Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics
pretty amazing stuff...
Monday, February 09, 2004
Dean is who he is. Here is an excellent description of where the media is, and how to proceed...
We have to move quickly, the ball is still in play...
Dean is not a Bar of Soap...
more
This is a must read by Winer.
The media mea culpa is only the tip of a confession. Nowhere are they telling the whole story.
We have to move quickly, the ball is still in play...
Dean is not a Bar of Soap...
more
This is a must read by Winer.
The media mea culpa is only the tip of a confession. Nowhere are they telling the whole story.
Media mea culpa on Dean
Now that his presidential run seems to be teetering at the edge of extinction, the major news networks are belatedly admitting that they may have overplayed the so-called Iowa yell. First there was Diane Sawyer, who investigated the microphones and crowd noise involved and concluded that Dean, in fact, was not yelling or out of control. The latest mea culpa comes from CNN who now admits to "overdoing it." But the news execs continue to insist that it merely "confirmed" existing doubts in voters' minds. This is Dean's former campaign manager Joe Trippi's response to that lame excuse:
"It was like the footage of a heat-seeking missile hitting its target. Once the press gets that, it just gets played over and over again for a week, and people say, 'How cool.' That's what I think happened here. It was entertainment masquerading as news."
According to the Associated Press, "Only 39 percent of Dean's coverage on the network evening news was positive during the week after Iowa, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Public Affairs. By contrast, rival John Edwards' coverage was 86 percent positive during the same period, and new front-runner John Kerry's was 71 percent positive, the center said."
from: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/log/
Now that his presidential run seems to be teetering at the edge of extinction, the major news networks are belatedly admitting that they may have overplayed the so-called Iowa yell. First there was Diane Sawyer, who investigated the microphones and crowd noise involved and concluded that Dean, in fact, was not yelling or out of control. The latest mea culpa comes from CNN who now admits to "overdoing it." But the news execs continue to insist that it merely "confirmed" existing doubts in voters' minds. This is Dean's former campaign manager Joe Trippi's response to that lame excuse:
"It was like the footage of a heat-seeking missile hitting its target. Once the press gets that, it just gets played over and over again for a week, and people say, 'How cool.' That's what I think happened here. It was entertainment masquerading as news."
According to the Associated Press, "Only 39 percent of Dean's coverage on the network evening news was positive during the week after Iowa, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Public Affairs. By contrast, rival John Edwards' coverage was 86 percent positive during the same period, and new front-runner John Kerry's was 71 percent positive, the center said."
from: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/log/
A gentle, comprehensive, and insightful view of the Dean campaign, the interenet, power and communication...
here
This is far and away the best real information I've seen...
here
This is far and away the best real information I've seen...
From this week's article by John Hussman
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc040209.htm
S.A.P.s
A final note on the employment report, which showed a disappointing 112,000 non-farm jobs created in January. The Department of Labor had this interesting line in the report (italics added):
“Retail trade employment increased by over 76,000 over the month, after seasonal adjustment. The industry lost a total of 67,000 jobs in November and December. Weak holiday hiring in general merchandise, sporting goods and miscellaneous stores meant that there were fewer workers to lay off in January, resulting in seasonally adjusted employment gains for the month.”
That's almost Orwellian. Essentially, the seasonal adjustment adds jobs to the January figures to correct for normally heavy losses of temporary jobs after the holidays. But since there were so few of these jobs actually created during the holidays, those January layoffs didn't occur either. As a result, the seasonal adjustment results in a gain of 76,000 fictional jobs for January. These aren't real jobs because they aren't real people. Let's call them “Seasonally Adjusted People.”
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc040209.htm
S.A.P.s
A final note on the employment report, which showed a disappointing 112,000 non-farm jobs created in January. The Department of Labor had this interesting line in the report (italics added):
“Retail trade employment increased by over 76,000 over the month, after seasonal adjustment. The industry lost a total of 67,000 jobs in November and December. Weak holiday hiring in general merchandise, sporting goods and miscellaneous stores meant that there were fewer workers to lay off in January, resulting in seasonally adjusted employment gains for the month.”
