Linguist Tannen: take it easy on mom, sometimes she just doesn't understand

Posted by leboheme at 03:12 PM

Another child, formerly in the care of ACS, dies in the Bronx (NY Daily News)

ACS workers decided not to visit Nixzmary's home the night she was killed (NY Times)

New swipe cards to begin testing in 25 subway stations (NY Times)

House welfare bill would make life more difficult for 2-parent families (LA Times)

In memoriam: Coretta Scott King (NY Times)

In memoriam: Wendy Wasserstein (NY Times)

Readers sue fraudulent author Frey (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:41 AM

Here's one way to subvert the new censorship decreed by Beijing and abetted by Google, via digg.com:

Chinese web users can see full, uncensored results for their Google search by replacing "&meta=" with "&meta=cr%3DcountryBR" in the URL. Once the string is replaced, the censorship will not affect the results

That should work for at least a few more hours before Google fixes it.

Posted by leboheme at 12:22 PM

The world's only whale-dophin hybrid. No word on whether it can sing "Stairway to Heaven" backwards.

Posted by leboheme at 12:18 PM

ABC anchor and cameraman wounded in Iraq (ABC)

Israelis organize international boycott of Hamas (Washington Post)

Ben Bernanke takes the reins at the Fed this week (CS Monitor)

A week of tax-free clothes shopping in NYC begins today (NY Sun)

Enron trials begin today (NY Times)

Psychologists seek to understand the origins of political difference (Washington Post)

Posted by leboheme at 11:05 AM

Recent reports state that boys are falling behind in school and enrolling in college in lower numbers than their female counterparts. So what's an educated woman to do? Should she rethink "marry(ing) down," as John Tierney suggests in a recent New York Times column?

Linda Hirshman in the American Prospect says when it comes to marriage and career, women need to be trained to make better choices. But David Brooks, in his recent column The Year of Domesticity, respectfully disagrees.

Posted by leboheme at 10:11 AM

Hamas Claims Victory in Palestinian Elections (Washington Post)

Palestinian Prime Minister to Quit (BBC)

MTA Returns to Harder Line in Labor Talks (New York Times)

Mayor Bloomberg to Lay Out His Plans for Another Term (New York Times)

Pope Benedict XVI Releases First Encyclical (Newsday)

New Estimate in China Finds Fewer AIDS Cases (New York Times)

Posted by leboheme at 09:01 AM

We hear he'll be on Lopate next hour.

Posted by leboheme at 11:39 AM

White House refuses to provide Katrina records, opposes Gulf rescue package (NY Times)

2005 was the warmest year in a century (Boston Globe)

MTA has equpped few subway stations with defibrillators (NY Daily News)

12 months after switcher box failure, MTA has made no repairs (NY Times)

Google agrees to cooperate with China on curtailing searches (BBC)

Al Gore a hit at Sundance (The Observer)

Gated beach enclave is all that some American tourists see of Haiti (CS Monitor)

UPN + WB = CW (NY Times)

Posted by leboheme at 09:28 AM

The Politicker writes that Eliot Spitzer's choice of David Paterson for his running mate is so vexing to the Democratic establishment, it may still be reversible. A Miers moment?

Posted by leboheme at 05:07 PM

Tim Russert's 20-year old son Luke will team up with James Carville to host a sports show on XM. The Washington Post has the story. Go those Bills!

Posted by leboheme at 04:57 PM

ABC has the exclusive on why Antonin Scalia missed John Roberts' swearing-in last September: a pressing game of tennis.

Got something snappy to share? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 09:59 AM

WH was warned over likely flooding in New Orleans (NY Times)

New Pentagon planning document omits Iraq (LA Times)

Investigator: EU countries probably knew about CIA flights (The Independent)

Bush told he would enjoy "Brokeback Mountain" (NY Daily News)

Spitzer picks running mate, garners little applause (NY Sun)

NJ AG nominee grilled on speeding tickets (Star-Ledger)

Cohen: the solution isn't Nixmary's law, but better enforcement (NY Daily News)

Port Authority: 2006 will be "the year of the hardhat" at WTC site (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:41 AM

After today’s segment on Children and the Internet with Web Wise Kids, we noticed an interesting break down in the listener comments. The call in population, by and large, was talking monitoring techniques, while the email listeners were more likely to balk at the idea of watching children’s internet use. Here’s a sample of the web user response.

