Saturday, January 06, 2007

The Future of the New York Times - Illustrated


Need more evidence of the diminished value of the old-line newspaper business? Powerline and American Thinker report that the money-losing sale of the Tribune Company was even worse than previously thought. The seller was forced to throw in five blocks of prime land on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.

A/T's Rosslyn Smith wonders "what a dead tree media outlet is worth as [an] ongoing business today." Let's review and predict, shall we?


The New York Times, circa 1933.



The New York Times, circa 1960.



The New York Times, circa 2004.



The New York Times, circa 2006.


Detecting a trend in newspaper size?


My newspaper, circa 2008.


* * *


Looks like the size of the paper is diminishing nearly as fast as the stock price. And I'm quite relieved that I've never owned any Times stock. It's sinking faster than an old canoe carrying Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell.


Hat tip: Larwyn

Oven-fresh good readin', just like Mama used to make:
Anchoress, Blogs of War, Conservative Beach Girl, Gateway Pundit, Hugh Hewitt, Ironic Surrealism, Jules Crittenden, Moonbattery, In the Bullpen, OTB, Passionate America, Patterico, Rick Moran, Sister Toldjah, STACLU, USS Neverdock, Wizbang

Friday, January 05, 2007

John Conyers' Culture of Cranberries


So the staff of John Conyers (D-MI) absconded with sixty turkeys intended for low-income residents?


When John Conyers enters the room, turkeys tremble

Daled Amos has the fowl details:

[Conyers'] staff members picked up 60 turkeys from a local food bank, ostensibly to deliver to those in need. However, the Director of the charity became suspicious when word reached him that a federal court worker was offered a turkey by a member of Conyers' staff. Conyers has also failed to meet a December 27 deadline to provide an accounting of where the birds were delivered... [an] aide also expressed concerns in a memo to the FBI...

...Conyers, of course, is no stranger to scandal. The Democrat was investigated last year by the Ethics Committee for improperly using staff members during office hours for political campaigning. DeWayne Boyd, a former aide fired in 2002, was convicted just last month on fraud charges resulting from a scam he ran out of the Representative's office... the turkeys (meant to feed hungry poor people), were picked up from the food bank by current Deputy Thief of Staff Marion Brown, and former Aide turned felon, DeWayne Boyd. The very same Boyd fired in 2002 and convicted in December.

Now my question is this, what in the world is the Deputy Thief of Staff of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives doing running around on official business with a former staff member who was fired and convicted of fraud?

Talk about a culture of corruption... and of cranberries.

Mmmmmmmm... cranberries.


Hat tip: Larywn

Oven-baked good readin', just like Mama used to make:
Boring Made Dull, Flopping Aces, Fausta's Blog, Flying Debris, Maryland Conservatarian, RedState, WuzzaDem

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Lazy. Links. Only.


Yep, I'm feeling unmotivated. Anything but artistic. Fortunately, I've come across some interesting, high-class links. Classier than James Wolcott, even - though with fewer chins. Check 'em out. Tomorrow, I'm banking on a brainstorm of epic proportions wherein I'll find myself capable of posting a Hajj-esque Photoshop or two.

American Digest: Jane's Got Questions. I've Got Answers. Never heard of left-wing blogger Jane Hamsher? Neither have I. But you won't soon forget her after reading Vanderleun's giggle-inducing smackdown.

Belmont Club: The Blogosphere at War. Looking for an overview of information warfare in the age of blogs? Your search is over.

The Objective Standard: No substitute for Victory. An important and thought-provoking article that contrasts the suicidal death-cult of World War II-era Japanese Shintoism with a more current challenge.

Patterico: Patterico’s Los Angeles Dog Trainer Year in Review 2006. Snark, cynicism, and a failing West Coast Pravda-clone - what could be more delicious?

Right Wing News: Twenty Most Annoying Liberals - 2006 Edition. Shocker - Jimmy Carter beaten for the top spot in a stunning upset!

ZombieTime: The Concourse of Hypocrisy. 'Hypocrisy' is an ugly term. But when Berkeley residents drive gas-guzzling junkers, not a lot of other words come to mind.


