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Anime World Order Show # 139 - He's So Cool
"Golgo 13" Joins Kitan Club's PUTTITO Series of Cup-Clinging Toys
Duke Togo, aka Golgo 13, the most dangerous professional assassin in the history of manga and anime, is coming soon to a whiskey tumbler near you thanks to Kitan Club's newest line of PUTTITO Series cup-clinging gashapon toys.
The line-up featuring Takao Saito's anti-heroic hitman includes:
Sitting Golgo.
Sniper Golgo.
Hanging Golgo. (That's just undignified, Mr. Togo.)
Aiming Golgo. (My personal favorite.)
And Infiltration Golgo. Additionally, there is also a 6th, secret figure in the series.
The Golgo 13 PUTTITO Series gashapon toys are 65 millimeters (2.56 inches) tall. Each figure will sell for 400 yen ($3.22 US) from gashapon machines in Japan beginning in late August.
Source: Animeanime.jp
Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.
Respecting Choices and Garnering Respect in Fandom
A number of years ago I was in an online conversation with a friend who refused to be critical of anime. While others argued that this didn’t make sense because every person has to prioritize likes and dislikes to some degree, my friend rebutted that it was not their own role to pass judgment or to push their own taste on others. Rather, what they preferred to do was to match a show with what someone was looking for, a librarian’s approach rather than that of a critic.
While in the end this was only one person with a very particular way of viewing media, I find that it encapsulates an unspoken (or perhaps sometimes unconscious) disagreement among fans within all sorts of popular media, from games to anime to comics as to how people should view and engage with media. This philosophical disagreement can in some sense be described as “modern,” the idea of aiming progressively towards an ideal, vs. “postmodern,” the idea that there are essentially multiple truths.
I will give two examples. The first comes from the popular site Anime News Network, and the other comes from the Super Smash Bros. online community.
Anime News Network is a general anime and manga site with news, an encyclopedia, and reviews. As is typical of a review site, its writers will often talk about a specific work, list their likes and dislikes, what they might find interesting or problematic about a series, and then give letter ratings. On the forums, this inevitably leads to some strong disagreement, where people respond as if they are being personally attacked by the review, while calling the reviewer out for bias.
I’ve seen the argument that ANN forum posters do not understand what it means to a review a series, and that they should not be so close to their anime that they would feel personally offended by a harsh review, but the more I think about it the less I think it’s that simple. Rather, what happens is a difference in how engagement with anime is perceived. The reviewer will tend to state their opinion in a manner to try and convince the audience that, as a reviewer, their thoughts have significance, and while the idea that a review is an opinion is thought to be implied, it’s a tendency of “good” English writing to state things somewhat authoritatively. This results in the sense that the goal of reviews, and what anime fans should be doing, is progressively refining their tastes. The more they watch, the more discerning they should become.
However, many forum-goers see things differently. While they often look towards the review for validation and thus see the reviewer as someone of importance (and indeed when the reviewer and the posters’ opinions align they tend to express positive feelings), there’s also a strong sense that a lot of these anime fans are not trying to become more critical, to develop better taste in anime. Rather, they’re trying to find the anime that suits them on some mental or emotional level, and because some reviews will criticize some social aspect of a work (portrayal of women, for example), this becomes a point of contention because from their perspective it can seem as if the reviewer is trying to invalidate the work and its readers, when it really comes down to a difference in philosophy. From the reviewer’s side, the forum posters might appear to be people with no taste, who don’t understand what reviews are generally meant to do. It’s like two different conversations are happening.
In the case of the fandom surrounding competitive Super Smash Bros., since 2008 there has been an on-going tension between fans of different iterations of the franchise. Amidst frequent arguing over the years, there have been proposals for fans of the different games to unite under one banner and respect and support each other, but almost without fail someone will ask the following:
“Why should I support a game I don’t like/is terrible? What’s in it for me?”
This way of thinking views the Super Smash Bros. games not as different takes on a core idea with varied gameplay experiences, but a series where one game in particular is the best and the others should live up to its example. This assumes that there is one right way to make a competitive Smash game, and that, the further away you get from that approach, the less competitive and interesting a game becomes. More importantly, however, this mindset assumes, rather than bringing in more people of different tastes and opinions, it is better to cull other games in order to further refine the ideal competitive environment.
Relative to the idea of unity across the Smash franchise, it is assumed that supporting “lesser” games is insincere, thus compromising one’s own tastes and, for some fans, going against their “objectively” derived conclusion that their game is simply the best. In contrast, basis for unity, the reason why it is touted as a goal for the competitive Smash Bros. community, comes from a different place. The idea is that, not only does the idea of a fun, competitive game vary from person to person and that those with whom you disagree might see something that you don’t, but that there should also be mutual empathy. Rather than focusing on which game is the best and why fans of the others simply aren’t seeing things correctly, this unity in a sense prioritizes people and their hard work over the games, which implies that, while playing the right games are important, it’s a very individual and subjective choice.
I don’t know if these differences are simply a matter of personality, or upbringing, or just the manner in which people are exposed to their hobbies and interests, but that’s less important to me than having people be aware of these varied mindsets when talking to others. Even though we might all be called “fans” of the same things, even within specific categories there are dissimilarities as to what we consider to be fundamentally important. If you’re an anime fan, what’s more important, the anime or the fan? If you’re a gamer what’s more important, the game, or the er (this is a less effective play on words)? This is not a black or white situation, as different people might even value different aspects of particular media. For example, someone might truly believe that books are in the eye of the beholder, but that music should be held up to higher standards. While this might seem to be hypocritical, I think it’s quite possible for it to be a positive thing, as it potentially allows people to see the other perspective more clearly. Each side, although they might have different goals or motivations, aren’t automatically invalidated.
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Studio 4°C Offers Princess Arete, Genius Party, Mind Game Anime on Netflix (Updated)
Podcast: Hot Tears of Shame: where you been?
PODCAST: Hot Tears of Shame 3000 with Patrick Macias and Matt Alt
It’s X85X A.D., a time of new galactic frontiers, astounding technology, and terrifying evil. Discovering a new universe means unleashing a new relentless enemy: Alphabet Drake and the tyrannical armies of the Government of Darkness! To save themselves, the people of Earth must fight back with the best they’ve got and that means the Otackers: the mightiest crime-fighting team ever to probe the cold depths of space. With a cast of cyborgs, androids, and giant robots as well as very human heroes and villains, it’s an adventure you won’t want to miss!
Discussion topics include:
Matt's TV work
Matt's new book-in-progress
Patrick's webcomics: HYPERSONIC music club, Paranoia Girls, and PARK Harajuku: Crisis Team!
The annoying world of Takashi Murakami
the foreign correspondents club of japan
anime in art galleries
the "new" Nakano Broadway
CEL 3044 / $39.95 / VHS / Dub-only / HiFi Mono
(Cover photo by Michael Anthony Garone)
"Ninja Scroll" Director to Storyboard Episode of "Overlord"
Episode 7 of this season's Madhouse adaptation of Kugane Maruyama and so-bin's nine-volume Overlord fantasy light novel has been previewed, along with a staff listing. "Wise King of the Forest" features series composition writer Yukie Sugawara on the script, Masayuki Oozeki (Kill La Kill 19) as episode director, and Kim Yong-sik as animation director. Notably joining them is Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the 64-year-old director of Madhouse's classic, violent anime like Ninja Scroll, Wicked City and Demon City Shinjuku on storyboards.
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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.
