NPR: The NPR News Blog

July 31, 2007

Teaching Inner-City Kids About Death

Tell Me More has an interview with Todd Walker, a football coach in Oakland, Calif., who has started a program, Restoring Inner-City Peace, or R.I.P., that brings urban kids to funeral homes to help them understand the reality of death. Walker shows the kids -- some as young as 6 -- a casket, a gurney and a cremation box, items that can help make the often fatal consequences of violence more real.

I applaud Walker's efforts, especially in an area where violence can be an everyday event. But I'm not sure if the sterile surroundings of a funeral home are enough to make a difference. In my experience, it's only the death of a close friend or a relative that pushes you to consider your own mortality. Otherwise, I fear the effect is only temporary.

I can still remember the first time I saw a dead person. The mother of my parish priest. I was about 7 years old, and our Cub Scout master had taken the entire troupe to the funeral home to pay our respects. I remember kneeling beside the open coffin, but it seemed more gross than scary.

'Truth' Cartoon Wins Scientists Group's Contest

Truth will out! Depictions of it also help win editorial cartooning contests.

Last week, the Union of Concerned Scientists announced the winner of its 2007 Science Idol: Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest. The winner, Jesse Springer of Eugene, Ore., won with a cartoon that "depicts politicians shoveling dirt onto the word 'Truth' as scientists work to uncover it."

Springer received nearly 4,300 of the 20,000 votes cast. Here's a collection of all 12 cartoons that made it to the finals. They're funny, irreverent and quite blunt, so you might want to avoid them if you're a Bush appointee in a science- or health-related government agency.

The winning cartoon.

Jesse Springer/Courtesy Union of Concerned Scientists

California Proposal Could Influence 2008 Election

Oh, this is deliciously sneaky. It's just an idea at the moment, but Thomas Hiltachk, a prominent GOP lawyer from Sacramento, wants to put a proposal on the California ballot next year that would change the way the Golden State awards electoral votes in presidential elections.

If it passes -- heck, if it even makes it to the ballot -- it could prove to be a real thorn in the sides of Democrats.

Currently, the winner of the state's popular vote takes all 55 electoral votes -- and they've been pretty solidly Democratic votes for the past few election cycles.

But Hiltachk's proposal would see the winner of the popular vote only get two guaranteed electoral votes, while the rest would be awarded based on who won the popular vote in each of the state's 53 congressional districts. Although George Bush lost the state by double-digits in 2004, he won the vote in about 20 congressional districts. If the proposal passed, the Republicans' share of California's electoral bounty could pretty much give them a lock on the White House.

Here's the bottom line: Even if the proposal makes it to the ballot, it would be a longshot to pass because Democrats and independents (who make up the majority of voters in California) would likely oppose it. But it's ingenious in the way it would force Democrats to spend a lot of money fighting it in a state where they can normally count on keeping their expenses to a minimum.

And in presidential elections, every dollar counts.

Blogs Push GOP Contenders to Attend YouTube Debate

For many conservative bloggers, the news that few top GOP contenders have committed to take part in the Republican version of the CNN-YouTube debate in September is like having your best friend get cold feet before her wedding -- you see the long-term gain, she fears the short-term pain.

So far, only Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul have said they will participate in the debate, scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Maybe the rest are afraid of talking snowmen?)

Whatever the other candidates' reasons, this has not gone down well with many conservative bloggers, who say that if the major GOP contenders take a powder on the debate, the Internet community and many young voters will not forget. Former RNC eCampaign Director Patrick Ruffini has created a site, Save the Debate, to help convince Republican holdouts like Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani to participate.

There are, of course, a few conservative bloggers who think maybe the candidates are right to be wary and advise skipping the whole thing. But for most, it's a real no-brainer. Candidates who don't come will be asked about it from now until the primaries, and then, if they fail to win the nomination, pundits will cite it as one of the reasons.

But there are signs that the leading contenders are starting to reconsider (although there are reports that the date may be changed to accommodate some candidates' schedules).

12:17 PM ET | 07-31-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Iraqi Legislature Breaks for Recess Without Progress

Nothing, it seems, nothing, can make Iraqi legislators move faster toward the set of benchmarks the U.S. Congress feels absolutely necessary to achieve.

So it was time to go on vacation.

Iraqi legislators are starting a monthlong recess today. The break comes, however, after the current session had been extended by a month to try and reach deals on important issues like "oil investment and revenue-sharing among regions, the re-integration of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime into government, and provincial elections," the Los Angeles Times reports. But it just wasn't going to happen. And, based on the sectarian divides in parliament, it seems unlikely that these benchmarks will be reached anytime soon.

The relationship between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, is not helping the situation. The Associated Press reports that it is apparently so poor that al-Maliki may ask Washington to withdraw Petraeus. Petraeus' decision to arm some Sunni militant groups to battle al-Qaida in Iraq has infuriated the Iraqi PM, who is a Shiite.

An unnamed diplomat quoted by the Times says we had better get used to frustration with the parliament: "Politically, there isn't going to be a breakthrough," said the diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not stating official policy. "There isn't going to be the sun comes up one day and everybody loves each other. They are going to muddle through, but in this part of the world, a lot of governments just muddle through for years."

I doubt, however, that "muddling through" is going to thrill American lawmakers who know that progress in Iraq may be the key to their re-election -- or their defeat -- at the polls next year.

