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‘Top Chef’ Host: Senate School Lunch Bill Didn’t Go ‘Far Enough’ to Fight ‘National Crisis’ of Child Obesity

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio rang alarm bells about child obesity on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday, saying it is now a “national health crisis.” Colicchio warned that the recent Senate school lunch legislation did not go “far enough” and that access to healthy school meals needs to be increased for kids to save future health care costs. “It’s a pretty good bill, but I don’t think it goes far enough,” the chef complained of the school lunch bill. “They need to increase access for kids.” “After-school programs, after-school periods, breakfast programs, weekend programs, summer programs – those aren’t included in the Senate bill; they’re included in the House bill,” Colicchio mused. “Obesity has become a national health crisis.” He said the problem poses “billions” of dollars in future health care costs if it will not be addressed properly. “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, a nutrition-warrior herself, agreed and argued that obese children need to be viewed as victims – as children “whose future is cut short before it even starts.” “They’ve got nothing, because their health is always in jeopardy, their life will be shortened, their options will be limited,” Mika lamented. Both Mika and Colicchio chose the “malnourished” label for obese children, and Mika lauded the FDA food guidelines at restaurants, movie theaters and grocery stores as a step in the right direction. “Obesity is actually malnutrition. It’s not overeating. It’s malnourishment,” argued Colicchio. A transcript of the segment, which aired on September 8 at 8:41 a.m. EDT, is as follows: MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And joining us now, the lead judge for “Top Chef,” Tom Kilickio, who is here to discuss the school lunch legislation in front of Congress, which is making its way – maybe not perfect – TOM COLICCHIO, Judge, “Top Chef”: Well, the Senate passed the bill. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. COLICCHIO: And It’s a pretty good bill, but I don’t think it goes far enough. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah? COLICCHIO: Yeah. There’s a couple of – a couple issues with it. One, they need to increase access for kids. And so, automatic enrollment through Medicaid is something that the House bill is putting forth. After-school programs, after-school ___ periods, breakfast programs, weekend programs, summer programs – those aren’t included in the Senate bill, they’re included in the House bill. The other, sort of, big issue is that the Senate bill, even though it’s a good bill, they’re taking 2 billion dollars from SNAP program. So essentially, they’re stealing from dinner to pay for lunch. And, you know, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The House bill, it’s an 8 billion dollar bill over ten years, and they said they’ll find the offsets to make it work. BRZEZINSKI: You know, if anyone wants to understand why this is important, and why we need to do this, and many other things – take a look at New York. Take a look at the kids in New York. And the numbers that we saw in the headlines over the weekend, in terms of obese children. And, especially in poor areas, and in poorer areas there are many more. And… there are 51 percent in Queens, it’s unbelievable. COLICCHIO: Queens, the Bronx, but also rural areas too. Places like Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas – you know, obesity has become a national health crisis. BRZEZINSKI: Yes. COLICCHIO: And talk about saving money on health care. This will save dividends down the road, if we take care of this problem now. This is going to cost us billions of dollars in health care, if they don’t take care of this. MIKE BARNACLE: Did you say that one of the bills, the Senate bill not the House bill, doesn’t include breakfast for school kids? COLICCHIO: No, it includes breakfast. Well, no, it doesn’t include breakfast. And it also does not include weekend feeding and summer months. You know, hunger doesn’t go away in the summer. It’s still there. BARNACLE: Well no. If you look at those numbers – 51 percent obesity in Queens, 12 percent on the Upper West Side – if you look at the kids at the bus stop, the kids on the way to school, I’ll tell you what they have for breakfast. They have a fish sandwich and a big O from McDonalds on their way to school, and their day calorically health-wise is on the way down. BRZEZINSKI: Oh God. COLICCHIO: Well that’s the biggest problem right now. You talk about obesity. Obesity is actually malnutrition. It’s not