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| Wednesday, July 31, 2002: If you missed John Stossel’s hour long ABC News Special last night on the seemingly lost, 30-year-old war on drugs, his web copy is interesting, too; so is his bio, where we learn he has a bachelors in psych from Princeton. |
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While Stossel’s broadcast covered the money being made as a result of the current prohibition, he never mentioned money as a possible reason for opposition to a policy change. Meaning, more than the mentioned moral reasons could be standing in the way of decriminalization. There’s just too much being made (and some claim, throughout history, by governments, too) for there not to be major opposition to change. Drug and arms sales have always gone well together. |
| A majority of British voters disapprove of a recent decision to relax the penalties for possession of cannabis, according to a new Guardian/ICM opinion poll. |
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Some 53% of adults surveyed say they don’t support the reclassification of cannabis as a less harmful drug. Only 38% say they support the move. The nation, however, is divided according to age. |
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Unsurprisingly, a clear majority of those under 35 back the new soft approach to cannabis, in which police will adopt a "seize and warn" policy towards those they find in possession. But the older generation remains firmly opposed, with 54% of those 35- to 64-years old disapproving of the change. Opposition is strongest among those over 65, 76% of whom say they don’t like the new policy. British views on cannabis also vary with social class, but we’re not supposed to have those here. We prefer to call it social/economic status; which, fortunately, is a lot easier to change than class. Just ask your local drug dealer. |
| When royalty dies, we usually hear about it. Except when it happens in Saudi Arabia. In point of fact - three members of the extensive Saudi royal family have died in a week, without much notice. At least here. The latest, 25-year-old Prince Fahd Ben Turki Bin Saud Al Kabir, was found dead yesterday in his country's searing desert. He apparently died, The Jordan Times today reports, of thirst. Given an annual stipend of $500,000 the approximately 3,000 to 6,000 Saudi princes reportedly receive, you’d think they’d all be packing large canteens. There will never be a shortage of princes in the House of Saudi, however. It’s been estimated some 30 to 40 new males are born into it every month. Which makes us think, a real baby boom there could add several cents a gallon here. |
| Tuesday, July 30, 2001: A new report by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations asserts that many countries see the US as "arrogant, self-indulgent, hypocritical, inattentive and unwilling or unable to engage in cross-cultural dialogue." Although negative attitudes held about the US are particularly pervasive in the Muslim world, says the report, America's image problem is also widespread among our closest allies. |
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As the BBC notes, turning that around will not be easy “for a US administration that prides itself on defending American interests where they are under threat. Policy decisions to withdraw from multilateral treaties like those dealing with global warming or the reduction of land mines fall into this category. So does attacking the newly-established International Criminal Court.” |
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The task force members who authored the report included representatives from: Rockport Capital, Inc.; Warner Music International; Sesame Workshop; NorthStar Equity Group, Inc.; Pfizer, Inc. and Home Box Office. All of which might explain why the suggested solutions for our urgent public relations overhaul seem, to say the least, weak: |
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One example, from the report’s executive summary: “Draw into our public diplomacy effort the talent and energy of the private sector and bridge the gap between public and private sector initiatives by creating an independent public/private not-for-profit “Corporation for Public Diplomacy” (CPD). Modeled after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the CPD would leverage private sector creativity and flexibility. America's true voice heard globally is a complex mixture of public diplomacy, journalism, marketing and other commercial messages—and pop culture in all its variety. Independent and indigenous messengers, including young and moderate Arabs and Muslims, mullahs, journalists, and talk show personalities can be much more fluid in their ability to engage varied audiences in “two-way” dialogue and debate, as opposed to conventional one-way “push-down” communications. Much broadened use should also be made of American life, including Arab-American firefighters and police officers who rushed to the WTC scene, victims, particularly women and children, including Arab and Muslim Americans who died or lost loved ones, Arab and Muslim-Americans who are thriving in the United States and the respect their religion receives, as well as well-known American sports figures and celebrities like Muhammed Ali and other business leaders, scientists, and healthcare leaders.” |
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Pop culture? Talk show personalities? Our treatment of Muslim-Americans? Man oh man oh man, are we in trouble. |
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Exporting contempory rap tunes, or broadcasting shots of Ophra feeding her pack of dogs better than half the world eats, may not do much good. However, exporting some shows hosted by Maury and Jerry, might just scare the hell out of them enough where they’ll drop the negative comments. |
| From yesterday's Washington Post: Neuroscientists have recently discovered what lovers have always known - A study published in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience (subscription required) shows humans have a special set of nerves for feeling the special pleasure of a mother's caress, or a lover's embrace. |
