Permanent link to MTA daily media news

R.J. Matson

Clintons show no surrender plan in final Kentucky rally
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, the former president, stirred an electric capacity crowd at Transylvania University on the eve of Kentucky’s long-awaited presidential primary, giving no sign that they plan to concede the Democratic race to Barrack Obama, even as Obama prepared to achieve a key milestone Tuesday — winning a majority of pledged delegates.

SurveyUSA: Clinton Set to Win in Kentucky
Just 24 hours before Kentucky Democrats vote in their presidential primary, a new SurveyUSA poll finds Sen. Hillary Clinton way ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, 62% to 31%. These results are effectively unchanged over the past six weeks.

What Oregon’s early primary turnout numbers reveal (Patchwork Nation blog, Christian Science Monitor)
The results from the Oregon primary will be known Tuesday night, but the votes have been coming in for about two weeks now. In America’s only all vote-by-mail state, Oregonians don’t need to line up at the polls. In fact, if they are sure of their selection, they can return a ballot immediately after receiving it – and some have done that… The community types with the heaviest turnout through last Wednesday are not typically Obama strongholds, based upon primary-season results so far… In areas where Obama is expected to do well, including Oregon’s populous “Monied ’Burbs” and “Campus and Careers” counties, a lower number of ballots have been returned… Past elections in Oregon show that there’s often a late rush of ballots turned in on Election Day. In the past four primaries in the state, between 26 percent and 31 percent of the total vote has come in on that day.

Obama Will Not Count FL And MI (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
I believe this is a political mistake by the Obama camp: “Barack Obama will reach a significant milestone Tuesday as he marches toward the Democratic nomination for president – a majority of pledged delegates at stake in all the primaries and caucuses. . . . ‘A clear majority of elected delegates will send an unmistakable message – the people have spoken, and they are ready for change,’ Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in a memo to supporters Monday.” The Obama campaign will ignore Florida and Michigan [tonight]. There simply is no getting around that. and for what? To declare victory on May 20 as opposed to June 3? This is simply stupid.

The Elite View: Appealing to Working Class Voters Is “Lame” (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Jon Alter [Newsweek], in this discussion with Mickey Kaus [Slate], demonstrates the reason why Democrats have been losing most Presidential elections. Alter says: “[Clinton] chose to embarrass herself with these lame things she has done in the last few weeks.” Alter is referring to Hillary Clinton’s appeals to working class voters. To elitists like Jon Alter, appeals to working class voters are “lame.” Let’s hope Barack Obama is not listening to folks like Jon Alter because Obama’s lack of appeal to working class voters SHOULD be a concern for any thinking Democrat.

Some Good Advice For Dems And Barack Obama (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Mike Lux at Open Left delivers it: “Some people who agree with me on the need to appeal to [white working class] voters believe that we have to move to the right to win them over. I don’t believe that is true. On economic issues, they are far more populist than what passes for ‘centrism’ in Washington, D.C. And while they are more conservative on social issues, I like to remind people that Bill Clinton in 1996- after a term where he pushed for gays in the military, enacted a ban on employment discrimination against gays and lesbians in federal government employment, vetoed a partial-birth abortion ban, and signed two gun control bills- won the highest percentage of both working class and rural voters of any Democratic Presidential candidate of the last 44 years. He won those voters by reaching out to them politically, and by speaking their language. The second best percentage among those voters in this period? Clinton in 1992.”… With the Creative Class blogs intent on destroying the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party, this is timely advice.

Rove’s Latest Electoral Maps Have Clinton Stronger Than Obama Against McCain (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
Electoral maps put together by the consulting firm helmed by Karl Rove, and obtained by ABC News, show Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, to be a stronger general election candidate in a hypothetical general election match-up against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., than Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.
Click here (pdf) to see the maps.

Ohio GE Poll: Clinton Wins, Obama Does Not (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
I post this one to annoy. From Ras[mussen]:
Obama 44     McCain 45
Clinton 50     McCain 43

New Survey Shows Rural America a Critical Presidential Battleground (Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research)
Washington, DC., May 19, 2008. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, in association with the Republican media firm Greener and Hook, recently completed a survey of rural voters in 13 battleground states, on behalf of the Center for Rural Strategies. The results suggest that there should be a real fight for the votes of rural America this fall. Voters in this survey split evenly in a McCain-Clinton race and deliver a 9-point margin to McCain in a match up with Barack Obama. This competitiveness reflects the on-going national problems facing the Republican brand, as well as the deep economic anxiety that is particularly acute among rural families on one hand, balanced against doubts about Obama’s values.

