From David Sirota:
Election '08 Meets The Great Education Myth
By David Sirota
Campaign for America's Future, 11/15/07
Regular readers know my frustration with what I previously deemed The
Great Education Myth in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle. This
myth, omniscient in our media and political debate, states that
America's problem with stagnating wages, job loss and benefits cuts
is a problem of education. If only workers were better educated, the
myth goes, their economic problems would be over.
This myth, which is a lobbyist creation designed to divert political
pressure away from reforming labor, trade and economic policies, was
most recently vomited up by a top editor and "expert" at one of the
largest magazines in America - and then obliterated by government
data and at least one leading presidential candidate.
To read the full post, go to:
http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/election_08_meets_great_education_myth
Wrap...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cancer truths interfere with money making...so don't let the truth out....
From In These Times:
News > November 7, 2007
Lobbying for Cancer
By Michelle Chen
Can data quality control be hazardous to your health?
Industry special interests are burying information on cancer-causing chemicals and, according to watchdog groups, the government is helping them do it—in the name of “data quality.”
In a study of the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program, OMB Watch, a DC-based policy-research group, reports that industry is frustrating the work of government researchers with petitions that are light on science but heavy with accusations of anti-business “bias.”
Public interest advocates warn that corporations are co-opting the federal Data Quality Act to paralyze scientists with frivolous allegations of inaccuracy, driving a stealth assault on public-health research.
In 2000, Congress passed the Data Quality Act under the guidance of lobbyist Jim Tozzi, a former administrator with the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan who now heads the industry-backed Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE). The two-paragraph statute broadly mandates that agencies uphold “the quality, objectivity, utility and integrity of information” they disseminate.
That’s a laudable principle, critics say, but the corporate-friendly Bush administration is promoting exploitation of the law.
“It’s provided a mechanism for industry associations to take another bite of the apple,” says OMB Watch analyst Clay Northouse, “to raise another challenge against a regulation coming into effect and affecting their business practices.”
In fiscal years 2003 and 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Health and Human Services and other federal bodies fielded 80 “substantive” Data Quality Act requests for corrections, more than half of which came from industry, according to the Government Accountability Office. The resulting bureaucratic review process could take as long as two years.
OMB Watch focused on the National Toxicology Program’s biennial “Report on Carcinogens,” which describes 1,700 substances linked to genetic mutations or cancer. Rigorously reviewed by toxicology experts, the research is used by health professionals, community groups and environmental regulators. The upcoming edition has been delayed by more than a year while Health and Human Services mulls 10 data-quality complaints from industries.
In 2004, Tozzi’s CRE filed petitions seeking formal review of the toxicology program’s research and peer-review procedures—specifically those concerning a widely used pesticide called Atrazine. Joining CRE were the Kansas Corn Growers Association and other trade groups.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group, has pushed the EPA (with little success) to more tightly regulate Atrazine. The organization says the complaints are not about ensuring the quality of information but about blocking it from public view.
“The CRE’s petition was aimed at preventing Atrazine from getting listed in the ‘Report on Carcinogens’ by preventing the entire report from getting issued,” says Jen Sass, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Tozzi, whose group openly receives funding from industry co-petitioners, acknowledges the stake in challenging government research. Because the data is used to create costly regulations, he contends, “of course the [DQA] is used by industry, because industry pays the bill.”
The American Chemistry Council, a trade association representing chemical manufacturers, tried to capitalize on the Data Quality Act in 2004 by protesting that a document used by the National Toxicology Program’s scientific reviewers “wrongly characterize[d] the cancer potential” of the industrial chemical naphthalene. This could lead to “product liability claims, diminished sales … and related commercial damage,” the association claimed.
After a year and a half of review, Health and Human Services denied the petition.
OMB Watch says that because there are other, more-reasonable safeguards for vetting information, like public comments, the government should place limits on data-quality petitions so that corporations have one less avenue to influence policies and science that protect the public.
Yet some watchdogs have wielded the Data Quality Act to beat industry at its own game. In 2004, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit group, successfully used the Act to challenge invalid scientific analyses that enabled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to inflate population assessments of endangered Florida Panthers.
Public interest groups, says PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, have “far more opportunities to expose industry manipulation of the science in the regulatory agencies than the industry has to expose anti-industry bias.”
Nonetheless, Rena Steinzor, an environmental law expert with the Center for Progressive Reform, says that even if some challenges are legitimate, the Data Quality Act ultimately bleeds an already embattled regulatory system.
“I just think it’s counterproductive,” says Steinzor. “These health and safety agencies—which have suffered a lot already from attacks from the Bush administration—don’t need to be any more demoralized and harassed.”
Wrap...
News > November 7, 2007
Lobbying for Cancer
By Michelle Chen
Can data quality control be hazardous to your health?
Industry special interests are burying information on cancer-causing chemicals and, according to watchdog groups, the government is helping them do it—in the name of “data quality.”
In a study of the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program, OMB Watch, a DC-based policy-research group, reports that industry is frustrating the work of government researchers with petitions that are light on science but heavy with accusations of anti-business “bias.”
Public interest advocates warn that corporations are co-opting the federal Data Quality Act to paralyze scientists with frivolous allegations of inaccuracy, driving a stealth assault on public-health research.
In 2000, Congress passed the Data Quality Act under the guidance of lobbyist Jim Tozzi, a former administrator with the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan who now heads the industry-backed Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE). The two-paragraph statute broadly mandates that agencies uphold “the quality, objectivity, utility and integrity of information” they disseminate.
That’s a laudable principle, critics say, but the corporate-friendly Bush administration is promoting exploitation of the law.
“It’s provided a mechanism for industry associations to take another bite of the apple,” says OMB Watch analyst Clay Northouse, “to raise another challenge against a regulation coming into effect and affecting their business practices.”
In fiscal years 2003 and 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Health and Human Services and other federal bodies fielded 80 “substantive” Data Quality Act requests for corrections, more than half of which came from industry, according to the Government Accountability Office. The resulting bureaucratic review process could take as long as two years.
OMB Watch focused on the National Toxicology Program’s biennial “Report on Carcinogens,” which describes 1,700 substances linked to genetic mutations or cancer. Rigorously reviewed by toxicology experts, the research is used by health professionals, community groups and environmental regulators. The upcoming edition has been delayed by more than a year while Health and Human Services mulls 10 data-quality complaints from industries.
In 2004, Tozzi’s CRE filed petitions seeking formal review of the toxicology program’s research and peer-review procedures—specifically those concerning a widely used pesticide called Atrazine. Joining CRE were the Kansas Corn Growers Association and other trade groups.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group, has pushed the EPA (with little success) to more tightly regulate Atrazine. The organization says the complaints are not about ensuring the quality of information but about blocking it from public view.
“The CRE’s petition was aimed at preventing Atrazine from getting listed in the ‘Report on Carcinogens’ by preventing the entire report from getting issued,” says Jen Sass, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Tozzi, whose group openly receives funding from industry co-petitioners, acknowledges the stake in challenging government research. Because the data is used to create costly regulations, he contends, “of course the [DQA] is used by industry, because industry pays the bill.”
The American Chemistry Council, a trade association representing chemical manufacturers, tried to capitalize on the Data Quality Act in 2004 by protesting that a document used by the National Toxicology Program’s scientific reviewers “wrongly characterize[d] the cancer potential” of the industrial chemical naphthalene. This could lead to “product liability claims, diminished sales … and related commercial damage,” the association claimed.
After a year and a half of review, Health and Human Services denied the petition.
OMB Watch says that because there are other, more-reasonable safeguards for vetting information, like public comments, the government should place limits on data-quality petitions so that corporations have one less avenue to influence policies and science that protect the public.
Yet some watchdogs have wielded the Data Quality Act to beat industry at its own game. In 2004, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit group, successfully used the Act to challenge invalid scientific analyses that enabled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to inflate population assessments of endangered Florida Panthers.
Public interest groups, says PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, have “far more opportunities to expose industry manipulation of the science in the regulatory agencies than the industry has to expose anti-industry bias.”
Nonetheless, Rena Steinzor, an environmental law expert with the Center for Progressive Reform, says that even if some challenges are legitimate, the Data Quality Act ultimately bleeds an already embattled regulatory system.
“I just think it’s counterproductive,” says Steinzor. “These health and safety agencies—which have suffered a lot already from attacks from the Bush administration—don’t need to be any more demoralized and harassed.”
Wrap...
More vet suicides than combat deaths...
From truthout.org :
The Veteran Suicide Epidemic
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111407O.shtml
CBS News reports: "a five-month CBS News investigation discovered data that shows a startling rate of suicide, what some call a hidden epidemic ... In 2005, for example, in just ... 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week, in just one year."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
The Veteran Suicide Epidemic
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111407O.shtml
CBS News reports: "a five-month CBS News investigation discovered data that shows a startling rate of suicide, what some call a hidden epidemic ... In 2005, for example, in just ... 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week, in just one year."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
An Odd Mix of Books coming up...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION/DEBUT:
Charles McCain's SEA EAGLE: A Novel of the Kriegsmarine at War, an epic story of WWII at sea told from the viewpoint of a German naval U-boat commander, to Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, by Deborah Grosvenor at Kneerim & Williams (World).
