NY Times, Washington Post to cull staff
by AFP
The New York Times and Washington Post, two of the most prestigious titles in American journalism, plan another round of pay cuts, layoffs and buyouts amid a steep decline in advertising revenue.The New York Times reported on Thursday that its parent company, the Times Co. plans to cut the pay of most employees by five percent for nine months, in return for 10 days of leave, and to lay off 100 people. |
The 'new' Neapolitan?
by Stephen C. Webster
On a hot summer day, nothing goes down quite like a frosty cold serving of racist ice cream.Wait, what did I just write?!?Okay, so being in media, we tend to develop a sort-of gallows humor about all the craziness we read and pass along to you guys every single day. But, here's a new level of nucking futs: An ice cream maker in Russia (with the very Soviet-sounding name "Ice Cream Plant No 3") has launched an Obama-themed treat called "Duet," a mixture of vanilla and chocolate. |
Obama fields 'marijuana as cash crop' question at town hall meeting
by David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Many submitted online questions focused on marijuana; Obama jokes, 'I don't know what that says about the online audience'"The White House is open for questions," according to whitehouse.gov.The AP reports, "Call it Round Two of the news conference, with a big Internet twist. President Barack Obama took questions from the White House press corps on Tuesday in a prime-time, East Room session that represented the most formal and time-honored of president-and-reporter interactions. On Thursday, he is taking to that same room for another public grilling — this time by regular folks armed with questions submitted via the Internet and in person, as part of a political strategy to engage Americans directly." |
Neo-Con Ideologues Launch New Foreign Policy Group
by Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - A newly-formed and still obscure neo-conservative foreign policy organization is giving some observers flashbacks to the 1990s, when its predecessor staked out the aggressively unilateralist foreign policy that came to fruition under the George W. Bush administration. |
Rush Limbaugh wins 'unsexiest' man of the year award
by John Byrne
The man who touted 'Barack the Magic Negro' and mocked Michael J. Fox for allegedly faking Parkinson's disease has beaten out the man who stole nearly $65 billion for a dubious accolade.Rush Limbaugh, mocked as "Jabba the Nut" by free weekly Boston Phoenix, has been selected as the ugliest man of the year by the paper. The 99 runner-up unsexiest men of the year can be viewed at this link. |
Hope rising in US for national death penalty ban
by Agence France-Presse
Death penalty opponents in the United States hope New Mexico's decision to ban capital punishment is a turning point, as a crippling economic crisis becomes their latest argument for abolition.Last week Democratic Governor Bill Richardson made his southwestern state the 15th in the nation to outlaw executions, after state lawmakers voted for the move. |
White House Replaces ‘War on Terror' With Symbol
by Andy Borowitz
The White House today announced today that it would no longer use the phrase "war on terror" and would instead replace it with a cryptic symbol once used by the funk rocker known as Prince.The new symbol made its first appearance today at a White House press conference in which spokesman Robert Gibbs answered a question about the war on terror by holding up a picture of the newly acquired icon. |
Gold for Humanity
by Robert C. Koehler
When exactly did it happen - that "blinding flash of the obvious"?It may have been during lunch - outside, in a park in the nation's capital on a beautiful, cherry-blossom afternoon - as public health theorist Ari Cowan held forth about working with maximum security prisoners in Washington state. Having described a program that treats "violent" as a temporary condition, like "has a headache," Cowan said he tells these guys, as they start to grasp the idea that they aren't scumbags and monsters, "You're the ones who will save humanity." |
The Daily We
by Rory O'Connor
I spent much of last fall at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government as a Fellow at the Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy. While there, I researched issues related to journalism, trust and credibility - and in particular what role emerging social media might play in addressing those concerns. Here's the latest in a series of posts on the topic of emerging media and journalism. (Read Part 1: "Word of Mouse" — Part 2: "The New Breed of New Media Researchers" — Part 3: “Public Displays of Connection” — Part 4: “Brands, Cesspools and Credibility” — Part 5: “Why Brands Can’t Be Trusted“) - Rory O'Connor |
Congress: Tell Them in Person April 4 - 19
by David Swanson
It's just spring, when the world is puddle-wonderful, and your representative and your two senators pack up their lingerie and come dancing from hop-scotch and toy soldiers to make the trek outside the Beltway for a well-earned vacation sponsored by corporations completely indifferent to legislative news and dedicated to appreciation of nature's bounty in this season of new birth -- er, I mean, to begin a District Work Period dedicated to discovering exactly how much you appreciate the good work they've done so far -- er, that is to say, the last frazzled human threads that our democratic republic hangs by are coming home from April 4th to 19th and if you want to nudge them gently or forcefully in any direction you should call and ask for an appointment NOW. |
Progress on Cluster Bombs
by Frida Berrigan
— from Foreign Policy In FocusGood news is in short supply. The economy remains bleak. The war in Iraq entered its seventh year last week, and violence reaches new pinnacles in Afghanistan. But there is one bright light amid all this gloom. Real progress is being made to ban cluster munitions. These are canisters of different sizes that release hundreds of bomblets on detonation, scattering deadly devices over an area as large as several football fields. |
The behinder we got: Heckuva job on energy policy, Dick!