Subject: Everyone Calm Down!
I am a huge fan of the show, but today's treatment of kids and the internet was so hysterical, I thought I might be listening to FOX radio!

I am an educator, and work with teenagers and have a huge concern about their protection -in cyber world or otherwise. At the program where I work, we struggle with whether or not kids should be allowed on myspace, and sconex and the rest (we have a VERY powerful, almost annoyingly so, filter on your organizational internet access - for kids and adults!). Yet this idea that all kids are out there, eagerly looking for porn and suicide and anorexia instructions is so ridiculous. Yes, kids make lots of mistakes and can wind up in trouble without adequate supervision, and bad parenting abounds. Yet, your guest's tone was so extreme as to vilify kids, and seemed to endorse some sort of McCarthy-esque surveillance of teens. Why not equally vehement advice to get close to your kids, make sure they have other adults to talk to and confide in, make your home a safe space for their friends, let them have boy/girlfriends who you meet and know, talk to them about sex and protection and values, ENGAGE, so that they can make smart decisions for themselves - whether online, on the subway, on a date, at school, WHEREVER they are.

Hyper-monitoring a teen's every move- online, or on the phone, or in the world -is the last way to protect them, and the quickest way to alienate them. Next time, please include some different caller voices, and some of young people, in this debate. Your show is normally such a great forum for young people to engage in multigenerational debate - a great "expert" might have been your son, or another teen! I know this issue is scary for parents, but they might be heartened to hear from some tech-savvy, responsible teens who know how NOT to get caught in the internet's garbage.

Thanks, as always, for a great, thought-provoking show!
--KK

Subject: Parenting isn't easy
I think that your guests are on the wrong track. Policing never works with kids; they're too smart, and the culture is too pervasive. What are you going to do, search their bags every night to see if, in addition to marijuana, they have a cell phone with a camera? A 16 year old has his own money, and phones are cheap.

Our son is not perfect, and has given us plenty of headaches, but I firmly believe that the way to keep kids out of trouble -- if you can -- is to make points about common sense and responsible behavior at every possible opportunity, rather than wait for some really terrible thing to happen. You want a sensible child, because a sensible child will not be as susceptible as a silly one. Basically, your goal is not to keep him away from web cameras, but to make him savvy about risks. This takes trial and error: with our seventeen year old, we have found that pointing out that a pregnant girlfriend may mean 18 years of child support (and it's her choice, not his) may have been a more effective method of advocating birth control than would have been discussions about AIDS and herpes, which he has heard about ad infinitum at school.

Also, when he was ticketed in November for carrying an open beer can in public -- he is not allowed to drink, was supposed to be at a movie -- we put him through a court appearance, etc. (he got an ACD), rather than merely arrange for a dismissal through our attorney, as did his friend's father (don't ask!). He was also grounded for a month -- for drinking and lying about where he was going --including over the holidays. He'll have no criminal record, but there were consequences.
All this may yet fail, but you can't defeat technology: you must focus on the kid.
--RT

Subject: Let Kids be Kids!...
Maybe it is time to [re]evaluate kids’ se*uality rather than simply use software to keep ‘em out of something that is gone happen no matter what if the kid is precocious! Have grownups completely denied what they went through in their teens or even earlier? Kids are more than personal property or little peons who can be ordered to do this and not that for the first 18 years of their life.
--SS

Subject: ...Because They Will Anyway
This wasn't touched on during today's show, and it's not surprising, but why are the very different issues of children setting up porn sites with webcams in their bedrooms and children being able to access porn being conflated? Both are ultimately about parenting, but isn't yesterday's Playboy under the mattress today's SuicideGirls.com bookmark? Raging hormones and curiosity and illegal exhibitionism are totally different issues. The real problem is parents being so removed from their childrens' lives and technological know-how.
--JT

Subject: Free the IT 11!
If you choose to only let your kids to use the computer on your terms, your kids are not going learn how to really use computers.
By that I mean our children need to surpass our level of computer skill.
For instance, running their computer like a prison is not going to challenge them to learn about how to program a computer..unless, of course, they want to escape your prying eyes.
In my opinion, being overly protective is going to stunt the growth of our next IT professionals. There is more to the Internet than porn.
--BJ

Posted by leboheme at 02:59 PM

The President has been speaking for more than an hour in Manhattan, Kansas. Some highlights, courtesy of CNN:

Posted by leboheme at 02:24 PM

Anyway, that's what the National Journal's Hotline news service predicts. 52 to 36, with a big McCain lead among independents and undecideds (what exactly are they "undecided" about, with 35 months to go?).