THRILLER:
Author of The Machiavelli Covenant and The Exile Allan Folsom's THE HADRIAN MEMORANDUM, to Bob Gleason at Forge, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (NA).
Tom Avitable's THE EIGHTH DAY, in which the science advisor to the President races to investigate simultaneous bombings of 17 US research facilities, but bureaucracy and power may be the greater enemies of America than the real world villains, to Tom Dwyer at Borders Group, in a nice deal, by Donald Maass of the Donald Maass Literary Agency (World English).
dmaass@maassagency.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis's untitled novel, in which the heroine starts a new restaurant in the Hamptons and encounters the ever-present struggle for status, which cause problems when the owner of an upscale food shop in East Hampton decides to sabotage all of her hard work, to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin's, by Heather Schroder at ICM (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Egyptologyist Joyce Tyldesley's CLEOPATRA: LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2008, by George Lucas at Inkwell Management, on behalf of Profile Books (NA).
Bestselling Yale historian Paul Kennedy's TURNING THE TIDE, exploring how the Second World War's grand strategic objectives, as set forth at the Casablanca conference in 1943, were actually achieved, in the crucial 18 months of the war, to Will Murphy at Random House, by Phyllis Westberg at Harold Ober Associates (US).
MEMOIR:
Oscar (The Last Picture Show) and nine-time Emmy winner Cloris Leachman's CLORIS, written with ex-husband George Englund, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, for publication in spring 2009, by Mitchell Walters at Curtis Brown (world). KAuerbach@Kensingtonbooks.com
Governor Jesse Ventura's DON'T START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME, working with author Dick Russell, revealing why he left politics, and discussing the disastrous war in Iraq, why he sees our two-party system as corrupt, and what Fidel Castro told him about who was really behind the assassination of President Kennedy, to Herman Graf at Skyhorse, for publication in April 2008, by Steve Schwartz at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.
steve@sarahjanefreymann.com
NARRATIVE:
Toronto Star editor Mark Richardson's ZEN AND NOW: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, part biography, part inner-journey, and part road-trip diary, to Diane Martin and Michael Schellenberg of Knopf Canada, and Sonny Mehta and Marty Asher at Knopf, for publication in fall 2008, by Ashton Westwood and Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists (world).
Rights: reckel@randomhouse.com
SPORTS:
New manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers Joe Torre's book about his 12-year tenure as manager of the New York Yankees, including his decision to walk way from the job, along with his candid reflections on the modern game of baseball, written with Sports Illustrated's lead baseball writer Tom Verducci, who will add his observations and reporting from the past 25 years, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, for publication in spring 2009, by David Black of the David Black Literary Agency, with Maury Gostfrand of Vision Sports Group representing Torre (world).
Wrap...
FICTION/DEBUT:
Charles McCain's SEA EAGLE: A Novel of the Kriegsmarine at War, an epic story of WWII at sea told from the viewpoint of a German naval U-boat commander, to Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, by Deborah Grosvenor at Kneerim & Williams (World).
THRILLER:
Author of The Machiavelli Covenant and The Exile Allan Folsom's THE HADRIAN MEMORANDUM, to Bob Gleason at Forge, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (NA).
Tom Avitable's THE EIGHTH DAY, in which the science advisor to the President races to investigate simultaneous bombings of 17 US research facilities, but bureaucracy and power may be the greater enemies of America than the real world villains, to Tom Dwyer at Borders Group, in a nice deal, by Donald Maass of the Donald Maass Literary Agency (World English).
dmaass@maassagency.com
GENERAL/OTHER:
Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis's untitled novel, in which the heroine starts a new restaurant in the Hamptons and encounters the ever-present struggle for status, which cause problems when the owner of an upscale food shop in East Hampton decides to sabotage all of her hard work, to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin's, by Heather Schroder at ICM (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Egyptologyist Joyce Tyldesley's CLEOPATRA: LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT, to Lara Heimert at Basic, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in Fall 2008, by George Lucas at Inkwell Management, on behalf of Profile Books (NA).
Bestselling Yale historian Paul Kennedy's TURNING THE TIDE, exploring how the Second World War's grand strategic objectives, as set forth at the Casablanca conference in 1943, were actually achieved, in the crucial 18 months of the war, to Will Murphy at Random House, by Phyllis Westberg at Harold Ober Associates (US).
MEMOIR:
Oscar (The Last Picture Show) and nine-time Emmy winner Cloris Leachman's CLORIS, written with ex-husband George Englund, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, for publication in spring 2009, by Mitchell Walters at Curtis Brown (world). KAuerbach@Kensingtonbooks.com
Governor Jesse Ventura's DON'T START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME, working with author Dick Russell, revealing why he left politics, and discussing the disastrous war in Iraq, why he sees our two-party system as corrupt, and what Fidel Castro told him about who was really behind the assassination of President Kennedy, to Herman Graf at Skyhorse, for publication in April 2008, by Steve Schwartz at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.
steve@sarahjanefreymann.com
NARRATIVE:
Toronto Star editor Mark Richardson's ZEN AND NOW: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, part biography, part inner-journey, and part road-trip diary, to Diane Martin and Michael Schellenberg of Knopf Canada, and Sonny Mehta and Marty Asher at Knopf, for publication in fall 2008, by Ashton Westwood and Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists (world).
Rights: reckel@randomhouse.com
SPORTS:
New manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers Joe Torre's book about his 12-year tenure as manager of the New York Yankees, including his decision to walk way from the job, along with his candid reflections on the modern game of baseball, written with Sports Illustrated's lead baseball writer Tom Verducci, who will add his observations and reporting from the past 25 years, to Bill Thomas at Doubleday, for publication in spring 2009, by David Black of the David Black Literary Agency, with Maury Gostfrand of Vision Sports Group representing Torre (world).
Wrap...
From DNI McConnell & resignation to Colbert's ineligability...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said a long-delayed National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran will soon be completed, though he said he will not release an unclassified version of the estimate's key judgments. Asked how he would respond if White House officials misused the NIE, McConnell said, "If it were cherry-picked in an inappropriate way, then for me there's a professional obligation to object, and I would submit my resignation."
The Bush administration has "had more turnover than any administration in recent history, going back to the Kennedy administration," with at least 150 former administration officials now working as lobbyists. "In its early years, the administration was estimated to have hired about 100 lobbyists."
Black Americans "are more dissatisfied with their progress than at any time in the past 20 years, and less than half say life will get better for them in the future." The new Pew Research Center poll also finds that "43% say the black-white economic gap has widened; 19% of whites say so."
The CIA has three video and audio recordings of interrogations of senior al Qaeda captives. "The disclosure that the government taped some interrogations of high-value detainees could invite fresh scrutiny of the CIA's treatment of so-called 'enemy combatants' who were held at secret prisons or U.S. bases overseas."
The deaths of at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis killed by Blackwater guards in a Sept. 16 shootout were "were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq," according to portions of the FBI investigation now under review by the Justice Department.
A lawsuit by former book publisher Judith Regan claims that an unnamed News Corp. exec "encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik" in order to "to protect the presidential aspirations of Rudolph W. Giuliani," Kerik's former friend and mentor.
"Senate Democrats might force Republicans to wage a filibuster if the GOP wants to block the latest Iraq withdrawal bill, aides and senators said Tuesday." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told The Hill that "a forced filibuster is 'possible' and would 'generate attention.'"
A measure of consumer confidence -- the "economic optimism index" -- "dropped to a two-year low in November, weighed down by housing market turmoil and surging oil prices, according to a survey released on Tuesday."
Refugees International reports that the U.S. government has been "unforgivably slow" in resettling Iraqi refugees and has failed to coordinate with its Arab allies to address the suffering of an estimated 4.5 million displaced Iraqis. A U.N. official underscored the growing problem of "survival sex" among Iraqi women refugees.
And finally: "Stephen Colbert may have abandoned his brief bid for the White House, but he ended up in a three-way tie for a seat on the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District Board." Colbert and two College of William and Mary students each received three write-in votes. Colbert's "electoral success will be fleeting, however," as he is not a registered voter in Williamsburg, VA, and is therefore ineligible to serve.
Wrap...
Think Fast...
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said a long-delayed National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran will soon be completed, though he said he will not release an unclassified version of the estimate's key judgments. Asked how he would respond if White House officials misused the NIE, McConnell said, "If it were cherry-picked in an inappropriate way, then for me there's a professional obligation to object, and I would submit my resignation."
The Bush administration has "had more turnover than any administration in recent history, going back to the Kennedy administration," with at least 150 former administration officials now working as lobbyists. "In its early years, the administration was estimated to have hired about 100 lobbyists."
Black Americans "are more dissatisfied with their progress than at any time in the past 20 years, and less than half say life will get better for them in the future." The new Pew Research Center poll also finds that "43% say the black-white economic gap has widened; 19% of whites say so."
