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The Heretik

Top Bush Official Says Detainee Was Tortured (American Constitution Society)
A senior Bush administration official says a GuantánamoBay detainee was tortured, The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward reports. Susan J. Crawford, a top Pentagon official overseeing the military commissions told Woodward that interrogation methods used on Mohammed al-Qahtani, accused of helping to plot the 2001 terrorist attacks, amounted to torture. According to The Post, the techniques included “sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold ….” Crawford said, “We tortured Qahtani. His treatment met the legal definition of torture. 

Whitehouse: If Obama doesn’t investigate Bush’s crimes, I will. (Think Progress)
President-elect Obama this week said his team was in the middle of “evaluating” Bush administration policies to see whether a criminal investigation would be worthwhile. NPR reports that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) says that he understands Obama’s reluctance to pursue investigations but that he may take matters into his own hands: “…‘I think we in Congress have an independent responsibility, and I fully intend to discharge that responsibility…’” In a 487-page report out today recapping Bush’s “imperial presidency,” House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) recommends that “the incoming Administration finally begin an independent criminal review of activities of the outgoing Administration.”
Glad to see that SOME folks have some gumption, and some respect for the rule of law.

Criticisms, political pressure and Barack Obama (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Barack Obama’s announced intentions on ABC News this Sunday regarding Guantanamo sparked substantial objections from civil liberties and human rights advocates.  The result of those objections?   From [Tuesday’s] New York Times: “President-elect Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order on his first full day in office directing the closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, people briefed by Obama transition officials said Monday.”

[The] new Guantanamo announcements are very far from a guarantee that Obama will do the right thing here. Still, these leaked responses to Sunday’s criticisms are an important step forward, and they underscore the reasons why it is so vital to express criticism of Obama when he deserves it. Politicians, by definition, respond to political pressure. Those who decide that it’s best to keep quiet and simply trust in the goodness and just nature of their leader are certain to have their political goals ignored. It’s always better — far better — for a politician to know that he’s being scrutinized closely and will be praised and supported only when his actions warrant that, and will be criticized and opposed when they don’t.
To get the results we want, we have to “make him do it.”  It’s what we had to do when he was my senator.

Obama Should Act Like He Won (by Thomas Frank)
As [former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ] recounted in his 2007 memoirs, Republicans under his leadership learned “to start every policy initiative from as far to the political right as we could.” The effect was to “move the center farther to the right,” drawing the triangulating Clinton along with it. President-elect Obama can learn something from Mr. DeLay’s confession: Centrism is a chump’s game. Democrats have massive majorities these days not because they waffle hither and yon but because their historic principles have been vindicated by events. This is their moment. Let the other side do the triangulating.

Obama dines with right wingers at George Will’s house. (Think Progress)
[Tuesday night] around 6:30 pm ET, Barack Obama arrived at the home of conservative columnist George Will to dine with a host of right-wing luminaries. Brimming with giddiness, pool reporter Kenneth Bazinet of the New York Daily News reported: “…This is for real, folks. The bloggers are going to love this one.”
Not at all.  Obamabot bloggers find no fault.  Think Progress, however, is doing a pretty good job of being objective about Obama.

Why Obama is Causing a Liberal Freakout (by James Pethokoukis at Capital Commerce, U.S. News & World Report)
[I]t’s Obama’s $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will be ground zero in [the] coming liberal internecine battle. “Way too much Reagan, not nearly enough FDR,” griped some key liberals about a plan that would, in addition to the tax cuts, still provide a whopping half-trillion dollars over two years in government spending for infrastructure, healthcare, education, clean energy, grants to states, and aid to lower-income and unemployed folks…

But liberals shouldn’t fear — nor conservatives be reassured — that Obama is somehow morphing into “Reagan with a human face,” to rework an old Marxist chestnut. Or another Clinton. Obama is still going to push for a dramatic government expansion into healthcare, demand higher taxes once the economy is in gear, launch a new wave of business regulation and spend hundreds of billions on infrastructure, both green and grey. Their sort of “change” is still on the way, it’s just going to take a bit longer than they expected. Like Obama said on Election Night: “We may not get there in one year or even one term …”
Well, we can HOPE.

