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3/28/08
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Robert Dreyfus: McCain’s Neocon reflection: War is on his mind
Robert Dreyfus
explains to Amy Goodman how close [John McCain’s] ties are to the Neocon’s and
how prominent their influence is over him. He’s a super freak of the AEI vision
of America’s
role in world affairs. Instead of learning the lessons Vietnam taught us, he
blew them off and is now solidly for American military intervention at all
costs.
Click through to
watch the video of the interview.
The World
US airstrike kills at least 4 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - A U.S.
helicopter fired a Hellfire missile during fighting in a Shiite militia
stronghold of Baghdad Friday, killing at least four people as deadly clashes
broke out in Iraq's oil-rich south for the fourth day.
Diplomats told to take cover in Baghdad
WASHINGTON - The
State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not
to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has
killed two American government workers this week.
Gunmen blow up another oil pipeline in southern Iraq
A bomb struck an oil
pipeline Thursday in Iraq's southern city of Basra where Iraqi security forces
have been clashing with Shiite militia fighters, an oil official said, the
second such attack this week.
US jets drop bombs in Basra
BAGHDAD - A British
military spokesman in Basra says U.S. warplanes have carried out at least two
airstrikes overnight in Iraq's southern oil port.
Iraqi spokesman kidnapped in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - An
Interior Ministry official says the civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security
operation has been kidnapped and three bodyguards killed.
Did you get
that? He’s the SECURITY spokesman.
Egypt to put cameras on Suez Canal after shooting
ISMAILIA, Egypt
(Reuters) - Egypt has started to install security cameras along the
Suez Canal after a warning shot fired from a cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Navy
killed an Egyptian trader on a motorboat, officials said on Friday.
Jordan, Iraq no-shows at Arab summit
DAMASCUS, Syria -
Jordan, Iraq and Yemen announced at the last minute Friday that their top
leaders will not attend this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus, highlighting the
deep rifts among Arab countries that have undermined the gathering.
Pakistan's new leaders tell US: We are no longer your killing field
The Bush regime is
scrambling to engage with Pakistan's new rulers as power flows from its strong
ally, President Pervez Musharraf, to a powerful civilian government buoyed by
anti-American sentiment. On Tuesday, senior coalition partner Nawaz Sharif gave
the visiting Americans a public scolding for using Pakistan as a "killing field"
and relying too much on Musharraf.
Police close off Lhasa's Muslim quarter
LHASA, China -
Police closed off Lhasa's Muslim quarter on Friday, two weeks after Tibetan
rioters burned down the city's mosque during the largest anti-Chinese protests
in nearly two decades.
China says Tibet monks won't be punished
BEIJING (Reuters) -
China will not punish a group of Tibetan monks for disrupting a
government-organized foreign media tour of Lhasa and voicing support for the
Dalai Lama, a senior official said in a bid to allay fears of repercussions.
North Korea Test-Launches Missiles
North Korea
test-fired a barrage of short-range missiles Friday, the nation's latest
response to the new South Korean government's tougher stance on Pyongyang. South
Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that North Korea launched three ship-to-ship
missiles at around 10:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. EST Thursday), citing unidentified
government officials.
ETimor president criticises response after assassination bid
SYDNEY (AFP) - East
Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has criticised the response of international
forces as he lay bleeding in the road for 30 minutes after being shot outside
his home last month.
Hells Angels ruling dashes hopes of Canada police
VANCOUVER, British
Columbia (Reuters) - A member of the Hells Angels was found not guilty on
Thursday in a case police had hoped would damage the motorcycle club in Western
Canada by declaring it to be a criminal organization.
Mexico sends new troops to US border
CIUDAD JUAREZ,
Mexico - The Mexican government said Thursday it has sent more than 2,500
soldiers and federal police to curb soaring violence in a border state across
from Texas and New Mexico.
Raul Castro: Cubans can have cell phones
HAVANA - President
Raul Castro's government said Friday it is allowing cell phones for ordinary
Cubans, a luxury previously reserved for those who worked for foreign firms or
held key posts with the communist-run state.
EU, U.S. open new stage of "open skies" talks May 15
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -
The European Union and the United States will kick off talks on further
liberalization of transatlantic air traffic on May 15, the EU's top transport
official said on Friday.
British economy slowed in 2007
LONDON (AFP) -
Britain's economy grew by less than expected last year, official data showed
Friday, as analysts warned of a harsher slowdown in 2008 because of the global
credit crunch.
100,000 south Sudan refugees return with U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) -
More than 100,000 people who fled civil war in southern Sudan have now returned
home from neighboring countries under United Nations auspices, the U.N. refugee
agency said on Friday.
The Nation
Bush: 'Normalcy is returning to Iraq'
WASHINGTON —
President Bush, saying that "normalcy is returning back to Iraq," argued
Thursday that last year's U.S. troop "surge" has improved Iraq's security to the
point where political and economic progress are blossoming as well.
Bush says critics bully Iraq's leaders
DAYTON, Ohio -
President Bush said Thursday that congressional critics have bullied Iraq's
leaders and ignored political progress achieved at the cost of U.S. lives.