"Eat-Man" TV Anime Receives Japanese Bluray Release
DarylsuratI watched that entire first series raw on VHS and having no idea what was happening or why may have enhanced my enjoyment of it
Eat-Man, a 1997 - 1998 science fiction TV anime based on the manga of the same name by Akihito Yoshitomi, is coming to Japanese home video with a Bluray boxed set that collects both Eat-Man and its sequel series, Eat-Man `98. The series revolves around Bolt Crank, a mercenary capable of ingesting anything and then summoning up a copy of whatever he has swallowed.
Eat-Man and Eat-Man `98 both feature animation by Studio Deen. The former was directed by Koichi Mashimo, while the latter was directed by Toshifumi Kawase. Both series were released on DVD in North America by the now-defunct Bandai Entertainment. The Eat-Man manga was released in English by Viz.
The Eat-Man Bluray boxed set features all 24 episodes of the 2 series as well as a commemorative booklet and an original comic drawn by Akihito Yoshitomi. The set will be released in Japan on November 06, 2015, by NBC Universal Entertainment Japan. It retails for 24,800 yen ($198.50 US) plus tax.
Source: AV Watch via My Game News Flash
Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.
Pat Robertson: Not Separating Toys By Gender ‘Puts God’s Bullseye’ On Target’s Stores
From: The Political Garbage Chute h/t to James Schlarmann
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Televangelist Pat Robertson is not in any way happy about the fact that retail megastore Target has decided to stop separating their toy aisles by the presumed gender of the child who will be playing with the toys. In a statement released by the retailer, Target acknowledged that “shopping preferences and needs change and, as guests have pointed out, in some departments like toys, home or entertainment, suggesting products by gender is unnecessary,” and they told their customers “We heard you, and we agree,” but Robertson took to his “Holy Roller” podcast to decry Target’s decision over the weekend.
“Oh, Target agrees with its hedonistic, Godless, amoral customers,” Robertson sarcastically asked on the podcast, “that’s wonderful. But I have to ask, just what kind of society will we have when boys can go into the same aisle for their Lego as girls go in for theirs.” Robertson said that “allowing boys to think it’s okay to play with pink Lego while girls think it’s okay to play with non-pink Lego is a one-way ticket to Hell.”
Finished watching all the EON James Bond films tonight.
DarylsuratTHE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN?!
Back in 2008, Shannon and I started watching the James Bond movies with the goal of seeing all of them. The idea spawned from the films being released in some clever Blu-ray box sets. Our watching continued into the next year and (randomly) years after.
Late last year, we began converting into a fully digital household to become of space efficient. This meant clearing out old Blu-rays and DVDs and building up our iTunes library. Shortly after (Christmas) the “James Bond Collection” went on sale from Apple.
All $23 movies in HD for $100… so, about $5 a movie.
We bought them and started watching them again from the beginning.
Tonight, we finished them all (conveniently in time for Spectre coming out in a couple of months.) Some of the Bond films are amazing. Some of them are Moonraker.
THE RESULT: here are our top five James Bond films each. (I’ve included my wife’s top five as a separate list because her tastes of a “good” Bond film vary from mine a wee bit.)
Tom’s Top 5 Bond Films
- Skyfall
- From Russia with Love
- Goldfinger
- The Man with the Golden Gun
- Goldeneye
(I like “gold” films; I have no love for Timothy Dalton.)
Shannon’s Top 5 Bond Films
- Live and Let Die
- Skyfall
- Dr. No
- From Russia with Love
- Octopussy
(Shannon loves Live and Let Die; I don’t get it. I think Dr. No is good – but it drags. She likes Octopussy because she loves the character.)
Jon Stewart Laments The Fact That Despite The Headlines, He Didn't Actually 'Eviscerate' Anyone
DarylsuratUh he's making fun of the author of this specifically. They are one of the people who's done this for years and years
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart opened his second to last show by having some fun with all of the overblown headlines that have been written about him over the years. As Stewart lamented, despite the fact that he's been given credit for either "eviscerating" or "annihilating" everything from ISIS and terrorism, to racism, to Wall Street to Fox News, sadly, things haven't gotten any better on any of those fronts during the time he's been on the air.
ISIS is still going strong. Racism is still alive and well. One lousy banker has gone to jail for the excesses of Wall Street, and not only is Fox "news" still on the air, they're running the first GOP debate and their influence "has gone all the way to the White House."
Stewart Realizes That Despite Web Headlines, He Didn’t Actually ‘Eviscerate’ Anyone:
Well, tonight, on his penultimate night, Stewart discovered that he didn’t actually do any of that.
No, instead, he realized that ISIS, racism, Wall Street, and even Fox are still going strong despite the jokes he told about them. Stewart cried, “What the fuck is going on here?! The world is demonstrably worse than when I started! Have I caused this?! Have my efforts all been for naught?”
But there was one thing Stewart was happy to see change for the better.
"Fist of the North Star" Promotes Tourism with Rubber Straps
The cast of Fist of the North Star are touring Japan in the form of a new line of rubber straps with imagery designed to express the spirit of different regions. The current line-up is designed to promote tourism in:
Hiroshima.
Miyagi.
Okinawa.
Nagasaki.
Oita.
Nagoya.
Hida.
and Mount Fuji.
These rubber straps will be available at regional souvenir shops as well as public transportation hubs (train stations, airport kiosks) in Japan. Each strap retails for 648 yen ($5.23 US), including tax.
Source: Comic Natalie
Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.
Words of warning...
Bill Sammon Is The "Secret Weapon" Shaping The Fox News Debate
Fox News Washington Bureau Chief Bill Sammon is reportedly the "secret weapon" helping to develop the questions moderators will ask at the network's August 6 debate. Internal emails and critics within Fox have exposed Sammon's history of deception and his efforts to use his position at Fox to slant the network's news coverage to the right.
Fox News' Sammon Is "Secret Weapon" Behind The Debate Questions
Fox's Chris Stirewalt: Sammon Is "The Best" At "Crafting The Questions." Asked by Fox host Howard Kurtz how he and the debate moderators would formulate questions to keep candidates off their talking points, Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt said they have a "secret weapon" in Sammon, "who is the best at not only team cohesion and keeping everybody on point about what the point is, but in crafting the questions." From the August 2 edition of #MediaBuzz:
KURTZ: You've been to this rodeo before. How do you and Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier and Chris Wallace go about formulating your questions knowing the candidates are going to try to pivot to their talking points?
STIREWALT: Well, the first thing is we have a secret weapon and that is Bill Sammon, who is the best at not only team cohesion and keeping everybody on point about what the point is, but in crafting the questions.
KURTZ: Washington bureau chief.
STIREWALT: Absolutely, he's a managing editor and a great mind and a great journalist and so that is a big help. [Fox News, #MediaBuzz, 8/2/15]
Sammon Meeting With Moderators Regularly To Refine Questions. Sammon is meeting with the three moderators in regular "murder board" sessions where questions are refined. From a Washington Post profile of Fox's Chris Wallace, one of the moderators:
On a recent Thursday morning, Wallace walked the few steps from his small, memorabilia-filled office -- a photo of him playing hoops with Michael Jordan, his late father's Rolodex -- to the more spacious suite of his boss, Bill Sammon, the vice president of news, who had called together a small debate-prep meeting.
"It's insane interest," Sammon said as Wallace took a seat. Sammon was fielding calls from campaigns that wanted him to walk them through the debate rules, while also trying to finalize the program. Sammon is against opening statements. Ten statements from 10 candidates would be a buzzkill, he argued. Wallace nodded.