Pushing Hard for the Best Possible Economic Package (by Mike Lux at Open Left, thanks to lambert at Corrente)
The OpenLeft community is well aware that of all the front page writers on our team, I have been the one most enthusiastic and hopeful about the incoming Obama administration. Of course, having a role in the transition for two months meant that I wasn’t going to be criticizing Obamaland much regardless, but I really did come out of the experience still feeling pretty hopeful that some good things are afoot. However, as positive as I am to the new regime, I see no downside for progressives, inside Congress and out, to push as hard as they can for the best possible economic recovery package…

There will be times when I will argue that now is not the time to criticize Obama, or push too hard from the left in fear that some good thing might be blown up (that old “perfect being the enemy of the good” argument). But for now, I think progressives should be united in pushing as hard as we can for an economic recovery bill with less Republican-inspired tax cuts and more spending on really important things. Keeping the pressure on for a better bill is a constructive way to make sure we get an economic recovery package that actually works to simulate the economy.
My comment: Thanks so much, Mike, for permission to push. Please keep us informed as to when we can and cannot criticize.

Does Barney Frank Want to Help Distressed Homeowners or Distressed Banks? (by Dean Baker)
The Washington Post tells us that Representative Barney Frank, the head of the House Financial Services Committee, wants at least $40 billion of an any additional TARP funds to “help distressed homeowners.” This is how Mr. Frank describes his agenda, but the proposes that he has supported would send checks to banks, not homeowners. Mr. Frank has endorsed the idea of paying banks considerably more than the market value for bad mortgages in order to allow homeowners to stay in homes in which they will have zero equity… It is easy to design measures that would help homeowners without giving taxpayer dollars to banks.

On TARP, PEBO Threatens to Veto (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
Yesterday at the Democratic Caucus meeting at the U.S. Senate, President-elect Barack Obama made it clear to Senators that if either they or the House passed resolutions expressing disapproval that the second half of the $700 billion in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds be dispersed, he would veto such a resolution… [T]his is his first veto threat.

As Senate Hearings Begin, Hillary Clinton’s Image Soars (Gallup)
A new Gallup Poll finds 65% of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton, the highest rating for her in almost 10 years.

Clinton vows smart mix of diplomacy, defense (AP)
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton called Tuesday for a “smart power” strategy in the Middle East that goes beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to address other pressing issues like Iran’s nuclear program.

Only one real question hangs over Clinton confirmation (New York Newsday)
Sen. Charles Schumer, in the kind of rousing tones used to introduce presidential nominees, sat for a while by his junior partner from New York and, among other accolades, introduced her as “the right person at the right time.” From the dais, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said, “We’re always glad to see when one of our own does well, has a real job.” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the nomination by President-elect Barack Obama means “world peace and stability trumps politics and ego.”…

The question: How much would the acclaim and deference of her upper-house colleagues be marred by conflict-of-interest questions concerning those big foreign contributions to her husband’s famous nonprofit entities? The answer proved to be: Very little.

Wednesday: Q & A (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Barbara Boxer, bless her heart.  I don’t know the whole backstory of Boxer’s relationship with Hillary.  It could be that the messy divorce between Boxer’s daughter and Hillary’s brother have given each of them time to see each other off stage more often than working colleagues might otherwise have an opportunity to do.  But, seriously, WTF was that little speech about Hillary putting aside her ego all about?…  Time and time again, she has proven herself to be the smartest, most diplomatic, most prepared person in the room.  We saw it again yesterday.

Over the past year, I have struggled to figure out just what it is about Hillary that drives most normal people to absolute paroxysms of spittle flecked insanity over her desire and ambition to pursue a higher office.  If it were really megalomaniacal egotism and  arrogance, I think we would have seen hints of diva like behavior in public.  But what I see, and many of us see, is a woman who is possessed of healthy self-confidence and who doesn’t really give a flying fig what you think of her.  That seems to be the trigger.  She is behaving exactly like a man would behave if he had the heart and mind of a president.  It’s disconcerting to the men, and particularly women like Boxer, Steinem and Smeal.