Hat tips: Atlas Shrugged and Larwyn

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Net Disingenuity: Letter to the Editors of the Wall Street Journal


Your streak of outstanding editorials has hit a few potholes in recent months. I am speaking of your series pillorying network neutrality. Uncharacteristically, these pieces have suffered from major inaccuracies and omissions.

Months ago, your claim was that even defining net neutrality was fraught with complexity. In "The Web's Worst New Idea" (May 18, 2006 [1]), the Journal stated that net neutrality regulations would lead to, "years of litigation." When the screws tightened on AT&T, however, it easily conjured a trivial definition of net neutrality that codifies the status quo. The carrier simply said it would not prioritize or degrade network traffic based upon "source, ownership or destination." That's not exactly difficult to understand, nor is it significantly different than the principles of neutrality enunciated by former FCC Chairman Michael Powell years ago [2].

In "Net Discrimination" (Jan. 2, 2007), you claimed that Google, Microsoft, and other network application providers had, "loaded up on beltway lobbyists." However, a CNet report last year stated that AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon have "spent $230.9 million on politicians" since 1998, a sum that dwarfs the amount spent by the major Internet application providers (estimated at $71 million) during the same period [3]. Somehow you omitted that disparity in spending. One wonders what innovations the carriers might have arrived at had some of these funds been allocated to R&D.

And the companies you decry -- including eBay, Google, and Yahoo -- are compelling arguments for net neutrality by dint of their mere existence. Created in garages and dorm rooms, they are fountainheads of innovation and tens of billions of dollars of market value. A new crop of startups -- YouTube, Flickr, and Digg among them -- also relied upon non-discrimination to secure funding and technical viability.

As currently enforced by the FCC, neutrality simply ensures that the carriers can't discriminate between different types of content. Traffic from Google, Yahoo, or Joe's-Search-Engine.com is treated equally. Neutrality ensures that all users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. And it prevents the companies that control the wires from discriminating against content based on its source or ownership.

Put simply, net neutrality has resulted in the greatest value creation machine the world has ever seen: the Internet. Letting a tiny set of carriers constrict the Internet by turning it into cable television is a mistake of monumental proportions. At risk is America's technological leadership position and, by extension, its national security. Do you trust America's entrepeneurs or a reconstituted Ma Bell? I'll take our garages and dorm rooms any day of the week.

Best Regards,

Doug Ross

[1] http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008391
[2] http://www.techlawjournal.com/topstories/2005/20050805.asp
[3] http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6058223.html

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Welcome to the Joseph Rago Pro Journalist Institute




Hello.


I'm Joseph Rago and I'd like to personally thank you for choosing the Joseph Rago Pro Journalist Institute.


As a budding journalist, you'll be pleased with your choice. Our beautiful Newark campus is truly a sight to behold.


And because you're here, you know that traditional mainstream media isn't dead yet - not by a long shot, sparky!


Our rigorous curriculum and distinguished faculty members make for a collaborative and dynamic learning environment.


And what can you expect to learn from instructors like Dan Rather and Eason Jordan?


You'll learn how to use forged documents... even unbelievably bad ones!


You'll discover how to collect reports from make-believe sources like "Jamil Hussein" and "Green Helmet Guy."


You'll also learn how to curry favor with dictators and suppress news in order to keep your foreign bureaus open.


And we haven't forgotten multimedia! Under the tutelage of reknowned instructor Adnan Hajj, you'll use Photoshop to create on-the-scene, live-action photographs... almost as if you were there!


Not only that, you'll find out how to sway public opinion with enhanced or even completely fabricated "news" stories!


And what about disclosing national security secrets like the pro journalists at the New York Times? Yep, you'll learn how to cultivate sources holding grudges and reveal critical programs like terrorist surveillance and SWIFT that endanger Americans.


You can only find this exciting program in one institution: the Joseph Rago Pro Journalist Institute! So thank you again for choosing us. Just remember - we're the mainstream media... and we're not dead yet!


And don't forget to ask about our new work-from-home program... it doesn't involve "blogging" or even having to talk with "bloggers" like Hugh Hewitt. We guarantee it!


