Media & Politics
13-Aug-08
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Inspired by Stephen Colbert (If anyone knows how to credit this graphic, please let me know at caro-at-makethemaccountable.com)
Chasing the Mythical ‘Obamacan’ Masses (by Andrew Romano at Stumper, Newsweek, thanks to vastleft at Corrente)
[The Obama campaign held] a conference call with reporters to unveil “Republicans for Obama,” a branch of its operation designed to show that “Republicans are coming together in support of Senator Obama to bring change to Washington.”… [But] are there enough rank-and-file Republicans whispering their support at Obama rallies to actually make a difference on Election Day?… [T]he answer seems to be “no.” In fact, John McCain’s share of the Democratic vote has typically–and surprisingly–been larger than Obama’s share of the Republican vote. In other words, it’s not that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright scared the Obamacan masses off, as some pundits have theorized–it’s that they never existed (in any unprecedented way) to begin with.
Didn’t I say this back in February? That Democrats who thought Republicans crossing over during the primaries to vote for Obama would help his chances in the general election were smoking the hope bong? Somehow, Obama managed to fool an awful lot of the Democratic Party leaders with this nonsense. Those leaders are going to look so very stupid if they go ahead and nominate this guy, and he loses, after Bush & Co., with the advice of Karl Rove, use every function and feature of government to get McCain elected. And speaking of hope bonging, see below.
Kaine Says Russians “Complied With” Obama’s Request for a Ceasefire; Tanks Continue Rolling Into Gori (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
“The Senator’s goal was to be tough and smart,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, “and so when the action (in Georgia) happened on Thursday, he immediately called for a ceasefire, condemned the unwarranted use of force by Russia. It was a bad crisis for the world. It required tough words, but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in — and I’m very, very happy that the senator’s request for a ceasefire has been complied with by President Medvedev.”… Georgian officials, meanwhile, say that Russian tanks have continued to roll into the Georgian city of Gori, the ceasefire notwithstanding.
Besides, the BBC reports that it was the EU, led by the president of France, that actually developed the peace plan, not the Messenger of Hope. But then, he does a lot of taking credit for other people’s work.
Russia ‘backs Georgia peace plan’ (BBC)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has agreed an outline plan with Russia and Georgia to try to resolve their crisis.
Experience (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Despite ample evidence to the contrary, McCain still continues to do well among voters who see him as suitably experienced - thanks to the doting members of the media fan club. This isn’t good news. Obama should be fighting more to define him.
Who’s winning the message war, Obama or McCain? (by Alex Koppelman, Salon)
[Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a leading analyst of political advertising:] Across [McCain’s recent] ads you’re seeing the same basic theme: Is Obama ready to lead? The Republicans have found their theme and the question becomes, is it a theme that is ultimately disadvantageous, [if] in the debates Senator Obama establishes that he is able to hold his own with Senator McCain. Debates provide a test of that. We’ve seen it historically across campaigns… So the danger in the Republican strategy is that it sets up an argument that can be rebutted by performance of the opposing candidate in a debate. Nonetheless, the ad called “The One” is an effective ad because its use of humor works, because its use of quotations by Senator Obama works. As a result it passes the plausibility test.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree (by Anglachel)
The boogey-monster the Right has settled on for this electoral cycle is affirmative action… Obama is the candidate against whom this argument can be deployed most effectively… When Obama defenders can’t get out of primary campaign mode and reckless accusations of racism (because some well-off white liberals really can be shamed into voting for someone just because he is Black), they do nothing but reinforce the Republican charge against affirmative action; that it is merely promotion of race, it is not about potential or character or disadvantage (In what world is Barack Obama “disadvantaged”?), but about pushing qualified students and job applicants out of the way for lazy non-whites. It is simple for them to work in xenophobia and jingosim, too, by talking about promotion of “illegals” over “citizens”.
But the crazed right wingers aren’t giving up on other social issues, even if the Republican Party does. See below.
Groups Pushing Social Issues For Fall Elections (American Constitution Society)
Poll after poll may say the economy is the top concern for most American voters, but social conservative organizations are determined to re-focus voters on marriage and reproductive rights. Social conservative leaders and groups, such as Chuck Colson, James Dobson, the Family Research Council (FRC) and the American Family Association are feverishly organizing their supporters around hot-button issues, primarily gay rights and reproductive freedom. The New York Times reports that constitutional amendments banning gay marriage in Arizona, California and Florida will be put to voters in November. Also, voters in California, Colorado and South Dakota will consider ballot initiatives limiting reproductive rights.
