Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Class Warfare (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
[F]rom Daily Kos…: “If the lines had continued to track closely together as they did prior to the 1970s, the MINIMUM WAGE would be more than $19 an hour. THE MINIMUM WAGE!!!…”… Also a major factor: The two-paycheck family obscured this wage deflation. After all, with both husband and wife working, it almost added up to one healthy paycheck! (As you can imagine, single moms like me had no trouble figuring it out.) I used to read years ago that Republicans actually liked the influx of women into the workplace for precisely this reason: It gave them cover for deflating wages. Nice work, guys!

Does Obama Want to Cut Social Security or Did the NYT Send Out a False Alarm? (by Dean Baker)
The headline of an NYT article tells readers that “Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending.” The first sentence warns that “overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be ‘a central part’ of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade into the thorny politics of entitlement programs.”… [Obama’s] statement does not indicate any intention to cut Social Security. It does indicate a desire to address entitlement spending, which includes both Social Security and Medicare. Medicare costs are in turn being driven by the explosive growth in health care costs in the United States. President Obama’s health care reform plan should contain health care costs and in that way restrict entitlement spending.
Yes, well, let’s HOPE that’s what Obama had in mind.

House Dems to vote on Obama-favored health plan (AP)
WASHINGTON – House Democrats plan to give President-elect Barack Obama an early victory on health care, specifically children’s health care, next week.
But aren’t they asking us to vote RIGHT NOW on single payer health care?  How could a bill be ready to vote on next week, if they plan to incorporate our votes?

Hypocrisy From the Party of Pork (by Joe Conason)
As the government contemplates spending very large sums of money, it is reassuring to know that somebody still worries about waste. Or it would be reassuring, if only that somebody were not Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who promises that he and his fellow Republicans will “protect taxpayers against the rush to spend their money.”… The Republicans’ sudden reversion to the solemn frugality of their forebears would be amusing were it not so dangerous. Having established a record over the past decade or so as the wildest wastrels in the nation’s history, they now present themselves as straight-laced accountants who simply cannot abide a misspent dime.

Obama Shouldn’t Cave to the Right on Tax Cuts (by Marie Cocco)
Probably the least efficient way to stimulate the economy is with tax cuts, notably the impossibly inefficient break Obama wants to give businesses that create jobs or merely retain workers. There is no way to tell whether the company that “created” the job would have added a worker or kept one on the payroll.. In fact, much of the business-tax package Obama contemplates fails his own test of cutting business taxes “where it makes sense and is going to work.” Tax breaks to individuals are dubious — the rebate fiasco is Exhibit A. With the extra cash, a taxpayer could pay down a credit card balance, put the money in savings or purchase, say, a T-shirt that was made by cut-rate workers in Asia…

Obama promotes tax cuts not to enhance the economy but to elevate his political standing. During his campaign, he promised tax cuts for those he considers middle class — which seemed back then to include everyone earning up to $250,000. There is also the matter of wanting a strong, bipartisan vote in favor of his plan. Republicans still cling to the discredited tax-cut dogma as the solution to every economic problem. That doesn’t mean Democrats should.

Stimulus arithmetic (wonkish but important) (by Paul Krugman)
[W]hat we’re hearing about the Obama plan is that it calls for $775 billion over two years, with $300 billion in tax cuts and the rest in spending. Call that $150 billion per year in tax cuts, $240 billion each year in spending… This really does look like a plan that falls well short of what advocates of strong stimulus were hoping for — and it seems as if that was done in order to win Republican votes. Yet even if the plan gets the hoped-for 80 votes in the Senate, which seems doubtful, responsibility for the plan’s perceived failure, if it’s spun that way, will be placed on Democrats.

I see the following scenario: a weak stimulus plan, perhaps even weaker than what we’re talking about now, is crafted to win those extra GOP votes. The plan limits the rise in unemployment, but things are still pretty bad, with the rate peaking at something like 9 percent and coming down only slowly. And then Mitch McConnell says “See, government spending doesn’t work.” Let’s hope I’ve got this wrong.