White House says NKorea missile tests 'not constructive'
WASHINGTON (AFP) -
The White House on Friday criticized North Korea's latest missile tests as "not
constructive" and urged Pyongyang to focus instead on dismantling its nuclear
facilities.
Dempsey to become Central Command chief
WASHINGTON - One of
the Army's most Iraq-savvy generals is taking charge, at least temporarily, of
arguably the most important command in the U.S. military, with responsibility
for the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Gates orders inventory of US nukes
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a full
inventory of all nuclear weapons and related materials after the mistaken
delivery of ballistic missile fuses to
Taiwan, the Pentagon said
Thursday.
NTSB close in cause of bridge collapse
WASHINGTON - While
federal investigators are months away from a final decision, internal memos
suggest they have settled on undersize steel plates and heavy loads of
construction materials as the likely cause of the deadly bridge collapse in
Minneapolis last year.
NASA’s Science Chief Resigns
S. Alan Stern, an
experienced planetary scientist who came to NASA less than a year ago to lead
the agency’s science division, did not publicly give a reason for his
resignation.
Woman says TSA forced piercings removal
A Texas woman who
said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an
airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil
rights investigation.
Mukasey vows corruption crackdown
Attorney General
Michael Mukasey vowed anew Thursday to crack down on crooked politicians and
public officials, dismissing critics who accuse the Justice Department of
letting partisan loyalties interfere with corruption cases. Mukasey's comments
came hours after prosecutors charged
Puerto Rico's
Democratic-leaning governor in a campaign finance probe that began more than two
years ago. Additionally, Mukasey said that a multibillion-dollar overseas
contracting loophole that was quietly slipped into Justice Department plans to
protect taxpayers' money "shouldn't happen." All were part of the attorney
general's rhetorical assault on public corruption, which he called one of his
top priorities.
Crackdown, huh?
Like the one that sent Don Siegelman to prison?
Siegelman sought for Hill testimony
The House Judiciary
Committee asked the Justice Department Thursday to temporarily release former
Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman from prison in early May to testify before Congress
about possible political influence over his prosecution… "The chairman has
determined it would be appropriate to hear from Mr. Siegelman himself and
believes he would have a lot to add to the committee's investigation into
selective prosecution," spokeswoman Melanie Roussell said.
Ex-Ala. governor to be freed on bond
MONTGOMERY, Ala. --
A federal appeals court approved the release of former Alabama Gov. Don
Siegelman on bond Thursday while he appeals his convictions in a corruption
case. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the former governor had raised
"substantial questions of fact and law" in challenging his conviction, which
Siegelman claims was politically motivated.
We can thank 60
Minutes and Rep. John Conyers for this. See the excerpt above.
Clinton, Obama vow Democrats will unite despite bitter campaign
WASHINGTON (AFP) -
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have vowed the Democratic Party will heal
its wounds, whoever wins their toxic White House race, and unite to thwart
Republican John McCain.
Clinton touts job training proposals
RALEIGH - Sen. Hillary Clinton chose
Wake Technical Community
College today to call attention to her proposal to spend $12.5 billion over five
years to train and educate workers.
Experts: McCain is the same as Bush
Arab experts say a
win by US
presidential hopeful John McCain brings no change to Bush's policies blamed for
destabilizing the Mideast.
Holtz-Eakin: McCain’s admitted lack of econ knowledge is ‘a small joke.’
(Think Progress)
In December 2007, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) admitted to an audience in New
Hampshire that “the issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well
as I should.” Trying to explain away McCain’s comment, Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
McCain’s senior economic adviser, claimed to ABC News that McCain was merely
joking…Unfortunately, for Holtz-Eakin, McCain has admitted his lack of econ
knowledge on multiple occasions throughout the years.
Economy & Finance
Stocks gain after two days of declines
NEW YORK - Stocks rebounded Friday after a government report
confirmed that personal spending fell in February to its weakest level in 17
months but that personal income rose more than expected.
Oil prices surge past 107 dollars on Iraq pipeline attack
Oil prices jumped
above 107 dollars a barrel on Thursday when concern about tight supplies
increased on news that saboteurs had blown up a major Iraqi export pipeline,
traders said. New York's
main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, rose by 1.12 dollars
to 107.02 dollars per barrel.
Inquiry Assails Accounting Firm in Lender's Fall
A sweeping
five-month investigation into the collapse of one of the nation’s largest
subprime lenders points a finger at a possible new culprit in the mortgage mess:
the accountants. New Century Financial, whose failure just a year ago came at
the start of the credit crisis, engaged in "significant improper and imprudent
practices" that were condoned and enabled by auditors at the accounting firm
KPMG, according to an independent report commissioned by the Justice Department.
Stimulus plan to create up to 600,000 jobs: Paulson
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday that an economic stimulus
program that will put $168 billion into consumers' hands this year and next
could help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
I don’t think
many economists agree with this assessment.
NEW DATA SHOW INCOME CONCENTRATION ROSE AGAIN IN 2006 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez recently updated their
groundbreaking data series on income inequality, finding that between 2005 and
2006, the average pre-tax income of the top 1 percent of households increased by
$73,000, after adjusting for inflation, while the average income of the bottom
90 percent of households increased by just $20.