How The Democrats Can Blow It …In Six Easy Steps (by Michael Moore, writing in Rolling Stone)
[Y]ou would think the Democrats would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win!… In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits — and the candidate himself — spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night, as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats’ past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era.
1. Keep saying nice things about McCain…
if you keep praising him, you can send a mixed message to the less informed, who are simply not going to figure it out. When they walk into a voting booth, they will see two names on the ballot:
☐ BARACK OBAMA
☐ WAR HERO
Trust me, this ain’t Sweden you’re living in. War Hero wins every time.
2. Pick a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican…
Just so long as Obama’s running mate screams “same old, same old,” making it harder for him to attract the new voters he needs to win…
3. Keep writing speeches for Obama that make him sound like a hawk…
The implied message of [Obama’s recent stands on foreign policy issues] is that the Republican plan is a good plan. So why would voters want to elect the candidate imitating the Republican when they can get the real thing?…
4. Forget that this was a historic year for women…
Millions of people, especially women, had high hopes for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Attention must be paid…
5. Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter…
W]hen McCain and his people roll out their nuclear arsenal on you, just go all sweet and sensitive and logical. Believe that the truth shall prevail, that good people will see what the Republicans are up to. As they smear you, your family, your religious beliefs — cower, back down, go on the defensive…
6. Denounce me!…
[B]y denouncing me, you can help McCain get elected. Because when you denounce me, it’s not really me you’re distancing yourself from — it’s the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way about things as I do. And many of them are the kind of crazy voters who have no problem voting for a Nader just to prove a point.
Elections have been lost by just 537 votes. I don’t want that to happen to you.
Obama’s Politics As Usual (by Henryk A. Kowalczyk at Off the Bus, Huffington Post)
The pitfall of the “Listening to America” concept is that it disregards the possibility that, when it comes to pivotal political issues, the views of regular Americans could simply be wrong. Thus, when listening to America, Obama is listening to Americans who elected the current President twice, supported the war in Iraq, and effectively blocked any attempts to reform education, health care, or immigration… [T]he organizer of the meeting explained to me that she realized that along with the concept of “Listening to America,” there is also an attempt to bind together Obama supporters. In other words, working up an emotional momentum that would take Obama to the White House. And that means giving up on changing America… [I]t means that Obama does not have the guts to tell his fellow citizens that they are wrong on some issues. It means returning to politics as usual.
So this claim that they wanted to hear what we have to say when crafting the Democratic platform was just a ploy to build Obama love. Honestly, you can’t be cynical enough when it comes to Washington politicos. I agree with Henryk that we need a massive effort to educate Americans on how they’ve been brainwashed over the last 50 years to accept, even promote, the unacceptable, but it’s just manipulative to brainwash for the other side. Democrats as well as Republicans have fallen for a lot of the right-wing nonsense. And no one—repeat NO ONE—is even CONSIDERING funding a movement to make the case for what really needs to be done, to teach people to think critically instead of continuing to fall for “the stupid”, as Krugman (sort of) put it.
Nudges (by Mark Thoma at Economist’s View)
Are you ready to embrace libertarian paternalism? “The dramatic effect of a firm nudge, by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, Commentary, Financial Times: In the past three decades, psychologists and behavioural economists have learnt that people’s choices can be dramatically affected by subtle features of social situations. For example, inertia turns out to be a powerful force. If people’s magazine subscriptions are automatically renewed, they renew a lot more than if they have to send in a renewal form. Moreover, people are influenced by how problems are framed. If told that salami is “90 per cent fat-free” they are far more likely to buy salami than if they are told it is “10 per cent fat”… Findings of this kind suggest that even when people have freedom of choice they are influenced, or nudged, by the context in which their decisions are made. This power gives business and governments opportunities…”
I don’t like to feel as though I’ve been manipulated no matter how friendly the nudge, even for my own good, and I’m suspicious of other people deciding what is best for me, especially when I push these ideas to their logical limits. But I can see advantages to this as well, so I guess I’d be okay with it if those doing the nudging look me in the eye and say we have found that presenting the options in this way has this effect, so we are presenting the options as follows. So long as all the cards are on the table, so long as I know how I am being manipulated (okay, nudged), fine, but if it relies upon me being unaware of how I am being nudged, that would feel coercive and I’d rather not have someone else deciding how I should behave even if it is, in their opinion at least, for my own good.
Read Anglachel’s commentary on libertarian paternalism from back in May. A sample: “Cassidy asks a question I have asked myself in several ways: ‘But for what policy purposes are the masses to be mobilized?’ Just what is the vision for the society and the nation that Obama intends to put into practice? There isn’t one; it is fractured into small buckets of choices here and there, with neither a philosophy of governance nor a coherent plan for transforming the steaming pile left behind by the Republicans into a strong, liberal government.”