Selling Stimulus (Political Wire)
President-elect Obama makes the case today for a massive economic recovery package even as some key Republicans leaders are suggesting they may try to limit the size of the stimulus. Phil Singer has good advice on how to sell the plan: “But instead of allowing the debate about the stimulus to be shaped by its size, Democrats should heed Tip O’Neill’s All Politics is Local mantra and sell the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan by emphasizing what it will do for local communities… By detailing how the stimulus will impact individual congressional districts and states, Democrats will shift the debate over the proposal from the overall price tag (which is a loser) to how local communities will benefit (which is a winner).”

Obama: Financial Markets Face ‘Substantial Overhaul’ (CNBC)
President-elect Barack Obama told CNBC he plans “a substantial overhaul” of financial markets in the coming months, including a major restructuring of regulatory agencies. “Wall Street has not worked,” Obama told CNBC’s John Harwood in an exclusive interview. “So it’s going to be a substantial overhaul. We’re going to have better enforcement, better oversight, better disclosure, increased transparency.

Obama Intends to Keep FDIC’s Bair at Agency (Wall Street Journal)
The Obama administration intends to keep Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair in her post, Democrat officials said Wednesday. Ms. Bair, a Republican who is one of the most influential figures in the government’s response to the financial crisis, was nominated to run the FDIC by President George W. Bush in 2006. She has won praise from congressional Democrats for her aggressive push to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. But she has emerged as a controversial figure during the banking crisis, occasionally clashing with the White House, Treasury Department, and Federal Reserve over the government’s response.

Obama seen making more aggressive effort on terror (AP)
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama apparently plans a more aggressive approach than the Bush administration to helping friendly nations get better at fighting terrorism within their own borders, the State Department’s top counterterrorism official said Tuesday.

Confirmation Hearings Kick Off (Political Wire)
Confirmation hearings for President-elect Obama’s top administration appointments begin today with former Sen. Tom Daschle facing questioning to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. CQ Politics notes he “may be in for a relatively easy time of it.” Roll Call: “Unlike with previous new administrations, where nomination fights often wound up being brutal and politically costly, the vast majority of President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet picks appears headed for a smooth confirmation within a matter of weeks.”

Transition Team Defends CIA Choice, Reaches Out to Senate Chairwoman (CQ Politics)
The incoming chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee softened her critique of the choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA after being contacted by President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Support for Panetta trickles in (Politico)
After a rocky start, Barack Obama’s choice to lead the CIA gained critical support in Congress on Tuesday, with at least five members of the Senate Intelligence Committee backing Leon Panetta.

Feinstein says she supports Panetta for CIA (AP)
WASHINGTON – Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says she intends to support President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for CIA chief, Leon Panetta.

Obama Nominee Admiral Dennis Blair Aided Perpetrators of 1999 Church Killings in East Timor (Part II) (Democracy Now)
Part II of our conversation with investigative journalist Allan Nairn, who reveals Admiral Dennis Blair played a critical role in backing the Indonesian occupation of East Timor during the 1990s. At the height of a wave of ruthless attacks on Timorese that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, Blair personally informed top Indonesian general, Wiranto, of unwavering US support. He continued to support the Indonesian military until international outcry forced the Clinton administration to withdraw its military and diplomatic backing.

Democrats Defend Holder’s Nomination as Attorney General (CQ Politics)
Senate Judiciary Democrats and the leaders of several civil rights groups defended attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr.’s political independence and character Wednesday one day after the panel’s ranking Republican sharply critiqued his record in a floor speech.

Shinseki pledges to fix gaps in veterans’ care (AP)
WASHINGTON – Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki pledged to move quickly to fix gaps in health care if confirmed as Veterans Affairs secretary, saying he will reopen benefits to hundreds of thousands of middle-income veterans denied during the Bush administration.

Kaine Heads Group Offering Donors Access to Governors (Bloomberg)
Kaine, 50, is the chairman of the Southern Governors’ Association, a group that raises money from tobacco, oil, energy and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for access to governors and other state officials… “If Tim Kaine is going to be the head of the DNC, given Obama’s rhetoric in the past, Mr. Kaine will have to either change the rules of the SGA or step down as chairman, because the policies of the SGA appear inconsistent with Obama’s,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Washington-based watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Reasons to think twice about seating Roland Burris (by Joan Walsh, Salon)
Burris is a four-time statewide loser… Imagine that Blago had appointed a white Roland Burris, middle-of-the-road, relatively clean but not a big reformer, a four-time loser for governor and senator with one statewide win behind him/her, who isn’t given a strong chance to run and win in 2010. I find it hard to imagine that Obama and Reid would have reversed their principled anti-Blagojevich stand to back a vaguely qualified but mediocre white cadidate.
Some of us asked during the primary if the so-called progressives would have been so excited about a “vaguely qualified but mediocre” candidate like Obama, had he been white.