| The International Atomic Energy Agency was created in 1957 as the "Atoms for Peace" organization, and was proposed to the United Nations by President Eisenhower. We belatedly note the agency’s birthday. They turned 45 yesterday. We only know that because we were today wondering, while pouring over the weblog's web log, 'why so many hits from their domain?' So, we checked them out. From their site: “In recent years, the three pillars of the Agency's work -- nuclear verification and security, safety, and technology transfer -- have taken on some urgent added dimensions. Among them are countermeasures against the threat of nuclear terrorism…” |
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We're still wondering. |
| Moday, July 29, 2002: CNBC’s average daily audience of 233,000 people in the second quarter was down 25 percent from its corresponding period last year, the New York Time’s today reported: “… while CNBC not so long ago was at the top of the cable news ratings race, it is now faced with questions about whether the network has been tainted by the now-discredited stock analysts and chief executives that it has been accused of turning into unlikely pop stars in the boom years.” |
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Use of the word “tainted” both misstates and understates the case against CNBC. Throughout the “irrational exuberance” phase of the markets, this financial news network played a leading, real-time role as an unabashed booster. While their help in creating and fostering market volatility served their day-trading brokerage house advertisers quite well, it was the now missing viewers who paid the bill. See CNBC: Viewer Discretion Advised, for a rather embarrassing first-hand accounting of my invoice. |
| Remember the “Islamic treasury bond” story on 7/20 below? It explains the tricky workings of a new bond offered by Malaysia that is supposed to operate on Islamic interest-free financial principles. Instead of being paid interest, which is forbidden by Islam, bond holders end up getting paid “rent” on asset-backed securities. |
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Islamic Iran, the BBC reports, recently tried, but failed, doing the same sort of thing with hookers. Instead of legalizing sinful brothels, the Interior Ministry's deputy for social affairs floated a plan to set up "decency houses," where after a brief health check, men could buy temporary marriage licenses before a quickie honeymoon. Under Iran's Islamic system, it’s OK to take out a temporary marriage license, known as Sigheh, even for a few hours. |
| Saturday, July 27, 2002: From today's Boston Globe - "Egyptian pop culture, long the trend-setter for the wider Arab world, has increasingly turned to the nearly two-year-old Palestinian uprising as a surefire draw. And the message in music, film, poetry, and print is blunt: The United States and Israel stand hand in hand against the Arab world." For example, a laundryman turned pop star has topped Egypt's music charts with his tune, ''I hate Israel,'' while posters hung on apartment buildings declare, ''American commodities are Israeli bullets." Egyptians, like other Arabs, the story continues, "have eschewed Coke, Pepsi, and Marlboros for the local equivalents, and once-abundant Hollywood films are harder to find." |
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Egypt, says the BBC, has also started arresting homosexuals. Until recently they were quietly tolerated, but authorities began a major crackdown in May last year with a night raid on a disco where, if they're anything like Chicago's gay bars, the occupants were presumably cranked up on coke and chain smoking Marlboros. |
| Speaking of McDonald's, how about that 5-foot-10, 272 lb. maintenance guy who sued four leading fast food chains this week, claiming his 2 heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, were the food's fault. "They said '100 percent beef.' I thought that meant it was good for you," he explained. |
| Friday, July 26, 2002: Today's coverage of the trial in Pakistan of 4 men accused of gang-raping a 30-year old divorcee on the orders of a traditional village jury, was world wide. As noted in the Karachi–based The News: “The sensational case has provoked shame and outrage across Pakistan, with the Supreme Court branding it a heinous crime and the worst violation of human rights in 21st century Pakistan.” |
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“Much of the problem,” the Guardian offered, “lies with the continued poor status of women in this male-dominated culture.” |
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According to Hi Pakistan (see "Tips & Tools), an online news source also based in Karachi, there's apparently hope that greater exposure to Western values may raise the status of Pakistani women: "Lips are the highlight of a woman’s face. Well-shaped and expertly colored lips can make a stunning impact...". |
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On the other hand, considering an AP report broadcast on ABCNEWS this evening, the lipstick solution may not work: During the past 6 weeks, four soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. are thought to have killed their wives. |
| Thursday, July 25, 2002: In a report today by The
Jordan Times, you’ll find a round-up of what other newspapers across
the Arab world had to say about Israel's Monday night “massacre” of civilians
in a Gaza Strip air strike, and their considerable anger at Western governments
for not doing more to punish Israel. The sense of outrage over the attack,
“which killed 15 civilians as well as a top resistance leader [or terrorist,
depending upon whose side you’re on] and his bodyguard, was even more pronounced
in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, whose governments had been heavily involved
in US-led efforts to rein in attacks against Israelis.” If the US says
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has to go, asking Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon to go with him, might be the most effective Homeland Security
defense we could ever establish.
