McClatchy Watch

Barack Obama does not give Christmas or birthday presents to his children

2008-07-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

Telegraph.co.uk:

In a magazine interview Obama and his wife Michelle revealed that one of their steadfast house rules is not giving Christmas or birthday presents to Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven.

The couple explained that they spend "hundreds" on birthday slumber parties and want to "teach some limits". Santa Claus is still permitted to deliver seasonal gifts however.

The girls are also given an allowance of just $1 (50p) a week for performing household chores, according to People magazine. Those chores include making their own bed, setting and clearing the dinner table and putting themselves to bed by 8.30pm.
Maybe the Obamas think Christmas is for Typical White People, not enlightened intellectuals.

Hat tip: Gateway Pundit

Sacramento Bee reporter sentenced to 90 days jail for possession of child pornography

2008-07-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Sacbee.com:

A former Sacramento Bee employee was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday on charges relating to his videotaping of a youth cheerleading competition earlier this year.

Gilbert Chan, a longtime business reporter at The Bee, can apply to serve his sentence on a sheriff's work crew rather than in custody, said Yolo Superior Court Referee David Reed.

Chan, 52, of Davis, was caught by University of California, Davis, police Feb. 3 while surreptitiously videotaping a cheerleading competition on campus, according to prosecutors.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Gorman said the videotape focused on the clothed buttocks and other areas of the cheerleaders, who ranged in age from 8 to 15.

Chan was not on duty at the time of the incident and no longer works at The Bee.

Chan pleaded no contest last month to a felony charge of possession of child pornography and a misdemeanor charge of invasion of privacy.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Chan must complete three years of probation on the misdemeanor charge. If he does so without violating the probation conditions, his plea to the felony charge can be withdrawn.

One of the conditions is that Chan not associate with cheerleaders or attend events where cheerleaders will perform.

Under the agreement, Chan will not have to register as a sex offender unless he fails to complete probation.

Earlier Bee articles identify Chan as a Bee employee on administrative leave. Looks like Chan and the Bee have gone separate ways.

Sacramento Bee reporter enters "no contest" plea to possession of child pornography

Sacramento Bee reporter pleads not guilty to felony child pornography charge... was observed videotaping cheerleading event

Another blog added to my blogroll

2008-07-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

I added The other McCain to my blogroll today. Published by Robert Stacy McCain, who writes for the American Spectator and other publications. A good introduction is this post from Friday: Berlin Backlash builds.

Taylor Swift's "Beautiful eyes" is the top country music album this week

2008-07-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

Taylor Swift's album "Beautiful eyes" is Billboard's top country album this week. A Wal-Mart exclusive, 45,000 units were sold this week. "Beautiful Eyes" features two previously unreleased songs and alternate versions of several others. Showing international appeal, Taylor Swift will sing her new song "Change" at the Olympics in China later this summer.

Taylor Swift bumped herself out of first place, as her self-titled CD dropped to #2.

Randy Travis holds the #3 spot with his new release, "Around the Bend." Travis sold 31,000 units, his best release ever.

If you want to buy "Taylor Swift" or "Around the Bend," click on the ad under the "Visitors to this blog" world map. (If you want "Beautiful eyes," you'll have to go to Wal-Mart.)

Crazed Democrats get arrested in Iowa after their attempt to arrest Karl Rove fails

2008-07-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Reuters:
Four peace activists were arrested on Friday as they attempted to make a "citizens arrest" of Karl Rove, who was one of President George W. Bush's top aides before leaving the administration last year.

"It should be Karl Rove in that van. War Criminal!" one of a dozen protestors shouted as the four were put into a police van outside a Des Moines country club where Rove spoke at a private state Republican party fundraiser.Chet Guinn, a retired Methodist Minister, was among those led away.

"To be silent when major crimes are being committed against all humanity makes us accomplices," Guinn told reporters just before his prearranged arrest, which took place when protestors stepped past a gate.

Here's a shock: Nutjob Chet Guinn is a Kucinich supporter and Democratic activist.
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Below is a photo of Chet Guinn (left) shaking hands with Joe Biden (right) in an AP photo from 2007 (credit: Charlie Neibergall).

Previous Moonbats:
Moonbats disrupt new citizen ceremony at Monticello
Moonbat voters in Vermont order police to arrest President Bush... effort led by 54-year old Bush hater Kurt Daims

Obama campaign caught lying about hospital visit cancellation

2008-07-25T14:07:00.001-07:00

The Obama campaign has been caught lying about the reasons it cancelled a scheduled visit to wounded troops in Germany. Initially, the campaign blamed the cancellation on the Pentagon. Sun Times:
Though the Rammstein visit had been planned for days, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said that that Pentagon notified Obama military advisor Scott Gration only yesterday or the day before that he should not come.