Hillary Clinton: Transforming Innovation Into Wealth (by Nancy Kallitechnis at MyDD)
Hillary Clinton is an innovator who creates and brings about new ideas to strengthen our economy. Clinton plans to:
* Harness the power of innovation to create 21st Century high wage jobs.
* Invest in alternative energy to create 5 million green jobs.
* Bring broadband to underserved and disadvantaged communities to create opportunities.
* Re-energize  manufacturing through creative partnerships.
* Provide more government support for research that will stimulate the development of new technologies and life-saving medicines.
* Restore integrity to science policy, reversing Bush administration policies that are holding our nation back.
One example of Clinton’s innovation success is the Northern Adirondack Trading Co-operative (NATC). Senator Clinton and Karen St. Hilaire combined their brainpower to find a way to help rural NY businesses increase profits. In 2003 they formed NATC to enable local businesses, artisans and crafts people to increase profits by selling their products on the Internet… By 2005 NATC had increased profits for local businesses by $500,000. The World Chamber of Commerce analyzed the Clinton/St. Hilaire plan and concluded that it was one of the most innovative projects in the world.
She was also instrumental in getting a microlending effort started in Arkansas.

Obama Warns GOP “Lay Off My Wife”
Sen. Barack Obama ripped into a Republican ad today that targets comments made by his wife, Michelle, and called the GOP tactic “low class” and “detestable.” The Illinois senator told “Good Morning America” that he expects hardball tactics from the Republicans if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee. “But I also think these folks should lay off my wife,” he told “GMA” as his wife chuckled beside him.

From a member of the Hillary’s Voice message group:
During World War II, when the entire nation was involved in the war to one degree or another, women were a critical part of the workforce. Most of the able-bodied men were in the military, so it was up to women to work at the war plants — and they did, in astounding numbers, and with astonishing skill and dedication. So, while the young man pictured (at a Grand Rapids for Obama rally) wearing this T-shirt was clearly not alive at that time, it still sickens me to think an Obama supporter would choose to show his support for Obama by trashing the skill, hard work and devotion of the American women who worked in the shipyards and defense plants as welders, crane operators, electricians, riveters, etc., and built the ships and airplanes and tanks and guns and all the rest of the war material that helped America to beat down the two mightiest militaries in the world at that time, the German and the Japanese.

Devil in a pantsuit or the demonization of Hillary Clinton (by Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune)
Revealed in the coverage of Clinton’s campaign is the persistence of an ancient and distasteful cultural theme: the powerful, ambitious woman as cackling fiend, as fantastically terrifying ghoul threatening civilization. And because this creature (or “she-devil,” as MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews called Clinton) is not human, the only solution is to kill it. Not just derail its career—obliterate it. Smash it to smithereens. Vaporize it. Leave not a trace of the foul beast behind. Hence the appalling preponderance of violent, death-infused imagery in conversations about Clinton, smuggled into otherwise ordinary political discourse like a knife taped on the bottom of a cake plate.

The Year of the ‘Sweetie’? (by Susan Estrich at Real Clear Politics)
For many women, Hillary Clinton was not just another candidate, and the fact that this campaign has been drenched in sexism has only made that identification stronger. Watching Hillary take a beating and come back, watching mostly (but not entirely) male reporters and pundits demean and dismiss her, question her motives, her appearance and her sexual orientation, has brought home for many women not how far we’ve come, but how far we have to go. Seeing the vigor with which some, starting with the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, pounced on Clinton’s victory in West Virginia to try to push her off the stage (since when do people demand that the winner quit?), has produced far more anger and resentment among women than Obama’s reference to Ms. Agar as “sweetie.”… Will these women ultimately vote for Barack Obama? Maybe.