Congressional Black Caucus wants Burris seated (AP)
WASHINGTON – The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for Illinois Democrat Roland Burris to be allowed to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Chairwoman Barbara Lee of California says the 41-member caucus on Wednesday voted unanimously to support seating Burris.

Bobby Rush: Refusal to seat Burris just like ‘dogs being sicced on children in Birmingham.’ (Think Progress)
After disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to the Senate, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) became Burris’ most vocal defender. He likened Senate Democratic leaders, who said they would not seat a Blagojevich appointment, to George Wallace and Bull Connor and warned Senate Democrats not to “hang or lynch” Burris. [Wednesday] on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Rush went further, comparing the Senate’s refusal to seat Burris yesterday to one of the most violent chapters of the civil rights movement: “…It reminded me of the dogs being sicced on children in Birmingham, Alabama…” Rush also declared that racism “is as American as apple pie.”
Click through to watch the video.

Illinois Secy of State Suggests Senate Making Him ‘Fall Guy’ and His Signature is Not Required for Burris to Be Seated (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
On Chicago’s WGN-AM radio [Wednesday], Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White — who did not sign the certification for Roland Burris to be named to the U.S. Senate — said his signature was “not required” for the U.S. Senate to seat Burris, and he agreed with the suggestion that the U.S. Senate was making him a “fall guy.” “They could have seated him without my signature,” White said. “My signature’s mainly ceremonial rather than being a point of law.”… White did offer a prediction: “Roland Burris is going to be seated,” he said.
Click through for a link to the audio.

Conservative group sues Senate for barring Burris (AP)
WASHINGTON – A conservative watchdog group has sued the Senate for refusing to immediately seat Roland Burris as the new senator from Illinois.

Reid says Burris might ultimately get Senate seat (AP)
Changing course, Senate Democrats emerged from a meeting with Senate appointee Roland Burris on Wednesday and set forth the legal steps under which they’re willing to welcome him into the Senate in President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated spot. Praising the former state attorney general, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate is awaiting a court ruling in a case that tests whether the signature of the Illinois secretary of state is needed for Burris to take the seat. He suggested that would be a step toward seating Burris.

Reid Pledges to Stay as Majority Leader Until 2015 (Political Wire)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) vowed that he’ll lead the U.S. Senate “until 2015 and beyond, taunting Republicans who’d like to unseat him and dashing the hopes of Democrats who’d like to succeed him,” Politico reports. “The Nevada Democrat, who is up for reelection in 2010, said he’s actually looking forward to being considered a ‘vulnerable’ incumbent then.” Said Reid: “You know, to be honest with you, I hope I am. That way, [the Republicans are] going to spend lots of resources on me and leave states we’re looking at. They won’t have as many resources — and we have a lot of targets.”

Coleman Unlikely to Prevail in Court (Political Wire)
MinnPost looks at Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) court filing challenging the recount in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race and concludes “the chance that the courts will reverse the result seem slim. It seems unlikely that the courts will agree to reconsider all the votes that Coleman is raising, and some of those involve issues that might add to Franken’s lead… The petition has an almost generic quality. Think of every imaginable way that a vote for Coleman that should have been counted was rejected, add every way that a ballot given to Franken should have been disqualified, assert that all of these things happened and that if the courts will simply revisit the entire recount they will come to a different outcome.”

Freshman congressman plans to sleep in his DC office to save on rent. (Think Progress)
In an effort to save money, freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is planning to live in his Capitol Hill office, rather than rent an apartment in Washington, DC. “I’m trying to live the example that it doesn’t take big dollars in order to get where we want to go,” Chaffetz said. “I can save my family $1,500 a month by sleeping on a cot in my office as opposed to getting a fancy place that’s maybe a little bit more comfortable.” ABC News reports that at least 40 members of Congress regularly sleep in their congressional offices.

