Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Deep Thought (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Pogge: “If the pundit you’re reading seems more concerned with the effect the economic crisis is having on an ideology than with the effect the economic crisis is having on actual human beings, then the pundit you’re reading is irrelevant.”

Matt Davies

Republican ideology failed us:
Revenge of the Glut (by Paul Krugman)
[There is an] almost eerie correlation between conservative praise two or three years ago and economic disaster today. “Reforms have made Iceland a Nordic tiger,” declared a paper from the Cato Institute. “How Ireland Became the Celtic Tiger” was the title of one Heritage Foundation article; “The Estonian Economic Miracle” was the title of another. All three nations are in deep crisis now. For a while, the inrush of capital created the illusion of wealth in these countries, just as it did for American homeowners: asset prices were rising, currencies were strong, and everything looked fine. But bubbles always burst sooner or later, and yesterday’s miracle economies have become today’s basket cases.

Because it’s based on belief, rather than observations of the real world:
Gary Makes a Good Point (by Gavin Kennedy at Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy, thanks to Economist’s View)
Where Adam Smith, and others who came afterwards, diligently explained, without notions of invisible ‘hands’ or ‘beings’, more associated with ‘pusillanimous superstition’ than with scientific analysis, the post-1950s generations of supposedly modern, scientific economists, with batteries of mathematical techniques at their disposal, did, was and is to take their science back to rest on a primitive mumbo jumbo, which would not be out of place among the credulous generations of the Middle Ages and those who lived even earlier.

And refusal to face reality can lead to complete collapse:
Social Collapse Best Practices (by Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse, thanks to from InsightAnalytical)
If there is one thing that I would like to claim as my own, it is the comparative theory of superpower collapse… The theory states that the United States and the Soviet Union will have collapsed for the same reasons, namely: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget, and ballooning foreign debt. I call this particular list of ingredients “The Superpower Collapse Soup.” Other factors, such as the inability to provide an acceptable quality of life for its citizens, or a systemically corrupt political system incapable of reform, are certainly not helpful, but they do not automatically lead to collapse, because they do not put the country on a collision course with reality.

Academia failed us, too:
The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of Academic Economics (by David Colander et al., thanks to Economist’s View)
[Abstract:] The economics profession appears to have been unaware of the long build-up to the current worldwide financial crisis and to have significantly underestimated its dimensions once it started to unfold. In our view, this lack of understanding is due to a misallocation of research efforts in economics. We trace the deeper roots of this failure to the profession’s insistence on constructing models that, by design, disregard the key elements driving outcomes in real-world markets.

So did the media, which continues to fail us:
Dealing With BANKRUPT Banks: Nationalization or Welfare (by Dean Baker)
The media continue to do more to misinform the public than to inform them when it comes to plans for fixing the financial system. Following the absolute worst in journalistic practices, a front page Washington Post article explains the Obama administration’s policy by telling readers that the “approach reflects Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s philosophy of how governments should respond to financial crises.”… The reality is that the reporters have no clue as to what Timothy F. Geithner’s philosophy of how governments should respond to financial crises. The reporter knows what Timothy F. Geithner told them, so why don’t they just stick to passing this information along to readers instead of speculating about his innermost thoughts?

The excursion into philosophy deflects readers from the real issue. Mr. Geithner wants to use taxpayer dollars to keep bankrupt banks in business. In effect, he wants to tax teachers, fire fighters, and Joe the Plumber to protect the wealth of the banks’ shareholders and to pay high salaries to their top executives. No readers of this piece would understand that this is the process being described… It would be nice if the Post and the rest of the media would report honestly on the bank bailout and stop trying to conceal plans for a massive redistribution of wealth to the bank shareholders and their top executives.

Is the current administration bold enough in its proposals to deal with the crisis?
Martin Wolf on Fareed Zakaria: Worth a View (by dakinikat at The Confluence)
Wolf’s critique of both the stimulus and the plan for restructuring banks is that they are not big  and bold enough. They do not really contain change.  They both continue to reward the same old same old… Until we delink the interests of Wall Street from the Democratic Party and from this President, my guess is that we will not see what we need to see in the way of reform and stimulus.  Meanwhile, I, like Martin Wolf, am hunkering down for a very prolonged period of economic nastiness because all of this response is still very much politics as usual.  The stakes are way too big right now for this administration whose main talent is just more politics that rewards its minions.
Click here to watch the interview.

And if not, will they get a second chance?
Plan B (by Noam Scheiber, The New Republic, thanks to Economist’s View)
[Treasury Secretary Tim] Geithner’s goal with the bank plan may not have been to solve the crisis so much as demonstrate he could eventually be trusted with more money. Talk to administration officials these days, and you typically hear phrases like “show results” and “rebuild credibility”… And here’s where things get truly alarming: If Obama officials are able to “show results”–which most observers take to mean increased lending–then they probably won’t need the money they’ll be able to tap. But, if they’re unable to show results, it will most likely have been for lack of money, which they’ll have a hard time getting more of. It’s a classic CATCH-22: The very reason you’d ask for help disqualifies you from receiving it.

Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 26 years (AP)
The economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession. The Commerce Department report released Friday showed the economy sinking much faster than the 3.8 percent annualized drop for the October-December quarter first estimated last month. It also was considerably weaker than the 5.4 percent annualized decline economists expected.

Dow industrials fall below 7,000; lowest since ’97 (AP)
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged below 7,000 Monday for the first time in more than 11 years as investors grow even more pessimistic about the health of banks, and in turn the economy. A staggering $61.7 billion in quarterly losses at insurer American International Group Inc. touched off fresh fears about the health of the nation’s financial system.

Wisdom from the subway (by a little night musing at Corrente)

Gov’t extends new aid package to AIG (AP)
The government on Monday unveiled a revamped rescue package to insurance giant American International Group and will provide the troubled company another $30 billion on an “as needed” basis.

A.I.G. Will Break Itself Up (The Daily Beast)
In a stunning reorganization of the 90-year-old global insurance conglomerate, American International Group will announce today that it is breaking into parts and handing over control of its two largest divisions to the U.S. government in exchange for $30 billion. This brings the government’s ownership to nearly 80 percent in a holding company that, once its restructuring is complete, will have as its main task the selling off and listing of its own businesses… “Given the systemic risk AIG continues to pose and the fragility of markets today, the potential cost to the economy and the taxpayer of government inaction would be extremely high,” a Treasury Department official said in a statement defending the plan.
Good.  They should all be forced to break into smaller parts.  We can no longer afford companies that are too big to fail.