Hillary NOT Keynote Speaker… (by masslib at Alegre’s Corner)
According to Ben Smith of Politico: “Contrary to some early reporting, Hillary Clinton’s Tuesday night speech at the Democratic National Convention won’t be the event’s ‘keynote speech’… Clinton ‘is one of four prime-time headline speakers. We will have a separate keynote speaker,’ said Jenny Backus, a consultant to the convention…” Ok, so got that? The winner of the popular vote in the Democratic primary will be just one of four speakers. The DNC has someone MUCH BIGGER for keynote, so like, “stay tuned”. Honestly, these people are so vain I wouldn’t be surprised if Barack Obama gave his own keynote. Or, maybe it will be Oprah? How ’bout Reverend Wright? Chuckie Hagel? The ghost of Ronald Reagan? What’s your guess?
So what MUCH BIGGER speaker did Obama choose? See below.
Mark Warner to keynote Dem convention (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner will give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama’s campaign announced Wednesday… Warner will cap a night designed to showcase Obama’s plans to help create jobs and boost the economy. “As governor of Virginia,” the Obama campaign said, “Warner used his experience in business to help deliver jobs and hope to the citizens of Virginia. His work creating jobs in Southwest and Southside Virginia is a model for the rest of the country. Like Barack Obama, Mark Warner is not afraid to challenge the status quo to bring perople [sic] together and get things moving. It’s that kind of spirit and innovation that resulted in his selection as keynote speaker on a night when we will be discussing how to renew America’s promise.”
Wednesday: Maelstrom (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
MoDo wrote a column this morning that I did not read because I couldn’t get past the blurb on the opinion page: “Hillary Clinton feels no guilt about encouraging her supporters to mess up Barack Obama’s big moment, thus undermining his odds of beating John McCain.” Ladies, putting aside the lie that Hillary is putting us up to this (she has absolutely nothing to do with our movement), is there something familiar about that sentence?… I have never met a man who did not behave as if his reason for being was more important than mine… This is what MoDo’s blurb is saying to me. Hillary Clinton, one of the most accomplished women this country has ever produced, a woman gifted by intelligence, tenacity, fortitude and perserverence, who has more qualifications and experience than either of her rivals, is expected to graciously step aside so her presence doesn’t mess up her less qualified male counterpart’s fading chances of victory. Maureen Dowd *enjoys* reinforcing this notion. She makes her living doing it.
We are witnessing the Democratic party, run by a bunch of white males, like Dean, Kerry, Kennedy, Carter, McGovern, Edwards, etc, telling this woman that she is less worthy. Incredible.
Is Hillary’s Campaign Really Dead? (by PatRacimora at No quarter)
The truth is, we really don’t know.
Rendell Pressuring Delegates Not to Support Clinton Nominating Petition (by Darragh Murphy at PUMA PAC, thanks to Ricki Liberman)
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell… has instructed Hillary Clinton’s pledged delegates NOT to sign a petition circulating among some delegates to place Clinton’s name in nomination for a roll call vote in Denver. In an email yesterday, Mary Isenhour, executive director of the state Democratic Party in Pennsylvania, makes it clear that the message from the top is unequivocal: Shut up and don’t make a move until the big shots tell you what to do.
Ain’t no kinda democracy *I* ever heard of.
WTF??!?? (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
I just saw [an] article from the AP and I’m having a really hard time understanding it… Here’s how it starts: “Whether Sen. Hillary Clinton stands at the side of Sen. Barack Obama during his bid for the U.S. presidency or not, her exit from the race could give him the boost he needs, a new marketing study suggests.” When I read this first sentence, my first reaction was, “I must be reading an older article”. When I realized it was published today I thought, “whether she stands by his side or not?”. What does that mean? She has been stumping for him across country while he’s building sandcastles in Hawaii…
And what do they mean by her exit “could” give him a boost? I thought she exited the race two months ago… We are not fooled though. We get the subtext. The message is that she needs to go away and not be honored at the convention by having her name put on the ballot for nomination. This neatly coincides with turncoat … Ed Rendell’s letter in which he tells Hillary’s delegates cowardly lies about how the petition movement is somehow harming Hillary’s negotiations with Obama on the subject. I have it on good authority that this is absolutely not true… If this petition did not give her power in these talks, Rendell wouldn’t be opening his big trap in the first place.
