Author: Randy Slovacek

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Fox News viewers less informed about current events, poll shows

Fairleigh Dickinson University recently questioned 612 adults in New Jersey about how they get their news, offering as options traditional outlets like newspapers and local and national television news, or blogs, websites and even Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

They then asked a series of factual questions about the major events of the last year, from the “Arab Spring” to the Republican race for president.

For example, respondents were first asked whether, opposition groups in Egypt had been successful in bringing down the Mubarak regime.

Among NPR listeners, 68% correctly said they had been; only 49% of Fox News viewers answered correctly.

In fact, the survey found, Fox viewers were 18 percentage points less likely to answer correctly than those who watched no news at all.

“The results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all,” said Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson.

Those who watched Sunday public affairs shows tended to be the best informed on current events, the survey found. Readers of national newspapers also were more likely to respond correctly.

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Jamey Rodemeyer’s bullies will not be charged after his suicide

Police closed the Jamey Rodemeyer case today without prosecuting any of his bullies, saying they lacked proof he’d been harassed.

Rodemeyer killed himself in September after facing bullying that he “could never escape,” he said in posts on the Internet. But Amherst Police Chief John Askey said that despite the 14-year-old’s complaints online about bullying, there wasn’t enough evidence of what happened, and it couldn’t be pinned to any single student.

“In most cases, you need a victim and a complaint,” Askey told the Buffalo News, noting that he isn’t satisfied with the outcome.

After their son’s death, Rodemeyer’s parents shared a story on the Today show of how their daughter had gone to a school dance to take her mind off the death of her brother only to be met with taunts of “better off dead.” The superintendent identified the student responsible for the chants and issued a suspension, taking the punishment “to the fullest extent allowed under education law.”

That appears to be where the punishment will stop in the Rodemeyer case. The superintendent said he planned more education about the effects of bullying.

More at the Advocate.com

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FOX News’ Megyn Kelly defends use of pepper spray at UC Davis, essentially

Last night, Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly attempted to defend a UC Davis police officer’s use of pepper spray against nonviolent protesters.

“I don’t think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police,” O’Reilly said, “particularly at a place like UC Davis, which is a fairly liberal campus.” He didn’t explain why the abuse of violent force might be more necessary or justified against liberal students.

Kelly went even further in dismissing the suffering of students attacked by the pepper spray, speculating that it’s not that harmful because “it’s like a derivative of actual pepper. It’s a food product, essentially.”

That statement has created a new viral phrase all of the Twitter world. Here are a few of the best ones:

“Mustard gas: it’s a hot dog condiment, essentially!”

“Unemployment: it’s free vacation, essentially.”

“Prison: it’s free room and board, essentially!”

“Stonings: They’re microdermabrasion, basically.”

“Waterboarding: It’s a really high-powered shower, essentially!”

“Beheadings: They’re really close haircuts, essentially!”

“Yellow cake uranium is a dessert, essentially”

“Rape, it’s just surprise sex, essentially.”

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Romney says “Let Us Just Raise Your Taxes Some More”

* accurate according to the Romney standard of accuracy

From ThinkProgress: Yesterday, Mitt Romney released his first campaign ad, which quotes President Obama saying “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”

But those weren’t Obama’s words; he was quoting a strategist for Sen. John McCain in 2008.

In response, the Romney campaign has defended this blatantly dishonest campaign tactic as “not out of bounds.”

Thus, ThinkProgress has created this completely in-bounds “advertisement” quoting Romney, in his own words.

Kinda funny, isn’t it? Now – how do you think Mitt Romney feels knowing some people may hear him quoting others out of context, and think these are his thoughts?

Things that make you “hmmm…”

But remember – Mitt Romney’s team says this is “not out of bounds.”

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Sarah Palin got in trouble for not making “non-candidacy” announcement on FOX News

Roger Ailes – FOX News chief apparently felt he didn’t get his money’s worth from Sarah Palin, the former half-term governor of Alaska.

Ailes wasn’t mad that she chose not to run. Apparently he was livid that Palin made the October 5 announcement on Mark Levin’s conservative talk-radio program, robbing Fox News of an exclusive and a possible ratings bonanza.

From NY Magazine: Ailes was so mad, he considered pulling her off the air entirely until her $1 million annual contract expires in 2013. After the announcement, he called Fox’s executive vice-president Bill Shine into a meeting. Shine is the network’s principal point of contact with Palin. Ailes told him she had made a big mistake. “I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network,” Ailes pointedly told Shine.

The next decision for Palin is which GOP candidate she intends to endorse. Folks in FOX New circles say, if she wants to keep her contract intact, she would be wise to make the announcement on FOX.

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McInerney Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Murder

Brandon McInerney has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Lawrence King and will be sentenced to 21 years in prison, reports Los Angeles’s ABC 7 news.

In September, Ventura County, Calif., Superior Court judge Charles Campbell declared a mistrial in the two-month-long case against the 17-year-old after a jury was unable to decide between charges of first-degree murder with a hate-crime enhancement or voluntary manslaughter. The former charge would have netted McInerney at least 53 years in prison, the latter only about 20.

The prosecution claimed the killing was premeditated and that McInerney had planned to kill his classmate after King made unwanted sexual advances, while the defense argued that McInerney, who had been the subject of repeated abuse in his home, had snapped over some comments King had made.

McInerney will be officially sentenced December 19.
(via the Advocate)

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Marriage equality under threat in Spain by newly elected Prime Minister

Progressive Spaniards fear for what will happen to marriage equality and other laws under new Prime Minister-elect Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government.

His conservative party has challenged in the Constitutional Court a 2005 law allowing gay marriage. Rajoy has said he supports civil unions for homosexual couples but does not think they should be called marriages.

In Campillo de Ranas, a tiny hamlet in the Ocejon valley 80 miles north of Madrid, there are very real fears of what the future may bring under the new conservative government of Mr Rajoy, 56.

The picturesque village has carved out a reputation for holding the record in Spain for the number of gay weddings since the Socialists legalised same-sex marriages in 2005.

The socialist mayor Francisco Morato has reversed the fortunes of the once-dying community by welcoming gay marriages and bringing a much-needed boost to the local economy, but he now fears the good times are over.
“I get the feeling that there is a lot of concern,” said Mr Morato. “I have been holding marriages every weekend – sometimes as many as three weddings in one day – I simply haven’t stopped.”

“A lot of people tell me they fear that Mariano Rajoy will revoke the law, so there has been a rush to go ahead with their weddings before it is too late,” he said.
Some 20,000 gay couples have wed since the law, which also lets gay couples adopt children, made Spain only the third member of the European Union after Belgium and the Netherlands to allow same-sex weddings.

More at the Telegraph.co.uk