Progressive News Feeds

Fox News figures claimed the U.S. should emulate the United Kingdom by slashing funding to federal disability programs and changing eligibility requirements, despite the fact that U.S. eligibility requirements are already stringent, that the new U.K.

Tags: bbc, economy, education, environment, feeds, foreign-policy, transportation, united-kingdom, war, white house

A new BBC documentary examining ex-gay therapy provides an important opportunity to see how nonsensical and ineffective reparative therapy can be. Ex-Gay Watch has a round-up of some of the confusing portrayals, including the idea that men cannot hug without being reminded it’s not sexual, a guy can have diminished same-sex attractions but still struggle with gay pornography, and Joseph Nicolosi’s claim that he has “never met a homosexual who had a loving, respectful relationship with his father.” Watch some clips from the special:

Tags: bbc, economy, marriage equality, pornography, progressive news, security, tweets, united-kingdom, video, yahoo

One of the Government’s most senior scientific advisors [and former IPCC chair] has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in global temperatures were now unrealistic.

Tags: archives, bbc, climate-change, global-warming, health, politics, science, the nation, thinkprogress, tweets, war

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, News Corporation’s second biggest shareholder, has reportedly said that the company’s phone hacking scandal “is not helping the name of the company” and is “not something to be proud of.” Alwaleed also said that his backing of embattled News Corp. CEO and chairman Rupert Murdoch “is definitely unwavering.” A British government panel recently concluded that Murdoch is “not a fit person” to lead a major company, citing his “willful blindness” to unethical behavior. From The Guardian : Alwaleed said that although News Corp was “very diversified,” with interests covering books, magazines, newspapers, television and film, the phone-hacking scandal was having a company-wide effect. “I really hope that this is behind us because really it is not helping the name of the company,” he said. “We hope that this page is folded and put behind us because really it is not something to be proud of.” News Corp investors have voiced concerns about the phone-hacking scandal since it erupted last year and, at the company’s AGM in October, several shareholders, including powerful pension fund CalPERS, called for the appointment of an independent chairman. Murdoch currently holds the position of chairman alongside that of chief executive. Alwaleed is one of Murdoch’s staunchest supporters and had never before spoken publicly about the wider impact of the scandal. His most public previous involvement was to suggest the resignation of Rebekah Brooks as chief executive of News Corp’s UK newspaper division, News International. Brooks was editor of the News of the World when its journalists hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and in July last year Alwaleed told the BBC’s Newsnight: “If the indications are for her [Brooks's] involvement in this matter is explicit, for sure she has to go, you bet she has to go … Ethics to me is very important.” Brooks resigned the following day. News Corp holds a significant stake in Alwaleed’s Saudi Arabian film, TV and music business Rotana Media Group and he said: “We have a strategic alliance with Rupert Murdoch for sure and I have been with him for the last 15 or 20 years. My backing of Rupert Murdoch is definitely unwavering.” Alwaleed said that although the scandal had had an impact on News Corp’s reputation, its financial results had not been damaged. “The share price is really separating from what is happening in the UK,” he said. “We see the price is hovering around $20 and the results are very good.” Previously: Murdoch’s Nixonian Demise Murdoch Admits Phone Hacking ”Cover-Up” British Panel: Murdoch Unfit To Lead Media Empire Murdoch Testifies That Phone Hacking Is “A Lazy Way” To Do Journalism

Tags: america, bbc, feeds, friends, health, jobs, media matters, murdoch, video

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly — she of the “straight news” division at Fox – sanitized Newt Gingrich’s comments after he proposed that public schools fire unionized janitors and replace them with child labor. At a campaign speech in November, Gingrich  encouraged  public schools to “get rid of the unionized janitors” and “pay local students to take care of the school”: GINGRICH: You say to somebody, you shouldn’t go to work before you’re what, 14, 16 years of age, fine. You’re totally poor. You’re in a school that is failing with a teacher that is failing. I’ve tried for years to have a very simple model. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they’d have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising. On  America Live , Kelly cleaned up after Gingrich: KELLY: He seemed to try to clarify that … and say what he’s talking about is maybe having kids be assistants to those union members. Gingrich did try to explain ” the janitor thing ” on Thursday,  asking : “So what if they became assistant janitors and their job was to mop up the floor and clean the bathroom? And you paid them.” That clear things up? Here’s a thought. What if we focused on fixing the economy and schools, and the students’ “job” was to go to school? WATCH:

Tags: afghanistan, bbc, december-02, economy, health, ideas, iraq, liberal

From: Nation in the News Nation in the News  In her recently published work  The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama,  Katrina vanden Heuvel reflects on the political successes and failures of Obama’s first term.

Tags: bbc, diane rehm, editor, function-load, politics, the diane rehm show, typeof-window-onload, us politics, var-oldonload

The curious case of ‘the American Taliban ‘. John Walker Lindh seems to have disappeared from the news. Now his father has a long article in the Guardian outlining in detail the events leading up to his capture and …

Tags: article, atheism, bbc, books, director, events, films, media, science, talking points memo, university, war

From: Nation in the News Nation in the News Christian Parenti joins the BBC to explain the debate at the UN over the relationship between political violence and global climate change.

Tags: author, bbc, christian parenti, environmental issue, global organizations, security council, social issues, var-oldonload, world