Oct 21 2007

Howard Kurtz Has a Blog

Clive James once decribed a particular best-selling bodice-ripper as like “a long conversation between two not very bright drunks”.  Howard Kurtz’s blog, in which he promotes his promotional tour for his book Reality Show: Inside the Last Great Television News War (don’t worry, he doesn’t mean Iraq), is like a short conversation between a especially dumb goldfish and a piece of fake seaweed. 

I would much, much rather read Redstate.  I would rather stare at a pile of sand.

At the Harper’s Magazine website, Scott Horton described Kurtz as “one of the dumbest figures in print or on the airwaves”.  After reading Kurtz’s blog, I’m inclined to add “or in an oxygon-rich aptmosphere” to the list.

This must be seen to be believed. 

Saturday, October 20, 2007:

Wet and Wild

One of my favorite radio interviews was last night’s hour long chat with Jim Bohannon, who’s been holding down Larry King’s old late-night radio spot for more than two decades. Unfortunately, getting there was another story. There was a driving rainstorm that, by the time I parked a few blocks away in downtown D.C., had become a monsoon. As the minutes ticked away, I had no choice but to make a break for it, armed only with a flimsy umbrella. I was utterly drenched — my jeans were soaked through — when I stumbled into the CBS bureau. Fortunately it was radio, so nobody noticed.

Posted by Howard at 8:32 PM 0 comments

Did you want to read that?

“Wet and Wild”.  “Fortunately it was radio, so nobody noticed.”  Kill me.  Just kill me. 

October 13, 2007, from a post titled “Film at 11”: “Thanks to the magic of the Internet, my Daily Show appearance is up. (Just click on my face.)”  October 9, 2007 (“Moving on Up”), “Okay, I admit I’m checking Amazon every few hours.”

I have been reading Kurtz’s prose for all of 2 minutes and I want to punch him.

Nothing like a live audience to get your adrenaline flowing (plus the hired hands whip up applause before each segment). Jon didn’t say whether he liked the little picture of him on the back cover.

After a while on the book tour, Kurtz, the long-time media critic for the Washington Post, discovered that conservatives tend to view TV coverage of the war in Iraq as too liberal, while liberals view it as too conservative. 

Thursday, October 18, 2007

On Message

I’ve done so many book interviews that I can now anticipate every question. I know when they’res going to ask why Katie’s ratings have tanked. I know when they’re going to ask how Charlie got to be No. 1. I know when the question about Dan suing CBS is coming. Toward the end they always ask whether network news will survive. When I talk about war coverage, the conservatives ask whether the anchors have an antiwar agenda, and the liberals ask why they didn’t stand up to the administration during the rush to war. I’ve got it down to a science.

Posted by Howard at 11:04 PM 4 comments

What was Kurtz doing as media critic for the Washington Post all this time, that he didn’t already know that?  Or is it that he is so afraid of saying something original that he’d rather make himself look like a fool on his own blog?  Or is he just a fool?

Curious, I clicked on Kurtz’s kind link to an excerpt of his book at the Washington Post.

For [Brian] Williams, it all went back to Sept. 11, 2001. As a citizen, he thought on that fateful day, thank God that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell were on the team. How together we all seemed. There was something about the murderous attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that, in the eyes of the White House press corps, gave Bush a stature that could not be violated. And that was no accident. The administration’s deft use of 9/11 against its critics had created an impenetrable shield. It was political magic.

“There was something about the murderous attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon”.  Is Kurtz nuts?  Does Brian Williams appreciate having his thoughts and feelings filtered through the narration of this muppet?  More from the book:

Every day, Williams asked the question: Did Baghdad correspondent Richard Engel have any news other than another 20 Iraqi civilians killed when an IED detonated, leaving the same smoking carcasses and pathetic scenes of loved ones crying? That, Williams felt, was the problem: The horrible had become utterly commonplace. To most Americans, he believed, the war could not be more ephemeral. It was half a world away, and it required no sacrifice by those who did not have a family member in the armed forces.

It is not likely that Williams asked “the question” after the colon, the one about 20 civilians and Richard Engle,  “every day”.  What is likely: Kurtz needs an editor to take care of: colon overuse.

Recently, Digby posted a critique of Kurtz and Kurtz shot back.  Digby chronicles the event here and gets some backup from Glenn Greenwald here.  Good for Digby and Greenwald for keeping on Kurtz.  But Kurtz, it is clear, is a powder-puff, not fit to shine their shoes. 

