Fox News has detected a grave injustice in the television industry: Earlier this week, News 12 New Jersey suspended staff reporter Sean Bergin for veering off, in the middle of a news broadcast about the murder of a Jersey City police officer, into a disquisition blaming violent crime on fatherless black men.

Fox has since covered Bergin’s story on at least six different segments across five separate shows, including The O’Reilly Report and Hannity. And in a column published today, the channel’s dedicated media critic, former CNN anchor Howard Kurtz, highlighted Bergin’s brave stance against P.C. culture.

“By saying ‘the underlying cause for all of this’ is young black men from fatherless families, he cast each one as a potential criminal,” Kurtz writes. “But it also took courage to say what Sean Bergin did. He spoke with great emotion about the death of a policeman.”

What did Bergin say, exactly? The reporter went on-air on Monday to address News 12’s decision to interview the widow of the officer’s alleged murderer, Lawrence Campbell, who was killed during a Sunday shoot-out at a local Walgreens. (Campbell’s widow told the station that her husband “should have taken more [police officers] with him” and that “all they care about is the officer.”) Here is Bergin’s response to viewers’ complaints about the interview:

We decided to air it because it is important to shine a light on the anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities. This same, sick, perverse line of thinking is evident from Jersey City to Newark and Paterson to Trenton. It has made the police officer’s job impossible and it has got to stop. The underlying cause for all of this, of course: Young black men growing up without fathers.

Bergin even tacked on a bit of half-baked media criticism: “Unfortunately, no one in the news media has the courage to touch that subject.”

Shortly thereafter, News 12 suspended the reporter, and later assigned him to part-time duty. Instead of licking his wounds, Bergin promptly quit—and went straight to Fox News, where he landed favorable interviews with Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity. (During the latter’s radio show, Bergin cast additional blame on “decades of liberal social welfare programs that have incentivized the practice of single motherhood.”) On Wednesday, Bill O’Reilly complained that News 12 “humiliated” Bergin by suspending him:

In the same segment, Kurtz (sitting next to his former business partner Lauren Ashburn), argued that News 12 should have “seized the moment” by leveraging Bergin’s insight into the pathology of black people. Kurtz repeated his thoughts in today’s column:

As I told Bill O’Reilly, imagine if the station had suspended him for a couple of days for breaking the rules, then seized the moment by assigning him a three-part series on the roots of urban crime, fatherless families and racial animosity toward the police.

Before he left CNN and The Washington Post, Kurtz possessed a slightly more rigorous understanding of American racism. No more. Like the rest of his Fox colleagues, the anchor now seems to agree with Bergin’s central point about “the anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities” and the media’s ongoing effort to silence discussion about the irresponsible black people who sustain it.

It’s no wonder then, that Kurtz arrives at a tautological conclusion: that things would be totally different if Bergin hadn’t cast fatherless black men as cop killers.

“The debate over this touchy subject is better carried out by analysts and commentators, not reporters popping off,” he writes. “But I doubt News 12 would have dumped Bergin if he’d ‘editorialized’ on some less controversial subject.”

This is a peculiar thought experiment: We can see how unreasonable it was to suspend Bergin for saying something racist—because if he had said something that wasn’t racist, he would not have been suspended.

But Kurtz is more focused on tone than logic. By framing racism as “touchy” and “controversial”—and Bergin as the latest victim of P.C. culture—Kurtz gets to ignore the fact that he and his Fox colleagues are aligning themselves with an actual, unrepentant racist.

Welcome to the club, Howie.

Even death hasn't put a stop to the tragic family feud over Casey Kasem, the most-beloved top 40 DJ in American history.

Kasem passed away last month, after suffering through Lewy body dementia and being moved from facility to facility by his wife, Jean, who allegedly wanted to keep him away from his daughters. Now his body, still unburied and uncremated, has gone missing from a Tacoma, Wash., funeral home, TMZ reports.

Kasem's daughter Kerri told TMZ she believes Jean stole the corpse and left the country Thursday, just one day after a judge granted a restraining order to keep the body where it was.

Kerri Kasem also asked for the right to an autopsy after she learned that Jean had requested one from the funeral home, CBS reports.