"I talked with Bret. He's written 54 questions," said Sammon.
"I've written 22," said Wallace.
Twenty-two is about as many as each moderator will have time to ask. With 10 candidates -- each vying for a knockout moment -- the anchors will have to keep their questions precise and their eyes on the clock.
"We'll have murder board Monday," Sammon said. "Another Wednesday and Friday. The week of the debate, every day; and two a day if we need to."
Murder boards, in Fox parlance, are sessions where each moderator's questions are refined -- pared if they are too long, scuttled if they are too "weedy." Sammon, Wallace, Kelly and Baier will harshly criticize each other's work. [The Washington Post, 8/3/15, emphasis added]
The following comes largely from Media Matters' 2011 report "Fox's Bill Sammon Problem," which detailed Sammon's history of on-air lies and the leaked emails proving he had used his position to encourage Fox's reporting to take on a conservative slant. Sammon - who had been a regular fixture on Fox programming - seems to have ceased appearing on the network in light of the controversy over his management.
Sammon Pushed Obama/Socialism Smear That He Privately Found "Far-Fetched"
Sammon: Engaged In "Mischievous Speculation About Whether Barack Obama Really Advocated Socialism" Even Though He "Privately" Thought That Was "Far-Fetched." During a speech on a high-priced cruise, Sammon admitted he promoted the idea that Barack Obama "really advocated socialism" on Fox News prior to the 2008 election, even though he "privately" found the concept "far-fetched":
Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Fox Washington managing editor Bill Sammon described his attempts the previous year to link Obama to "socialism" as "mischievous speculation." Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that "privately" he had believed that the socialism allegation was "rather far-fetched."
"Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, 'spread the wealth around,' " said Sammon. "At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched." [Media Matters,3/29/11]
Roger Ailes Gave Sammon A Reprieve After "Fox Critics" Reportedly Called For His Firing In Response To Smear. "Fox critics" criticized Sammon when the speech became public and called for his removal as Washington bureau chief, but Fox chief Roger Ailes "reprimanded Sammon but he also let it be known he didn't consider it a firing offense," according to Ailes' authorized biographer. From Zev Chafets' Roger Ailes: Off Camera:
In 2009, on a Mediterranean cruise, Bill Sammon regaled his conservative audience with a tale of inside news making. During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama had famously told 'Joe the Plumber,' an Ohio blue-collar voter, that there was nothing wrong with spreading the wealth around. "I have to admit that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obmaa really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched," Sammon boasted. Fox critics learned about the speech and castigated Sammon for this obvious misuse of his position. There were rumblings in the Fox Washington bureau that Sammon should be replaced as bureau chief. Ailes reprimanded Sammon but also let it be known that he didn't consider it a firing offense. [Zev Chafets, Roger Ailes: Off Camera, via Google Books]
Days Before '08 Election, Sammon Tied Obama To Socialism. In the final days before the 2008 election, Sammon used his position at Fox to engage in a campaign linking then-Sen. Barack Obama to "socialism" and "Marxists." On October 27, 2008, Sammon sent an email to colleagues highlighting "Obama's references to socialism, liberalism, Marxism and Marxists" in his 1995 autobiography, Dreams From My Father. Sammon subsequently appeared on multiple Fox programs -- and penned an article for FoxNews.com -- promoting Obama's ties to "Marxists."
From: Sammon, Bill
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 1:02 PM
To: 069 -Politics; 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com)
Subject: fyi: Obama's references to socialism, liberalism, Marxism and Marxists in his autobiography, "Dreams from My Father." Plus a couple of his many self-described "racial obsessions"...* "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists." (Obama writing about his time at Occidental College in "Dreams.")
* After his sophomore year, Obama transferred to Columbia University. He lived on Manhattan's Upper East Side, venturing to the East Village for "the socialist conferences I sometimes attended at Cooper Union," he recalled, adding: "Much of what I absorbed from the sixties was filtered through my mother, who to the end of her life would proudly proclaim herself an unreconstructed liberal."
* After graduating from Columbia in 1983, Obama spent a year working for a consulting firm and then went to work for "a Ralph Nader offshoot" in Harlem. "In search of some inspiration, I went to hear Kwame Toure, formerly Stokely Carmichael of SNCC and Black Panther fame, speak at Columbia. At the entrance to the auditorium, two women, one black, one Asian, were selling Marxist literature."
During this period, according to Obama, he began a serious romantic relationship.
* "There was a woman in New York that I loved. She was white," Obama wrote in "Dreams." "We saw each other for almost a year. On the weekends, mostly. Sometimes in her apartment, sometimes in mine. You know how you can fall into your own private world? Just two people, hidden and warm. Your own language. Your own customs." But Obama said their relationship was doomed by the racial difference. "I pushed her away," he recalled."The emotion between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing from ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart."
* In June 1985, Obama was interviewed in New York by Marty Kaufman, a community organizer from Chicago. Obama recalled: "There was something about him that made me wary. A little too sure of himself, maybe. And white." [Media Matters, 2/1/11]
Sammon Uses Position To "Slant News To The Right"
Source: Sammon Exerts "Pressure" On News Staff To "Slant News To The Right." A source with knowledge of the situation at Fox's Washington bureau told Media Matters that Sammon shapes the news coverage in a "brutish way":
Sources tell Media Matters that the situation in the Fox Washington bureau represents a dramatic change from when Hume was managing editor.
According to one source, the pressure to slant Fox's reporting is coming from Sammon himself. Another source says that directives are coming from Fox management in New York and that Sammon -- unlike [former Fox Washington managing editor Brit] Hume -- doesn't have enough sway to push back.
The allegations fly in the face of Fox's claim that its news division is straight down the middle and not opinionated.
"[There is] more pressure from Sammon to slant news to the right or to tell people how to report news, doing it in a more brutish way," one source with knowledge of the situation said. "A lot of the reporters are conservative and are glad to pick up news. But there is a point at which it is no longer reporting, but distorting things."
"Brit Hume was also encouraging people to look at things with other points of view. Brit was smart to see that a lot of mainstream media ignore certain points of view," the source added. "That was a smart and effective way to build the Fox brand. [Media Matters, 10/29/10]
Fox Source: "If Things Are Being Classed As News That Aren't, That Is A Problem." Discussing the situation in the Washington bureau during an interview with Media Matters, a Fox source said:
"People are allowed to have opinions when they espouse opinions. But when news is being tampered with, you have to worry. I keep hearing things from staffers about Sammon."
"I think Sammon comes up with this himself. It takes a conservative slant; it is his news judgment. If things are being classed as news that aren't, that is a problem." [Media Matters, 12/9/10]
FOXLEAKS: Internal Emails Show Pattern Of Sammon Slanting Bureau's News Coverage
Sammon Ordered News Staff To Cast Doubt On Established Climate Science. In an email sent to the network's journalists during global climate talks in 2009, Sammon wrote:
From: Sammon, Bill
To: 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 036 -FOX.WHU; 054 -FNSunday; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com); 050 -Senior Producers; 051 -Producers; 069 -Politics; 005 -Washington
Cc: Clemente, Michael; Stack, John; Wallace, Jay; Smith, Sean
Sent: Tue Dec 08 12:49:51 2009
Subject: Given the controversy over the veracity of climate change data......we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question. It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies.