Posted by leboheme at 02:00 PM

Remembering Reagan: biographer Richard Reeves

Posted by leboheme at 01:51 PM

Bush to offer a package of healthcare measures including limits on lawsuits and new tax deductions (LA Times)

Rove believes WH can win public support for NSA spying (NY Times)

Unease at DOJ voting section (Washington Post)

Crude oil price soars in the new year (CS Monitor)

Muslims detained after 9/11 return to USA to file lawsuit (NY Times)

MTA asks for binding arbitration in TWU contract talks (NY Sun)

Mayor expands Doctoroff's portfolio (NY Newsday)

More New Yorkers cycle to work after subway strike (NY Daily News)

Borough Park is New York's baby factory (NY Post)

Trouserless subway passengers fined (NY Daily News)

"West Wing" and "Will & Grace" will finish this spring (NY Times)

Posted by leboheme at 09:03 AM

Karpinski: accepted some blame for Abu Ghraib, but says she was the fall gal

Craig Murray: the admbassador who spoke out

Posted by leboheme at 02:52 PM

Shiite alliance comes in 10 seats short of a parliamentary majority in Iraq (Guardian)

Google rebuffs DOJ request for data (NY Times)

DOJ issues legal justification for spy program (NY Times)

New bin Laden tape affirms terrrorist is still living (CS Monitor)

Murder trial of warrant officer illuminates rough interrogation tactics in Iraq (LA Times)

Williamsburghers fear arrival of Starbucks, Clear Channel, and McDonalds (Newsday)

Mayor pays 7¢ on $1 salary (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:29 AM

Monitor your child's browser history!

Posted by leboheme at 03:17 PM

Pakistan says raid did kill al Qaeda leaders (NY Times)

Insurgents hold onto critical Iraqi city containing oil refineries (Washington Post)

The longest independent counsel investigation in Washington history concludes (NY Times)

Corzine considers special election for Menendez' old House seat (Star-Ledger)

Analysis: the hidden costs of the war in Iraq (LA Times)

Trader Joe's to open in NYC (NY Times)

Medical school literally rewrites the Hippocratic Oath (NY Sun)

Posted by leboheme at 08:41 AM

Bob Hennelly: Jersey Guy at City Hall

Posted by leboheme at 03:47 PM

Subject: Gay?
The Heath Ledger character isn't gay. He's a straight man who finds
the kind of love he needs being a very love and touch-deprived man from another man who is more able to give love than the women in both their lives.
-ED

Subject: Brokeback Mountain - YES ITS GAY
Of course it's a gay movie.
Gay men in a straight world is still a gay experience. I'm gay and I
get so tired of all of the annoying, political over-analyzing in our community. Just call it what it is at face value ... a gay movie. I can't imagine my straight cousins and brothers huddleded around a TV watching this movie while drinking beers after a long day of riding dirtbikes.

Maybe the mainstream gay community would think it would be "gay" if
they had some crystal meth and some Techno and/or House music.
-BC

Subject: From Wyoming
I'm from the West - and having thought about this and talked to Gay men who grew up there, I have reached the following conclusion:

It's this connection to the West that confuses things for people-NM

Subject: it's neither gay nor homosexual
Brokeback Mountain is neither "gay" nor "homosexual". It's a solemn, middle-brow Hollywood movie, trading in age-old cliches. The sexual orientation of the protagonists is all but irrelevant.
-JP

Subject: brokeback is not gay
i am a gay man and a film maker and i typically hate "gay" movies
because they reduce being gay to a collection of pre packaged issues--
i loved brokeback mountain because it is just a plain-old great
movie--an unusually believable love story
-TF

Posted by leboheme at 03:41 PM

Corzine emphasizes ethics reform in inaugural speech (Star-Ledger)

Pataki wants to ease limit on number of charter schools (NY Sun)

Three recent deaths of Ground Zero workers cause worry over post-9/11 air(Newsday)

GOP bill to restrict lobbying includes significant loopholes (Washington Post)

Justices rule 6-3 to allow Oregon assisted suicide law (NY Times)

New ID card planned for travel to Mexico and Canada (LA Times)

Howard Stern admits he had plastic surgery (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:57 AM

Andrea Bernstein

Adam Lisberg (l.) and Andrew White (r.)

