Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Consolidated Potomac Primary Returns Thread (by Chris Bowers at Open Left)
Update 2–Edwards Wins MD-04: The Washington Post has projected Donna Edwards as the winner in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 4th congressional district!…
Update–Huge night for progressive movement: With every precinct coming in with at least a 10% improvement for Edwards over 2006, let me reiterate this point: the new primary voters who are coming out for Barack Obama are also going to result in the first progressive displacement of a centrist, corporate, congressional Democrat via a primary in years.
My comment: I have to disagree with your analysis, Chris.  Donna Edwards is a Democracy for America progressive.  It’s their efforts that are meaningful here.  Obama is a corporatist, and the people he’s bringing into the primaries are independents and Republicans, who will drag the Democratic leadership FURTHER TO THE RIGHT. Not what I want, and I don’t think it’s what you want, either.

Winning the Edwards Vote (by Ron Blackwell and Thomas Talley, thanks to Economist’s View)
John Edwards’ campaign recognized the imminent challenge of recession and advocated fiscal stimulus. Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns have done likewise. However, it is not enough to just change the economic policy dial settings. The Edwards campaign also spoke to the need to change the long-term direction of the economy by restoring full employment, leveling the playing field between workers and corporations, and fixing unfair competition unleashed by globalization. That’s the message that will win the Edwards vote.

Senator Clinton Calls for a $9.50 Minimum Wage for Full-time Workers (Angry Bear)
As the CNN team was noting how well Senator Obama did [Tuesday], Paul Begala suggested that Team Clinton needs to win over Edwards voters by adopting some of the Edwards populist themes in her speeches. How prophetic as just a few minutes later, CNN cuts away to an El Paso, Texas speech by Senator Clinton. It was an impressive little rally in which she made a lot of promises to the audience including a $9.50 minimum wage for full-time workers.
Of course, she’ll be accused of pandering.  She’s criticized, no matter what she does, no matter what she doesn’t do.

THE BUTCHER’S TALES: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
The invective in Frank Rich’s Sunday column was really quite startling… Just as [Al] Gore had been the world’s biggest fake, the Clintons were now the world’s nastiest people. And their nastiness took a particular form. According to the butcher of Broadway, the Clintons are nasty on race… His invective is startling, from beginning to end. Surely, when someone makes such startling claims about the most serious part of our politics, he will want to be very careful about the evidence he cites—about his facts and his logic. But as with his eight-year assault on Gore, Rich’s “evidence” is that of a butcher.
Click through to see how Rich has teased so-called evidence from what actually happened.  It’s just amazing how, within a few short weeks, Bill Clinton went from being the first Black president to being a racist.

… Clinton and Obama in Electability War (by Ari Melber, The Nation)
Clinton’s negative ratings stem from a decade of sustained, presidential campaign level attacks on both her and her family. Obama has yet to receive such attacks — he did not even face a viable opponent in his Senate race — and his toughest Right Wing assault so far was an unfunded effort to lie about his Christian faith. If he is the nominee, … his negatives would still rise like every other Democratic nominee in the modern era. If reporters and voters don’t get that now, however, and Obama wins the nomination, then get ready for a spate of summer hand-wringing about the “surprising” spike in his negatives.
But it won’t be surprising to Make Them Accountable readers. It’s what I’ve been telling you for almost eight years.  If Democrats choose a candidate on the basis of right-wing vilification of the other, then the right wing has chosen our candidate.

Barack Obama, Establishment Man (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
People are enthralled with the idea of Obama and know nothing about his past, his performance, and the scandals that will bring him down. And, smack dab in the middle of the enablers, are most of the TV and print journalists. Very few are writing or reporting the kind of tough stories they unleash on Hillary on a regular basis. My neighbor, who is a prominent Republican lobbyist, was commenting the other day on the inspiring nature of the Obama campaign. He was repeating the positive vibe. I then asked him about issues such as Rezko and the disconnect between his rhetoric and how he actually votes. He was surprised and shocked. He said, “I haven’t heard any of this.” Obviously he’s not a reader of NoQuarter. But he is a politically astute, well-informed guy. When he heard the true story of Obama’s past… He flipped.