Indian workers in US demand visa reforms
WASHINGTON - Indian
workers who say they were lured by false promises into moving to the Gulf Coast
to fill a labor shortage after Hurricane Katrina demanded Thursday that their
country help stop what they call human trafficking.
These are the
people who have made it impossible for me to find computer work.
Media
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Iraq Disappears From View
(Think Again by Eric
Alterman, Center for American Progress)
The public needs reliable information about the Iraq war, but media coverage of
the conflict has dropped off the map.
A War Worth Fighting?
(Center for Amnerican Progress)
Last week was the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Ruy Teixeira
asks: What does the public really want on Iraq?
Compassion Meditation Changes The Brain
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 27, 2008) — Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study
suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through
meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other
peoples' mental states, say researchers at the
University
of Wisconsin-Madison.
Liberals have allowed to go unchecked a 35 plus year, multi hundred
million dollar campaign to convince Americans that compassion is foolish, and
that helping people actually harms them. But as we’ve seen from recent studies,
cooperating with each other makes us feel good,
giving to others makes us feel good. That means cooperation and compassion
are built-in traits, just as is selfishness. They are traits that help us live
together in groups. They are important. And as we see from this study, they
can be nurtured. I’d write
a book about it if I could ever find a publisher.
Obama blames 'ethic of greed' for economy
(Politico )
Barack Obama went to New York Thursday and blamed lobbyists, greedy businessmen
and complacent Washington politicians for creating “an ethic of greed” that led
to today’s foreclosure crisis. Not long after he left the stage, the
Democratic presidential hopeful attended a fundraiser held by his campaign in a
room in the
Manhattan
headquarters of Credit Suisse, one of the major investment companies caught up
in the subprime lending mess.
[Emphasis added.]
Obama: Talks Economy, But Takes Subprime Companies' Money (by
SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
[From the Clinton
campaign:] On Monday, the Obama campaign responded to Hillary unveiling a
comprehensive plan to deal with the housing crisis by attacking her for taking
contributions connected to subprime lenders. Campaign manager David Plouffe
said: “If we’re really going to crack down on the practices that caused the
credit and housing crises, we’re going to need a leader who doesn’t owe those
industries any favors.” As it turns out, those were just words… Today, Senator
Obama gives an economy speech followed by a fundraiser at - you guessed it - one
of the top 10 issuers of subprime loans in
America,
Credit Suisse. In fact, Senator Obama has taken more money from the top 10
issuers of subprime loans than BOTH Senator Clinton and Senator McCain.
Click through for a detailed listing. And
there’s a video.
Smears and Tears: How Obama’s National Security Week Turned Into the Mendacity
of Hype (by
former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, writing at No Quarter)
The past week marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War and the milestone of
the 4,000th American soldier killed in that disastrous adventure. Commemorating
and underscoring the urgent need for a new policy direction, Senator Clinton
delivered a serious and detailed address clearly setting out her vision for and
commitment to ending the conflict… My wife, former CIA agent, Valerie, and I
accompanied Senator Clinton to Philadelphia the day after her speech. Valerie
pointed out in her comments how, in the run up to the invasion, the
administration lied to the Congress and the American people about the nature and
the seriousness of the weapons of mass destruction threat posed by Saddam
Hussein. The Bush administration’s willful twisting of intelligence was crucial
to manipulation of the press, the public and the Congress. Not until months
later, after the invasion, did the facts of the administration’s distortion of
intelligence slowly begin to trickle out, partly as a result of my own efforts
in a New York Times opinion piece in July 2003.
Understandably, Senator Obama’s speech on race relations overshadowed Senator Clinton’s policy pronouncements… In the immediate aftermath, the Obama campaign dispatched several foreign policy surrogates to blitz the airwaves, supposedly to offer alternatives to Clinton’s recommendations. But that’s not what happened. Instead, Hillary was subjected to yet another round of personal abuse, denigration and ridicule rather than a serious debate of the issues. The real subtext of the Obama campaign was to attack Hillary in order to distract from Obama’s association with his anti-American preacher. National security went un-addressed. Rather than filling in his largely absent record, Obama had his surrogates engage in what can be termed the mendacity of hype.
Accused Saddam Agent Says He Met With Hillary at White House
(New York Sun)
A Michigan man facing federal criminal charges of illegally working for Saddam
Hussein's Iraqi Intelligence Service says he met with Hillary Clinton at the
White House in May 1996… Mrs. Clinton and her defenders may claim that no one
could have known in 1996 that Mr. Hanooti would become an agent of Saddam
Hussein, engaged in what a grand jury and federal prosecutors say was a criminal
conspiracy. The indictment charges that the conspiracy began "in or about 1999."
Mr. Hanooti has pleaded not guilty.
So why even write about it, New York Sun, if there couldn’t possibly
have been any wrongdoing? Oh, that’s right. Catchy headlines matter, even if
there’s nothing to back them up. I expect Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann to
make a big deal of this.