overeating. It’s malnourishment. And so, there’s, there was a study done – in the summer months, children are putting on weight now. Which you’d think the opposite, you’d think they’re more active. But no, they’re putting on more weight, and the reason being is when they’re in school programs, they were getting breakfast and they were getting lunch. They were getting more nutritious meals, they were not just getting empty calories and fat and sugar. BRZEZINSKI: And you know, I get criticism for how staunch I can be on this topic, but when you look at a child who is obese, you look at a child whose future is cut short before it even starts. They’ve got nothing, because their health is always in jeopardy, their life will be shortened, their options will be limited. And now we have classrooms with more children who are obese than children who are not. And I don’t know why – I even got reactions on Twitter saying “Don’t use the word ‘obese,’ you’re marginalizing people,” or “You’re adding to the hatred.” And I’m thinking we need to use the word, we need to address this. COLICCHIO: Let’s call them “malnourished,” because they are. BRZEZINSKI: They are malnourished children, whose futures are being cut short. Now we have other things that have happened. Recently the FDA put out these calorie count guidelines – grocery stores, movie theatres, trains, airlines – everyone’s trying to potentially get into it to give people a sense of what they’re eating, not just children, adults. What more can be done – I guess my question to you, as a restaurant-eur, and on “Top Chef” restaurants – do they have a responsibility here to make food that’s better, that’s more nutritional? COLICCHIO: Well, if you’re talking about the kind of restaurants that I have, that are sort of high-end restaurants, we’re using whole ingredients, we’re not buying canned food or processed food – so we’re already putting healthy food on the table. But it’s the fast food restaurants that you have to worry about. That’s where the majority of the people are actually getting their food from these days. And so those are the restaurants – ADRIANNA HUFFINGTON: But I’d say the fast food restaurants, and also the production of food.– I mean, what kind of cooperation are you getting from the kind of manufacturers that produce so highly-processed food, that that’s where the malnourishment that you are talking about occurs? COLICCHIO: Well you’re right, and I think the biggest problem though is we’re subsidizing the worst foods for us. And that seems to make them cheap, like sugar, and corn for high fructose corn syrup – those are the things that we’re subsidizing at the risk of our health. And that’s why these products are cheap, because they’re being subsidized, and that’s why people with low incomes can afford them. But they’re the wrong foods to feed our children. BRZEZINSKI: We all need to try and get our arms around this.

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CNN’s Feyerick Promotes Ground Zero Mosque Imam

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN’s Deborah Feyerick played up Imam Feisal Rauf’s apparent credentials as a “moderate” Muslim during a report on Wednesday’s American Morning. Feyerick omitted using sound bites from Rauf’s critics, and only briefly mentioned his controversial remarks about on CBS’s 60 Minutes about the 9/11 attacks and his reluctance to condemn Hamas. The CNN correspondent’s report led the 6 am Eastern hour, and was re-broadcast throughout the day on the network. Almost immediately, Feyerick stressed how Rauf is apparently a “voice of moderation” by playing three clips from three who unequivocally endorse him- the State Department’s P. J. Crowley, mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal, and Professor John Esposito of Georgetown University. She continued by describing the Islamic cleric as a ” Sufi Muslim, at the other end of the Islamic spectrum from the radical theology that feeds groups like al Qaeda .” After two further sound bites from Esposito, who gushed over Imam Rauf, Feyerick highlighted his background: “According to his biography, Feisal Abdul Rauf was born in Kuwait in 1948 into an Egyptian family steeped in religious scholarship . In 1997, he founded the non-profit American Society for Muslim Advancement- its mission, described on its website, as ‘strengthening an authentic expression of Islam based on cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth, and women’s empowerment.'” The correspondent didn’t bring up Rauf’s controversial past until the end of her report, and almost as an after-thought: ” He was criticized after 9/11 for saying U.S. support of oppressive regimes was partly responsible for the attacks, but maintained his