Oven-baked good readin', just like Mama used to make:
Anchoress, Belmont Club, Captain's Quarters, Hang Right Politics, HotAir, OTB, Patterico, Rick Moran, Sparks from the Anvil, Thomas P.M. Barnett, Wizbang, Wuzzadem

Monday, January 01, 2007

What should the media's New Year's resolutions be?


Firing up an open thread, Newsbusters asks, "what should the media's New Year's resolutions be?"

Mine is simple. How about they connect the freaking dots on their own news stories? Check out the top ten stories of 2006, as they were listed in one of the major newspapers:

 1) Iraq war: political disarray and mounting casualties among civilians, U.S. troops
 2) U.S. election: Democrats seize control of House and Senate
 3) Scandals bring down several in Congress including DeLay, Foley
 4) Iran, North Korea pursue nuclear programs despite international pressure
 5) More than 900 killed in month of fighting between Israel, Hezbollah; Lebanon hit hardest
 6) Muslim protests -- violence sparked by Danish cartoon, papal speech
 7) Darfur: deaths, devastation mount as outside world struggles for solution
 8) British police thwart plot to blow up jetliners; new carry-on rules imposed
 9) Saddam convicted and executed
10) Illegal immigration and Mexican protests

Maybe pro journalist Joseph Rago can help us figure out what thread links the stories in blue.

Hint: it rhymes with "Hislamofascism."

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Draining the Swamp


The Hill is reporting that Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has taken responsibility for a series of ethics violations involving his most recent campaign. Presumably the new head of the House Judiciary Committee, Conyers "repeatedly violated House ethics rules by requiring aides to work on local and state campaigns, and babysit and chauffeur his children..."


There's a thread here.

Recall that Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is a former chair of the House Ethics Committee. That's the same Mollohan under federal investigation after the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the department regarding a bizarre increase in Mollohan's net worth. For 2005, Mollohan and his wife reported assets worth $6.8 million to $25.7 million, up from $116,000 to $315,000 in 1999. His financial disclosure restatements came only after the group's complaint.

And John Murtha (D-PA), incoming chair of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, smells of rot himself. The Post reports that a charity founded by a longtime Murtha aide has become a "funnel for money" to his campaigns from defense contractors and lobbyists who directly benefit from his decisions. A Taxpayers for Common Sense spokesman noted, "It's a real tangled web between the congressman, the nonprofit, the defense contractors and the lobbyists."

And William Jefferson (D-LA), who was found with $90,000 in marked bills stuck in his freezer at home. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) believes Jefferson will be indicted within the next few months.

The list goes on and on. Drain the swamp, eh? A one word reaction: sure.


Hat tip: Larwyn

Oven-fresh good readin', just like Mama used to make:
Anchoress, Betsy's Page, Dr. Sanity, Gateway Pundit, Hang Right Politics, Influence Peddler, Nuke Gingrich, OTB, Texas Rainmaker, Wizbang

Saturday, December 30, 2006

World Exclusive: Saddam Hussein's Last Interview



Imagine the future, Saddam. Because you're not in it.


Oh, and I've canceled all your appointments for this afternoon.


 


 


 


What the...? Wh... where am I?


Welcome to Gehanna, the portal to Hell. I am Iblis, the thrice-damned -


What the hell? I am a Martyr! Where are the virgins, feeding me honied figs?


Martyr? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. You did one heck of a job up there, what with the thousands of destroyed villages, millions of murdered and starved innocents, the chemical weapons, the rape rooms... let's just put it this way, you're going to be in some august company shortly.


No! This isn't right - I was a guiding light for my people. I just had to protect them from the unjust forces of -


Suurrre... like the unjust children who died in their Mothers' arms. Save it for someone who gives a crap, Saddam. Oh, like I was saying, you'll be joining Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin in the Acid Racks momentarily...


The... acid... racks?


Oh, the torture pits beneath the River Cocytus. The very lowest level of Hell. For twelve hours each day, you'll have acid --er-- inserted into your carcass while being flayed with barbed-wire whips. For the second half of each day, you'll roast on a spit as poisonous leeches bite your private parts. Not a great deal of fun, from what I understand.


But what about Rumsfeld and Cheney? George W. Bush and his father? Why aren't they here???