by Alan Bisbort
It seems much longer ago than eight years that Dick Cheney was scolding his fellow Americans for demanding higher conservation standards and more alternative and sustainable energy sources. Conservation, the vice president imperiously told us, was merely "a sign of personal virtue," not a basis for a "sound" national policy. Any attempt to curtail the nation's profligate consumption of finite resources was, he implied, at odds with our national exceptionalism. It was God's will that we consume more, not less, than other nations, that we build and buy bigger cars, that we widen and increase highways. Public transportation? Expanded train networks? Green buildings? Screw 'em! |
Everything Bad Is Good Again
by Gail Collins
National Consensus Update: Tim Geithner — Really cool guy. Super job on that bank bailout thing. Look at the way the stock market jumped. Way better Treasury secretary than last week’s Tim Geithner, who seemed a lot ... shorter.Barack Obama — Kinda boring. Did you see the news conference? Same thing over and over again. Not that we mind. In these troubled times, we like stability. Thank God we didn’t elect somebody who was all charisma and exciting speeches. |
Military slow to fix showers that killed soldiers
by Kimberly Helfing
The military is racing to inspect more than 90,000 U.S.-run facilities across Iraq to reduce a deadly threat troops face far off the battlefield: electrocution or shock while showering or using appliances.About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed but about 65,000 facilities still need to be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings. |
Despite Obama’s Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq
by Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - Despite President Barack Obama's statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had "chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months," a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label. |
GEITHNER UPDATE: Grab yer ankles and say "Uncle Sam"
by Mike Whitney
Timothy Geithner refuses to take underwater banks into receivership and resolve them, but has no problem turning the FDIC into a hedge fund. That's right; under Geithner's "Public Private Investment Partnership" (PPIP) FDIC chief Sheila Bair will assume the mantle of Bernie Madoff and oversee the establishment of Hedge Fund USA, a behemoth government-owned operation that will enlist the talents of 5 or 6 Wall Street managers to conduct auctions for toxic home loans and other repellent securities. The new program, which will provide lavish subsidies to investors, marks the first time that a standing government has transformed itself into a financial institution for the sake of its primary constituents, the banks. The PPIP creates a state-funded clearinghouse for overpriced junk derivatives and then passes the windfall on to over-leveraged Wall Street speculators. Go figure? |
Hubris Never Dies
by Michael Fox
I suppose that every disgruntled employee who has ever submitted a bitter letter of grievance upon resignation has wanted it published on the cover of the New York Times. But today, the New York Times made a very peculiar editorial decision in actually publishing the "open letter" from AIG head of commodities Jake DeSantis to that company’s CEO, Ed Liddy. I suppose it sells papers (or draws eyeballs online). Still, Mr. DeSantis’ misreading of the public’s opinion of people like himself is just stunning. Cognitive dissonance wrapped in narcissism and tied up with projection: in a word, hubris. |
Suicide numbers on rise with combat stress
by Alan Gomez
BAGHDAD — In Maj. Thomas Jarrett’s stress management class, troops are urged not to accept post-traumatic stress disorder as an inevitable consequence of war.Instead, Jarrett tells them to strive for “post-traumatic growth.”During a 90-minute presentation titled “Warrior Resilience and Thriving,” Jarrett, a former corporate coach, offers this and other unconventional tips on how troops can stay mentally healthy once they return home. He quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, “Paradise Lost” author John Milton and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, among others. |
Dean smacks down Scarborough: Budget criticism 'total nonsense'
by David Edwards
Two days after joining CNBC as a contributor, former DNC chair Howard Dean tangoed with the conservative leaning host of a morning show on a sister network.On his Morning Joe show, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough criticized President Obama's budget proposal Wednesday morning, claiming that it was similar to what the GOP did during "eight years of recklessness." |
US risks Iraq reconstruction mistakes
by AFP
The United States risks repeating the same mistakes in Afghanistan that have led to billions of dollars being squandered in Iraq on its reconstruction, US auditors warned Wednesday.The warnings come just days before President Barack Obama is due to unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan, which is expected to include an increase in reconstruction aid and civilian assistance. |