Posted by leboheme at 03:32 PM

The Politicker has unearthed this telling artefact.

Posted by leboheme at 02:21 PM

Hastert strangely quit in midst of GOP scandals (Washington Post)

New Orleans mayor speculates that Katrina was God's punishment to Americans (LA Times)

Senator Clinton: Republican-controlled Congress "has been run like a plantation" (New York Daily News)

FBI and NSA disagree over values of spying (NY Times)

Suit against wiretaps will include Christopher Hitchens, Larry Diamond, and James Bamford (NY Times)

Gay themes are a winner at Globes (NY Daily News)

Harper Lee resurfaces to support "Capote" (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:36 AM

With medicare program in tailspin, Bush orders insurers to provide drugs to seniors (NY Times)

Wal-Mart reaches out to minorities and small businesspeople in NYC (NY Sun)

Cold snap likely caused 2 homeless deaths (NY Daily News)

Analysis: Trenton power trio will rule NJ (The Star-Ledger)

Pataki creates new office to oversee public authorities (NY Newsday)

Bloomberg parks his car in Harvard Yard (NY Times)

"Aerial Gondola System" suggested for Governors Island (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 10:59 AM

Look what came in the mail today!

A final 2005 mayoral race vote tally....OK, so Anthony got almost eight times as many votes as Brian...but he also spent, like thousands of dollars. You're a "thousandaire", right, Anthony?

Posted by leboheme at 05:49 PM

Hates trash, loves the history of garbage: filmmaker and author Heather Rogers

Posted by leboheme at 01:42 PM

Subject: Fiction - Non-Fiction
Made-up Non-Fiction is Fiction. That's fine, but we should keep it that way and not sell it under the wrong label!
And "good-doers" like Oprah should not endorse lying to consumers!! That's exactly what it is.
-JT

Subject: Fiction and Non-Fiction
I am a writer of books on the border of fiction and non-fiction and I teach courses on history and fiction.

The line between fiction and non-fiction is blurry and in motion, but the case of Frey is clear cut. If you consciously make things up, it is fiction, even if it has lots of factual material in it. And it should be labeled as such. Doctorow has said, "There is no history or fiction, just narrative." He is right, in theory. Absolutely right. But he calls his books novels, and there is a reason for that.
-JG

Subject: Memoirs as truth
I was reminded of a Roman expression: 'Se non e vera e ben trovata.' (Even if it isn't true, it's to the point (well founded).)

Perhaps the notion of 'unreliable narrator' has carried over into the realm of non-fiction...
-LS

Subject: Do the embellishments matter?
The pieces of Frey's memoir that have come into question are really very minimal in regards to the whole book. It's a story of overcoming addiction and all but maybe five percent of it takes place in a rehab clinic. Everything The Smoking Gun is questioning is contained in that five percent that is outside the clinic. So, does it really matter if something was embellished in this area? Probably not. The story itself is strong and the message of the book was not altered at all by what Frey changed.

And as for JT LeRoy, I've been following "his" writing ever since his first book and always found it intriguing. The fact that he might not exist just kind of makes it more interesting, honestly. Maybe because his books don't deal with topics that are as real to me; or maybe because, while I imagined the events were primarily true, I still saw it as fiction.
-SS

Posted by leboheme at 04:45 PM

WNYC's Kurt Andersen

[Kurt Andersen sounds off on JT Leroy and James Frey on the BL Show 1/12/06]

Posted by leboheme at 02:11 PM

Israel Won't Do Business With Robertson)
(AP)

Warming Tied To Extinction Of Frog Species (Washington Post)

Oprah Winfrey Defends Memoir's Author (LA Times)

Alito's Wife Leaves Hearing Room in Tears (Washington Post)

Subways Closer to Cell Phones Service (NY Daily News)

Bush Says He'd Support Spy Probe (NY Post)

Man Who Shot Pope John Paul II Is Released (AP)

Bloomberg Dubbed "Honorary Lesbian (NY Newsday)

Posted by leboheme at 09:49 AM

The Washington Post has the story.