Delegate Intimidation at the Democratic Convention (by katiebird at The Confluence)
In Obama’s Democratic Party you are disloyal if you aren’t thrilled to vote for the Presumed Nominee… In every other year contenders for the nomination have their name entered in nomination with little or no hoo-haw. They get a nice nomination speech. Their delegates wave signs and cheer. They cast their votes with lovely preludes (”We proudly cast 24 votes for the Great Senator from…“). We’ve never analyzed these activities. It’s always been a part of the show, part of the fun. Nominations are part the pageantry of the convention.
But not for Hillary Clinton. Not for Hillary’s delegates. Not for Hillary’s 18 million voters. Looking back at the 2008 Primary season and the steady chanting of “When will that Stupid Bitch Quit” we should have foreseen this summer’s efforts. We should have known that we’d have to work for a presence in Denver. But HOW could we have ever expected that Hillary’s pledged delegates would be threatened for wanting to stay true to their pledge? I DO want Hillary back. But, even more, I want my party back.
An Act of God? (by medusa at No Quarter)
All of Colorado is preparing itself for the Democratic National Convention. Denver is already filling up with anxious participants. The Secret Service is said to be camped out on downtown rooftops. Some Hillary supporters are arriving in hopes of seeing her name on the ballot, in one form or another. Other people, including the Just Say No Deal/Pumas, and other former Hillary supporters, are coming to protest the corruption we all witnessed at the top of the Democratic Party. Tensions are running high, and groups opposing the takeover of the Party are gearing up to make our voices heard, especially PUMAPAC and The Denver Group.
This One’s For You Hillary (Heart of A Champion) (by Alegre)
Hillary I’m not sure how to reach out to you to convince you to sign that nominating petition. Michele and your delegates are working hard to give you this option. Your 18 million supporters are sending our representatives to Denver to vote for you - what happens after that well no one really knows. But you said it yourself - we won’t reunify our broken party unless your supporters feel that we’ve had a voice at our convention. Please… we need this Hillary. And we still need you to stand strong for us as our champion. Rise Hillary… RISE.
Meanwhile, in the Screaming Monkey Menagerie (by herb the verb at Corrente)
that is Maureen Dowd’s mind, we find that contrary to what the Public Editor of her own goddamned newspaper very publicly said about her own goddamned columns not two months ago, rather as she says: “Obama also allowed Hillary supporters to insert an absurd statement into the platform suggesting that media sexism spurred her loss and that ‘demeaning portrayals of women … dampen the dreams of our daughters.’ This, even though postmortems, including the new raft of campaign memos leaked by Clintonistas to The Atlantic — another move that undercuts Obama — finger Hillary’s horrendous management skills.”
Absurd, yes, indeed. As a matter of fact, I’ll give you absurd: these “postmortems” she says “finger Hillary’s horrendous management skills” and in the same sentence it (the leaked memos) also is “another move that undercuts Obama”! You can’t make this shit up! That Hillary has MAD SKILLZ! She can shoot and kill Obama THROUGH HER OWN BODY!… This one sentence was buried in just more of the usual paranoid, evidence-free CDS [Clinton Derangement Syndrome] ravings of this deeply, deeply disturbed and stupid individual.
Dear Clark Hoyt, I don’t think your initial public chastisement had lasting impact. Please try again.
Is Obama the End of Black Politics? Lord, No (by Mel Reeves at the Black Agenda Report)
The New York Times magazine predicts that Black politics will fade into “mainstream” American politics as happened with the Italians and Irish, conveniently forgetting that “the Irish and Italian machines were white!” Moreover, the article seems to maintain that “electoral politics is the primary form of black political struggle” when “the most significant black struggle has occurred in the streets.” Black electoral politicians aren’t rated too highly in the ‘hood. “If asked to name black heroes off the top of their heads, most blacks would instantly nominate Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X - neither of whom held elective office.”
New York Times Attempts to Define and Dictate Black Politics (by Glen Ford at the Black Agenda Report)
The Sunday magazine of the nation’s most influential newspaper predicts that Black politics as we know it is headed for extinction, that Barack Obama’s “brand of ‘race-neutrality’ shows Black politics is obsolete, and should be abandoned.” Of course, that’s wishful thinking from a hostile quarter, based on assumptions that all Black politics is electoral, Blacks are becoming more conservative, and a generational crisis deeply divides Black America - none of which is true. However, Blacks have been set up for a fall. “To the extent that African Americans expect more from Barack Obama than they got from Bill Clinton, they will be devastatingly disappointed.”