remarks on 60 Minutes had been taken out of context. Rauf supports Israel’s right to exist, but says as a bridge builder, he can’t condemn radical Palestinian group Hamas as terrorists .” Overall, Feyerick played six clips in favor of the imam, and none critical of him. She didn’t even quote from any specific critic of his. Feyerick has been on a roll, as of late, with her recent one-sided reporting on the Ground Zero mosque and related “Islamophobia” issues. On August 26, she advanced the theory that the stabbing of Muslim taxicab driver in New York City may have been ” connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment .” Exactly a week later, on September 2, the CNN correspondent c ontinued her network’s promotion of the charge that “Islamophobia” is a growing phenomenon inside the U.S. The full transcript of Deborah Feyerick’s report from Wednesday’s American Morning: FEYERICK (voice-over): If you have never heard him speak, this is what Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has to say. IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF: The major theme in Islam is the oneness of God, and that we should worship one God- love and adore the one God. FEYERICK: People who know Imam Feisal say he’s a voice of moderation. The State Department- STATE DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT SECRETARY P. J. CROWLEY: His work on tolerance and religious diversity is well known. FEYERICK: The developer of the controversial Islamic center near Ground Zero. SHARIF EL-GAMAL: He is somebody who has sacrificed his life to building bridges within communities. FEYERICK: Islamic scholar and university professor John Esposito. FEYERICK (on-camera): How would you describe him? Is he a threat? JOHN ESPOSITO, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Feisal is, from my point of view- he is ‘Mr. Mellow.’ FEYERICK (voice-over): Imam Feisal is a Sufi Muslim, at the other end of the Islamic spectrum from the radical theology that feeds groups like al Qaeda. ESPOSITO: He approaches Islam spiritually. He is a Sufi in background, which means one pursues, if you will, a more, kind of, spiritual mystical path. He’s somebody who would find terrorism and religious extremism as abhorrent. He’s run a mosque in this area for years and years and years. FEYERICK: That mosque, the Masjid al-Farah, is 10 blocks from Ground Zero, and has co-existed peacefully in the Tribeca neighborhood for 28 years. ESPOSITO: He has integrated himself into the community. FEYERICK: According to his biography, Feisal Abdul Rauf was born in Kuwait in 1948 into an Egyptian family steeped in religious scholarship. In 1997, he founded the non-profit American Society for Muslim Advancement- its mission, described on its website, as ‘strengthening an authentic expression of Islam based on cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth, and women’s empowerment.’ Several years later, Rauf founded the Cordoba Institute to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West, writing how American Muslims can help bridge the divide. The State Department noticed, sending him as a cultural ambassador on four trips to the Middle East, most recently this summer. GRAEME BANNERMAN, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: They try to get people who reflect the best aspects of American society. FEYERICK: Rauf is often asked to speak at meetings like the World Economic Forum in Davos. He was criticized after 9/11 for saying U.S. support of oppressive regimes was partly responsible for the attacks, but maintained his remarks on 60 Minutes had been taken out of context. Rauf supports Israel’s right to exist, but says as a bridge builder, he can’t condemn radical Palestinian group Hamas as terrorists. As for the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero, he says that, too, is about bridges. RAUF: This is also our expression of the 99.999 percent of Muslims all over the world, including in America, who have condemned and continue to condemn terrorism. This is about our stand as the Muslim community, which has been part of this community. FEYERICK: But right now, this moderate Muslim cleric finds himself at the eye of a storm. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

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CNN Continues One-Sided Reporting on ‘Islamophobia’ in America