"I'm concerned about the results of any autopsy Jean Kasem may have commissioned and how they might be used," Kerri wrote. "Consequently, I thought it would be best to ask the Washington Court to allow me to have an autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist of my own selection."

Understandable.

The autopsy hearing is scheduled for July 25.

[H/T TMZ]

Last week, Valerie Macon became the poet laureate of North Carolina. Valerie Macon is a disability claims processor with no major publications who was picked singlehandedly by the governor. And you still can't get the slush-pile intern at Copper Canyon Press to answer your goddamn emails.

(Update: A sample poem of Macon's, "Vegetarian Meat Lover," has been added at the bottom of the post. Do enjoy.)

Macon, a lyrical dabbler whose appointment embarrassed Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and outraged published poets everywhere, stepped down from the state-funded post today, but not before she and the governor took shots at those nasty elitist writers and professors with their "literary standards" and financially debilitating lifelong commitments to underfunded arts programs. Via the New York Times:

Ms. Macon, a state disability examiner who has self-published two volumes of poetry, also took aim at members of the literary community for being elitist. "I would like to encourage everyone to read and write poetry," she said. "They do not need prestigious publishing credits or a collection of accolades from impressive organizations — just the joy of words and appreciation of self-expression."

The governor released a statement saying that he understood Ms. Macon's reasons for resigning and accepted her departure reluctantly, but he lashed out at her critics for their "hostility and condescension" toward Ms. Macon.

Both Macon and McCrory neglected to mention how the governor cut the North Carolina Arts Council out of the selection process, of which it had previously been an integral part; that Macon's website, which disappeared from the web over the weekend, had misrepresented her as a Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet, which she was not; and how many starving (and well-fed) qualified artists were overlooked to appoint her.

On a serious tip: Not all MFA grads or instructors are equally brilliant, to be sure. But one of the advantages to formal training, or real publishing experience, is the recognition that poetry, like other writing, is cultural and benefits from cooperation and dialogue with other artists. Not a bad lesson for a state evangelist of the literary arts to have internalized.

But I'm sure Macon's self-published chapbooks were good, too.

One of Macon's eminently qualified predecessors offered perhaps the kindest and simultaneously most biting comment on the affair, which makes sense since, you know, she's a longtime poet:

Kathryn Stripling Byer, who served as poet laureate from 2005 to 2009, took issue with McCrory's attack on the state's poetry community.

"I was surprised Valerie had to resign, but I can't say I blame her," Byer said. "I just wish she'd withdrawn her name before it got so contentious and vitriolic. I'm sorry McCrory put her through this. I hope people place the blame where it belongs, not on the literary community but on a governor who took matters into his own hands and chose a good person who just was not yet ready for this post. It's sad."

In the meantime, recent graduates, send your CVs and links to your published work in Pank to the Office of the Governor, 20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-0301. Just in case that 4/4 benefitless adjuncting composition gig at Dixie Applied Technical College doesn't pan out.

Update: A sample of Macon's oeuvre, via commenter toadelevatinguhr:

Vegetarian Meat Lover

Clicking into Vinny's Pizza
in Jimmy Choo platform pumps,
a woman, six feet tall
and straight as a sunflower,
in high-waisted jeggings
and gold cropped tee.
Her boyfriend,
a weed sprout beside her,
ambles in Old Navy flip-flops.

She holds her yellow head high
like a flower tilted towards sun,
scans the chalked daily specials,
tapping Black Truffle acrylics
in the rhythm of a gentle spring rain.

She orders vegetarian pizza.
The boyfriend, arms coiled around her,
orders the meat lover's special.

[Photo credit: Shutterstock]

It's become de rigueur in Silicon Valley to let departing executives keep their needlessly plump bonus packages—no matter what the circumstances. First, Yahoo's incompetent COO took home $58 million just for getting fired. Now Google's former Chief Business Officer is getting to keep an $8 million bonus he was contractually obligated to give back.

According Business Insider, Nikesh Arora was given a $51 million compensation package in 2012, making him Google's highest paid executive. That package also came with a $8 million bonus. But Arora's bonus came with a clear stipulation: if he left the company for any reason before April 25, 2015, "Nikesh [would] be required to repay to Google the full value of the [bonus]."

