Today Show co-host Al Roker pretending to barf last month during a segment reporting on possible illnesses from raw milk in West Virginia.
The mainstream media had a grand old time last month reporting that several West Virginia legislators appeared to have been sickened by raw milk, just days after passing legislation to legalize herdshares.
The hosts of the Today Show yukked it up. You could see Matt Lauer’s eyes gleaming as he intoned sarcastically, “It could be just a coincidence….” that several people became sick with what they said was a bad stomach virus after drinking raw milk to celebrate the state passing the landmark legislation.
“Bad stomach virus is not what you want to hear,” commented another host.
As the segment ended, Al Roker pretended to barf (see photo above).
Big print media were only slightly more gentle: “It’s just a strange coincidence, West Virginia pols say,” according to the NY Daily News.
Said Time: “A group of West Virginia lawmakers may have punished their stomachs after having a raw milk party to celebrate loosened restrictions on the drink.:
Chuckled the Chicago Tribune: “Some West Virginia lawmakers and Capitol staffers had a very bad weekend after celebrating the passage of a raw milk bill by drinking some. Now state health officials are investigating whether the milk was to blame for their fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and weighing allegations the raw-milk party broke the law.”
So, now that the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has issued a statement saying its investigation into whether raw milk caused the West Virginia illnesses was “inconclusive,” will the Today Show issue an apology for rushing to judgment? What do you think?
The agency described its investigative results this way: “Three ill persons went to an urgent care or emergency room. Based on record review, three patients reported raw milk consumption. No ill persons required overnight hospitalization. No milk was available for testing. Because of the limitations of this investigation, no conclusions can be drawn about the extent of illness, etiologic agent, or the mode of transmission.”
To its credit, the Associated Press, which reported on the illnesses last month, put out a story, which the Washington Times and a few West Virginia publications have posted. Something tells me this followup story won’t get nearly the coverage of the original reports.
(Thanks to Brigitte Ruthman for information about the reaction from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.)
The mainstream media long ago gave up on actual journalism. What we now have is little more than a program-length commercial for either what the ruling class wishes to sell or merely the politically-correct viewpoint du jour. I remember a time, decades ago, when you could actually trust much of what TV anchors said. They did play a role in stopping the Viet Nam madness, and in Watergate. That is long gone, and I suspect the clowns now spewing bilge on TV don’t even realize what journalism actually is.
@ Gary: Nothing you heard on tv was true concerning VietNam or watergate, either. Wanna know why I say that? Because I just recently finished reading the book called Family of Secrets by Russ Baker (I read the kindle version from Amazon). Americans have been lied to for so long we know nothing else but falsehoods. The sad part is that way too many people believe everything they hear on tv because they still believe in “truth in journalism” and/or “truth in advertising”. Those things, as you pointed out, died long ago.
Gary, if you haven’t read that book, I urge you to do so. It is absolutely loaded with stuff everyone should know but doesn’t. It will certainly make you re-think the “american way of life” and who the players were/are. It’s well researched, well documented and worth your time.
D. Smith: Of course, you’re certainly correct. I simply meant that at one time journalists actually did investigate stories, and they did sometimes play a positive role in public life. Today? They don’t even bother to make a phone call. Witness NBC’s response to what Robert DeNiro said on the Today show. They trotted out a spokesperson from the AAP who proceeded to insult every single mother who ever lived. What mother is not finely-tuned to and acutely aware of every nuance in their children’s behavior and health, especially when they are very young? Yet this woman claimed that autism mothers simply didn’t notice a gradual regression in their children. The mothers know, they damn well know. I will read the book, when I can afford it-is this the Russell Baker who was a long-time columnist for the NYT? There’s another book that is guaranteed to give you nightmares: The Devil’s Chessboard. It may sound wacko, but I now have little doubt that 1963 was a coup d’état, and that the planned demolition of WTC building 7 is quite plausible. David, I think it’s pissin’ up a rope to expect anything different from the media than what we see every day. Although filled with first-rate, honorable people, our nation is broken. People are waking up though, and this is why Trump and Bernie have done so well. This is the sorriest bunch of presidential aspirants I’ve ever seen. The idea of Hillary as president is as disturbing as the idea of Trump or Cruz.
@ Gary: Boy, are you ever right about all that you said!
Would you believe I’m just in the process of reading The Devil’s Chessboard? It’s too weird that you would mention it.
No, I don’t think it’s the same Russ Baker as the anchorman who died a few years ago. This is the short Bio on the guy, from Amazon: “Russ Baker is an awardwinning investigative journalist. He has written for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, the New York Times, the Nation, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Village Voice, and Esquire, and has served as a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. He is the founder of WhoWhatWhy/the Real News Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization, operating at http://www.whowhatwhy.com ”
These two books we’ve mentioned run along the same line of thinking. I prefer to read non-fiction most of the time, so have also downloaded to my kindle a few other books I will spend time reading. One is called The Brothers and is in Re: the Dulles brothers, too, much like The Devil’s Chessboard. I’ve also got a couple of great ones by Roger Stone, one is The Clintons War on Women and the other is called Jeb! and the Bush Crime Family. Just for my own curiosity about the matter, I’m also reading one called The Kennedy Autopsy by Jacob Hornberger (who has the web site fff.org The Future of Freedom Foundation). I’m also going to read one by Leonard E. Read called Anything That’s Peaceful: The Case for the Free Market – because it sounds interesting.
