Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
What DOES the future hold? Our Country could be Done for.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
November 16, 2008 6:01 PM PST
Murdoch to media: You dug yourself a huge hole
With newspapers cutting back and predictions of even worse times ahead, Rupert Murdoch said the profession may still have a bright future if it can shake free of reporters and editors who he said have forfeited the trust and loyalty of their readers.
"My summary of the way some of the established media has responded to the internet is this: it's not newspapers that might become obsolete. It's some of the editors, reporters, and proprietors who are forgetting a newspaper's most precious asset: the bond with its readers," said Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp. He made his remarks as part of a lecture series sponsored by the Australian Broadcast Corporation.
Murdoch to journalists: Shape up or risk extinction
(Credit: Dan Farber)Murdoch, whose company's holdings also include MySpace and the Wall Street Journal, criticized what he described as a culture of "complacency and condescension" in some newsrooms.
"The complacency stems from having enjoyed a monopoly--and now finding they have to compete for an audience they once took for granted. The condescension that many show their readers is an even bigger problem. It takes no special genius to point out that if you are contemptuous of your customers, you are going to have a hard time getting them to buy your product. Newspapers are no exception."
The 77-year-old Murdoch, recalling a long career in newspapers that began when his father's death forced him to take over the Adelaide News in 1952, said the profession has failed to creatively respond to changes wrought by technology.
"It used to be that a handful of editors could decide what was news-and what was not. They acted as sort of demigods. If they ran a story, it became news. If they ignored an event, it never happened. Today editors are losing this power. The Internet, for example, provides access to thousands of new sources that cover things an editor might ignore. And if you aren't satisfied with that, you can start up your own blog and cover and comment on the news yourself. Journalists like to think of themselves as watchdogs, but they haven't always responded well when the public calls them to account."
To make his point, Murdoch criticized the media reaction after bloggers debunked a "60 Minutes" report by former CBS anchor, Dan Rather, that President Bush had evaded service during his days in the National Guard.
"Far from celebrating this citizen journalism, the establishment media reacted defensively. During an appearance on Fox News, a CBS executive attacked the bloggers in a statement that will go down in the annals of arrogance. '60 Minutes,' he said, was a professional organization with 'multiple layers of checks and balances.' By contrast, he dismissed the blogger as 'a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing.' But eventually it was the guys sitting in their pajamas who forced Mr. Rather and his producer to resign.
"Mr. Rather and his defenders are not alone," he continued. "A recent American study reported that many editors and reporters simply do not trust their readers to make good decisions. Let's be clear about what this means. This is a polite way of saying that these editors and reporters think their readers are too stupid to think for themselves."
Murdoch's comments come at a time when the media landscape looks increasingly bleak both for print-based and online news organizations. A recent report by Goldman Sachs predicted that advertising pressure will continue because of the declines in the auto and financial industries. Online outlets are also feeling the impact. On Friday, TheStreet.com shut its San Francisco office
Despite the blemishes, however, Murdoch said newspapers can still count on circulation gains "if papers provide readers with news they can trust." He added they will also need to embrace technology advances like RSS feeds and targeted e-mails. The challenge, according to Murdoch, will be to "use a newspaper's brand while allowing readers to personalize the news for themselves-and then deliver it in the ways that they want."
"The newspaper, or a very close electronic cousin, will always be around. It may not be thrown on your front doorstep the way it is today. But the thud it makes as it lands will continue to echo around society and the world," he said.
Charles is an executive editor with CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years. A graduate of Queens College and Columbia University, Cooper began his career in journalism at the Associated Press before moving to technology coverage. Before joining CNET News, he worked at Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. He received the Excellence in Journalism award from the Northern California branch of the Society for Professional Journalists for column writing. In addition to his blogging and podcast appearances, he is a co-host of the CNET News Daily Debrief. E-mail Charlie. - Topics:
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Friday, November 14, 2008
The Priest gets it right
No communion for Obama supporters
Nov 13 06:59 PM US/Eastern
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."
Nov 13 06:59 PM US/Eastern
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."
The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.
"Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.
"Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exits constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."