That's almost Orwellian. Essentially, the seasonal adjustment adds jobs to the January figures to correct for normally heavy losses of temporary jobs after the holidays. But since there were so few of these jobs actually created during the holidays, those January layoffs didn't occur either. As a result, the seasonal adjustment results in a gain of 76,000 fictional jobs for January. These aren't real jobs because they aren't real people. Let's call them “Seasonally Adjusted People.”
Plants May Point Way to Clean Hydrogen Fuel
Plants have a skill that scientists envy: the ability to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through photosynthesis. Performing this task on an industrial scale could open up a novel avenue to producing clean hydrogen fuel. To that end, recent findings published online by the journal Science may prove useful. Researchers report that they have identified, in great detail, the key to the process... more..
Plants have a skill that scientists envy: the ability to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through photosynthesis. Performing this task on an industrial scale could open up a novel avenue to producing clean hydrogen fuel. To that end, recent findings published online by the journal Science may prove useful. Researchers report that they have identified, in great detail, the key to the process... more..
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Feds win right to war protesters' records
By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:25 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists. here...
coming to a place near you?
By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:25 p.m., Saturday, February 7, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists. here...
coming to a place near you?
Friday, February 06, 2004
Village Voice has a great obituary on Dean: insightful and kind.
here
Howard Dean May Be Dying, but He Sure Packed a Sting
Flight of the Bumblebee
by Rick Perlstein
February 4 - 10, 2004
here
Howard Dean May Be Dying, but He Sure Packed a Sting
Flight of the Bumblebee
by Rick Perlstein
February 4 - 10, 2004
CLIMATE COLLAPSE
The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare
The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of all national security issues.
By David Stipp
Global warming may be bad news for future generations, but let's face it, most of us spend as little time worrying about it as we did about al Qaeda before 9/11. Like the terrorists, though, the seemingly remote climate risk may hit home sooner and harder than we ever imagined. In fact, the prospect has become so real that the Pentagon's strategic planners are grappling with it.
The threat that has riveted their attention is this: Global warming, rather than causing gradual, centuries-spanning change, may be pushing the climate to a tipping point. Growing evidence suggests the ocean-atmosphere system that controls the world's climate can lurch from one state to another in less than a decade—like a canoe that's gradually tilted until suddenly it flips over. Scientists don't know how close the system is to a critical threshold. But abrupt climate change may well occur in the not-too-distant future. If it does, the need to rapidly adapt may overwhelm many societies—thereby upsetting the geopolitical balance of power.
More at
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,582584,00.html
Abrupt Climate Change
R. B. Alley,1 J. Marotzke,2 W. D. Nordhaus,3 J. T. Overpeck,4 D. M. Peteet,5 R. A. Pielke Jr.,6 R. T. Pierrehumbert,7 P. B. Rhines,8,9 T. F. Stocker,10 L. D. Talley,11 J. M. Wallace8
Large, abrupt, and widespread climate changes with major impacts have occurred repeatedly in the past, when the Earth system was forced across thresholds. Although abrupt climate changes can occur for many reasons, it is conceivable that human forcing of climate change is increasing the probability of large, abrupt events. Were such an event to recur, the economic and ecological impacts could be large and potentially serious. Unpredictability exhibited near climate thresholds in simple models shows that some uncertainty will always be associated with projections. In light of these uncertainties, policy-makers should consider expanding research into abrupt climate change, improving monitoring systems, and taking actions designed to enhance the adaptability and resilience of ecosystems and economies.
from:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/299/5615/2005
may require a subscription
1 Department of Geosciences and EMS Environment Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
2 Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
3 Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
4 Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
5 Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA, and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY 10025, USA.
6 Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
7 Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
8 Department of Atmospheric Sciences and
9 Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
10 Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
11 The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
GM Mice Make Heart-Friendly Fish Oils
Beneficial oils typically produced by fish can now be manufactured by mammals, according to a new report. Research published today in the journal Nature describes genetically modified mice that contain high levels of so-called omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to protect against heart disease and improve circulation
here...
I dunno... here come the superhumans... they eat shit and DON"T die.