July 30, 2007

Dave Robicheaux Finally Tackles Katrina

Oh, I have been waiting for this for the past two years.

There are two detective characters whose stories I never miss -- Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch and James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux. And ever since Hurricane Katrina tore apart my favorite city in America, New Orleans, I wanted to see how Burke and his Cajun detective would deal with it. Martha Woodroof reported on Day to Day that my answer has come: The Tin Roof Blowdown.

I have next week off, and you can bet I'm headed down to the bookstore to get my copy. Summer reading here I come. (You can read an excerpt of Burke's latest Robicheaux novel at Simon & Schuster's Web site.)

5:42 PM ET | 07-30-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Poll: Most Americans Support Surveillance Camera Use

A security camera in the World Trade Center PATH station in New York. A London-style surveillance system is being planned there that will blanket the area with 3,000 security cameras.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

My wife spotted them first. "Look at those," she said, pointing to the rather obvious cameras now parked on the top of the stoplights by the Tysons Corner mall in Virginia. No doubt the cameras' blatant positioning sent as strong a message as their actual activities: "We're watching now, so no more running that red light or trying to sneak through on a late yellow. And let's keep to the speed limit, OK."

Cameras are sprouting up everywhere these days, both the red-light traffic kind and regular surveillance cameras. But when it comes to the latter, a new ABC News poll shows Americans apparently don't care. In fact, they would like to see more of it -- 71 percent support the increased use of surveillance cameras. Republicans overwhelmingly favor it -- 81 percent like the idea -- but Democrats and independents back it as well, although by smaller margins, 66 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

What do you think about the use of surveillance cameras? And, while we're on the subject of cameras, what about the red-light ones like those I saw with my wife?

Did GOP Use 'Caging' to Block Some Voters in 2004?

Ever since the 2004 election, rumors have floated occasionally in the media -- and frequently in the blogosphere -- that there was some kind of monkey business in Ohio that helped tip the vote for President Bush.

On Friday, PBS' NOW explored allegations that the Republican Party used a tactic called "voter caging" in Ohio, Florida and other key election states to prevent typically Democratic-leaning groups like minorities and students from voting. And NOW investigated reports that a similar plan may be in place for the 2008 election. (You can watch the entire program on the show's Web site.)

In a political context, "voter caging" involves using direct mail to challenge people's voter registration. Few had heard of it before Monica Goodling mentioned it in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

NOW talked to journalist Greg Palast, who first reported on "voter caging" for the BBC in 2004, when a Bush parody site claimed to have accidentally received confidential e-mails about it.

Palast also explained his charges in a recent post on the liberal BradBlog: "The Bush-Cheney operatives sent hundreds of thousands of letters marked 'Do not forward' to voters' homes. Letters returned ('caged') were used as evidence to block these voters' right to cast a ballot on grounds they were registered at phony addresses. Who were the evil fakers? Homeless men, students on vacation and --- you got to love this --- American soldiers. Oh yeah: most of them are Black voters."

NOW reports that the voter caging issue might be tied into the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys. NOW interviewed one of the fired prosecutors, David Iglesias, who says he was pressured by key Republicans to engage in "unlawful activities," including what would have amounted to voter suppression. He believes that the White House is withholding documents to protect people like Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor because there is "incriminating, possibly criminally incriminating evidence contained in those e-mails and other memoranda."

I suspect that voter caging is something we'll hear more about in the next few weeks.

What Should the Future Hold for Harry Potter?

(Spoiler alert: Don't read any further if you haven't had a chance to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet.)

It didn't take very long for this idea to surface.

In her glowing review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for Forbes, writer Lisa LaMotta argues that Harry must keep going and that the series should not end. But who should take over from J.K. Rowling now that Harry is grown up? Apparently, book chain Borders polled 1,500 people in Britain, and "their favorite, by far, is Irvine Welsh, author of the drug- and sex-filled novels Trainspotting and Porno."

Oh my. That would make for, er, interesting reading, indeed. But what do you think? Is Harry done? Or should he have some grown-up (although not necessary "adult") adventures as well?

Learning About Bergman from His Film Editor

While I never had the pleasure of meeting Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish film director who died today, I did have the opportunity to learn from someone who worked very closely with him on some of his greatest films.

In the mid-1980s, I was chosen to learn about screenwriting as part of a Canadian film program called DramaLab. The person who was supposed to teach us dropped out at the last second, and Ulla Ryghe stepped in. I had no idea who she was. But one of the DramaLab organizers told us that she had edited some of Bergman's films: Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Silence, Persona, Hour of the Wolf, to name a few.

Some of my fellow screenwriters grumbled because screenwriting wasn't her specialty. But no way was I going to waste a chance to learn from a person who had worked with one of the world's greatest directors. Ryghe saw I was interested and, as a result, made me work pretty hard. But I learned a lot about making movies.

Occasionally she would talk about working with Bergman, how hard he pushed her, how creative he was, how intimidating he could be at times. I knew a lot of what she was teaching me was what she had learned from him, combined with her own deep knowledge about film.

In particular, the things she taught me about how to observe the world -- to pay attention to the obvious things we miss every day -- serve me very well in my current job.

July 27, 2007

Simpsons, Meet the Simpsons ...

