Euromaidan, one year ago: dronecam view of the people power that caused a corrupt gov't to collapse

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 06, 2015 · 8:57 AM PST

2015/02/06 · 08:57

February 21st is the one-year anniversary of the culmination of the Euromaidan protest in Ukraine. The Putin sympathizers will be very busy pushing their BS conspiracy theories about Nuland's cookies, but here's some images that show what an inspiring moment it was in history.

In-depth article on what really happened when the government collapsed: http://www.nytimes.com/...

Kremlin TV accidentally shows Russian soldier at Ukrainian airport

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 06, 2015 · 8:50 AM PST

2015/02/06 · 08:50

Video footage has emerged from Russian state-controlled television reportedly shot inside the Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine and showing troops with the insignia of the Russian Naval Infantry, or Russian Marines, on the soldiers' uniforms, according to reports from Ukraine Today, an independent Kiev-based TV station.
If true, the video further undermines Russia’s denial it is providing soldiers to fight alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin-backed TV station Rossiya 1 first broadcast the video on Jan. 15. The Ukraine government claims that about 700 Russian troops arrived in the country on Monday.

Putin's chief of invasion force says Ukraine gov't are "miserable" Jews at press conference (video)

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 03, 2015 · 2:55 PM PST

2015/02/03 · 14:55

https://www.youtube.com/...

Ukraine's pro-Russian rebel chief on Monday branded the country's leaders "miserable" Jews in an apparent anti-Semitic jibe.
Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, claimed that Kiev's pro-Western leaders were "miserable representatives of the great Jewish people".

"I can't remember a time when Cossacks were led by people who have never held a sword in their hands," Zakharchenko told a press conference in the eastern rebel stronghold of Donetsk, in a reference to Ukraine's nationalist forebears, the Cossacks.

Zakharchenko said that the country's historical nationalists "would turn in their graves if they could see who is running Ukraine."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/...

Conservative-conspiracy talk show host punked by fake space alien from Amazon.com (photos)

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 01, 2014 · 12:30 PM PDT

2014/10/01 · 12:30

The host of a radio talk show that focuses on conspiracies and RW politics thinks that a photo supposedly showing a space alien being carried on stretcher by soldiers is the "real deal"--even though the alien matches a Halloween prop available for purchase online.

Clyde Lewis, the host of the syndicated Ground Zero program, posted a video on this Facebook page that focuses on the photo, saying it "might be the real deal" because he doesn't recognize the supposed alien from his own collection of "alien props."

It was quickly pointed out that the supposed alien was a near-perfect match for a Halloween prop available on Amazon.com, down to its body position:

Lewis continued to insist the image was not the Halloween prop, because "the alien in the video has teeth...I have many aliens in my collection and that is not the same prop."

Lewis's intrepid followers were able to show that, actually, the Halloween prop for sale also has teeth. Lewis did not comment further on the matter.

Previously, Lewis has suggested that aliens from outer space "are here to eat us...We are being farmed for our organs," that the moon landing in 1969 was faked, that President Barack Obama was born in Africa after being "conceived during a CIA operation" to infiltrate "communists" because "the communists were black at that time."

Hospitalized conspiracy theorist who smeared Obamacare asking for donations for his medical bills

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 18, 2014 · 6:50 AM PDT

2014/09/18 · 06:50

The host of the syndicated talk radio program Ground Zero, who says that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is a nefarious government plot, is appealing to his listeners for money after a hospitalization for chest pains.

The Clyde Lewis Facebook page is linking to a crowdfunding site that is soliciting donations in the wake of his reported hospitalization for a coronary embolism. In the past, Lewis suggested that Obamacare was a Big Brother government plot that, among other things, would require computer chips to be implanted in every American.

According to his Wikipedia page, Lewis is also a Birther, says that the Sandy Hook school shooting was staged, and believes aliens from outer space are on earth in order to eat people and farm their organs.

After the shooting, my niece didn't go outside for two days. (Photos)

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday June 14, 2014 · 3:59 PM PDT

2014/06/14 · 15:59

I don't usually post personal stories because I have old-school ideas of privacy. But if that is what it takes to get people to sign this petition and contact the station* to get Alex Jones off the radio in Las Vegas, then I'll do it.