Obama is Bush Redux (by Bud White, retired from the L.A.P.D. and now working full-time for No Quarter)
The Obama supporters’ biggest insult, in these pages and others, is that Hillary supporters are Republicans, as if recoiling from disenfranchisement, racial politics, and blatant sexism makes one a Republican. We believe, in fact, that it is the Obama supporters who most closely resemble the far Right in their viciousness towards Hillary, and their use of race, sexist stereotypes, and disenfranchisement as electoral tools… There are rumblings of mass defections by women, working-class whites, and independent voters. The neo-liberals can call us names, but they must understand that for many of us an Obama nomination would be as illegitimate as Bush “winning” Florida in 2000, and we will not condone the smearing of perhaps the most racially progressive couple our party has produced by voting for a candidate whose tactics go against everything we believe in.

Bread & Roses: A Message For The DEM Party (by linfar at MyDD)
[I]t is my opinion that this party has seriously demeaned and discounted women’s voices and the woman candidate in one of the most disgraceful displays of discrimination against women since we first won the right to vote. I am not alone in feeling this way. The Democratic Party is poised at the brink of an abyss. Ro[e] v Wade isn’t enough this year. The Democratic Party cannot sabotage the woman the way it has and expect women’s support. When Geraldine Ferraro says she isn’t sure whe will vote with Democrats this year because the sexism by the party and Barack Obama was “extraordinary”–you have a huge problem. You can do [s]omething about it or you can deny it and lose.  And I will not cry for you or feel sorry for you or even want to help you. And I have voted a straight dem ticket since I could vote. It is very simple really. Women are not going back to their ‘place’ backing the boys and feeling good about it.
Click through to see a wonderful video about the women’s suffrage movement.

It’s A Turndown Day (by Steve Corbett at WILK Radio, Scranton, PA)
If Democratic bosses believe they can win in November without Hillary, they have to do it without countless Hillary supporters who have made the Democratic Party the true party of change it is today. This is dangerous territory for bosses who usually expect women to do as they’re told. After all, many women have been content in the past to follow their dream that one day their turn would come. Their turn has come. It’s here and the moment is long overdue. Hillary is their one-and-only Democrat. Hillary is my Democrat, too. I’m with her to the end. If she wins the nomination, she wins the White House. If party bosses don’t agree, they’re on their own… Like the 60s radio song says, “It’s a turndown day.” And I dig it.

Clinton Cocktail Party: Free Milk and a Cow (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Hey there all you newly “unaffiliated” voters out there and you Dems on the fence. Remember how it felt the other night when Senator Bob Casey said he’d heard that we were PO’d about Obama’s full on assault on the loyal Democratic base but that we’d all come around in November and vote for the Unity Pony? Well, Senator, lemme tell you a little story about free milk and a cow. We’re not stupid you know. We have something the Obama boyz want reaaaal bad. And it’s going to take more than sweet talk to get it. Oh, yeah, baby, baby, baby, we can keep this going for a long time but you’re not getting our votes until we get a weddin’ ring. You have to marry the old, uneducated, working class, sino-peruvian lesbians or you can just go home with Rosie. And here’s what we want in a pre-nuptual agreement (courtesy of FrenchDoc):

Sit Mi/FL
Now, on to the policy questions, because, as racist, bitter, old, low-info, etc… as we are, we actually care about substance:
- take privatization of SS off the table
- prosecution of the Bush crime clan
- promotion of women’s and LGBT’s rights
- progressive economic policies
- Universal health care
- repeal of no child left behind, no merit pay plan
- out of Iraq / no bombing of Pakistan
- reinstate habeas corpus
- commitment to appointing progressive judges on SCOTUS, no waffling
- commitment to repeal the partial birth abortion law, no waffling
- no telco immunity
Have I forgotten anything? Oh yeah, stop abusing / insulting us… incredibly, it does not endear BO to us.

WomenCount PAC Denounces NARAL Endorsement of Barack Obama (via email)
SAN FRANCISCO, May 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The newly formed WomenCount PAC strongly denounces the endorsement of Barack Obama by NARAL Pro-Choice America, joining mounting opposition to the move from Emily’s List, a long list of woman Members of Congress, and other longtime supporters of NARAL.”The idea that NARAL would create a divisive and potentially permanent rift in the pro-Choice movement is a shortsighted, irresponsible rush to judgment,” says Allida Black, a founding member of WomenCount PAC and editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers at George Washington University. “Using this important issue in such an irresponsible way can only be interpreted as blatant pandering.” WomenCount views the endorsement as disrespectful not only to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s lifelong commitment to protecting women’s reproductive rights but also to the millions of women around the country who are supporters of both NARAL and Sen. Clinton.