GM future in doubt after $31bn loss (Financial Times, U.K.)
General Motors underlined its dire financial condition on Thursday as it reported an unexpectedly heavy cash drain in the final three months of 2008 and warned that Deloitte, its auditor, might cast doubt on its standing as a going concern. The Detroit carmaker, dependent on government aid for survival, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $9.6bn, bringing the 2008 loss to $30.9bn. GM has racked up losses totalling $86.6bn during the past four years.

Fannie Mae Needs $15.2 Billion From U.S. (New York Times)
The mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said late Thursday that it needed $15.2 billion in government aid to make up for losses from the slumping housing market.

FDIC Warns Bank Deposit Insurance Fund Being Drained (Washington Post)
The federal insurance fund that protects most bank deposits is being drained by a sharp rise in bank failures and has dwindled to its lowest level since 1993, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported [Thursday].

80% of mortage fraud is from banksters, not homeowners (by lambert at Corrente)
William Black (senior regulator during S&L debacle): “The FBI has been warning of an ‘epidemic’ of mortgage fraud since September 2004. It also reports that lenders initiated 80% of these frauds.” In fact, the fraud is so egregious that the “stress tests” really are kabuki: That’s because the banksters didn’t ask for documents from the lenders, because they didn’t want to know.

If This Is Bank Nationalization, It’s Not What Marx Meant (by Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the The Rothenberg Political Report)
If you watch Sean Hannity on Fox News, you probably now believe that the United States had taken a dramatic turn toward socialism and the Obama administration is about to embark on a plan to eliminate the private sector. That’s hogwash… Unfortunately, too many in the media have been throwing around the term “nationalization.” For some, it’s an effort to frighten viewers and rally conservatives for whom the word nationalization evokes images of Latin American leftists or the Soviet Union. For others, I suspect, use of the term is merely the latest example of the national media’s reliance on hype and hyperbole, whether to attract viewers or inflate the importance of the latest topic du jour.

Analysis: Obama plan brings cries of class warfare (by Tom Raum, AP)
He’s not being timid, that’s for sure… The budget outline includes activist initiatives on energy, health care, education and climate change. It would boost taxes on the wealthy, oil companies and other businesses while cutting Medicare and Medicaid payments to insurance companies and hospitals to make way for a $634 billion down payment on universal health care. It would also limit charitable and other tax deductions for the affluent and trim spending ongovernment subsidies to big farms. Predictably, Republicans complained, much as they had done during last year’s presidential campaign, that Obama was pitting the haves against the have-nots.
Oh, that battle has BEEN going on, only the haves have been winning.  By leaps and bounds.

Roy Blunt: My State’s Mice Are As Good As Pelosi’s $30 Million Mice (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Dave Weigel quotes Roy Blunt speaking at CPAC [Wednesday] about the $30 million in stimulus funds allegedly allotted to save mice: “They’re going to find out about the $30 million that the speaker put in for wetland mouse preservation. Lemme tell ya, when Missouri mice find out about this, they’re going to be upset. Our mice are just as good as some San Francisco mice.” [T]he $30 million in mouse money simply isn’t in the bill, and Pelosi’s office has adamantly denied that her office had anything to do with whatever program it was that that was supposed to be slated for this possible funding.

Conservatives Hit Dems Over “Tattoo Removal” Pork — But It’s An Anti-Crime Program! (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Uh oh — looks like we have our next marsh mouse-style talking point. Conservatives are hammering the House’s new $410 billion spending bill because it contains $200,000 for what they’re derisively referring to as “tattoo removal.” Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Drudge, and at least one GOP official on MSNBC, among others, have been all over this… But a little reporting reveals that that this “tattoo removal” program is an anti-crime program in the San Fernando Valley that re-integrates reformed gang members and makes it easier for them to find jobs. Two Los Angeles law enforcement officials I just spoke to — one who identified himself as a “conservative Republican” — swore by the program for reducing crime and saving lives.
A successful government program is a dangerous thing to right wingers.

Obama Budget Could Yield Long Term Electoral Gains (Think Progress)
The Washington Post notes President Obama’s budget “underscores the breadth of his aspiration to reverse three decades of conservative governance and use his presidency to rapidly transform the country.” Bloomberg notes the political stakes: “By shifting the focus of government policy away from upper- income Americans and targeting the vast numbers who consider themselves middle-class, Obama’s proposals may yield dividends for the Democratic Party. Just as Franklin Roosevelt used the New Deal to create a loyal voter base that endured for four decades, Obama’s approach to fixing the economy offers the president an opportunity to recast political allegiances among swing voters.”
This is what the Republicans are REALLY worried about.

Obama’s budget includes family planning funding protested by Republicans during stimulus debate. (Think Progress)
To congressional Republicans, one of the most objectionable parts of an early version of the House’s economic recovery package was funding for family planning services. Conservatives cried that spending “hundreds of millions on contraceptives” wouldn’t stimulate the economy. (Even though it would.) President Obama agreed to drop the provision from the recovery package. However, he has reinserted it into his FY 2010 budget. On p. 127, there is a provision to “[e]xpand availability of family planning services under Medicaid,” which is estimated to save the government $190 million over 10 years.
Good.  Except that taking a lesson from how the Republicans have acted over the years, I’d have doubled the amount.  Oppose sensible stuff, and we up the ante.

Where the money goes (by Norman Solomon)
In Yolo County [California], taxpayers have already provided the IRS with $449.8 million to fund the Iraq war. That’s enough to provide health care to 168,154 children for a full year. Those figures come from the National Priorities Project, a nonpartisan group with a nifty – and often chilling – online calculator (www. nationalpriorities.org). Type in the name of your locality, and huge military costs suddenly hit close to home. More than 40 percent of federal tax dollars go to military spending. The outlays buy a mighty war machine while depleting our own communities.

Obama’s health insurance mandate is a just another bailout, this time for the insurance companies (by DCblogger at Corrente)
Jonathan Cohn quoting Dr. Steve Auerbach “Mandate plans such as Obama/Baucus are in effect a bail-out of the private insurance companies that add no value to the health care system. Reducing the federal tax benefit such as Wyden and Republicans support, just shifts the cost from the Federal government to state government, employers and individual.”

So why does Obama cut the middleman out for student loans, but not for health care? (by lambert at Corrente)
Down with Tyranny: “Friday’s Washington Post explained it beautifully, pointing out that by directly giving the student loans to students and cutting out the greedy middlemen … Obama saves the taxpayers $47.5 billion over the next ten years and, at the same time, helps far more students– two factors that aren’t exactly McKeon goals. Since the government assumes all the default risk, there is no reason at all to involve the finance companies.” So, why not cut out the “greedy middlemen” in the health insurance industry too?