(Note: Subsequent press reports cite a total of 15 people killed in the attack, 9 of them children, and 148 wounded.) |
| NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told the New York Times yesterday the odds of that asteroid, named 2002 NT7, (see yesterday’s entry) hitting the earth on February 1, 2019 are presently 1-in-200,000. All of which raises an interesting public policy issue – should future observations prove the 1.2 mile wide rock will indeed impact the planet in 17 years, do you think any world government or the media would actually tell us? Talk about encouraging your take-it-to-the-streets, what-the-hell-do-I have-to-lose group think. Fortunately, there's more than enough conspiracy theorists around to keep us on our toes. |
| Martha Steward, target of a criminal probe because she dumped shares of ImClone, run by her close friend Sam Waksal, just before the firm's stock tanked, yesterday told analysts and investors during a morning conference call, "It has been extremely difficult and painful for me personally to see a private matter of mine create a challenging environment for our company (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) and its employees.” |
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“I should have held on to those shares,” one can image her adding. “Stock certificates, with their amazingly beautiful and lace-like, multi-shaded green borders, would have made a delightful wallpaper for the tool shed. And perhaps provide a necessary daily reminder, that even perfect plans sometimes fail.” |
| From the Citizen Corps website: “Operation TIPS, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and developed in partnership with several other federal agencies...will be a national system for reporting suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity. The program will involve the millions of American workers who, in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to see potentially unusual or suspicious activity in public places.” |
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From cartoonist Mark Fiore in today's San Francisco Chronicle. |
| Wednesday, July 24, 2002: Those of you who have decided to ride out the stock market despite your loses because you’re in for the long haul, think again. As the BBC reports, the initially calculated orbit of an asteroid first spotted on July 5th will hit the Earth on February 1, 2019. From its brightness astronomers estimate it’s about 1.2 miles wide, large enough to cause continent-wide devastation and global climate changes. Dr. Benny Pfizer, of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, told the BBC that "this asteroid has now become the most threatening object in the short history of asteroid detection.” |
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Dr. Peiser was quick to point out, however, that future observations could change the situation: "This unique event should not diminish the fact that additional observations in coming weeks will almost certainly, we hope, eliminate the current threat." On the other hand, should additional observations only prove the asteroid is larger than originally estimated, this is the only crash investors need to be worried about. |
| Yet more scary news from the BBC - The South Korean Government has started investigating a company which claims to have made a woman pregnant 2 months ago with a cloned human embryo. The company, BioFusion Tech, is an affiliate of the US-based firm Clonaid, which was founded by a religious cult, the Raelian Movement. The cult believes that humans were created by a genetic engineering experiment carried out by super-intelligent extra-terrestrials. Last year, Clonaid director Brigitte Boisellier was one of three doctors who announced their intention of cloning a human within a year. |
| With a grateful nod to Sidney J. Harris - Things I learned en route to looking up other things: According to a June 21st editorial in "Indian Country Today: The Nation’s Leading American Indian News Source” - when Native American elders wanted to find out a person’s true home, where they really belonged, they’d ask: "Where is your belly cord buried?" |
| Tuesday, July 23, 2002: As the New York Times today reports, scientists using magnetic resonance imaging of the brain “… have discovered that the small, brave act of cooperating with another person, of choosing trust over cynicism, generosity over selfishness, makes the brain light up with quiet joy.” Though the findings involved only female subjects, researchers suspect the same holds true for men. Given the significant data we already have on the differences in wiring of male and female brains, maybe not. Wait a minute - I just chose cynicism over trust and feel pretty good about it. |
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Speaking of sexual dimorphism, as USA Today first reported yesterday, another new study suggests, “Women's brains are wired both to feel and to recall emotions more keenly than the brains of men.” Wait a minute - I just forgot why I was feeling so good. |
| According to a new study reported last week in Science magazine (registration required), Alaska's glaciers are melting at more than twice the rate previously assumed - 24 cubic miles of ice a year - because of warming temperatures, and are contributing far more to a slow rise in sea levels than scientists had estimated. According to a Gallup Poll released today, we don’t seem to really care. |