What's caused you explode at your colleagues? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 05:12 PM

Subject: Misplaced Coverage
Mr. Lehrer, I can't believe with the incredibly debatable issue of whether our president has broken the law in regards to domestic spying that you are going to continue to focus on Judge Alito's cofirmation hearing. In addtion to the fact that the hearings are being covered live by your AM station, the Republicans have the votes to confirm him making the hearing almost moot.
Barring updates for some truly significant revelation from the hearings, please stop spending your valuable time picking apart every sentence he utters when you could be performing a so much more valuable service to our nation by hosting debates with learned guests from all sides of the issue on the legality of the president's actions.
-DH

A Spector of a Question
Regarding the question from Senator Spector re whether the Supreme Court's reasoning is superior to Congress' (referring to a reversal by the Court of a law passed by Congress becamse of its "method of reasoning"), it seems to me that since most of Congress' "reasoning" is based on temporal partisan politics and the Supreme Court is made of lifetime judges, supposedly not politicians, its reasoning *is* inherently superior to Congress. And since, as I think Senator Schumer said yesterday, the Court is our last resort, I think that we rely on their wisdom to reason deliberately and intellectually honestly.
-SS

Skip to my Dem's
brian,
thank you for skipping over republican questioning of samuel alito. i agree strongly that such questioning is highly unlikely to support the thesis that mr. alito is unfit to serve on the supreme court, so why bother with listening in on it? i just hope that you are flexible enough to be willing to cut in during republican questioning if at any point doing so might help further the thesis.
-JS

Give Sam a Chance!
Fair journalism? You choose NOT to air the less-aggressive questioning of Alito becuae the Republicans have been giving him a chance to actually speak on his own behalf, rather than just bloviate, attack him and give him no chance to respond (Biden, Kennedy, etc.)??
I am ardently pro-choice, but this Judge is fully qualified for the Supreme Court, and the attacks on him are absurd, baseless and peevish. You have now descended into one-sided partisan politics in your programming choices, which is very disappointing. I have always seen you as at least paying lip service to the "other" point of view.
-MO

Posted by leboheme at 02:06 PM

Analysis: Alito seeks to placate senators with low-key responses (Washington Post)

In Alito hearings, Biden most talkative Senator, Kohl most taciturn (NY Times)

Pataki will push for "less controversial alternative to school vouchers" (NY Sun)

Queens guy Roger Clark one of NY1's most popular reporters (Observer)

Ex-Disney chief Eisner will do bimonthly CNBC show (LA Times)

Oprah distances herself from discredited author (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 09:55 AM

Subject: A Frank Exchange of Ideas
Brian -- I was truly offended when you referred to an anonymous Amazon review to "balance" your interview with James Risen.
It is a sad day when a journalist who is doing his job and finds evidence of administration law-breaking is paired with "D. Donaldson" who calls Risen a traitor and refers to my part-time employer as "The New York Slimes." I don't think it elevates the discourse and it shows me that you are working with some sort of political correctness calibrator that is nothing short of loony. To be frank, I was shocked to hear you read that slur in your own voice.
-NC

Subject: From the other:
Risen's answers are totally self-serving.
Does he think that his leak was less injurious to national security than the Plame leak?

Question: is he preparing for jail time?
-CA

Subject:And from the middle?
i know you've already hit this subject, but how exactly does mr. risen consider that while the inner workings of u.s. inteliigence agencies should be open to public scrutiny, but the inner workings of the nytimes are off limits?
--JS

Subject: The War on Three Kings?
I dont see banning the lords prayer or bible studies from school or the
ten commandments as doing anything else, but making kids and then adults
less moral and worse human beings.. I dont see any other results from
banning these things ....nothing.
-TV

Subject: Seperate!
Public school pupils should not be marching in the parade. Teaching about it is a great idea, but no one should be required to march in it. That's forcing someone to (apparently at least) endorse a religious belief that they may not agree with.
That said, and although I am not Latino, I think that schools should be closed on Three Kings Day. It's is obliviously a major holiday for the Hispanic community.
-TB

Subject: Learning by doing
I believe that there is no better way to learn about a custom than to participate in it. Just as you can't learn about 3 kings day without participating, you can't really learn about a muslim call to prayer without hearing it for yourself, or any other custom for that matter. Seeing and doing is far different that reading about a custom.
-JF

Subject: Small potatoes
I found your segment on public schools participating in Tres Reyes parades interesting, but you are mistaken if you think that public schools' participation in Tres Reyes parades is at the margins of New York City schools' involvement in religion. Schools in African-American communities all over the city have active "Gospel Choirs" which perform at "holiday" assemblies at Christmas-time. The songs they sing are not relatively innocuous "spirituals" like "Go Down Moses" which many of us sang in school as kids; they are full fledge gospel songs, full of references to "Jesus", "the Holy Ghost", etc., making a Three Kings parade seem pretty mild by comparison.

