book following its publication in 1988, and those that did were targeted by terrorists with firebombs and explosives.

The Iranian government put out a hit on Rushdie, which lasted until 1998, calling on jihadists and their allies to take the authors life.

In more recent years, Rushdie has called for the defense of freedom of speech. As the target of assassination attempts over his ideas and writing, the Booker Prize-winning author is uniquely intimate with the subject.

During the election last year, Rushdie spoke out against the furor over the pro-Trump chalk slogans in Emory University in what became known as #TheChalkening. Campuses that saw the rising incidences of chalk messages banned the calcium carbonate writing tool.

Rushdie called the dust-up silly and said there was no reason for art to be politically correct.

When people say, I believe in free speech but , then they dont believe in free speech, he said. The whole point about free speech is that it upsets people.

Its very easy to defend the right of people whom you agree with or that you are indifferent to, Rushdie said. The defense [of free speech] begins when someone says something that you dont like.

There are no safe spaces against offensive ideas, said Rushdie.

Rushdie has come to lose his confidence in the progressive leftincluding those who once defended his controversial book. Speaking in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Rushdie expressed dismay at the leftist protests that followed the PEN writers association to honor the fallen artists and writers.

Speaking to French magazine LExpress, Rushdie said that people learned the wrong lessons from the threats he faced in the 80s and 90s.

Instead of realizing that we need to oppose these attacks on freedom of expression, we thought that we need to placate them with compromise and renunciation.

Ive since had the feeling that, if the attacks against The Satanic Verses had taken place today, these people would not have defended me, and would have used the same arguments against me, accusing me of insulting an ethnic and cultural minority, said Rushdie. We are living in the darkest time I have ever known.

In Rushdies new book, the main villain is described as a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain sporting makeup and colored hair. Make what you will of that.

The books publishing director at Jonathan Cape, Michal Shavit, describes The Golden House as being about identity, truth, terror, and lies for a new world order of alternate truths. Its out this September.

Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken mediacritic. You can reach him through social media at@stillgray on Twitterand onFacebook.

Read the original:
Salman Rushdie's New Novel is About Political Correctness and the Culture Wars - Heat Street

Emporia State Universitys first Social Justice & Equity Lecture will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday in Albert Taylor Hall.

Tim Wise, one of the nations most prominent antiracist activists and educators, will speak at the event, which is free and open to the public. No ticket is required. The lecture is hosted by Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and in collaboration with Special Events.

Referred to as a vanilla brother in the tradition of (abolitionist) John Brown by scholar and philosopher Cornel West, Wise has spent the last 25 years speaking to audiences about racism and equality. His lectures have brought him to all 50 states, to Canada and Bermuda, and to over 1,000 high school and college campuses, hundreds of professional and academic conferences and numerous community groups. In addition to lecturing, Wise has trained corporate, government, law enforcement and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions.

Wise is the author of seven books, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, which was adapted into a 2013 documentary. His latest book, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America, was published in 2015.

He has also contributed to over 25 books, and his writings are taught in colleges and universities across the nation. His essays have appeared in publications such as Alternet, Salon, Huffington Post, Counterpunch, Black Commentator, BK Nation, Z Magazine and The Root, which recently named Wise one of the 8 Wokest White People We Know.

His media presence includes dozens of appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR, feature interviews on ABCs 20/20 and CBSs 48 Hours, along with videos posted on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms that have received over 20 million views.

For more information, please contact Jason Brooks of Emporia State University at 341-5269.

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Prominent antiracist to speak at ESU - Emporia Gazette

Inside Busboys and Poets. Photo by Andrea K. Castillo.

For a year and a half, Americans endured a political campaign driven by xenophobia, sexism, and the erasure of the cultural, ethnic, and personal diversity upon which this country was built.

Back then, it was just talk. Now, with President Trump having signed more than 22 executive actions in just over two weeks, its policy.

Since Trumps election, the political tenor of the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) has seen a palpable shift as red-state supporters and lobbyists increasingly inject themselves into largely blue territory. In the belly of this beast lies Busboys and Poets, a restaurant ready and willing to productively channel the chaos and offer up more than just a place to come eat your feelings.