Geraldine Ferraro’s Shot Across Obama’s Bow (by  Taylor Marsh)
It was unmistakable. It’s been bubbling for months. It’s reached the start of a crescendo recently. Now the first female vice presidential candidate in U.S. history, Geraldine Ferraro, just hinted that she may not vote for Obama if he’s the nominee. It’s quite a signal to send… The Boston Herald writer Margery Eagan called it: “throwing principles out the window because they can-??t get their own way.” Newday called the potential protest “an act of political immaturity.”… Eagan is wrong. It’s all about principle… Barack Obama stands for everything they’ve come to loathe this primary season, the sexism, his silence about it, his own complicity in it, the disrespect of Senator Clinton, the list is indelibly marked in each Clinton supporter’s brain.

Weekly Standard writer calls Geraldine Ferraro a ‘gyno-politician.’ (Think Progress)
Writing on the Weekly Standard’s blog, right-wing commenter Dean Barnett reduced Geraldine Ferraro — a former Vice Presidential candidate — to her reproductive organs, referring to her as “[p]ath breaking gyno-politician Geraldine Ferraro.” Ironically, Barnett was writing about a New York Times article exploring sexism in today’s politics.

Is Obama an “Honorable” Candidate? (by GRL at InsightAnalytical)
A few nights ago over at Talk Left, Big Tent Democrat, who is an even-handed Obama supporter, made a passing comment to the effect that Obama had acted honorably wih regard to the delegate selection rules… This comment resulted in an outpouring of comments disagreeing with this characterization of Obama’s actions…

[Among them:] “Calling his principal opponent divisive and polarizing is not honorable. Trashing previous Democratic administrations is neither honorable nor wise politics. Trashing the occupation of another of his opponents is not honorable. Blatantly introducing the race card is not honorable. Refusing to allow re-votes to facilitate voter participation is not honorable. Flooding caucus sites with goon squads is not honorable. Smiling while his supporters boo his principle opponent is not honorable. Making rude gestures in reference to his principle opponent is not honorable. Boasting that he received more delegates than his opponent after his opponent had a higher popular turnout is not honorable. Refusing an unmoderated debate is not honorable. Removing his name from the ballot to taint a sure victory by his principle opponent is not honorable.Since the McGovern Commission rules changed the method of selecting nominees, Barrack Obama has run the filthiest, tackiest most dishonorable primary campaign of any Democrat in my memory.”
Click through for much, much more.

Obama Orders Faithful To “Be Nice To Clinton Supporters” (by Uppity Woman at No Quarter)

 

KEY HILLARY AIDE EYES LEAP TO BARACK
The woman who managed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign – and coined the word “Hillaryland” to describe her loyal inner circle – is mulling a role with Obama Nation. Patti Solis Doyle, who was forced out as Clinton’s campaign manager after Super Tuesday, has had “informal” talks with Sen. Barack Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, about joining the campaign for the general election.
She’s the biggest reason for Clinton’s money problems after Super Tuesday.  Surely, the Obama campaign doesn’t really want to hire her, but only wants the grind- Hillary’s- face- in- the- dirt potential of the this announcement that they’re “talking” to her about joining the campaign.  However, her brother is a Chicago city alderman, so I suppose it could happen.

Oh Yeah!!!!—Did Byrd drink the Kool-Aid? (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
[Monday] there was the news that despite a 41 point victory by Hillary Clinton in his state of WV, Senator Robert Byrd has decided to endorse Obama. There are many reasons to suspect that the longest serving Senator (50 years) may have been dosed with the Kool-Aid, but I think there are some more practical reasons the Senator may be joining the Obama “brand”… MoveOn.org, one of Obama’s biggest money machines, is also responsible for donating over three times as much money to Byrd’s last campaign than the next closest donor. I wonder if that has anything to do with his willingness to shoot the bird at the VAST majority of his constituents… Byrd also loves the pork, and he’s no friend to open and transparent government. HIllary, on the other hand, has strongly advocated openness during the campaign, most specifically in her 10 point plan for increasing transparency and reducing corruption in government.