Beyond politics: learning from Hillary Rodham Clinton (by heidiliofpotpourri at The Confluence)
[A]s I listened to the confirmation hearings regarding the Secretary of State appointment, I realized that Senator Clinton’s life is one that supersedes politics. Whether you agree with her political positions or you do not, you can observe her powers of concentration, her tenacity, her buoyancy, her steadiness. These excellences see a person through the unforeseen circumstances, bad or good… From Hillary Rodham Clinton, we can learn how to tackle the unforeseen in our own lives. That is a legacy that transcends politics. It is the legacy of true leader.

It’s Not About Hillary Anymore (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
What Hillary would or would not do is irrelevant.  Hillary is not the President-elect who promised to close Gitmo within 100 days of taking office.  Hillary is not the Senator that promised to vote against the FISA revision then flip-flopped.  She is not the person who invited Rick Warren to give the invocation at her inauguation.  It’s not about Hillary, Bill, John, George nor Sarah.  It’s about Barack Obama. Closing Gitmo is an issue of right or wrong.  Obama will either do the right thing or he won’t.  Obama and his supporters cannot use what others have done in the past or might have done had they be elected instead to justify or excuse his actions and/or inactions.  He will be the “decider.”

This goes beyond campaign promises.  For at least the next four years, Barack Obama will be the only President of the United States.  He will be responsible for setting policy, and for making sure that his policies are carried out.  He will be presented with bills that he will either veto or sign into law.   It’s not about Hillary anymore, so Obama and his supporters need to get over it. Starting next week, the buck stops with Barack Obama.

Treasury nominee Geithner faces scrutiny on taxes, housekeeper (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to head the Treasury Department met behind closed doors with a Senate panel late Tuesday in a bid to save his nomination amid revelations that he’d underpaid taxes and briefly employed a foreign-born housekeeper whose immigration papers had expired.
The nanny stuff is ridiculous, and I’ve always thought so.

PR push may save Geithner (Politico)
Democratic and Republican senators say a full-court press by Barack Obama’s transition team is likely to keep ethical questions from sinking the nomination of Treasury Secretary-designee Timothy Geithner. As Obama pressed senators on his economic recovery plan Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Geithner had failed to pay $42,000 in taxes and had employed a housekeeper whose work permit had expired. But minutes after the news broke, the Obama transition team pushed back with talking points — distributed to Capitol Hill, K Street and congressional reporters — in which it portrayed the problems as simple mistakes or oversights.

The talking points noted that Geithner had paid off all of his back taxes — although nearly $26,000 of them weren’t paid until November, just before his nomination went to the Senate Finance Committee for official review. The talking points also said that the legal status of Geithner’s former housekeeper didn’t lapse until the last three months of her employment. 

Budget nominee: Deficits to be bruising for decade (AP)
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama’s administration will run bruising budget deficits over the next decade, according to testimony Tuesday by his choice to run the White House Budget office.

Chu warmly received at Senate confirmation hearing (AP)
WASHINGTON – Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu promised Tuesday that if confirmed as energy secretary he will aggressively pursue policies aimed at addressing climate change and achieving greater energy independence by developing clean energy sources.

Energy nominee: Coal, nuclear an `important part’ of power mix (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Energy-Secretary-Designate Steven Chu told a Senate Committee on Tuesday that the incoming administration would have an increased commitment to alternative energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal, but also made clear coal and nuclear would be part of the energy mix.

Steven Chu explains: “Coal is my worst nightmare” (War Room, Salon)
The Steven Chu hearing continues. In response to a friendly question from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Chu explained his widely distributed comment, ”coal is my worst nightmare.” “I said that in the following context. If the world continues to use coal in the way that we are using it today and by the world, I mean in particular, not just the United States, but China, India, and Russia, it’s a pretty bad dream.”

NAB likes Obama FCC pick. (Inside Radio)
Insiders say Julius Genachowski has been selected by the President-elect to lead the FCC. NAB chief David Rehr calls Genachowski a “superb choice” saying he has “a deep understanding of the important role that free and local broadcasting plays in American life.” 

