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kpete
kpete's Journal
kpete's Journal
February 26, 2015
O'Reilly's Claim To Have Seen Nuns "Shot In The Back Of The Head" Contradicted By His Own Timeline
Bill O'Reilly has claimed repeatedly that he witnessed the execution of nuns while reporting in 1981 on the civil war in El Salvador, an apparent fabrication that is at odds with both history and what O'Reilly himself has said about arriving in the country after the event took place, according to new information unearthed by Media Matters.
...
Between 1980 and 1992, a civil war raged in El Salvador between the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the government of El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, four members of the Salvadoran national guard raped and shot "three American nuns and a layworker." The tragedy ''did more to inflame the debate over El Salvador in the United States than any other single incident,'' according to a 1993 State Department report. After the death of Silvia Arriola, a member of a religious order killed six weeks after those four churchwomen, "no priests or nuns were killed in El Salvador for more than eight years," according to Dr. Anna Lisa Peterson, a professor of religion at the University of Florida.
O'Reilly has spoken on several occasions about his time covering the Salvadoran civil war as a CBS correspondent in 1981, suggesting at least twice that he witnessed the murder of the churchwomen. On the September 27, 2005, edition of his talk-radio program The Radio Factor, O'Reilly said, "I've seen guys gun down nuns in El Salvador." And on the December 14, 2012, edition of his Fox News show, O'Reilly spoke of telling his mother that "I was in El Salvador and I saw nuns get shot in the back of the head."
However, O'Reilly could not possibly have witnessed the murder of the churchwomen if his own timeline is to be believed. The former CBS correspondent only arrived in El Salvador in 1981, as he mentioned on the February 22, 2002, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, saying (according to Nexis transcript), "Before I went to El Salvador in 1981, I talked with some experienced Latin American experts, people who had seen the brutal wars down there for themselves. I had never been in a war zone before, so I wanted some prep."
MORE:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/25/another-fabrication-oreilly-never-witnessed-the/202667
LIAR: Another Fabrication: O'Reilly NEVER Witnessed The Murder Of Nuns In El Salvador
Another Fabrication: O'Reilly Never Witnessed The Murder Of Nuns In El SalvadorO'Reilly's Claim To Have Seen Nuns "Shot In The Back Of The Head" Contradicted By His Own Timeline
Bill O'Reilly has claimed repeatedly that he witnessed the execution of nuns while reporting in 1981 on the civil war in El Salvador, an apparent fabrication that is at odds with both history and what O'Reilly himself has said about arriving in the country after the event took place, according to new information unearthed by Media Matters.
...
Between 1980 and 1992, a civil war raged in El Salvador between the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the government of El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, four members of the Salvadoran national guard raped and shot "three American nuns and a layworker." The tragedy ''did more to inflame the debate over El Salvador in the United States than any other single incident,'' according to a 1993 State Department report. After the death of Silvia Arriola, a member of a religious order killed six weeks after those four churchwomen, "no priests or nuns were killed in El Salvador for more than eight years," according to Dr. Anna Lisa Peterson, a professor of religion at the University of Florida.
O'Reilly has spoken on several occasions about his time covering the Salvadoran civil war as a CBS correspondent in 1981, suggesting at least twice that he witnessed the murder of the churchwomen. On the September 27, 2005, edition of his talk-radio program The Radio Factor, O'Reilly said, "I've seen guys gun down nuns in El Salvador." And on the December 14, 2012, edition of his Fox News show, O'Reilly spoke of telling his mother that "I was in El Salvador and I saw nuns get shot in the back of the head."
However, O'Reilly could not possibly have witnessed the murder of the churchwomen if his own timeline is to be believed. The former CBS correspondent only arrived in El Salvador in 1981, as he mentioned on the February 22, 2002, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, saying (according to Nexis transcript), "Before I went to El Salvador in 1981, I talked with some experienced Latin American experts, people who had seen the brutal wars down there for themselves. I had never been in a war zone before, so I wanted some prep."
MORE:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/25/another-fabrication-oreilly-never-witnessed-the/202667
February 25, 2015
Senate Dems begged to kiss Netanyahu's ass, and he REFUSED.
Senate Dems begged to kiss Netanyahu's ass, and he REFUSED.
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined an invitation to meet with Democratic Senators behind closed doors when he comes to the U.S. to address a joint session of Congress next month.
"Though I appreciate your kind invitation to meet with Democratic Senators, I believe that doing so at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit," Netanyahu said in a letter to Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Dianne Feinstein.
He added: "I regret that the invitation to address the special joint session of Congress has been perceived by some to be political or partisan. I can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel's grave concern about a potential nuclear agreement with Iran that could threaten the survival of my country."
The invitation was extended by House Speaker John Boehner without consulting the White House. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have announced they will not meet with Netanhayu during his visit. The White House cited a "long-standing practice" of avoiding appearances with heads of state in close proximity to their elections.
MORE:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/israeli-pm-netanyhau-declines-invite-senate-democrats-n312336
February 25, 2015
A man who posted a video online of himself ripping up a Koran and beating the shredded holy book with a shoe is to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for renouncing his Muslim faith.