A Simpsonized Tom Regan

Simpsonizeme.com/Meghan Gallery

OK, two things right off the bat.

First, I've been a Simpsons fan from the beginning. Second, no way is Springfield in Vermont. It's in Massachusetts. Springfield, Mass., may not have a nuclear reactor, but if you've ever been there it has the same, er, outstanding qualities as Homer's Springfield. Sort of. In a way. If you close your eyes and imagine.

Now that I have that off my chest, we're all set for today's opening of The Simpsons Movie. Mark Jordan Legan of Slate gave the lowdown on what critics had to say about the movie on Day to Day. In short, they like it; they really, really like it.

Meanwhile, Morning Edition talked to the man behind the Simpsons curtain, creator Matt Groening, on his, well, inspiration for the crazy family.

Better yet, you can Simpsonize yourself. Burger King has created the site, which allows you to upload a headshot that will be used to create a Simpsons character who looks like you. (But be prepared to wait; it's taking a long time, probably due to the demands on the Web server.)

That's it for this week. If you see anything interesting, you can e-mail us at newsblog@npr.org.

(Tom's Update: OK, we finally got through to the Simpsonizeme site, and the result is above. I was momentarily excited when I thought that it had given me brown hair -- my hair hasn't been brown since Jimmy Carter was president. But alas, my editor told me it was steel gray. Rats. Darn color-blindness.)

Australia Drops Charge Against Indian Doctor

After plenty of fumbling, bumbling and stumbling by Australian authorities, the country's top prosecutor dropped a terrorism charge today against Mohamed Haneef, an Indian doctor whose cousins are suspected of involvement in the bombing attempts in London and Glasgow.

A short time later, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews -- who had moved to keep Haneef in custody by canceling his visa after a court ordered him released on bail earlier this month -- announced Haneef would be released. He will continue to be under residential detention.

Haneef had been charged with recklessly supporting a terrorist organization after authorities said he gave his cell phone SIM card to a cousin when he left Britain for Australia.

But government prosecutors acknowledged two major mistakes in Haneef's case. First, they said the SIM card that he had given to his cousin was found at the crash site at the Glasgow airport, and it wasn't. Second, they said he had lived with some of the suspects before moving to Australia, when he hadn't.

There's always an argument in terrorism cases that it's better to be safe than sorry. (Hey, I lived in Boston, where we shut down an entire city over some colored panels showing cartoon characters.) But, in this case, even the judge who ordered Haneef released on bail pointed out that there was no clear evidence that he was involved in the British plots.

Now, Australian officials are forced into "an embarrassing climbdown," as The Guardian puts it. There is more finger-pointing going on in Canberra than there is in L.A. after a Lakers playoff loss. However, the officials involved have refused to even offer an apology.

This is the kind of mistake that can bring a government down in the parliamentary system. It will be worth watching the fallout in the coming days.

4:03 PM ET | 07-27-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Tillman's Mother Still Upset with Army over His Death

Pat Tillman's mom is furious, and she's not afraid to let people know it.

The mother of the NFL-player-turned-Army-Ranger, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, said Thursday that the Army's latest investigation into her son's death is a "sham."

"It's so humiliating and disrespectful," Mary Tillman told the New York Daily News. "It's one more example of the Army investigating itself. It was all done to glorify this war ... Pat deserves the truth."

(The Associated Press also reports some new details about Tillman's death. They include the rather disturbing revelation that, at one point, medical examiners felt that the bullet holes in Tillman's forehead were so close together that it appeared the bullets were fired from just 10 feet away. The Army even did a criminal investigation to see if Tillman "was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed." Tillman's death was ultimately ruled an accident.)

Army Secretary Pete Geren is not expected to recommend any criminal action in Tillman's death. He will likely urge that four generals and three others be reprimanded for "'critical errors' that misled the family and the nation into thinking Tillman was killed in combat in April 2004." Geren is expected to recommend that retired Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger be busted down to major general -- which will cost him about $900 a month off his pension.

But Mary Tillman isn't buying any of it. She says that Kensinger is just the "fall guy" and suggests that then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also knew the truth but hid the real facts so that her son's death could be used for war propaganda.

It's unlikely that Mary Tillman or her family will get the satisfaction they want from the Army. But the Army's "critical errors" in telling the truth also appear to have created a formidable opponent who will not let her son's death rest.

Mr. Spock Makes a Logical Return

Leonard Nimoy

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Fans at San Diego's big Comic-Con festival got more Spocks for their money than they had anticipated.

During a Paramount Pictures panel Thursday about the new Star Trek movie, which will feature the crew of the Enterprise during their early years in Starfleet, director J.J. Abrams (known for his work in Mission: Impossible III and Lost) introduced the actor who will play the young Spock -- Zachary Quinto of Heroes. But then Abrams told the audience he had more casting news ... and he introduced Leonard Nimoy, who will also have a small role in the film as the older Spock.

When asked why he was returning to the Trek film universe, Nimoy said the decision was logical.

Well, what else would you expect him to say? All I can say is that I hope the film lives long and prospers.

NASA Probing Reports of Astronauts Flying Intoxicated

Looks like NASA might be searching for a new motto -- something like "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer."