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Gallup's annual survey on the environment, conducted in March, found that a slight majority of Americans, 53 percent, think the effects of global warming have already begun. But a majority of Americans, 65 percent, do not feel global warming will pose a serious threat in their lifetimes. Also, about three in 10 Americans polled said the news about global warming is generally exaggerated. Roughly one-third think the reports are correct, and an additional one-third believe them to be generally underestimated. |
| Monday, July 22, 2002: “All eyes are on the US, and any hint of gloomy news from (Wall Street) will be echoed in markets around the world,” the BBC wrote on Sunday. Tom Lydon, president of Global Trend Investments, offered: "There are going to be a lot of couples sitting across…their dining room tables this weekend and saying: 'That's it. We've had it. Let's get out of the market and take something off the table while we still can.' " My wife and I had this weekend conversation. Several times. But never while sitting at the dining room table. We were under it. |
| While taking a break from watching the markets tank, I found this bit of good news in USA Today: “Some say MBAs no longer worth extra cash.” As Winans International CEO Ken Winans, who teaches MBA students at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., put it: "Most people with MBAs can't manage themselves out of a paper bag.” Proof of that assertion, the paper reports, may come with the September issue of Academy of Management Learning and Education, in which management scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford examines 40 years of research and concludes there is little evidence those with an MBA better their careers or fortunes. Or, one might dare add, their shareholders’ fortunes. |
| Saturday, July 20, 2002: Fed up with the U.S. stock market? Want to hedge this war on terrorism thing? Then you might be interested in the recent launch of the Malaysia Global Sukook (Arabic for bond). Offered by the Malaysian central bank, the $500 million bond issue carries a Standard & Poor’s BBB rating. As reported in today’s Arabnews, “The Malaysia Global Sukook is unique in that it is an Islamic treasury bond, which means that it operates on Islamic interest-free financial and investment principles…” |
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Loan cash interest-free to troubled Malaysia, you ask? Fear not. To paraphrase our President, “In the Islamic world, sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures." The bonds are actually asset-backed securities, underpinned by a portfolio of prime real estate owned by the Malaysian government. Basically, the property gets sold to a special purpose trust to which the Malaysian government then pays rent. The rental income serves in lieu of interest for the maturity period. Wonder where those slick Malaysian bankers got their MBAs. |
| Friday, July 19, 2002: Can the Internet ever go bankrupt? Unlikely. But when WorldCom Inc. files for bankruptcy protection from its creditors reportedly by early next week, it’ll take UUNet, one of the original pieces of the web, with it. As the Guardian reported, WorldCom-owned UUNET carries about half the world's emails, and 70% of all emails sent in North America through its fiber optic network every day. |
| Jewish settlers have expressed shock and outrage at news that at least four Israeli soldiers living in the West Bank have been arrested on charges of stealing army ammunition and selling it to Palestinians (60,000 bullets @ half a shekel each). Not all involved were shocked however. According to a Palestinian official quoted by the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv (and picked up by the BBC), Palestinians have been acquiring their weapons from the Israelis for years. "Why are you making such a fuss?” the official was quoted as saying. “This is normal and a well-known occurrence. At least 50% of the weaponry in the [Palestinian] territories comes from the Israeli army." (Note: If you're having trouble with the BBC link, try a cut & paste job: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_2138000/2138155.stm ) |
| As noted on another weblog that people actually read, Eric Alterman does a nice job in The Nation telling us what a self-serving bitch ABC News’ Cokie Roberts is. But to give credit where credit is do: It was Jim Warren, now associate managing editor for features at the Chicago Tribune, who first introduced "Cokie Watch" years ago after arriving in Washington to head the paper’s bureau there. It was Warren who first detailed the conventions and trade organizations that paid Cokie for her name-dropping speeches, while she was still an unsullied queen. Piling on is easy; the first tackle is difficult. |
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Thursday, July 18, 2002: A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released yesterday examining how much Americans trust people shows 41% believe "most people can be trusted," while 57% believe "you can't be too careful in dealing with people." The percentage uncounted offered other opinions, as was the case in the table below. Results are based on telephone interviews conducted July 5-8 with a randomly selected national sample of 1,013 adults, 18 years and older. |