Rahm’s brother, Ezekiel, butchers the moral issues on health care  (by lambert at Corrente)
Hilariously, Mini-Rahm’s against single payer because of [wait for it] American exceptionalism: “The biggest problem with single-payer is its failure to cohere with core American values.” Uh huh. Like the insurance companies’ business model of denying care for profit is a core American value?

Gregg aided former base as he invested there (AP)
Sen. Judd Gregg, President Barack Obama’s former nominee for commerce secretary, won taxpayer money for redevelopment of a shuttered Air Force base where he and his brother had invested in commercial property, an Associated Press investigation found. Gregg, R-N.H., has personally invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cyrus Gregg’s office projects at the Pease International Tradeport, a Portsmouth business park built at the defunct Pease Air Force Base, once home to nuclear bombers. Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping to arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base. Gregg said he violated no laws or Senate rules.
VIOLATED NO LAWS OR SENATE RULES??? ??? !!! !!!  Good goddess, what does it take?

Kansas’ Sebelius to become Health and Human Services secretary (McClatchy)
President Barack Obama has asked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to move to the very center of one of America’s most difficult and expensive challenges — remaking health care.

Operation Rescue Loses Brownback (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Conservative Senator Sam Brownback has put out a statement enthusiastically supporting President Obama’s choice of Kathleen Sebelius as his Health and Human Services secretary. Brownback’s support all but torpedoes any hopes the anti-abortion movement had of derailing her nomination over her pro-choice record. As we reported here the other day, when we asked the pro-life group Operation Rescue which GOP Senators might support efforts to kill the Sebelius pick, a top Operation Rescue official could only name … Senator Sam Brownback.

Sibelius and Blue Cross in Kansas (by lambert at Corrente)
Could be worse: “[When Ms. Sebelius served as state insurance commissioner, she] cast herself as a consumer champion by pushing to protect patients from rationed care by health maintenance organizations and rapid discharges by hospitals. She declined campaign contributions from the industry she regulated and, in her boldest move, rejected the 2002 purchase of the state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, by Anthem Inc., based in Indianapolis.. ‘She rode that decision all the way to the governor’s office,’ said Sandy Praeger, the current insurance commissioner and a Republican.”

Obama Pick Gets a 2nd Chance on Health Care (New York Times)
In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is known as a Democrat who can deal with Republicans, a necessity in a state where the opposition party dominates both houses of the Legislature. But on matters of health policy, which she will oversee if she is confirmed as President Obama’s secretary of health and human services, Ms. Sebelius’s efforts to forge bipartisan consensus have rarely succeeded. She recently observed that the greatest frustration of her six years in office had been her inability to persuade lawmakers to raise tobacco taxes for a modest expansion of government health coverage. Now, with the backing of a Democratic Congress, Ms. Sebelius will have a chance to achieve in Washington what she failed to accomplish in Topeka, and then some. When he announces her nomination on Monday, Mr. Obama will effectively make her the point person for what may become the largest expansion of taxpayer-subsidized health insurance in more than four decades.

Holder Statement: A New High for Medical Pot Proponents? (Dissenting Justice)
Medical marijuana advocates have long believed that President Obama would stop enforcing federal drug laws against medical pot users. [Thursday], they got a new high from Attorney General Eric Holder’s statements on the issue: “U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama – who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana – will end raids on pot dispensaries in California. Asked at a Washington news conference Wednesday about Drug Enforcement Administration raids in California since Obama took office last month, Holder said the administration has changed its policy.”

Obama’s efforts to block a judicial ruling on Bush’s illegal eavesdropping (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
One of the worst abuses of the Bush administration was its endless reliance on vast claims of secrecy to ensure that no court could ever rule on the legality of the President’s actions.  They would insist that “secrecy” prevented a judicial ruling even when the President’s actions were (a) already publicly disclosed in detail and (b) were blatantly criminal — as is the case with the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program, which The New York Times described on its front page more than three years ago and which a federal statute explicitly criminalized.  Secrecy claims of that sort — to block judicial review of the President’s conduct, i.e., to immunize the President from the rule of law — provoked endless howls of outrage from Bush critics.

Yet now, the Obama administration is doing exactly the same thing.  Hence, it is accurately deemed “a blow to the Obama administration” that a court might rule on whether George Bush broke the law when eavesdropping on Americans without warrants.  Why is the Obama administration so vested in preventing that from happening, and — worse still — in ensuring that Presidents continue to have the power to invoke extremely broad secrecy claims in order to block courts from ruling on allegations that a President has violated the law?

Pentagon Lifts Ban on Photos of War Dead (AP)
The Obama administration is reversing an 18-year ban on news coverage of the return of war dead, allowing photographs of flag-covered caskets when families of the fallen troops agree, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

Obama to extend Iraq withdrawal timetable; 50,000 troops to stay (McClatchy)
Amid complaints from has own party that he’s moving too slowly to end the war in Iraq, President Barack Obama will announce Friday that U.S. combat troops will be withdrawn by Aug. 31, 2010, but that as many as 50,000 Marines and soldiers would remain until the end of 2011.

Senate votes to give DC citizens vote in Congress (AP)
The measure is likely to face a court challenge immediately after becoming law; opponents argue that it is unconstitutional because DC is not a state.

Howard Dean: Massive Fail (by Pacific John at Alegre’s Corner)
Howard Dean, the chairman who oversaw the dirtiest caucuses in memory, and self-proclaimed champion of universal health care seems to be turning failure into parody: “For Dean, who will be based in Vermont while traveling often to D.C., employment doesn’t end there. The governor will work closely with the National Democratic Institute on topics such as spreading democracy and monitoring elections.” FTR, it was widely known that the Hillary campaign offered Dean hundreds of affidavits swearing to rampant election fraud by the Chicago dirty tricksters, and Dean did exactly what the Villagers did, zilch.

Open Thread (by Alegre)
[Wednesday] I went to that congressional health care reform hearing put together by Congressman Eric Massa, where they discussed the Mass. model.  It was clear folks thought it was a disaster and I’ll try to report on that later.  Suffice to say everyone there was pushing a single-payer, Medicare for all program.  One doctor noted that even when pollsters picked the most negative way of wording it, some 83% of respondents said they supported SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. When they were asked about a national health plan the numbers were even higher.