This morning, The Washington Post details NASA's latest headache -- reports that astronauts were allowed to fly while intoxicated, even after getting warnings that they posed "a potential flight-safety risk." A NASA spokesman said that "one of two reviews of the medical and psychological health of astronauts scheduled to be made public today will include secondhand accounts of astronauts drinking before flights."

Aviation Week reports that the panel that conducted the review also said that there was lots of heavy drinking within the 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule applied to flight crew members. The reviews came about as the result of another NASA scandal -- the bizarre Lisa Nowak love-triangle allegations.

NASA said the reports of drinking did not necessarily refer to flights on the space shuttle but could have happened on test flights on other vehicles.

Um, pardon me for saying so, but does it really matter? The idea of plastered pilots flying off into the wild blue yonder is disconcerting regardless of their particular vehicle. There are no cops to pull you over for a Breathalyzer test at 30,000 feet.

Add to that the Nowak case, and it seems to me that NASA has some pretty serious 'splaining to do.

July 26, 2007

Proofreading Your Way to Fame and Fortune

As a blogger for a news organization, I'm frequently asked about being edited. Although some bloggers think that writing a blog should be a pure stream-of-consciousness experience, I'm a firm believer in editing. I think the best blogs are the best-written blogs -- and editing makes a blog better in so many ways.

We don't all have editors, but anyone can fall back on good old-fashioned proofreading. One of my favorite blogs, Daily Writing Tips, offered a fun post Wednesday about "The Impotence of Proofreading" (complete with 12 intentional mistakes).

"Let's be honest, misspelled words are defiantly a sign of ignorance," the post reads.

You should proofread virtually any written piece, from emails to blog posts. Proofread your homework as well, since you don't want to drive the principle of your school crazy.

Look, typos happen. (I make my fair share.) No one is saying you have to join the grammar police. But if you need help, maybe you could turn to blogger Kate McCulley. Earlier this week, Talk of the Nation interviewed McCulley, Boston's self-proclaimed "grammar vandal," who corrects errors on signs in public places. It's just another reminder that people really do care about clean copy -- on a blog or on a sign.

We're Still Trying to Deal with 'Data Smog'

Slate has posted an interesting retrospective from David Shenk about his famous book, Data Smog.

Back in 1997, Shenk wrote that, thanks to the information revolution spawned by the Internet, we were in danger of being overwhelmed by too much information. Now, 10 years later, Shenk finds that, while he was just plain wrong about some of his concerns, his main theme has proven all too real. We are increasingly struggling with too much data and how to process it -- "a nonstop orgy of connectedness that can sometimes crowd out tenderness and meaning."

Shenk's reflections were posted Wednesday, the same day that I interviewed Josh Ehrlich of BeamPines in New York, who works with top-level executives on just this "data smog" issue -- how to avoid being overwhelmed by technology when you're trying to lead an organization.

His job is to help business leaders learn to turn off technology's siren call, so that it won't distract them from important issues. (Ehrlich's profession probably wouldn't have even existed before data smog came into our lives.) It's tough because, as he says, Americans are not that good at being able to sit back and reflect. He says it's important to learn do this in external and in internal ways.

"We have to change the environment," he told me. If focus is needed for an important task, "turn off the computer screen or the TV or the BlackBerry. And then internally, we have to discipline our minds to slow down."

He recommends taking in a "mindful" breath, to borrow an idea from Buddhism. When the cell phone rings or the instant message comes in, pause a moment to decide if you want to interrupt what you're doing to answer, and then take a deep breath to help you shift away from the previous task and focus on the new one.

The trick is, he says (and I love this line), don't get on every thought train. "You have to control your own attention and not let the technology control it."

Nursing Home Cat Seems to Know When Death Is Near

This is kind of weird and scary but ultimately fascinating. Morning Edition reported today that a cat living in a Providence, R.I., nursing home seems to know when people are about to die. The cat, Oscar, has held vigil at the deaths of 25 patients on the third-floor dementia unit of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

"He's a cat with an uncanny instinct for death," Dr. David M. Dosa, assistant professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and a geriatric specialist, told The Boston Globe. "He attends deaths. He's pretty insistent on it."

I've always noticed that my cats are more likely to snuggle with me or the kids when we're sick. But man, if I saw Oscar coming, you wouldn't catch me alive in that room ... so to speak.

Researchers Say Being Obese Is 'Contagious'

It seems each day brings a new report in the battle of the waistline. But this one is a real eye-opener. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that obesity is "contagious." Just one example: If you have a close same-sex friend who becomes obese, there is a 71 percent chance that you'll start packing on the pounds as well.

Using the Framingham Heart Study (which we mentioned Wednesday -- it's a study that has been following thousands of people's health for almost 50 years), researchers concluded that obesity spreads through social ties in subtle ways. Bloomberg reports that it seems to be largely a matter of rationalization.

"What appears to be happening is that a person becoming obese most likely causes a change of norms about what counts as an appropriate body size,'' investigators led by Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, wrote in the July 26 edition of the New England Journal. "People come to think that it is okay to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads.''

When I mentioned this study to my wife, she commented that it will "make it easier to hate fat people." And sure enough, Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the comprehensive weight control program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, tells the New York Daily News that he has the same concern. "Is a mother going to say, 'I'm not going to let my kid play with an overweight kid because it's going to make my kid overweight'?"