Battle-tested (by Joseph C. Wilson IV, writing in the Baltimore Sun)
I am one of very few Foreign Service officers to have served as ambassador in the administrations of both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, yet I have spent the past four years fighting a concerted character assassination campaign orchestrated by the George W. Bush White House. Sen. Hillary Clinton is one of the few who fully understood the stakes in that battle. Time and again, she reached out to my wife – outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson – and me to remind us that as painful as the attacks were, we simply could not allow ourselves to be driven from the public square by bullying. Mrs. Clinton knew from experience, having spent the better part of the past 20 years fighting the Republican attack machine. She is a fighter. But will Mr. Obama fight? His brief time on the national scene gives little comfort.
Or as they say on Wall Street, “Hope is for dopes.”  And, “Hope sinks eternal.”  We need realism right now, not fantasy.  Hope brought us the tech bubble.  It brought us George W. Bush.  It brought us the housing bubble.  It has brought us way too many television programs that have heroes with supernatural powers.

We all WISH we could wave a magic wand and make the divisiveness and the problems go away.  But we can’t.  Of the two candidates still in the Democratic race, I submit that Hillary Clinton is the one who will roll up her sleeves and actually get the hard work done.  Obama, on the other hand, was elected by Illinois progressives, including me, and then complained every time we asked him to fight for us.  The Alito confirmation was typical.  We asked him to join the filibuster, and he said it wasn’t the right PROCEDURE.  Then, when he did say he would agree to a filibuster, he gave away to the media that the Democrats didn’t have enough votes.  I’d just love to play poker with the guy.

Obama: Cult of Personality? (by Jesse Wendel at the Group News Blog)
Some folks have suggested Clinton operatives are pushing “Obama as cult” around the press. Please don’t tell me I’m being told to think this about cults… I came to the same conclusion about Obama as a cult of personality. And I did so all on my own… I’ve been around cults, religions, and high-dominance authoritarian institutions much of my life. While I won’t go so far as to call the Obama organization a cult, as clearly the volunteers live out in the world and have their lives, people are VERY focused on Obama and don’t really know much about what he stands for (and he’s not saying.) They are making a demon out of Clinton, and get very twitchy when crossed. The volunteers are putting their hopes and dreams into Obama. This at the least, approaches a serious cult of personality, and perhaps more. It is easily up to the Werner Erhard / George W. Bush level, and without much trouble, will go further.
You should see the email I’ve received over the last few days. Click through for an enlightening report on how the two campaigns are treating the media.

Bush says fraud not possible in Iraq or Afghanistan (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
So forget about the billions that have gone missing, even though they were US tax dollars. (You know, the tax dollars that Bush and the GOP like to tell you is yours.) It’s just as though it never happened if the contract fraud occurs overseas. No matter how corrupt or how mismanaged, Bush says it’s all OK in the name of spreading democracy or whatever that’s supposed to be over there.
This is what we got the last time that too many people wanted to believe in magic.

Why Perfect Dates Make Lousy Partners
The best “catches” in dating land may be the worst choices in the long-run, new research shows. Popular people who monitor themselves carefully in social situations and thereby appear to be the most socially appropriate are often highly sought after as romantic partners, a study finds, but these people show less satisfaction and commitment in relationships than socially-awkward people. By self-monitoring, people assess how their actions affect others and adjust to fit the appropriateness of the situation. They screen their words and behavior to suit the people around them.
And I submit that the same thing happens with political candidates.  The ones who are loved the most are never the most effective ones.

Young voters influenced by negative political ads, says study
In the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, an important field study of registered voters aged 18-23 reveals that negative “attack” ads provoke more voter migration than positive ads. Researchers from Notre Dame and the University of Texas at Dallas used real advertisements from the 2004 presidential election to show that, although negative political ads are explicitly disliked, they have a powerful impact on voters’ mindsets that positive ads do not – and the potential to change preference and behavior in ways that benefit the advertiser.
As I’ve been saying for a very long time, if the ads weren’t effective, candidates wouldn’t be using them.