What Genachowski Will Do At The FCC (Paid Content)
It’s now common knowledge that Obama’s pick for FCC head Julius Genachowski went to Harvard with him, was an adviser to two FCC chairmen during the Clinton era (Reed Hundt and Bill Kennard), drafted the Obama Tech and Innovation plan, helped raise $500,000 for the President Elect, and founded start-up incubator LaunchBox Digital. But what are his views on the big telco issues of the day? Surprisingly, for a guy who is a promoter of open government and using social media to connect to the people, the web isn’t exactly teeming with his every thought on topics like digital TV or net neutrality. But here’s what a bit of quick research would suggest:

—Net Neutrality: It’s pretty clear that Genachowski is pro-network neutrality…

—DTV: When Genachowski left the FCC back in 1997 the release lauded his work on DTV: “Julius has been the brains behind our best ideas and the brawn for our heavy lifting…we let him leave the Commission only after he helped devise and adopt our framework for digital television—one that relies on the market, ensures competition and preserves and promotes the public interest.”

Paper: Donors Benefited from Transportation Nominee’s Earmarks (Capital Eye)
As President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for Transportation Secretary, former Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) is going to have to put the brakes on funneling money to his home district, a practice he became accustomed to during his time in Congress. The Washington Post used CRP’s data today in a story that looked at which of LaHood’s biggest earmark beneficiaries were also his most generous campaign contributors.

Officials turn down Franken request in Minn. race (AP)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Democrat Al Franken was quickly turned down Monday when he asked Minnesota’s governor and secretary of state to issue an election certificate that would let him take office in the Senate.

Kennedy’s Support Fades in New York (Political Wire)
New York voters, by a 31% to 24% margin, prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over Caroline Kennedy for appointment to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat, a new Quinnipiac poll shows. However, most voters still believe that Gov. David Paterson will ultimately pick Kennedy for the seat.

Confidence in Government Falling Fast (Political Wire)
A majority of voters say their confidence in the federal government’s ability is falling, according to a new Public Strategies/Politico poll. “Sixty-two percent of respondents say their confidence in Washington has decreased over the past 12 months, while only 8 percent said their confidence has increased. Less than a third of those polled said their confidence in the federal government remained the same.”

Obama, Biden Invited to Supreme Court (Political Wire)
Chief Justice John Roberts “will welcome President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden — two senators who voted against his confirmation — to the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon,” the Washington Post reports. “A meeting between the president and the court is something of a modern-day tradition.”

Back In BlackBerry? Obama Could Get PDA (CBS)
Good news for our enthusiastic e-mailer-in-chief: Some handheld devices have been officially blessed as secure enough to handle even classified documents, e-mail, and Web browsing.

Extras, Increased Copies Mark Big Inauguration Plans for Newspapers (Editor & Publisher)
At least two major newspapers are planning afternoon extra editions on Inauguration Day. Numerous others, meanwhile, are set to publish special sections and bump up press runs to handle an expected single-copy demand similar to the day after his November election.

Why Should a Journalist’s Race Matter? (by Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)
The plain if unfashionable truth is that the White House press corps, and journalism generally, don’t need more black reporters. They don’t need more white reporters, either. Journalism needs good reporters, and good reporting isn’t a function of race.
If someone said we don’t need more women reporters, I’d say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  I’d remind him that’s what men said back in the 50s and 60s when women, if allowed in a newsroom at all, were required to cover teas and hair styles.  Diversity IS important in the newsroom—and on television.  And there’s not nearly enough of it in either place, or even in the so-called progressive media.

Does Mark Halperin know what “polarizing” means? (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Halperin, on CNN [Monday] night: “If you are president like Bill Clinton and like George Bush, who is polarizing, if the country remains polarized, this kind of stuff looks horrible and will alienate both sides.” But neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush is really all that “polarizing.”
I disagree with Jamison on this assessment.  Bill Clinton was polarizing because the right wing waged a war against him and the Democrats.  Bush was polarizing because he pursued policies that catered solely to the same group that waged the war against Clinton and the Democrats.  All of the polarization of the last 20 years can be laid at the feet of the right wing.