Origins of the "Tonya Harding Option"
(by tom at Corrente Wire)
[December 28, 2007
7:49 AM:] “ABC News’
Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told a crowd in Vinton, Iowa
Thursday that he’s not going to pull a Tonya Harding on his rival candidates.
‘Folks said there’s no way Obama has a chance unless he goes and kneecaps the
person ahead of us, does a Tonya Harding,’ Obama joked, referring to the female
skating champion who conspired to harm a competitor during the 1994 U.S. Figure
Skating Championships. ‘We decided that’s not the kind of campaign we wanted to
run,’ he said.”
Until they did.
The Obama Campaign's Strategic Blunder – They Made it Personal
(by Angie Pratt, writing at OpEd News)
When the Obama campaign made its claim of racism against Hillary after theNew
Hampshire primary they made a booboo. A big one. Prior to that Clinton's
supporters were open to entertaining a vote for Obama. Maybe he'd be OK. The
evening of Hillary's win in
New Hampshire
the claim came out that Hillary had somehow cheated. Somehow she had gotten
white folks to vote for her because she was white and Obama was black… Well … if
it worked once … try it again. So the Obama camp called the
Clintons racists again and
again and again – at every opportunity. The national media loved it. It fit
with the stereotype that many wanted to tag Hillary with anyway – that's she'd
do anything to win – including playing the race card… The problem with this
approach and the strategic blunder for the Obama Campaign is that in the process
of calling the
Clintons racists they
were also calling Hillary Clinton's supporters racists too. They made it
personal… Now many Hillary's supporters aren't going to vote for Obama if he
wins the nomination. Remember those fabled moderates and independents that
Obama said he'd be able to win? They aren't going to vote for him either. They
got lumped together with the Hillary supporters and labeled racists too. So much
for being a uniter. The Obama Campaign should have never played the race card.
The consequences will reverberate well past the election.
If Obama Has The Nomination Wrapped Up, Why is His Campaign Going After Clinton So Hard? (by Mark Halperin at The Page, Time)
1. They want to drive up Clinton’s negatives as high as they can, to keep her from improving her standing in head-to-head matchups with McCain, because they know the Clinton campaign would use such polls as an important electability talking point with superdelegates.
2. They want to get the media focus off of Rev. Wright.
3. They want to demonstrate their toughness (to themselves, to the Republicans, and to those watchful superdelegates).
4. They want Clinton to feel there is a cost for staying in the race.
5. They want to remind superdelegates that Clinton would carry substantial baggage into the general election as the nominee.
6. They want to improve Obama’s standing with white voters by artfully playing the Lewinsky card (as when they talked about the circumstances that led to Bill Clinton being photographed in the White House with Rev. Wright).
7. They are angry at the Clinton campaign.
8. They think — contrary to the media conventional wisdom — that Clinton can still beat them.
9. Because they can: the media continues to highlight the Clinton campaign’s negative tactics in a disapproving way, but only rarely points out the intensified negative tone and rhetoric Obama’s campaign has been using – even though it conflicts with the candidate’s professed desire for a new kind of politics.
TPM’s Josh Marshall Encourages YouTubes “to Make Sen. Clinton Look as Foolish as
Possible” (by
Carlos at No Quarter)
“Progressive” blogger Joshua Micah Marshall at Talking Points Memo continues his
obsession with the “Hillary Clinton-Bosnia-Sniper” story. On Thursday, as of
21:00 ET,
Marshall
totally ignores the major foreign policy speech by Sen. Obama for more pressing
matters: YouTube mashups! “The Clinton-Bosnia-Sniper story seems to be peaking.
And there have been a lot of snippets of video swirling around YouTube with this
or that part of the story. But most of them are incomplete or rapid-fire-cut or
edited to make Sen. Clinton look as foolish as possible. Not that there’s
anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld used to say. We do those kinds of
videos too. But since you’ve probably seen a lot of those, we wanted to go back
and put together all the key moments in roughly chronological order — what Sen.
Clinton said on different occasions, the key video from the trip, what other
eyewitnesses say, what her spokespersons and aides say, etc.”
Obama’s economic speech was
surprisingly given zero front page coverage. The indictment of the Puerto Rico
governor was also ignored. Clinton’s call for Democratic unity was also ignored…
Earlier this month, TPM fired veteran political writer Linda Hirshmann for “not
making the case for Obama.” Their reason: “We’re focusing on getting our
long-standing regulars and folks covering things we don’t on the blog.” Covering
things like, YouTube mashups of the Bosnia visit?
My comment: Josh also stopped Greg Sargent from posting on his Horse's
Mouth blog, part of the TPM family. They're citing technical reasons, so I
guess it's just coincidence that Greg was one of the few people calling bullshit
on the media's coverage of Hillary Clinton.
I never liked Slate
(by Jeff Jarvis)
And now I like them less. They have a flack send me email bragging that they’ve
started a Hillary death watch. Fuck Slate. Wearing your Obama button, Jake?
Later: OK, I’m being intemperate. The wine talking. And frustration. But I
really am sick of the media efforts to do in Clinton. The lack of self-awareness
about it is shocking.