During the 2008 presidential campaign, many bishops spoke out on abortion more boldly than four years earlier, telling Catholic politicians and voters that the issue should be the most important consideration in setting policy and deciding which candidate to back. A few church leaders said parishioners risked their immortal soul by voting for candidates who support abortion rights.
But bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers—and voters—should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from church teaching on abortion. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese. In their annual fall meeting, the nation's Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.
According to national exit polls, 54 percent of Catholics chose Obama, who is Protestant. In South Carolina, which McCain carried, voters in Greenville County—traditionally seen as among the state's most conservative areas—went 61 percent for the Republican, and 37 percent for Obama.
"It was not an attempt to make a partisan point," Newman said in a telephone interview Thursday. "In fact, in this election, for the sake of argument, if the Republican candidate had been pro-abortion, and the Democratic candidate had been pro-life, everything that I wrote would have been exactly the same."
Conservative Catholics criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004 for supporting abortion rights, with a few Catholic bishops saying Kerry should refrain from receiving Holy Communion because his views were contrary to church teachings.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she had not heard of other churches taking this position in reaction to Obama's win. A Boston-based group that supports Catholic Democrats questioned the move, saying it was too extreme.
"Father Newman is off-base," said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. "He is acting beyond the authority of a parish priest to say what he did. ... Unfortunately, he is doing so in a manner that will be of great cost to those parishioners who did vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. There will be a spiritual cost to them for his words."
A man who has attended St. Mary's for 18 years said he welcomed Newman's message and anticipated it would inspire further discussion at the church.
"I don't understand anyone who would call themselves a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and could vote for someone who's a pro-abortion candidate," said Ted Kelly, 64, who volunteers his time as lector for the church. "You're talking about the murder of innocent beings."
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On the Net:
St. Mary's Catholic Church: http://www.stmarysgvl.org/
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Palin Speaks Out
By DAN JOLING
As for the vice presidential campaign, Palin denounced criticism from unidentified McCain campaign aides as "cowardly." She said she found it frustrating trying to respond to false allegations when she didn't know who was making them.
The RNC will inventory clothing it purchased for her to account for dollars spent, she said. She scoffed at reports that the RNC was sending lawyers to take back clothes from her home.
"That's cruel. It's mean-spirited. It's immature. It's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context, and then tried to spread something on national news. It's not fair and it's not right."
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Gov. Sarah Palin denounced anonymous criticisms leveled at her by former John McCain aides as lies, including allegations that Republican lawyers were traveling to Alaska to reclaim her high-priced wardrobe and that she didn't know Africa was a continent.
"Those accounts are not true," the former Republican vice presidential candidate said in her first public comments on the matter since the election Tuesday.
Palin returned Friday to her Anchorage governor's office and said she had no immediate plans to build on her newfound national name-recognition and popularity with the Republican base for a possible 2012 presidential run.
Instead, Palin said, she wanted only to get back to the governor's desk to advance a proposed pipeline tapping Alaska's vast North Slope natural gas reserves and to prepare Alaska's proposed 2010 budget.
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"It's ridiculous," she told reporters. "You guys report based on anonymous sources, so it's hard to have a defense."
One report said she and her family went on a shopping spree, spending more than the $150,000 in clothing that the Republican National Committee had earlier reported.
"The RNC purchased clothes," Palin said.
"Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes. I never forced anybody to buy anything. I never asked for anything more than maybe a Diet Dr Pepper once in a while."
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"It's not happening. Nobody's told me that they're coming to my house to look through closets, to look through anything. The belly of the plane that had clothes in it, and those clothes being packed up and sent back by staffers, perhaps that's what they're talking about, but these aren't attorneys."
She said she wasn't angry at the continued coverage of her clothing, but mostly disappointed.
"This is Barack Obama's time right now, and this is an historic moment in our nation and this can be a shining moment for America and our history, and look what we're talking about. Again, we're talking about my shoes and belts and skirts. It's ridiculous."