Beneficial oils typically produced by fish can now be manufactured by mammals, according to a new report. Research published today in the journal Nature describes genetically modified mice that contain high levels of so-called omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to protect against heart disease and improve circulation
here...
I dunno... here come the superhumans... they eat shit and DON"T die.
AWOL Story Won't Die
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004; 10:29 AM
It's a busy little blog today. Here's a summary of what you'll get when you scroll:
• AWOL Watch: The Boston Globe, which in 2000 was the first paper to report on President Bush's spotty record as a National Guardsman, returns to the issue this morning and finds once again that Bush did not report for required Guard duty for a full year at the height of the Vietnam War. Reporter Walter V. Robinson tells Salon he thinks some documents have been removed and inserted from Bush's military file. Howard Dean says the questions are "fair game." And the blogosphere wants to see Bush come clean with his records.
• Scalia Watch: The Los Angeles Times has another twist in the story of how Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia won't recuse himself after going duck-hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney, who is a named party in a case pending before the court. Today, the paper reports Scalia actually flew in on Air Force Two as Cheney's guest.
• Gay Marriage: In the wake of the same-sex marriage ruling by the Massachusetts court, the New York Times reports that White House political guru Karl Rove told at least one conservative Christian group recently that the president will soon endorse an amendment to the United States Constitution that defines marriage to be between a man and a woman.
• Halliburton Watch: Newsweek reports that the Justice Department is looking into whether Halliburton Co. was getting kickbacks in Nigeria in the late 1990s when Cheney was chairman of the company.
• Commission Watch: The Washington Post reports that the White House reversed itself and agreed to a two-month extension of the deadline for completion of an independent investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack -- but only after receiving assurances that the final report won't be too hard on Bush.
• Plame Watch: The Talking Points blog posted a letter from the CIA which suggests it took the Justice Department two months to agree to investigate the White House's leak of a CIA operative's identity.
And there's more. Bush compared to Winston Churchill. Bush traveling to South Carolina in the wake of the Democratic primary. Bush not being told immediately about the ricin sent to the White House. Your suggestions on where Bush should go shopping today. And this final headline: "White House to Press Corps: Clean Up Your Act."
goto: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P72144.asp
Restless youth, resurgent fundamentalism and a resentful middle class are an increasingly imminent threat to Saudi Arabia's rulers -- and to oil-addicted Westerners.
By Jon D. Markman
Saudi Arabia faces its gravest economic, social and political threat in years as hundreds of thousands of Muslims make their annual hajj to the nation’s holy sites this week. And if the House of Saud is threatened, so, too, are the price of oil and the great American right to own two SUVs, a Harley and an RV.
The menace, long simmering under the surface of a seemingly content society, has boiled to the surface recently with clashes between Saudi police and armed extremists in Riyadh and Mecca. And we’re not talking about the 250-plus pilgrims trampled while stoning Satan last weekend.
Last week, the Independent newspaper of Great Britain reported “an extraordinary level of political violence” in the al-Jouf province, power base of the al-Sudairy branch of the royal family, including assassinations of the deputy governor, police chief and a judge.
The Saudi government was forced Thursday to deny accounts in their own media of the existence of terrorist training camps in the kingdom. In a land already ruled with an iron fist, the German news service DPA reported that more than 1,000 surveillance cameras had been installed on roads to allow soldiers to monitor pilgrims’ every move.
A South Africa newspaper, the Cape Argus, said police in its country had intercepted a Pakistani plot to use fake passports to fly to Saudi Arabia via Cape Town.
And Reuters reported that diplomats said the Saudi government was deeply worried the hajj could become a target for attack or be used as a cover for militants to infiltrate the kingdom. In 2003, more than 50 people died in suicide bombings in Riyadh.
Even if violent disruption is avoided this week, there is little doubt that extremist elements are gaining strength in the homeland of the West’s most reliable Arab partner. The problem is not just al-Qaeda, which recruited most of the 9/11 suicide hijackers there. According to veteran observer John Bradley of the Independent, it’s also merchant families and tribes who were prominent in the country before the Sauds consolidated power in the early part of the last century and now see a chance to reassert themselves upon the death of the aged, ailing King Fahd.