The CIA has three video and audio recordings of interrogations of senior al Qaeda captives. "The disclosure that the government taped some interrogations of high-value detainees could invite fresh scrutiny of the CIA's treatment of so-called 'enemy combatants' who were held at secret prisons or U.S. bases overseas."
The deaths of at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis killed by Blackwater guards in a Sept. 16 shootout were "were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq," according to portions of the FBI investigation now under review by the Justice Department.
A lawsuit by former book publisher Judith Regan claims that an unnamed News Corp. exec "encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik" in order to "to protect the presidential aspirations of Rudolph W. Giuliani," Kerik's former friend and mentor.
"Senate Democrats might force Republicans to wage a filibuster if the GOP wants to block the latest Iraq withdrawal bill, aides and senators said Tuesday." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told The Hill that "a forced filibuster is 'possible' and would 'generate attention.'"
A measure of consumer confidence -- the "economic optimism index" -- "dropped to a two-year low in November, weighed down by housing market turmoil and surging oil prices, according to a survey released on Tuesday."
Refugees International reports that the U.S. government has been "unforgivably slow" in resettling Iraqi refugees and has failed to coordinate with its Arab allies to address the suffering of an estimated 4.5 million displaced Iraqis. A U.N. official underscored the growing problem of "survival sex" among Iraqi women refugees.
And finally: "Stephen Colbert may have abandoned his brief bid for the White House, but he ended up in a three-way tie for a seat on the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District Board." Colbert and two College of William and Mary students each received three write-in votes. Colbert's "electoral success will be fleeting, however," as he is not a registered voter in Williamsburg, VA, and is therefore ineligible to serve.
Wrap...
Bush criminally liable for torture...as well he should be.
From truthout.org :
Elizabeth Holtzman | Beyond Mukasey's Confirmation
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111407R.shtml
Writing for Truthout, Elizabeth Holtzman says, "Though it failed to send his nomination the way of Robert Bork, attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey's evasiveness on the definition of torture has done something historic. It has made it unmistakably clear to mainstream observers that the president may be criminally liable for violating anti-torture laws. Criminal liability of this White House will have wider repercussions than Mr. Mukasey's confirmation. It will reverberate through his tenure as attorney general, and beyond the end of the Bush administration."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Elizabeth Holtzman | Beyond Mukasey's Confirmation
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111407R.shtml
Writing for Truthout, Elizabeth Holtzman says, "Though it failed to send his nomination the way of Robert Bork, attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey's evasiveness on the definition of torture has done something historic. It has made it unmistakably clear to mainstream observers that the president may be criminally liable for violating anti-torture laws. Criminal liability of this White House will have wider repercussions than Mr. Mukasey's confirmation. It will reverberate through his tenure as attorney general, and beyond the end of the Bush administration."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Congress: Minute by minute activities....
From Political Wire:
Note: Political Wire featured this most interesting website. Here's a sample:
The Score
House Floor Ticker
Wed 09:03 PM
DEBATE - The House resumed debate on H.R. 4156.
Call of the House Quorum responded: (Roll No. 1106).... »
H.R. 4156: making emergency supplemental appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other... »
Wed 08:44 PM
H.R. 4156: making emergency supplemental appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other... »
Wed 07:10 PM
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 818, the House proceeded with 2 hours of debate on H.R. 4156.
Rule provides for consideration ... »
Wed 07:09 PM
Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 818.
Mr. Arcuri filed reports from the Committee on Rules, H. Res. 824 and H. Res. 8... »
View recent activity »
[Use link below to continue reading]
http://www.legistorm.com/score.html
Wrap...
Note: Political Wire featured this most interesting website. Here's a sample:
The Score
House Floor Ticker
Wed 09:03 PM
DEBATE - The House resumed debate on H.R. 4156.
Call of the House Quorum responded: (Roll No. 1106).... »
H.R. 4156: making emergency supplemental appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other... »
Wed 08:44 PM
H.R. 4156: making emergency supplemental appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other... »
Wed 07:10 PM
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 818, the House proceeded with 2 hours of debate on H.R. 4156.
Rule provides for consideration ... »
Wed 07:09 PM
Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 818.
Mr. Arcuri filed reports from the Committee on Rules, H. Res. 824 and H. Res. 8... »
View recent activity »
[Use link below to continue reading]
http://www.legistorm.com/score.html
Wrap...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
KLSD Progressive radio in San Diego has a BLOG!!!
From KLSD Blog:
Here are the first two posts:
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Keep your comments coming...
It has been encouraging and exhausing to read through the many emails I have been getting and to talk to listeners on the phone. My phone message stack is getting thinner, but I still have quite a few people to call back. Be patient with me.
We've been getting lots of emails, phone calls and letters and I encourage everyone to share this site with your friends and keep them coming. It may help get the approval we need from the progressive talk networks to carry the format on one of our new FM HD channels. Yes, it's new, but more and more HD radios are coming down in price into the affordable range and the progressive talk is at the leading edge anyway.
Again, thanks for sharing your comments here. You should know that your favorite talk hosts are checking out this site every day. i.e. Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, etc.
More later, Cliff
Posted by Cliff at 9:49 AM
Monday, November 12, 2007
Welcome to KLSD listeners!
Welcome to the San Diego Progressive Talk blog. This is going to be a place where former KLSD listeners can come to share their thoughts, their desires and their hopes for progressive talk in San Diego. Effective Monday Nov. 12th at 3 p.m., KLSD-AM switched to XTRA Sports 1360 AM. This was a business decision based on the fact that while we were able to survive for four years since the launch of Progressive Talk AM 1360 KLSD, we have been unable to make it a financial success so that we could continue the format. Sports talk radio attracts more traditional radio advertisers than progressive talk.
We do thank you for your support over the last four years so that we could keep San Diego's progressive talk voice alive during that time on KLSD. You have been a part of clearly the most loyal audience of any radio station in our community."While the format has had some challenges being financially successful, the progressive voice will not go away in our community. It will exist in other forms, from the individual voices of our listeners and believers in the progressive cause, to some of our talk show hosts who will continue to be heard in San Diego on traditional radio, around the world on satellite radio, Internet radio and high-tech wireless.
And remember, your support of KLSD and the efforts of our talk show hosts and all those responsible for our format over the last four years, have not been in vain. Anything but. You can take heart in the fact that we all have been able during these last four years to bring to life the progressive voice in San Diego that had been far too dormant in the years before. You and our talk hosts have made a difference in San Diego. And we thank you.
Cliff
Posted by Cliff at 10:47 AM
http://sandiegoprogressivetalk.blogspot.com/
[Use link above to get to KLSD blog and read comments]
Wrap...
Here are the first two posts:
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Keep your comments coming...
It has been encouraging and exhausing to read through the many emails I have been getting and to talk to listeners on the phone. My phone message stack is getting thinner, but I still have quite a few people to call back. Be patient with me.
We've been getting lots of emails, phone calls and letters and I encourage everyone to share this site with your friends and keep them coming. It may help get the approval we need from the progressive talk networks to carry the format on one of our new FM HD channels. Yes, it's new, but more and more HD radios are coming down in price into the affordable range and the progressive talk is at the leading edge anyway.
Again, thanks for sharing your comments here. You should know that your favorite talk hosts are checking out this site every day. i.e. Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, etc.
More later, Cliff
Posted by Cliff at 9:49 AM
Monday, November 12, 2007
Welcome to KLSD listeners!
Welcome to the San Diego Progressive Talk blog. This is going to be a place where former KLSD listeners can come to share their thoughts, their desires and their hopes for progressive talk in San Diego. Effective Monday Nov. 12th at 3 p.m., KLSD-AM switched to XTRA Sports 1360 AM. This was a business decision based on the fact that while we were able to survive for four years since the launch of Progressive Talk AM 1360 KLSD, we have been unable to make it a financial success so that we could continue the format. Sports talk radio attracts more traditional radio advertisers than progressive talk.
We do thank you for your support over the last four years so that we could keep San Diego's progressive talk voice alive during that time on KLSD. You have been a part of clearly the most loyal audience of any radio station in our community."While the format has had some challenges being financially successful, the progressive voice will not go away in our community. It will exist in other forms, from the individual voices of our listeners and believers in the progressive cause, to some of our talk show hosts who will continue to be heard in San Diego on traditional radio, around the world on satellite radio, Internet radio and high-tech wireless.
And remember, your support of KLSD and the efforts of our talk show hosts and all those responsible for our format over the last four years, have not been in vain. Anything but. You can take heart in the fact that we all have been able during these last four years to bring to life the progressive voice in San Diego that had been far too dormant in the years before. You and our talk hosts have made a difference in San Diego. And we thank you.
Cliff
Posted by Cliff at 10:47 AM
http://sandiegoprogressivetalk.blogspot.com/
[Use link above to get to KLSD blog and read comments]
Wrap...
Clinton and Obama vote for Peru NAFTA deal...Bad.
From AlterNet via truthout.org:
Joshua Holland | Why on Earth Are Hillary and Obama Supporting Pro-Corporate Trade Deals?
