Posts from — November 2007

Since the same corporations that the Writers Guild of America is in dispute with, also own the bulk of legacy media™ outlets, it’s difficult to find much reporting on the issues involved, so it was nice to see this included in the CBS report on the Writers Strike

The first strike by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years got under way with pickets on both coasts after last-minute negotiations on Sunday failed to produce a deal on payments to writers from shows offered on the Internet.

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This is certainly going to cause some ripples: Senate Panel Probes 6 Top Televangelists

CBS News has learned Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct.

Letters were sent Monday to the ministries demanding that financial statements and records be turned over to the committee by December 6th.

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At 8PM CST The Associated Press is saying that Kentucky has come to its senses, but Mississippi still isn’t thinking clearly: Ky. governor loses bid for 2nd term; Miss. governor likely to win

(CNN) — Republican Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher lost his bid for a second term Tuesday, while his GOP counterpart in Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour, was expected to breeze to victory in the marquee races of the 2007 off-year elections.

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CNN tells us that Thousands mistakenly allowed past U.S. border, report says

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Government watchdogs have found that thousands of people who shouldn’t have been admitted to the United States were mistakenly allowed in last year because of security lapses at legal border crossings.

The number of inadmissible aliens who managed to enter through official ports of entry in 2006 was not disclosed in Monday’s report from the Government Accountability Office.

However, a source who has seen a full version of the report, in which those statistics were included, put the total at 21,000.

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CNN reports Air Force grounds F-15s in Afghanistan after Missouri crash

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A mandatory grounding of Air Force F-15s has been expanded to cover those flying combat missions over Afghanistan after a crash in Missouri last week, Air Force officials said Monday.

The F-15Es in Afghanistan can fly only in emergency situations to protect U.S. and coalition troops in a battle, according to Maj. John Elolf, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force Central Command.

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Laura Rozen of War and Piece has found something that is a brilliant example on so many levels of why these people need to be replaced before they injure themselves.

You have to read this article by Jeff Stein, CQ National Security Editor: FBI Hoped to Follow Falafel Trail to Iranian Terrorists Here.

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Is there anyone that the Shrubbery has decided is a great individual who hasn’t turned into a total disaster?

During the 2000 Presidential campaign the Shrubbery didn’t know who the president of Pakistan was, and we would all be better off if that were still the case.

Noah Shachtman at Danger Room notes that the military assistance we have been sending to Pakistan isn’t being used for counter-terrorism: Musharraf Uses U.S. Cash to Fight India.

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There is constant tension in the West about Federal land and how that land is used, which always seems to end up helping corporations. With all that land some might question why the government needs to buy up private land whenever the government needs to do something.

For example, Peter Slevin writes in The Washington Post that Ranchers angry over army site expansion

The U.S. Army wants 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, a training area considered suitable — some would say essential — for preparing American warriors to do battle in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The 1,000-square-mile facility would be 15 times the size of the District.
…

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Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot.

The British are celebrating the anniversary of the thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot.

A group of English Catholic conspirators including an explosives expert, Guy Fawkes, stashed 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the Parliament building with the intent of blowing up the members of Parliament and King James I during the official opening of Parliament on November 5^th, 1605.

Bonfire Night is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and occasionally the Pope, are traditionally thrown on the fires. Effigies of modern politicians have made their appearances at the celebration.

As Robert Cecil was involved, I doubt anyone will ever know the truth about the plot.

Caroline McCarthy, Staff Writer, CNET News.com wrote a Halloween piece, Could the ‘War of the Worlds’ scare happen today?, wondering if something like the Orson Welles 1938 radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds, which caused some level of panic, could occur today.

The consensus in the article is that there is too much diversity in the media and the competition causes so much fact checking that it is impossible for something like that to occur on any widespread basis today.

Excuse me, but what about the claims about Iraq that resulted in a real war with thousands of deaths? Where was this “fact checking” of which you speak? The media of all types went along, promoting those who made the claims based on distorted intelligence, and ignored those who where trying to point out the errors.

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BBC notes Musharraf defends emergency rule by saying “terror,” “disaster,” “enemies,” “suicide” without bringing up the reality that the annoying Supreme Court had read the Pakistani constitution and was about to officially state the obvious: Musharraf’s election win was totally bogus.

Barnett R. Rubin of Informed Comment Global Affairs is in Pakistan and has been blogging about the situation.

Meanwhile, to the West of Pakistan, Warren P. Strobel of McClatchy Newspapers writes an article telling us: Former envoy: U.S. driving Turkey, Iran together

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Before he was rudely interrupted by being in the middle of a coup, Barnett R. Rubin wrote about shabby reporting by Michael Goldfarb, author of the blog “Worldwide.Standard.com” at the Weekly Standard

He notes that on July 6 of this year, a survey showed that “60 percent of Americans opposed a war with Iran.” Now, however, he claims, “a majority of Americans now favor military action against Iran.”

The July poll from Angus Reid asked, “If the U.S. government decides to take military action in Iran, would you favour or oppose it?” 63% said they would oppose it.

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Post-Tropical Storm Noel – Canadian Hurricane Centre reports:

Position: 47.5 N 64.3 W. [7AM CST]
Movement: North-Northeast near 40 mph.
Maximum sustained winds: 75 mph.
Wind Gusts: 85 mph.
Minimum central pressure: 968 mb.

PTS Noel is about 55 miles East-Northest of Chatham.

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Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.