Mindless Media Ignores Iraq Plan (by Jeffrey Feldman, Huffington Post)
How would America be different were Clinton to be elected as opposed to Obama?

Do cartoonists have special rules for drawing Clinton, Obama?
Pam Platt wonders how editorial cartoonists use exaggeration and caricature with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama without falling into sexist or racist traps. She asks several artists about their drawings. John Cole of the Scranton Times-Tribune says: “I can’t in good conscience soften a cartoon’s bite or humor to accommodate a few readers’ overly attuned race and gender sensitivities. Conversely, gratuitous and superfluous stereotypical images having nothing to do with the issues are needlessly offensive and simply designed to tick off readers.”

Why the Media and Independent Voters Need to Break Up with McCain (by Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post. posted at Alternet)
The straight-shooting John McCain people fell in love with in 2000 is no more.

Savage: Lantos used Holocaust ‘as a weapon.’ (Think Progress)
Discussing the death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) on his radio show [Monday], conservative talker Michael Savage said he “detested” Lantos. Savage called him “a scoundrel” who “survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life”.
Fortunately, sponsors are starting to abandon this kind of hate speech.

How The Spooks Took Over The News
Nick Davies’ controversial new book argues that shadowy intelligence agencies are pumping out black propaganda to manipulate public opinion as the media simply swallow it.

Media Matters for America headlines

ABC’s Tapper, Limbaugh touted Weekly Standard characterization of Obama that is based on false assumption

Fox News contributor Dietl on Imus: “It looks like the pilgrimage in to Mecca, the amount of ‘Aba Dabba Doos’ that are coming in from Canada in to the United States”

National Journal’s anticipation fulfilled: On Fox, Rove called Obama “the most liberal member of the United States Senate”

Ignoring conservative record, MSNBC’s Barnicle claimed that McCain is “in the middle”

Abrams: NY Times article on Obama’s youth is “the ultimate in media arrogance”

Still not funny: CNN again associates Obama with bin Laden

Politico/WJLA forum hosts claimed McCain has “regularly” “stood up” to Republican Party

O’Reilly on Factor guest list: “[A] lot of blondes in this operation. … I need sunglasses in here”

To Weekly Standard’s Bottum, Clinton remark about washing hands recalled Lady Macbeth

Boehlert: Poetic justice: Limbaugh tries to tear GOP apart

Danes nab suspects in cartoonist plot
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Danish police said Tuesday they have arrested three people suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked a deadly uproar in the Muslim world two years ago.

Danish Newspapers To Reprint Muhammad Cartoon
COPENHAGEN, Denmark Three of Denmark’s largest newspapers plan to reprint a cartoon [Wednesday] that depicts the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

Egyptian court reverses reporter ruling
CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian appeals court on Monday overturned a ruling that an Al-Jazeera journalist tarnished the country’s reputation by running a report on police torture, a judicial official and the journalist’s lawyer said.

Sadrists condemn journalists’ kidnapping
BAGHDAD – Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s office on Tuesday condemned the kidnapping of two CBS journalists in the southern city of Basra, while Iraqi police said an intensive search was under way for the men.

Internet Sex Video Case Stirs Free-Speech Issues in Hong Kong
Several arrests in Hong Kong for posting sexually explicit images of what appear to be some of Asia’s best-known pop stars has led to a debate over free speech on the Web.

Firebrand, Harbinger Raise Stake In New York Times
Two hedge funds that are working together to elect candidates to the board of New York Times Co. have doubled their joint ownership stake in the publishing company to nearly 10%, the funds disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Palm Beach Post will no longer make online an afterthought
“For too long, we’ve stuck with a structure that was designed to serve a print newspaper,” Palm Beach Post managing editor Bill Rose writes in his newsroom reorg memo intro. “We need to reorganize the newsroom in a way that will make it easier and more efficient for us to both funnel breaking news to the Web and produce a top-quality newspaper. It’s time to change.”