Sammon's directive was issued less than 15 minutes after Fox correspondent Wendell Goler accurately reported on-air that the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was "on track to be the warmest [decade] on record." Contrary to Sammon's email, the National Climatic Data Center explains that the warming trend "is apparent in all of the independent methods of calculating global temperature change" and "is also confirmed by other independent observations." Moreover, the so-called "Climategate scandal" that Sammon was apparently referencing was based on falsehoods and gross distortions of emails written by climate scientists. Scientists, independent fact-checkers, and several investigations have since confirmed that the CRU emails do not undermine the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet. [Media Matters, 12/15/10]
Sammon Directed News Staff Not To Use Phrase "Public Option." At the height of the health care reform debate in 2009, Sammon sent a memo to Fox News' journalists directing them not to use the phrase "public option," but instead "government option" and similar phrases. Sammon's directive echoed advice from top Republican pollster Frank Luntz on how the GOP could turn public opinion against Democrats' reform efforts.
From: Sammon, Bill
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 8:23 AM
To: 054 -FNSunday; 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 069 -Politics; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com); 036 -FOX.WHU; 050 -Senior Producers; 051 -Producers
Subject: friendly reminder: let's not slip back into calling it the "public option"1) Please use the term "government-run health insurance" or, when brevity is a concern, "government option," whenever possible.
2) When it is necessary to use the term "public option" (which is, after all, firmly ensconced in the nation's lexicon), use the qualifier "so-called," as in "the so-called public option."
3) Here's another way to phrase it: "The public option, which is the government-run plan."
4) When newsmakers and sources use the term "public option" in our stories, there's not a lot we can do about it, since quotes are of course sacrosanct. [Media Matters, 12/9/10]
Sammon Slanted Fox's Coverage Of Obama's 2009 Cairo Speech. Shortly after President Obama's June 2009 speech in Cairo, Sammon sent an email to Fox's journalists pointing out that Obama did not use "the words 'terror,' 'terrorist' or 'terrorism.' " Sammon's criticism, however, was misleading. Obama devoted a significant section of his remarks to denouncing and confronting Al Qaeda and other "violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security." Nevertheless, the critique was repeated -- both by Sammon and other network personalities -- throughout the network's coverage of the speech.
From: Sammon, Bill
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 9:23 AM
To: 169 -SPECIAL REPORT; 069 -Politics; 036 -FOX.WHU; 030 -Root (FoxNews.Com); 050 -Senior Producers; 051 -ProducersSubject: FYI: My cursory check of Obama's 6,000-word speech to the Muslim world did not turn up the words "terror," "terrorist" or "terrorism" [Media Matters, 2/8/11]
Cc: Clemente, Michael; Stack, John; Wallace, Jay
Sammon: Obama's "Views On The White Race" Are "Fairly Controversial."
Sammon: Obama's "Views On The White Race" Are "Fairly Controversial." During a 2008 appearance on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio program, Sammon, then a Fox News contributor, said, "I've always felt that it's not going to be Jeremiah Wright's views on race that are necessarily going to doom Barack Obama's presidential bid. It's Barack Obama's own views on the white race which are, I think, fairly controversial." [Media Matters, 3/21/11]
Sammon's Fox News Colleagues Describe Him As A "Conservative"
Bill O'Reilly: Sammon "Obviously Is A Conservative And Coming From That Point Of View." During The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly introduced Sammon by stating, "Mr. Sammon obviously is a conservative and coming from that point of view." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 6/5/01, via Nexis]
Chris Wallace To Sammon: "I Think It's Fair To Say You Tilt Conservative." During a discussion about Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) legacy shortly after his death, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace told Sammon that "I think it's fair to say you tilt conservative." Sammon did not object to the characterization. From the August 30, 2009 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday:
WALLACE: How do you reconcile the fact, Bill -- I mean, I think it's fair to say you tilt conservative in your views -- with the fact that this was a fellow in the arena, obviously liberal, was taking the country in a direction that perhaps you didn't admire, but that he did have a lot of people whom he touched and who felt that he represented them?
SAMMON: Hey, I grew up in a Irish-Catholic working-class neighborhood of Cleveland where Kennedy was a hero. It was a Democratic neighborhood, and he was an effective legislator. There's no question about it.
And you know, I saw that interview clip that you just showed from 2006. During that clip, you know, you're asking him about liberalism, and so on and so forth, and I noticed that he was one of the few senators to vote against welfare reform, for example.
So in other words, there's liberalism and then there's dogmatic liberalism. Everybody -- I mean, Bill Clinton signed welfare reform. It went on to, by most experts' analysis, greatly improve -- it drove down the number of jobless unmarried women. It drove down child poverty.
But Kennedy clung to the idea that you had to oppose that kind of thing. And so, yeah -- was he an effective legislator? Yes. Was he terribly flexible on ideology? No. [Fox, Fox News Sunday, 8/30/09, via Nexis]
Sammon Has Fundraised For Conservatives
Sammon Attended High-Priced Fundraising Retreat For Conservative Activist David Horowitz's Organization. Sammon was a panelist at a 2006 fundraising retreat for conservative activist David Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture (now The David Horowitz Freedom Center). Sammon appeared on a panel discussing "The Media and the War" with conservative activist Frank Gaffney, Andrew Breitbart, and conservative radio host Tammy Bruce. Sammon opened his remarks by saying, "It's great to be here because I normally spend my days working and traveling with the White House press corps, and therefore it's not very often I find myself in a room surrounded by this much common sense." [Media Matters, 2/8/11]
Sammon Gave Keynote Speech At Fundraiser For Monroe County Conservative Party. In 2003, Sammon gave the keynote speech at the annual fundraising dinner for the Monroe County Conservative Party in upstate New York. According to a newsletter announcing Sammon's appearance, the fundraising dinner is the Monroe County Conservative Party's "primary source of funds which enables us to operate as an effective and respected political party." [Media Matters, 2/8/11]
Sammon Wrote Several Fawning Books About Bush Campaigns, Administration
At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election. Sammon is the author of At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election (Regnery Publishing, 2001). According to Amazon.com, the book's inside flap reads in part:
Al Gore was furious. He wasn't supposed to lose.
Drawing on exhaustive, on-the-scene reporting and exclusive interviews with the key players -- including President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney -- Washington Times reporter Bill Sammon has written the definitive account of the most contentious presidential election in U.S. history.
At Any Cost is a breathtaking examination of Vice President Al Gore's audacious and unprecedented effort to overturn the presidential election. Desperate to forestall the spectacular collapse of his political career and determined to inflict as much damage as possible on Bush, Gore pulled out all the stops in an extraordinary, thirty-six day campaign of scorched-earth political warfare that propelled the nation to the brink of a constitutional crisis.
[...]
At Any Cost is a gripping, must-read account of the biggest attempted larceny in the history of American politics. [Amazon.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism From Inside the Bush White House. Sammon is the author of Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism-From Inside the Bush White House (Regnery Publishing, 2002). Regnery's promotional materials state of the book:
The First Book Ever on George W. Bush's Presidency...
WARTIME PRESIDENT
How Bush Led America Through "the Middle Hour of our Grief"The Democrats underestimated him. The media ridiculed him. But when terror struck on September 11, 2001, George Bush proved what kind of man he truly is. And, as Bill Sammon recounts in his new book, that was just the beginning.
In Fighting Back, you get the first book ever on George W. Bush's presidency -- and the first comprehensive look at how Bush is leading the war on terror. From the moment when Andy Card whispered into his President's ear "Mr. President, America is under attack," best-selling author Bill Sammon brings us an eye-witness account of that historic day, and the days that follow.
[...]