Nor, incidentally, are these manifestations "equal opportunity", teaching about all of our city's cultures. If you doubt this go to some public schools in predominantly African-American communities and search for references to Diwalli, Ramadan/Eid-il-fatr, Hanukah, or any Bhuddist holidays. (My work took me regularly to many such schools.) If you find any at all, which you may in a few schools, they'll be overwhelmed by the preponderance of attention to Christmas. In a year when Christmas, Ramadan and Eid, Diwalli, and Hanukah all occurred in close proximity, in one school I visited I counted over twenty-five bulletin boards devoted exclusively or overwhelmingly to Christmas, two which also mentioned Hanukah, several which mentioned Kwanza, and none that mentioned Diwalli or Ramadan/Eid. When I mentioned this to a supervisor I was told that it was natural, given the community in which the school was located.

Incidentally, the most common speakers at public school graduations in Brownsville, for example, are (in equal parts) religious leaders and politicians.
-RL

Posted by leboheme at 09:21 AM

Bremer: I asked for more troops in Iraq but was rebuffed (USA Today)

Executive powers will be center stage at Alito hearings (NY Times)

Abramoff scandal causes first K Street casualty (Washington Post)

Just ten companies get 70% of city tax breaks (NY Sun)

Bloomberg spokesman becomes a deputy mayor (NY Times)

2 Gay rights bills passed at end of NJ legislative session (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Oprah-backed bestselling memoir a hoax (The Smoking Gun)

New York media reels from news that cult writer JT Leroy is a fake (Gawker)

Posted by leboheme at 08:56 AM

It may be the most trusted name in news, but CNN's six-screen-splitscreen (with crawl) is driving us crazy!

we much prefer MSNBC's elegant one-two:

of FOX's elegant simplicity (we know, fair and balanced, but elegant and simple?)

Posted by leboheme at 05:04 PM

Union-friendly: filmmaker John Sayles

[John Sayles on the BL Show 1/9/06]

Posted by leboheme at 04:45 PM

Alito's views on executive power will be an issue in hearings (LA Times)

Brownstein: there's no need to return $$ from Abramoff clients (LA Times)

Bloomberg's second term plans will require OK by Albany (NY Sun)

Council members kick off fundraising season (NY Sun)

No-smoking bill at top of to-do list in last day of NJ legislative session (Star-Ledger)

Condemned businesses in path of Times expansion unhappy with compensation package (NY Sun)

Kennedy to introduce kids to Washington life with new book (Newsday)

Posted by leboheme at 12:18 PM

With apologies to Gawker, BL blogger spotten this late last night on nytimes.com:

Posted by leboheme at 04:09 PM

Michael Stanat talking 'bout his generation





WNYC's very own Fred Mogul on Mohels

Posted by leboheme at 12:30 PM

Analysis: Israel's future without Sharon (Haaretz)

Pat Robertson suggests stroke is act of divine retribution (science Daily)

Little give-and-take at White House confab on Iraq for former cabinet secretaries (NY Times)

New Yorkers are living longer (Newsday)

NJ moves to ban most indoor smoking (The Star-Ledger)

Dicker: NY GOP is FOIAing Spitzer emails (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 08:38 AM

Outgoing Wonkette blogger Ana Marie Cox

NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson

Posted by leboheme at 01:32 PM

After stroke fells Sharon, Israeli politics in turmoil (Haaretz)

Analysis: Sharon's journey from international pariah to respected statesman (Jerusalem Post)

Republicans shed radioactive Abramoff money (LA Times)

Gingrich describes "a system of corruption" infecting GOP pols (Washington Post)

Pataki hammers conservative themes in state of state address (NY Times)

Weiner proposes bill to restrict areas eleigible for DHS funds (NY Sun)

Cheney: NSA spy program could have prevented 9/11 attacks (Washington Post)

Posted by leboheme at 08:28 AM

After our segment yesterday on Darfur with Nicholas Kristof and Paul Slovic, we were besieged by listeners wondering what they could do to help. So, without further ado, here is a list of organizations, charities and blogs working in and around Darfur:

American Jewish World Service: Donate and take action on the Genocidal crisis in Darfur, Sudan. (Slovic's Pick)

The Genocide Intervention Fund: answers the question: What can I do?
(This blogger's favorite)

Human Rights Watch: the recent news and reports from Sudan

The Coalition for Darfur: A Darfur news Blog with Links galore on Sudan and Darfur

sudanreeves.org: Sudan Research, Analysis, and Advocacy by a Professor of English at Smith College

The Darfur Information Center: Facts and news to educate the world about the genocide

Sudan Genocide: A fantastic senior thesis school project by two highschool seniors

A bit of required reading for those who want to learn more:

Paul Slovic's research paper, "If I look at the mass I will never act: Psychic numbing and genocide," published in Judgment and Decision Making on the psychology of genocide.