I am a Las Vegas native and I had family members in the parking lot of the shootings by two deranged followers of Alex Jones, who is actually on the radio in Las Vegas (mostly he's an internet phenomenon). I have the sense that the shootings, in getting more and more frequent, seem to be encroaching lately (I have another family member who is a high school teacher in the Portland area where the next shooting happened at a high school) which is a feeling I'm sure many share.

Now my niece who was in the parking lot with her husband is writing on Facebook about not being able to go outside for two days after the shootings, that she feels like she's "in mourning for my corner" :

Stewart and Nellis is my intersection.....literally my entire life.......exactly 1 mile from my house now and from my childhood home. Since Sunday....I feel traumatized....I mean, I'm sorry to be a dramatic whiner....but it is just too real. This has affected me too much. I didn't leave my house for two days. When I finally had to go out and cross the intersection, I felt sick. I am feeling violated! I am an East Side Vegas Girl and am proud of it.....no matter what happens around here, I will always love the ES, I am just heartbroken about what's happening within it.
The kids and I visited the memorial this evening..... (my son) made me proud when he went over to an officer, shook his hand , and said thank you for your service and for protecting us!!
— at CiCi's Pizza.

Most of us feel helpless when these shootings occur, but this time we can do something. Alex Jones has been inciting right wing insanity for years now (and, tellingly, his reaction to the Las Vegas shooting was to blame a government plot by Harry Reid). Jones' connections to this shooting are crystal clear--the shooters actually posted on Alex Jones' website about killing cops, and they mentioned "the revolution" after Jones called for violence against cops and a "revolution."

Now, inciting insanity may be protected free speech, but the right to free speech does not guarantee having a radio program on the public airwaves, and by getting Alex Jones off the air in Las Vegas, we can make a really strong statement. Maybe start a movement?

Sign it and then write the station (see below). When we get Jones off the air, we can say we did something to fight the insanity. Better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

*What you can do:

Super Easy 1. Sign the petition:

https://www.credomobilize.com/...

Easy 2. SEND AN EMAIL. Here's the big 3 emails for the station, the GM, the program manager and the sales executive: edm@krck.com, andy@790talknow.com, debby@927rev.com

Email those three email addresses with a message similar to this one:

To edm@krck.com, andy@790talknow.com, debby@927rev.com
Subject: Las Vegas shooting, Alex Jones & 790 KBET
Dear Edward Morawski, Andy Vierra and Debby McKay,

In the wake of the Las Vegas shootings of policemen and a citizen by two deranged individuals, I'd like to ask you about your programming.

Are you aware that a program you carry, the Alex Jones show, is the main venue where people like shooters receive their paranoid and extremist views? Dangerous, patently false claims that there is a massive government effort to take our guns away, that they are victims of a tyranny enacting multiple conspiracies to harm them (chemtrails etc.), that people who use violence against the government are "patriots," etc.

Free speech is very important to all Americans, but it doesn't mean all extremist views have the right to be on the public airwaves (Alex Jones has plenty of other venues--there are podcasts that carry everything from Holocaust denial and the KKK that I'm sure you would never allow on your station.)

Given the shooting in Las Vegas, it's especially surprising that your station would carry a show that encourages this kind of dangerous, hateful incitement on the airwaves. I understand that you may not have been aware of what exactly is broadcast on that program, and I'm sure your sponsors would not appreciate being associated with it.

Does this make you consider canceling the Alex Jones show? I look forward to your reply.

respectfully,

Easy 2b. Social Media: Send them the message through Facebook and on their page:

https://www.facebook.com/...

Medium but effective 2. MAKE A CALL, and don't forget to be polite.

http://790talknow.com/...
General Manager
Edward Morawski,
edm@krck.com
Phone: 702-546-5000
Program Director
Andy Vierra
andy@790talknow.com
Phone: 702-546-5000

National Sales Executive
Debby McKay
debby@927rev.com
Cell: 702-772-5303

Local Sales Executives
Debby McKay
Cell: 702-772-5303

Hero 3. Write a letter

Management, 790 KBET
6725 Via Austi Parkway
Second Floor
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Sandy Hook "Truther" arrest: This insanity is encouraged every day in USA. Here's what you can do.