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| Gallup's data revealed some interesting demographic differences as well - about 6 in 10 Americans with a college degree or above believe most people can be trusted, compared with 42% of those with some college, and 27% of those with a high school education or less. |
| Wednesday, July 17, 2002: "An infectious greed seemed to grip much of our business community," Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday. "It is not," he added, "that humans have become any more greedy than in generations past. It is that the avenues to express greed had grown so enormously." |
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That’s as good an explanation of group behavior as you’ll likely get from an economist. We might be best served, however, by considering what the other social sciences have to say, because that’s what economics is, a social science. As a field of serious academic inquiry, economics falls within our best universities’ social science divisions – not their business schools. |
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Sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) for example, would cast a wider net than an economist by employing his concept of ‘anomie’ -- a condition where social and/or moral norms are confused, unclear or simply not present. |
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That’s not much of a problem if the resulting deviant behavior remains, well, deviant. But if it becomes institutionalized, as apparently some investors now fear it has beceome in Corporate America - it’s a problem. |
| Tuesday, July 16, 2002: In a long overdue mainstream media piece on the role of religion in our species historical habit of slaughtering itself, USA Today offers: “The bloodiest and most dangerous disputes today, from fundamentalist Islamic terrorism to Palestinian suicide bombings to a threatened nuclear showdown over Kashmir, are wrapped in religion. The resurgence of conflicts with a religious dimension creates challenges for diplomats and others now struggling to devise approaches to resolve them. The standard tools of diplomacy — a willingness to compromise, for instance, and to forgive old grievances — can be more difficult to apply when combatants claim God is on their side.” Change “more difficult” to “damn near impossible,” and you’ll have a better idea of what's up. As for our own nation’s role in things, the report continues: “Modern-day globalization has had an effect as well. Political scientist Benjamin Barber calls it ‘jihad vs. McWorld,’ the clash between tribalism and globalism. A globalized economy has spotlighted economic inequities and made some societies feel threatened by an encroaching American culture. Some have responded by embracing their religion or ethnicity with new fierceness.” One possible long term solution: Rev. Jesse Jackson goes on an extended tribal tour and starts handing out McFranchises, until we’re visited by extraterrestrials who will undoubtedly bring their God with them and settle the matter once and for all. |
| From today’s ‘Gallup Poll Briefing’ -- Fifty-seven percent of Americans polled July 9-11 feel economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting worse, while just about three in 10 say conditions are getting better…Only three in 10 feel the stock market will go up in the next six months…Strong majorities say stockbroker self-interest, fraudulent financial audits, and misconduct by top executives are at least somewhat widespread in the country today…Just about four in 10 feel President Bush did something illegal or unethical…Martha Stewart's image is now more negative than positive, a switch from just a few weeks ago…Half of all Americans say U.S. accomplishments in Afghanistan will not be successful until Osama bin Laden is captured….Four in 10 admit to being overweight…One in five say they drink more than they should. |
| Hank Stuever’s short piece in today’s Washington Post about all those sad-trader photos of “guys with names like Vincent and Joe and Danny -- grinding their knuckles into their overstrained eye sockets, as if they personally lost all America's money and now need to find a way to tell us” - is worth a click. |
| A short time after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan left the microphone, the coverage hit. First sentences are telling and there was quite a shade spread. From the AP: “...Alan Greenspan told Congress today the economy is on the road to full recovery but will keep feeling the effects of last year's recession.” From the NYT: “The economy is continuing to build momentum, Alan Greenspan...told senators today, but ‘considerable uncertainties still confront us.’ " From the UK Guardian: “...Alan Greenspan today tried to restore market confidence, shattered by a blizzard of accounting scandals and doubts over economic recovery, by stressing the resilience of the American economy.” From the BBC: “... Alan Greenspan has told the Senate that the US economy is set to recover despite recent stock market volatility.” |