Democratic House Delays Network Neutrality (by Chris Bowers at Open Left, thanks to Lambert at Corrente)
With a new President in favor of network neutrality, the presumptive FCC chair in favor of network neutrality, with every new Democratic member of the Senate in favor network neutrality, with the new chair of the relevant senate subcommittee in favor of network neutrality, with Henry Waxman chairing the Energy and Commerce committee in the House and with the chair of the relevant House subcommittee, Rick Boucher, fighting hard for network neutrality in the past, everything seemed to be in place to pass network neutrality legislation this year. But now, shockingly, Boucher has decided to delay net neutrality legislation, opting instead for more talks and even a possible non-legislative solution.

Line-Item Veto, Part Deux (American Constitution Society)
Strange bedfellows Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are in league again. This time, the agenda is to give President Obama additional authority over Congress. You read that correctly. McCain is teaming up with Feingold to enhance the executive’s authority to delete earmarks from spending bills by way of a line-item veto. A line-item veto would give the president authority to strike lines from legislation passed by Congress, rather than having to veto the whole bill.
Nope, the president already has too much power.

Feds: Misconduct by CIA’s Foggo spanned decades (AP)
A former CIA agent rose to the agency’s No. 3 rank despite a record of misconduct that stretched over 20 years, prosecutors said, until his career came to an end with his conviction in a bribery scheme… The fraud was part of a bribery ring that included Foggo’s old friend, contractor Brent Wilkes, and former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, both of whom have been sentenced to years in prison. Court papers filed this week offer the most detailed glimpse yet of Foggo’s misconduct, which included getting his mistress hired to a $100,000 a year job at the CIA and steering millions of dollars in CIA contracts to Wilkes.

Huntsman Charts New Course for GOP (Political Wire)
In an interview with Politico, [Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R)] said he “thinks the party’s challenge is more profound, owing less to its excessive spending practices during the Bush era than to sweeping demographic and political changes that threaten to consign Republicans to a long-term minority status and confine their appeal to narrow sections of the country.” “The party needs to be more intellectually rigorous, and to compete for the votes of the young, the elites and minorities… To do so, the GOP needs to tack toward the middle on environment, gay rights and immigration.”
I’m thinking this guy is in the minority—the minority within the 25% who still consider themselves Republicans.

Limbaugh: “The dirty little secret … is that every Republican in this country wants Obama to fail, but none of them have the guts to say so; I am willing to say it” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Santorum At CPAC: ‘Absolutely We Hope That’ Obama Fails, ‘I Believe His Policies Will Fail’ (Think Progress)
In an interview with ThinkProgress [Saturday], radio host Mark Levin and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) added their voices to the chorus of conservatives hoping for Obama’s failure.

Michelle Malkin: I hope Obama fails. (Think Progress)
As ThinkProgress has documented, a growing number of conservatives are rooting for the failure of Obama’s presidency. [Saturday] on C-SPAN Washington Journal, a caller asked right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin if she agrees with Rush Limbaugh’s statement that he hopes President Obama fails. Malkin explained why she does: “…When the President proposes things like trillion dollar budgets that have earmarks that he claims do not exist, yes, I hope that fails. When he proposes the same kind of wealth re-distributionist policies that had appalled me under the Bush administration, yes, I hope they fail.”

U.S. Senator Says He Would Practice Civil Disobedience If Obama Repeals Abortion ‘Conscience Clause’ (CNSNews.com)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who is also an OB/GYN, told CNSNews.com on Friday that many medical practitioners, including himself, will go to prison before agreeing to engage in medical practices they morally oppose, such as abortion… The Obama administration’s “review” is considered the precursor to rescinding the regulation. “I think a lot of us will go to jail,” Coburn told CNSNews.com when asked what would happen if the administration reverses the policy. “Let’s see them prosecute the first one of us for not doing that.”

John Bolton jokes about nuking Chicago, entire CPAC audience erupts in laughter. (Think Progress)
[Thursday], former U.N. ambassador John Bolton spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tried to up the fear quotient in the room by raising the prospect of an Iranian-sent nuclear attack on an American city. “It’s [a] tiny [threat] compared to the Soviet Union,” Bolton said, “but is the loss of one American city — pick one at random: Chicago — is that a tiny threat?” The audience erupted in cheers and laughter at the idea of Obama’s home city being obliterated.
Click through to watch the video.

Limbaugh Takes On Gingrich: ‘We’ve Got To Stamp This Out Within This Movement’ (Think Progress)
In a hour-plus-long speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that was carried live, commercial-free, on CNN and Fox News, Rush Limbaugh directly attacked his rival for the role of titular leader of the conservative movement, Newt Gingrich. Gingrich had told the CPAC crowd that the GOP must offer new ideas and policies. “It’s not our job to be the opposition party. It’s our job to be the ‘better solutions party’,” he said. He was echoing a point he had made last year that the party needed to move forward: “The era of Reagan is over.”…

[Saturday], Limbaugh came out swinging… “Our own movement has members trying to throw Reagan out while the Democrats know they can’t accomplish what they want unless they appeal to Reagan voters. We have got to stamp this out within this movement because it will tear us apart. It will guarantee we lose elections.”
Click through to watch the video.

CPAC audience cheers: ‘The only way we will be successful is if we listen to Rush Limbaugh.’ (Think Progress)
After his speech, CPAC presented Rush with a “Defender of the Constitution” award, which included a document signed by Benjamin Franklin. The presenter then compared Rush to Franklin: “The king of England sat with his advisers, and they read the writings of Ben Franklin. They said, ‘The colonists will never be successful if they read what he writes.’ Just as the king’s successor, who is in the White House, said the other day, that conservatives will never be successful if they listen to Rush Limbaugh. The only way we will be successful is if we listen to Rush Limbaugh!” The crowd again erupted into cheers.
Click through to watch the video.

Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll (Political Wire)
For the third straight year, activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) chose Mitt Romney as their next presidential favorite in a straw poll, CQ Politics reports. Romney got 20% support, followed by Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with 14%, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin with 13% and Rep. Ron Paul with 13%.

Palin backs parental consent abortion bill (McClatchy)
Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday threw her support behind a controversial bill that would generally require parental consent before girls under age 17 could get an abortion.

Can we tell from pols’ faces if they’re competent? (by Jordan Lite at 60-Second Science Blog, thanks to Economist’s View)
We really do judge a book by its cover — and, it seems, the competence of politicians by their faces. What’s more, adults and kids see the same competence — or, as the case may be, ineptitude — in a person’s visage, which helps explain why children can accurately predict presidential elections, according to new research published [Thursday] in Science.