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/111307LA.shtml
Writing for AlterNet.org, Joshua Holland says, "With the announcement that Hillary Clinton will join Barack Obama in supporting a new trade deal with Peru that passed in the House last week, the divide between the two Democratic front-runners and the American electorate couldn't be clearer."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Joshua Holland | Why on Earth Are Hillary and Obama Supporting Pro-Corporate Trade Deals?
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/111307LA.shtml
Writing for AlterNet.org, Joshua Holland says, "With the announcement that Hillary Clinton will join Barack Obama in supporting a new trade deal with Peru that passed in the House last week, the divide between the two Democratic front-runners and the American electorate couldn't be clearer."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Mukasey gives reason to hope at DOJ...
From AP via truthout.org :
Go to Original
Domestic Spying Inquiry Restarted at DOJ
By Devlin Barrett
The Associated Press
Tuesday 13 November 2007
Washington - The Justice Department has reopened a long-dormant inquiry into the government's warrantless wiretapping program, a major policy shift only days into the tenure of new Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
The investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility was shut down after the previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, refused to grant security clearances to investigators.
"We recently received the necessary security clearances and are now able to proceed with our investigation," H. Marshall Jarrett, counsel for the OPR, wrote to New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey. A copy of the letter, dated Tuesday, was obtained by The Associated Press.
Hinchey and other Democrats have long sought an investigation into the spying program, to see if it complies with the law. Efforts to investigate the program have been rebuffed by the Bush administration.
The OPR investigation was begun in February 2006, but was shut down a few months later when the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the security clearances to ask questions about the program.
The Office of Professional Responsibility was created to ensure that Justice Department lawyers do not violate any ethical rules. It is not authorized to investigate activities of the National Security Agency.
President Bush's decision to authorize the spy agency to monitor people inside the United States, without warrants, generated a host of questions about the program's legal justification.
The administration has vehemently defended the eavesdropping, saying the NSA's activities were narrowly targeted to intercept international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the U.S. with suspected ties to the al-Qaida terror network.
A separate Department of Justice internal investigation was also launched by the agency's inspector general, but Democrats have criticized that review for not attempting to determine whether the program violates federal law.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will issue a ceremonial oath of office Wednesday to Mukasey, a retired federal judge who has promised to enforce laws fairly and independent of political pressure during his short term at Justice.
The White House said that President Bush also will speak at the ceremony, set for 10:10 a.m. EST, after which Mukasey will address his employees for the first time.
Mukasey was officially sworn in last Friday in a brief rite, a private ceremony with little pomp and publicity, allowing him to start receiving daily classified briefings from his national security aides. Roberts will re-enact the oath in front of hundreds of dignitaries and departmental attorneys - with potentially thousands of other employees across the country watching on the department's internal TV network.
Mukasey, the third attorney general of the Bush administration, has 14 months until the president's term is up to turn around the beleaguered department. Gonzales resigned in September amid charges that he allowed politics to illegally interfere with personnel decisions and lied to Congress about national security programs.
An ongoing department investigation also is looking at last year's firings of nine U.S. attorneys - and whether at least one of them was dismissed because he refused to target Democratic candidates shortly before the 2006 elections.
Mukasey, whom Bush nominated the day Gonzales left, has made clear to Congress that he will not tolerate political meddling at the department, and promised to fire anyone who allows it.
Mukasey is a retired chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. His confirmation hit a brief - but serious - snag after he refused to say point-blank that he considered a harsh interrogation tactic known as waterboarding to be a form of torture. The Senate narrowly confirmed him late Thursday, 53-40. Critics noted that marked the slimmest margin by which an attorney general was confirmed in more than 50 years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this story.
Wrap...
Go to Original
Domestic Spying Inquiry Restarted at DOJ
By Devlin Barrett
The Associated Press
Tuesday 13 November 2007
Washington - The Justice Department has reopened a long-dormant inquiry into the government's warrantless wiretapping program, a major policy shift only days into the tenure of new Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
The investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility was shut down after the previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, refused to grant security clearances to investigators.
"We recently received the necessary security clearances and are now able to proceed with our investigation," H. Marshall Jarrett, counsel for the OPR, wrote to New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey. A copy of the letter, dated Tuesday, was obtained by The Associated Press.
Hinchey and other Democrats have long sought an investigation into the spying program, to see if it complies with the law. Efforts to investigate the program have been rebuffed by the Bush administration.
The OPR investigation was begun in February 2006, but was shut down a few months later when the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the security clearances to ask questions about the program.
The Office of Professional Responsibility was created to ensure that Justice Department lawyers do not violate any ethical rules. It is not authorized to investigate activities of the National Security Agency.
President Bush's decision to authorize the spy agency to monitor people inside the United States, without warrants, generated a host of questions about the program's legal justification.
The administration has vehemently defended the eavesdropping, saying the NSA's activities were narrowly targeted to intercept international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the U.S. with suspected ties to the al-Qaida terror network.
A separate Department of Justice internal investigation was also launched by the agency's inspector general, but Democrats have criticized that review for not attempting to determine whether the program violates federal law.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will issue a ceremonial oath of office Wednesday to Mukasey, a retired federal judge who has promised to enforce laws fairly and independent of political pressure during his short term at Justice.
The White House said that President Bush also will speak at the ceremony, set for 10:10 a.m. EST, after which Mukasey will address his employees for the first time.
Mukasey was officially sworn in last Friday in a brief rite, a private ceremony with little pomp and publicity, allowing him to start receiving daily classified briefings from his national security aides. Roberts will re-enact the oath in front of hundreds of dignitaries and departmental attorneys - with potentially thousands of other employees across the country watching on the department's internal TV network.
Mukasey, the third attorney general of the Bush administration, has 14 months until the president's term is up to turn around the beleaguered department. Gonzales resigned in September amid charges that he allowed politics to illegally interfere with personnel decisions and lied to Congress about national security programs.
An ongoing department investigation also is looking at last year's firings of nine U.S. attorneys - and whether at least one of them was dismissed because he refused to target Democratic candidates shortly before the 2006 elections.
Mukasey, whom Bush nominated the day Gonzales left, has made clear to Congress that he will not tolerate political meddling at the department, and promised to fire anyone who allows it.
Mukasey is a retired chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. His confirmation hit a brief - but serious - snag after he refused to say point-blank that he considered a harsh interrogation tactic known as waterboarding to be a form of torture. The Senate narrowly confirmed him late Thursday, 53-40. Critics noted that marked the slimmest margin by which an attorney general was confirmed in more than 50 years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this story.
Wrap...
From family of 4 owes $20,000 for war & Rumsfeld joins exclusive club...
From American Progress:
Think Fast....
The "hidden" economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, costing the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000. The total includes higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans, and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.
"The income gap between black and white families has grown," according to a new study by the Brookings Institution. One reason for the widening gap is that "incomes among black men have actually declined in the past three decades, when adjusted for inflation."
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is being urged by Justice Department employees in Minnesota, along with prominent lawyers and law professors in the state, to consider an "early visit to the United States Attorney's Office in Minneapolis" to learn "what he is up against in restoring stability to the Justice Department."
"The fact that reports of torture and mistreatment are now widely circulated" means that "NATO forces may be breaching their own operating rules by handing detainees to Afghan security services despite reports that they torture their prisoners," according to Amnesty International.
$19.5 million: Amount PhRMA spent from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, aimed at killing legislation to speed the availability of less expensive generic drugs.
Though Gen. David Petraeus describes "the Joint Campaign Plan as the key military and diplomatic strategy to stabilize Iraq," Congress has yet to see a current copy of the plan, "despite repeat efforts" by the leadership and promises from the Pentagon.
Rocket and mortar attacks have fallen to their lowest level in nearly two years. Civilian deaths have dropped sharply since summer. "I think it has turned a corner," Gen. Richard Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army, said on Monday.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is considering "reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make thousands of people immediately eligible to be freed." TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt has more.
Seventeen entertainment blogs will today go dark in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. They will replace their usual content with WGA "solidarity statements."
And finally: Donald Rumsfeld is now a member of the University Club of Washington, DC, "one of the premier private city clubs in the country." Yet it is in competition with two others in the city -- the Metropolitan and Cosmos Clubs. In 2003, Charles Pierce wrote in the Boston Globe, "There's an old Washington joke about various clubs around town: At the University Club, you need money and no brains, at the Cosmos Club, you need brains and no money, and at the Metropolitan Club, you don't need either one."
Wrap...
Think Fast....
The "hidden" economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, costing the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000. The total includes higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans, and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.
"The income gap between black and white families has grown," according to a new study by the Brookings Institution. One reason for the widening gap is that "incomes among black men have actually declined in the past three decades, when adjusted for inflation."
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is being urged by Justice Department employees in Minnesota, along with prominent lawyers and law professors in the state, to consider an "early visit to the United States Attorney's Office in Minneapolis" to learn "what he is up against in restoring stability to the Justice Department."
"The fact that reports of torture and mistreatment are now widely circulated" means that "NATO forces may be breaching their own operating rules by handing detainees to Afghan security services despite reports that they torture their prisoners," according to Amnesty International.