The unnamed prisoner, in his 20s, was given the death sentence by the country’s Sharia courts for the offence of apostasy – abandoning Islam – the Saudi Gazette reported.
Deviation from the nation’s enforced Sunni faith is harshly punished, according to Human Rights Watch.
Public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam is banned and anything deemed an insult to the faith can be treated as a crime.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/man-to-be-beheaded-in-saudi-arabia-after-ripping-up-a-koran-and-hitting-it-with-his-shoe-10067392.html
what will the MSM say about this?
crickets...........
Our ally will behead a man for ripping up a Koran and hitting it with his shoe
Man to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia after ripping up a Koran and hitting it with his shoeA man who posted a video online of himself ripping up a Koran and beating the shredded holy book with a shoe is to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for renouncing his Muslim faith.
The unnamed prisoner, in his 20s, was given the death sentence by the country’s Sharia courts for the offence of apostasy – abandoning Islam – the Saudi Gazette reported.
Deviation from the nation’s enforced Sunni faith is harshly punished, according to Human Rights Watch.
Public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam is banned and anything deemed an insult to the faith can be treated as a crime.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/man-to-be-beheaded-in-saudi-arabia-after-ripping-up-a-koran-and-hitting-it-with-his-shoe-10067392.html
what will the MSM say about this?
crickets...........
February 25, 2015
Frequent co-host Steve Ratner tired to summarize the issue, namely that O'Reilly had made specific claims about rescuing a bloodied CBS cameraman and witnessing the Argentine military fire "real bullets" into the crowd.
At certain points O'Reilly has appeared to suggest he was "in the Falklands" in a "war zone." (He has clarified he was in Buenos Aires the entire time, along with the rest of the CBS correspondents, and insisted his accounts of the war were accurate.)
Scarborough took on the location question directly.
"No he was in the Falklands," Scarborough said. "There were riots!"
"He was not in the Falklands," Ratner shot back, as other panelists began to talk over each other.
VIDEO & MORE:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sjoe-carborough-defends-oreilly-falklands
What Is He Smoking? Joe Scarborough Defends Bill O'Reilly: 'He Was In The Falklands!'
Frequent co-host Steve Ratner tired to summarize the issue, namely that O'Reilly had made specific claims about rescuing a bloodied CBS cameraman and witnessing the Argentine military fire "real bullets" into the crowd.
At certain points O'Reilly has appeared to suggest he was "in the Falklands" in a "war zone." (He has clarified he was in Buenos Aires the entire time, along with the rest of the CBS correspondents, and insisted his accounts of the war were accurate.)
Scarborough took on the location question directly.
"No he was in the Falklands," Scarborough said. "There were riots!"
"He was not in the Falklands," Ratner shot back, as other panelists began to talk over each other.
VIDEO & MORE:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sjoe-carborough-defends-oreilly-falklands
February 25, 2015
Sheldon Adelson May Bankroll Effort to Stop Rand Paul
......the hawkishness now defining the early campaign could imperil the presidential hopes of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the libertarian-leaning Republican who embraces a more restrained approach to American engagement with the world.
“The guy who’s now got the biggest challenge because of this is Rand Paul,” said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker. “The Rand Paul worldview, which I suspect will change, is just incompatible with reality.”
Though Mr. Paul will not formally announce his campaign until April, prominent Republican officials and groups are already organizing to undercut his approach. One of the party’s biggest donors, the Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has told associates that he is open to underwriting an effort to stopping Mr. Paul, should he gain traction in the primaries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/us/politics/foreign-policy-ascends-as-issue-for-republican-presidential-contenders.html?_r=1
February 25, 2015
Interesting that it was a political protester who wound up there, isn't it?
This, of course, continues to be a rough century for the Chicago P.D. It began with the revelations regarding Jon Burge, a rogue cop who routinely tortured suspects for 20 years on the city's South and West Sides. Then, more recently, it was revealed that another alleged CPD torturer named Richard Zuley had taken his act from Chicago's North Side to the prison at Guantanamo Bay. And now this. I'm no expert, but I think it might behoove some ambitious assistant US Attorney in Cook County to get Mayor Rahm Emanuel under oath and find out what he knows about how Chicago became East Germany. (To be fair, the state's attorney for Cook County is on to the Zuley case, at least.) But this is what can happen if you normalize torture in the public mind the way that the Avignon Presidency and its acolytes did and then, when a new administration comes in, it declines to prosecute the people involved and, indeed, it fights to keep secret what was done in the name of the American people. Authoritarians wear all kinds of uniforms, and they can convince themselves that almost everyone is a threat of some kind or another. This is now a country that tortures, and torture does not stop at the water's edge. It is a decision that was made for us, but it is a decision that nobody, not even the president the country elected twice, has chosen fully to reverse. This is a country that tortures. And we live with it.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a33313/this-is-not-america-contd/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site?CMP=share_btn_tw
CHARLES PIERCE: Holy mother of god---This is what happens when torture is normalized
The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago's west side known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights...Brian Jacob Church, a protester known as one of the "Nato Three", was held and questioned at Homan Square in 2012 following a police raid. Officers restrained Church for the better part of a day, denying him access to an attorney, before sending him to a nearby police station to be booked and charged. Homan Square is definitely an unusual place," Church told the Guardian on Friday. "It brings to mind the interrogation facilities they use in the Middle East. The CIA calls them black sites. It's a domestic black site. When you go in, no one knows what's happened to you."