| Monday, July 15, 2002: The makers of the South African version of Sesame Street announced at last week's 14th International AIDS conference in Barcelona that an HIV-positive female character would be introduced on the show in an effort to constructively address the negative stereotypes of individuals so infected. The character will start life in South Africa – which has more than 4.7 million people living with the virus - but will then be exported to some of the nine countries that broadcast the show. As Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported in today’s edition (credit card registration required): Republican “lawmakers rushed over the weekend to put the Public Broadcasting System on notice that it better think twice before bringing to America a new, HIV-infected Muppet…”. Perhaps “Father Friendly” or “Mr. Piggy CEO” would be more acceptable to the mainly Southern Senators who bitched. |
| Sunday, July 14, 2002: Arguments of postmodernism’s relativism aside, it’s wise to get a sense of how others view us if for no other reason than to see what, rightly or wrongly, we’re up against. The view from London in today’s Guardian offered by John Pilger, is none too good. In a revised extract from this awarding-winning filmmaker & journalist's May 2002 book, "The New Rulers of the World," Pilger argues that our war on terrorism is nothing more than a smokescreen created by the “ultimate terrorist...America itself.” Since it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever read this guy on the op-ed page of the New York Times, you can read him here today. If you miss the live link, fear not. This being America, you can always buy the book or video. |
| Friday, July 12, 2002: Government sources told CNN yesterday that groups of suspected al Qaeda operatives, totaling fewer than 100, are being closely watched by the FBI in some of America's largest cities, including Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and Chicago, my hometown. To paraphrase Humphrey Bogart's Rick in Casablanca – “There are certain sections of Chicago that I wouldn't advise al Qaeda to occupy.” Given the FBI is also interested in tracking down all possible local sources of terrorism funding - i.e., Middle Eastern men with a lot of illegal cash - they might want to check out some of the fast food joints here that host video poker games. They can start with the Lucky Kabab House on the North Side. |
| Thursday, July 11, 2002: Today’s issue of the scientific journal Nature reports on the finding of a cranium, two lower jaw fragments and several teeth, which suggest an evolutionary complexity and diversity of the human species more complex than the simplified family trees of the past – “At between 6 and 7 million years old, this skull is the earliest known record of the human family. Discovered in Chad in Central Africa, the new find, nicknamed 'Toumaï', comes from the crucial yet little-known interval when the human lineage was becoming distinct from that of chimpanzees.” Unmentioned in today’s report is the bonobo, which along with the other great apes - gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan – all have tree branches of their own. "The current model of our progress as a species uses the chimpanzee as the touchstone of human evolution,” says Frans de Waal, a prominent investigator at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta and professor of psychology at that city's Emory University. “Male dominance, aggression, cooperative hunting, warfare are all a part of the story…The bonobo shows the flexibility in our lineage that we didn't know we had before…They're female-centered, egalitarian, have no cooperative hunting and substitute sex for aggression.” |
| News that the House of Representatives today passed a bill permitting pilots to carry firearms comes a bit too close to the July 4 report that two pilots lost their licenses after trying to fly a jetliner while drunk, to offer much comfort. While a list of House approved weapons has yet to be released, rumors (originating here) that Senator Jesse Helms is lobbying for shotguns, are untrue. Ditto for reports that former Vice President Dan Quayle is suggesting a hand grenade option. |
| If you’ve tried to watch The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, and despite its popularity, couldn’t take more than 15 minutes, read “Spin This: The trouble with Bill O’Reilly,” by Cathy Young in today’s Reason. “By the most recent figures,” she writes, “his show averages nearly 2 million viewers a night, handily beating CNN’s Larry King Live even though the latter is far more widely available.” Next week (July 15), Phil Donahue - the PT 109 of talk show hosts - starts asking questions for MSNBC. |
| Wednesday, July 10, 2002: The news yesterday that a hormone replacement regimen taken by six million American women to offset the effects of menopause did more harm than good, not only shook up women and their doctors across the country, it sent the stock of Wyeth, a leading maker of estrogen, down nearly 12 percent. What might send the drug company's stock back up, as well as offer some relief to six million women, is the fact Wyeth also manufacturers Effexor, an anti-depressant that when given in very low doses, has shown to lessen the severity and frequency of hot flashes. Up to this point, Effexor has been used to treat menopausal breast cancer survivors who couldn’t avail themselves of estrogen therapy due to the increased risk of breast cancer. Vitamin E is also thought to help with hot flashes, but since no drug company can patent the stuff, there won’t be a lot of press releases issued on the subject. |