You’ll get a laugh out of this – when I want some *light* reading (which I often do because these other books raise my blood pressure to dangerous heights!) I have downloaded my all-time favorite book, Farmer Boy! I’ve loved that book since childhood and we are shirt-tail relation to Laura Ingalls Wilder so that makes it even more interesting. But mostly I read it because I think some of our “farmers” oughta go back to that way of farming, if they think they simply MUST tear up the ground and plant stuff.
But mostly you’re right about our presidential candidates, a truly sorry bunch. What’s really sad is that THAT is all america has to choose from . . . (8-\ Doesn’t say much for us, does it?
Too cool. Thinking along the same lines, and you’ve given me some good books to look forward to reading. My political thinking has undergone a rapid evolution over the past couple of years. I was a registered Democrat for decades, and invariably voted for them, until I witnessed the California legislature take away informed consent from parents last year. It was the most brazen, pharma-led theft of fundamental human rights-the pharma lobbyists were standing right behind the two senate sponsors in the hearing room, and pulling their puppet strings. This was the Democrats who did this, the idiots. The Republicans make me want to puke, too. But this led to a serious bout of research (13 books and hundreds of scientific papers) concerning vaccines, biochemistry, and immunology, and I’m as certain is it is possible to be that vaccination is, and always has been, 100% quackery (along with way too much “medicine” the way it is practiced. This is why parents, and all Americans owe Robert DeNiro (and Dr. Wakefield, Del Bigtree, Polly Tommey and countless others) a big thank you. Congress is absolutely gutless in addressing the rot at the CDC. I like the president, even though he is a tremendous disappointment, but he is totally gutless on this, as well. No tienen cojones, ninguno de ellos.
Part of the problem is ignorance by journalists, and then the politicians who lead them on. As just one example, Donald Trump a few days ago made a big deal about how the Republican primary process is “corrupt” because the person with the most votes isn’t guaranteed to win. “We are a democracy,” he said. None of the many media reporting Trump’s ignorance pointed out that the U.S. Constitution says nothing about democracy. In fact, our President is elected by members of an “Electoral College.” It’s entirely possible (and has happened) that the candidate with the most votes can lose the presidency based on which states he won or didn’t win. The processes put in place to nominate Presidential candidates are borrowed from the Constitution, and are similarly representative based, and also linked to obscure rules about picking and choosing delegates. It’s as if ignorance of the rules is a valid excuse by all concerned.
David: You are technically correct about the Electoral College electing the president, yet anyone such as Mr. Trump who claims a “democracy” is also correct. Here is why: when we the people go to an election booth, we do NOT vote for any delegate in the Electoral College, on our ballot we vote for the name of a candidate for the office of president–THIS IS THE “DEMOCRACY” OR DEMOCRATIC PART of the election! Wikipedia explains it this way: “The election of the President and Vice President of the United States is an INDIRECT vote in which citizens cast ballots for a set of members of the U.S. Electoral College. These electors then cast DIRECT votes for the President and Vice President. If both votes result in an absolute majority, the election is over. If a majority of electors do not vote for President, the House of Representatives chooses the President; if a majority of electors do not vote for Vice President, the Senate votes.” SO DONALD TRUMP WAS CORRECT, the person with the most votes isn’t guaranteed a win, yet it is a quasi democratic process in that the people vote BY NAME for a president, rather than having the legislatures of each state vote for president on behalf of their people, as I believe was the original method as stated here: “Out of the 13 original states during the 1789 election, 6 states chose electors by some form of popular vote, 4 states chose electors by a different method, North Carolina and Rhode Island were ineligible to participate since they had not yet ratified the U.S. Constitution, and New York failed to appoint their allotment of electors in time because of a deadlock in their state legislature.” That was less democratic than today, when the legislatures were involved.
It’s a republic, not a pure democracy. The Founders did not trust populism, so our structures are a compromise. I believe the electoral college was intended as a bulwark against pure majoritarianism. But ultimately it is supposed to be democratic in the sense of representation. But how can we even have that when the media neglects journalism, where opinions “trump’ truth, and where Citizens United ensures that corporations can control the message and own both horses in every race. Trump (on the Right) and Bernie (on the Left) both “represent” a growing discontent and awareness by many Americans that their government is not their friend. A great book to add to the list above is “At The End of an Age” by John Lukacs. This brilliant historian relates how there is no such thing as “objectivity” in journalism, and that “people choose what to believe.” And all three towers on 911 were controlled demolitions — I do not choose to believe that: I cannot bend my mind to accept the “official” story — it is simply impossible. And I suspect JFK was killed by the CIA because he had decided to thwart the Cold War ideology. http://www.marysmosaic.net/
I heard Seymour Hersh the other day on the radio saying how he often hears TV reporters say in response to a question, “I think…” In other words, they just pontificate. No actual facts need be reported. News is now entertainment (as seen by the Trump follies) and ratings are what drives the stories.