Here's another thing -- if your friends influence your weight, how did that first person in your group get fat? It had to start somewhere. The report really doesn't address this. And there's a certain "well, duh" element here, too. We know that our social networks influence the clothes we buy, the shows we watch, the music we listen to. It makes perfect sense that they would influence our opinions on body image as well.

But there's a silver lining, as Morning Edition reports. If you lose weight, your friends are more likely to do so. I recently lost about 40 pounds ... Anybody want to be my friend?

TSA Praised for Latest Warning on Terrorist Dry-Runs

It's amazing what finding a block of cheese can do for your reputation. In the case of the Transportation Security Administration, it's won it praise from security experts, politicians and even longtime critics.

On Wednesday, CBS News/AP reported that TSA recently sent out a routine advisory to the nation's airport security workers, warning them to be on watch for terrorists doing dry-runs. The advisory was prompted by four recent seizures of possible bomb-like ingredients in people's luggage. In one case, a bag "contained wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese."

Block cheese is of interest to TSA because it has a consistency similar to some explosives.

These seizures elicited praise even from longtime critics, who say this shows that TSA has matured beyond seizing scissors and cigarette lighters, AP reports. "This is what TSA should be doing whether it turns out to be a whole bunch of harmless coincidences or part of a plot," said James Carafano, a security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation who in the past called for TSA's abolition.

The cheese, by the way, turned out to be a false alarm in at least once case. But that really doesn't matter to Brian Jenkins, a RAND Corp. terrorism expert. "I'm glad they are picking up these things whatever they turn out to be. The TSA did their job. The police did their job. No sweat."

9:51 AM ET | 07-26-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 25, 2007

Muslim Support for Suicide Bombings Plunges

A new Pew Global Attitudes Project survey shows that support in many Muslim nations for suicide bombings is way down. But the dark lining in this silver cloud is that concern about the Sunni-Shiite divide is widespread.

As part of a larger survey of 47 nations on global attitudes toward a variety of issues, Pew researchers asked residents of 16 predominantly Muslim nations if suicide bombing is justifiable.

Muslims in eight of these countries were asked this question in 2002, and only one country has seen an increase in support since then: Those in Turkey who believe suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified moved from 13 percent to 16 percent. In other Muslim countries, the percentage plummeted: In Lebanon it fell 40 points to 34 percent; in Jordan it was down 20 points to 23 percent; and 9 percent of Pakistanis approve, down from 33 percent five years ago.

In the eight new nations surveyed, the percentages were in a similar range, from 8 percent to 39 percent, except in the Palestinian territories, where 70 percent approved.

A Los Angeles Times editorial argues that the drop in support for this kind of terrorist action might provide the West an opportunity for reconciliation with the Muslim world.

But the survey also bears the marks of an emerging problem -- the growing animosity between the Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam. In many of the countries where people were surveyed, a majority expressed concern about this sectarian feud.

Cyclists Protest at Start of Tour de France Stage, As Race Leader Kicked Off Team

Word is that yet another cyclist at the Tour de France has tested positive for a banned substance, this time testosterone. Even the cyclists, particularly from France, are upset about all these cheating allegations. The Associated Press reports that a large block of riders refused to start today's stage at the scheduled time.

But the best thing about this latest version of "Everything you always wanted to know about doping but were afraid to ask a pharmacist" is the excuse from the last rider accused of cheating, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan. Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after he won last Saturday's time trial, but he told French media that he hadn't cheated. "I heard that I made a transfusion with my father's blood," Vinokourov said. "That's absurd, I can tell you that with his blood, I would have tested positive for vodka."

Whoa. Talk about throwing Dad under the peloton.

(Tom's Update: The hits just keep on comin'. AP reports that Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked off his team Wednesday, for violating the team's internal rules.

The expulsion ... was ordered by the Dutch team sponsor, was linked to "incorrect" information that Rasmussen gave to the team's sports director over his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen, who also has been suspended from the team, missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in Mexico. But a former rider, Davide Cassani, told Denmark's Danmarks Radio on Wednesday that he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in mid-June.

2:55 PM ET | 07-25-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Australian Police Make a Bungle in Terrorism Case

Australia's federal police force has had more than a bit of egg on its face over the past few days. Seems it dropped the ball on what was supposed to be a key piece of evidence against Mohamed Haneef, the Indian doctor charged in Australia with "recklessly" supporting the attempted terrorist bombings in London and Glasgow.

Haneef is accused of giving his cousins his cell phone's SIM card when he moved from Britain to Australia. The government prosecutor, based on information from the police, reported in court hearings that the SIM card was found in the Jeep that his cousin, Kafeel Ahmed, allegedly drove into the Glasgow airport terminal.

Whoops. Wrong. Turns out that the SIM card wasn't anywhere near Glasgow, Australian media reported. In fact, it was back in Liverpool with another cousin, Sabeel Ahmed, who also has been charged in the case. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a "source close to the British investigation" said Scotland Yard had nothing to do with the screw-up -- it was all the Australian police.

Haneef's lawyers slammed the police over the weekend, saying that they were leaking damaging allegations to the media about their client because the case is weak. The government revoked Haneef's visa to keep him in custody even after a court granted him bail.

2:09 PM ET | 07-25-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Soda Linked to Heart Attack Risk Factors?

"This is the Health Police. We want you to slowly place that soda on the ground, put your hands in the air and move away from the can. Just move away from the can and your heart will be fine."