The Pentagon "viewed this as a campaign event and therefore they said he should not come," Axelrod said. Obama has been at the base in previous overseas trips. He visited with troops--even played basketball--when he touched down in Kuwait during the Iraq and Afghanistan leg of his swing.

But Friday the Obama lie was exposed when the Pentagon said it merely told the Obama campaign they couldn't bring campaign photographers. Politico:
Chief Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirmed to Politico that Department of Defense officials cautioned Barack Obama's campaign that his planned visit to wounded American troops in Germany could not be political in nature and that he would be barred from bringing along campaign staff and reporters. He also said that Cindy McCain recently requested to visit sailors aboard the U.S.N.S. Comfort and was denied.

"Sen. Obama is welcome to visit Landstuhl or any military hospital in his official capacity as a United States senator," Morrell said in a brief interview. "But there is a DoD policy which governs campaigning and electioneering at military facilities that would have to be respected if he were to visit. That distinction was relayed and made clear to campaign, and they made a decision on their own based on that guidance."

So a private visit to the troops -- without the cameras -- wasn't acceptable for the Obama campaign. Then they compounded the offense by blaming the cancellation on the military. Unbelievable.
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Hat tip: Gateway Pundit
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Previous:
Obama cancels planned visit to military hospital in Germany, tells staff he wants to go sightseeing

Security guard confirms late-night encounter with John Edwards at hotel... Edwards was "ashen-faced"

2008-07-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

The gate-keepers at the mainstream media can't help John Edwards anymore, since FOX News has interviewed the security guard.

Exit question: Will John Edwards' hometown newspaper finally cover the story?

Report: LA Times bans its bloggers from mentioning the Edwards/Rielle Hunter story

2008-07-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

I don't recall the mainstream media reacting this way to sex scandals involving Larry Craig, Mark Foley, or David Vitter.
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John Edwards' hometown newspaper doesn't cover latest developments involving noted Poverty Fighter

McClatchy hits another 52-week low

2008-07-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

McClatchy (MNI) shares hit another 52-week low during trading on Friday. The above chart shows the drop in McClatchy shares over the past year.

Fake Republican alert

2008-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's a common story in the media: a reporter interviews a "lifelong Republican" who says he/she is disillusioned with the Republican Party and will vote for Obama this election. Usually, a little research shows the "Republican" has been voting Dem for several elections. Yesterday CNN interviewed a fake College Republican. Ed Morrissey has the details.
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UPDATE: CNN says it was an "inadvertent error." Read their explanation - looks like they got hoodwinked and didn't do fact-checking.

Obama campaign using Berlin speech to raise money

2008-07-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

Obama is hoping to make big bucks off his "non-political" Berlin speech. A mass email sent after the speech included a YouTube video of the speech and a Donate Now button.

Fitch cuts McClatchy rating deeper into junk territory

2008-07-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

Financial analysts continue to have concerns about McClatchy's financial health. Fitch is the latest to downgrade McClatchy's rating. Reuters:
Fitch Ratings on Thursday cut its ratings on McClatchy Co (MNI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) deeper into junk territory, citing the newspaper publisher's declining revenues.

McClatchy reported a more than 40 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as advertising revenue plunged. The company, which publishes The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, said it expected advertising and revenue to remain weak in the near future.

"Over the longer term Fitch continues to anticipate that McClatchy will be challenged to generate meaningful and consistent revenue growth and remains cautious regarding newspaper companies' prospects for capturing and monetizing the significant volume of advertising dollars that are migrating toward the internet," Fitch said in a statement.

"While still generally comfortable with McClatchy's willingness to repay debt, this weakening of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and free cash flow has hindered the company's ability to meaningfully reduce leverage with free cash flow going forward," Fitch added.

Fitch cut McClatchy's senior unsecured debt three notches to "B," five levels below investment grade, from "BB." The outlook is negative, indicating an additional rating downgrade may be likely over the next one-to-two years.

McClatchy MNI shares were down 4.8 percent in trading on Thursday.

Obama returns to "embittered American rubes" theme in Berlin speech - tells Germans about unenlightened Americans

2008-07-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Tucked inside Obama's Berlin speech is a line that will rub many Americans the wrong way:

In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future.

I'm not convinced this is true - who is he talking about? But even if it was true, Obama has no business criticizing Americans in a speech delivered overseas. Reminds me of Obama's townhall meeting in Georgia earlier this month, when he told the crowd about one of his embarrassments:

You know, it's embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say [is], "Merci beaucoup." Right?

