name	John Stossel
birthname	John F. Stossel
birth date	March 06, 1947
birth place	Chicago Heights, Illinois, U.S.
education	B.A. in Psychology, Princeton University (1969)
occupation	Journalist, author, columnist, reporter, TV presenter
status	Married
spouse	Ellen Abrams
years active	1969–present
credits	''20/20'' ''Stossel''
url	http://www.johnstossel.com/ }}

John F. Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist. In October 2009 Stossel left his long time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp. He hosts a weekly news show on Fox Business, ''Stossel'', which debuted on December 10, 2009. The show airs in prime time every Thursday, repeating on both Saturdays and Sundays. Stossel also regularly provides signature analysis, appearing on various Fox News shows, including weekly appearances on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', in addition to writing the Fox News Blog, "John Stossel's Take".

Stossel practices advocacy journalism, often challenging conventional wisdom. His reporting style, which is a blend of commentary and reporting, reflects a libertarian political philosophy and his views on economics are largely supportive of the free market.

In his decades as a reporter, Stossel has received numerous honors and awards, including nineteen Emmy awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. John Stossel is doctor ''honoris causa'' from Universidad Francisco Marroquín. Stossel has written two books recounting how his experiences in journalism shaped his socioeconomic views, ''Give Me a Break'' in 2004 and ''Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity'' in 2007.

Stossel began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV and later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City, before joining ABC News as a consumer editor and reporter on ''Good Morning America''. Stossel went on to be an ABC News correspondent, joining the weekly news magazine program ''20/20'', going on to become co-anchor.

ABC is reported to believe "his reporting goes against the grain of the established media and offers the network something fresh and different...[but] makes him a target of the groups he offends."

Early life

John Stossel was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the younger of two sons, to a prominent Jewish family, and graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka. He overcame a stuttering problem so he could become a reporter, and is now a supporter and advocate for the Stuttering Foundation of America. Stossel graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Psychology in 1969 and was a member of Princeton Tower Club while there. He began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. Stossel later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News in 1981 as consumer editor and reporter on ''Good Morning America''.

Career

''20/20''

Stossel was named co-anchor of ABC News' ''20/20'' in May 2003. He joined the weekly news magazine program in 1981, initially as a correspondent. His "Give Me a Break" segments featured a skeptical look at subjects from government regulations and pop culture to censorship and unfounded fear. The series was spun off into a series of one-hour specials (which, Stossel stated in an interview with ReasonTV cost ABC half a million dollars per special), beginning in 1994, with titles including:

"Give Me a Break" – regular segment

''You Can't Even Talk About It'' – 2009

''Bailouts and Bull'' (in association with ReasonTV) – 2009

''Age of Consent'' – 2009

''John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics'' – 2008

''Sex in America'' – 2008

''Sick in America, Whose Body Is It Anyway?'' – 2007

''Cheap In America'' – 2007

''Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity'' – 2007

''Cheap in America'' – 2006

''Stupid in America: How We Cheat Our Kids'' – 2006

''Privilege in America: Who's Shutting You Out?'' – 2006

''War on Drugs: A War on Ourselves'' – 2002

''Freeloaders'' – 2001

''John Stossel Goes to Washington'' – Spring 2001

''Is America #1?'' – 1999

''Greed'' – 1999

''Common Sense'' – 1995

''Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?''

''Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So''

''Boys and Girls Are Different''

''You Can't Say That!''

''The Power of Belief''

Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network

In September 2009, it was announced that Stossel was leaving ABC News and joining Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. In addition to appearing on ''The O'Reilly Factor'' every Tuesday night, he now hosts a one-hour weekly program for Fox Business Network and a series of one-hour specials for Fox News Channel, as well as making regular guest appearances on Fox News programs.

The program, entitled ''Stossel'', debuted December 10, 2009, on Fox Business Network. The program looks at consumer-focused topics, such as civil liberties, the business of health care, and free trade. His blog, "Stossel’s Take", is published on both FoxBusiness.com and FoxNews.com.

Publications

Stossel has written three books. ''Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media'' is a 2005 autobiography from Harper Perennial documenting his career and philosophical transition from liberalism to libertarianism. It describes his opposition to government regulation, his belief in free market and private enterprise, support for tort reform, and advocacy for shifting social services from the government to private charities. It was a New York Times bestseller for 11 weeks. ''Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel – Why Everything You Know Is Wrong'', which was published in 2007 by Hyperion, questions the validity of various conventional wisdoms, and argues that the belief he is conservative is untrue. On April 10, 2012, Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, published Stossel's third book ''No, They Can't: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed''. It argues that government policies meant to solve problems instead produce new ones, and that free individuals and the private sector perform tasks more efficiently than the government does.