Obama Shill Ed Shultz Gets The Axe At WINZ
(by Ron Mills at Broward’s Blog)
"Big Head Ed" Schultz has been canceled from http://940winz.com Miami/Fort
Lauderdale radio.
Miami, one of radio's
largest media markets has seen the slipping ratings of the Ed Schultz show for
months and replacing him with a Live show of Thom Hartmann.
Changing the Minds of Superdelegates
(by Susan Estrich, Real Clear Politics)
I had to laugh last weekend watching New Mexico Governor and superdelegate Bill
Richardson, who was everywhre endorsing Barack Obama, taking a moralistic stance
on superdelegates respecting the will of the people. Come again. Which people?
Would that be the people of his home state, who he will actually be
"representing" at the convention, or the people of the 48 states that will be
allowed to vote on the first Credentials Challenge, or the people of the 50
states who will be voting if Hillary ultimately has even one more vote than
Obama on the question of seating Florida and Michigan? If you do the math, you
quickly come to the conclusion that neither candidate, barring some truly
unexpected landslide, is going to win this nomination on the basis of pledged
delegates alone. As the rules structure it, there is no "will of the people," or
at least not one strong enough to support a nominee. Unless you want to change
the rules in the middle of the game, the fact is that it will be up to the
superdelegates to do what they were put there to do: decide who is most
electable, and cast their votes accordingly.
WAS DEMOCRATIC DONORS' LETTER TO PELOSI A RANSOM NOTE?
(Capital Eye)
Prominent backers of Hillary Clinton sent a multi-million-dollar message to
Capitol Hill this week: Watch out, Nancy Pelosi. In a letter to the Speaker of
the House that urged her to stay out of the debate over how superdelegates
should cast their votes, the 20 major Democratic donors didn't call direct
attention to the fortune they've given to the Democratic Party, but they did
remind her of their "enthusiastic" support over the years. The Center for
Responsive Politics has found that the letter-signers, along with their spouses,
have contributed $23.6 million to Democrats since 1999, including $554,000 to
Clinton's campaigns and PAC -- 10 times what they've contributed to Barack
Obama. Nearly $3 million has gone to the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, the party fundraiser for the Democratic members Pelosi leads in the
House.
Obama's Schemes to Tiptoe Past the Devil
(by Glen Ford at The Black Agenda Report)
Barack Obama likes to pretend that he is a deeply spiritual man, but he failed
to sneak past the white gods of retribution when it appeared Obama paid
insufficient homage to the greatness of the American historical legacy. The
Senator thought he could sneek his way between the National White American Gods,
most of them slaveholders and Indian-killers, and the Black guardians of
American's true history of genocide, chattel slavery and constant aggressive
war. Obama got caught by both sides, and wound up mumbling gibberish about
holding a dialogue between irreconcilable belief systems. In fact, Obama has
maneuvered himself into a position of irrelevance to both sides.
Somebody give Barack Obama a Map to the U.S. Senate Chamber - If You Dare; A
Look at Obama's Voting Record
(Creative Youth News Team)
[Click through for] Obama's 2005, 2006 and 2007 voting record. The first
couple of years of this was collected by a national liberal Democratic
organization. The news team at Creative Youth has thoroughly checked that part
out in Thomas.loc.gov and found it to be completely accurate. Then the CY News
Team, using Thomas.loc.gov, brought it up to date through … the end of 2007. A
lot of Obama's absences are not listed below because we just got tired of saying
he didn't bother to vote on this issue or that issue. If you read the ones we
listed, you'll get the idea. Based on his voting record when … he was present,
the liberals may have gotten a better result from his absences than his votes.
If you are a liberal, get out your vomit bags and see who Obama is and what he
really stands for. If you are a conservative, you are going to love him after
you check out his record.
WPer: The media tend to put Chelsea Clinton on a pedestal
A Washington Post
chatter accuses the "Reliable Source" gossips of "hating on" Chelsea Clinton for
months with no let up. Amy Argetsinger responds: "I think there's been a
tendency in the media and popular culture to put her up on a pedestal, to treat
her as a sacred cow -- to overpraise her for rather normal behavior, to regard
her as a fragile child when she's a 28-year-old woman willingly putting herself
out on the campaign trail (and then sometimes setting arbitrary boundaries
around herself)."
Well, considering how they put Barack Obama on a pedestal, it hardly
seems unreasonable to do the same for Chelsea.
McCain's "Senior Moments" a Product of Bush's Iran Propaganda
(by Gareth Porter, IPS News, posted at AlterNet)
McCain's gaffes have been a reflection of how thoroughly he has internalized
neoconservative spin.
Imitation is the sincerely form of publicity
(Buzz Machine)
Tracey Ullman does a dead-on imitation of Arianna Huffington on her new show.
Click through to watch the video.
The BBC airs broadcast - CIA role claim in Kennedy killing
New video and
photographic evidence that puts three senior CIA operatives at the scene of
Robert Kennedy's assassination has been brought to light.
Analyze the Housing Bailout Proposals!