Swiss adults unfamiliar with French politics were shown 57 pairs of photos of opponents from an old French parliamentary election and asked to pick which ones looked most competent. In a separate experiment, Swiss kids ages 5 to 13 played a computer game that enacted Odysseus’ trip from Troy to Ithaca. Then, using the same pairs of photos, researchers asked the kids which candidate they’d choose to captain their ship. In both experiments, the adults and children tended to pick the winners of the election… The study didn’t examine what, exactly, led people to see competence in one face more than another.
So how did George Bush get close enough to being elected to steal his way into the White House?  My theory has always been that Bush isn’t stupid.  He’s clever, and cunning, but not book smart or intellectually curious.  And he’s blinded by ideology, like so many right wingers.

Bill Clinton: “I’m Worried About The Future Of Newspapers” (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Here it is: The final installment of our interview with Bill Clinton! Herein, the former President says he’s concerned about the fate of newspapers and is worried about the impact their vanishing will have on the country. “I’m worried about the future of newspapers,” Clinton told me, adding that their future was looking bleak in part because of “blog sites.” “There are so many of them in trouble because people can get their news from so many other places,” Clinton continued. “I think that newspapers are really important for the country because they have the time to do lengthy thought pieces, which are important. I get information from newspapers I can’t get from the evening news.”

“Every time I real about another one in economic trouble it bothers me,” he said. Clinton ominously predicted that a “further winnowing” lies ahead, a case that will certainly not find any argument here. And thus ends our series.

Self-Pity Party (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
It seems to me that the decline of ethics and quality in news reporting (all media) coincides with the consolidation of the news media and its acquisition by the corporatists.  Newspapers are “subsidiaries” of media conglomerates and the media conglomerates are either owned outright or incestuously involved with major corporations. As the media and the political class have become increasingly dependent upon wealthy corporatists they have become less concerned with the best interests of the rest of us.  Since the media doesn’t care about what happens to us, why should we care about what happens to them?

Rick Santelli’s Planted Rant ? (by Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture, thanks to Avedon at the Sideshow)
Rick Santelli’s Rant … had a “Faux” feel to it… It turns out that there may be more to the story then originally met the eye, according to (yes, really) Playboy magazine. Excerpt: “…What we discovered is that Santelli’s ‘rant’ was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger for the anti-Obama campaign.

“In PR terms, his February 19th call for a ‘Chicago Tea Party’ was the launch event of a carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign, one in which Santelli served as a frontman, using the CNBC airwaves for publicity, for the some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced. Namely, the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society.”
Isn’t George W.’s sister married to a member of the Koch family?  If this is the start of the anti-Obama campaign, I have to say it’s a mighty lame one.  There was something on local TV news about some folks throwing tea into the lake, but it didn’t look like a very big deal.

‘Fair and Balanced’ Fox News allows only Republicans to debate Obama’s budget. (Think Progress)
This morning on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace welcomed Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss President Obama’s budget plan — with not a single congressional Democrat or White House representative present to defend it. Predictably, Kyl and Ryan attacked Obama’s budget (Kyl called it “terrifying”); Fox News gave Obama’s critics an 15-plus minute opportunity to slam the budget without interruption.

O’Reilly to speak at fundraising event for rape victims. (Think Progress)
[O]n March 19, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is slated to speak at a fundraiser for the Alexa Foundation, a group committed to supporting rape survivors. In the past, however, O’Reilly has made controversial comments about an 18-year-old woman, Jennifer Moore, who was raped and murdered, implying that it was partially her fault. O’Reilly called her “moronic,” adding: “Now Moore, Jennifer Moore, 18, on her way to college. She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at two in the morning. She’s walking by herself on the West Side Highway, and she gets picked up by a thug. All right. Now she’s out of her mind, drunk.”

The frequent trade-off of “politeness” and “civility” for clarity, accuracy, and exposing important truths. How to find the socially optimal balance? (by Richard H. Serlin, thanks to Economist’s View)
I should make very clear that I don’t always think, “If someone disagrees with me, he must be lying, and a paid shill”. I usually think they’re just making an honest mistake, or I am, in which case if I think the odds are that they are right, I change my opinion. I only think, or am willing to say, they’re lying or a paid shill if there’s very good evidence that they are…

Look at what George W. Bush and the Republican machine have done to this country over the last generation, largely aided by the stealth and obscuring they get from what’s often called “civility” and “politeness”. Do you really still think we should, as an unbending rule, never, ever, in any case, directly and clearly tell people when, on important issues, a person or organization is intentionally misleading or outright lying, that they are, and that it is a regular occurrence, so be careful, keep a skeptical eye, and look to see if more credible sources are backing them up?
I’ve often wondered if it isn’t a disinclination to confront lies that is hammered into us growing up that has made the mainstream media averse to confronting right-wing lies.  I fought very hard to overcome that disinclination, only to find out that most people are slaves to it.  They’re afraid to hear what anyone really thinks.

Senate Votes To Ban Return of Fairness Doctrine (Broadcasting & Cable)
The Senate voted Thursday 87-11 to prevent the FCC from reinstating the fairness doctrine, not that the FCC had indicated plans to do so. The Broadcaster Freedom Act, by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), could initially have also prevented the commission from taking some proposed steps to bolster localism.
That won’t settle the matter.  This non-issue is red meat for the dittoheads.

US News’ new poll: “Daddy Daycare” (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
[Last week], I noted that US News & World Report’s “Washington Whispers” page featured a poll asking who would make the best day-car provider: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, or Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. After receiving blistering criticism…, US News appears to be trying to make amends – or cover for their earlier mistake.  Here’s the poll [featured last Thursday] at Washington Whispers:

Covering Obama, Pushy Jake Tapper Presses His Points (Washington Post)
Jake Tapper’s brashness has catapulted the 39-year-old ABC correspondent to the coveted White House beat, the biggest stage yet for a man who bounced around politics, public relations and the Web before setting his sights on television.

Chris Matthews: Still Bombastic After All These Years (by Jon Friedman at Marketwatch)
When Chris Matthews relaxes and shows off his considerable political knowledge, he is both entertaining and illuminating. For MSNBC as a whole, it might help the channel’s prospects if its reporters and anchors showed more devotion to explaining the news.

Paul Harvey, Homespun Radio Voice of Middle America, Is Dead at 90 (New York Times)
Mr. Harvey captivated millions of American listeners for nearly six decades with his radio news reports and conservative commentaries, delivered nationally on weekdays in a stentorian staccato.