With financial support from the libertarian Palmer R. Chitester Fund, Stossel and ABC News launched a series of educational materials for public schools in 1999 entitled "Stossel in the Classroom". It was taken over in 2006 by the Center for Independent Thought and releases a new DVD of teaching materials annually. In 2006, Stossel and ABC released ''Teaching Tools for Economics'', a video series based on the National Council of Economics Education standards.

Charity and other work

Stossel often makes public appearances and speeches, advocating his brand of libertarian thought. Stossel explained at the end of the December 30, 2010 episode of ''Stossel'' that he gives away his earnings from these engagements to charity; they contribute 25% of his income. The three main groups he supports with his donations are the The Doe Fund, the Central Park Conservancy (on whose board he sits), and Student Sponsor Partners (SSP), which partners low-income high school students with donors who mentor the students and pay tuition for the students to attend private school (usually Catholic schools), which Stossel says have higher graduation rates than public schools.

Stossel and his former ABC News colleague Chris Cuomo are silent investors in Columbus Tavern, a restaurant on Columbus Avenue at 72nd Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Political and personal beliefs

Contrarianism

Stossel's news reports and writings attempt to debunk popular beliefs. His ''Myths and Lies'' series of ''20/20'' specials challenges a range of widely held beliefs. He also hosted ''The Power of Belief'' (October 6, 1998), an ABC News Special that focused on assertions of the paranormal and people's desire to believe. Another report outlined the belief that opposition to DDT is misplaced and that the ban on DDT has resulted in the deaths of millions of children, mostly in poor nations.

Libertarianism

As a libertarian, Stossel says that he believes in both personal freedom and the free market. He frequently uses television airtime to advance these views and challenge viewers' distrust of free market capitalism and economic competition. He received an Honoris Causa Doctorate from Francisco Marroquin University, a libertarian university in Guatemala, in 2008. He told ''The Oregonian'', on October 26, 1994:

Stossel argues that personal greed creates an incentive to work and to innovate. He has promoted school choice as a way to improve American schools, because he believes that when people are given a choice, they will choose the better schools for their children. Referring to educational tests that rank American students lower than others he says:

}}

Stossel has criticized government programs as inefficient, wasteful, and harmful. He has also criticized the American legal system, opining that it provides lawyers and vexatious litigators the incentive to file frivolous lawsuits indiscriminately, which Stossel contends often generate more wealth for lawyers than deserving clients, stifle innovation and personal freedoms, and cause harm to private citizens, taxpayers, consumers and businesses. Although Stossel concedes that some lawsuits are necessary in order to provide justice to people genuinely injured by others with greater economic power, he advocates the adoption in the U.S. of the English rule as one method to reduce the more abusive or frivolous lawsuits.

Stossel opposes corporate welfare, bailouts and the war in Iraq. He also opposes legal prohibitions against pornography, marijuana, gambling, ticket scalping, prostitution, homosexual activity, and assisted suicide, and believes most abortions should be legal. He favors replacing the income tax with the FairTax.

When President Barack Obama altered federal guidelines in April 2010 governing the employment of unpaid interns under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Stossel criticized the guidelines, appearing in a police uniform during an appearance on the Fox News program ''America Live'', commenting, "I’ve built my career on unpaid interns, and the interns told me it was great – I learned more from you than I did in college." Asked why he did not pay them if they were so valuable, he said he could not afford to.

Regarding religion, Stossel identified himself as an agnostic in the December 16, 2010 episode of ''Stossel'', explaining that he had no belief in God, but was open to the possibility.

Praise and criticism

Awards

Stossel has won 19 Emmy Awards. He was honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club, and has received the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the Peabody Award. In one year, according to Stossel in his book ''Give Me A Break'', "I got so many Emmys, another winner thanked me in his acceptance speech 'for not having an entry in this category'". According to Stossel, when he was in favor of government intervention and skeptical of business he was deluged with awards, but in 2006 he stated, "They like me less... Once I started applying the same skepticism to government, I stopped winning awards."

Praise

The Nobel Prize–winning Chicago School monetarist economist Milton Friedman lauded Stossel, stating: "Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety." Steve Forbes, the editor of ''Forbes Magazine'', described Stossel as riveting and "one of America’s ablest and most courageous journalists." P. J. O'Rourke, best-selling author of ''Eat the Rich'' and ''Parliament of Whores'' praised Stossel, stating: An article published by the libertarian group Advocates for Self Government notes praise for Stossel. Independent Institute Research Analyst Anthony Gregory, writing on the libertarian blog, LewRockwell.com, described Stossel as a "heroic rogue... a media maverick and proponent of freedom in an otherwise statist, conformist mass media." Libertarian investment analyst Mark Skousen said Stossel is "a true libertarian hero".