OK, maybe it's not that dramatic, but you can bet a new report that soda -- regular or diet -- appears to have a distinct link to heart disease risk factors is going to cause a stir. ABC News reports that a study published in the current issue of Circulation, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association, suggests that drinking even one soda a day is associated with an increase in risk factors for heart disease.

The study's researchers report that those who said they drank a soda or more per day had a 31 percent greater chance of developing obesity, a 30 percent increased risk for gaining inches around the waist, a 25 percent chance of developing high blood sugar levels and a 32 percent greater chance of developing lower "good" cholesterol levels.

The study was based on data collected for the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the health of thousands of people for decades.

Well, as you can imagine, the soda industry is not taking this lying down. The Baltimore Sun reports that Jeff Stier, associate director of the American Council on Science and Health, an industry-friendly consumer education group, said the study's effect on public health is nil. "This study doesn't conclude that drinking soda will give you a heart attack," he said.

That's something the researchers agree with, by the way. But they do theorize that drinking soda every day could be a "marker" of a lifestyle that is generally unhealthy. That someone who is drinking that much soda is also likely to be the person who orders the extra-large burger, a super-sized order of fries and a cherry pie for lunch.

Sunni Bloc Suspends Membership in Iraqi Government

Well, this isn't going to help the situation in Iraq. The news this morning is that the largest Sunni bloc has decided to suspend its membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government.

The Associated Press reports that the Iraqi Accordance Front gave al-Maliki a week to meet its demands or it will make its decision to leave final.

Reading from a prepared statement, [Sheik Khalaf al-Elyan] said the front's demands were a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, a firm commitment by the government to human rights and the disbanding of militias.

The last demand on the list is a direct shot fired across the bow of the influential radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (whose support is key to al-Maliki's hold on power) and his Mahdi militia. The Sunni group had threatened earlier this month that it might take such an action if it felt al-Maliki, a Shiite, was not responsive to their proposals.

The Accordance Front has five cabinet members in the current Iraqi administration and 44 of the parliament's 275 seats.

9:24 AM ET | 07-25-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 24, 2007

Putin Accuses Britain of 'Colonial Thinking'

This Britain-Russia name-calling, diplomat-expelling row reminds me of listening to my kids argue. Just when you think things have calmed down, one of them will say something or poke somebody or complain too loudly, and the whole kerfuffle flares up again.

The latest poke comes from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who today accused Britain of "colonial thinking" in the ongoing diplomatic spat over the murder of the Kremlin critic and former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The Guardian reports that Putin, in his harshest remarks in the matter so far, described Britain's demand that Russia extradite suspect Andrei Lugovoi as "insulting."

"What they propose is an obvious vestige of colonial thinking," Mr Putin said on Russian state television. "They must have clearly forgotten that Britain is no longer a colonial power, there are no colonies left and, thank God, Russia has never been a British colony."

It may be that Putin was just playing to the domestic Russian audience. The Daily Telegraph points out that last week he described the entire affair as a "mini-crisis" to an audience made up of international media.

Both countries recently expelled four diplomats from the other country. Russia also imposed a visa ban on British officials and said it would no longer cooperate with Britain in the war on terrorism.

Map Shows How Our Spread Is Spreading

If you want to see the weight gains of Americans in the past 20 years, check out this map at CNN. It shows how many of us throughout the country are now not just overweight but obese.

While nearly every state had at least 20-24 percent of its residents in the obese category in 2004, the problem appears to be really growing, so to speak, in the South, where more than a quarter of the population in several states was obese.

No jokes from me on this one. I've struggled with weight my entire life thanks to my love-hate relationship with fried food. Basically, if you deep fried an old sneaker, I would probably eat it.

Commanders in Iraq Prepare Plan for Next Two Years

The New York Times headline reads "U.S. Is Seen in Iraq Until at Least '09." But the real news in reporter Michael Gordon's story is the American command's new two-year plan to restore security in Iraq.

The plan, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is the brainchild of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Its first aim is to restore security in localized areas around the country by the summer of 2008 and then to build on that to restore security nationwide by 2009.

Military officials, as is to be expected, aren't willing to guarantee success, considering the fate of other plans in Iraq -- especially former commander Gen. George Casey's plan to train Iraqi soldiers to take over responsibility from U.S. troops. We all know how well that one turned out.

The k/o blog notes that The Washington Post reported in late May that Petraeus and Crocker were working on a new plan that would emphasize the political over the military in terms of moving conflicts to the local level so they could be solved more easily. k/o writes that the plan "extends for at least two years into the future the fig leaf of the Iraqi government or military taking any action for or by itself without significant United States intervention."

Shaun Mullen at The Moderate Voice blog writes that the mere fact that this plan was shared with a Times reporter "shows how concerned commanders, and presumably the White House, are that ... public support for the war has eroded severely."

1:54 PM ET | 07-24-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Drew Carey Agrees to Host 'The Price Is Right'

Drew Carey speaks about another game show he's hosting, Power of 10, at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in California earlier this month.

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

At first, I thought I was hearing things. Driving to Dulles airport around 3 a.m. to pick up my wife, home from a month overseas, I heard the announcer say the new host of The Price Is Right -- an American institution rivaled only by Mount Rushmore and Old Faithful for longevity and durability -- was going to be ... Drew Carey.