BET’s Jeff Johnson will provide a black perspective to news (New York Daily News)
BET’s Jeff Johnson says there are stories affecting African-Americans that simply don’t get the coverage they warrant. Among them, the impact of the rising cost of college tuition and racism on college campuses. He’s hoping to cover some of them in his new weekly show, “The Truth With Jeff Johnson,” launching Friday at 11 p.m.
Former Rep. Leach, former Sen. Chafee joining ‘Republicans for Obama’ (On Politics, USA Today)
Former Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island are on a conference call with reporters right now explaining why they’re joining a new “Republicans for Obama” effort.
I got so sick of these kinds of announcements during the primary. I guess we’re in for another series of people who go against type to back Obama. Watch, and be in awe, America.
Obama Did Register for the Selective Service (Political Wire )
Pajamas Media swats down the rumor circulating on the Internet for months that Sen. Barack Obama did not fulfill his Selective Service obligation. It turns how he registered at a post office in Hawaii on September 4, 1980. “It is difficult to determine why no one had confirmed Obama’s Selective Service registration until now.”
McCain flubs the name of Georgian President three times. (Think Progress)
The McCain camp has been proud to note the Senator’s close ties to the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s foreign policy aide, boasted “McCain and the Georgian leader rode jet skis together” while visiting his presidential villa on the Black Sea. McCain even nominated Saakashvili for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. But in a speech yesterday, McCain mispronounced his name three times. Stephen Hayes, editor of the Weekly Standard, defended McCain by saying “he knows the players even if he mispronounces the name.” Watch a compilation:
McCain To Attend Fundraiser Hosted By Abramoff Pal, Ralph Reed (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
CREW: “Next week, John McCain will attend the fundraiser for his campaign, which is being hosted by a close ally of Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed…” The CREW article goes on to mention the damning e-mail correspondence between Reed and Abramoff and wonders if John McCain should reconsider being associated with Reed, (pictured above, center with Jack Abramoff and imprisoned ex-Rep. Bob Ney) who was knee deep in the Abramoff scandal and is a shining example of Republican corruption during the Bush years.
McCain disses Taco Bell in new anti-Obama ad (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
(Here’s s link to the ad) John McCain attacks Obama in another low brow ad, but uses Taco Bell to attack Obama with. Say, what? Since Rove and his pals have been calling Obama an elitist who eats arugula salads and goes to exotic places—the use of Taco Bell only weakens their argument. And that has been much of what they are trying to do to Obama. Make him a light weight. A fly on the wall of big thinking politicians. I do disagree with Josh Marshal about the race angle on this ad though. I think we have to be careful because we run the risk of losing the argument if it’s not clearer to the American people when McCain’s camp actually does use it.
McCain Campaign Denies Plagiarism (Political Wire)
Sen. John McCain’s campaign is denying our suggestion yesterday “that the candidate’s lengthy response yesterday to the crisis in Georgia was lifted in part from Wikipedia,” according to Jonathan Martin. McCain aides said “that there are only so many ways to state basic historical facts and dates and that any similarities to Wikipedia were only coincidental. But they wouldn’t say outright that it wasn’t consulted.”
More questions about a lobbyist who supports McCain (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — A key advisor to John McCain lobbied on behalf of a French liquor giant that partners with the Cuban government to sell rum — and which has been embroiled in a costly and controversial trademark dispute with Miami-based Bacardi.
Fox News suffers another debate snub; bloggers take a bow (by Eric Boehlert at Media Matters)
After suffering the bitter, and unprecedented, blow during the Democratic primary season of having candidates refuse — twice — to appear in Fox News-sponsored forums when bloggers raised hell about the news organization’s lack of legitimacy, Rupert Murdoch’s news channel was again left off the list of news anchors tapped to moderate the must-see TV events in the fall… [T]he snub means that once again Fox News will be denied the chance to leave its imprint on the all-important debates. It won’t be able to build its brand on the back of Democrats who have injected extraordinary passion and interest into the White House run.That passion and interest has helped boost ratings for Fox News’ cable competitors, while Fox’s numbers have remained stagnant. Meaning, the unfolding presidential campaign has been a ratings dud so far for Fox News and its unofficial year of woe.
Nader plans rallies for convention cities (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
McClatchy correspondent Maria Recio sends in the following: Perennial candidate Ralph Nader is reviving his “super rally” strategy to attract attention, right smack in the middle of the Democratic and Republican conventions. On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Nader will hold a rally for 5,000-7,000 people at the University of Denver Magness Arena and on Sept. 4, he’ll appear at the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis during the week of the Republican National Convention. National campaign coordinator Jason Kafoury said Nader is resuming the rallies, which were successful in 2000, “to protest the corporate control over our political system and to call for opening the presidential debates.”