Fighting Back gives you an extraordinarily dramatic, blow-by-blow account of a President thrust into a new kind of war. It describes history in the making, and the emergence of a great leader. [Regnery.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias, and the Bush Haters. Sammon is the author of Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias, and the Bush Haters (HarperCollins, 2005). The publisher's promotional materials state of the book:
"They misunderestimated me," George W. Bush famously remarked on the eve of his historic presidency. Fractured syntax aside, Bush was right: his detractors misunderstood his appeal to the American public, and underestimated his considerable political skills. In this compelling new book, Bill Sammon reveals how the president is turning these misperceptions to his advantage in the looming showdown with John Kerry and the Bush haters.
As senior White House correspondent for the Washington Times, Sammon has been granted extraordinary access to the president and his closest confidants, from political gurus Karl Rove and Andy Card to foreign policy advisers Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. The result is a compelling chronicle of the second eighteen months of George W. Bush's term, as the administration's focus shifts from al Qaeda and Afghanistan to Iraq and the 2004 election. Sammon's on-the-scene reporting and exclusive interviews with the president and his top advisers reveal how the White House is implementing the most profound shift in U.S. foreign policy in more than half a century, prompting an eminent Democratic historian to rank Bush alongside John Quincy Adams and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of America's "grand" strategists.
[...]
Misunderestimated also meticulously tracks the rise of the Bush haters, a disturbing political phenomenon that colors everything from the war on terrorism to the presidential campaign. The impact extends to the press, which Sammon exposes for racing to brand Operation Iraqi Freedom another Vietnam "quagmire" less than eighteen months after making the same blunder during the Afghan war. [HarperCollins.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media. Sammon is the author of Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media (Regnery Publishing, 2006). Regnery's promotional materials state of the book:
Strategery chronicles the perpetually "misunderestimated" president as he vanquishes John Kerry and then embarks on a breathtakingly audacious second-term agenda. He vows to rein in the judicial activism of a runaway Supreme Court, defeat the "Bush haters" who blame him for Hurricane Katrina, and, in his spare time, end tyranny around the globe. Strategery is a remarkably vivid portrait of the president as he is seldom seen.
[...]
Strategery is the third installment in a multi-volume set of New York Times bestsellers chronicling this unlikely yet historic presidency, written with verve and piercing insight by Bill Sammon, who has been granted unprecedented access to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, and other senior White House officials. [Regnery.com, accessed 3/29/11]
The Evangelical President: George Bush's Struggle to Spread a Moral Democracy Throughout the World. Sammon is the author of The Evangelical President: George Bush's Struggle to Spread a Moral Democracy Throughout the World (Regnery Publishing, 2007). Regnery's promotional materials state of the book:
But through it all, Sammon shows that President Bush took the high road, fighting to spread moral democracy around the world while the low-minded press focused on Vice President Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend while hunting and Virginia senator George Allen's use of the word macaca on the campaign trail
[...]
The Evangelical President is an unforgettable glimpse of a president at war, supported by an evangelical belief that tyranny should be overthrown, democracy supported, and America defended, combined with a steely stubbornness to see those goals through. [Regnery.com, acessed 3/29/11]
Reviewers: Sammon Books Are "Conservative Polemic," He Makes "No Secret Of His Admiration" Of Bush
Plain Dealer Review: At Any Cost Is "A Conservative Polemic," A "Mean-Spirited Political Assessment." In a June 24, 2001, review of At Any Cost for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sammon's former employer, Dylan Foley writes:
Bluntly put, 'At Any Cost' is a conservative polemic in which Sammon uses his reporting skills to advance his thesis that Al Gore and the Gore campaign used fraud and deceit to try to snatch the presidency from George W. Bush. The book is a mix of good journalism and mean-spirited political assessment of the Florida vote-counting scandals." He concludes: "In a college course 20 years from now, 'At Any Cost' would deserve a place on the syllabus as a conservative view of the Florida disgrace. It's a well-written book by an established journalist that would be an enjoyable book for conservative true believers. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/24/01, accessed via Nexis]
Wash. Times Review: In Fighting Back, Sammon "Makes No Secret Of His Admiration Of The President." In an October 27, 2002, review of Fighting Back for The Washington Times, Sammon's employer at the time, Roger Fontaine writes that in the book, Sammon "makes no secret of his admiration of the president -- which is fine -- there is plenty of the opposite from other journalists and pundits who don't fare too well in this account." [The Washington Times, 10/27/02, accessed via Nexis]
Sammon's Publisher Exists To Prop Up Conservative Movement
Regnery States They Are "Central To The Conservative Movement Today." From the "History of Regnery" posted at their website:
When the Henry Regnery Company first opened its doors in 1947, its mission was to contribute to the rebuilding of Western civilization after World War II, publishing serious works of cultural recovery, including, as it turned out, establishing and sustaining the postwar conservative intellectual movement in America.
[...]
The conservative movement has grown, over the last 62 years, from a few intellectuals, economists, editorial writers, and authors to become the most vibrant political and intellectual movement that the country has ever known. Regnery Publishing is as central to the conservative movement today, as it was nearly sixty two years ago when Henry Regnery helped start it. [Regnery.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Regnery Describes Itself As "The Nation's Preeminent Conservative Publisher." From a letter posted by Regnery president and publisher Marji Ross:
Regnery Publishing, the nation's preeminent conservative publisher, is truly on a roll. Over the past three years we have produced no less than 25 bestsellers! Included in that list is the election-year blockbuster Unfit for Command, which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Other books to make the list include William F. Buckley Jr.'s autobiographical Miles Gone By, Richard Miniter's Shadow War, Robert "Buzz" Patterson's Reckless Disregard, David Horowitz's Unholy Alliance, and Rowan Scarborough's Rumsfeld's War. [Regnery.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Regnery Publishes A "Who's Who" Of The Conservative Movement. Regnery authors include: Haley Barbour, Bill Bennett, Tony Blankley, Pat Buchanan, Jerome Corsi, Ann Coulter, Erick Erickson, Steve Forbes, Maggie Gallagher, Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert, Laura Ingraham, Terence Jeffrey, Wayne LaPierre, G. Gordon Liddy, Rich Lowry, Michelle Malkin, Oliver North, Mitt Romney, Peter Sprigg, Marc Thiessen, and Emmett Tyrrell. [Regnery.com, accessed 3/29/11]
Viewster to Stream "Key the Metal Idol"
At this weekend's Otakon anime convention, Viewster announced plans to stream Key the Metal Idol worldwide outside of Japan & Asia. The 15 episode 1994-1997 OVA from Hiroaki Sato and Studio Pierrot follows a girl who belives her robot body will run down and die following the death of her grandfather/creator if she can't develop a human heart by making 3,000 friends.
Viz released the series on North American home video.
------
Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.
We Are Stunned Yet Again That A Man With 'Mental Issues' Got A Gun
So how did he get a gun? Via Raw Story:
Houser was turned down for a concealed carry permit in 2006 because of apparent mental health issues and a previous arrest in Columbus, Georgia, for arson.He was treated in 2008 and 2009 for mental health problems after his wife and other family members took out a temporary protective order against him for extreme erratic behavior and "has made ominous as well as disturbing statements.”
The filing shows Kellie Houser was so fearful of her husband, who “has a history of mental health issues, i.e., manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder,” that she removed all the guns from their home.
The order was granted, according to court records, and she filed for divorce in March 2015.
Houser signed up for an account with Tea Party Nation in June 2013, but he was not an active commenter.