Can political affirmative action reduce gender bias? (by Lori Beaman, Assistant Professor of Economics, Northwestern University, et al., thanks to Economist’s View)
Reservation policies, by giving voters the ability to observe the effectiveness of women leaders, might pave the way for improving women’s access to political office and reducing statistical discrimination. This column summarises India’s experience with quotas for women in public office.

Van Susteren Slams CNN For Insulting Sarah Palin
Greta Van Susteren has again taken to her blog, GretaWire, to hit CNN — this time for insulting Sarah Palin publicly and privately issuing an apology. CNN included Palin on its year-end list of politicians who fell from grace in 2008.

Savage calls CNN’s Kyra Phillips a “dummy,” says she “look[s] like a post-op transvestite” (video)

CBS’ Harry Smith: “I’m still not satisfied that we served any public good” by hosting Coulter (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Of course they didn’t… And that reflects on Harry Smith and CBS.

Joe the Plumber to Become War Correspondent (AP)
Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook. The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com. He’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting.

NBC’s Matthews Won’t Run for Senate (New York Times)
Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program Hardball, told his staff on Wednesday night that he would not run for the Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania. There has been speculation that Matthews was flirting with a Senate run as a way to give him some leverage in his contract talks.
Too bad.  He wouldn’t be on TV as much if he were in the senate.

They can’t stop loving her: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
[Tuesday] night, Howard Fineman was [Keith] Olbermann’s very first guest. Fairly quickly, his ardor exploded:… “Don’t forget, as chief of staff under Bill Clinton, [Leon Panetta] saw the intelligence briefings every day, although some people have pointed out he didn’t know what was going on with Monica Lewinsky, so how good a spy could he be?”… For certain male pundits of Fineman’s daft class, all roads still lead to Miss Lewinsky! They keep choosing to live their lives in dreams of yesterday.

To Olbermann’s credit, he expressed mild pique with Fineman’s drift. But when his next guest drifted off to the same place, he was too tired to bother: “JONATHAN ALTER: … I was with a cameraman out there today, Keith, and he said that this was the biggest ‘cluster F’ since Monica Lewinsky. You know, this was a big dramatic deal today when they had that little standoff outside the Capitol… Readers, can you see the way these people think? When Fineman was asked about Leon Panetta, it made him think of Miss Lewinsky. But then, when Alter was asked about Roland Burriss, he ended up there too. Those happy hours that they once knew!… [I]t’s been ten years since these fellows met Miss Lewinsky—and they still can’t quit her.

Can’t The NYT Find Anyone Other than the Deficit Hawk Concord Coalition to Talk About Deficits? (by Dean Baker)
Apparently not, since an NYT article on the budget quoted two people from the Concord Coalition and no one else. It would be helpful to readers if the NYT did not rely exclusively on people who believe that reducing budget deficits is the most important economic priority in its reporting. Had it turned to a broader group of experts, the NYT could have told readers that the only reason that there is a major budget problem projected for the long-term is that U.S. health care costs are out of control. If we can successfully contain costs through health care reform, then the long-term budget problem promoted by the Concord Coalition crew will not exist.

Tucker Carlson, wrong again (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
There’s a reason why nobody ever mistook Tucker Carlson for a “policy wonk,” even when he was still wearing the bow tie.  Here he is making a fool of himself during a Washingtonpost.com online discussion… Carlson doesn’t seem to understand that “increased government spending” does not amount to “increased cost to consumers” if it replaces a larger amount of money that the consumers were already spending. This really isn’t all that complicated.  Maybe the Post should consider replacing Carlson with someone who has some idea what he is talking about?

MSNBC’s Shuster, Newsweek’s Gross bust conservative media-driven myth that FDR made Great Depression worse (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue host David Shuster and Newsweek senior editor Dan Gross blast the conservative-driven myth that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal worsened the Great Depression.

Politico, please define “foreign policy observers” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
In an article that portrays Vice President-elect Joe Biden as a goof … the Politico plays dumb and pretends it’s very weird and bizarre that Biden is going on an overseas trip as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and before he’s sworn in as vice president. Politico suggests the world leaders Biden meets with will be wildly confused by his presence. Pretty thin gruel for a news story, which was highlighted by Politico’s lame attempt to back up the non-story by claiming “foreign policy observers” are equally confused about Biden’s trip. Question: Who were the only two “foreign policy observers” Politco quoted for the anti-Biden article?  Answer: Two right-wing, partisan think tank employees… That’s who Politico dialed up to get insightful, independent quotes about the Democratic VP.