Mike Huckabee Films Fox Pilot (New York Post)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may be the only presidential candidate to come out of the campaign with more than what he went in with. Huckabee quietly taped a pilot in New York for a weekend cable TV show that is set to debut on Fox News Channel sometime this fall.
Top Journos Criticize, Defend Edwards Affair Coverage
Coverage of the John Edwards affair — or the lack of it — brought mixed reactions from major news editors as well as close observers who disagreed over whether the “mainstream media” did enough to look into allegations. “There is a fair amount of evidence that some publications did pursue this,” said Andy Alexander, Washington bureau chief for Cox Newspapers. “How aggressively is hard to say.”
Edwards Scandal A Boon for Gen X Author (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
You may recall that the protagonist from Jay McInerney’s “Story of My Life” is based on Rielle Hunter, the former mistress of former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC. And now we hear that the book is being re-released by Vintage Books.
One man’s scandal is another man’s meal ticket.
A Voice of Reason (by TChris at TalkLeft)
A British drug warrior has come to the realization that drug abuse should be treated as a public health problem, not as a crime… [He] points out that “enforcement and supply-side interventions … have no significant, lasting impact on the availability, affordability or use of drugs.” His belief “that New Labour’s policy on drugs was based on what was thought would play well with the Daily Mail readership, regardless of evidence of what worked,” parallels the belief of American politicians that a “tough on drugs” attitude plays well with the voting public despite overwhelming evidence that the criminal justice approach has failed. When will our policy makers have the courage to learn the obvious truth that Critchley has embraced?
Engineering Body and Earth (by Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review)
NYT grasps, and misses, the ethical dimensions of science
Optimism in Evolution (by Olivia Judson, who writes The Wild Side, New York Times)
[F]or me, the most important thing about studying evolution is … that the endeavor contains a profound optimism. It means that when we encounter something in nature that is complicated or mysterious, such as the flagellum of a bacteria or the light made by a firefly, we don’t have to shrug our shoulders in bewilderment. Instead, we can ask how it got to be that way. And if at first it seems so complicated that the evolutionary steps are hard to work out, we have an invitation to imagine, to play, to experiment and explore. To my mind, this only enhances the wonder.
Unhealthy Alliances Between Hospitals and TV Stations (by Trudy Lieberman, Columbia Journalism Review)
We were pleased to see that the Society of Professional Journalists has given an ethics award to Glen Mabie, the former news director at WEAU TV-13 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Last January, Mabie resigned in protest after the station agreed to run medical stories suggested by Sacred Heart Hospital, featuring employees and services the hospital wanted to promote. The partnership also meant that the station could not talk to any rival hospitals in the area. So much for getting all points of view! Mabie quit, saying that his conscience would not allow him to defend the deal to his employees. The TV station later canceled the arrangement with the hospital.
Liberal health care group taps new technology to ‘flood Congress’ with calls (On Politics, USA Today)
Neither side of the political aisle has a monopoly on new technology to help push their agendas. Here’s something interesting from the liberal wing: “Health Care for America Now is using ‘Click-to-Call’ technology to put its supporters in touch with members of Congress.” The technological twist: You don’t even have to know who your congressman is. By giving Click-to-Call some key information — your zip code and phone number, in particular — it figures out who your representative is and then connects you to his or her office. And, no surprise, the grassroots liberal group also provides some talking points to use if you get through.
Free Trade Comes to Wall Street (by Dean Baker)
The NYT reports on a growing trend for Wall Street banks to ship jobs, including many high-paying jobs, to India. This is a situation in which increased trade will lead to gains to the economy as a whole, as the cost of financial services drops. It should also help to reduce inequality as one, two, or even three digits get removed from some of the compensation packages of the Wall Street crew. It would be useful to include some economic analysis of this new trend.
The Stock Bubble: The Glory Days of Stock Analysis (by Dean Baker)
That seems to be the conclusion of a NYT column bemoaning new rules that restrict contact between the bankers who underwrite new stock issues and stock analysts… [Frank] Quattrone argues that the restrictions on contact with bankers make it too expensive to research small firms. As a result, there is little information available to investors about these firms. That makes investors more reluctant to buy their stock, which makes it more difficult for them to raise capital through the stock market. It would have been appropriate to note, that the misinformation that was spread prior to the imposition of restrictions to limit conflicts of interest, caused many new stock issues to be hugely over-valued. While this led to enormous bonanzas to many entrepreneurs who started worthless companies, for the larger economy it implied a huge mis-allocation of capital. Money that could have been used productively in established firms was instead funneled to businesses that were destined to bankruptcy.