Before you rend your clothes and tear your hair out, remember this:
Paul Harvey’s Tribute to Slavery, Nukes, Genocide (FAIR)
Disney/ABC radio personality Paul Harvey, one of the most widely listened to commentators in the United States, presented his listeners on June 23 with an endorsement of genocide and racism that would have been right at home on a white supremacist shortwave broadcast…

Harvey concluded: “We didn’t come this far because we’re made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and across this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on to grab this land from whomever. And we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves. So it goes with most great nation-states, which–feeling guilty about their savage pasts–eventually civilize themselves out of business and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy.”

Scientists’ stem cell breakthrough ends ethical dilemma (The Guardian, U.K.)
Scientists have found a way to make an almost limitless supply of stem cells that could safely be used in patients while avoiding the ethical dilemma of destroying embryos. In a breakthrough that could have huge implications, British and Canadian scientists have found a way of reprogramming skin cells taken from adults, effectively winding the clock back on the cells until they were in an embryonic form…

Stem cells have the potential to be turned into any tissue in the body, an ability that has led researchers to believe they could be used to make “spare parts” to replace diseased and damaged organs and treat conditions as diverse as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and spinal cord injury. Because the cells can be made from a patient’s own skin, they carry the same DNA and so could be used without a risk of being rejected by the immune system.
Oh, the right wingers will find some reason to be against this, too.  This issue has been a big money raiser for them.

China’s Wen makes Internet debut
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao joined the Internet craze Saturday as he chatted online with netizens for the first time, broaching issues as diverse as a shoe-throwing protest and corruption among officials.

Media Matters for America headlines

• USA Today uncritically reported Rep. Price’s tax deduction falsehood

• Asserting that Dems “like their earmarks,” CNN’s King, Bash ignored own reporting on GOP-sponsored earmarks

• Rove echoed GOP distortion of top Obama adviser’s research on stimulus effectiveness

• King didn’t challenge Rep. Price’s false claim that Obama’s proposed budget eliminates deductions for donations to charity

• At CPAC, Limbaugh distorted Frank’s position on affordable housing

• Dobbs falsely claimed Holder had “no empirical basis” for suggesting Mexican cartels are using weapons from America

• Politico falsely suggested that a secret-ballot election is currently required to form a union

• ABC’s Tapper joins media advancing small business falsehood

• Matthews did not challenge Ehrlich’s false suggestion about small business taxes

• USA Today falsely suggested that current system requires secret ballot election to form union

• Lashing out at critics, George Will spreads more falsehoods in new global warming column

• Fox News’ Beck still attacking stimulus bill over things he doesn’t understand

• AP ignored Democrats’ response to earmark criticism: 40% are from Republicans

• McCaffrey again discusses Afghan security forces without disclosing ties to company training them

• Scarborough baselessly claimed nations “are testing” Obama “in a way … they wouldn’t have tested Dick Cheney”

• On Today, Matalin baselessly claimed Jindal’s “education reform” made Louisiana “one of the top states in the country”

• CNBC’s Bartiromo falsely suggested Obama proposed taxing small businesses’ revenue

• Wash. Post forwards LA-Las Vegas rail line falsehood

• Santelli now agrees White House’s purported “veiled threat” wasn’t a threat

• Wash. Post, NY Times let Boehner revive small business tax falsehood

• O’Reilly, Miller falsely suggested Obama supported Prop 8

American Reporter Detained in Iran
A former Miss North Dakota, who’s been working in Iran as a freelance reporter, is being detained in undisclosed location there. 31-year-old Roxana Saberi has reported for NPR, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Fox News Channel, among others as the Tehran bureau chief for Feature Story News.

Under Weight of Its Mistakes, Newspaper Industry Staggers (by Howard Kurtz, Washington Post)
Why a once-profitable industry suddenly seems as outmoded as America’s automakers is a tale that involves arrogance, mistakes, eroding trust and the rise of a digital world in which newspapers feel compelled to give away their content.

Requiem for Newspapers Masks Opportunities (by David Callaway at Marketwatch)
The threat of extinction to many storied newspapers has cast a pall over the industry at a time when some of the greatest innovations to news and news delivery are just starting to evolve. The dark news masks a new era of innovation that will bring tremendous opportunity.

The Second Coming of Newspapers (by Larry Kramer, the Daily Beast)
Let’s build new news businesses around the content they cover, not the format in which they deliver the news. Newsrooms should cover their beat for every possible kind of outlet, including television, newspapers, BlackBerries, cellphones, magazines, and the Web.

Newsday, SF Chron to Charge For Web Content
Browsing the Web sites of two major daily newspapers is about to start costing: After posting substantial losses, both Newsday and the San Francisco Chronicle have announced plans to begin charging readers for online content.

Hearst Newspapers Tries To Figure Out Where To Build The Pay Wall (Paid Content)
As online advertising revenues are expected to slow to little more than a trickle this year, Hearst is the latest newspaper company trying to figure out how much of its content it can put behind a pay wall… Hearst’s newspaper division is in the middle of its “100 days of change.” The initiative was billed as a signal that the company is finally serious about saving its ailing news business as the prospects dim for many of its properties… As Hearst Magazines continues to explore the creation of its own e-reader—Hearst Interactive has invested in both its e-book partner FirstPaper and in E-Ink, which helped create Hearst mag Esquire’s digital cover in September—to save its segment… [A memo obtained by WSJ and attributed to Steven Swartz] pins a great deal of hope on the success of devices like Amazon’s Kindle, which allow access to magazines, newspapers, blogs and other content for a regular charge. He adds that Hearst must demand that readers on the iPhone and other portable gadgets pay as well.

But he concedes that general market newspapers—which he says are “all pretty much alike”—can’t put everything behind a pay wall. By erecting a pay wall around some content, the company’s newspapers might be able to charge higher prices by presenting advertisers with a more engaged and committed readership, as opposed to equally valuing all eyeballs that come to their sites. To attract paying subs and more money from advertisers, Swartz says that the newspaper websites have to be built up. That includes creating more web-centric content by expanding “the number of reporters, editors and photographers who are running a truly great blog” and tapping citizen journalists for hyperlocal content, something NYTimes.com is starting to do…

Swartz describes Hearst’s newspapers’ situation as having a “revenue and business model problem as opposed to an audience problem.” Print subscribers don’t pay Hearst enough, he goes on to say,  and they certainly aren’t paying for the content. Subscriptions cover only a portion of the print and delivery costs. And advertising certainly doesn’t make up the difference as it once did… Hearst will rely on telemarketing firms to do basic outreach to local business advertisers. It also plans to ramp up self-serve ad tools. And in what must have seemed like heresy to some of the memo’s readers, Hearst will make more use of newspaper ad alliances like those offered by the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium and online real estate seller Zillow, in addition to ad networks. Swartz: “We must fully make the leap from simply selling pages to selling audiences, and in doing so be able to sell packages of products, some of which won’t be our own.”