Drew Carey?! The host of the hilarious, frequently ribald Whose Line Is It Anyway? taking over one of my long-dead grandmother's favorite shows? Drew Carey, who admitted in his autobiography that he got frustrated with censors while filming his eponymous TV show because they wouldn't let him tell more dirty jokes? It was like having an out-of-body experience.

But when I looked online later this morning, there was the news: Carey is taking the reins from Bob Barker, who had hosted the show since FDR was president. (OK, actually, it was Nixon.)

The Associated Press reports:

The deal was set shortly before a taping of CBS' Late Show with David Letterman, where Carey confirmed it. "I realize what a big responsibility this is," he said. "It's only a game show, but it's the longest-running game show in American television and I plan to keep it that way."

Twenty years ago, when I worked in Nova Scotia, I interviewed a popular local DJ, who told me that his real goal in life was to be a game-show host. I almost laughed out loud. What kind of ambition was that?

But I think I've changed my position. Game shows are a lot more fun now than they were 20 years ago. (Think Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!) Hosting one could actually be kinda cool.

YouTube Questions Were Frank (and Sometimes Weird)

Despite all the uproar online about how the video questions were being picked for Monday's Democratic debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube, that "top secret team" (to quote Monday's post) at CNN that picked the questions didn't really pull any punches.

Many online adherents had complained that the YouTube community itself should have selected the questions from among the 3,000 submitted by YouTube users.

However, the ones picked still made it a bad night for "news anchors and Washington bureau chiefs, the traditional interrogators of would-be holders of American high office," writes Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The questions from YouTube users made the evening lively and more informative than past debates and "offered further demonstration of the Internet's rapid ascension to a place of prominence in American politics."

The YouTube users put a different spin on the questions they asked about gay marriage, gun ownership, even the candidates' relevance to the political system. Parents with children in Iraq asked about the war, and, as NPR's Mara Liasson reported on Morning Edition, a snowman even asked about global warming.

The San Francisco Chronicle writes that this may have been the first debate where the questions were more important than the answers.

As an observer, I can say it was a darn sight more interesting than almost all debates, Democratic or Republican, that I have seen before.

July 23, 2007

Plan to Use YouTube Videos in Debate Attracts Disdain

Tonight's Democratic presidential debate, sponsored by CNN and YouTube, will feature questions from citizens submitted via the video-sharing site. That might sound like a great way to allow people other than the media or a hand-picked audience to ask questions, but it has been royally roasted in the blogosphere.

Hot Air writes that YouTube should post a note on the first page of the questions submitted for tonight that reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

The top secret team that's sifting through the pile of questions, rants, false flag lobbying operations and statements dressed as questions must be cursing whoever came up with this idea. I went about 1100 videos in (out of about 2700 total) before concluding that the vast majority of people who submitted questions are a) very, very liberal and b) mostly ignorant or unconsciously self-parodying, c) self-important beyond reason and d) really, really have some problem or other with America.

NPR's Robert Smith reports on Day to Day that most people who want to ask the candidates a question "blow it," putting their pets or kids on camera or dressing up like Elvis. And Smith also notes it's that "top secret team" (CNN producers) that has bloggers upset. Many don't think it's appropriate for back-room media types to pick the videos and that it should be done by the YouTube community itself.

So the Web site Community Counts is asking online users to pick the questions that should be used. (The No. 1 question this afternoon is about impeaching President Bush.) And two of the candidates, Chris Dodd and John Edwards, have agreed to answer top questions chosen by the Community Counts users.

If there is one thing we've learned about online communities, it's that they react negatively when they believe their freedom to choose is being limited. Online tools like YouTube have the potential to give voice to lots of people and open up the political process. But the structure for tonight's debate makes it not much different than if the audience had been picked in advance.

India's Latest 'Robin Hood' Killed by Police

India, it seems, has seen nearly as many real-life versions of Robin Hood as Hollywood studios have film versions in their archives.

The latest "Robin Hood," Shiv Kumar, also known by the alias Dadua, was killed along with several companions by police during a fierce gun battle Sunday. The Associated Press reports that Kumar, believed to be in his 60s, led one of the last remaining bands of outlaws that roam central India.

Kumar had a reputation for being fiercely loyal to the poor villagers in the region, particularly those from his Kurmi caste, a group on the lower rungs of India's complex social ladder and one of the most downtrodden in the area in which he operated.

But a man known as Veerappan, who was killed by police in 2004, was also called India's "Robin Hood." CNN reported he gained international notoriety in 2000 when he kidnapped India's most popular movie star, Rajkumar, then released him a few months later.

And in the '50s, there was the "Robin Hood of the Himalayas" in neighboring Nepal. Former Indian army clerk K.I. Singh started giving out land to Nepalese peasant farmers before the Indian army threw him in jail. He went on to become Nepal's prime minister.

When reading all this, it's hard not to think of the story of the Dread Pirate Roberts from the The Princess Bride (a pirate who retired and gave someone else the name when he was rich enough).

No More Harry Potter Books Is a Daunting Thought

Stacks of the seventh and last installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, at a bookstore in Washington.

Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

I just finished it. The seventh book.

Yes, yes, I know I was reading at work. But it was just the last five pages. And a journalist has to research the important stories of the day, right? Since I picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Saturday around 4 p.m., I've been reading the more-than-700-page book non-stop.