I wanted a place where people could exchange ideas, have a conversation, and have a great meala place to meet people and intersect with different parts of the community that they dont normally intersect with, says Busboys owner Andy Shallal, an Iraqi immigrant who opened his popular DC eatery in 2005 and now boasts six locations. Ive always viewed restaurants here in DC as very segregatedsegregated politically and segregated socially. I viewed [Busboys] as an experiment, to see if it could bring all these people together.

Shallal says he was moved to highlight unityin an industry scene that rarely displays itby offering a space with live events that were artistic in nature along with a menu that juxtaposed visuals and quotes from Black poets like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes with eclectic food offerings. In addition to typical American fare (burgers, pizza, paninis), Busboys also offers a plethora of thoughtful vegan dishes like coconut tofu bites with plum red-pepper sauce, and a vegan tuna salad sandwich made with chickpeas, relish, nori, carrot, celery and vegan mayo.

Busboys mission goes well beyond the walls of its restaurants. This January marked the third iteration of the Peace Ball, an alternative inaugural celebration that Busboys holds in partnership with the Smithsonian since the days of President George W. Bush. The ball totes the tagline Voices of Hope and Resistance and this year it delivered nothing short of that, with distinguished guests like poet Sonia Sanchez, authors Alice Walker, Zainab Salbi, and Naomi Klein, personalities like Melissa Harris-Perry, Tim Wise, and the legendary Angela Davis, as well as performances by Esperanza Spalding and Solange Knowles.

Set at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, voices rang loudly for resistance against the incoming Trump administration. Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, remarked, I refuse to go backwards. We stand on the shoulders of giants, people who gave their lives to make sure that we could be in a space like this together. People who gave their lives to make sure that we could live in dignity. That means, for me, I am not ready to go backwards.

Garza added, This is the moment we challenge ourselves to do things differently, to get to know people we didnt know very well before. This is a moment to test our values.

Along with organizing star-studded events like the Peace Ball, Busboys relishes in intersectionality on a smaller scale, within its restaurants. It offers an impressively curated collection of books for sale in collaboration with independent bookstore, Politics and Prose, as well as regular spoken word events and book readings. The goal: encouraging thought while maintaining high-quality and accessible cuisine. Entrees rarely go above $20, with most menu offerings below $15.

We cant be everything for everybody, obviously, says Shallal. But it is possible for two people to share a meal here and spend $10 to $15 dollars, if they order correctly.

Even at those pricesand on top of the food costs of locally sourced ingredientsBusboys is able to ensure fair wages, healthcare benefits, and a safe work environment for its employees.

In light of Trumps nomination of fast food executive Andy Puzder for labor secretary, these arent just small concessions. Puzder, who has opposed minimum wage increases and has advocated replacing human labor with machines, exemplifies the kind of exploitative food industry practices that Shallal refuses to mimic at Busboys.

Trumps actions also strike a personal chord for Shallal. He left Iraqone of the seven Muslim-majority countries included on Trumps recent travel banin the 1960s to make America his home. Immigrants are the insurance policy of this country. They appreciate the values that make this country a place they want to call home, Shallal says. They care about these things and do not take them for granted. We cannot be guided by fear and a false patriotic wreath, but rather by the power of kindness and generosity that has been the hallmark of this nation.

In many ways, Busboys and Poets acts as a tangible expression of social change. Shallal has worked hard at making his restaurants hubs of inclusion under two very different administrationsthough the third may prove to be the most challenging.

At Januarys Peace Ball, Angela Davis took the stage and proclaimed, An inauguration is happening tomorrowso they say. But this is a peoples inauguration. This is an inauguration of the resistance to come. The resistance to those who proliferate Islamophobia and racism, the resistance to the billionaires, and those who are mortgage profiteers and healthcare privateersresistance to this last gasp of a dying white, male supremacy.

With resistance, there must be joya joy that motivates, nourishes, and fuels us to go on. Food, the great unifier, is that joy we all need.

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How One Restaurant Is Serving Resistance in the Capitol - Munchies_ Food by VICE