(by Dean Baker)
One of the reasons that we're sitting here in a recession, facing the worst
financial crisis since the Great Depression (according to Alan Greenspan) is
that most reporters never reported on the housing bubble as it grew to ever more
dangerous levels… As Congress considers bailouts, reporters don't seem to have
picked up their game… The papers and broadcast media should be presenting some
analysis of [the candidates’ proposals to solve the crisis] to their audience.
It hasn't been visible so far.
Another Philosophy Lecture from the Washington Post
(by Dean Baker)
The Post tells us that: …: "on taxes, McCain has reversed his opposition to
President Bush's 2001 tax plan and now supports making the cuts permanent."… I
wouldn't be so cynical as to suggest that Senator McCain would abandon his
economic philosophy for political advantage, but maybe we shouldn't rule out
this possibility. How about if the Post just reported the politicians'
statements and positions on issues and spare us the speculation on their
"economic philosophy?"
Media Matters for America headlines
• AP uncritically quoted McCain claim that Obama will "raise taxes" on homeowners
Indonesian ministry Web site hacked over porn ban
JAKARTA (Reuters)
- Hackers have defaced the Web site of Indonesia's information ministry in
response to a government move to restrict access to pornographic material on the
Internet, an official said on Friday.
China and Tibet: The Spin Campaign
A sophisticated
media strategy combined with strong domestic nationalist sentiment helps Beijing
counter negative publicity
Tibet monks disrupt tour by journalists
LHASA, China - A
group of monks shouting there was no religious freedom disrupted a carefully
orchestrated visit by foreign reporters to
Tibet's
capital Thursday, an embarrassment for
China
as it tried to show Lhasa was calm after recent deadly anti-government riots.
Kenya's Emerging Indy Media
(by Michelle Chen, In These Times. posted at AlterNet)
Amidst the ongoing chaos in Kenya, an alternative media system driven by
ordinary Kenyans is rising.
Britain to overhaul video game ratings system
LONDON (Reuters)
- The British government plans to introduce a new guidance rating system for
video games and a code of practice for social networking Web sites to help
protect children.
Philippines to get own Playboy, but no nudes
MANILA (AFP) -
The Philippines will get its own edition of Playboy magazine -- only without the
nudity that made the US version famous, the editor-in-chief of the local edition
said Thursday.
They may have to actually read the articles.
Dutch MP's anti-Islam film gets barbs, cheers on YouTube
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP)
- Snippets of an Islam-bashing film by Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders were
causing a stir Thursday on YouTube, where they triggered cheers and barbs among
thousands of viewers.
Proposed: A counteroffensive to preserve serious journalism
Here are the
guiding principles behind Carl Sessions Stepp's campaign:
* Make it better not worse;
* Make it astonishingly, irresistibly better;
* Make it easier, not harder, to use and enjoy; and
* Involve everyone from school kids to staff members to senior subscribers in the ultimate group science project of creating the greatest news outlets imaginable.
'LAT' Fall on 'Puffy' Story Reveals New Scrutiny Of Documents
The Los Angeles
Times' apparent reliance on fabricated FBI records that wrongly linked rapper
Sean Combs to the shooting of Tupac Shakur raises new concerns over using
documents from anonymous sources -- and posting them online. "You are more
vulnerable to your critics, but also more accountable," says the Poynter
Institute's Bob Steele.
CEO: WSJ won't cut biz news to make room for political news
"Whatever happens
to the design, the key thing is we will put more national news in [the Wall
Street Journal] and more political news in it," says Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton.
"But that will be through additional pages because what we will never do is
forsake its role of being, above all, the world's business newspaper. That is
its place in the world, it is the reason it's prospered."
Barrett returns to BusinessWeek after three months at WSJ
In January, Paul
Barrett resigned from BusinessWeek to rejoin the Wall Street Journal. He's now
returning to BusinessWeek in his previous role as assistant managing editor for
investigative projects.
Forget Dolan: Newspaper biz doesn't need another amateur
James Brady on
the men who want Newsday: "I'm indebted to Rupert Murdoch for several very good
jobs, appreciate Mort Zuckerman as an East Hampton neighbor and ballplayer, get
pretty good cable services from James Dolan for a price, and that's about it. If
one of them gets a share or all of Newsday, my money is on either Murdoch or
Zuckerman, with a nod to the former. Dolan? Forget it: The newspaper biz doesn't
need another amateur. Especially a spoiled rich kid who owns the team."
Oscar-winning "Nuremberg" writer dies in L.A
LOS ANGELES
(Reuters) - Abby Mann, who won an Oscar for writing the 1961 drama "Judgment at
Nuremberg"
and devoted his career to exposing failings in the
U.S.
criminal justice system, has died, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web
site on Thursday.
One of the finest movies ever made.
LeBron James Vogue Cover Criticized For "Perpetuating Racial Stereotypes"
(AP) When Vogue
announced its April cover starring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen, the
magazine noted with some fanfare that James was the first black man to grace its
cover. But the image is stirring up controversy, with some commentators decrying
the photo as perpetuating racial stereotypes. James strikes what some see as a
gorilla-like pose, baring his teeth, with one hand dribbling a ball and the
other around Bundchen's tiny waist. It's an image some have likened to "King
Kong" and Fay Wray. "It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man," said
Tamara Walker, 29, of Philadelphia.