Media Matters for America headlines
• Limbaugh: “Edwards might be attracted to a woman whose mouth did something other than talk”
• Cameron on McCain speech: Georgian oil pipeline “very, very important” for U.S. energy independence
• O’Reilly ignores McCain’s shifts on a time frame for balancing the budget
Russian hackers continue attacks on Georgian sites
NEW YORK (AP) - Attacks by Russian hackers against Georgian Web sites, including one hosted in the United States, continued Tuesday even as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to hostilities against Georgia.
Russia Claims Media Bias
Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin has accused Western media orgs of bias in their coverage of the Georgia fighting, but U.S. and U.K. TV execs are unfazed, saying that claims of bias are “bananas.” Within Russia, TV and newspaper reports of the conflict have overshadowed coverage of the Olympics, with patriotic and emotional reportage on the conflict that Russia blames on the Georgians.
Report: U.S. fails to prosecute Internet fraud
While Web users drown in spam and fend off scams aimed at stealing their money, U.S. federal and state law enforcement authorities are doing little to resolve what has become a multi-billion-dollar problem, a think tank said on Monday.
Parents Fear Video Games More than Porn, Alcohol
Parents are more concerned about their children’s exposure to video games than alcohol, violence and pornography, according to recent polls.
Unabomber Objects to Newseum’s Exhibit
Ted Kaczynski, the convicted “Unabomber,” is upset that his Montana cabin, where he was eventually captured, is part of a display at the Newseum. In a handwritten letter to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Kaczynski said he objected to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s loan of the 10-by-12-foot cabin as part of a large exhibition that looks at the FBI’s first 100 years.
CNN to double U.S. newsgathering presence
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc’s CNN plans to double its newsgathering presence in the United States… [It] will hire a handful of new employees, while reassigning some current employees to new jobs. The goal is to have a mix of traditional network correspondents and what CNN calls “all-platform journalists” or APJs, who gather news using lightweight kits that include laptops, cameras and editing tools for Internet as well as on-air programming in all 20 cities. “Everyone’s a reporter now,” Nancy Lane, senior vice president of newsgathering for CNN/U.S., said in an interview. “Even our viewers.” Lane said APJs will not replace traditional correspondents, but will be supplemental to news coverage.
Pay for Play: Examiner Newspapers to Reward Bloggers
NEW YORK Clarity Media is adopting a pay-per-page view strategy for Examiner newspaper blogs. Gawker.com reported that bloggers coined “examiners” will receive anywhere from $2.50 to $10.00 for every 1,000 page views. The blogs will cover 25 categories in 60 cities. In a call out for participants, the newspaper chain said “examiners” will be the “backbone” of Examiner.com. “An Examiner is someone in a local market who enjoys informing others about subjects they love. … They are magazine writers, bloggers, housewives, Ph.Ds, college students and others. … Together they form a pool of credible knowledge that has become a local guide to a city through their expertise.”
NYT Co. May Need Dividend Cut to Avoid Junk
New York Times Co. faces increased financial pressure to cut its dividend as credit quality deteriorates amid record advertising declines. Bondholders are paying for the Sulzberger family’s decision last year to raise the quarterly dividend 31 percent to 23 cents a share. The extra yield investors demand to own New York Times bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries has more than doubled in 2008.
Thomson Reuters Reports Lower Profit on Costs of a Merger
Thomson Reuters said that second-quarter earnings had fallen 54 percent as costs to buy and integrate Reuters cut into profit.
The Rise and Fall of Men’s Mags
In 1999, the lad mags came and conquered. They blew off their humorless women’s lib oppressors, sneered at the campy “high-brow” men’s mags like GQ and Esquire and enjoyed explosive circulation. By 2002, the most successful of the bawdy bro-rags peaked at an impressive 2.5 million copies in paid circ. But the porn-lite kingdom has been collapsing ever since.
Starz ending Vongo movie service for Starz Play
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Liberty Media Corp.’s Starz pay TV subsidiary is pulling the plug on its Vongo movie-download service in favor of letting Verizon Communications Inc. and other affiliates market a similar service.
Monday Night’s Olympics Viewership: 30 Million
NBC continued to steamroller its competitors on Monday, with its coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics attracting an average of 30 million viewers during prime time, according to Nielsen’s estimates. CBS, which was runner-up with its line-up of repeats, saw its ratings drop nearly 20 percent from a week ago among adults 18 to 49.