Oh, you Kos Kidz crack me up! Don't believe everything you read on the Left Wing blogs, Hussein. Far as I can tell, they're headed to a different floor of the afterlife. One upstairs, if you get my drift.

Excuse me, my BlackBerry's ringing. Yes, your eminence?


Send Hussein down to my office. I want a few moments to gloat before he goes to the racks.


Oven-fresh good readin', just like Mama used to make:

GatewayPundit, Anchoress, Atlas Shrugs, A Blog for All, Bizzy Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Captain's Quarters, Confederate Yankee, Ed Driscoll, Gina Cobb, Gun-toting Liberal, Hang Right, Hot Air, Hugh Hewitt, Macsmind, Patterico, Rick Moran, Webloggin, Wizbang

Friday, December 29, 2006

Save the Internet: Congress must ensure Net Neutrality


Net Neutrality is a concept that every blogger -- and for that matter, every Internet user -- should be aware of. Net Neutrality is a kind of "First Amendment of the Internet." As currently enforced by the FCC, it ensures that the cable and telephone companies (telcos) can't discriminate between different types of content. Traffic from Google, Yahoo, or Joe's-Search-Engine.com all get treated the same.

But the telcos have spent millions (by some estimates, hundreds of millions) lobbying Congress to destroy net neutrality. Why? Their goal is to turn the Internet into cable television, where the carrier controls the channels that actually get to the consumer. And with AT&T absorbing BellSouth, the number of carriers continues to drop. If Congress doesn't take action now to implement meaningful Net Neutrality provisions, the future of the Internet is at risk.

Ready to learn more?


Net Neutrality ensures that all users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. With Net Neutrality, the network's only job is to move data — not choose which data to privilege with higher quality service. Net Neutrality prevents the companies that control the wires from discriminating against content based on its source or ownership.

Net Neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online. It's why the Internet has become an unrivaled environment for open communications, civic involvement and free speech. It's why the United States has become a hub for Internet commerce, invention, and value creation: think YouTube, Google, Digg, and the thousands of other websites founded in garages or dorm rooms.

The carriers want to destroy all that. They want to control which application providers and partners -- including their own services -- should have competitive advantages. They want to turn the Internet into a service like pay-per-view cable television.

Learn more and take action in Net Neutrality 101. It's time you helped save the internet.

Why it was warmer in the Middle Ages than today


PoliPundit's Oak Leaf takes note of a bizarre statement by the Secretary of the Interior. To wit, that polar bears are in "deep trouble" because of global warming and therefore should be listed as a "threatened species."


There's only one, teensy, weensy little problem with this pseudo-science. It was warmer in the Middle Ages than it is today. I first came across this information in a book called The Great Mortality, an unrelated study of the spread of the Great Plague during the Middle Ages. This data has since been reiterated in a series of studies.

...the scientific community is unable to agree on whether the warming is caused primarily by CO2 emissions, whether it will continue, or whether it would be harmful if it did... "One reason for this uncertainty is that the climate is always changing," said Richard Lindzen, professor of meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Two centuries ago, much of the northern hemisphere was emerging from a little ice age. During the Middle Ages, the same region was in a warm period. Thirty years ago, we were concerned with global cooling..."

So, if the Middle Ages were warmer, doesn't this mean that early cars must have been belching out emissions in the Middle Ages? Isn't that the only possible explanation for this 'Middle Ages warming period'?


New evidence has come to light that shouts, "Yes!" This rare lithograph, carbon-dated to somewhere prior to the invention of carbon-dating, is irrefutable proof that automobiles existed in the Middle Ages. And, therefore, that they were the cuprit behind warming period during those years.

You heard it here first.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Friends of Terror Scrapbook


The State Department just declassified documents relating to the murders of U.S. diplomats in the Sudan in 1973. As many have suspected, the U.S. was aware (HTML conversion courtesy of BizzyBlog; original PDF is available from the State Department) that Yasir Arafat directly orchestrated the killings:

The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the [PLO], and the head of Fatah... ...Fatah representatives based in Khartoum partcipated in the attack, using a Fatah vehicle to transport the terrorists to the Saudi Arabian Embassy. ...The terrorists extended their deadlines three times, but when they became convinced that ther demands would not be met and after they reportedly had received orders from Fatah headquarters in Beirut, they killed the two United States officials and the Belgian Charge...