ProPublica names twelve to its journalism Advisory Board
They are: New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson; Boston Globe editor Martin Baron; Seattle Times executive editor David Boardman, historian Robert A. Caro; ex-Los Angeles Times editor John S. Carroll; ex-Wall Street Journal publisher L. Gordon Crovitz; JFK School of Government’s David Gergen; Atlanta Journal-Constitution director of culture and change Shawn McIntosh; Denver Post editor Greg  Moore; Simon & Shuster editor-in-chief Priscilla Painton; Fortune columnist Allan Sloan and Journal-Constitution editorial page editor Cynthia A. Tucker. “ProPublica, when fully staffed later this year, will have the largest news staff in American journalism devoted solely to investigative reporting, with roughly 25 full time reporters and editors,” says a press release.
Can’t get much more Establishment than that.

Writers vote to end 3-month walkout
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A devastating, three-month walkout that brought the entertainment industry to a standstill ended Tuesday when Hollywood writers voted to lift their union’s strike order and return to work Wednesday.

FCC Releases 30% Cable-Subscriber Cap Order
The Federal Communications Commission released its final order on the establishment of a 30% horizontal cap on cable ownership, although it suggested that the cap should be 28%, according to its new formula, but it bumped the number up to 30% for the sake of consistency and because, it suggested, a couple of points’ worth of viewers isn’t a deal-breaker.

The Fragility of the Information Age (by Annalee Newitz, AlterNet)
Our brave new infrastructure is failing around us even as we claim that it offers a shining path to the future.

Harvard Research Studies May Go Open Access (Paid Content)
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences is voting today on a proposal for the university to distribute their research studies online instead of signing exclusive agreements with journals that often have small readerships but high subscription costs. Should the measure be approved, research from the arts and sciences faculty will be made available online via the Office for Scholarly Communications at no cost to readers and may open the door for Harvard Medical School to go open access as well.
The world in my laptop.

How Internet Video Is Clogging the Pipes
NEW YORK (AP) – Why are our Internet lines in danger of jamming up? One way of looking at it is this: Internet service providers have been serving us an all-you-can-eat buffet for years. That has worked great, because they’ve had more food than they knew what to do with and we’ve we’ve enjoyed the simplicity of a flat price and our pick of the dishes. But every year, our appetites have been growing.
The ISPs are working overtime on their PR war to try to charge more for their services.

Comcast defends Internet practices
Comcast Corp. told the Federal Communications Commission in formal comments Tuesday that hampering some file-sharing by its subscribers was a justifiable way to keep Web traffic flowing for everyone.

Google Cools On Yahoo Ad Pact: Report (by Joseph Weisenthal at Paid Content)
WSJ is reporting that Google is losing interest in an ad-pact with Yahoo. The idea of outsourcing search ads to Google had been floated as a possible alternative for Yahoo to doing a deal with Microsoft, since it might give the company a quick revenue jolt. But Google, having more fully studied the regulatory implications, has pulled back. Apparently, the company is wary about adding to its dominance of the online ad space in this manner. That’s understandable given the scrutiny the company is already under.

Yahoo Acquires Ad Technology Company
Yahoo said it has paid $160 million to acquire Maven Networks, an Internet company that sells a system for managing advertisements in online videos.

Nokia Search Application to Use Google 
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Google and Nokia – the world’s most popular search engine and largest cell phone maker respectively – said Tuesday that Google’s search engine will be incorporated into the Nokia Search application.

Microsoft to Buy a Maker of Consumer Smartphones
Microsoft said it would acquire Danger, a maker of consumer smartphones, an indication that the software giant is quickly moving to expand its mobile strategy.

Intel Device Freely Switches Between Wi-Fi, WiMax Networks
Along with Nokia, Intel is developing a technology with which a person could continue listening to Internet radio or watching online video without a disruption in service.

loans cash 98 approvedloan sba apayday loan account no savings checkingloan account direct programacquired loans home auloan administrator florida mortgage processoradoption grant loanapproval loan advance electronic cashadvance loan nothing fax cashdisadvantage personal loan advantage credit

ringtone 525 nechoo ringtone 5678s wooringtones 60s tvringtone 6700 ppcringtones loud 7520colony 7g ringtones brindavan8525 wav ringtones888 ringtones 88 Map