At his core, Obama is embarrassed at many of his own countrymen. And to curry favor with Europeans he is compelled to criticise them.

I do not believe voters will trust a man like this to lead the country. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Obama cancels planned visit to military hospital in Germany, tells staff he wants to go sightseeing

2008-07-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Barack Obama cancelled a planned visit to a military hospital, and went sight-seeing instead. Hot Air has this from Der Spiegel's blog:

1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. “Barack Obama will not be coming to us,” a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. “I don’t know why.” Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center treats wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. Politico has news on what Obama decided to do instead of visiting wounded troops:

Obama noted that in a break from his whirlwind schedule, “we’ve got some down time tonight. What are you guys gonna do in Berlin? Huh? Huh? You guys got any big. plans? …I’ve never been to Berlin, so…I would love to tour around a little bit.”
There you have it. Obama would rather go sightseeing in Berlin than meet with wounded US troops.
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Hat tip: PowerLine

Obama's "my committee" whopper gets worse - turns out Obama opposed the banking bill he claimed credit for in Israel

2008-07-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama told an audience in Israel that "his committee" passed a bill designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group. One problem: Obama isn't even on the Senate Banking Committee. But today the news gets more embarrassing for Obama - records show he actually opposed the bill. PowerLine:

Senator Obama did not appear in the Senate to vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment calling on the government to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity and thus suffer the imposition of sanctions. On the day of the vote on the amendment, however, Obama issued a statement announcing that he would have voted against it. In the statement, the closest he came to addressing the merits of the amendment was his assertion that "he does not think that now is the time for saber-rattling towards Iran." The amendment passed the Senate 76-22 on September 26, 2007, with many Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Richard Durbin, and Chuck Schumer voting in its favor.
Unbelievable.
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Obama tries to pad his thin resume - tells audience in Israel he is on Senate Banking committee

Obama team begins measuring the drapes at the White House

2008-07-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

This guy hasn't officially gotten the nomination of his party yet, but his team has started planning the presidential transition. Another sign of Obama's megalomania?

Media group gives award to McClatchy bureau chief who predicted the US would lose the Iraq war

2008-07-24T09:28:00.001-07:00

One thing I noticed after I began closely following McClatchy and the elite media is how often they give each other awards and accolades. Usually the organizations handing out these awards are left-wing groups. And the recipients usually work for media outlets that are collapsing.

The latest example is McClatchy's DC bureau chief John Walcott. Walcott is the first recipient of the "I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence." Walcott is being recognized for "for leading his team of reporters in their probing, skeptical coverage of events during the run-up to the Iraq war at a time when most U.S. news organizations failed to question the motives and rationale for the invasion of Iraq."

Do you doubt this group (headquartered in Cambridge, Mass) is a group of lefties?

Walcott is a darling at PBS and the Huffington Post due to the anti-Iraq war articles produced at McClatchy.

Less well-known is Walcott's 2007 prediction that the US would lose the Iraq war.

Here are details about Walcott's prediction. Walcott delivered a speech in Hilton Head, South Carolina during February 2007. In the speech he predicted the US would not win the Iraq war. You can read Walcott's entire speech here. Check out this quote:

"But still we are not winning, and we cannot win."

And later in the same speech:

"But I think that we're in the mess we're in Iraq - can't win and can't afford to lose...."

Walcott was dead wrong about the ability of the US military to win, since the US has all but won. But it's not a positive sign that the media gives awards and accolades to defeatists like John Walcott. (Photo via McClatchy.)

John Walcott predicts the US will not win the Iraq war

Soulmates: Left-wing Huffington Post honors McClatchy reporters

McClatchy revenue falls 15.6%... CEO Pruitt hints at more cuts

2008-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

McClatchy's financial woes appeared to deepen Thursday, as the company announced its second-quarter revenue fell 15.6%, and net income from continuing operations fell nearly 50 percent. PaidContent:
The McClatchy Company’s (NYSE: MNI) financial struggles only seemed to deepen in Q2, as Gary Pruitt, the publisher’s chairman and CEO, pinned the weakening economy and the shift from print to digital on its revenue and income decreases. Revenues were down 15.6 percent to $489.7 million in Q2 compared to last year’s $580 million. And while online ad sales grew 12.5 percent in the quarter, since they made up only 11.8 percent of total ad dollars—compared to an 8.6 percent share for all of 2007—it was not enough to offset wider declines. In all, McClatchy’s ad revenue fell16.8 percent to come in at $406.3 million. Meanwhile, Q2 net income from continuing operations was $20.1 million, or 24 cents per share, down by roughly 50 percent from last year’s $40 million.
McClatchy's ad revenue was down 16.8% over the previous quarter. Retail ad revenue fell 7.9% for the quarter, while national fell 20.4%. Classified ads dropped a whopping 28.1% due to big declines in real estate (down 37%), employment (down 39%), and automotive (down 17.8%). Online showed growth, accounting for 11.8% of total ad revenue in the quarter, up from 8.6% for all of 2007.