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 02, 2014 · 2:47 PM PDT

2014/06/02 · 14:47

Much DK attention is going to the news reports of the arrest of the Sandy Hook "Truther" who stole memorial signs and harassed the victim's families. But what is getting less attention is how talk radio stations across America encourage this insanity in programs like "Ground Zero," which broadcasts in Virginia where this "Truther" lived:

Don't just complain about it! You can contact the Virginia stations and tell them (politely) that in view of this incident, to take GZ off their stations:
http://www.wkcyam.com/...
http://wfirnews.com/...
http://wlni.com/...
and to these emails: steveknupp@clearchannel.com, bridgettknupp@clearchannel.com, donna@wnis.com,
jaywest@sinclairstations.com

Plus! Contact the FCC, which has a "public interest" requirement for broadcasting, and issue a complaint about how encouraging mental illness in not in the public insterest:

FCC complaint form www.fcc.gov/complaints
*(1) Date of Program: 12/04/2013
*(2) Time of Program: 09:00 PM
*(3) Network: Premiere Radio / Clear Channel
*(4) Call Sign, Channel OR Frequency of the station on which you viewed/heard the material: KXL FM
*(5) City and State Where Program Was Viewed/Heard: Portland, OR
*(6) Name of Program or DJ/Personality/Song/Film: Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis

Please include below as many details about the program as possible in order to help the FCC determine whether the material was obscene, profane, and/or indecent (such as specific words, language, images, etc.).

It's indecent, obscene and not in the public interest to encourage citizens to believe that the grieving family of the children killed in the Sandy Hook grade school were "actors." It's political pornography. It doesn't belong on the public airwaves.

Clyde Lewis said that "crisis actors" were used at the Sandy Hook shooting, which was "manipulated to the point that it was faked" as part of an "agenda." Lewis said that "there were people there you could single out as crisis actors." Lewis specifically referred to one of the grieving parents, Robbie Parker, the father of six-year-old daughter who was killed, as an actor faking his role. "They hired some people to come in and pretend like they were parents," Lewis said, "and they hired some people to come in and pretend like they were there and witnessing it all."

We don't have things like Holocaust Denial, for example, on our airwaves. We can't have this either.

More about the host:

Lewis endorses or entertains the possibility of a myriad of bizarre conspiracies and farfetched supernatural phenomena. In a 2012 interview Lewis allowed as how beings from outer space have come to earth and "They are here to eat us...We are being farmed for our organs."[1] He also believes the moon landing in 1969 was faked.[2] Lewis also maintains that Barack Hussein Obama was born in Africa and is therefore not eligible to be President of the United States. He also claims that Obama "was conceived during a CIA operation" to infiltrate "communists" because "the communists were black at that time."[3] Lewis regularly cites weather control by the government or "rogue scientists" to manipulate global politics, once suggesting that Hurricane Sandy was created to help Obama by delaying the 2012 presidential election.[4] He also says Prince William of Britain "has every chance of being the Anti-Christ" and claims Men in Black once bombed his car "to scare him".[5

Is FOX an actual cult? This kiss & tell from Scientific American editor makes me wonder

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 30, 2014 · 4:53 PM PDT

2014/04/30 · 16:53

There's an editor of Scientific American who went on FOX news, was told not to talk about climate change, and is now tweeting about it all. The one that leapt out at me was the account of his conversation with the "makeup girl" (his words) where she spouts some conspiracy theory:

Everyone’s in a bubble. Makeup girl: Where u think the plane is? Me, puzzled: Bottom of the ocean? Her: No it’s on a military base somewhere

In case no one gets the reference, out in the realm of the right wing world that believes school shooting are staged in order to take away Americans' guns--a subset of the population that is propagated and fed daily by various radio talk shows that reach millions--there are conspiracy theorists who posit that the lost Malaysian airliner has been secretly taken to a US military base for some deeply murky political purpose.

So all the way down to the person doing make up for the guests, they have kooky believers working throughout the FOX organization. That's pretty alarming. I can see FOX wanting to avoid infiltrators or whistleblowers with some kind of background check (which would be bad enough), but to end up with conspiracy zombies? It's too much. Is it time to officially proclaim FOX a Scientology-like cult?