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Thursday’s American Morning, CNN’s Deborah Feyerick continued her network’s promotion of the charge the “Islamophobia” is growing in the U.S. All but one of Feyerick’s sound bites during her one-sided report were from those who agree with this charge, with the sole exception being used an example of someone using ” Islam …[as] a political wedge issue .” Anchor Kiran Chetry and substitute anchor Ali Velshi introduced the correspondent’s report just before the bottom of the 7 am Eastern hour. Chetry stated that “attempted terror attacks aimed at the U.S. have come mostly from Muslim extremists born outside of America” and then claimed that “America’s Muslim community though has been quick to warn law enforcement about these potential threats.” Velshi added that “the question is, why does it appear that more and more that all Muslims are being portrayed as potential terrorists or as targets of hate .” Feyerick began by citing unnamed ” experts will tell you that there’s a great deal of misunderstanding when it comes to what Islam is all about. Add on politicians spreading rumors that Sharia law – Islamic law- is coming to the United States simply because a group of Americans wants to build a mosque . It’s time to ask, what’s really going on?” She then noted that the “Islamic center and mosque to be built near Ground Zero is not the only mosque drawing fire. About a dozen others across the country are also under attack, from angry protests and suspected arson in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to Temecula, California . American mosques, in some cases, [are] being portrayed as monuments to terror or terror training centers.” The CNN correspondent continued with a series of sound bites from those who allege a growing and threatening “Islamophobia,” and singled out conservatives for apparently persecuting Muslims: FEYERICK: Conservatively, figures show an estimated five million Muslims in America, and intensifying hostility and rise in hate speech is alarming to many, like these clerics who we met at a recent Islamic summit in Houston . YASIR QADHI, ALMAGHRIB INSTITUTE: You would never hear any mainstream commentator say, do you think another Christian sect could open up a mosque? Do you think Jews should be allowed to open their synagogues anywhere they want? We have mainstream news presenters just asking the question bluntly, do you think Muslims should open- should be allowed to open mosques anywhere they want? WISAM SHARIEFF, BAYYINAH INSTITUTE: What changed the game? Nineteen people changed the game? How did that happen? Because we’ve been your doctor, we’ve been your x-ray tech, your accountant. We’ve been serving you slushies for a long time. (unidentified man off-camera laughs) So, what tipped the scales? FEYERICK: Wisam Sharieff, Yasir Qadhi, and other prominent American clerics say American Muslims are under siege, both by Islamic extremists and some U.S. conservatives . QADHI: You have radical Islamic clerics, right, preaching from abroad, saying you cannot be an American and a Muslim at the same time. Well, low and behold, on the far right, you have quite a number of famous, prominent Islamophobes who are saying the exact same message. FEYERICK: The Ground Zero mosque, as some call it, has whipped up national debate, fueled, in part, by misinformation and fear-mongering. Yet, anti-Muslim feelings had been simmering. Feyerick’s example of a “famous prominent Islamophobe,” to use Mr. Qadhi’s term, was none other than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Before playing her sound bite of Gingrich, she used her “wedge issue” label, and afterwards, went on to cite other unnamed “experts” and highlight an apparent “hate crime” against a Muslim: FEYERICK: Islam has become a political wedge issue with politicians like Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis . NEWT GINGRICH: You know, Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. There’s no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center. FEYERICK: In fact, a Duke University study finds, rather than fuel terrorism in America, contemporary mosques prevent it. National security experts and American Muslims, like Saraj Mohammed, fear there’s a lot at stake . SARAJ MOHAMMED: The more they speak and the more they incite people, they themselves are a concern to be dealt with and they have to be told, you have to stop this rhetoric. It’s hurting American security. FEYERICK (on-camera): Right. Because it’s creating hatred? MOHAMMED: Yes, it’s creating a lot of hatred. FEYERICK: The latest 2008 FBI statistics on hate crimes against Muslims don’t reflect what’s going on now. But experts believe the spike that happened after 9/11 could repeat itself . FEYRICK (voice-over): In New York recently, a cab driver was stabbed after his attacker allegedly asked if he was Muslim. QADHI: Slowly but surely, we will counter this Islamophobia. Everybody had it. The Irish had it. The Catholics had it. The Italians had it. Now, it’s just time for the Muslims. FEYERICK: (“Allah ackbar” being chanted