$19.5 million: Amount PhRMA spent from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, aimed at killing legislation to speed the availability of less expensive generic drugs.
Though Gen. David Petraeus describes "the Joint Campaign Plan as the key military and diplomatic strategy to stabilize Iraq," Congress has yet to see a current copy of the plan, "despite repeat efforts" by the leadership and promises from the Pentagon.
Rocket and mortar attacks have fallen to their lowest level in nearly two years. Civilian deaths have dropped sharply since summer. "I think it has turned a corner," Gen. Richard Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army, said on Monday.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is considering "reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make thousands of people immediately eligible to be freed." TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt has more.
Seventeen entertainment blogs will today go dark in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. They will replace their usual content with WGA "solidarity statements."
And finally: Donald Rumsfeld is now a member of the University Club of Washington, DC, "one of the premier private city clubs in the country." Yet it is in competition with two others in the city -- the Metropolitan and Cosmos Clubs. In 2003, Charles Pierce wrote in the Boston Globe, "There's an old Washington joke about various clubs around town: At the University Club, you need money and no brains, at the Cosmos Club, you need brains and no money, and at the Metropolitan Club, you don't need either one."
Wrap...
Great idea! No doubt Bush will veto....
From Facing South:
Friday, November 02, 2007
Hope after Katrina: Gulf Civic Works bill introduced
One of the biggest problems in the post-Katrina recovery that we found in our recent report, Blueprint for Gulf Renewal, was jobs. According to Institute analysis, there are still about 100,000 fewer jobs in the Gulf than there was pre-Katrina -- a major barrier to families trying to get home. What's more, many of the rebuilding jobs are unstable and low-paying.
It wouldn't be hard to tackle the problem. As we've mentioned before, a Gulf Coast Civic Works program could quickly put 100,000 people to work rebuilding their communities at a living wage. All for not a lot of money -- less than $4 billion, half what we spend in Iraq every month.
That's why it's encouraging to see the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act introduced by Reps Zoe Lofgren (CA), Charlie Melancon (LA) and Gene Taylor (MS)in Congress. Here's the announcement from ACORN, the RFK Memorial and Scott Meyers-Lipton, a tireless advocate of the Civic Works idea (visit his site here):
This legislation would create stronger and more equitable communities by funding and implementing critical infrastructure projects, directly creating 100,000 jobs for displaced and current residents. The bill creates partnerships to rebuild neighborhoods across the region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
“Communities across the Gulf Coast suffer from crumbling roads and water systems, ill constructed flood protection, and closed police stations, fire house, schools and hospitals,” says Stephen Bradberry, head state organizer of ACORN Louisiana, the region’s largest association of low and middle income families. “We have an opportunity to jumpstart the recovery by empowering communities with the resources they need to lead.”
The bill addresses the community infrastructure needs, including education, public safety and transportation, which have kept displaced families from returning. It promotes sustainable economic development by giving priority to local businesses for contracts, developing the local workforce and upgrading services while providing opportunities for returning and displaced residents to pull themselves into the middle class through living wage jobs.
“During the New Deal the federal government partnered with communities to create 4 million jobs in two months building or repairing thousands of hospitals, schools, and playgrounds through public works programs,” says Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, San Jose State professor and Gulf Coast Civic Works Project organizer. “This is exactly what the Gulf Coast now needs.”
You can find a bill summary here (pdf). For a full text of the legislation, visit here (pdf).
posted by Chris Kromm at 11:57 AM
Wrap...
Friday, November 02, 2007
Hope after Katrina: Gulf Civic Works bill introduced
One of the biggest problems in the post-Katrina recovery that we found in our recent report, Blueprint for Gulf Renewal, was jobs. According to Institute analysis, there are still about 100,000 fewer jobs in the Gulf than there was pre-Katrina -- a major barrier to families trying to get home. What's more, many of the rebuilding jobs are unstable and low-paying.
It wouldn't be hard to tackle the problem. As we've mentioned before, a Gulf Coast Civic Works program could quickly put 100,000 people to work rebuilding their communities at a living wage. All for not a lot of money -- less than $4 billion, half what we spend in Iraq every month.
That's why it's encouraging to see the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act introduced by Reps Zoe Lofgren (CA), Charlie Melancon (LA) and Gene Taylor (MS)in Congress. Here's the announcement from ACORN, the RFK Memorial and Scott Meyers-Lipton, a tireless advocate of the Civic Works idea (visit his site here):
This legislation would create stronger and more equitable communities by funding and implementing critical infrastructure projects, directly creating 100,000 jobs for displaced and current residents. The bill creates partnerships to rebuild neighborhoods across the region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
“Communities across the Gulf Coast suffer from crumbling roads and water systems, ill constructed flood protection, and closed police stations, fire house, schools and hospitals,” says Stephen Bradberry, head state organizer of ACORN Louisiana, the region’s largest association of low and middle income families. “We have an opportunity to jumpstart the recovery by empowering communities with the resources they need to lead.”
The bill addresses the community infrastructure needs, including education, public safety and transportation, which have kept displaced families from returning. It promotes sustainable economic development by giving priority to local businesses for contracts, developing the local workforce and upgrading services while providing opportunities for returning and displaced residents to pull themselves into the middle class through living wage jobs.
“During the New Deal the federal government partnered with communities to create 4 million jobs in two months building or repairing thousands of hospitals, schools, and playgrounds through public works programs,” says Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, San Jose State professor and Gulf Coast Civic Works Project organizer. “This is exactly what the Gulf Coast now needs.”
You can find a bill summary here (pdf). For a full text of the legislation, visit here (pdf).
posted by Chris Kromm at 11:57 AM
Wrap...
Monday, November 12, 2007
On the loss of San Diego's Progressive Radio KLSD...
From The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Radio should go left, right and up, but the loss of voices takes it down
By Karla Peterson
TELEVISION CRITIC
November 12, 2007
He is rich, famous and aging very nicely. But while Bruce Springsteen may look like a man who has everything, his single “Radio Nowhere” suggests that at least one area of his life could use some work.
I want a thousand guitars, he sings. I want pounding drums/I want a million different voices speaking in tongues.
Bruce may be cash rich, but he is radio poor. And if your Radio Somewhere happens to be San Diego, your assets aren't what they used to be, either.
After months of doomsday buzz from the industry and some heartfelt protests from supporters, progressive talk-radio outlet KLSD/AM 1360 is going dark.
Last Friday, the Clear Channel-owned KLSD becomes XTRA Sports Radio, whose lineup will include shows by Lee Hamilton, Chris Ello and sportswriters from the Union-Tribune. Liberal rants and raves from San Diego's Stacy Taylor and such Air America favorites as Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann will give way to Padres talk and Chargers chat. And our radio chorus will be missing the robust voice of dissent.
Through the years, many radio experts have said that San Diego has one of the most diverse dials in the country, and that San Diego listeners don't know how lucky we are. And the experts have a point.
We don't have a strong classical-music presence, and our college-radio stations are stranded in the cable hinterlands. But we do have multiple country, alternative-rock, hip-hop and Spanish-language stations, along with classic rock, hard rock, smooth jazz, traditional jazz, old-school R&B, public radio, and enough pop-happy contemporary-hits stations to keep Pink in the black for the rest of her colorful life.
We used to have four major political talk-radio stations, but now that KLSD is gone, we are down to three. And when it comes to talk-radio viewpoints, we are down to one.
Like it or not (and judging by its consistently anemic ratings, plenty of people fell into the “not” camp), KLSD was an important part of the local radio landscape. Not because it was liberal, but because being liberal meant it was different.
When it comes to music, San Diego radio is a comforting cacophony of sounds and languages. When it comes to talk, we have become a mono town.
From Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger on KOGO-AM, to Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity on KFMB-AM to Bill Bennett and Laura Ingraham on KCBQ-AM, the San Diego talk-radio landscape is dominated by personalities who do their talking from the conservative side of the political fence.
Depending on your point of view, this is either a great thing or a horrific thing. But there is no question that it is a boring thing.
Variety is not only the spice of life, it is the life blood of culture. And when your cultural options get smaller, life gets smaller, too.
When the lowly rated KSCF/103.7 FM dropped its ribald Free FM all-talk format in June to become the peppy Radio Sophie, I didn't think I would mind much. But it turns out that I do.
For reasons that remain mysterious even to me, I miss Adam Carolla's hairy morning zoo. But mostly, I miss the twisted evenings I spent hearing Tom Leykis giving politically incorrect advice to the many misguided male souls who packed his audio locker room. I didn't belong there, but thanks to my radio, I could lurk as long as I liked. And it was fascinating.
When Free FM changed formats, we lost a voice we weren't hearing anywhere else and we gained another place to hear Maroon 5. When KLSD becomes XTRA, we add a third sports station to the lineup and we lose the only progressive-talk station we had.
One of the great joys of radio is its ability to let you explore various worlds just by scanning the dial. You may not want to live in some of these places, but when they disappear, your visitation rights disappear right along with them.