She also denied a report that she didn't know Africa was a continent, not a country, and that she didn't know the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement - the United States, Canada and Mexico. She remembered discussing both Africa and Obama's stance on NAFTA with people preparing her for her debate, she said. Anything reported as a gaffe was taken out of context, she said.
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Asked if she felt muzzled by her limited time with reporters during the campaign, Palin said the media is a cornerstone of democracy and an important part of the checks and balances on government.
"Heaven forbid that a candidate or an elected official shy way from speaking to the media," she said. "So it was a little bit of a frustration that I didn't get to call more of those shots, and I guess that was sort of the 'rogue' criticism was, 'She wants to talk to more of the media' than perhaps some in the campaign wanted me to."
Palin backed off from calling for the resignation of fellow Alaskan Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history. Stevens leads Democrat Mark Begich by about 3,500 votes with more than 50,000 to be counted.
A Washington jury convicted Stevens on Oct. 27 of seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts, mostly renovations on his home. Stevens is appealing the verdict.
"The Alaska voters have spoken and me not being a dictator won't be telling anyone what to do," she said.
Fellow senators have indicated they could boot Stevens.
"That's their baby," Palin said. "They'll have to figure out what to do there."
Palin said she was not interested in running for the job if it comes open.
"Not planning on that. Nope," she said.
The beginning of Omerica (Watch out)
Obama to Reverse More Than 200 Bush Executive Orders
Jump to CommentsSunday, November 9, 2008
Let the clean up begin!!
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.
In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.
Obama himself has signaled, for example, that he intends to reverse Bush’s controversial limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a decision that scientists say has restrained research into some of the most promising avenues for defeating a wide array of diseases, such as Parkinson’s.
Bush’s August 2001 decision pleased religious conservatives who have moral objections to the use of cells from days-old human embryos, which are destroyed in the process.
America is back and in a big way!
Bush Says Smooth Transition for Obama Is Top Priority (Update1)
By Dawn Kopecki
Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said Barack Obama represents ``a triumph of the American story'' and promised his ``complete cooperation'' in the handover of power.
``Ensuring that this transition is seamless is a top priority for the rest of my time in office,'' Bush said today in his weekly radio address. Bush, a Republican, ends his second term in office on Jan. 20, when Obama will be sworn in.
Obama, the first black elected president, will inherit the deepest U.S. recession since Ronald Reagan's second year in the White House, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and tensions with Russia over U.S. plans to build a missile shield in Europe.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, plan to meet with Bush and first lady Laura Bush at the White House Nov. 10. In the coming weeks, administration officials will be asked to brief the Obama team on financial markets and the war in Iraq, Bush said.
``I will keep the president-elect fully informed of important decisions during this critical time for our nation,'' he said. Bush said he will also use his remaining time to approve free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that have been stalled for months.
The state of the economy puts pressure on Obama to quickly assemble a response and name his economic team. U.S. payrolls plunged by more than half a million over the past two months, according to data released this week, and the unemployment rate jumped to 6.5 percent in October, the highest in 14 years.
``I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on Jan. 20 because we don't have a moment to lose,'' Obama, 47, said in the Democratic party's weekly radio address today.
Tax Cut
Obama repeated pledges to pursue a middle-class tax cut and other priorities he identified in the campaign to address the financial meltdown. He also said that the $700 billion rescue plan signed into law Oct. 3 needs to protect taxpayers, help homeowners without ``unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.''
Some 3.8 million U.S. homes are under foreclosure, 1.2 million Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of the year, and many states face revenue shortfalls, economists say.
Economists led by Jan Hatzius at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the economy will shrink at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter and at a 2 percent pace in the first quarter of 2009, nearly twice prior estimates. That would be the biggest back-to-back contraction since 1982.
Plunging Car Sales
The surge in unemployment reflected an economic cave-in last month, when car sales plunged 32 percent, manufacturing contracted the most in 26 years and consumer confidence fell to a record low. Obama yesterday called automobiles the ``backbone'' of U.S. manufacturing, indicating he supports government aid.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter today to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urging him to use the $700 billion rescue bill passed last month to provide temporary aid to automakers.