in an unidentified location) How long it will take to counter is anyone’s guess. At the end of the segment, the CNN correspondent, along with Chetry and Velshi, forwarded the claim that the Islamic cleric behind the Ground Zero mosque, Imam Faisal Rauf, was a “moderate” and bewailed what might happen if other “mainstream” Muslims were rejected by Americans: FEYERICK (live): Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, the one who is at the head of the so-called Ground Zero mosque , will return to New York City sometime today. He’s been serving as an emissary for the U.S. State Department, reaching out to leaders in the Middle East, acting as a bridge between the U.S. and Muslim countries . He says, just as American Catholics were crucial in pushing reform in Vatican II, so will American Muslims be indispensable in bridging the chasm between America and the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims. So, there’s a real danger that alienating or marginalizing Western moderate mainstream thinkers is going to be a problem, simply because of religion . VELSHI: It’s a big issue. I know Imam Faisal, as you do- you’d be hard pressed to ever be able to describe him as radical, or a radical thinker. He believes he’s building a bridge between different faiths, but when this label is applied, it gets applied and it sticks . FEYERICK: Well, absolutely- and you have people simply asking questions with no fundamental proof as to what they’re saying. It’s one thing to say, let’s find out where the money is coming from. Well, I can say that. But it doesn’t mean – VELSHI: Right- FEYERICK: That it’s coming from somewhere insidious. But that’s what the allegation- that’s what the insinuation is . So there’s a real, sort of- VELSHI: That’s right. It’s buried in the insinuation . FEYERICK: Yeah. CHETRY: And I know that you’re hoping to get chance to sit down and talk to him one-on-one, correct? FEYERICK: Absolutely. We spoke to the developer, who couldn’t have been more honest about what this is about, and we’re hoping to get a chance to speak to him as well . CHETRY: Good stuff. VELSHI: Thanks for your great coverage on this. Thanks, Deb. Exactly a week earlier, on August 26, Feyerick joined the mainstream media’s guessing game over the aforementioned stabbing of the Muslim taxicab driver, advancing the hypothesis that it may have been ” connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment .” Who would have thought that a mere six weeks or so earlier, the correspondent actually played hardball with the real estate developer behind the New York City mosque, Sharif el-Gamel.

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Chris Matthews: I Hope Democrat Joe Sestak Wins In November

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Chris Matthews on Thursday said without batting an eye that he hopes Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) is elected Senator in November. With this one declaration, it should be crystal clear the folks at MSNBC are no longer even remotely concerned about pretending they’re not cable’s Democrat News Network. On Thursday’s “Hardball,” in a segment dealing with the upcoming midterm elections and how bleak things look for the Party currently ruling America, the host left no doubt where his sympathies lie (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me ask you, what would be a surprising turn? Suppose something happens good and the Democrats get — manage to get their wind and the president gives a couple good speeches, and maybe we catch somebody bad or maybe — who knows what happens in Iran? (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: I don`t think we attack Iran, but anything is possible. I have heard that theory, by the way. Attack Iran, it will change everything. That is what some of the hawks want us to do. Let`s take a look at this. Suppose the Democrats win in Pennsylvania — NATE SILVER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM: Sure. MATTHEWS: — with Sestak. And I hope they do. Suppose they win in Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire. Will that suggest to you, it seems to me from your work here, that that could be a surprisingly pretty good year for the Democrats, given all that`s happened, Nate? If you had any doubts concerning the state of modern journalism, they should all be answered after this pathetic broadcast. The only thing surprising about this segment was that Matthews didn’t refer to tingles going up his leg . Maybe that’ll came later in this cycle if he gets his wish. Stay tuned. Exit question: after this comment made on national television, how can MSNBC possibly consider allowing Matthews to be part of its election coverage this November?