American investors ignore this danger at their peril. For if three disparate forces hook up -- the disenfranchised non-royal merchant class, religious fundamentalists and disaffected youths -- our cheap, easy access to the Saudis’ vast petroleum reserves could be threatened for anywhere from a few weeks to years, sending oil prices north of $60.
Restless youth, resurgent fundamentalism and a resentful middle class are an increasingly imminent threat to Saudi Arabia's rulers -- and to oil-addicted Westerners.
By Jon D. Markman
Saudi Arabia faces its gravest economic, social and political threat in years as hundreds of thousands of Muslims make their annual hajj to the nation’s holy sites this week. And if the House of Saud is threatened, so, too, are the price of oil and the great American right to own two SUVs, a Harley and an RV.
The menace, long simmering under the surface of a seemingly content society, has boiled to the surface recently with clashes between Saudi police and armed extremists in Riyadh and Mecca. And we’re not talking about the 250-plus pilgrims trampled while stoning Satan last weekend.
Last week, the Independent newspaper of Great Britain reported “an extraordinary level of political violence” in the al-Jouf province, power base of the al-Sudairy branch of the royal family, including assassinations of the deputy governor, police chief and a judge.
The Saudi government was forced Thursday to deny accounts in their own media of the existence of terrorist training camps in the kingdom. In a land already ruled with an iron fist, the German news service DPA reported that more than 1,000 surveillance cameras had been installed on roads to allow soldiers to monitor pilgrims’ every move.
A South Africa newspaper, the Cape Argus, said police in its country had intercepted a Pakistani plot to use fake passports to fly to Saudi Arabia via Cape Town.
And Reuters reported that diplomats said the Saudi government was deeply worried the hajj could become a target for attack or be used as a cover for militants to infiltrate the kingdom. In 2003, more than 50 people died in suicide bombings in Riyadh.
Even if violent disruption is avoided this week, there is little doubt that extremist elements are gaining strength in the homeland of the West’s most reliable Arab partner. The problem is not just al-Qaeda, which recruited most of the 9/11 suicide hijackers there. According to veteran observer John Bradley of the Independent, it’s also merchant families and tribes who were prominent in the country before the Sauds consolidated power in the early part of the last century and now see a chance to reassert themselves upon the death of the aged, ailing King Fahd.
American investors ignore this danger at their peril. For if three disparate forces hook up -- the disenfranchised non-royal merchant class, religious fundamentalists and disaffected youths -- our cheap, easy access to the Saudis’ vast petroleum reserves could be threatened for anywhere from a few weeks to years, sending oil prices north of $60.
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Florida predicted for Gore. For Bush. For Gore. For Bush. (Happily, after the west coast polls closed)
10% of the delgates selected, and 8 months before the convention, the media puts Kerry as the candidate. and 90% of the votes aren't even cast!
Talk about media influence on the democratic process. These guys get paid by the word.
CNN, MSNBC, Charlie Rose, everybody, racing to be right. And having a lot of the power to make things come out quite as they "predicted", gathering favors, now, on the chance their pick will win. And they helped.
They are not reporting, they are campaigning, they are pull reporting, push reporting, now reporting 24/7 on Kerry.
The media have a serious vested interest in the outcome.
10% of the delgates selected, and 8 months before the convention, the media puts Kerry as the candidate. and 90% of the votes aren't even cast!
Talk about media influence on the democratic process. These guys get paid by the word.
CNN, MSNBC, Charlie Rose, everybody, racing to be right. And having a lot of the power to make things come out quite as they "predicted", gathering favors, now, on the chance their pick will win. And they helped.
They are not reporting, they are campaigning, they are pull reporting, push reporting, now reporting 24/7 on Kerry.
The media have a serious vested interest in the outcome.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Army Study of Iraq War Details a 'Morass' of Supply Shortages
Powell and White House Get Together on Iraq War
The war had and has some serious upsides:
We got to use our equipment, our people and get new stuff
We put on one helluva show
We got to practice, and although we made mistakes, the world knows we are better and even better.