@ Gary: I wanted to reply right under your last message but for some strange and odd reason the “reply” thingy wasn’t visible (up by the date and time you posted the message). Anyway, I feel exactly the same about vaccines, pure out and out quackery, not to mention pure poison. Another book you should add to your list is this one by Brian Shilhavy called Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations: Should Their Views Be Silenced? It gives an overview of the stance of outright anti-vaccine doctors, those who are decidedly only pro-vaccine, and then the majority who are neither: they are for vaccine choice. Personally I’m with the ones who are totally anti-vaccine because I think they are the most honest. The others, who claim to be vaccine choicers, seem to be afraid of voicing their opinions lest they get their tongues cut out by the medical industry. Nevertheless, it’s very short (like 51 pages on kindle) but good reading.
Another good book regarding all drugs, not just vaccines, is called Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher by Gwen Olsen. Superb reading. Another is Overdose America by John Abramson, M.D. Fascinatin’ stuff.
Sorry, that should be Overdosed America. The last “d” in overdosed slid off into cyber air, I guess. (I still haven’t figured out how to edit).
Forget about Al Roker and Matt Lauer and take your kids or grandkids outside tomorrow evening and watch for April’s Pink Moon.
http://enews.almanac.com/q/iS1w6ogfvjRm4lJ8mi2YQjK7hTbtJ83xgafHc6NpH7Ki18qQ5h2hdrJ1l
A great family activity!
If you are a Canadian, please sign and distribute this petition to Canada’s Minister of Health, to repeal the federal law which bans all raw milk sales:
https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-289
A goal I have heard about is to get 50,000 signatures – this is the estimated number of raw milk consumers in Ontario alone.
Please post this link to your Facebook page and any Facebook groups you belong to if you use Facebook, email it to friends and family, post it to email groups and in blog comments, tweet it, put it onto your website if you have one. and encourage every Canadian who supports food freedom to sign it, whether they drink raw milk or not.
There is no money in journalism…true good old fashioned shoe leather journalism. As one of the few survivors, by stubbornness if nothing else, I suffer.
Except for a privileged few working for classy outfits, the vast majority of investigative journalists today work for almost nothing. No raises in 12 years…and taxes and insurance have risen 62 percent on the same salary.
It saddens my terribly to see America being cheapened not just by the quality of what it produces, and its politicians, but by its demand or immediacy.
A journalist for more than 30 years, I “learned” that my Dad, Andy Rooney’s college roommate and buddy for life, had died at Rooney’s service in NYC. The Internet headline…Andy Rooney’s college roommate drops dead at his service.
By the esteemed Huffington Post no less, stealing from TMZ. Can’t be left behind by breaking news. And it was all wrong.
My heart left the business on that day two years ago.
Television journalism can hardly be called journalism at all. Right, the legislation in WV got less air time than the oh so funny apparent irony of legislators who also yucked up on the thrill of attention.
We have become a state of “likes” that bypasses integrity. Truth seems not to matter any more. It did once.
I, for one, tried to get through to the Today Show to suggest a correction. I did as they asked and left information appropriately. Nothing happened. Al Roker is the worst excuse for a television reporter in New York.
@ Brigitte: I’m a little late to the party here, but I’m belately sorry to hear about your Dad, and mention how much I liked Andy Rooney’s “journalistic work”. Nothing has changed about the fact that you’re right – Al Roker is the worst excuse for a television reporter and I don’t know if he should even be called a reporter, he’s mostly mouth. I’m eternally grateful they took him off the early morning show on the Weather Channel. Thing is, I hardly ever watch the Weather Channel anymore because they never get anything right and they are forever harping on “climate change” and global warming. Don’t those folks know a scam when they see one? Heck, even the guy who owns the station (can’t think of his name right now – Coleman, I think) doesn’t belive in global warming but he has to promote that ridiculous idea because if he doesn’t his station would be history in short order. He’s well aware of the fact that CO2 is important to the earth and all of its greenery/plant life, and he also seems to be one of the few who seems to understand the difference between pollution and “climate change”. Air pollution is a bad thing but not for the reasons usually given (to do with climate); it’s a bad deal because it affects people who have breathing issues, allergies, etc. LA seems to be one of the worst areas in the country (I lived there for a while, long ago), but let a good stiff Santa Ana wind go through the San Gabriel Mountain Range and in a day it clears up the whole mess for months. Ah well. Truth in media of any kind is pretty much non-existent and what’s reported comes from what is approved only by the upper echelon. How sad. The political correctness is killing us.
The subject material of the link I’m going to post is a little off topic for this, but I wanted to post it and there just didn’t seem to be a good place for it within the last few blog posts of David’s, so I’m putting it here. I’ve mentioned this whole thing several times here over the past few years but wanted to post this newest article regarding the hospital/drug related (and other) death count due to our medical industrial system. I hestitate to EVER call it health care because that is the biggest oxymoron ever to hit the techno frequencies. Good stats here and it’s fairly short to read: http://drsircus.com/medicine/doctors-and-hospitals-declare-war-on-patients/