Arora recently left Google to become an executive at SoftBank, a mobile carrier company. But instead of giving back his bonus as required, Arora will get to keep the money. According to Google's SEC filing:

On July 17, 2014, the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Google approved a waiver of the tenure-based repayment requirement in the cash award made by Google to Nikesh in April 2012.

Business Insider delightfully proclaims "It's good to be Nikesh Arora!" In reality, it's just good to be a warm body sitting in a C-level position.

[Photo: Getty]

Billionaire Vinod Khosla has dealt with actual extortion before. So he should know better than to throw around the word "blackmail." But the venture capitalist insists that he's the real victim in his fight to close off public access to Martins Beach.

Khosla was happy with the legal process when he used a 19th century treaty to justify locking the gate at the top of his property, thereby sealing off the only public entrance to the beach. But he's currently being sued by the Surfrider Foundation for violating the California Coastal Act. In his first interview about the trial, Khosla said he was standing up for his rights (as a billionaire???) against overreaching government forces (when they work against him).

The clean energy investor claimed Surfrider, San Mateo County and the Coastal Commission are trying to shame him into ceding those rights, skewing the balance between private and public interests.

Like his fellow environmental hazard Sean Parker, Khosla says the media got it all wrong:

"If the story was right and people thought I was doing something wrong, I'd live with that — it wouldn't bother me," Khosla said Wednesday night. "But there are massive lies and misrepresentation on the issues here. Surfrider and the Coastal Commission are attempting to coerce and blackmail me."

Surfrider attorney Mark Massara responded Thursday, saying Khosla's comments show he is "out of touch."

Don't worry, Vinod. People got the message that it "wouldn't bother" you when you locked the gate.

To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.

[Image via Associated Press]

Dan Aykroyd appeared on the Tonight Show last night to promote the James Brown biopic Get On Up. While there, he shared a story about the time he and Bill Murray ran into James Brown in a rental car lot.

He also, unfortunately, shared his completely awful James Brown impression.

[via NBC, h/t Uproxx]

The Associated Press reports that a series of car bombings in Iraq's capital have killed at least 27 people.

Officials told the AP that the deadliest bombing occurred in the Shiite neighborhood of Abu Dashir. There, a suicide bomber ran a car full of explosives into a checkpoint, killing at least nine people—including four policemen—and wounding 19. From the AP:

The attacks are among the most significant in Baghdad since insurgents led by the Islamic State extremist group captured Iraq's second-largest city Mosul last month at the start of its blitz. After Mosul's fall, the government moved aggressively to try to secure Baghdad amid fears it might fall as well, and the city has seen few major attacks in recent weeks.

Later in the day, three car bombs went off in under 10 minutes in the districts of Baiyaa, Jihad, and Khazimiyah. They killed at least 15 and wounded another 42. Another car bomb in Khazimiyah killed three and wounded 15.

[image via AP]

During Thursday's changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Queen's Guard treated tourists (and, naturally, the internet) to a regal performance of the Game of Thrones theme.

Remember when there was more to music than odd covers of the Game of Thrones theme? Hmm. I don't!

[h/t TastefullyOffensive]

Spanish law enforcement officials are reporting that they have arrested Hernan Alonso Villa, the alleged leader of a Colombian cocaine cartel. Villa was apprehended while driving along the coast of Spain in Alicante on Friday, police say.

The cartel that Villa is allegedly connected to is apparently responsible for over 400 deaths, the police report says, as well as international drug trafficking and extortion.

Via the AP:

Alonso Villa is alleged to be the head of a cartel, or criminal organization, from Medellin, Colombia. The cartel was founded by Diego Murillo Bejarano and has fought bloody turf wars with notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar.

Villa had over 200 people working for him, authorities say, and has been wanted in Colombia for years.

[Image via AP]

After N.J. Governor Chris Christie used Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's image in a clip promoting pension reform, Johnson's lawyers asked the gov to remove it, causing some friendship drama for the two men of mass. Johnson asserts that no, bro, he's still buddies with Christie! And many others, too!