Greenspun Media's Las Vegas Life magazine goes online-only
Killing the print
version of the monthly magazine "is a very painful decision for our company and
for me personally," says Greenspun Media president Michael Carr. "While
Las Vegas
remains insulated from several [economic] issues, we are not immune. As a
result, our company has been examining all cost areas of operations in an effort
to preserve our future growth strategies and balance them with the realities of
today's economics."
Squeezebox Duet unleashes music on your computer
Squeezebox
consists of just two components: a standard-size remote controller with a
2.4-inch, color LCD screen and a paperback-size black receiver that attaches to
your stereo or powered speakers.
Gossip Web Site Denies Wrongdoing
TRENTON, N.J.
(AP) - The college gossip Web site JuicyCampus.com has criticized a consumer
fraud investigation launched by the New Jersey attorney general. "JuicyCampus
has not violated any laws," reads an unsigned statement posted on the Web site
earlier this week.
Google Paid Clicks Data Generate Debate
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - New data confirming slowing growth in Google Inc.'s paid
clicks renewed debate Thursday on Wall Street over whether the Internet search
company's revenue can quickly adjust to changes it made in how it generates
clicks.
Comcast to Stop Hampering File-Sharing
PHILADELPHIA (AP)
- Under pressure from federal regulators, Comcast Corp. reversed its stance over
hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers and promised Thursday to treat
all types of Internet traffic equally.
AT&T plans MediaFlo mobile TV service for May
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - AT&T Inc said on Thursday it would launch mobile television services
in May from MediaFlo
USA, a unit of Qualcomm Inc , in an effort to bolster revenue from services
other than phone calls.
Future Mobile Phones Will Have Blazing Speed, Biochips To Diagnose Ailments
DoCoMo said it
has been able to demonstrate a mobile phone with a molecular delivery system for
molecular communication, among other advances.
Technology & Science
Reuters Technology Week
(video)
Mar. 27 - The latest in gadgets and geeks from Argentina, Siberia, and Japan.
French Recording May Be World's First
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
At first listen, the grainy high-pitched warble doesn't sound like much, but
scientists say the French recording from 1860 is the oldest known recorded human
voice. The 10-second clip of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune," taken from a
so-called phonautogram, was recently discovered by audio historian David
Giovannoni. The recording predates Thomas Edison's "Mary had a little lamb" -
previously credited as the oldest recorded voice - by 17 years. The tune was
captured using a phonautograph, a device created by Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon
Scott de Martinville that created visual recordings of sound waves.
The end of the silicon chip : carbon nanotubes
The future of
computing is under the spotlight at the Institute of Physics’ Condensed Matter
and Materials Physics conference at the Royal Holloway College of the University
of London on 26-28 March. The silicon chip, which has supplied several decades’
worth of remarkable increases in computing power and speed, looks unlikely to be
capable of sustaining this pace for more than another decade — in fact, in a
plenary talk at the conference, Suman Datta of Pennsylvania State University,
USA, gives the conventional silicon chip no longer than four years left to run.
Scientists find that squid beak is both hard and soft, a material that engineers
want to copy
(Santa Barbara,
Calif.) —— How did nature make the squid’s beak super hard and sharp —— allowing
it, without harm to its soft body —— to capture its prey? The question has
captivated those interested in creating new materials that mimic biological
materials.
Researchers Create Protective Sac for Growing Stem Cells
Miniature lab would
carry therapeutic cells to their destination in the body
Breech Birth May Be Determined by Genes
'Bottom first'
delivery more likely if either parent was born that way, study says.
Weight Bias Is As Prevalent As Racial Discrimination, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Mar.
28, 2008) — Discrimination against overweight people--particularly women--is as
common as racial discrimination, according to a study by the Rudd Center for
Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.
FDA Probing Possible Link Between Asthma Drug and Suicide Risk
Singulair,
top-selling drug for teens, under review by U.S. agency and manufacturer Merck.
Family Study Associates Pesticide Use With Parkinson's Risk
Study found
strongest ties to herbicides and insecticides
Key Culprit In Stroke Brain Cell Damage Identified
ScienceDaily (Mar.
28, 2008) — Researchers have identified a key player in the killing of brain
cells after a stroke or a seizure. The protein asparagine endopeptidase (AEP)
unleashes enzymes that break down brain cells' DNA, scientists at Emory
University School of Medicine have found. Finding drugs that block AEP may help
doctors limit permanent brain damage following strokes or seizures, says senior
author Keqiang Ye, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine
at Emory.
Most Older Americans Living Longer and Better
But problems
persist, such as disparities among races, report finds
Japan parrot beats humans in solving chain puzzle
"Ten," a
six-year-old New World parrot, can solve a puzzle consisting of two entangled
chains in less than 30 seconds. It takes humans about an hour. The female macaw
at a botanical garden in suburban Tokyo competes against more than a dozen human
visitors every day, but remains undefeated.
Iron Age bones found at Olympic site in London
Archaeologists
uncovered four skeletons in Iron Age graves on the site of the London 2012
Olympic Park.