The sad thing is that Digby and Greenwald are presences only on the internet, while Kurtz slums there, in between his vapid, brain-dead appearances on TV and radio.

October 10, 2007:

More Kurtz TV

The series hasn’t been canceled yet! I’ve been pumping REALITY SHOW around the clock. Survived GMA and Chris Cuomo, Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin Zone. On tap Thursday: CNN’s American Morning at 8:30, Keith Olbermann in the 8 pm hour, and at 11, I try to liven up the always-serious Jon Stewart. And I’m playing Hardball with Chris Matthews on Friday. Plus I have to talk to all these radio people and print reporters!

Sweet Jesus.

Oct 21 2007

Everything but the Oceans’ Sinks

(We have only one planet! @ 2pm – promoted by buhdydharma )

Cross-posted from The Environmentalist

Amidst alarms raised about the loss of ice in the polar regions, the extreme droughts across the US, the floods in the UK earlier this year, the increasingly unstable nature of the weather worldwide, a new concern has been raised about the Southern Oceans’ inability to absorb and store CO2:

The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is so loaded with carbon dioxide that it can barely absorb any more, so more of the gas will stay in the atmosphere to warm up the planet, scientists reported on Thursday.

Human activity is the main culprit, said researcher Corinne Le Quere, who called the finding very alarming. The phenomenon wasn’t expected to be apparent for decades, Le Quere said in a telephone interview from the University of East Anglia in Britain. “We thought we would be able to detect these only the second half of this century, say 2050 or so,” she said. But data from 1981 through 2004 show the sink is already full of carbon dioxide.

more below the jump…

This is very alarming. The southern ocean is the world’s strongest carbon sink, a “reservoir that absorbs and stores more carbon than they release, thereby offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.” If the sink has been filled, as seems to be the case, that carbon has no where to go but to the atmosphere, as our other sinks: the forests, the land, the rest of the oceans, are all stressed by loss of habitat, increased warming and their own carbon levels. Which means a speed-up of warming at a far faster rate than had been previously predicted.

This increase in the Southern Ocean has been attributed to a change in wind patterns caused by the following climate forcings:

1. Ozone depletion. The reduction of ozone has changed the temperature and increased wind patterns in the Southern Hemisphere. As these winds flow across the oceans they pull natural CO2 to the surface. This is a problem because natural CO2 does not bind easily with human caused carbon. The balance had been maintained through past wind patterns, which had helped to combin the two types of carbon. With the increased winds and level of stored carbon, that natural mixture has been disrupted.

2. Hemispheric Temperature Differential. The increasing differential in temperature between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The warming North pulls winds from the cooler South, thereby impacting CO2, as described in number 1 above.

“Since the beginning of the industrial revolution the world’s oceans have absorbed about a quarter of the 500 gigatons (500 billion tons) of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by humans,” Chris Rapley of the British Antarctic Survey said. “The possibility that in a warmer world the Southern Ocean — the strongest ocean sink — is weakening is a cause for concern.”

According to the measurements gathered by the University of East Anglia’s researchers, the concern is all too real.

Oct 21 2007

Sully: Still Defending Racism

Whenever folks try to rehabilitate Andrew Sullivan, he is quick to remind us why he is so detestable.

As for the “science” of the Bell Curve, see this:

''The Bell Curve'' inflamed readers when it was published three years ago by arguing that economic and social success in America had become largely a matter of genes, not education, environment or other factors over which society might exert control. The chilling genes-are-destiny thesis, laced with racial overtones, was greeted with furious criticism. But much of the initial criticism was ill informed and driven by ideology.

It could hardly have been otherwise. The book's authors, Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, did not release their statistical findings — the only important original contributions in the book — for formal review by scholars before publication. Their runaround obstructed response by other social scientists, who needed time to appraise hundreds of pages of statistical analysis. Now, three years later, scholars have caught up, shattering the book's core claims.

. . . [T]he book's evidence is riddled with mistakes. Two stand out.

The first error flows from biased statistics. The book tries to determine whether I.Q. or family background is a better predictor of success. I.Q. is easily measured. But family background is not. The authors' simplistic index incorporates parental income, education and job prestige, but leaves out numerous components of a child's upbringing.

That creates a statistical mirage, or bias, because statistical tests inevitably underestimate the impact of factors that are hard to measure. Mistakes in measuring family background obliterate the ability of statisticians to detect its impact on future success. Thus, as James Heckman of the University of Chicago has convincingly argued, the book's finding that family background is a weak precursor of success reflects its biased methods rather than the workings of American society.