Hatred Sells, Former Green Party Candidate Proudly Says

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday April 26, 2014 · 1:20 PM PDT

2014/04/26 · 13:20

We know it's true but the media doesn't usually admit it. Hatred sells, and encouraging hate = profit. Same business plan behind RW talk radio and FOX TV here in the USA.

"If Gypsies beat up a pub owner, I'll write six articles about it and keep on writing them... I'll say it's a Rom no matter what the cost. If whites beat up a white guy, or if a white guy beats up a Rom... then no," the editor-in-chief of the tabloid news server Extra.cz, Pavel Novotný, says of his practices in the recent Czech documentary film "Tabloid Workers" ("Dělníci bulváru").
Jan Barta, the owner of news server Extra.cz, which publishes untruthful articles that unleash hatred against Romani people and makes big profits in the process, has run as a Green Party (Strana zelených - SZ) candidate in the past.

...

The driving force behind this lack of ethical behavior is a desire for the greatest possible profits irrespective of what is essential to the craft and mission of journalism. Our point has now been confirmed by the editor-in-chief of one of the most-read tabloids in the Czech Republic. Novotný has admitted that his publication intentionally emphasizes Romani ethnicity in its reporting. He says the word "Rom", when used in a negative connotation, increases readership and therefore profits.

Snowden's Guardian of Eden: Living in a Fantasy World

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 21, 2014 · 4:36 PM PDT

2014/04/21 · 16:36

A website called Techdirt caught my eye when they ran an article ("Snowden Calls BS On Putin's Answer") interpreting and glorifying Edward Snowden's recent Guardian piece. The glorification is clearly for domestic consumption in the West, primarily in the USA and UK, and primarily for Snowden fans admiring his "bravery" even though "this story has never been about him." How much difference will this "calling BS on Putin's answer" article in techdirt.com make in Russia? Zilch (нулевой ).

So let's turn to Snowden's article ("Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama") where he is defending his participation in Putin's media event. First, the point is the same--a Guardian piece is not going to affect the debate in Russia, precisely because Putin has closed down the independent media that might have translated it into Russia and ran it in a major Russian news service (and Putin's regime is now even threatening to make bloggers register as news agencies).

Now, to the article itself ("Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama"). If we take it at face value, and believe that Snowden was consciously intending to set a trap for Putin by asking a question that parallels Senator Ron Wyden's question to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (and not that this article isn't yet more Monday morning quarterbacking/damage control), then we have to ask what kind of fantasy world is Snowden living in. There is no functioning democratic process in Russia that can seize on Putin's lying answer to Snowden's question, as Snowden seems to believe (and which makes the US democracy look pretty functioning in comparison). There will be no committee to investigate government surveillance and make their findings public. Putin's government officials who run spying and surveillance will not be called to testify. There will be no president who responds to the controversy and makes regular public commentary on the progress of the investigations and on the importance of the issue, giving it a healthy public debate, as Obama has done.

Can Snowden really not know what kind of place he's chosen to live in? Is he naive enough to think there's some kind of democratic equivalency between the US and Russia? Does he really imagine himself to be some kind of mastermind laying a trap for Putin? Because the springing of the trap would be some kind of robust response of democratic institutions and public voices in Russia. Guess what: that's not going to happen, just like it hasn't happened after any of Putin's egregious lies, outrageous statements or crude democracy-stomping actions.

Therefore, all that's left is what the Russian people will see--the American martyr for freedom who fled to Russia, making a public appearance with the Strongman Leader, as he helps create the illusion of open debate in a controlled propaganda broadcast. And all that does is help Putin.

Let's look in detail at Snowden's article:

Others have pointed out that Putin's response appears to be the strongest denial of involvement in mass surveillance ever given by a Russian leader – a denial that is, generously speaking, likely to be revisited by journalists.

"Generously speaking." That's actually quite funny. He's being generous to himself! Because we'll see how "likely" it is to be "revisited by journalists" in a Russia where the independent media has been shut down. Snowden goes on about this:

Moreover, I hoped that Putin's answer – whatever it was – would provide opportunities for serious journalists and civil society to push the discussion further.

Again, mastermind Snowden is freeing the journalists and unleashing civil society. How, exactly, is unclear, since those journalists and that civil society have already been ground down despite much stronger catalysts than a softball question in a staged event designed to beautify Putin.