The original clip, in all its absolutely abysmal glory, is here. It is supposed to be a take on the 2o13 bodybuilding classic Michael Bay film, Pain & Gain, thus the addition of the muscleman himself.

After Johnson's lawyers complained, Christie's people took down the video and replaced it with one that didn't invoke The Rock as an advocate for pension reform in New Jersey, an issue on which Johnson has no immediate comment. The adjusted clip still exists, and still looks like the work of an intern after too much Mountain Dew Code Red, Rock or no Rock.

In reaction to the video's fix, The Rock wanted to assure the public that he wasn't forcing Christie to know his role. In fact, he and the governor are on good terms.

"I know Gov. Christie. We've met a couple of times," the wrestler-turned-action star said in an interview Friday while promoting his new "Hercules" movie. "But in no way was I associated with what he had going on. He had his team of people around him who kind of put that together. I saw it. I was like well, I don't have anything to do with it, so now you've got to pull it down."

To translate: what you did with The Rock's likeness was not a buddy move, Christie. But don't get it twisted: buddies or no, The Rock likes to hang around all kinds of politicians.

Johnson, 42, spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2000 but says he's "more patriotic than I am political."

"I have good friends who are politicians on both sides," he said in the interview. "Clinton is a good buddy of mine, Obama is a good buddy of mine. A multitude of people who are buddies."

One day soon we will all have our turn to be a buddy in buddyville with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Until then.

[Image via AP]

Two teens in Dry Ridge, Kentucky have repeatedly broken into a church to destroy property, cook pizzas, and taunt the security cameras. Though it's unverified, we can be reasonably sure they were wearing backwards baseball caps and Misfits t-shirts while rolling their eyes and rudely snapping their gum.

WCPO reports that Pastor Troy Winters of Dry Ridge's Open Door Baptist Church said that the church has been broken into multiple times by the same two teenage—or so it appears—suspects. From WCPO:

He said they don't take anything from the church in the 1100 block of Dry Ridge Road. Instead, they "taunt" the surveillance cameras, "cook pizzas and destroy property."

Winters is offering a $250 reward for anyone who can identify the stock photo-worthy teens.

Hah. Like they even care.

[image via Shutterstock]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, has called Israel's current ground striking of Gaza "barbarism that surpasses Hitler." The prime minster was speaking at Ordu on Saturday when he made his remarks during a campaign speech.

Amid current protests in cities from London to New York, and after Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue with the assault on Gaza, Erdogan's comments echo other remarks he had previously made about Israel after ties cooled between the two countries in 2010.

The Associated Press reports that the Israeli offensive has killed at least 300 Palestinians so far.

Via the AP:

Erdogan accused Israel of using disproportionate force in Gaza and said the operation there has derailed efforts to normalize Turkish-Israeli ties. Those soured after Israel's 2010 raid on an aid ship which killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

Erdogan is running for president of Turkey in this month's upcoming elections.

[Image via AP]

A Dutch cyclist has confirmed Saturday that he narrowly escaped death not once but twice after changing his flight plans last minute for both doomed Malaysia Airlines flights. Netherlands public broadcaster RTV Oost reported that Maarten de Jonge changed his most recent flight to this weekend.

de Jonge, who is a professional cyclist, wrote in a statement on his website that his narrow escape on both the still-missing MH370 and the shot-down MH17 planes should not be the focus of either tragedy.

Via ABC News:

"What has happened is terrible, so many victims, that's a horrible thing," de Jonge said in a translated statement on his website. "I have my story done and I would like to leave it ... my story is ultimately nothing compared to the misery in which so many people are paid."

Despite his Final Destination-like near miss of death, de Jonge told the local news network that he still plans on flying to Malaysia later this week.

[Image via Maarten de Jonge]

Weird Al's week of Mandatory Fun video releases continued today with the Pixies-style track "First World Problems." The video is available to watch exclusively at PopCrush, so head over there and check it out. (If you want.)

A sweet pit bull named Ace recently saved the life of a deaf 13-year-old Indianapolis boy after licking his face to wake him up and alert him that the house was on fire.