McClatchy announced June 16th it was laying off 1,400 employees, approximately 10 percent of the McClatchy workforce. The company said this will result in $95 million to $100 million in annual savings over the next four quarters. McClatchy also sold its 15.0% interest in ShopLocal for $7.875 million and applied the proceeds to reduce debt. Also this past quarter, McClatchy sold its share of SP Newsprint Company, and used proceeds to reduce debt.

CEO Gary Pruitt says the company is poised to reduce its dividend in the next quarter and make more cuts if necessary:
"We are committed to doing more if revenues decline further in the second half. Our board will meet during the third quarter to consider dividend policies and we will look at additional cost saving measures as necessary."

John Edwards' hometown newspaper, McClatchy's News & Observer, doesn't cover latest developments involving noted Poverty Fighter

2008-07-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Looks like John Edwards is up to something more than fighting poverty. But his hometown newspaper, the News & Observer, isn't covering the story.

McClatchy will announce 2nd quarter earnings today

2008-07-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Keep checking back for info on McClatchy's 2nd quarter earnings report. McClatchy is expected to report earnings of 21 cents a share, and the stock could see active trading today.

Obama tries to pad his thin resume - tells audience in Israel he is on Senate Banking committee

2008-07-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Obama engaged in some creative "resume enhancements" at a press conference in Israel today. The Swamp:
Barack Obama today boasted about a bill in "my committee,'' a committee on which he has no seat.

While speaking to the press in the Israeli town of Sderot, Obama mistakenly put the U.S. Senate banking committee on his resume, although the Illinois senator does not serve on the committee and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is the chairman.

The Republican National Committee distributed an e-mail pointing out Obama's mistake with a subject line of "Obama's Gaffe Machine Rolls Into Israel."

During the press conference, Obama said, "Just this past -- this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon."

Unfortunately for the Obama campaign, records show Obama is not a member of the committee. John Hinderaker at PowerLine says this "strikes me as another sign of Obama's megalomania."

Time Magazine's Joe Klein bursts into tears at a McCain slam on Obama

2008-07-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Joe Klein at Time Magazine went mental today over a statement John McCain made about Barack Obama's recklessness over the Iraq war. Here is Joe Klein's emotional reaction to McCain saying something unkind about Klein's Beloved One:

I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad.

Must have been quite a statement from McCain, right?

Here is what McCain actually said:

"This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign."

Klein's over-reaction speaks volumes about Klein. Somebody give him his blankey.

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Instapundit has more links on Klein's meltdown.

Pom poms for Chris Chilliza

Obama's booster squad joins Obama on World Tour 2008

McClatchy will announce 2nd quarter earnings on Thursday

2008-07-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

McClatchy will report its 2nd quarter earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect McClatchy to report profit of 21 cents per share on revenue of $495 million, according to Thomson Financial.

Lehman Brothers analyst Craig Huber rates McClatchy "underweight." He expects falling circulation and ad revenue, higher newsprint costs and no meaningful revenue gains in online properties to keep second-quarter earnings muted.

Keep checking back here for all the info.

Obama repeats his bizarre claim that the surge was a "bad strategy"

2008-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Violence down, check. al-Qaeda routed, check. Iraqi government given breathing room to succeed, check. Only a buffoon would say, as Obama said to Katie Couric, the surge was a "bad strategy."

Oh, by the way, Obama is calling for a surge in Afghanistan.

Pom poms for Chris Chilliza

2008-07-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

One enthusiastic member of Obama's booster squad is Chris Cillizza, political reporter from the Washington Post. On Tuesday PowerLine provided this analysis of Chillizas pom pom skills:

The day after Barack Obama said that the troop surge in Iraq has worked but that he was right to oppose it because “we had to change the political debate,” Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post proclaims that Obama has, by virtue of his trip to the Middle East, demonstrated his “gravitas.” Obama did so, according to Cillizza, at a press conference in Jordan, which Cillizza chooses to designate “perhaps the major moment of the trip.”

But one man’s mush can be a fawning MSM member’s indicia of gravitas, so let’s examine the statements that Cillizza claims are so impressive. Here’s one:

Regardless of who becomes next president we are going to have to strip away ideology, strip away the politics.

Gee, I never heard that from Obama before.

Here’s another:

The next president is going to have to make a series of very difficult judgments.

Heavy.

Read the whole thing here.