Like Bruce, I would love to hear a million different voices speaking in tongues. But right now, I would be happy just to hear the howl of KLSD's lone radio wolf.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karla Peterson: karla.peterson@uniontrib.com; (619) 293-1275.
Wrap...
Radio should go left, right and up, but the loss of voices takes it down
By Karla Peterson
TELEVISION CRITIC
November 12, 2007
He is rich, famous and aging very nicely. But while Bruce Springsteen may look like a man who has everything, his single “Radio Nowhere” suggests that at least one area of his life could use some work.
I want a thousand guitars, he sings. I want pounding drums/I want a million different voices speaking in tongues.
Bruce may be cash rich, but he is radio poor. And if your Radio Somewhere happens to be San Diego, your assets aren't what they used to be, either.
After months of doomsday buzz from the industry and some heartfelt protests from supporters, progressive talk-radio outlet KLSD/AM 1360 is going dark.
Last Friday, the Clear Channel-owned KLSD becomes XTRA Sports Radio, whose lineup will include shows by Lee Hamilton, Chris Ello and sportswriters from the Union-Tribune. Liberal rants and raves from San Diego's Stacy Taylor and such Air America favorites as Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann will give way to Padres talk and Chargers chat. And our radio chorus will be missing the robust voice of dissent.
Through the years, many radio experts have said that San Diego has one of the most diverse dials in the country, and that San Diego listeners don't know how lucky we are. And the experts have a point.
We don't have a strong classical-music presence, and our college-radio stations are stranded in the cable hinterlands. But we do have multiple country, alternative-rock, hip-hop and Spanish-language stations, along with classic rock, hard rock, smooth jazz, traditional jazz, old-school R&B, public radio, and enough pop-happy contemporary-hits stations to keep Pink in the black for the rest of her colorful life.
We used to have four major political talk-radio stations, but now that KLSD is gone, we are down to three. And when it comes to talk-radio viewpoints, we are down to one.
Like it or not (and judging by its consistently anemic ratings, plenty of people fell into the “not” camp), KLSD was an important part of the local radio landscape. Not because it was liberal, but because being liberal meant it was different.
When it comes to music, San Diego radio is a comforting cacophony of sounds and languages. When it comes to talk, we have become a mono town.
From Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger on KOGO-AM, to Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity on KFMB-AM to Bill Bennett and Laura Ingraham on KCBQ-AM, the San Diego talk-radio landscape is dominated by personalities who do their talking from the conservative side of the political fence.
Depending on your point of view, this is either a great thing or a horrific thing. But there is no question that it is a boring thing.
Variety is not only the spice of life, it is the life blood of culture. And when your cultural options get smaller, life gets smaller, too.
When the lowly rated KSCF/103.7 FM dropped its ribald Free FM all-talk format in June to become the peppy Radio Sophie, I didn't think I would mind much. But it turns out that I do.
For reasons that remain mysterious even to me, I miss Adam Carolla's hairy morning zoo. But mostly, I miss the twisted evenings I spent hearing Tom Leykis giving politically incorrect advice to the many misguided male souls who packed his audio locker room. I didn't belong there, but thanks to my radio, I could lurk as long as I liked. And it was fascinating.
When Free FM changed formats, we lost a voice we weren't hearing anywhere else and we gained another place to hear Maroon 5. When KLSD becomes XTRA, we add a third sports station to the lineup and we lose the only progressive-talk station we had.
One of the great joys of radio is its ability to let you explore various worlds just by scanning the dial. You may not want to live in some of these places, but when they disappear, your visitation rights disappear right along with them.
Like Bruce, I would love to hear a million different voices speaking in tongues. But right now, I would be happy just to hear the howl of KLSD's lone radio wolf.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karla Peterson: karla.peterson@uniontrib.com; (619) 293-1275.
Wrap...
Cuba's International Trade Fair vs BushCo....
From The International Herald Tribune:
Letter from Cuba: Trade fair draws over 100 U.S. businesses
By James C. McKinley Jr.
Published: November 12, 2007
HAVANA: A trade fair in Communist Cuba is perhaps the last place you would expect to find a Republican governor from the American heartland. Yet last week Governor Dave Heineman of Nebraska was here to sign a deal to export $11 million worth of his state's wheat to the island.
Asked the obvious question about whether longstanding American trade sanctions should be lifted, Heineman ducked and weaved like a professional boxer. "Well, I try not to get into that, because that's up to the president and the Congress, but I will say expanding trade relationships is good for Nebraska and altogether good for America," he said.
Just weeks after President George W. Bush delivered an address calling on the world to isolate Cuba, officials from Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio - and more than 100 American businesses - were working the giant Havana International Fair, trying to secure part of the $1.6 billion the Cuban government spends each year to import sugar, wheat, livestock, poultry and beans, among other staples. Those business interests clash with the Bush administration's anti-Castro policies, as well as the need of both Democrats and Republicans to court Cuban exiles in Florida, a crucial voting bloc. So while some trade with Cuba is allowed, it is fraught with restrictions. A 1992 law, for instance, denies ships access to American ports for six months after they have docked in Cuba, making shipping tricky, to say the least.
Several Americans here said they were frustrated that the sanctions have proved more a source of irritation for those who want to do business with Cuba than a crippling blow to Fidel Castro.
"They are doing everything they can to make it difficult," said Ralph Kaehler, a Minnesota farmer who sells cattle feed in Cuba. "It's unfortunate."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/12/america/letter.php?WT.mc_id=newsalert
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap....
Letter from Cuba: Trade fair draws over 100 U.S. businesses
By James C. McKinley Jr.
Published: November 12, 2007
HAVANA: A trade fair in Communist Cuba is perhaps the last place you would expect to find a Republican governor from the American heartland. Yet last week Governor Dave Heineman of Nebraska was here to sign a deal to export $11 million worth of his state's wheat to the island.
Asked the obvious question about whether longstanding American trade sanctions should be lifted, Heineman ducked and weaved like a professional boxer. "Well, I try not to get into that, because that's up to the president and the Congress, but I will say expanding trade relationships is good for Nebraska and altogether good for America," he said.
Just weeks after President George W. Bush delivered an address calling on the world to isolate Cuba, officials from Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio - and more than 100 American businesses - were working the giant Havana International Fair, trying to secure part of the $1.6 billion the Cuban government spends each year to import sugar, wheat, livestock, poultry and beans, among other staples. Those business interests clash with the Bush administration's anti-Castro policies, as well as the need of both Democrats and Republicans to court Cuban exiles in Florida, a crucial voting bloc. So while some trade with Cuba is allowed, it is fraught with restrictions. A 1992 law, for instance, denies ships access to American ports for six months after they have docked in Cuba, making shipping tricky, to say the least.
Several Americans here said they were frustrated that the sanctions have proved more a source of irritation for those who want to do business with Cuba than a crippling blow to Fidel Castro.
"They are doing everything they can to make it difficult," said Ralph Kaehler, a Minnesota farmer who sells cattle feed in Cuba. "It's unfortunate."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/12/america/letter.php?WT.mc_id=newsalert
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap....
BushCo to interrogators: GET EVIDENCE AGAINST IRAN...
From The Observer:
Iraqi fighters 'grilled for evidence on Iran'
Interrogator says US military seeks evidence incriminating Tehran
David Smith in Baghdad
Sunday November 11, 2007
The Observer
US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi insurgents to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran, it was claimed last night.
Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for American forces in Iraq, near the Iranian border, told The Observer that information on Iran is 'gold'. The claim comes after Washington imposed sanctions on Iran last month, citing both its nuclear ambitions and its Revolutionary Guards' alleged support of Shia insurgents in Iraq. Last week the US military freed nine Iranians held in Iraq, including two it had accused of links to the Revolutionary Guards' Qods Force.
Brose, 30, who extracts information from detainees in Iraq, said: 'They push a lot for us to establish a link with Iran. They have pre-categories for us to go through, and by the sheer volume of categories there's clearly a lot more for Iran than there is for other stuff. Of all the recent requests I've had, I'd say 60 to 70 per cent are about Iran.
'It feels a lot like, if you get something and Iran's not involved, it's a let down.' He added: 'I've had people say to me, "They're really pushing the Iran thing. It's like, shit, you know." '
Brose said that reports about Washington's increasingly hawkish stance towards Tehran, including possible military action, chimed with his experience. 'My impression is they're just trying to get every little bit of ammunition possible. If we get something here it fits the overall picture. The engine needs impetus and they're looking for us to find the fuel - a particular type of fuel.
'It now really depends on who gets elected President in the US. If nothing changes in the current course, I'd say military action is inevitable. But we have to hope there will be a change of course.'
He denied ever being asked to fabricate evidence, adding: 'We're not asked to manufacture information, we're asked to find it. But if a detainee wants to tell me what I want to hear so he can get out of jail... you know what I'm saying.'
Other military intelligence officials in Iraq refused to comment, but one said: 'The message is, "Got to find a link with Iran, got to find a link with Iran." It's sickening.'