Now adding misile defense, theatre nuclear weapons, we are a lethal nation.
Alas, we are almost Spartans, and need to fight and kill: its our economy, its what's for breakfast now.
And a real alas: it was done incredibly badly by this administration. Criminal.
"One more such victory, and we are undone."
Powell and White House Get Together on Iraq War
The war had and has some serious upsides:
We got to use our equipment, our people and get new stuff
We put on one helluva show
We got to practice, and although we made mistakes, the world knows we are better and even better.
Now adding misile defense, theatre nuclear weapons, we are a lethal nation.
Alas, we are almost Spartans, and need to fight and kill: its our economy, its what's for breakfast now.
And a real alas: it was done incredibly badly by this administration. Criminal.
"One more such victory, and we are undone."
From Gerald. Thanks for sending. I wanted to post my comments on this article, so I put it up here.
TIME.com: Why I'm Rooting for Dean -- Feb. 09, 2004
TIME.com: Why I'm Rooting for Dean -- Feb. 09, 2004
Monday, February 02, 2004
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski states the incredibly obvious (except, duh, I missed it)...
on NPR ATC, today.
Read this: when you think about it, it is a very very powerful indictment of Bush.
He was asked about President Bush's statement that the whole world was wrong about Iraq, not just us. Brzezinski says, well, if it weren't so serious a question it would be a joke: does anyone think that Argentina, South Korea, Finland, Portugal, etc had their own independent intelligence on Iraq?
The whole world thought Iraq had weapons because WE told them!
England? They had political interests: Blair and Bush are "born again", certain so did Russia and Israel. France? Yeah, they too had an agenda. But thats it: that's the "whole inteligence community"!
Up until now, we, the United States, were a reliable, honest source, and they believed us. (We're the guys that brokered peace in Ireland!!) Not any more.
It is the president who lied. Absolutely.
A question: IF, as a simple matter of fact, the president lied, would he be guilty of war crimes? If he lead his country into war on false pretenses? I'm sure he had the best of intensions, but of course, everyone who invades has the best of intensions: that's a tautology.
on NPR ATC, today.
Read this: when you think about it, it is a very very powerful indictment of Bush.
He was asked about President Bush's statement that the whole world was wrong about Iraq, not just us. Brzezinski says, well, if it weren't so serious a question it would be a joke: does anyone think that Argentina, South Korea, Finland, Portugal, etc had their own independent intelligence on Iraq?
The whole world thought Iraq had weapons because WE told them!
England? They had political interests: Blair and Bush are "born again", certain so did Russia and Israel. France? Yeah, they too had an agenda. But thats it: that's the "whole inteligence community"!
Up until now, we, the United States, were a reliable, honest source, and they believed us. (We're the guys that brokered peace in Ireland!!) Not any more.
It is the president who lied. Absolutely.
A question: IF, as a simple matter of fact, the president lied, would he be guilty of war crimes? If he lead his country into war on false pretenses? I'm sure he had the best of intensions, but of course, everyone who invades has the best of intensions: that's a tautology.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Factory Farms & Grass Fed Beef - An audio program I heard on NPR dealing with cattle industry health issues. A well organized and interesting discussion of feed lots, corn feeding, medicating, grass feeding, etc.
For the past two years, we've been buying grass fed beef from local farmers in a cooperative manner where we organize with friends to buy an entire cow, then split it up when it is ready to butcher. It is great tasting meat and we know the people who feed it and take care of it every day. Even though it is more expensive for a rancher to raise cattle this way, we actually save money vs. buying at the grocery store (and especially vs. buying grass-fed at whole foods) because we're buying in bulk with no middle-men.
Living On Earth
For the past two years, we've been buying grass fed beef from local farmers in a cooperative manner where we organize with friends to buy an entire cow, then split it up when it is ready to butcher. It is great tasting meat and we know the people who feed it and take care of it every day. Even though it is more expensive for a rancher to raise cattle this way, we actually save money vs. buying at the grocery store (and especially vs. buying grass-fed at whole foods) because we're buying in bulk with no middle-men.
Living On Earth
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