Lafayette Shooter Was A White Supremacist Tea Party Type
Every time the right wing rhetoric ratchets up to a high point, more rational people are concerned that it will prompt some person with mental health issues to act on the ideas being spewed by right wing haters.
In Charleston, that day came.
In Louisiana, that day came yesterday.
John Russel Houser, the man responsible for the shootings last night in Lafayette, Louisiana, was a racist conspiracy theorist who was turned down for a gun permit due to mental health issues. His comments on white supremacist and right wing sites could just as easily have come out of the mouth of Alex Jones.
Joe Knapp points out that he had a page on Tea Party Nation, created in June, 2013, which was the same month the Supreme Court struck down DOMA. Houser really hated gays, but admired Westboro Baptist Church, who he said was "the last real church in America."
Kamikaze Douga Produces "City Hunter" New Anime
It has been confirmed that the upcoming new anime based on Tsukasa Hojo's City Hunter manga series is produced by Tokyo-based anime/CG production company Kamikaze Douga, recently highly acclaimed for its TV anime adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Sunrise animated the past anime series in the 1980's-90's.
It will be released as a bonus OAD for the purchasers of all 12 volumes of the manga's new edition series "City Hunter XYZ Edition." The first two volumes were just released in Japan on July 18, and its promotional video is now online.
The OAV story focuses on the protagonist Ryo Saeba's marriage proposal to the main heroine Kaori Makimura. All of the four original voice cast of the previous series: Akira Kamiya (Ryo Saeba), Kazue Ikura (Kaori Makimura), Yoko Asagami (Saeko Nogami) and Tessho Genda (Umibouzu) will reprise their
roles for the special episode after 16 years.
"City Hunter XYZ Edition" PV
1st and 2nd volume covers
"Ryo's Proposal" disc image
Source: Mantan Web
(C) Tsukasa Hojo/NSP 1985
Podcast: Hot Tears of Shame: Attack on Titan Movie Review
Download Hot Tears of Shame AoT Review
HOT TEARS OF SHAME PODCAST EPISODE 198X
ATTACK ON TITAN movie review
With Patrick Macias and Matt Alt
(thanks for Tomohiro Machiyama for getting us into the screening)
VIDEO: Teaser for Super Sentai Parody Series "Kanpai Senshi After V" 2nd Season
DarylsuratThis is the show I got the "why do they always just attack Tokyo?" clip from, BTW
The official website for Shin (New) Kanpai Senshi After V (Five), the upcoming second season of the Super Sentai parody show, has posted a 150-second teaser featuring the new OP song performed by four-member masked rock band Nagareda Project.
The 12-episode first season was aired in Japan from April to June in 2014. The parody drama series focuses on only after-parties held after the Sentai heroes' battle against an evil organization, including drinking, singing karaoke, and complaining about their job. The team was originally named as Ougon Senshi Treasure Five (Golden Soldier Treasure Five), but now called as Kanpai Senshi After V (Toast Soldier After Five). The episodes were told only at Izakaya (Japanese-style bar) and Karaoke Box. The new season will premiere on eight stations across Japan in October.
2nd season teaser
2nd season main visual
CM for 1st season DVD box to be released on September 3
Source: "Kanpai Senshi After V" offcial website
© "Kanpai Senshi After V" Production Committee
The Shady Anti-Choice Actors Behind The Deceptive Video Accusing Planned Parenthood Of "Selling Aborted Baby Parts"
Center for Medical Progress, the anti-choice group behind the deceptively edited video attacking Planned Parenthood, is run by an activist with ties to discredited conservative groups and a board member who believes killing abortion doctors is "legally justified."
Conservative Group Claims Planned Parenthood "Sells The Body Parts Of Aborted Fetuses"
Center For Medical Progress: Video Proves Planned Parenthood Is "Selling Aborted Baby Parts." The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released a video July 14 that it claimed shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing how the organization "sells the body parts of aborted fetuses." The nearly nine-minute video and an accompanying press release claimed that Planned Parenthood is in violation of 42 U.S.C. 289g-2, a federal law regulating the use and sale of fetal tissue. According to CMP's press release:
New undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted fetuses, and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.
In the video, Nucatola is at a business lunch with actors posing as buyers from a human biologics company. As head of PPFA's Medical Services department, Nucatola has overseen medical practice at all Planned Parenthood locations since 2009. She also trains new Planned Parenthood abortion doctors and performs abortions herself at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles up to 24 weeks.
[...]
The sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 (42 U.S.C. 289g-2). [The Center For Medical Progress, 7/14/15]
The Center For Medical Progress Bills Itself As A Non-Profit That Conducted A 30-Month Investigation Into Planned Parenthood, But It Has Almost No Internet Footprint
Center For Medical Progress Describes Itself As A Non-Profit "Group Of Citizen Journalists." According to the organization's website description of itself:
The Center for Medical Progress is a group of citizen journalists dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances. We are concerned about contemporary bioethical issues that impact human dignity, and we oppose any interventions, procedures, and experiments that exploit the unequal legal status of any class of human beings. We envision a world in which medical practice and biotechnology ally with and serve the goods of human nature and do not destroy, disfigure, or work against them.
The Center for Medical Progress is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. [Center for Medical Progress, Accessed 7/15/15]
Center For Medical Progress Has A Small And Recent Internet Footprint. CMP's presence online was nearly non-existent until several weeks ago. The group's Facebook page shows no posts before May 24 of this year and the organization didn't join Twitter until May 30. No videos other than the deceptively edited Planned Parenthood clips appear on the group's YouTube site. The website address listed on their Facebook page leads to a PostalAnnex+ in Irvine, CA instead of real organization. [Facebook.com, Accessed 7/15/15; Twitter.com, Accessed 7/15/15, YouTube.com, Accessed 7/15/15; Yelp.com, Accessed 7/15/15]
CMP's Founder, David Daleiden, Has A Long History With Discredited Conservative Groups
Center For Medical Progress: Daleiden Is "Founder" And Project Lead For The "Human Capital" Investigation. According to the Center for Medical Progress' website, Daleiden not only spearheaded the "Human Capital" investigation that produced the deceptively edited video attacking Planned Parenthood, he also founded the organization. Daleiden's bio also describes his past work at conservative news outlet The Weekly Standard:
David Daleiden is a citizen journalist with nearly a decade of experience in conducting investigative research on the abortion industry. In 2013, David started The Center for Medical Progressas a vehicle through which to pursue sophisticated, in-depth, and scintillating investigative journalism projects pertaining to contemporary bioethical issues.
As Project Lead at CMP, David recently completed the organization's first long-term project, the 30-month-long "Human Capital" investigation documenting Planned Parenthood's illegal sale of body parts from aborted fetuses. Prior to CMP, David worked as Director of Research for a national new media education and advocacy organization. David is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a B.A. in Government, and his writing has been published in The Weekly Standard and The Human Life Review. [Center for Medical Progress, Accessed 7/15/15]
Life Legal Defense Fund Credits Daleiden As Director Of CMP's Project. In a press release discussing CMP's video, the Life Legal Defense Fund credited David Daleiden as the director of the "Human Capital" project behind the deceptively edited video, thanking him specifically "for bringing these shocking practices to light":
The "Human Capital" project was a nearly 3-year-long undertaking produced by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Directed by CMP Project Lead David Daleiden, the effort secured audio and video recordings of Planned Parenthood administrators and abortionists casually agreeing to sell freshly-extracted parts from their abortions. CMP's devastating expose of PP's trade in body parts may be seen at centerformedicalprogress.org.