The Associated Press spoke to Indianapolis Fire Department Captain Rita Reith, who confirmed that 13-year-old Nick Lamb was home alone and sleeping without his hearing aids when the fire started. His pit bull, Ace, didn't stop licking his face until he woke up to a house full of smoke. Lamb said:

"My dog licked my face and woke me up. I was like, `Stop it! What? You want to be fed?' I thought he wanted to be fed or go outside." ... "I couldn't hear anything because I had my cochlear implants off. ... My dog Ace smelled it. I just wanted to get out."

He and Ace then escaped the fire, and Lamb called 911 and his mother, Lindsay Bernard. Bernard spoke to the AP, saying, "It's amazing, because if he wouldn't have been there, he probably wouldn't have even woke up."

Firefighters also found the family's cat, "Pixie," in the home. The cat—who did nothing to save the boy's life, unlike the dog—let it be known—was taken to a vet for smoke inhalation and is expected to recover.

[image via AP]

Authorities say that the roof on a privately-owned prison in East Texas collapsed Saturday morning, resulting in the injuries of 20 inmates and trapping many more. The unit at the Diboll Correctional Center where the incident happened housed 84 inmates.

According to local television broadcaster ABC13, the collapse happened at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The ceiling is reportedly made almost entirely of sheet rock.

Via ABC13:

All 19 were transported to a local hospital for evaluation. One was then flown to a hospital here in Houston. At this time, we don't know the condition of the patient who was airlifted. As for the others, we're told the injuries don't appear to be serious.

According to the Associated Press, a spokesperson for the prison could not confirm what caused the ceiling to collapse.

[Image via ABC13]

Twenty-five years ago today, one of the most horrific plane crashes ever caught on video occurred in Sioux City, Iowa. United Airlines flight 232 was en route from Denver to Chicago, when the engine in the tail of the DC-10 suffered an un-contained engine failure.

United 232 crash site in Sioux City, Iowa [AP]

Simply put, it's when a piece of the engine such as a fan blade breaks off while it is running, colliding with other engine parts, and debris exits the engine. As you might imagine, when burning hot, sharp, spinning objects go flying around other airplane parts, the result can be catastrophic. In the case of United 232, engine shrapnel severed all three of the plane's hydraulic lines, giving the pilots no way to keep the plane under control.

Nine minutes after hearing a boom and observing the loss of hydraulic pressure and fluid levels, the captain and first officer were joined in the cockpit by a United DC-10 check airman, who happened to be on the flight. The check airman crouched over the throttle console and adjusted the thrust on the two remaining functioning engines. The crew were able to make small adjustments by manipulating the thrust of the two remaining functioning engines. They declared emergency and were given vectors to land at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa.

United 232 crash site aerial photo. [AP]

The pilots were given clearance to land on runway 31, but they were on a path for runway 22, which was only 6,600 feet long and it was also closed. The pilots decided to go for 22, feeling they wouldn't be able to reroute themselves successfully to land on 31. As the plane touched down, the right wing dipped and made contact with the ground before the landing gears. The plane cartwheeled, burst into flames and rolled upside down as it skid to a stop. 185 of the 296 people on board the flight survived.

In their accident investigation, it was found the fan disk failure was caused by a fatigue crack that initiated from a metallurgical defect located on the surface of the disk bore. The metallurgical defect formed during the initial manufacture of the titanium alloy material and was not detected by inspections performed during the manufacturing process (manufactured in December 1971 timeframe). The disk was installed in the CF6-6D engine, and the defect caused the initiation of a fatigue crack that eventually grew to a critical size and produced a catastrophic separation of the disk. Total service time and cycles accumulated on the fan disk at the time of the accident were 41,009 hours and 15,503 cycles. The investigation also reviewed the inspection history of the engine, and determined that the fan blade crack was sufficient enough to have been detected, if the inspections had been done properly.

United 232's damaged #2 tail engine [AP]

The pilots were highly experienced, especially the captain, Alfred C. Haynes, who had 7,000 hours on the DC-10. The check airman who stepped into assist was also highly experienced. The NTSB concluded that the airplane, while flyable, could not have been successfully landed on a runway with the loss of all hydraulic flight controls.The agency lauded the pilots, stating, "The Safety Board believes that under the circumstances the UAL flight crew performance was highly commendable and greatly exceeded reasonable expectations."