Criticism and controversy

Watchdog groups

Liberal media organizations such as Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) and Media Matters for America (MMfA), have criticized Stossel's work, for what was perceived by those groups as a lack of balance of coverage and distortion of facts. For example, Stossel was criticized for a segment on his October 11, 1999, show during which he argued that AIDS research has received too much funding, "25 times more than on Parkinson's, which kills more people." FAIR responded that, "In fact, AIDS killed more than 16,000 people in the United States in 1999," whereas Parkinson's averaged "a death toll in the United States of less than 4,000 per year."

However, the Centers for Disease Control National Vital Statistics Reports do not support FAIR's claim. The CDC reported that HIV/AIDS killed 14,802 Americans in 1999, compared to 14,593 who succumbed to Parkinson's. The following year the order was reversed, with 14,478 dying from HIV/AIDS, and 15,682 from Parkinson's. Interpolating the CDC figures suggests that by the date the program aired, Stossel's assertion was true. (However, worldwide HIV/AIDS deaths were far higher than Parkinson's deaths.)

Accusation of conflict of interest

In a February 2000 Salon.com feature on Stossel entitled "Prime-time propagandist", David Mastio wrote that Stossel has a conflict of interest in donating profits from his public speaking engagements to, among others, a non-profit called "Stossel in the Classroom" which includes material for use in schools, some of which uses material made by Stossel.

Galbraith and Stossel

University of Texas economist, James K. Galbraith, has alleged that Stossel in his September 1999 special, ''Is America #1?'', used an out of context clip of Galbraith to convey the notion that Galbraith advocated the adoption by Europe of the free market economics practiced by the United States, when in fact, Galbraith actually advocated that Europe adopt some of the United States' social benefit transfer mechanisms such as Social Security, which is the economically opposite view. Stossel denied any misrepresentation of Galbraith's views, and stated that it was not his intention to convey that Galbraith agreed with all of the special's ideas, but re-edited that portion of the program for its September 2000 repeat, in which Stossel paraphrased, "Even economists who like Europe's policies, like James Galbraith, now acknowledge America's success."

Organic vegetables

A February 2000 story about organic vegetables on ''20/20'' included statements by Stossel that tests had shown that neither organic nor conventional produce samples contained any pesticide residue, and that organic food was more likely to be contaminated by ''E. coli'' bacteria. The Environmental Working Group objected to his report, mainly questioning his statements about bacteria, but also managed to determine that the produce had never been tested for pesticides. They communicated this to Stossel, but after the story's producer backed Stossel's recollection that the test results had been as described, the story was rebroadcast months later, uncorrected, and with a postscript in which Stossel reiterated his claim. Later, after a report in ''The New York Times'' confirmed the Environmental Working Group's claims, ABC News suspended the producer of the segment for a month and reprimanded Stossel. Stossel apologized, saying that he had thought the tests had been conducted as reported. However, he asserted that the gist of his report had been accurate.

Frederick K. Price

In a March 2007 segment about finances and lifestyles of televangelists, ''20/20'' aired a clip of Rev. Frederick K. Price, a TV minister, that was originally broadcast by the Lifetime Network in 1997. Price alleged that the clip portrayed him describing his wealth in extravagant terms, when he was actually telling a parable about a rich man. ABC News twice aired a retraction and apologized for the error. In August 2010, a lower court's dismissal of the minister's defamation suit against ABC, ''Price v. Stossel'', was overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Sick Sob Stories"

In an opinion piece published in ''The Wall Street Journal'' in September 2007 called "Sick Sob Stories", Stossel described the case of Tracy and Julie Pierce that was explored in Michael Moore's film, ''Sicko''. Julie Pierce criticized Stossel, saying her husband would have been saved by the Canadian health care system, and she thought Stossel should have interviewed her and her doctor before writing about them. Stossel expressed sympathy, but said she had been misled to believe the treatment was routinely available in Canada. He said that the treatment is also considered "experimental" in Canada, and is provided there even more rarely than in the U.S.

Global warming

He challenges the notion that man-made global warming would have net negative consequences, pointing to assertedly warmer periods in human history. Central to his argument is the idea that groups and individuals get much more public attention, donations, and government funding when they proclaim "this will be terrible" than groups that say "this is nothing to worry about." He points to groups like the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and to activists such as Rachel Carson and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore as examples of environmental scaremongers.