Obama’s sniper tale? When he stood up to Detroit’s ‘cold’ shoulder (Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Barack Obama, the leading Democratic candidate for his party’s nomination, is very fond of telling receptive audiences the story about how last May he walked right into the automotive lion’s den of Detroit and told those industrialists they were going to have to shape up, change the way they do things and start making more fuel-efficient vehicles to protect our environment. “And I have to say,” the straight-talking Obama tells his chuckling followers, “that when I delivered that speech, the room got really quiet. [Laughter] Nobody clapped.” Well, in honor of Obama’s return campaign visit back to Michigan this week, someone — perhaps Republicans, perhaps someone closer to home politically — assembled videotape of Obama’s oft-told tale and spliced it side by side with videotape of that actual Detroit speech. You’ll never guess what. The room wasn’t quiet at all. Obama, in fact, got a loud round of applause. And at the end of his address the camera’s view of him at the podium is partially blocked because the audience of local businesspeople and automotive executives was rising to give him a standing ovation.
When will Keith Olbermann do one of his special comments on this?

Bias? What bias? We’re not biased. Just ask us. Are we? (by Jeff Jarvis)
Chris Matthews — who has been downright spiteful in his coverage of Hillary Clinton — reports that she is attacking back. But David Shuster, the correspondent, explains it all away… He says she can’t be credible accusing the media of bias because he says the media aren’t biased and he says you can believe that because he’s credible and so she’s not.

Was a fix put in on Clinton? (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
Something deeply disturbing has gone down in the Democratic Party over the course of the last year. 50% of the Democratic electorate is being thrown overboard by the elites… Obama makes no sense as a national candidate. This could change, I admit. I am not in the “he can’t win” category. He could. (sans my vote) The coalition he has put together is simply weaker in most general election scenarios than Clinton’s and yet the DNC and “liberal” media seem hell bent on anointing him. Since he admittedly has less experiecne than the stronger G.E. candidate, Clinton, why? His policy proposals are the same as Clinton’s or weaker by Dems standards . He is, in fact, a divisive, figure now not a uniter. So why is the DNC and the media STILL determined to crown Obama? I believe there is more to the story – like the run up to the Iraq war – and am genuinely curious.

Obama warns seniors on Social Security
GRESHAM, Ore. – Hours before being greeted by the biggest crowd of his campaign, Democrat Barack Obama quietly told a small group of seniors Sunday that Republican John McCain would threaten the Social Security they depend on because he supports privatizing the program.
But Obama himself has used Republican talking points on the supposed danger that Social Security faces.  But it’s not Social Security that will be in trouble, it’s Medicare.

Obama Is Too Old and Confused to be President (by Sultan Knish at No Quarter)
McCain is too Old and Confused to be President. That’s the message that Obama supporters are trying to put out and they have a point. After all McCain is clearly old. McCain is an aged 71 while Obama is a spring chicken at the tender age of 46. Unlike McCain, Obama is unconfused and on the ball all the time.
For example Obama knows that there are 57 states in the Union and he’s visited every one of them. Particularly Mars.
Obama knows that 10,000 people died in a Kansas tornado that killed only 10 people. Clearly math was never his strong subject.
At Selma, Obama informed us that his parents met four years after he was born and that his Kenyan diplomat father had a flag draped coffin.
He knows that Canada’s Prime Minister is actually a President
Obama knows they speak Arabic in Afghanistan and that there are poppy fields in Iraq
Obama knows that Matt Lauer is really Tim Russert

Obama Channels Carter (by Taylor Marsh)
Oh good grief. You can’t make this stuff up. “ ‘We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,’ Obama said. ‘That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,’ he added.” At least he didn’t have a sweater on, wasn’t sitting on a bicycle, and eating a celery stick when he said it. But it’s statements like this that make Democrats like me cringe… Does anyone know if Obama windsurfs?

Gore Will Raise Money for DNC (Political Wire)
Al Gore “is set to do a major fundraising event uniting top Hillary and Obama donors on behalf of the Democratic National Committee on May 31st, a sign that the Dem fundraising establishment is beginning to unite and ramp up in earnest for the general election,” TPM reports.

Primary turnout NOT a record, study says (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Despite a surge of voting in many states, national primary turnout this year is falling short of the record, set in 1972… What does it mean for the fall? “High primary turnout does not necessarily augur high general election turnout,” says Curtis Gans.