| From today's UK Guardian - "The home secretary, David Blunkett, finally confirmed this afternoon that the government is to reverse 30 years of ever-tightening drugs [sic] laws, with a downgrading of cannabis to a class C level drug - on a par with anti-depressants." Hello six million American women. (For a semi-humorous take on efforts to decriminalize the stuff in the US, see Grass Roots.) |
| Tuesday, July 9, 2002: Given this morning’s coverage in the New York Times (registration required) of President Bush’s press conference yesterday, don’t look for the markets to move up much during his speech to Wall Street today when he’ll lay out his plans to hold corrupt corporate executives more accountable for their behavior. Investor confidence will unlikely get bolstered – other than for short sellers – if Bush offers any more insights like those delivered yesterday – “In the corporate world,” said the President, referring to his own questionable behavior as a board member of the Harken Energy Corp., “sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures." Evening Addendum: DJIA -178.90 | NASDAQ -24.49 | |
| Monday, July 8, 2002: Freelance journalists are a dying breed. Especially those of the investigative variety. Often shunned by their staff colleagues and largely unknown by the public, they’re the ones who end up telling stories no one really wants to hear. One such reporter, Robert Friedman, who the American Journalism Review called “The Best Investigative Reporter You’ve Never Heard Of,” passed away last Tuesday, July 3, at age 51. He died of complications from an illness contracted seven years ago while reporting on the female slave trade in the slums of Bombay. As the AJR notes: "Friedman credits Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, ‘The Jungle,’ which he read in an 11th grade journalism class, with sparking his love of investigative reporting. Sinclair exposed conditions in the meat processing industry in the United States, sparking radical reforms. ‘That book blew me away. I decided I wanted to write stories that would afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted…I knew I didn't want to be a doctor or a lawyer or go into business. I wanted to be a writer and bring down the bastions of power that caused common people so much suffering. That's what I thought in 11th grade. I guess I never grew up. I still feel that way.’ " You can read one of Friedman’s last pieces, on the Israel/Palestine situation, in the December 24, 2001 issue of The Nation. Other examples of his work are listed here in the American Journalism Review. |
| Sunday, July 7, 2002: Perhaps you'll read/hear all about it in the US media on Tuesday (7/9) when a World Wildlife Fund study regarding humankind's consumption of earth's natural resources, gets released in Geneva. Since the report openly shames our super-sized demand on resources, you can also expect an ad-supported-media-soft-spin. Read it in today's UK-based Guardian. If our natural resources continue to be used up at the current rate, says the report, we'll need to colonize two more earth-like planets by 2050. |
| Friday, July 5, 2002: Rushing to judgment serves no one, but tap dancing doesn’t help much either. While the psychological motives behind yesterday's shootings at the LAX ticket counter of El Al Israel Airlines may never get sorted out, this morning’s coverage seemed to go out of its way not to call the event “domestic terrorism.” And with reason - what little we do know doesn’t fit the legal definition as defined by the USA Patriot Act – meaning, the event does not “appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…”. On the other hand, when an Egyptian Muslim immigrant armed with .45 caliber and 9 mm handguns, a six inch knife, as well as extra ammo, takes aim at a largely Jewish target, we can rule out armed robbery. While we can accept the official FBI line and report the event as a “hate crime” or an “isolated incident” and help keep the DJIA and NASDAQ from tanking again (indeed, both futures were up this morning), the underlying realities of what we're facing hasn’t changed. Besides, 9/11 was a hate crime too. |
| Thursday, July 4, 2002: The recent leaking of a 1991 Securities and Exchange Commission report which suggests President Bush, an MBA and former Texas oil man, engaged in some of the same kinds of business practices he's now promising to clean up, needs a proper context. Remember, this is a man who admittedly had a problem with alcohol and successfully cleaned up his act. Change is possible; reform can succeed. And sometimes, just sometimes, you can choke on a pretzel and pass out without ever having had a drink. (Note To U.S. Readers: Have a safe and happy Independence Day. Despite our troubles, we're quite blessed to be here) |