Interesting that it was a political protester who wound up there, isn't it?
This, of course, continues to be a rough century for the Chicago P.D. It began with the revelations regarding Jon Burge, a rogue cop who routinely tortured suspects for 20 years on the city's South and West Sides. Then, more recently, it was revealed that another alleged CPD torturer named Richard Zuley had taken his act from Chicago's North Side to the prison at Guantanamo Bay. And now this. I'm no expert, but I think it might behoove some ambitious assistant US Attorney in Cook County to get Mayor Rahm Emanuel under oath and find out what he knows about how Chicago became East Germany. (To be fair, the state's attorney for Cook County is on to the Zuley case, at least.) But this is what can happen if you normalize torture in the public mind the way that the Avignon Presidency and its acolytes did and then, when a new administration comes in, it declines to prosecute the people involved and, indeed, it fights to keep secret what was done in the name of the American people. Authoritarians wear all kinds of uniforms, and they can convince themselves that almost everyone is a threat of some kind or another. This is now a country that tortures, and torture does not stop at the water's edge. It is a decision that was made for us, but it is a decision that nobody, not even the president the country elected twice, has chosen fully to reverse. This is a country that tortures. And we live with it.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a33313/this-is-not-america-contd/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site?CMP=share_btn_tw
February 24, 2015
A comic I did for the Village Voice in 2007, when Billo — fresh on the heels of his sexual harassment scandal — decided it would be a good idea to publish a book of advice for young people.
http://thismodernworld.com/archives/8580
2007 Tom Tomorrow cartoon about that time Billo published a book of advice for young people.
FROM 2007A comic I did for the Village Voice in 2007, when Billo — fresh on the heels of his sexual harassment scandal — decided it would be a good idea to publish a book of advice for young people.
http://thismodernworld.com/archives/8580
February 24, 2015
Olbermann couldn't hide his glee. "I still own your head, Bill," he said.
***********
Detailing his baseball career, O'Reilly told Le Batard about the time the New York Mets brought him in for a tryout. While at the now-leveled Shea Stadium, O'Reilly recalled brushing shoulders with another pitcher who was about 5-foot-10 and "threw twice as hard as me." The pitcher turned out to be Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.
Olbermann, a baseball maven, took an axe to O'Reilly story, noting that he got the 6-foot-1 Seaver's height wrong. But the more egregious error, according to Olbermann, came with O'Reilly's timeline of the events.
O'Reilly eventually hung up on Le Batard after swatting away a series of questions about a "controversy" that may have "embarrassed" him and caused "turbulence."
VIDEO & MORE:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/keith-olbermann-fact-checks-bill-oreilly-baseball-mets-tom-seaver
Olbermann Can't Resist Debunking Bill O'Reillys Athletic Career Again: "I still own your head, Bill"
Olbermann devoted most of the segment to fact-checking O'Reilly's accounts of his amateur athletic career. During the awkward radio interview, host Dan Le Batard brought up Olbermann's revelation in 2005 that O'Reilly only played club football at Marist College. As Olbermann pointed out, Marist didn't even institute a varsity football program until well after O'Reilly attended the school. O'Reilly dismissed the question, telling Le Batard that it "was varsity football in the sense" that Marist competed against other schools.
Olbermann couldn't hide his glee. "I still own your head, Bill," he said.
***********
Detailing his baseball career, O'Reilly told Le Batard about the time the New York Mets brought him in for a tryout. While at the now-leveled Shea Stadium, O'Reilly recalled brushing shoulders with another pitcher who was about 5-foot-10 and "threw twice as hard as me." The pitcher turned out to be Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.
Olbermann, a baseball maven, took an axe to O'Reilly story, noting that he got the 6-foot-1 Seaver's height wrong. But the more egregious error, according to Olbermann, came with O'Reilly's timeline of the events.
Seaver’s rookie year was 1967, when Bill O’Reilly had just turned 18. In his biography, O’Reilly put the alleged Met tryout in his senior year of college, 1970 or ’71, by which point the Mets had already won the World Series, and Seaver had won the Cy Young Award. The only part of this story he hasn’t changed was that he — ‘lifelong Met fan’ — did not recognize Tom Seaver.
O'Reilly eventually hung up on Le Batard after swatting away a series of questions about a "controversy" that may have "embarrassed" him and caused "turbulence."
VIDEO & MORE:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/keith-olbermann-fact-checks-bill-oreilly-baseball-mets-tom-seaver
February 24, 2015
?1424796177
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/24/1366528/-The-Plan#comments
Netanyahu's "Plan"
?1424796177
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/24/1366528/-The-Plan#comments
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