As a result of United Flight 232, the FAA issued Airworthiness Directives, mandating inspections on the fan blades of the General Electric CF6 engine. Modifications of the hydraulic systems on the DC-10 were also required, to prevent total loss of hydraulic power in the event of a similar incident. The crash also led to the addition of redundant safety systems in all future aircraft, and changed the way engine inspections are performed.

After recovering from his injuries, Captain Haynes continued flying United DC-10s until his mandatory retirement age. Several of the flight 232 survivors and first responders from the accident joined him on his final flight.

The NYPD officer involved in the arrest of Eric Garner, the asthmatic 43-year-old father of six who died after being placed in a chokehold, has been stripped of his gun and badge.

The Associated Press reports that Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an eight-year NYPD officer, has been placed on desk duty after being stripped of his gun and badge.

Another officer named Justin Damico, reports the Daily News, was also taken off the street and placed on desk duty, but will retain his gun and badge. He has been with the NYPD for four years.

Federal court records show that in the last two years, three Staten Island men have sued Pantaleo over what they argued were racially motivated arrests. From the AP:

In the first lawsuit, settled by the city in January, two black men in their 40s accused Pantaleo and other officers of arresting them without cause and subjecting them to a "humiliating and unlawful strip search" on a Staten Island street that involved ordering them to "pull their pants and underwear down, squat and cough."

The men were held overnight on charges that were ultimately dismissed.

In the second lawsuit, Pantaleo was accused of attempting to substantiate charges—that were, again, ultimately dismissed—by misrepresenting facts in a police report and other documents.

According to the AP, placing someone in a chokehold is prohibited by departmental policy. NYC's Civilian Complaint Review Board said on Saturday that it would review over 1,000 chokehold complaints it has received against officers over the last five years and attempt to "discern why officers continue to use this forbidden practice."

[image via AP]

Handsome, sharp leading actor James Garner, who was best known for his roles in the 1950s western Maverick and as private investigator Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files, passed away in his California home on Saturday night, the LAPD confirms.

Garner was remembered and lauded for his role as Jim Rockford on the 1970s crime show The Rockford Files, in which he was "perpetually wandering into threatening situations in which he ended up pursued by criminal goons or corrupt cops," the New York Times reports. Garner was a witty lead with an imposing athletic presence.

Via the New York Times:

In his 2011 autobiography, "The Garner Files," written with Jon Vinokur, Mr. Garner confessed to having a live-and-let-live attitude with the caveat that when he was pushed, he shoved back. What distinguished his performance as Rockford was how well that more-put-upon-than-macho persona came across. Rockford's reactions — startled, nonplussed and annoyed being his specialties — appeared native to him.

His naturalness led John J. O'Connor, writing in The New York Times, to liken Mr. Garner to Gary Cooper and James Stewart. And like those two actors, Mr. Garner usually got the girl.

According the Times' obit, Garner smoked all of his life, even after having open-heart surgery in 1988. Garner appeared in over fifty films over the course of his career.

The Associated Press reports that the actor died of natural causes; he was 86.

[Image via AP]

Lee Weir, a 27-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, recently set the Guinness World Records title for "most tattoos of the same cartoon character tattooed on the body." Specific!

Weir, who was banned from watching The Simpsons as a child, has 41 tattoos of Homer Simpson on his body. That'll show limit-setting parents! Guinness confirms that his tattoos depict Homer in various states, including "Homer as a jack-in-the box, the Grim Reaper, in an elephant suit, as the Hulk, and even Homer as a donut."

Weir told Guinness that he spent last year alcohol-free in order to spend his money on tattoos rather than beer, a noble goal if I have ever heard one. Think of how many Simpsons tattoos we could all have if we chose to do the same!

Last Fridays session. #somanyhomers #colouryoubeauty pic.twitter.com/izysUTa2Tl

— Lee Weir (@LeeWeird) May 30, 2013

Weir joins Cameron Gibbs, who owns the largest collection of Simpsons memorabilia at 2,580 items, in the Simpsons Fanatic area of the Guinness Book of World Records.

[images via Guinness World Records]