| Wednesday, July 3, 2002: Steve Fossett, the 58-year-old Chicago millionaire whose six year quest to circumnavigate the world in a balloon, finally succeeded yesterday on his sixth attempt. Today, you can read about it in nearly every paper on the planet. Not mentioned anywhere though, is the 'why,' as in - why would anyone repeatedly risk their life to achieve nothing practical? For that answer, you might consider Earnest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death. Becker, a cultural anthropologist, saw us all as constant fighters, struggling with self composed challenges in an attempt to father ourselves and achieve immortality. Sometimes, we get close to succeeding, like when we embrace the challenges of raising a family, and pass on at least some of our genes. Most other times we fail. Like when we circumnavigate the world in a balloon. |
| Tuesday, July 2, 2002: It took only a three minute search to find a video clip advertised to be Daniel Pearl being slaughtered. It was silent, black & white, ran about 13 seconds, and was posted on a pro-Arab website. I sent it to a physician friend to see if he thought it was real or a Hollywood creation. He thought real. While I'm not posting a direct link to the clip, any adult who cares to view it, should. So, if you cut & paste this URL - http://pal.linefeed.org/news/2002/05/29600.php - into your browser, you'll find what I found. Perhaps during the few extra seconds it'll take to do it yourself, you'll change your mind. As I wish I had. |
| The popularity of day time television, professional wrestling and 590 calorie Big Macs suggested to me long ago that, as a nation, we had our share of idiots (disclosure: I've had my share of 430 calorie Quarter Pounders, and thought the last "Celebrity Boxing" on Fox was pretty cool). Consequently, I was never surprised by the popularity of Ann Landers/Dear Abby. But the widespread acceptance of their overly simplistic responses to complex interpersonal relationships, at times was painful, especially while an idealistic grad student in psychology. "How can they run this crap?" I'd seriously ask. Only after getting into the newspaper business did I realize it was a business. As Rick Kogan points out in today's Chicago Tribune (registration required), "There is a scramble on how to fill the hole left by Landers column, especially since it represents yearly revenues of some $12 million a year." |
| Monday, July 1, 2002: News that not all is well within Corporate America's books, is just a variation on a theme for anyone who has been paying attention. It was the role media-as-big-business can play in our financial affairs that first got my mine in a June 2000 story written for the alternative weekly, the Chicago Reader. See: CNBC: Viewer Discretion Advised. |
| October 2001 - June 2002: I thought it best to explain the considerable time between entries. In brief, 9/11 got to me. It wasn't until January I felt more pissed off than ill because no major media outlet had yet given voice to any American Muslims' take on the possible reasons for the attack. Any explanation offered other than our foes were evil, caused considerable trouble. I put together a story for the Chicago Tribune, which my editor, Tim Bannon, was brave enough to publish on February 17. Although the last three paragraphs didn't make it in the paper, you can read the entire story, Understanding Islam , here. |
| Last fall, after anthrax-laced letters sent to two senators and the news media ended up killing five people, to help mitigate stress, I knocked out a "Top 10" list a la David Letterman. Didn't dare publish it then; seems safe enough now: |
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10) can easily turn their underground wine cellars into hermetically sealed shelters 9) don't handle own mail anyway 8) if released in the air, odds are LA pollution would kill it 7) ants? tracks? who cares about tiny footprints? 6) haven't heard about it yet, 'cause most are still in hiding 5) can't figure out how to put a spore under contract 4) heard it could be used as a weight loss aid 3) too difficult to spell 2) doesn't come in designer colors 1) have been inhaling white powder for years with only a few well publicized causalities |
| Friday, Sept. 14, 2001 (originally posted on Jim Romenesko's MediaNews weblog) : When I got off the phone Tuesday morning at approximately 7:50 a.m. with a managing editor at the Chicago Tribune, I'm sure we both thought we were about to start just another news day. He said he was on his way to catch a plane, and I turned my attention back to CNBC. Moments later, they cut to a live shot of the World Trade Center. As I watched, trying to figure out what happen, the second plane hit. After calling my brother in LA to say "We're under attack," for the next 14 hours I cruised the 'Net and surfed every broadcast and cable channel I had access to. A few blurry eyed observations: Forget on-line journalism. For now. It's useless in times of crisis. It took at least two hours before I could access any creditable news site on Tuesday morning. Television journalists need have no fear despite their shrinking market. The video screen is our national campfire. Peter Jennings was the best. The intelligence of his intent, and his impatience with his less talented ABC colleagues, was palpable. You could almost hear the slap on his forehead after listening to Barbara Walters say nothing. Ditto for Jennings' reaction to the blonde from Good Morning America after her stand-up in the street. If Tuesday does not prove U.S. journalism is not a profession - but a trade - for which all one basically needs is a heartbeat, nothing will. However, Tuesday also proves it is a most noble trade. |
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