Toobin: McCain’s judicial advising coming from ‘the most extreme elements of the conservative movement.’ (Think Progress)
In The New Yorker, legal analyst Jeff Toobin looks at what the Supreme Court might look like under a McCain presidency: “The question, as always with McCain these days, is whether he means it. Might he really be a ‘maverick’ when it comes to the Supreme Court? The answer, almost certainly, is no. The Senator has long touted his opposition to Roe, and has voted for every one of Bush’s judicial appointments; the rhetoric of his speech shows that he is getting his advice on the Court from the most extreme elements of the conservative movement.”

Huckabee Says He Wants to Be McCain’s Republican Running Mate
May 19 (Bloomberg) — Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said he would like to be vice president to the party’s presumptive nominee, John McCain.

CNN’s supremely awkward moment (Variety)
Network reports inaccurate gay marriage ruling

Mythbuster: Study disputes a ‘boy crisis’ in education (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Both boys and girls are doing better in school, so there’s no reason to fear that school systems favor girls at boys’ expense, a women’s advocacy group says in a study to be released Tuesday.

Mythbuster: How scientists really feel about God
In a new collection of short essays, 13 thinkers reveal their true feelings about the existence of a greater being. And their thoughts are contrary to the mind-numbing “culture wars” portrayed on television.

Mythbuster: Same Sex Couples Common in the Wild
As gay couples celebrate their newfound right to marry in California and opposition groups rally to fight the ruling, many struggle with this question: Is homosexuality natural?

Media Matters for America headlines

• Hill article on differences between Webb, McCain GI bills failed to note more generous benefits in Webb bill

• CNN’s Costello reported that McCain “would” support AZ ban on same-sex marriage, but not that he did in 2006 — and it lost

• Sun-Sentinel uncritically reported Florida GOP official’s comment that “I wish Obama would not pretend to care about the Jewish community”

• Ignoring flip-flops, NY Times cited McCain’s “history” on immigration, relationship with “religious conservatives” as appealing to Oregonians’ “libertarian streak”

• In one article, Wash. Post contradicts own suggestion that Dems responsible for “torpedoing” three FEC nominations

• NY Times recounted “How do we beat the bitch?” question to McCain, but left out McCain’s response: “[T]hat’s an excellent question”

Internet can force change in Myanmar: Brown
LONDON (AFP) – “People power” via the Internet could help shame Myanmar into accepting foreign assistance for cyclone victims, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday.

Protection Of Indigenous Media Sought At The UN
Indigenous advocates want the United Nations to help draft laws protecting the rights of Native people to own media and for the prosecution of those who kill or persecute their journalists.

Newspapers on Upswing in Developing Markets
New newspapers — some backed by governments, others by business moguls and international conglomerates — are springing up from Rwanda to Tajikistan, attracting readers and advertising money.

High Court Upholds Child Porn Law Against First Amendment Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a 2003 federal law that sets a five-year mandatory prison terms for those convicted of promoting or pandering child pornography. In a 7-2 decision, the high court turned away First Amendment concerns in upholding the child porn law.

Group Says MySpace Cyber-bully Prosecution Goes Too Far
A digital advocacy group has blasted the federal government’s prosecution of a Missouri woman whose fake MySpace profile allegedly drove a 13-year-old neighbor to suicide… If the charges against [Lori] Drew are upheld, it will be a serious blow to anyone who wants to remain anonymous on the Internet, said Brock Meeks, a CDT spokesman… The charges suggest that anyone who uses a fake name to sign up for a Web service like Yahoo or Gmail could be charged with a federal crime, Meeks said. “If that’s a federal crime, then I’m certainly guilty of a federal crime and there are probably a million other people out there who are probably also guilty.”

Photog Hit by Javelin Takes Own Picture
Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was struck just below the knee. He was taking pictures of the discus event and apparently wandered into the javelin area, which was off-limits… McGeeney, 33, who was in the Marines and spent six months in Afghanistan, took a picture of his leg before the javelin was removed. “If I didn’t, it would probably be my editor’s first question when I got back,” he said.

New York Post fires reporter who filed racial profiling lawsuit
On the same day the New York Post claimed racial profiling by police wasn’t a growing problem, Post reporter Leonardo Blair, 28, filed a federal lawsuit against New York City claiming to be a victim of such profiling. The Post fired him a few days later.