Joe the Plumber plunges deeper: ‘Military should decide what information to give the media.’ (Think Progress)
Continuing his reporting from Israel, Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher tried to clarify his remarks criticizing media coverage of war, in a new Pajamas TV segment. He said that citizens “don’t need to see what’s happening every day” in war and said that it should be up to the military to decide what the media learns about war

Savage claims “a lot of guys become gay out of default” because “they’re afraid” of women (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Cheney: It ‘Always Aggravated Me’ That The NYT Won A Pulitzer For Exposing Warrantless Wiretapping (Think Progress)
On Dec. 16, 2005, the New York Times published an article by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, revealing that President Bush had secretly authorized the NSA to “eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States…without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying.” The blockbuster article, which exposed one of the Bush administration’s biggest secrets, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2006. Discussing the wiretapping program on Bill Bennett’s radio show today, Vice President Cheney called the program “important,” adding that it “always aggravated” him that the Times was rewarded for its reporting.

Howard Kurtz, media critic (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Howard Kurtz [in an] online Q&A … defended his claim that MSNBC leans to the left… Forget, for a moment, the absurdity of using Chris Matthews as evidence of liberalism run amuck at MSNBC.  What Kurtz doesn’t tell you is that Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews each have one-hour programs.  Scarborough’s show is three hours long. Notice also that Kurtz qualifies his description of JoeSco as a conservative (”one who spent plenty of time criticizing his Republican Party”) but offers no such qualification for his contention that Matthews is a Democrat, despite Matthews’ lengthy history of gushing over conservatives like George W. Bush and John McCain, and of attacking progressives and Democrats…

Kurtz’s comments about MSNBC are so one-sided, holding the conservatives and liberals there to such different standards, that it becomes harder and harder to avoid the conclusion that Kurtz’ claims about MSNBC’s ideological leanings reveal more about his own than about the cable channel’s.

Simple answers to simple questions (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Politico’s Roger Simon: “How come Roland Burris has had such an easy time getting to the U.S. Senate while Caroline Kennedy has had such a hard time?” Simple Answer: Roland Burris was appointed by a sitting governor to fill a vacant seat.  Caroline Kennedy has not been.

Cheney Assails Obama Decision to Close Gitmo; Expresses Concern That Democrats About to Take Over Don’t Realize World Has Changed (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
In a radio interview with Bill Bennett [Tuesday] morning, Vice President Dick Cheney said that President-elect Barack Obama’s pending executive order to shut down the Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay is a “bad decision.”… Mr. Cheney said too many people have already been freed from Guantanamo… “These are al Qaeda members,” Mr. Cheney said. “These are people that we captured on the battlefield. These are folks whose main objective in life is to kill Americans.” Cheney said the remaining detainees “are unlawful combatants, terrorists, and by definition, their objective is to achieve their political goals by killing as many civilians as possible. They don’t abide by the laws of war.”
Dick Cheney is a liar.  If they had any evidence against these detainees, they’d have prosecuted them already.

‘Times-Pic’ to Bush: ‘No Question’ That Federal Response to Katrina Was ‘Slow, Shameful’ (Editor & Publisher)
In his last official press conference as president George W. Bush vigorously defended the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, denying it had been slow. The Times-Picayune — whose staff was forced to abandon its New Orleans headquarters in the rising flood waters — begged to differ. Strongly.

Media Matters for America headlines

• On job-loss numbers, Fox’s Garrett changed the metric, falsely asserting Obama’s statement was untrue

• ABC, CBS report Bush’s defense of Katrina response without noting congressional criticism

• Gibson, Couric uncritically aired Bush’s comment calling Abu Ghraib a “disappointment”

• Boehlert: Palin, the press, and her pregnancy

• Fox & Friends hosts, Beck cite fictional congressional testimony by 24’s “Jack Bauer” in defense of torture

• Ignoring Donohue’s own incendiary comments, Wash. Times quotes Donohue criticizing choice of Robinson to give prayer

• Hannity criticized lyrics that call women “B’s” and “ho’s,” but didn’t object to his “friend” Ted Nugent calling Clinton a “worthless bitch”

