iowahawk

iowahawk

37p

59 comments posted · 3 followers · following 0

13 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Announcing: Big Hollyw... · 6 replies · +9 points

John Ford's Grapes of Wrath, with Henry Fonda.

13 years ago @ Big Journalism - More Reasons to Defund... · 0 replies · +3 points

It's misleading in the extreme to claim NPR gets only $4 million from CPB. That's only the direct part. Of its $400m budget CPB doles out $100m+ to NPR station affiliates, which turn shovel a large portion back to NPR for programming. In fact $20m+ of CPB radio funds are "restricted," meaning they must be used for "program development" -- i.e., buying programming from NPR or a "competitor" like PRI. As a practical matter, if taxpayer CPB radio funds went away tomorrow NPR would lose a good 30% of their revenue ($75m or so of $250m)

13 years ago @ Big Journalism - NPR: A Mission Failed ... · 0 replies · +2 points

That "2%" is utterly laughable. NPR's real DC sugar daddy is 100% taxpayer funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In their most recent FY2011 budget request CPB asked for $600m+. $400m for TV, $136m for radio.

Of the radio money $100m is "unrestricted" grants to local public radio stations, $35m "restricted" meaning by law that it must be spent on programming made by... whuddayaknow! NPR and PRI. In truth, a huge portion of local public radio station budgets (funded primarily by CPB, NEH, NEA and state appropriations, not to mention free studios and equipment) is "spent" on NPR programming. NPR pretends that this this is all some sort of private enterprise, although the shell-game financial practices are enough to make an Enron accountant blush.

If NPR is really a "private non-profit," let's see how much they can make by selling their programming to commercial radio stations.
http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/financials/appropriat...

13 years ago @ Big Journalism - Hypocrisy, Thy Name is... · 3 replies · +33 points

Media Ethics 101:

Reveal classified military plans and troop locations in wartime: Pulitzer bait.

Reveal our online chats: totalitarian McCarthyism.

13 years ago @ Big Journalism - I'll Take a Cashier's ... · 0 replies · +11 points

Who said I agreed with Breitbart? Personally, I think $100,000 for the deep musings and top-sekrit girl gossip of this collection of inane J-school dipshits is about $100,000.05 over the fair market value. But hey, whatever, it's his money.

On reflection, it was probably unfair for me to compare them to 14-year old girls. I apologize to all 14-year old girls.

13 years ago @ Big Government - Blago Accomplice Runni... · 4 replies · +12 points

in Chicago, "pizza franchise owner" doesn't always mean "pizza franchise owner."

13 years ago @ NewsReal Blog - Success! American Acad... · 1 reply · +3 points

Speaking of words the New York Times cannot bring itself to use, note what's missing from this desperate bit of PC fainting couch euphemism: "immigrants from some African, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures." Odd, wondered the reader; how did such a bizarre and barbarous practice randomly arise in Cameroon, Israel and Japan?

When reporting on pedophile priests, does the Times report it as "a cultural practice associated with some Euro-Irish immigrant communities"?

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Daily Gut: Obama's Cof... · 4 replies · +15 points

Is it the one that says "I'm With Stupid?"

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Daily Gut: Obama's Cof... · 0 replies · +12 points

You know who's also getting buried in Obama t-shirts?

People who sell Obama t-shirts.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/blogs/...

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Hitchcock, #1 Overrate... · 1 reply · +5 points

I like Ben, but that list was just plain excruciating in its stupidity.

Any list of overrated directors must begin with Robert Altman.