Also compelling is evidence about the second notable error — that the authors' measure of intelligence is by no means immutable, as their thesis requires. Prof. Derek Neal of the University of Chicago and Prof. William Johnson of the University of Virginia have shown that scores on the measurement used by Mr. Herrnstein and Mr. Murray, the Armed Forces Qualification Test, depend on how much schooling individuals have completed. Put simply, the more students study in school, the better they do on the test. So what the authors call immutable intelligence turns out to be what others call skills — indeed, teachable skills.

This mistake turns the message of the book on its head. Instead of its sighing surrender to supposed genetic destiny for poor children, there's a corrected message: Teach them.

Andrew Sullivan remains a shameful figure in our public discourse.

Oct 21 2007

Pony Party: Sunday music retrospective

The Byrds


Turn, Turn, Turn

Yesterday I posted Creeque Alley to a Pony Party.  Today is expansion of the theme.  The Mamas and Papas, the Lovin’ Spoonful, and the Byrds…brothers and sisters, a loving band of birds of a feather.


Mr. Tambourine Man


Feel a Whole Lot Better


Eight Miles High

Please do not recommend a Pony Party when you see one.  There will be another along in a few hours.

Oct 21 2007

Pony Party: Sunday music retrospective

Mamas and Papas


Dedicated to the One I Love

Yesterday I posted Creeque Alley to a Pony Party.  Today is expansion of the theme.


California Dreaming


Monday, Monday


I Saw Her Again

Please do not recommend a Pony Party when you see one.  There will be another along in a few hours.

Oct 21 2007

Docudharma Times Sunday Oct. 21

This is an Open Thread. Scream All You Want


USA

Tighter Border Delays Re-entry by U.S. Citizens

By JULIA PRESTON

Published: October 21, 2007

The increased enforcement is in part a dress rehearsal for new rules, scheduled to take effect in January, that will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter the United States. The requirements were approved by Congress as part of antiterrorism legislation in 2004.


Border officials said agents along the southern border were asking more returning United States citizens to show a photo identity document. At the same time, agents are increasing the frequency of what they call queries, where they check a traveler’s information against law enforcement, immigration and antiterror databases.

EL PASO – United States border agents have stepped up scrutiny of Americans returning home from Mexico, slowing commerce and creating delays at border crossings not seen since the months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The increased enforcement is in part a dress rehearsal for new rules, scheduled to take effect in January, that will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter the United States. The requirements were approved by Congress as part of antiterrorism legislation in 2004.


Border officials said agents along the southern border were asking more returning United States citizens to show a photo identity document. At the same time, agents are increasing the frequency of what they call queries, where they check a traveler’s information against law enforcement, immigration and antiterror databases.

Energy Traders Avoid Scrutiny

As Commodities Market Grows, Oversight Is Slight


By David Cho

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, October 21, 2007; Page A01


One year ago, a 32-year-old trader at a giant hedge fund named Amaranth held huge sway over the price the country paid for natural gas. Trading on unregulated commodity exchanges, he made risky bets that led to the fund’s collapse — and, according to a congressional investigation, higher gas bills for homeowners.


But as another winter approaches, lawmakers and federal regulators have yet to set up a system to prevent another big fund from cornering a vital commodity market. Called by some insiders the Wild West of Wall Street, commodity trading is a world where many goods that are key to national security or public consumption, such as oil, pork bellies or uranium, are traded with almost no oversight.

Republicans against war face uphill races

By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 21, 2007

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — The Crystal Coast Republican Men’s Club faithful were all smiles as they gathered at a restaurant to listen to their candidate for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District.


But the warm reception wasn’t for the Republican who since 1995 has represented this stretch of coast from the Virginia state line to the sprawling Marine base at Camp Lejeune. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a soft-spoken, deeply religious man who two years ago turned against the Iraq war, was not there.


The GOP activists dining on fried fish were cheering Joe McLaughlin, a county commissioner and retired Army major who has launched a hard-charging bid to dispatch Jones in next year’s primary by highlighting Jones’ votes against the war.


“His is a message of despair, a message of defeat,” McLaughlin told the appreciative crowd as he derided Jones, accusing him of abandoning the troops, President Bush, even talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

Sexual misconduct plagues U.S. schools

AP finds 2,500 teachers punished in 5 years


By MARTHA IRVINE AND ROBERT TANNER

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sensational cases make headlines, but the scale of sexual misconduct by teachers in America’s schools gets little attention. The Associated Press has spent months digging through public records to document the problem in every state, revealing a disturbing national picture. This story is the first in a three-day series on an overlooked blight on our education system.)