Pelosi was among the lawmakers who met two days ago with the chief executives of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. The three companies are seeking $50 billion in federal loans to help them weather the worst auto market in 25 years, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Relations with Russia also pose a challenge to Obama. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev this week declared that he would place short-range Iskander missiles and a radio-jamming installation near Poland to ``neutralize'' the planned U.S. missile-defense system. Russia has consistently objected to the system as a threat to its security, while the U.S. says it is intended to shield against missiles from Iran or North Korea.
Medvedev spoke to Obama today and congratulated him on his ``clear'' victory in the Nov. 4 presidential election, according to an e-mailed statement from the Kremlin. The two leaders agreed to organize a meeting in the ``near term,'' the statement said.
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net
Friday, November 7, 2008
Blaming the Jews (again)
By Cal Thomas
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Just as the Obama campaign seemed to be making progress in tamping down rumors about his alleged Muslim background and that he might be a "Manchurian candidate" for the Arab-Islamic world, up steps the Rev. Jesse Jackson to upset the falafel cart.
Jackson, who doesn't speak for the Obama campaign and has no role in it, was in Evian, France, the home of the preferred water of Volvo-driving liberals, where he spoke with columnist and author Amir Taheri about what he thinks the foreign policy in an Obama administration would look like. Jackson said things would start to improve in an Obama administration because "decades of putting Israel first" would come to an end.
"Bush was so afraid of a snafu and of upsetting Israel that he gave the whole thing a miss," Jackson told Taheri. "Barack will change that, because, as long as the Palestinians haven't seen justice, the Middle East will remain a source of danger to us all. Barack is determined to repair our relations with the world of Islam and Muslims," Jackson said. "Thanks to his background and ecumenical approach, he knows how Muslims feel while remaining committed to his own faith."
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What could this mean? Jackson, who is in denial about the enormous progress in Iraq (he still maintains the war is lost and that toppling the monster Saddam Hussein was an "illegal act"), is sending a message of some sort. Is it a message he hopes will undermine Obama, because he is jealous that Obama has replaced him as America's most famous black leader? What does he mean when he speaks of Obama's "background"? Obama has maintained he is not now, nor has he ever been, a Muslim, which most people accept. So what is Jackson getting at?
And what could he possibly mean by claiming the Palestinians have been denied justice? By their leaders, certainly they have. Palestinians could have had their own state a long time ago. They were offered one in 1948 and in years since, but their leaders have made no secret that they want not just part of the land, but all of it, thereby eliminating Israel.
What about justice for the Jews? Apparently that doesn't count with Jackson, who once called New York City "Hymietown." Why wouldn't Jackson support Israel, the region's only democracy, with a second — Iraq — headed in that direction? Why does Jackson see Israel and its elected government as inferior to Arab dictatorships and a Palestinian leadership that slaughtered those who wanted to cut a peace deal with Israel long before recent elections put the terrorist group Hamas in charge?
With Jackson, determining motive is not difficult. Jackson is out for Jackson and his interests above all others and all else. Jackson has been cozy with the Muslim world for years. He has been on the receiving end of their contributions for his political campaigns and various organizations.
There is nothing wrong with any Arab or Muslim individual or organization properly donating to a legal entity for whatever political purpose the individual or group wishes to support. But many Arab-Americans have made no secret that their quest for political power is intended to change U.S. policy toward Israel, which can only lead to its destruction. And the destruction of Israel is issue number one for most of the radical Muslims in the world, coming just slightly ahead of the destruction of America.
In the matter of repairing our relations with radical Arabs and Muslims, there is only one way to do that from their perspective and that is to sell out Israel. Obama, says Jackson, "knows how Muslims feel." Really? Does he know that in their sermons, their media and textbooks they recruit the young as suicide bombers, accuse Jews of causing AIDS, and all the world's other ills, and teach that their G-d wants all Jews (and Christians, which presumably would include the "useful idiot" Jesse Jackson) dead? How does one empathize with such thinking?
Has Jesse Jackson exposed something about Barack Obama that those committed to voting for him should know before the election? It would seem so and Obama ought to be asked about it. The media should not allow him to get away with less than a forthright response.
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