Last week in Baghdad the US military showed journalists a recently discovered cache of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making materials it claims are of Iranian origin. Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, spokesman for Multi-National Force Iraq, said it was possible they crossed the border before a recent promise by Iran to stop the flow of munitions into Iraq.
He said: 'Iran has had a historic malign influence here in Iraq. They have financed many of the activities of Shia extremist groups. In many cases they have done training, they have actually deployed some of their personnel here in theatre. The Qods Force (Iranian Revolutionary Guards) have come here - we know that, we've got some in detention. They have said in many cases they were not here and intend to support a more peaceful outcome in Iraq and we look for their excellence in achieving that.'
Among the weapons Washington has accused Iran of supplying to Iraqi insurgents are EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, which fire a slug of molten metal capable of penetrating even the most heavily armoured military vehicle. The number two US commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, said there has been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs found in Iraq in the last three months.
Wrap...
Iraqi fighters 'grilled for evidence on Iran'
Interrogator says US military seeks evidence incriminating Tehran
David Smith in Baghdad
Sunday November 11, 2007
The Observer
US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi insurgents to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran, it was claimed last night.
Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for American forces in Iraq, near the Iranian border, told The Observer that information on Iran is 'gold'. The claim comes after Washington imposed sanctions on Iran last month, citing both its nuclear ambitions and its Revolutionary Guards' alleged support of Shia insurgents in Iraq. Last week the US military freed nine Iranians held in Iraq, including two it had accused of links to the Revolutionary Guards' Qods Force.
Brose, 30, who extracts information from detainees in Iraq, said: 'They push a lot for us to establish a link with Iran. They have pre-categories for us to go through, and by the sheer volume of categories there's clearly a lot more for Iran than there is for other stuff. Of all the recent requests I've had, I'd say 60 to 70 per cent are about Iran.
'It feels a lot like, if you get something and Iran's not involved, it's a let down.' He added: 'I've had people say to me, "They're really pushing the Iran thing. It's like, shit, you know." '
Brose said that reports about Washington's increasingly hawkish stance towards Tehran, including possible military action, chimed with his experience. 'My impression is they're just trying to get every little bit of ammunition possible. If we get something here it fits the overall picture. The engine needs impetus and they're looking for us to find the fuel - a particular type of fuel.
'It now really depends on who gets elected President in the US. If nothing changes in the current course, I'd say military action is inevitable. But we have to hope there will be a change of course.'
He denied ever being asked to fabricate evidence, adding: 'We're not asked to manufacture information, we're asked to find it. But if a detainee wants to tell me what I want to hear so he can get out of jail... you know what I'm saying.'
Other military intelligence officials in Iraq refused to comment, but one said: 'The message is, "Got to find a link with Iran, got to find a link with Iran." It's sickening.'
Last week in Baghdad the US military showed journalists a recently discovered cache of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making materials it claims are of Iranian origin. Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, spokesman for Multi-National Force Iraq, said it was possible they crossed the border before a recent promise by Iran to stop the flow of munitions into Iraq.
He said: 'Iran has had a historic malign influence here in Iraq. They have financed many of the activities of Shia extremist groups. In many cases they have done training, they have actually deployed some of their personnel here in theatre. The Qods Force (Iranian Revolutionary Guards) have come here - we know that, we've got some in detention. They have said in many cases they were not here and intend to support a more peaceful outcome in Iraq and we look for their excellence in achieving that.'
Among the weapons Washington has accused Iran of supplying to Iraqi insurgents are EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, which fire a slug of molten metal capable of penetrating even the most heavily armoured military vehicle. The number two US commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, said there has been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs found in Iraq in the last three months.
Wrap...
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Dangerous language in this bill...
From Information Clearing House:
Dennis Kucinich: 2008 Defense Authorization Bill authorizes use of US military for domestic purposes:
Representative Dennis Kucinich reported this during an interview with WINZ Miami radio station this morning. He is reading through this bill and for the first time last evening, noticed this language that has been inserted into the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/seafan/1531
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Dennis Kucinich: 2008 Defense Authorization Bill authorizes use of US military for domestic purposes:
Representative Dennis Kucinich reported this during an interview with WINZ Miami radio station this morning. He is reading through this bill and for the first time last evening, noticed this language that has been inserted into the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/seafan/1531
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Waterboarding for "truth"....Will it work?
From Information Clearing House:
Waterboarding Republicans vs. Supporting Our Troops
By Stephen Crockett
For those Republicans (or Democrats) who defend waterboarding as something less than torture, I have a proposal. Whenever a Bush Administration official is called before the House or Senate to testify, they should be waterboarded the entire time they are testifying. The technique, according to the Bush Republicans, elicits honest answers and does not amount to torture. According to these Bush Republicans, waterboarding does not cause any lasting damage.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18703.htm
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Waterboarding Republicans vs. Supporting Our Troops
By Stephen Crockett
For those Republicans (or Democrats) who defend waterboarding as something less than torture, I have a proposal. Whenever a Bush Administration official is called before the House or Senate to testify, they should be waterboarded the entire time they are testifying. The technique, according to the Bush Republicans, elicits honest answers and does not amount to torture. According to these Bush Republicans, waterboarding does not cause any lasting damage.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18703.htm
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Bush NEEDS to veto this time....
From the Sacramento Bee:
Marcos Bretón: Smoking nannies are at it again
By Marcos Bretón - mbreton@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 11, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
Do you ever just want to taste a cigarette? We're not talking about developing a habit or puffing in anyone's face. Just a quick drag outdoors when no one is looking.
After all, cigarettes and tobacco are not illegal, though they are dangerous. The smell of them in close quarters can be offensive. But outdoors? And when sensed only momentarily and from long distance?
It's true that science has identified the dangers of secondhand smoke to those exposed to cigarettes over time.
We certainly don't want our children to smoke, and we don't want to smoke in front of our children. Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation banning smoking in vehicles carrying children.
Look. There is no way to defend anyone who smokes in a car with minors. But it's a total nanny law, with government as our nanny. Beginning Jan. 1, it will only carry a $100 fine and law enforcement can't even stop you for smoking in a car with minors – can only nail you while stopping you for an infraction such as speeding.
Why not just outlaw stupidity in all forms?
Because you can't do that, right? You can't have cities bulging with laws when common sense is a better option.
Yet in crafting increasingly invasive anti-smoking laws, common sense is wafting away in cities like ours.
Roseville just banned smoking in public parks and more than 4,000 acres of open space, including streambeds and bicycle trails.
Fine. The stream beds and bike trails ban can be defended on the grounds that it could prevent fires. But what if you are smoking in an urban park and you're nowhere near anyone? Our leaders are going to make that illegal because someone downwind might catch a momentary hint of a cigarette?
Where is the science to prove that a fleeting scent of cigarette smoke outdoors will kill you? We're not talking repeated exposure. This is about an instant in time.
Regulating such things is offensive to one's inner Republican, the whole idea of more government intervention and restricting the use of products that are not illegal.
Yet Roseville – which can't be much more Republican – now has anti-smoking laws that rival the liberal bastion of Davis. "There has to be an ordinance," said Roseville Mayor Jim Gray. "If there is a sign posted, people feel they can ask someone to stop smoking."
There was a dissenting voice in Roseville – City Councilman John Allard. But he declined to be interviewed because he didn't want to "stir things up," said a Roseville spokeswoman.
It's the power of the anti-smoking crusade – it creates intrusive laws in Republican cities and fosters a fear of free speech.
And look out, because anti-smoking laws may soon invade your home. Temecula now bans smoking in apartment complexes of 10 or more units. Belmont bans it in multi-story, multi-unit residences, including balconies and patios. What's next? "It's absurd," said Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason Magazine. "There is no scientific justification for banning brief exposure to secondhand smoke. ... It's inherently irrational. It says, 'we make you free by taking away your freedoms'."
Wrap...
Marcos Bretón: Smoking nannies are at it again
By Marcos Bretón - mbreton@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 11, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1
Do you ever just want to taste a cigarette? We're not talking about developing a habit or puffing in anyone's face. Just a quick drag outdoors when no one is looking.
After all, cigarettes and tobacco are not illegal, though they are dangerous. The smell of them in close quarters can be offensive. But outdoors? And when sensed only momentarily and from long distance?
It's true that science has identified the dangers of secondhand smoke to those exposed to cigarettes over time.
We certainly don't want our children to smoke, and we don't want to smoke in front of our children. Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation banning smoking in vehicles carrying children.
Look. There is no way to defend anyone who smokes in a car with minors. But it's a total nanny law, with government as our nanny. Beginning Jan. 1, it will only carry a $100 fine and law enforcement can't even stop you for smoking in a car with minors – can only nail you while stopping you for an infraction such as speeding.
Why not just outlaw stupidity in all forms?
Because you can't do that, right? You can't have cities bulging with laws when common sense is a better option.
Yet in crafting increasingly invasive anti-smoking laws, common sense is wafting away in cities like ours.
Roseville just banned smoking in public parks and more than 4,000 acres of open space, including streambeds and bicycle trails.