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CNN Joins Media Speculation on NYC Stabbing’s Connection to Mosque Debate

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN’s Deborah Feyerick joined the media guessing game as to the motivation behind the stabbing of Muslim taxicab driver in New York City, emphasizing the possibility it may have been ” connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment .” Feyerick raised this hypothesis during reports on Thursday’s Rick’s List and The Situation Room. The correspondent’s first report on the attack aired 12 minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour of Rick’s List. Anchor Rick Sanchez played a clip from victim Ahmed Sharif’s press conference on Thursday before introducing Feyerick. She began by stating that when “Michael Enright, the suspect, was arrested, he had numerous journals and notebooks on him, all of them filled with writings, some of it completely illegible. That is now with authorities, all of that being vetted and looked through to see whether, in fact, there was anything indicating that he had undergone some sort of a mental or emotional change.” Feyerick did mention that Enright “ironically…was a volunteer working for a non-profit organization that promotes peace,” but didn’t mentioned that the organization, Intersections International, actually supports the planned mosque near Ground Zero . She continued with the speculation over the possible motivation of the attack, including the “anti-Muslim” charge: FEYERICK: So, there are two very, very different pieces of the puzzle that investigators are now trying to figure out. Was this simply a crime that occurred because of some emotional stress, like PTSD, or i s it connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment? Was that the trigger? The CNN correspondent gave a more thorough report on the stabbing over two and a half hours later during the bottom half of the 6 pm Eastern hour of The Situation Room. Feyerick interviewed a representative from Intersections International, whose affiliation was identified on-screen, but again didn’t explicitly mention the organization by name or its support for the planned mosque. She twice raised the possibility of “anti-Islamic sentiment” during this second report: FEYERICK: The executive director of your group said- quote, ‘The transformative experience an impressionable mind can have in five short weeks- there are intense emotions surrounding that.’ Did anyone see a change in him? JOSEPH WARD, INTERSECTIONS INTERNATIONAL: Michael has been a responsible volunteer for our organization, and he was very consistent in that, in the whole year that we worked with him. FEYERICK (voice-over): Enright volunteered for a non-profit group promoting peace between different races and religions . He helped soldiers deal with the trauma of returning home. But what caused Enright to snap? The death of a soldier he met, maybe- or, perhaps, growing anti-Islamic sentiment fueled by controversy over the proposed Islamic center and mosque? Maybe it was something else entirely. Sharif says Enright asked if he was Muslim, seconds before allegedly shouting, “Salaam aleikum [Arabic for, ‘Peace be upon you’]- consider this a checkpoint,’ then stabbing the defenseless cab driver. AHMED SHARIF: Of course, it was for my religion. FEYERICK: Prosecutors have charged the attack as a hate crime, but are investigating what caused Enright to allegedly snap. FEYERICK (live): Now, investigators are looking into a number of personal journals that Enright was carrying when he was arrested after this assault. They also say that inside his backpack was an empty bottle of Scotch. He was intoxicated when he was arrested. Now, as for Enright’s attorney, we placed some calls to him- we are waiting to hear back. He does face a long sentence if convicted of this hate crime, and that’s what this is being charged as. Suzanne? MALVEAUX: And Deborah, is- does anybody say that he snapped? Is he saying that, or his attorneys, or- where is that coming from? FEYERICK: It seems so out of character- what he did; why he did it; this, sort of, mounting need or desire. So it’s unclear whether he saw something when he was- you know, in the theater of war, or- there’s so much, sort of, anti-Islamic sentiment now because of this mosque- a lot of authorities are saying it’s- people have to be very, very careful, because it’s the kind of hate speech that could lead people to do things. So they’re really monitoring very closely whether there is a rise in hate crimes, and this is considered a hate crime. Just over a month earlier, on July 21, Feyerick actually conducted a hardball interview of mosque developer Sharif el-Gamel, where she asked, “Why not have a prayer space for Buddhists or Jews or Christians…why must it be Muslim?” When el-Gamel initially replied, “There are Jewish community centers all over the country,” the correspondent interrupted, “But the Jews didn’t take down two towers.” The developer continued that “there are YMCA’s all over the country,” but she gave a similar reply: “But the Christians didn’t take down two towers.”