Thomson Reuters Axes 140 Journalist Jobs
The news and information company has confirmed that it is cutting 140 journalist jobs by the end of the year.

April Showers For Gannett — Ad Revenues Down 10.4%
With no Easter in the month, April was a cruel month at Gannett Co., with the nation’s largest newspaper company reporting operating revenue down 7.7% on publishing advertising revenue that slumped 10.4% compared to the same period in 2007.

CBS’s Bob Schieffer Won’t Hang It Up Just Yet
Bob Schieffer had announced that he planned to hang it up after the presidential inauguration. Then the CBS newsman said maybe he’d stick around a little while longer. Now the network plans to announce today that Schieffer, 71, has signed a “long-term deal” to continue as chief Washington correspondent and “Face the Nation” host. What happened? With Katie Couric’s future uncertain, CBS News President Sean McManus talked one of his most durable stars — who has already filled in once as interim anchor — out of leaving. McManus doesn’t have an immediate replacement for “Face the Nation.” And the two men have become close friends.

Why O’Reilly is calling GE’s CEO “despicable,” “a pinhead”
Fox News boss Roger Ailes warned NBC last summer that if Keith Olbermann’s attacks against Fox News didn’t stop, he’d unleash Bill O’Reilly against NBC (and parent GE) and would use the New York Post as well, reports Howard Kurtz. He notes that O’Reilly has escalated his criticism of GE in recent weeks.

Rules change when sales managers become TV station bosses
Here’s how, according to one of Eric Deggans’ TV industry sources:
Old rule: news is news. New rule: news is marketing.
Old rule: weather gets the attention it deserves. New rule: rain is a lead story.
Old rule: cover the issues. New rule: cover the emotions.
Old rule: cover breaking news. New rule: make up breaking news.

TV boxes let Netflix users bypass mail delivery
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Preparing for the eventual extinction of its DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix Inc. on Tuesday is introducing its first solution for subscribers who want entertainment delivered directly to their television sets with just a few clicks on a remote control.

Napster rolls out all-MP3 download store
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Napster Inc. begins selling MP3s Tuesday, a move the online music service hopes will lure iPod users and turn around Napster’s sliding fortunes. The company is the latest to make the switch to the unrestricted file format, which makes it music tracks compatible with virtually any music player or other device.

Google makes health service publicly available
NEW YORK (AP) – Google’s online filing cabinet for medical records opened to the public Monday, giving users instant electronic access to their health histories and worrying a privacy advocate. Called Google Health, the service lets users link information from a handful of pharmacies and care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs. Google plans to add more.

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/19/facebook-shark-jump/ (by Jeff Jarvis)
I have been the greatest fan and booster of Facebook but I have to wonder whether they are leapfrogging the shark by cutting off Google Friend Connect — not because it is evil but because it is closed, limiting, wrong, and not in their own self-interest, a key and possibly fatal strategic mistake. The essential question for Facebook is this: Do you want to be a closed site or an open platform? Do you want to be a closed social network or enable the open social network the internet already is? Clearly, it is better to be the platform. But Facebook is being strangely blind to that. At the same time, I’ve become less addicted to Facebook because there isn’t enough there. That could be because I hang with old farts, who’ve cooled on the fad. But it’s more likely because Twitter has become a more meaningful platform for keeping in touch with friends (though that, too, could change).

Little girls gone wild (by Katharine Mieszkowski, Salon)
Now companies sell padded bras to 6-year-olds. Isn’t it time to stop marketing grown-up sexuality to little kids?

Britain Tries to Lower the Volume on Commercials
New regulations restrict the loudness of television advertisements, but enforcing the new limits is proving to be a complex task.

Former AOL Executives Sued in Ad-Revenue Case
The S.E.C. filed fraud charges against eight former AOL executives over an accounting procedure that caused the company to overstate its advertising revenue by more than $1 billion.

Consumers happy with cable providers
Consumer satisfaction with cable and satellite TV providers is at its highest since ratings began, but the industry ranked second to last among 18, and the nation’s largest cable operator pulled its lowest rating ever in a widely watched annual customer service survey being released Tuesday.

Net Gain
Once the undisputed leader in the technological revolution, the U.S. now lags a growing number of countries in the speed, cost and availability of high-speed Internet.