Pennsylvania: Scaife

November 6, 2009 - 06:47 am

The Trib. Again.

Yawn.

Aw, geez. We gotta do this again?

From one of today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorials:
By destroying the myth that state control of alcohol sales ameliorates societal harm, a new Commonwealth Foundation report bolsters the case for ending Pennsylvania's archaic status quo.

"Government-Run Liquor Stores: The Social Impact of Privatization" (available at CommonwealthFoundation.org) says privatizing sales lowers per-capita consumption and DUI-related fatality rates and doesn't increase underage drinking.

It concludes: "Evidence from 48 states over time shows no link between market controls and ... social goals."

The Reason Foundation estimates Pennsylvania could sell its wholesale and retail liquor operations for $1.7 billion. And, Commonwealth's Nathan Benefield estimates, annual alcohol sales tax revenue would remain close to its existing level.

November 4, 2009 - 07:03 am

The Trib Does It Again. With A Twist

This week's Midweek Briefing:
Newsmax.com's Chris Ruddy says what a growing number of War on Terror watchers are saying -- it's time to reduce our troop presence in Afghanistan. And he favors a plan put forth by Vice President Joe Biden "that involves keeping a smaller force (there) and focusing it on counterterrorism," especially against those nasty al-Qaida cells in neighboring Pakistan. It's likely the best way to better prepare us to handle the growing Iranian threat.
Same old same old. Newsmax is partially owned by Richard Mellon Scaife, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Want proof? In an article from October 2008 at the

November 3, 2009 - 06:42 am

Tribune Review. Again

From today's "Tuesday Takes" we find:
The Allegheny Institute's Jake Haulk reminds that because Pittsburgh largely was bypassed by the national employment growth of the last decade, it did not have the private-sector housing and commercial building booms that went bust in other parts of the country. "But that does not mean the city should try to avoid strong growth in the future," he says.

Mr. Haulk cautions, however, that continuing problems with the city school district and basic city governance issues -- along with an "uninviting business climate" -- mean only "anemic" economic gains are on the horizon. Bottom line: Mediocrity does not a renaissance make.

November 1, 2009 - 08:49 am

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review Editorial Board. Again.

I think they're just playing with my head this time. This is just too easy.

Take a look at today's "Sunday Pops." It ends with this:
Rocco Landesman, president of the taxpayer teat-suckling National Endowment for the Arts, says "Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar." Given that the president handpicked Mr. Landesman, can a revival of the term "bootlicker" be far behind?
First let's start off saying that they're spinning the quote into something it isn't. Here's a far more reliable source (Fox "News") with the fuller quotation:

Putting the president in the pantheon with such pencil-pushing powerhouses as the man who was, literally, the Czar of all Czars, Landesman said that since Obama "actually writes his own books," he's the most powerful man to be a true writer in the 2,000 years since Caesar strode the narrow earth.

October 28, 2009 - 05:47 am

Scaife's Brain Trust. Again.

AND they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel, news source wise. Take a look. In this week's "Midweek briefing" we read:
Writing in The Bulletin of Philadelphia, Herb Denenberg throws the F-bomb. Yes, Mr. Denenberg says the stench of fascism is growing stronger from the Obama administration. That's based on its use "of the vast resources of the federal government to squelch criticism and silence and intimidate critics." Well, what else would you call it, folks?
The Bulletin of Philadelphia? A newspaper that closed up shop for print news in June and is now only publishing once a week? That Bulletin? Such a powerhouse of journalism to depend on.

October 16, 2009 - 05:59 am

Blog Action Day '09

And today's topic is:

CLIMATE CHANGE.

With so much to discuss, I just want to point yinz to this page at scienceblogs.com.

It's called "How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic" and it's very useful. An example:
Objection:

Global Warming is just a hoax perpetrated by environmental extremists and liberals who want an excuse for more big government.
Which is followed by a list of the "hoaxers":

October 8, 2009 - 05:49 am

Teh Crazie Continues: World Net Daily and The Upcoming Obama IMPEACHMENT

Read it here and here.

Curious thing, that first column begins with this:

A political activist who was behind the famous Willie Horton advertisement that left Gov. Michael Dukakis' candidacy for president floundering and was among the first to sound the alarm on the need for Bill Clinton's impeachment says the United States is collapsing around its citizens right now, but there is a defense.

"Make no mistake. We're now in the middle of a bloodless coup – the takeover of an entire nation by the hate-America crowd – a cold-blooded gang that despises America's prosperity, our standing in the world, our trust in God and our generosity and goodness,"

September 24, 2009 - 11:47 am

Meanwhile, Over at The Trib...

With all the attention being focussed on the G20 stuff going on dahntahn, I still wanted to make sure to keep an eye on the Trib's editorial board. Make sure they didn't slip something in under the radar.

But if you're looking for G20 coverage, go check out Potter's Slag Heap or Pittsburgh Indymedia or even the P-G. Looks like things are, thankfully, peaceful. In fact Schmitz, Roddy, Templeton, et al. posted on the calm at 12:27 this afternoon:
Downtown Pittsburgh was quiet, almost eerily so, today, with street closures and a massive police presence, but no private vehicles and not many pedestrians.

August 11, 2009 - 05:46 am

Amazing. Simply Amazing

Did Speaker Pelosi really call the protesters at Townhall meetings "Un-American"? I heard it on Joe Scarborough this morning so, you know, it has to be true.

Except it's not.

Then there's Richard Mellon Scaife's braintrust at the Tribune-Review. Unbelievable what they did today.

But let's start with Pelosi. Here's exactly what she wrote at USAToday:

Let the facts be heard

These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades. [emphasis added]

You see that? Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.

July 6, 2009 - 07:17 pm

The Trib vs The P-G

Yesterday, Richard Mellon Scaife's editorial board at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review got whipped themselves into a lather over something Dennis Roddy wrote at the P-G.

But curiously, they didn't mention Roddy by name. Nor did they ever actually get around to say that anything Roddy wrote was, you know, wrong.

AND they left out a big big BIG part of the story - and a hat tip to "Referee" over at the voyforum for pointing it out.

First Roddy:

A committee organized to welcome the world to Pittsburgh for the September G-20 economic summit has received a donation from a foundation that has, in the past, given millions of dollars to anti-immigration organizations including two listed as hate groups.