Comcast, MGM Launch Action Channel
The Terminator said he would be back. Now, Comcast Corp. cable TV subscribers can summon him from their sofas. The Philadelphia-based cable giant joined movie company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. on Tuesday to announce the launch of a video-on-demand channel, Impact, solely for action titles like the Arnold Schwarzenegger picture, as well as action-oriented TV shows.
Because there isn’t enough beat-em-up “entertainment” in the world.
Google Understands What Other Search Engines Don’t (Mashable)
According to the latest figures from Hitwise, Google now owns 70.77 percent of the US search market and is trailed by Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com, which currently own 18.65 percent, 5.36 percent and 3.53 percent of the search market, respectively… Google understands better than any other company that a search engine needs to achieve two goals in order to be successful: it needs to be simple to use and it needs to get rid of users as quickly as possible.
Facebook: No. 1 Globally
Facebook is quickly expanding in many regions. The site is the top global social network, according to figures released by comScore (SCOR) on Aug. 12. Of Facebook’s 132 million users, nearly 63% are outside North America. The site, which had been translated into 20 languages including French, Spanish, and Mandarin, has recently added 69 more.
Huffington setting up shop in Chicago
By Thursday, The Huffington Post Chicago—a local amalgam of news, commentary and features—should be ready for viewing via thehuffingtonpost.com.
Disqus Wants to Own the Commentsphere; It Just Might (Mashable)
Disqus is launching a new WordPress plugin and enhanced developer API. With the plugin, comments can now be synced with a local database, and publishers can import their old comments into Disqus. Additionally, comments can now be moderated from within the WordPress Admin, as they are with the standard WordPress commenting system.
Userplane Re-Invents the Message Board (Mashable)
Long before there was a Facebook, MySpace, or even Friendster, message boards were the de facto online communities. And while there are still thousands of popular boards scattered around the Web, there has been little innovation in terms of the software that powers them, minus a few upstarts we recently profiled. This week, community software builder Userplane is throwing its hat in the ring with an innovative new message board product – Userplane Boards. The service combines aspects of Userplane’s other services like chat and IM with threaded message board discussion, creating a real-time environment that makes following conversations much easier.
Create and Share Animations with Animasher (Mashable)
To the Creative Commons devotees of the world, an animation engine bids you its first hello today. Animasher is its name, and quick-and-easy animation is its game. Or something a bit less ridiculous sounding. The hipper the better, too. This startup comes out of Stockholm, Sweden, perhaps the epicenter of European cool. On its face, Animasher looks very much a playful character. Its color and iconography is as casual as can be. The interface, while somewhat slow to respond at times, is quite polished, too, so despite the amateurish tinge exemplified by most videos published to the site thus far, it makes for a comprehensively pleasant experience. (A similar service, called GoAnimate, received a commendable review from Mashable as well.)
Motorists turn to carpool sites as gas prices rise
NEW YORK (AP) - Robert Gilliland didn’t think much about carpooling until gas prices got out of control. Now, he’s happy to trade his motoring freedom for $120 in weekly savings. Gilliland found one rider through the classifieds Web site Craigslist and another using the carpool-matching service eRideShare.com.
Kagan: Ad Recession Hits Cable TV Next Year
The ad recession that’s devastated newspapers and now, local tv, has yet to hit cable TV. But that’s about to change, according to research firm SNL Kagan. Kagan says cable TV advertising will have grown 10.7% by the end of 2008, a very healthy increase in a down year. Next year, however, the bottom drops out: ad revenues will grow a mere 4.7%.
Honda’s ‘Last Comic Driving’ Promo Gets Pre-Empted
NBC Finale Didn’t Air in Three of the Top 25 TV Markets
A Film on the Trucking Life Also Promotes a Big Rig
A documentary film about truck drivers is being underwritten by a division of the Navistar International Corporation to help promote a new long-haul truck.
The Lessons From the Kindle’s Success
An analyst estimates that Amazon.com will sell 380,000 of its Kindle e-book readers this year and may have a $1 billion business from Kindle by 2010.
Jajah and Intel, Fully Replacing Your Phone with your PC? (Mashable)
In partnership with Intel, Jajah is able to enable a smart, connected life for PC users, starting next month. Taking advantage of Jajah’s telephony, built on its own infrastructure and the Intel Remote Wake technology, PCs can accept phone calls from the sleep mode in order to receive a call. This partnership can also be used to make phone calls, using Jajah’s global IP-based network. So how important is this particular feature? Depending on how regularly you use your computer for phone calls, this could be quite important. Especially if you’re living the life of an always-connected blogger, ensuring that you never miss a tip for a new post while you’re sleeping (and your computer is sleeping too).
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