• Morris attacked Obama’s DOJ choices with falsehood

• CNN’s Lou Dobbs claimed Obama “didn’t talk about NAFTA” during meeting with Calderón — but Obama spokesman said they did

• Boston Globe, Wash. Post echo discredited accusation that Clinton did not condemn Suha Arafat’s remarks

• Ignoring pre-election remarks, media advance theme that Obama only now acknowledges he may have to “scale back” campaign agenda

Thai writer: End prosecution for ‘insulting king’
BANGKOK, Thailand – A Thai academic facing charges of insulting the monarchy called Tuesday for a campaign to abolish the law under which he could be jailed for 15 years.

Reporter Hacked To Death Fuels Fears For Nepal’s Media, UN Says
The United Nations called on the government in Nepal to protect journalists, saying the hacking to death of a female reporter in the country’s south is the latest in a “troubling trend” of attacks on the media.

Supreme Court deals setback to cable TV firms on video recording
The Supreme Court declined Monday to clear the way for cable TV companies to offer their customers a new, easier way to record broadcasts for later viewing — and without needing a video recorder in their homes. Instead, the court asked the Justice Department to weigh in on whether this new video recording service would violate the copyrights of the TV networks and Hollywood film studios.

YouTube Now Mutes Videos With Unauthorized Copyrighted Music (by Stan Schroeder at Mashable)
Perhaps this has been going on for a while, but I’ve never noticed it before. YouTube users often create an original video using their favorite popular song as the audio. I’m afraid that they won’t be able to do that much longer, since YouTube has started muting videos that use unauthorized copyrighted music (and that pretty much means all user-created videos.)

China’s population of Net users hits 298 million
BEIJING – China’s fast-growing population of Internet users has risen to 298 million after passing the United States last year to become the world’s largest, a government-sanctioned research group said Tuesday.

Panel: Technology alone can’t protect kids online
NEW YORK – A task force charged with assessing technologies for protecting children from unwanted contact online has concluded that no single approach is foolproof and that parental oversight is vital.

Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown
A high-profile task force concluded that the sexual solicitation of children online is not a significant problem.

Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism formed
Andy Hall, who is leaving the Wisconsin State Journal after 18 years, is the nonprofit organization’s executive director and sole initial employee. His goal is to employ up to five journalists, including one based in Washington, D.C.

AP creates new editing desk for Mideast region
NEW YORK – The Associated Press is creating a regional editing desk for the Middle East as part of a global reorganization designed by the news cooperative to streamline and strengthen news coverage in print, photos and television.

Industry Moves: WaPo Picks Two Managing Editors To Speed Print-Online Newsroom Merger (Paid Content)
Two people will share the title of managing editor at The Washington Post, as the paper tries to tie the print and online newsrooms closer together, WaPo reports. Elizabeth Spayd, a WaPo vet who has served on both sides of the Potomac River that divides the print and digital newsrooms, will oversee the hard-news sections of the paper. She will share the ME role with Raju Narisetti, a former deputy managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, who will be responsible for the feature sections.

Chicago Tribune to use tabloid format for street sales
Home delivery subscribers will continue to receive the Tribune’s traditional broadsheet edition, which will have the same editorial content as the single-copy tabloid version with minor differences in headlines, photos and captions. The tabloid-sized street-sale edition will remain priced at 75 cents, although copies of Monday’s debut will be free.

Million-dollar film studio to put South Africa on movie map
CAPE TOWN (AFP) – When actor Nicolas Cage made love to Bridget Moynahan in the 2005 hit “Lord of War”, a pungent smell still hung over the old Cape Town fertiliser plant-turned-movie studio where the scene was filmed.

YouTube Awards Citizen Journalist $10k
YouTube’s Project: Report awarded $10k to Arturo Perez Jr., the reporter behind “Abilities,” a 5-minute documentary on Camphill California, a community for developmentally disabled residents. The plan is for Perez to use the grant money to work with the Pulitzer Center on a story “of global importance” that is under-reported in the US news media.