Porn industry seeks federal bailout  (CNN)
Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

The DOJ pursues the “real criminal” in the NSA spying scandal (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Everyone from Cass Sunstein and Ruth Marcus to David Broder and Stuart Taylor valiantly stands up and defends the President and his top aides against the terribly uncouth and disruptive suggestion that their crimes merit investigation and prosecution. But those who are outside of — below — those lofty levels of Beltway political power enjoy no similar protections.  The “we-must-look-forward-not-to-the-past” excuse is only for high political officials, not lowly no-names. Thomas Tamm is the mid-level, career Justice Department lawyer who, in 2004, blew the whistle on Bush’s illegal NSA spying program by alerting The New York Times’ Eric Lichtblau to the fact that Bush was eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by law.  He then watched his life be virtually destroyed by the FBI’s ensuing – and still ongoing – criminal investigation into this disclosure…

More amazing still is that even as the Bush administration is on its way out the door, the DOJ continues to pursue its criminal investigation of Tamm — the very same Bush DOJ that has sanctioned multiple forms of high-level lawbreaking and, with Michael Mukasey at the helm, has blocked one investigation after the next into Bush criminality

Neoconservatism dies in Gaza (by Juan Cole, Salon)
The Gaza War of 2009 is a final and eloquent testimony to the complete failure of the neoconservative movement in United States foreign policy. For over a decade, the leading figures in this school of thought saw the violent overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the institution of a parliamentary regime in Iraq as the magic solution to all the problems in the Middle East. They envisioned, in the wake of the fall of Baghdad, the moderation of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the overthrow of the Baath Party in Syria and the Khomeinist regime in Iran, the deepening of the alliance with Turkey, the marginalization of Saudi Arabia, a new era of cheap petroleum, and a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on terms favorable to Israel.

After eight years in which they strode the globe like colossi, they have left behind a devastated moonscape reminiscent of some post-apocalyptic B movie. As their chief enabler prepares to exit the White House, the only nation they have strengthened is Iran; the only alliance they have deepened is that between Iran and two militant Islamist entities to Israel’s north and south, Hezbollah and Hamas.
Republicans haven’t been known to roll over and play dead, no matter how discredited their policies and ideas.  It may be wishful thinking to declare neoconservatism dead.

Bush headed to Midland, Texas, after presidency (AP)
WASHINGTON – The White House settled one post-presidential mystery on Wednesday, answering the question of where will George W. Bush go when his term as president ends on the afternoon of Jan. 20?

Jamiol’s World

Bollywood says goodbye to Bush with ‘mock documentary.’ (Think Progress)
Reuters reports that “Bollywood is ready with a farewell present” for President Bush, releasing a “film that takes pot shots at the outgoing U.S. president.” The movie, called “The President is Coming,” tells the story of six Indians vying for a chance to shake hands with Bush.
Click through for a link to the trailer.

Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“The opposition should be about ideas, and not what my brother suffered through in the last eight years. I don’t wish that on President Obama.” — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, advising Republicans to lay off partisan attacks.
Yes, if only the media hadn’t been so nasty to Brother George, everything would have turned out all right.

Cheney: It’s Just An ‘Urban Legend’ That I ‘Exceeded My Authority’ As Vice President (Think Progress)
In an interview with CBS Radio today, Vice President Cheney claimed that he never “exceeded” his role as Vice President over the past eight years. It’s an “urban legend,” he insisted: “Nearing the end of eight years as Vice President, Dick Cheney bluntly dismissed the frequent suggestion that he was the one calling the shots in the White House. ‘It’s an urban legend,’ he said. ‘It never happened.’”
Never happened.  Uh huh.

Army War College toned down its Iraq war criticism under pressure from Rumsfeld. (Think Progress)
Over the past few years, the U.S. Army War College has attracted considerable attention for its willingness to criticize the Bush administration’s foreign policy, publishing a paper in 2004 that concluded the global war on terrorism was “unfocused” and war in Iraq “unnecessary.” Today, former Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks writes that Steven Metz, chairman of a department at the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, said that the school eventually had to censor itself because of pressure from the Pentagon… Metz also said that he regrets what he did and instead should have been “more critical.”