In 2001, the media watchdog organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting criticized Stossel's reportage of global warming in his documentary, ''Tampering with Nature,'' for using "highly selective...information" that gave "center stage to three dissenters from among the 2,000 members of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which recently released a report stating that global temperatures are rising almost twice as fast as previously thought."

In a 2006 discussion hosted by the Fraser Institute, Stossel stated that he accepts that global warming has occurred in the past century, that it has been about one degree Celsius, and that man-made emissions "may be part of the cause." Nevertheless he groups environmental groups with astrologers and psychics in his second book, ''Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity''. He stated that the "myths" come in with the debate about proposed solutions to reduce global warming, which he argues will not solve the problem at all and will restrict people's freedom.

David Schultz incident

On December 28, 1984, during an interview for ''20/20'' on professional wrestling, wrestler David Schultz struck Stossel after Stossel stated that he thought professional wrestling was "fake". Stossel stated that he suffered from pain and buzzing in his ears eight weeks after the assault. Stossel sued and obtained a settlement of $425,000 from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In his book, ''Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity'', he writes that he has come to regret doing so, having adopted the belief that lawsuits harm hundreds of innocent people. Schultz maintains that he attacked Stossel on orders from Vince McMahon, the head of the then-WWF.

Personal life

Stossel lives in New York City with his wife, Ellen Abrams. They have two grown children.

Stossel's older brother, Thomas P. Stossel, is a hematologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and a professor at Harvard Medical School. He has served on the advisory boards of Merck, Biogen Idec and Dyax, as a senior fellow at the free-market Manhattan Institute, and as a trustee of the American Council on Science and Health.

Stossel's nephew is the journalist and magazine editor, Scott Stossel.

See also

List of newspaper columnists

References

Further reading

External links

Harper Collins (Publisher) – Biography at Publisher's website

Biographies and articles about Stossel

ABC News Biography

Johnson, Peter. "Stossel's evolution from activist to contrarian angers some of his fans", ''USA Today'', April 30, 2006

"John Stossel: Myth-Buster", FrontPageMag.com

Sullum, Jacob. "Risky Journalism: ABC's John Stossel bucks a fearful establishment" ''Reason'', April 1997.

Articles by Stossel

John Stossel's 20/20 Web Page

John Stossel's Newspaper Columns

John Stossel's contributions to Reason Magazine

"Confessions of a Welfare Queen: How rich bastards like me rip off taxpayers for millions of dollars" is an excerpt from his first book.

John Stossel's Column on Creators.com

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:ABC News personalities Category:American agnostics Category:American columnists Category:American libertarians Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American political pundits Category:American skeptics Category:American television news anchors Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Fox News Channel Category:George Polk Award recipients Category:Jewish agnostics Category:New Trier High School alumni Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Portland, Oregon television anchors Category:Princeton University alumni

de:John Stossel fr:John Stossel ms:John Stossel simple:John Stossel

Name	Max B
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Charly Wingate
Alias	Max BBiggaveli
Birth date	May 21, 1978
Origin	Harlem, New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Rapper
Genre	Hip hop
Associated acts	French MontanaDame GreaseDiplomats/ByrdGangMak Mustard
Years active	2005 – present
Label	ByrdGang Records (2006–2008)Amalgam Digital (2008–2009)
Website	Official website Also Known For His Great Cousin Geovahnie Fan Fan }}

Charly Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known as Max B, is an American rapper and songwriter from Harlem and is known for his original rap style of mumbled delivery, catchy sing-song choruses & hooks, and his energetic personality in interviews and videos.

In 2009, Max B began serving a 75-year prison sentence for charges of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and murder.

Biography

He was incarcerated on robbery charges from 1997 to 2005, He had come up with a second alias Biggaveli or ''Biggaveli'' denoting his belief that he is a combination of rappers: The Notorious B.I.G. ("Biggie Smalls"), Jay-Z ("Jigga") and Tupac Shakur ("Makaveli").

His manager Mike Bruno, whose name denotes his belief that he is a combination of boxers: Mike Tyson ("Mike") and Frank Bruno ("Bruno"), passed a demo along to Diplomats member Jim Jones in 2005, and Max B came to prominence through his affiliation with the Harlem collective The Diplomats, and with rappers Jim Jones and Cam'Ron in particular. In 2006 Jones formed the collective ByrdGang with Max B as a starring member. Fellow ByrdGang-member Stack Bundles was killed in 2007. Max B expressed the loss: "That was fucked up because the nigga Stacks was close to me, I ain't even gonna front. I was in jail at the time, so a nigga was sitting. A nigga learned to cope with that thing pretty well though, R.I.P. to Stacks. Shout out to my nigga, he played me all the joints he had. Man, that was my nigga."