Study shows life was tough for ancient Egyptians
CAIRO (Reuters) -
New evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions
contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance from the art records of the
ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna, a study has found.
Evolution Of New Species Slows Down As Number Of Competitors Increases
Competition between
closely related species for food and habitat becomes more intense the more
species there are, and researchers believe this could be the reason for the
drop-off in the appearance of new species over time.
Bolts Of Blue Lightning Thrusting Upward, Other Lightning Quirks, Explained
ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — The mechanism behind different types of lightning
may now be understood, thanks to a combination of direct observation and
computer modeling reported by a team of researchers from New Mexico Tech and
Penn State.
Inside Leo the Lion
Catch the bright
stars of Leo and visiting Saturn in March and April.
Quantum Channel Between Earth And Space? Firing Photons Makes Advance In Space
Communication
ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — For the first time, physicists have been able to
identify individual returning photons after firing and reflecting them off of a
space satellite in orbit almost 1,500 kilometres above the earth. The
experiment has proven the possibility of constructing a quantum channel between
Space and Earth.
Saturn Storm Has Hurricane-Like Features
Vortex over Saturn's
south pole has eye, eye walls like hurricanes on Earth.
Distant star's demise previews our sun's death
WASHINGTON — Astronomers at 25 observatories around the world began
aiming their telescopes this week at a preview of our sun's eventual death.
Why Matter Matters In The Universe
“Our universe is
made up almost completely of matter. While we’re entirely used to this idea,
this does not agree with our ideas of how mass and energy interact. According to
these theories there should not be enough mass to enable the formation of stars
and hence life. In our standard model of particle physics, matter and antimatter
are almost identical. Accordingly as they mix in the early universe they
annihilate one another leaving very little to form stars and galaxies. The model
does not come close to explaining the difference between matter and antimatter
we see in the nature. The imbalance is a trillion times bigger than the model
predicts.”
But there’s a lot
of “dark matter” in the universe that we don’t know much about. Why couldn’t
dark matter consist of antimatter?
Environment
Lights Out Globally Saturday Night for 'Earth Hour'
It may not sound
like a classic Saturday night blow-out, but at 8 p.m. on March 29, millions of
people around the world will turn off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour. This
event, sponsored by the WWF, a global conservation organization, is intended to
increase awareness of global warming and spur action to combat the issue.
Gore's Message To Climate Change Skeptics
Al Gore tells 60
Minutes' Lesley Stahl those who doubt humans cause global warming, including
Vice President Dick Cheney, are like those who doubt the moon landing or who
once believed the world is flat. Sunday, March 30, 7 p.m. ET/PT.
U.S. to propose CO2 rules this spring
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- The Bush administration, which has resisted regulating carbon dioxide
emissions, this spring will propose rules that could affect everything from
vehicles to power plants and oil refineries, the top U.S. environmental official
told Congress on Thursday. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen
Johnson said the agency will issue proposed rules "later this spring" on "the
specific effects of climate change and potential regulation of greenhouse gas
emissions from stationary and mobile sources."
California Lowers Vehicle Emissions Goals
California air
regulators have gutted rules seeking to place tens of thousands of zero-emission
vehicles on the road, instead ordering automakers to produce a fleet of
cleaner-burning hybrids. The decision is also expected to affect 12 other
states.
Southern California Edison Plans Country's Largest Solar Project
ROSEMEAD, Calif.,
March 28, 2008 -- The utility aims to cover 65 million square feet of rooftops
in southern California with enough solar panels to generate 250 megawatts of
electricity. Planned to start in August, the utility hopes to install one
megawatt a week over the next five years.
EPA Helps Small Businesses Bring Green Technologies to Market
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
March 28, 2008 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will award $1.75
million to 25 small companies to spur development of new environmental
technologies through the Small Business Innovation Research program.
Credit Suisse to Invest $300M in Renewables
NEW YORK,
March 28, 2008 -- Credit Suisse and its partners will invest at least $300
million in the renewable energy sector through private equity firm Hudson Clean
Energy Partners.
Still mail bills? Study says go green, go online
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Think your family going green won't make a
difference? Wrong, says a
U.S. study released on Thursday
that shows one household ditching paper statements for Web transactions would
save 24 square feet of forest a year.
Restoring Tanzania's ecosystems
Degraded land in
western Tanzania
is gradually being reclaimed — two decades after work began to rehabilitate the
declining ecosystems. Once a thriving and diverse woodland environment, western
Tanzania supported the livelihoods of local communities without difficulty.
Experts Seek Answers on Water Footprint
DELFT, Netherlands
(AP) - It's not only our carbon footprint we should worry about. Experts are
looking for solutions to our growing water footprint, as urban populations
explode and the demand for biofuels adds stress on water for farmland.
Southeast drought eases, but concern remains
The historic drought
that's gripped much of the southeastern USA has eased in recent weeks, according
to the most recent U.S. drought monitor released Thursday.
U.S. West warming faster than rest of world: study
LOS ANGELES
(Reuters) - The U.S. West is heating up at nearly twice the rate of the rest of
the world and is likely to face more drought conditions in many of its
fast-growing cities, an environmental group said on Thursday.