Huffington Post Acquires Comedy News Site 236.com From IAC (Paid Content)
Huffington Post is wasting little time in putting last month’s $25 million funding to work: as expected, the company says its buying comedy news site 236.com. The comedy site was created in Nov. 2007 as part of a joint venture between Huffington Post and IAC. Now, after a year as a standalone, 236.com will be integrated into Huffington Post as a vertical channel. The purchase represents Huffington Post’s recognition that it needs to expand its offerings beyond straight commentary, now that the presidential campaign is over and traffic and advertising are expected to fall off. 236.com claims roughly 2 million unique users a month, which is a drop compared to HuffPo’s 16 million monthly uniques.

Spain’s Prado teams up with Google Earth
MADRID, Spain – Spain’s Prado Museum has teamed up with Google Earth for a project that allows people to zoom in on the gallery’s main works — even on details not immediately discernible to the human eye.

Unemployed? Monster.com Wants You to Laugh
As it tries to appeal to job seekers in a new advertising campaign, the parent company of the employment Web site Monster is using a humorous touch.

AT&T Peppers Customers’ Phones With ‘Idol’ Ads
This week AT&T has sent out text messages to 75 million customers — urging subscribers to tune into Tuesday night’s season premier of “American Idol.”

Broadband Content Bits… (Paid Content)
—Showtime to premiere TV shows on Web: And another reason for cable providers to complain about the networks’ premium content going to the Web … Showtime is promoting its new series The United States of Taraby putting the first episode on the Web for free; the season openers of The L Word and Secret Diary of a Call Girl will follow. The clips will be available on more than 100 outlets, according to Mediapost, including CBS’ TV.com, YouTube, Facebook and iTunes, with mobile distribution on Verizon’s VCast, among others…

—CBS teams with EQAL for Harpers Island prequel: CBS has partnered with digital studio EQAL to launch an original online prequel to its primetime mystery show Harper’s Island. Called HarpersGlobe, the series goes live three weeks before the TV premiere, with social media features built in to the microsite. The content will also be available on CBS.com and CBS Mobile.

—Nick’s Spongebob.com: One of those “didn’t they have this already?” announcements … MTVN’s Nickelodeon has launched a site devoted entirely to SpongeBob. The video-heavy site includes content for both kids and their parents, with more than 300 searchable full episodes and clips, the ability to create customized playlists, set up profiles and play casual games. The launch is tied to the series’ 10-year anniversary.

Boxee: Open Source Connected TV
One of the clear trends at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is the proliferation of ways to get Internet-based content onto your TV. But I’ve seen only one system that’s free (as in both speech and beer) and doesn’t seem to restrict where you get content: Boxee.

Use Your iPhone to Get News Happening Around You (Mashable)
Let’s say you’re visiting a new city and are curious about local news, events, and other related information – where do you turn? You could pick up the local paper, toy around with Google Maps, or ask your Twitter friends, but you’re not guaranteed a complete view of what’s happening near you with any of those methods. Now there’s a new option available to iPhone owners looking to simplify the process and turn to a single source for the complete local picture: Radar, powered by Outside.in is a brand new iPhone application that uses the devices’ GPS capabilities to locate you and display nearby news, blog posts, discussion threads, and tweets happening within 1,000 feet of your location.

Build More Accurate GPS-Aware Android Apps With Skyhook (Mashable)
A mobile application that makes use of the GPS of capabilities of devices like iPhone and Google’s G1 is only as good as its ability to accurately determine where you are. Skyhook Wireless has come up with a solution for Google’s mobile operating system, Android, releasing an SDK that the company claims will allow developers to offer “iPhone-quality positioning in location-aware Android applications” Skyhook has received one significant endorsement so far, as BrightKite has signed on to use the technology. The location-aware social network plans to integrate the SDK into its Android app, in an effort to make it as accurate as what users can expect on iPhone. That accuracy is gained by Skyhook making use of not just GPS, but also cell phone tower triangulation and WPS, which uses known Wi-Fi connections to determine location.

In addition to Android, Skyhook offers similar technology for Windows Mobile, Symbian, and other mobile operating systems, and developers can either license it or share revenue on advertising.