Administration won’t finalize fuel economy rules (AP)
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration said Wednesday it won’t finish implementing new vehicle fuel-economy rules, leaving the issue to the incoming Obama administration.

More news on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (Los Angeles Times)
Many consumers and small businesses are up in arms about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law was passed last year to try to stem the tide of toy recalls. But in requiring that anyone selling children’s products ensure that the products have been tested for lead content, lawmakers may be putting thrift stores and clothing makers out of business, retailers say. There are signs of a reprieve, though. On Tuesday, the two-member Consumer Product Safety Commission, which interprets and enforces the law, gave preliminary approval to four exemptions to the law. They involve products made from natural materials, electronics and products that have lead that is inaccessible to children. But no final changes will be made before Feb. 10, and that’s the date after which all products not tested for lead content will be considered hazardous.

I was fleeced by Madoff (by Geneen Roth, Salon)
Although I never would have chosen this path, and although it still feels terrifying at moments, I know I can never see the whole picture in the chaos of the moment. And sometimes, sometimes I am aware that there’s an unimaginable, uncharted world on the other side of this loss, like stepping through the Narnia wardrobe. On this side of the loss, there is the necessity — the urgency– of staying in the moment. This breath. This step. This splash of sun. The money I lost will never come back. But if I wander into fear — what if my husband or I get sick and we can’t pay the medical bills, what if there is an accident and we can’t work, what will we do when we get old — I’m lost, too.
Yes, well, welcome to MY world, Geneen.

Trial of doctor in abortion cases underway in Kansas (McClatchy)
WICHITA — Abortion provider George Tiller may be the one on trial in a Sedgwick County courtroom, but the deeds and misdeeds of Paul Morrison and Phill Kline, both former Kansas attorneys general, proved to be the subject of a lengthy — and at times, salacious — legal drama Tuesday.

Mississippi, A Hotbed of Abstinence Education, Now Boasts Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate In America (Think Progress)
The Centers for Disease Control released a new report [Wednesday] that found that Mississippi “now has the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title.” The report found that in 2006, the Mississippi teen pregnancy rate was over 60 percent higher than the national average and increased 13 percent since the year before. While the new report does not explain why the state’s teen pregnancy rate is increasing, one reason may be the poor quality of its sex ed programs… [A] review by the House Oversight Committee found that “80% of the abstinence-only curricula…contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health.”

Support For Death With Dignity Law Grows Among Medical Groups (American Constitution Society)
Another major medical association has announced its support of laws like Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. The American Public Health Association (APHA) has announced its new position that it “supports allowing a mentally competent, terminally ill adult to obtain prescriptions for medication that the person could self-administer to control the time, place and manner of her or his impending death, whereas safeguards equivalent to those in the Oregon Death with Dignity Act are in place.” APHA’s stance puts it in line with the American College of Legal Medicine, the American Medical Students’ Association and the American Medical Women’s Association.

Rights group prods Obama to lift Cuba travel ban (AP)
WASHINGTON – A human rights group is asking President-elect Barack Obama to end immediately a ban on most American travel to Cuba.

Media Matters for America headlines

• Coulter compounds falsehoods in “point-by-point” response to Media Matters’ fact-check ofGuilty

• O’Reilly again falsely claimed that Army Field Manual bans making “any captured person uncomfortable in any way”

• Fox’s Smith falsely suggested Obama stimulus plan will “cut taxes on people who don’t pay taxes”

• Media downplay former CIA official Brennan’s support of “enhanced interrogation techniques”

• During Today interview, Coulter falsely claimed “the Drudge Report has never had to retract a report”

• Ignoring his own reported standard for hosting Coulter, NBC’s Lauer interviews Coulter onToday

Palestinian working for Iran media held in Israel (AP)
JERUSALEM – A Palestinian working for an Iranian television station was held for questioning by Israeli police Tuesday on suspicion of violating censorship rules.

Attack on TV station escalates war against Mexican press
MEXICO CITY — A grenade attack on Mexico’s top television station during the nightly news Tuesday is the latest and most high-profile threat to freedom of expression in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a concerted offensive against drug traffickers two years ago.