[...]
Life Legal gives the credit for bringing these shocking practices to light to David Daleiden. But Daleiden gives a lot of credit to Life Legal: "The Center for Medical Progress thanks Life Legal Defense Foundation for their initiative and foresight in consulting on and helping to develop this project." [Christian News Wire, 7/14/15]
Daleiden Was Formerly The Director of Research At Live Action. In 2009, Daleiden was the director of research for the discredited anti-abortion group Live Action, which has been criticized before for deceptively editing undercover footage of abortion clinics in an attempt to smear Planned Parenthood. According to Daleiden's bio from the time on Live Action's website, he assumed his role in 2008 and was later banned from Pomona College's campus after "videotaping a Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles speaker denying Planned Parenthood's responsibility for the cover-up of statutory rape":
David Daleiden has a passion for promoting the culture of life in communities and campuses across the country. He is proud to be a part of the Live Action team.
A native of the Sacramento area, David first became involved with the pro-life movement at age 15, working with local college pro-life groups and learning from veteran activists in his community. He founded a pro-life club at his high school, helped bring pro-life debater Scott Klusendorf to his hometown, and has participated in the "Genocide Awareness Project" to show abortion images to the public. David points to such images as the original impetus for his work in the pro-life movement.
During high school, David was also heavily involved in speech and debate. He first met Lila Rose in the Junior State of America (JSA) organization, and over the years became more and more involved in Live Action.
In 2007, David began his studies at Claremont McKenna College (CMC) in Claremont, California. David currently runs a Live Action chapter in Claremont, which routinely conducts sidewalk counseling efforts, community education, and campus activism.
David took on his current role as Director of Research for Live Action in 2008 during the early stages of the Mona Lisa Project. In March 2009, David and a fellow student were banned from sister campus Pomona College after videotaping a Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles speaker denying Planned Parenthood's responsibility for the cover-up of statutory rape. The ban was soon lifted after intense public scrutiny. [Live Action, 8/17/09; Media Matters for America, 2/4/11; Media Matters for America, 5/31/12]
Snopes: Daleiden Is Reportedly Friends With Conservative Figure Best Known For "Severely Edited" Videos. A Snopes.com takedown of CMP's video noted that Daleiden is reportedly a friend of James O'Keefe -- another conservative figure notrious for using "severely edited" videos to target liberal organizations:
An individual named David Daleiden has been widely credited as the "leader" of the Center for Medical Progress. While Daleiden's online footprint is minimal, a 2009 Claremont University article (penned by fellow conservative activist Chuck Johnson) reported:
James O'Keefe is a friend of David Daleiden's. O'Keefe and Hannah Giles have been going coast to coast documenting instances of ACORN employees willingly giving advice on how to avoid paying taxes and shielding a would be pimp (running for congress) and a prostitutent from the watchful eye of the law. They've brought their investigation to New York City, Washington D.C., and Baltimore.
O'Keefe came to prominence in 2009 after he produced "egregiously misleading" and "severely edited" videos targeting agencies such as ACORN." [Snopes.com, 7/14/15]
Center for Medical Progress Board Member Called Murder Of Abortion Doctor "Justified"
Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, Serves On Board of Directors. "Operation Rescue President Troy Newman serves on the Board of Daleiden's Center for Medical Progress. During this investigation, Newman advised Daleiden, providing consultation services and material support." [Christian Newswire, 7/14/15]
Newman Called Murder Of Abortion Clinic Doctor A "Justifiable Defensive Action." In a 2003 press release, Newman defended Paul Jennings Hill, who was executed by lethal injection for murdering abortion doctor John Britton in Pensacola, FL. Newman argued that Hill should have been able to defend himself by classifying the murder as justifiable.
Today's scheduled execution of Paul Hill is not justice, but is another example of the judicial tyranny that is gripping our nation. A Florida judge denied Rev. Hill his right to present a defense that claimed that the killing of the abortionist was necessary to save the lives of the pre-born babies that were scheduled to be killed by abortion that day. Our system of justice is based upon 'innocent until proven guilty,' but in Rev. Hill's case, there was no justice because the court prevented him from presenting the legal defense that his conduct was justifiable defensive action.
"There are many examples where taking the life in defense of innocent human beings is legally justified and permissible under the law. Paul Hill should have been given the opportunity to defend himself with the defense of his choosing in a court of law. [Operation Rescue West press release, 9/3/03]
Newman Stalked Clinic Workers. A 2004 Los Angeles Times story detailed Newman's anti-abortion activism:
"Newman will pick through clinic workers' trash to figure out where they do business; he'll trail them at a distance to learn their routines. His goal is not just to make their lives uncomfortable. He wants to unsettle and disgust their friends and associates, so their hairstylists and their pharmacists, even their neighbors, make it clear they're not welcome in Wichita." [Los Angeles Times, 2/17/04]
Center For Medical Progress Connected To Disreputable Anti-Choice Organization
Vox: Center For Medical Progress "Appears To Be Associated" With Life Legal Defense Foundation. In a July 14 post detailing the controversy around the deceptively edited video released by CMP, Vox noted that the Life Legal Defense Foundation "appears to be associated with" the organization, linking to a series of materials on Life Legal's website from the Center For Medical Progress. [Vox, 7/14/15]
Life Legal Defense Foundation Has Been With The Center For Medical Progress "From The Very Start." In a press release discussing CMP's video, the Life Legal Defense Fund said it had been working with CMP "from the very start":
Life Legal Defense Foundation was finally able today to reveal its support of an undercover operation proving that Planned Parenthood routinely peddles the organs and tissues of babies aborted in its "health centers." This systematic profiteering is known about and approved by officers at the abortion giant's highest levels of authority. Planned Parenthood's abortionists will even alter the abortion procedure in order to guarantee the tissues most sought after--regardless of what might be best for the aborting mother.
[...]
Life Legal gives the credit for bringing these shocking practices to light to David Daleiden. But Daleiden gives a lot of credit to Life Legal: "The Center for Medical Progress thanks Life Legal Defense Foundation for their initiative and foresight in consulting on and helping to develop this project."
Familiar as we are with the contract killer's practices, Life Legal can't claim to be surprised by Planned Parenthood's utter disregard for medical ethics. But we are delighted that it has been so ably and thoroughly documented by David Daleiden.
Life Legal is proud to have taken an active, essential role in exposing Planned Parenthood's "Dr. Frankenstein" wrongdoing. Katie Short, Life Legal's Vice-President for Legal Affairs, remarked, "Planned Parenthood's unconscionable acts are recorded and proven. But it will take a lot of pressure to bring consequences to bear. After these revelations, the first thing every public official should be asked is why a penny of taxpayer money is going to fund any part of Planned Parenthood's work."