Report: Hearst to introduce an electronic reader in ’09
Hearst hopes its reader can do for periodicals what Amazon’s Kindle is doing for books. “We are keenly interested in this, and expect these devices will be a big part of our future,” says Kenneth Bronfin, who heads Hearst’s interactive media group.

New York Times Launching Local Citizen Journalism Sites
The New York Times is joining the growing world of local “citizen journalism” with two Web sites launching today. “The Local” will appear on the Times’ Web site with pages dedicated to three communities in New Jersey and two Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Nurture Journalistic Values Beyond Newsrooms (by Simon Dumenco, Advertising Age)
What if, instead of spending money on “retraining” journalists to function in the 21st century, we focused on creating systems and programs and media enterprises that helped quasi-journalists not only monetize their content-making, but also do something more solidly journalistic?

Copyright Holders Challenge Sites That Excerpt
Generally, excerpting content online have been considered legal, and for years it has been welcomed by major media companies, which were happy to receive pass-along traffic. But some media executives are concerned that the popular curators of the Web are taking large pieces of the original work.

Fortune’s Barney Gimbel Leaves Magazine Amid Plagiarism Charge
In its March 16 issue, Fortune magazine is issuing an apology to its readers for plagiarizing a New York Times Magazine article from 2004. The author of the Fortune story, a young, rising star at the magazine named Barney Gimbel, has offered his resignation.

Media Need Not Reveal Web Posters’ Identities 
Operators of newspaper Web sites, blogs and chat rooms that allow readers to post anonymous comments using pseudonyms do not have to readily reveal the posters’ identities in defamation suits, Maryland’s highest court ruled yesterday, further shaping an emerging area of First Amendment law in the Internet age. The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling and ordered that NewsZap.com, an online forum run by Independent Newspapers, does not have to disclose the identities of forum participants who engaged in an online exchange about the cleanliness of a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in 2006.

Washington Post Corrects a Goof on Doonesbury
After fisbowlDC pointed out that the Washington Post had run the comic series Doonesbury out of order in the paper — avoiding a strip that included a jab at the Post – executive editor Marcus Brauchli corrected the order.

Rocky Mountain News Bids Farewell in Final Edition (Editorial, Rocky Mountain News)
Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and the world, is over. Coloradans will remember this newspaper fondly from generation to generation, a reminder of Denver‘s history — the ambitions, foibles, and virtues of its settlers and those who followed.

Rocky staffers’ thoughts on their paper’s closing
CJR is soliciting them. Sports columnist Dave Krieger … writes: “The corporate suits come in and cry their crocodile tears, then whiz on home to continue collecting their seven-figure salaries, pleased to have rid their shareholders of the albatross that was a helluva newspaper. Scripps is in the best financial shape of any newspaper company in America, save the Washington Post Co.”

News Corp Shakeup Could See James Murdoch and Rebekah Wade Promoted
News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch is planning to relinquish substantial powers to son James and for him to take a major role in the US, leaving Sun editor Rebekah Wade to assume greater control of the media group’s UK operation.

Debt Tests Canadian Media Company
CanWest Global Communications, Canada’s leading newspaper publisher and a major television broadcaster, may soon be nearing default on its crushing debt load and possibly facing bankruptcy. The company also controls a television network in Australia and The New Republic.

Coming Monday to McClatchy: new social networking tools (McClatchy)
On Monday, March 2, McClatchyDC.com will launch a new system that will give registered users access to several new tools and features. You’ll still have the ability to comment on every story, but now you’ll also be able to track your activity, participate in forums and contact other users from a personal profile page that features user-selected avatars. Registered users of McClatchyDC.com won’t have to sign up again to use the new tools. You’ll use your existing user name and password.

Amazon Backs Down On Kindle 2 Text-To-Speech; Will Let Publishers Decide (Paid Content)
Following criticism by some authors, Amazon is pulling back on the experimental Text-to-Speech feature in the new Kindle 2. Instead of making the automated reader available across the board, the company announced late Friday it will let rightsholders choose title by title. Amazon maintains that it has the right to offer Text-to-Speech, insisting “Kindle 2′s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal: no copy is made, no derivative work is created, and no performance is being given.”  But Amazon, which owns audiobook companies Audible and Brilliance, also admits: “Nevertheless, we strongly believe many rightsholders will be more comfortable with the text-to-speech feature if they are in the driver’s seat.”

6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book (Mashable)
Online self-publishing services have given users the tools they need to create, publish and promote their work. These sites allow authors to bypass the process of finding an agent and pitching to publishing houses, a venture that can take months, if not years. Here are six great sites that will help you publish your work, guaranteeing you a published book that can be sold via different outlets, such as Amazon.

Readers Digest Gets Bold With New Mag Launches
Reader’s Digest Association is throwing Hail Mary passes, starting three new magazines in a down economy even as it sags under a mountain of debt that’s been slapped with a “junk” rating. CEO Mary Berner said the cost of the new titles is “far below the cost of a traditional magazine launch.”

Food Magazines Begin to Consider Cooks’ Budgets
As upscale food magazines like Gourmet and Food & Wine try to survive the shaky economy, it is out with the truffles, in with the button mushrooms.

Ad/Edit Wall Shaky in LHJ March Edition?
Some editors wonder if Ladies’ Home Journal was engaging in pay-for-play for its March issue featuring Ellen DeGeneres. DeGeneres appears on the cover and in a two-page Cover Girl ad immediately following. The advertiser then shows up again in the inside story on DeGeneres.

Hachette Restructures Women’s Magazines
Over the past decade, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. has closed magazine titles, cut staff and developed a mounting sense that its French parent has little regard for the U.S. unit’s management or its brands. This week, the New York publisher will reorganize its women’s magazines.

8020 Lands Investors, Plans to Relaunch JPG
Investors have acquired the assets of 8020 Media, which was shuttered earlier this year. The buyers — Millennium Ventures and Adorama Camera — expect to relaunch 8020′s flagship, JPG, a bimonthly photography magazine comprised of user-submitted content, in April.