Last year, I risked family, life, and freedom to help initiate a global debate

Snowden obviously means well, but this is pretty disgusting, really, insulting to the dissidents and journalists who have actually been murdered in Russia, who have spent time in prison for simple protest. Snowden imagines that he risked "family" or "life" (I suppose from silly articles like this) but this kind of self-proclamation reinforces the view that he lives in a comic-book world where he's the superhero, even though it's "not about him," oblivious to real examples of persecution all around him in his new home.

Almost totally unreported: Putin's crackdown on human rights since Sochi

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 20, 2014 · 4:30 PM PDT

2014/03/20 · 16:30

As predicted by the lawyer who worked with Pussy Riot, Putin's amnesty before the Sochi Olympics, or the Dictatorship Olympics as I called it, was window dressing for the crackdown on freedom that came after. It's not getting any attention because the world is preoccupied by Russia's invasion of the Crimea now.

It's time for the world to work together on some hard core sanctions, blockading and no-fly zones before Russia starts invading the "Russian" parts of Estonia and Moldova.

http://www.hrw.org/...

Russia: Government Tightens Screws After Sochi
Many wondered what a post-Sochi crackdown might look like. These detentions, the crackdown under way on the media, and violent attacks against dissenters by unidentified assailants paint a stark picture of what is going on in Russia right now.

Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director

(Moscow) – Russian authorities have detained hundreds of peaceful protesters in recent weeks, in most cases arbitrarily and in some cases with unnecessary force. The detentions are part of a new crackdown on free expressionand assembly as the crisis unfolds in neighboring Ukraine.

When Pro-Putin "progressives" attack: the latest

WCWatch

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 14, 2014 · 1:41 PM PDT

2014/03/14 · 13:41

Jame Kirchick, a frequent critic of Russia Today on the subject of gay rights, has put out a piece on the berzerk reaction he's getting since Putin's invasion of the Ukraine (and anchor Liz Wahl's on-air resignation), especially from a certain Kevin Gosztola. Gosztola was representing himself as being on staff of First Look Media (not accurate), but he is a mainstay at the leftie blog FireDogLake, and has blogs or webpages on The Nation and Salon.

Are they stuck in obsolete anti-US-so-pro-Russia thinking? Does their anger over US actions in Iraq totally cloud their judgment, and they project? Or does this have something to do with Snowden, like Snowden-in-Russia-so-Russia-good?

Or in the case of Gosztola, is there a Kremlin paycheck involved, or does he just have the hots for RT's Abby Martin?

(Don't forget Thom Hartmann.)

Over the past week, I have been the recipient of a deluge of attacks on Twitter from RT fans alleging that I was somehow behind Wahl’s resignation. This afternoon, a gentleman identifying himself as Kevin Gosztola, who writes for the left-wing website FireDogLake, left a message on my cell phone. He claimed to be working on a project for First Look Media -- the high-profile investigative journalism start-up that employs, among others, Glenn Greenwald. (First Look's top editor says the Gosztola has nothing to do with the outlet. More on that in a second.)
...

The call’s threatening tone is appropriate, though, for someone determined to defend the reputation of the Kremlin. What’s less understandable is why First Look Media—a new journalism venture that’s supposedly dedicated to investigating the excesses of government and corporate power—would join in.

That's because First Look is not, in fact, involved. "Kevin [Gosztola] doesn’t work for First Look Media. He apparently spoke to Glenn [Greenwald] about the possibility of doing a story for [First Look], but Glenn hasn’t given him an assignment or a contract," Eric Bates, executive editor of First Look Media, told The Daily Beast in an email. "Glenn let Kevin know that he shouldn’t be representing himself as acting on behalf of First Look."

Greenwald isn't exactly a RT critic, it should be noted. Last week, when RT host Abby Martin (a 9/11 Truther who believes that water fluoridation is a government plot to poison Americans) briefly spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Crimea, Greenwald took to the website’s blog to defend RT’s editorial integrity, citing her act of pseudo-dissidence as evidence of the network’s editorial independence from the Kremlin. Greenwald even compared the network favorably to American media outlets.

Newer
Older

RSS