And finally an alert listener who wants to add more to the list:

Thank you for your show on Darfur. However, when I visited your site at WNYC.org I was disappointed not to see links that gave immediate action suggestions (the Kristof article was truncated and the actions suggestions were cut off).
Aside from the obvious--contacting one's U.S. Representative and Senators and impressing upon them the urgency of restoring the $50 million for African Union peacekeepers--there are other actions to take:
1. Divestment: There is a divestment campaign in universities and state legislatures. New Jersey has put New York to shame by removing Sudanese-related stocks from its pension funds. Oregon and Illinois (the first to do so) have done likewise. Investigate whether your stock portfolio or the portfiolio of your pension fund has stock in companies that do business with Sudan. The most notable are Siemens of Germany, Alcatel of France, ABB of Switzerland and PetroChina, the most ruthless international player inSudan's oil sector. TIAA-CREF the largest private pension fund has stocks in all of these through its Global Equities Fund.
See www.sudandivestment.com and sudanreeves.org.

2. Boycott: Siemen's constantly runs ads in the New York Times advertising its consumer products: household appliances and cellphones.
Write to: George Nolen, President and CEO, Siemens USA, 153 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y.
10022
Te:1-800-SIEMENS). Tell Mr. Nolen that you will not buy SIEMENS products until they stop doing business with Sudan.
-HM

Posted by leboheme at 01:49 PM

Bush summons Albright, Powell, and other former officials for unusual Iraq briefing (NY Times)

New funding scheme for DHS funds will consider risk of natural disaster (NY Daily News)

Dicker: Spitzer made threats to state lobbying commission chief (NY Post)

Rangel received $36k from Abramoff (NY Newsday)

Times editorial makes distinction between CIA leak case and NSA leak case (Editor & Publisher)

Times execs refuse to speak with ombudsman (Editor & Publisher)

Argentina repays $10b debt to IMF (Business Week)

Bianculli: Woodruff and Vargas make "a solid start" on World News Tonight (NY Daily News)

Moby's LE Side cafe to shut down (NY Newsday)

Posted by leboheme at 08:43 AM

Blogger Karl Weber of worldwisewebers has a bone to pick over his participation in our news quiz last week.

"by rights I should have had a T-shirt in the bag as soon as they got me on the line. But nooo, I had to answer three more questions."

We think he's being facetious. And Karl, have you detected any bias against the Clintons of Chappaqua?

Posted by leboheme at 04:24 PM

Burkhard Bilger: onto the cover-up

["The Bald Truth" - Burkhard Bilger on the BL Show - 1/3/06]

Posted by leboheme at 04:06 PM

The WSJ reports that Underneath Their Robes blogger David Lat (AKA A3G) will replace the vivacious, raunch-obsessed redhead who's been running Wonkette since its inception in 2004.

Lat, as you may recall, is the federal prosecutor who was"outed" by Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker last year as author of Under Their Robes. For months, Lat had thrilled the likes Richard Posner with his saucy entries on the “superhotties of the federal judiciary" before temporarily fleeing the blog and his newfound fame.

Posted by leboheme at 10:29 AM

Quinn wins contest to become next council speaker (NY Daily News)

NRA urges Bloomberg to think small in fighting illegal guns (NY Sun)

Analysis: Pataki criticism of MTA deal may get him in trouble (Newsday)

TWU dissident: "Roger Toussaint is giving away the store" (NY Times)

Stern replacement Roth: "everyone knows doing morning radio is just an excuse to put bourbon in your coffee." (Daily News)

Former DC Mayor mugged (Washington Post)

Got some reading you consider required? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 08:59 AM

Today's guest, Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, writes about contradictions inherent in the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in his New York Times Magazine article, "The Case for Contamination." Read the Convention here.

Posted by leboheme at 09:24 AM