The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader’s breast during recess. “I guess it was just lust of the flesh,” he told his boss.


That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn’t end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations.


Asia

Zeng Qinghong Leaves China Communist Party Leadership


By Allen T. Cheng and Dune Lawrence


Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Three top Chinese Communist Party officials including Vice President Zeng Qinghong stepped down, clearing the way for President Hu Jintao to install younger leaders on China’s ruling council.


Zeng, 68, wasn’t included in a list of the party’s 200-plus Central Committee, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, meaning he can’t be chosen for its ruling Politburo Standing Committee. Two other members of that group, Wu Guanzheng and Luo Gan also weren’t on the list.


Hu, 64, is reshuffling his team to tackle social unrest caused by corruption and pollution in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. While his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Deng Xiaoping opened up the country and powered growth, Hu has stressed creating a “harmonious society” to spread the benefits and maintain public support.

NKorea warns South over naval movements

SEOUL (AFP) – Pyongyang Sunday accused South Korea of “provocation”, claiming its neighbour’s navy had intentionally strayed into the North’s waters and warning against it happening again.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said South Korea sent 50 navy ships and boats deep into disputed Northern waters last week, with as many as 30 coming in on Thursday alone.


“The (North Korean) Navy will never remain an onlooker to the South Korean naval warships’ reckless military provocations as intruding into the inviolable territorial waters of the North side,” KCNA said.

Tokyo soccer robots don’t quite have Becks appeal

TOKYO (Reuters) – David Beckham doesn’t have anything to fear from robot players — for now.

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At an indoor field in Tokyo, dozens of robots played soccer while others danced to samba music to cheer them on.

For the contestants, most of the movements were, well, mechanical and even a little clumsy — far from the acrobatic grace of premier-league soccer stars.


Several small humanoid robots taking part in “Robot Athletic Meet 2007” toppled over as they collided on the indoor field, their every move buzzing with the sound of their motors.


Middle East

Report: 9 Turkish soldiers killed

ANKARA, Turkey – Separatist Kurdish rebels attacked a military unit near Turkey’s border with Iraq and Iran on Sunday, killing nine Turkish soldiers, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The attack came four days after Turkey’s Parliament passed a motion allowing its military to launch an offensive into neighboring northern Iraq to stamp out the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, hiding there.


The rebels attacked the military unit, based near the Turkish town of Yuksekova, in Hakkari province, with heavy machinery, Anatolia said. Several soldiers were also injured in the violence.

Guards ‘undermine’ US Iraq aims

The activities of security contractors are “in conflict” with the US military’s mission in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said.


But he acknowledged that the US could not manage without contractors, except by diverting thousands of troops.


On Thursday, three Iraqis were injured when guards from a UK company fired into a taxi in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.


Security firms are under scrutiny after 17 Iraqis died in a clash involving guards from the US firm Blackwater.


Europe

Poles start voting in early parliamentary election

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poles began voting on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election that could cost the conservative ruling Kaczynski twins their full grip on government in the European Union’s biggest former communist country

Opinion polls suggest a centre-right opposition party might do best in the vote, with plans to speed up economic reform, pull troops out of Iraq and rebuild relations with EU allies that have suffered under the strongly nationalist brothers.


But the race could still be close.


Polls before campaigning ended on Friday put the opposition Civic Platform between 4 and 17 points ahead of the conservative ruling Law and Justice Party. They gave the opposition party up to 47 percent support.


Africa

Ethiopian rebels claim killing 140 government troops

NAIROBI (AFP) – Ethiopian rebels on Sunday claimed they had killed at least 140 government troops in an attack in the Ogaden region, where the army is carrying out a crackdown.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said in a statement that almost 1,000 of its fighters attacked Ethiopian troops near Wardheer early Saturday, killing more than 140 troops, with “many more wounded”.


Wardheer is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.

Muslim pop stars unite for Darfur

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend a charity concert in London to raise money for war-torn Darfur.


The event on Sunday at Wembley Arena will highlight the crisis in the Sudanese region and feature some of the Muslim world’s biggest stars.


Among them is Sami Yusuf – dubbed the Islamic Bono – and Texan country and western singer Kareem Salama.

Oct 21 2007

So, does this political document get me banned at DKos?