Fine. The stream beds and bike trails ban can be defended on the grounds that it could prevent fires. But what if you are smoking in an urban park and you're nowhere near anyone? Our leaders are going to make that illegal because someone downwind might catch a momentary hint of a cigarette?
Where is the science to prove that a fleeting scent of cigarette smoke outdoors will kill you? We're not talking repeated exposure. This is about an instant in time.
Regulating such things is offensive to one's inner Republican, the whole idea of more government intervention and restricting the use of products that are not illegal.
Yet Roseville – which can't be much more Republican – now has anti-smoking laws that rival the liberal bastion of Davis. "There has to be an ordinance," said Roseville Mayor Jim Gray. "If there is a sign posted, people feel they can ask someone to stop smoking."
There was a dissenting voice in Roseville – City Councilman John Allard. But he declined to be interviewed because he didn't want to "stir things up," said a Roseville spokeswoman.
It's the power of the anti-smoking crusade – it creates intrusive laws in Republican cities and fosters a fear of free speech.
And look out, because anti-smoking laws may soon invade your home. Temecula now bans smoking in apartment complexes of 10 or more units. Belmont bans it in multi-story, multi-unit residences, including balconies and patios. What's next? "It's absurd," said Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason Magazine. "There is no scientific justification for banning brief exposure to secondhand smoke. ... It's inherently irrational. It says, 'we make you free by taking away your freedoms'."
Wrap...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Privatizing US Intel work including torture how-to...
From truthout.org :
Intelligence Work Increasingly Outsourced to Defense Firms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111007G.shtml
Mike Sunnucks, reporting for The Business Journal of Phoenix, says "An increasing amount of US intelligence work - including training related to aggressive interrogation methods - is being parceled out to defense firms, making Arizona's Fort Huachuca a major contracting hub."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Intelligence Work Increasingly Outsourced to Defense Firms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111007G.shtml
Mike Sunnucks, reporting for The Business Journal of Phoenix, says "An increasing amount of US intelligence work - including training related to aggressive interrogation methods - is being parceled out to defense firms, making Arizona's Fort Huachuca a major contracting hub."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Friday, November 09, 2007
Journalists' screw-ups & corrections....OUCH!
From Editor & Publisher.com :
New Book Sees The Errors In Their Ways
By Joe Strupp
Published: November 09, 2007 1:50 PM ET
NEW YORK It all started, interestingly enough, on July 4, 2004, of all dates, when journalist Craig Silverman spotted what remains one of the broadest newspaper corrections ever.
The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, apparently trying to make up for decades of forgotten coverage, printed this two-sentence note: "It has come to the editor's attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
As short and powerful as that correction was, it was also mildly amusing, says Silverman, a Canadian-based writer and freelancer. The experience began what for him has become a regular practice of finding and posting on his Web site, "Regrettheerror. com," which features the best, worst, and funniest of each day's corrections, clarifications, and editor's notes.
About three months after the Lexington correction ran, Silverman used it as the first item on his site, which has become a regular stop for those who want to see how journalists are going about admitting their errors.
After three years of compiling and noting such news-related apologies, Silverman has produced a book on the subject. "Regret The Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute The Press And Imperil Free Speech" (Union Square Press) offers 300 of his top finds over the years, along with a serious look at how the industry's lack of accuracy and failure to address mistakes has hurt the business. It includes a foreword by journalism critic Jeff Jarvis.
"There is actually a huge body of research about accuracy out there, but few people in the industry know about it," Silverman tells E&P, citing studies as far back as 1936. "There are a lot of important insights that are ignored." Among his findings: only about 2% of factual errors in newspapers and other publications are ever corrected. "There is a river of errors flowing out of newspapers," he contends, citing increased workload and a hesitancy by journalists to admit errors for fear of criticism. "There are a lot of these issues that are ignored."
But the book is not all doom and gloom; Silverman praises the art of correction writing and makes clear that the best ones offer a mix of humor, writing style, and clarity. He has a whole section on "obitocide" -- false reports of untimely deaths.
And he does not ignore the venerable typo, citing The Dallas Morning News for referring to a local woman as a "socialist" instead of a "socialite" and the Ottawa Citizen describing a "a little seedy store" which was in reality a "little CD store."
Among his many favorites:
"A headline in Monday's Daily News, 'He regrets his role in postal vid,' implied that Richard Marino, the subject of a YouTube video, was sorry for an incident in December at a Brooklyn post office. Marino, in fact, is not sorry. The News regrets the error." -- Daily News, New York.
An article about Scott McDaniel "misstated the nature of his disabilities. McDaniel is legally blind, and although he has other disabilities, he and his parents say he is not mentally disabled." -- The Washington Post.
Silverman says of his admiration for the well-written correction: "There has to be an art to it, because you have usually 50 to 100 words, sometimes just one sentence. It is a serious issue, but because there is so much humor in writing them, it is okay to embrace the humor."
The author credits British tabloids with some of the funniest and most sensational errors and corrections. Among their most notable:
"The Nazi law prohibiting Jews marrying aliens, mentioned in the Writ Large column, Page 13, June 12, banned marriages with Aryans, not aliens." — The Guardian.
"Mr. Smith said in court, 'I am terribly sorry. I have a dull life and I suddenly wanted to break way.' He did not say, as we reported erroneously, 'I have a dull wife and I suddenly wanted to break away.' We apologize to Mr. Smith and to Mrs. Smith." -- Daily Mail.
But Silverman does not excuse himself from the correction demand, offering a special form at the end of the book that readers can use to send him notices of his own mistakes. He also plans to place a similar form on his Web site.
Even with the problems associated with mistakes and the minimal percentage of corrections, Silverman still describes them as "undeniably enjoyable content."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Wrap....
New Book Sees The Errors In Their Ways
By Joe Strupp
Published: November 09, 2007 1:50 PM ET
NEW YORK It all started, interestingly enough, on July 4, 2004, of all dates, when journalist Craig Silverman spotted what remains one of the broadest newspaper corrections ever.
The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, apparently trying to make up for decades of forgotten coverage, printed this two-sentence note: "It has come to the editor's attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
As short and powerful as that correction was, it was also mildly amusing, says Silverman, a Canadian-based writer and freelancer. The experience began what for him has become a regular practice of finding and posting on his Web site, "Regrettheerror. com," which features the best, worst, and funniest of each day's corrections, clarifications, and editor's notes.
About three months after the Lexington correction ran, Silverman used it as the first item on his site, which has become a regular stop for those who want to see how journalists are going about admitting their errors.
After three years of compiling and noting such news-related apologies, Silverman has produced a book on the subject. "Regret The Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute The Press And Imperil Free Speech" (Union Square Press) offers 300 of his top finds over the years, along with a serious look at how the industry's lack of accuracy and failure to address mistakes has hurt the business. It includes a foreword by journalism critic Jeff Jarvis.
"There is actually a huge body of research about accuracy out there, but few people in the industry know about it," Silverman tells E&P, citing studies as far back as 1936. "There are a lot of important insights that are ignored." Among his findings: only about 2% of factual errors in newspapers and other publications are ever corrected. "There is a river of errors flowing out of newspapers," he contends, citing increased workload and a hesitancy by journalists to admit errors for fear of criticism. "There are a lot of these issues that are ignored."
But the book is not all doom and gloom; Silverman praises the art of correction writing and makes clear that the best ones offer a mix of humor, writing style, and clarity. He has a whole section on "obitocide" -- false reports of untimely deaths.
And he does not ignore the venerable typo, citing The Dallas Morning News for referring to a local woman as a "socialist" instead of a "socialite" and the Ottawa Citizen describing a "a little seedy store" which was in reality a "little CD store."
Among his many favorites:
"A headline in Monday's Daily News, 'He regrets his role in postal vid,' implied that Richard Marino, the subject of a YouTube video, was sorry for an incident in December at a Brooklyn post office. Marino, in fact, is not sorry. The News regrets the error." -- Daily News, New York.
An article about Scott McDaniel "misstated the nature of his disabilities. McDaniel is legally blind, and although he has other disabilities, he and his parents say he is not mentally disabled." -- The Washington Post.
Silverman says of his admiration for the well-written correction: "There has to be an art to it, because you have usually 50 to 100 words, sometimes just one sentence. It is a serious issue, but because there is so much humor in writing them, it is okay to embrace the humor."
The author credits British tabloids with some of the funniest and most sensational errors and corrections. Among their most notable:
"The Nazi law prohibiting Jews marrying aliens, mentioned in the Writ Large column, Page 13, June 12, banned marriages with Aryans, not aliens." — The Guardian.
"Mr. Smith said in court, 'I am terribly sorry. I have a dull life and I suddenly wanted to break way.' He did not say, as we reported erroneously, 'I have a dull wife and I suddenly wanted to break away.' We apologize to Mr. Smith and to Mrs. Smith." -- Daily Mail.
But Silverman does not excuse himself from the correction demand, offering a special form at the end of the book that readers can use to send him notices of his own mistakes. He also plans to place a similar form on his Web site.
Even with the problems associated with mistakes and the minimal percentage of corrections, Silverman still describes them as "undeniably enjoyable content."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Wrap....
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