Media watchdog slams Zimbabwe fees for journalists
HARARE (AFP) – Hefty new fees for foreign media in Zimbabwe appear designed to prevent journalists from working in the country and may be illegal, a regional watchdog said on Wednesday.

Colombian coffee growers to sue over US cartoon
BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombian coffee growers are brewing up a lawsuit over a U.S. comic strip joking that violence is so rampant there, maybe “there’s a little bit of Juan Valdez in every can” of the country’s java.

‘E&P’ To Launch ‘Virtual Expo’ for Newpapers! 
Industry trade shows may be in decline — and, in any case, costly to attend in a new era of budgetary restraints. But this month, you will have a new high-value, low-cost option: E&P’s first Newspaper Industry Virtual Expo, coming to you on the Web.

Could NYT’s Print Edition Fold This Year? (by Michael Hirschorn, The Atlantic)
What if The New York Times goes out of business — like, this May? It’s certainly plausible. Earnings reports released by the company in October indicate that drastic measures will have to be taken over the next five months or the paper will default on some $400 million in debt.

Post-paper and after the tears (by Jeff Jarvis)
The great thing about Michael Hirschorn’s piece in the Atlantic about the death of the print New York Times is that it sees beyond the period of mourning and imagines what a post-paper Times could and should be. That’s what journalists should be doing – imagining a different – and perhaps even better – future… Hirschorn imagines many of the elements of the paperless paper that I also envision: more specializing, aggregation, collaboration. Individual brands – Friedman, Krugman, Sorkin – standing out on their own… [H]aving this discussion about life and journalism post-paper is valuable and I’m glad it’s happening.

Google Won’t Buy Ailing Newspapers, Could ‘Merge Without Merging’ (Paid Content)
CEO Eric Schmidt says he isn’t about to buy or bail out any news publishers. Schmidt tells Fortune: “The good news is we could purchase them (newspapers). We have the cash. But I don’t think our purchasing a newspaper would solve the business problems. I think the solution is tighter integration. In other words, we can do this without making an acquisition. The term I’ve been using is ‘merge without merging’. The web allows you to do that, where you can get the web systems of both organizations fairly well integrated, and you don’t have to do it on an exclusive basis.”

DA asks Albany media not to use names of witnesses
At least five news outlets, including the Albany Times Union, appear to be open to the request. The witnesses are scheduled to testify in this week’s trial of a 16-year-old boy charged with killing a 10-year-old girl.

N.C.-based The Slammer flourishes by printing mug shots
“This is a sad commentary on the state of American journalism,” says Poynter Scholar and Pulliam Distinguished Professor Bob Steele. “It’s really painful to know that so many publications are struggling terribly and something as schlocky as this is succeeding.”

‘Boston Globe’ Follows ‘NYT’ With Front-Page Ads
NEW YORK The Boston Globe will soon start publishing front-page ads. The news came two days after its sibling, The New York Times, carried its first display ad at the bottom of page one.

Time Warner Expects Loss for Year 
Time Warner said it expects a fourth-quarter charge of $25 billion to write down the value of its cable, publishing and AOL assets, leading to a loss for the year. Time Warner Cable Inc. will account for $15 billion of the charge, with the remaining $10 billion related to its publishing and AOL divisions.

Entertainment Weekly Lives
Entertainment Weekly lost a quarter of its staff to layoffs last year, but Time Inc. will continue publishing the magazine, even though it maybe considered axing its print edition. The mag’s profits are a fifth of the $50 million they recently were, and this year EW could slide into the red.to the top post at EW.

Radio Revs Will Fall 13 Percent In 2009. Or More
Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker has revised her earlier prediction of an 8 percent drop in radio revenues in 2009 downward, and is now forecasting a 13 percent drop. Or worse: She says even the revised prediction may be “too optimistic.”

Arbitron, New York Attorney General Settle Minority-Listeners Dispute
Deal Calls for Radio-Tracking Service to Pay $260,000

Radio Streaming App FlyCast Adds Android Support (Mashable)
FlyCast is a nifty little iPhone application that lets you stream over 1200 radio channels, with a little twist: it can preload music while you have an internet connection and then play it even while you’re offline. Today at CES the company has unveiled several major upgrades to the product. First, there’s Android support; FlyCast already works on the iPhone, iPod Touch and Blackberry, and now it’s available for the T-Mobile G1 phone. Furthermore, FlyCast now exists as a desktop version for PC and Mac; it’s an Adobe AIR application, but Linux isn’t mentioned anywhere, I’m afraid. You can download it at the official web site.