Having gained release from his contract, he signed a three-album deal with a now out of business Boston based label in 2008. Preparations were underway for a debut album to be entitled ''Vigilante Season'' when in 2009 Max B was found guilty of involvement in a robbery which left a man dead.

Murder charges

According to authorities, Max sent his ex-girlfriend, Gina Conway, and his stepbrother Kelvin Leerdam, in 2006 to rob two men in a Holiday Inn, in Fort Lee, Northern New Jersey. On September 22, 2006, Max's crew ambushed Allan "Jay" Plowden in room 408 and restrained him with duct tape, while awaiting Plowden's partner, David Taylor. Also in the room was Gissele Nieven. When Taylor arrived, he was immediately shot, point-blank, execution-style, in the head. He did not have any money on him.

The crew fled the scene, Plowden alerted the hotel front desk of the murder. When police entered the room, Plowden was caught trying to take $30,000 out of the room. Plowden was charged with money laundering and identity theft. A week later the duo Conway, Leerdam and coordinator Max B were apprehended and charged with the robbery.

On January 9, 2007 Max B was remanded to Bergen County Jail in New Jersey on a $2 million bail. Conway testified against Max B and Leerdam, in exchange for a 18 years sentence on armed robbery and manslaughter. Leerdam received a life term plus 35 years.

Conviction and appeal

name	Charly Wingate
nationality	french
birth place	Harlem, New York, United States
conviction	Robbery (1997); Felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, armed robbery, (September 3, 2009)
conviction penalty	8 years in prison (1997–2005); 75 years in prison (2009–present)
conviction status	Incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison
occupation	Rapper
children	}}

By June 6, 2009, he had been found guilty on 9 of 11 counts in the ongoing trial. On June 9, he was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery charges and faced up to 75 years. He was to be sentenced in Bergen County on July 30.

In a statement, Gerald Saluti said:

Max B was later sentenced to 75 years in prison on September 4, 2009. His mother, Sharon Wingate,and fellow rap artist said he plans to appeal his conviction. On March 19, 2010, Max B was granted an appeal with a new trial and lawyer.

On Feb 29th, rumors spread that Max's request for an appeal were denied, but it since has been cleared up as an internet/blog/twitter rumor.

Discography

Albums

March 21, 2011: ''Vigilante Season'' US #200

Mixtapes

''Public Domain: Million Dollar Baby Radio'' (2006)

''Million Dollar Baby'' (2006)

''M.O.B.: Members Of Byrdgang'' (2006)

''Public Domain: The Prequel'' (2007)

''Members Of Byrdgang 2'' (2007)

''Million Dollar Baby 2'' (2008)

''Public Domain 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' (2008)

''Wavie Crockett: Return Of The Wave'' (2008)

''Public Domain 3: Domain Pain'' (2008)

''Max Payne'' (2008)

''Domain Diego'' (2008)

''Million Dollar Baby 2.5: Da Appetizer'' (2008)

''Coke Wave'' (2008)

''Goon Music 1.5: The Doomship'' (2008)

''Goon Music 2.Owww'' (2009)

''Quarantine'' (2009) ''Public Domain 6: Walking the Plank'' (2009)

''Coke Wave 2'' (2009)

''Wave Gang 4'' (2010)

''Dopeman:Public Domain 6.5'' (2010)

''Picture Me Rollin''' (2010)

''Amalgam Series Vol. 1: A Wave Called Yes'' (2010)

''Free Max B (The Best of Max Biggavelli)'' (2010)

Other appearances

Song "We Roll", with Jim Jones, Pete Rock on NY's Finest (2008)

References

Sources

''Murder case''

*BREAKING NEWS: Max-B Found Guilty on 9 out of 11 Counts in Murder Trial "Facing up to 20 Years in Prison"

*Former Dipset member Max B. was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery charges today (June 9)''''

*Bergen County Prosecutor's Office PRESS RELEASE, SEPTEMBER 25, 2006

*Rapper gets 75 years for fatal Fort Lee hotel robbery

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:21st-century American criminals Category:African American rappers Category:American people of Haitian descent Category:American rappers of Haitian descent Category:American kidnappers Category:American robbers Category:American people convicted of murder Category:People convicted of murder by New Jersey Category:People from Harlem Category:Rappers from New York City Category:The Diplomats members