Having been with the project from its inception, Life Legal is committed to following through. Planned Parenthood will not lightly escape the judgment it has merited by trafficking in babies' eyes, hearts, livers, muscles, and other organs and tissues. [Life Legal Defense Fund, 7/14/15]
Life Legal Defense Foundation Does Not Meet Standards Of Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. According to the BBB's Wise Giving Alliance, which "helps donors make informed giving decisions and promotes high standards of conduct among organizations that solicit contributions from the public," the Life Legal Defense Foundation does not meet their standards for charity accountability. Citing the organization's indirect compensation of board member's sibling as well as inaccurate "presentation of LLDF's fund raising and program service expenses. [Give.org, Accessed 7/15/15]
Right Wing Watch: Life Legal Defense Foundation Espoused Conspiracy Theory That National Defense Authorization Act Was "Really A Way .... To Round Up Anti-Abortion Activists And Imprison Them Indefinitely Without Trial." In a January 2012 post, Right Wing Watch called out members of the "Religious Right" -- including the Life Legal Defense Foundation -- who forwarded the fringe conspiracy theory that the Obama Administration's National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 would allow the government to permanently imprison pro-life activists without a trial. Speaking to LifeSiteNews.com at the time, Dana Cody, the president and executive director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, said her organization was studying the NDAA because it says "enemy territory could be anywhere," and added, "If it's within the discretion of the government under the National Defense Authorization Act, of course it will be used by the government to intimidate and silence pro-life people, especially those who are in the public forum." [Right Wing Watch, 1/4/12]
Anime World Order Show # 138 – It Is The Dream Of Those Who Remember, Which Few Do
Udon Entertainment Adds Rose of Versailles Manga
THE SECRET ORIGIN OF GENSHIKEN? Hi Score Girl
DarylsuratThe scanlations of this I read before it all got pulled were infinitely superior to Genshiken
Hi Score Girl is the story of a beautiful romance where a young gamer who meets a girl who’s even better at Street Fighter II than he is. Though antagonistic at first, they begin to develop a friendship, and eventually something more. If you ever get the chance to read it, I recommend checking it out, as does my good friend Dave of Kawaiikochans fame. It’s a shame that the anime adaptation (and a lot of other things) got cut down at the knees due to SNK arguing copyright shenanigans.
I noticed a few things about the girl in the story. First, she has long, thick black hair. Second, when she plays Street Fighter II, she picks mainly big, bald, and/or burly characters: Zangief, Dhalsim, E. Honda. In fact, when she plays Final Fight, she selects Haggar. Third, her name is Ohno.
Hmmmmm.
I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or what, but I’m looking forward to the possibility that one Ohno might cosplay as the other. Also, now that I think about it, the Ohno in Hi Score Girl is more like a cross between Ohno and Sue, given her violent and eccentric temperament.
'Nobody Has Told Mike Huckabee Sex Is Fun': Jesse Ventura Eviscerates GOP Candidates
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) took on the top tier of Republican presidential candidates and determined that none of them were qualified to lead the country.
Speaking on his Ora TV Off the Grid show on Thursday, the former Navy SEAL began with claims made by "climate denier Ted Cruz."
"The more carbon you are putting into the atmosphere, the hotter it's going to get," Ventura explained to Cruz. "That is a scientific fact, Ted Cruz. It's not debatable, it's science."
Turning to Ben Carson, Ventura wondered when he "made the choice to be gay or hetero."
"It don't work that way, it's physical, you are born that way," Ventura pointed out. "But see, people like Ben Carson can't get it through their thick heads that people are indeed born that way."
"Anyone that makes a statement like that should not be the president of the United States by any stretch of the imagination," he added.
When it came to Mike Huckabee's assertion that women wanted birth control because "they cannot control their libido," Ventura rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Mike Huckabee is one of these religious fanatics who thinks you have sex just to procreate," Ventura quipped. "Nobody has told Mike Huckabee that sex is fun. Nobody has told Mike Huckabee that it is probably the most enjoyable thing men and women can do together. Why do you think it happens so often?"
appropriate density and electrolytes
We roll around and tumble inside of Shinjuku station, the earthquake going strong for 30 weeks beneath our feet now. Lights out, probably never going back on so we sneak around looking for lost tickets and recharging stations, exit and entrance gates, on our hands and knees. Pulls fast hard slow and sideways motion. An old man in bucket hat slides around on the floor, an angry turtle on its back, mumbling to himself with much annoyance, clicking noises coming out of the corners of his mouth. Arms and legs poke out of broken debris. Station agents have stacked them into piles and traffic cones on their sides become protective barriers. The trains keep running, but the schedules are very unreliable now. The tracks have to be adjusted and maintained down in the dark without any source of illumination left. They could get the power back on, but then the trains would stop, so this is still the best way to go. Survivors say that taxi cabs running somewhere above us, but it is hard to find an exit because of the intensity of the darkness. More screams echo where the bakery used to be; adult and child, but coming with less frequency now. I think we’re all starting to get used to it down here.
Daily Caller Headline: "Barack Obama, Wife Beater"
Conservative blog The Daily Caller posted an article with the headline: "Barack Obama, Wife Beater."
The July 1 post, posted just before midnight with an anonymous "Daily Caller contributor" byline, featured just five words -- "He's wearing a wife beater" -- accompanied by two pictures of President Obama, in which a "wife-beater" sleeveless shirt is visible under his white dress shirt. The headline read "Barack Obama, Wife Beater."
As of Thursday morning, the piece was featured on The Daily Caller's homepage.
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Associated Press Leaves Out Racism Controversy While Reporting On Meeting Between Rand Paul And Cliven Bundy
The Associated Press' (AP) report on a meeting between lawless Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) completely ignored the nationwide controversy Bundy sparked in 2014 when he made a series of racist comments about "the Negro." Paul himself repudiated Bundy at the time for his "offensive" commentary, a fact that was also missing from the AP article.
According to the AP, Bundy and Paul met during a June 29 campaign event in Mesquite, Nevada. Bundy said of Paul to the AP, "In general, I think we're in tune with each other." Politico additionally reported that the two men spoke for 45 minutes.
In its report, AP described the April 2014 armed standoff between Bundy supporters and federal law enforcement agents as "one of the more dramatic conflicts over land rights in recent years," but made no mention of Bundy's infamous racist commentary or that Paul had previously condemned him:
Paul's meeting with Bundy recalled one of the more dramatic conflicts over land rights in recent years.
Hundreds of armed supporters joined Bundy in April 2013 to stop a roundup of his cattle near Bunkerville about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The Bureau of Land Management says he owes more than $1 million in grazing fees over more than 20 years. Bundy argues the federal government has no authority there.
Indeed, in April 2014 violence nearly broke out as armed militia members pointed guns at federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management over Bundy's decades-long refusal to pay grazing fees for his use of federal land despite several court orders. (While the AP article presents the question of whether Bundy owes fees as an open question, journalists who have covered the Nevada rancher's legal dispute say his claims are baseless.)
Significantly, the AP article made no mention of the major controversy after The New York Times reported on racist remarks made by Bundy. In comments to supporters about "the Negro," Bundy suggested that African-Americans may have been better off as slaves and that "[t]hey abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton." After the Times' report, Media Matters posted video of Bundy's comments, and Bundy's champions in conservative politics and media largely fled his cause.
Sen. Paul was among those who condemned Bundy, releasing a statement saying that the rancher's "remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him." While the AP excluded mention of the controversy and Paul's previous rebuke of Bundy, those details made it into reports on the meeting between Bundy and Paul by Politico and CNN.com. Politico reported that "Paul's presidential campaign did not respond to a request to explain why he held a private meeting with Bundy 14 months" after the controversy.
Watch video of Bundy's infamous comments below:
GME! Anime Fun Time Episode #11 – Mononoke
It’s that time again, time to have some Anime Fun. This time Clarissa from Anime World Order joins us again to discuss the strange, supernatural, and visually unique 2007 TV anime, Mononoke. An original series based on the character of the Medicine Vendor from the earlier Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke features bright colors but dark subject matter, and it turns limited animation into an artistic statement rather than a budgetary consideration. CLICK HERE or on the image above to download our review of the show.
Final Thought:
Fish Norio Wakamoto is best Norio Wakamoto.