CBS Plans to Reduce Capital Spending to $350 Million
CBS Corp. plans to reduce capital spending to $350 million this year and would sell more radio stations at the right price, Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said. CBS intends to cut spending from about $500 million in 2008.

Nine Inch Nails Still Love Their Fans (Mashable)
Nine Inch Nails are probably one of the most important music groups in the world, currently, simply because they’re paving a new way of treating their fans and understanding how the internet works and how it can be used to your advantage. After giving away (or selling at really cheap prices) several of their latest albums, they’ve continued to surprise fans with freebies. In a blog post on the official band web site, band leader Trent Reznor says that someone “somehow managed to film a substantial amount (over 400 GB!) of raw, unedited HD footage from three separate complete shows of our Lights in the Sky tour“, and provides a link to the footage.

This Bird Has Flown: Norwegian Radio Pulls Beatles Tracks On Legal Slip-Up (Paid Content)
We knew it was too crafty to be true – Norwegian public radio network NRK, which on Monday began giving away The Beatles’ entire back catalogue as podcast downloads, last night pulled the endeavour after realising the whole thing is probably illegal.

HBO Lands Rights to Inaugural Ceremony
HBO will kick off coverage of Inauguration Week with an exclusive Sunday, Jan. 18, telecast of the star-studded opening ceremony, two days before the saturation coverage of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration begins in earnest. HBO will offer the event free to cable and satellite subscribers.

NBC Benefits From New Year’s Resolutions
Rash Report: 41% More Adults Tuned In to ‘Biggest Loser’ Tuesday Night

CBS Cut Tel Aviv Bureau Just Before Flare-Up in Gaza
On the eve of the outbreak of war in Gaza, CBS’s Tel Aviv bureau got a lot smaller. In mid-December, CBS announced that only Tel Aviv bureau chief Gaby Silon, cameraman Chris Albert — and one editor-technician and one researcher-producer in the West Bank — would be keeping their jobs.

Cable News Goes to Graceland (by J. Max Robins at the Paley Center)
Those thinking that the election would lead to a higher level of discourse on cable news should think again. Less than two months later, the number one news personality among the 25-54 demographic is … CNN Headline News ambulance chaser Nancy Grace.

Facebook Has 150 Million Active Users. Whoa. (Mashable)
Back in August 2008, Mark Zuckerberg posted on the official Facebook blog that Facebook had reached 100 million users. Now, only 4 months later, this number has grown 50%: Facebook now has 150 million users… Besides the obvious benefits of such growth, which include catching up with MySpace and increasing advertising profits, Facebook will also have to deal with scaling problems; some of their features (Chat and Live Feed, for example) simply aren’t working very well, and users are beginning to notice.

As Consumers Try to Cut Back, Tropicana Promotes Quality and Value
Tropicana, the juice brand, is undertaking a major makeover of its advertising, marketing and packaging in a new $35 million ad campaign.

Time Warner Cable Agrees to Pay CBS More
CBS Corp. reached its first deal for higher fees from a major cable operator — in this case, Time Warner Cable Inc. — as the network renegotiates access to its programming, including 60 Minutes and its popular CSI franchise.

Consumers Union Urges Delay in Digital-TV Transition
Cites Problems With Government Coupon Program, Lack of Support

Verizon To Support Kindle Competitors; Question Is, Can Any Of Them Really Challenge Amazon? (by Dianne See Morrison at Paid Content)
Supporting electronic readers is part of Verizon’s Open Development program started last year, in which the operator said it would support independent devices sold by vendors other than itself. Verizon had initially balked at the thought of opening up their networks to independent devices, but then ended up throwing its support behind the idea when it realized it might actually be able to make money from them…

The bigger question is which company would launch these connected readers? And once the connectivity issue gets solved, and say Sony updates its Reader, and other startups/CE companies work on it, who has the massive ecosystem like Amazon has? The question is not about technology and connectivity, the big question is who has the relationships with the publishers, and the who can develop pricing on books to bring in the masses? Who is the Wal-Mart of the supply chain? At this point, the answer is an obvious one….and difficult for others to swallow.