Put simply, the U.S. was aware that Arafat had supervised and arranged the vicious kidnapping and murder of its diplomats.


This is, of course, the same Arafat that was a frequent visitor to the Clinton White House. Arafat, despite continual coddling, remained a terrorist to the end of his days.


The State Department's declassified document, of which Bill Clinton was certainly aware, is typical of his administration's attitude of appeasement and cowardice in the face of terrorists, dictators, and thugs.


You may remember Hillary Clinton warmly greeting Arafat's wife.


But that pales in comparison with other Clinton-era coddle-fests.


North Korea's Kim Jong-Il, responsible for as many as three million deaths through mistreatment and starvation (source: Human Rights Watch) used a simple negotiation with the Clinton administration to gain access to nuclear weapons. Madeline Albright admitted on Meet the Press that North Korea was, "cheating" on the Clinton administration's deal; and ended up with nukes.


Clinton's response (or non-response) to a series of terrorist attacks is also rather well known.


Jimmy Carter, already responsible for a disastrous set of foreign-policy decisions while serving as President, has befriended Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez, of course, has come under increasing scrutiny in South America for creating a huge stockpile of weapons.

...Billions of dollars, dog eared for government programs, have simply disappeared, most likely siphoned-off by corrupt officials... The Centralized Social Fund (Fondo Unico Social), are defunct and run by military officers who have little to no oversight... It has become clear that leaders of Venezuela's military, as long as they remain loyal to Chavez, receive no oversight from Caracas. Venezuela cannot offer any reasonable assurances that AK rifles purchased from Russia or manufactured in Venezuela will not leak into the hands of the FARC or other extra-legal groups in the region...



Carter has also befriended Cuba's despotic leader, Fidel Castro. Cuba's government, such as it is, is described by Human Rights Watch as:

...a highly effective machinery of repression. The denial of basic civil and political rights is written into Cuban law. In the name of legality, armed security forces... silence dissent with heavy prison terms, threats of prosecution, harassment, or exile. Cuba uses these tools to restrict severely the exercise of fundamental human rights of expression, association, and assembly. The conditions in Cuba's prisons are inhuman, and political prisoners suffer additional degrading treatment and torture. In recent years, Cuba has added new repressive laws and continued prosecuting nonviolent dissidents while shrugging off international appeals for reform and placating visiting dignitaries with occasional releases of political prisoners...

Among the visiting dignitaries are useful dupes like Carter.

* * *

Are you detecting a theme here related to Democrats and terrorist-supporting, despotic thugs? Some sort of recurring pattern involving appeasement that simply strengthens these nightmarish regimes? Well, the Democrats aren't done yet.


Here's Hezbollah-supporter and Syrian dictator Bashar Assad meeting with Senator Bill Nelson. Yes, that's the same Hezbollah responsible for murdering 241 U.S. Marines.


Here's Assad meeting with John Kerry and Christopher Dodd. This series of meetings with the dictator was described by the White House as "not helpful" and "not appropriate."


Now the Iraq Survey Group advocates additional discussion with despots and terror-supporting thugs. The obvious flaws in this approach have been suitably dismissed in many other, more sober and thoughtful venues.

It nets out simply, perhaps in terms even "progressives" can understand. What have we gotten from coddling dictators and terrorists? Mass-murder, mass-suffering, destruction, and chaos.

Now we can add, thanks to consistent Democratic patterns of appeasement, nuclear weapons and -- quite possibly -- ballistic missile technologies to the mix.

Have the Democrats learned anything from this disastrous sequence of events? Apparently not, if Dodd, Kerry, and Nelson are any indication.



Hat tip: Larwyn

Oven-fresh good readin', just like Mama used to make:
A blog for all, Ace of Spades, Atlas Shrugs, Avraham's One Village, BizzyBlog, Captain's Quarters, Cheat Seeking Missiles, Free Thoughts, Hang Right Politics, Hugh Hewitt, Hyscience, It shines for all, Little Green Footballs, Newbusters, OTB, Political Satire Fake News, Rick Moran, Smooth Stone, TinkertyTonk, Wizbang, Yidwithlid