Tough Times Force ASNE to Cancel Convention
The American Society of Newspaper Editors has canceled its annual convention “because of the challenging times we face,” said a memo. “It became increasingly clear in recent weeks that our attendance would be low because editors need to be in their own newsrooms during this difficult time.”
No reason they can’t meet online.  Webinars are becoming more and more popular.  But the more that meetings happen online the less will be the demand for air travel, hotel rooms, and rental cars.

Fine arts are in survival mode as funds dry up
The downturn walloping the entire economy has hit non-profit arts organizations especially hard. With millions of people scrambling to pay for food and other basics, a night at the opera can seem frivolous. So museums, symphonies, theaters, ballet companies and opera companies have cut staff, canceled performances, shortened seasons and, in some cases, shut down.

The silver screen, however, is a different matter:
In Downturn, Americans Flock to the Movies
Hollywood could get used to this recession thing. While much of the economy is teetering between bust and bailout, the movie industry has been startled by a box-office surge that has little precedent in the modern era. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion, according to Media by Numbers, a box-office tracking company. And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office surge in at least two decades.

The Prime-Time Dive (by Jon Fine, Business Week) (by Jon Fine, Business Week)
Prime time — that post-dinner, pre-late-news stretch of the networks’ glitziest offerings — may no longer be TV’s prime time. Since the new season began last September, the top five broadcast networks’ average audiences are down sharply in this time block, while late-night shows are up.

Fox Renews The Simpsons, Setting TV Record
On Thursday Fox said it had renewed The Simpsons for two more years, confirming that the animated series will become the longest-running prime time TV series in history. That record has been held for more than three decades by Gunsmoke, the TV Western that ended in 1975 after 20 years.

No ‘Call of Duty’ without ‘Rules of War’
Hugh Spencer wasn’t initially thrilled about the idea of his 13-year-old son playing “Call of Duty: World at War.” But he relented, on one condition: His son would have to read the Geneva Conventions first. And then play by those rules.

Sing along to songs from ‘High School Musical’ movies
If your kids are obsessed by all things High School Musical, then the new Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year video game will be right up your alley.

Laid Off Brandweek Editor Launches Sports Site 
Barry Janoff, who served as executive editor and sports editor a Brandweek magazine since 2001, was laid off last month as part of a consolidation at Nielsen. Since then, Janoff has been working full time on NYSportsJournalism.com, a daily sports marketing Web site he launched in mid-January.

Skittles Site Receives an Extreme Social Makeover (Mashable)
Many companies are starting to realize that whatever content they offer online, it still can’t match the various social media offerings out there, where the community contributes to the whole. Few, however, have taken it so far as candy maker Skittles, which replaced its entire homepage with its Twitter stream. The only think that’s left is a widget-like navigation console in the upper left part of the screen, but lo and behold: instead of pointing you to some company PR nonsense, it sends you to the Skittles entry on other popular social destinations: Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr.

Variety Shutters Social Net To Focus On Job Listings (Paid Content)
Less than a year after it started, Variety is shutting down its social networking and job listing site, The Biz, to focus exclusively on the job market. In an e-mail sent Thursday night to Biz subscribers, Variety said that starting Monday, users will be redirected to VarietyMediaCareers.com and their existing logins will still work. Among the new features: the ability to build resumes directly on the site, sign up for job alerts and the usual search functions.

Yahoo Open to Sale, Partnership for Search Business
Yahoo is open to selling its Web search business or entering into a partnership with another company, a top executive said. “We are not opposed to doing a deal that would maximize the value of the business in one way or another, be it a partnership or be it a long term sale,” Yahoo CFO Blake Jorgensen said.

Facebook And Twitter: We Couldn’t Agree On A Takeover Price (Paid Content)
So Facebook did indeed try to buy Twitter… Investor Peter Thiel told Business Week the two sides could not agree on price or the structure of the company when they discussed a deal in the autumn. That price issue was down to the value being paid in Facebook stock, and that meant agreeing on what Facebook was worth; Microsoft’s proposal just over one year might have valued the firm at $15bn, but Facebook’s own internal valuation was $3.7bn. Thiel said: “It became pretty clear it wasn’t going to happen. The deal would have to be done with Facebook stock. And then you have to figure out how much the stock is worth.”

40+ Places to Sell Your Designs Online (Mashable)
Whether you’re a graphic designer, web designer or other creative professional, finding work in a down economy can be tough. And what do you do when a client doesn’t want your brilliant design, or you have no work to do to begin with? Why not sell those rejected designs as templates, and spend your downtime competing against other designers for projects without having to schmooze the client first? Here are over 40 sites where you can sell everything from logos to web templates, photos, WordPress themes, and much more.

The SmartMoney’s On Scarcity; Personal Finance Site Cuts Ad Units (Paid Content)
Aside from the poor state of the economy and the media business in general, the downward spiral of display ad spending has pretty much been pinned on too much inventory and relatively little demand to fill it. Last October, the Hearst and Dow Jones-backed personal finance mag SmartMoney started to cut the amount of ads it ran on its site… The early outcome was a 21 percent gain in aggregate click-throughs, SmartMoney claims. And former advertisers like Scottrade and Options Xpress suddenly came back as well. In the end, the site’s Q4 inventory was sold out.

Product Placements, Deftly Woven Into the Story Line
A new show on BET, “Harlem Heights,” will incorporate Listerine, Zyrtec, Splenda and other Johnson & Johnson products into the show.

Chris Isaak Show Makes Debut With New Ad Format
The Chris Isaak Hour will contain only eight minutes of national advertising, down from 11 in a normal one-hour program, said A&E. Two of the show’s four commercial breaks will be limited to one 60-second advertisement. The format will not be used during repeats of the program.

TV.Com (and Star Trek) Come To iPhone (Mashable)
CBS has released an iPhone application that lets users watch full episodes of TV shows, including CSI and the good old Star Trek. This is the first time that iPhone users are getting the chance to watch full episodes of premium content on the device; watching user-generated YouTube clips is one thing, while watching a full episode of Star Trek is another. Other shows that are included are Late Show with David Letterman, The Young and the Restless, as well as some episodes of 90210 and Smallville.

The application is free, a nice touch from CBS who seem to understand that this is a great promotional vehicle, and not something you should use to rip your viewers off. Of course, you’ll need to watch your data plan carefully, or make sure you’re connected to a WiFi, otherwise you might find that your phone bill has gone where no phone bill has gone before.

World’s poor drive growth in global cell phone use
Six in ten people around the world now have cell phone subscriptions, signaling that mobile phones are the communications technology of choice, particularly in poor countries, according to a U.N. report published Monday.