And here is what you've all wanted to know: It is FABULOUS. By far the best of the series. I could not put it down. I read until 3 a.m. Sunday. I read at the swimming pool. I read during meals. I read at the dentist's office this morning while waiting for my cleaning. I read it on the subway to work. And I just finished reading it at my desk.

I'm not going to discuss the ending. I can confirm that some really important characters die; some of them totally unexpected. And you do learn things about deceased headmaster Albus Dumbledore and the villains Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy that will surprise you.

Here's JJ Sutherland's take on the book from Morning Edition. (I lent him several of the earlier movies so he could have a Harry Potter film festival before reviewing Deathly Hallows.)

So now I've read all the books and seen all the films made so far. And the best things about these books are what they teach children -- and, it must be said, adults -- about what's important in life: family, loyalty, friendship and love. (This is why I think it's a mistake to ban Potter books for their "magic.") But most of all, it may be about the choices that we make, and how they determine who we really are, despite what we say or think.

I'm sorry there won't be an eighth Harry Potter. But then again, seven seems a very good number for J.K. Rowling.

Government Paid More Than $1 Billion to Dead Farmers

You know, I love America. Not only will the U.S. government often give you money while you're alive, it'll keep doing it years after you've died.

According to The Washington Post, a government report found the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid more than $1.1 billion over seven years "to the estates or companies of deceased farmers and routinely failed to conduct reviews required to ensure that the payments were properly made." The Government Accountability Office's review of 181 cases found that officials approved payments without a review of any kind 40 percent of the time. In another 38 percent of cases, the work was sloppy or vague.

The report cited a 1,900-acre soybean and corn farm in Illinois that collected $400,000 on behalf of an owner who lived in Florida before his death in 1995. The company did not notify the government of the death but certified each year that the dead shareholder, who owned 40 percent of the company, was "actively engaged" in managing the farm.

Most estates can continue receiving farm payments for up to two years after the owner's death to allow time to restructure finances. But after that, the USDA is supposed to make sure the farm is still a working operation and not just in existence to collect loot from the feds.

I wonder how hard the government will push to get the money back in cases in which people tried to game the system. Will the reaction be the same as if, for example, it had been the Department of Health and Human Services overpaying welfare cases it administers?

'Landslide' Win by Moderate Islamists in Turkey

When my wife called me from a friend's house in Turkey on Sunday, she said she and the group she was with had invented a drinking game to have a little fun watching the election returns there on television. Every time the ruling party, AKP, received more than 40 percent of the vote in a district, they would take a drink.

I think they were drinking a lot. The Turkish Daily News called AKP's re-election a "landslide," with the moderate Islamist party capturing 46.6 percent of the vote, "a share unseen since the 1950's."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party will get about 340 seats in parliament, down from 367. (Turkey's electoral system awards seats to parties when they get 10 percent of the vote. This time, three parties hit that mark, as opposed to two last time, which lowers AKP's share.) This means that despite his victory in the popular vote, Erdogan will still need to work with other parties to elect a president of his choice.

NPR's Ivan Watson reports that Erdogan called the election a victory for democracy. He also pledged to honor Turkey's secular form of government. The BBC notes that, while Erdogan is seen by some in Turkey as dangerous to the secular nature of the country, the moderate Islamist is pro-business, pro-European Union and, aside from some differences over the Kurds in northern Iraq, largely happy to work with the United States.

But as the BBC's Mark Mardell writes on his Euroblog, it's hard to escape the long shadow of the army in Turkey, which has a history of stepping in when it perceives a threat to the secular nature of the government. "It's unlikely, but possible that if someone cries foul after this election, there'll be a pitch invasion," he writes. "The phrase that keeps coming up in my mind when I write about the Turkish army is Gerry Adams' chilling warning about the IRA (some years ago): 'They haven't gone away, you know.'"

10:00 AM ET | 07-23-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 20, 2007

Canadian City Tells Doctors to Clean Up Writing

You would think that people who spent so much money -- not to mention years of their lives -- studying to become doctors would pay attention to something as simple as their handwriting. But, alas no, doctors are often described as having handwriting that would take an Egyptologist to decipher. (Personally, I think having really bad penmanship is part of the whole mystique that doctors want to cultivate.)

But it's not really a joking matter. The Globe and Mail of Toronto reports that the "Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has launched a campaign to stamp out hastily scrawled prescriptions after an audit revealed a third of the orders issued in its hospitals could have compromised patient safety, either because they were illegible or contained banned abbreviations."

Confusing abbreviations were the worst offenders. Also, as the Globe writes, even the names of drugs, which are often similar, "can be confused by a pharmacist struggling to read an illegible squiggle or an unclear abbreviation, often with disastrous results."

Eventually doctors will move to electronic records and prescriptions, which have been shown to drastically reduce legibility problems.

We'll be back on Monday morning. If you see anything interesting, drop us a line at newsblog@npr.org.

5:23 PM ET | 07-20-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Cheney to Be in Charge While Bush Has Colonoscopy

I'm getting to be "that age now," as my mother says. The age that means uncomfortable things like colonoscopies. I'm going to have one in a few weeks, so I can sympathize with President Bush, who The Associated Press reports will have a colonoscopy Saturday.

This actually marks at least the fourth time Bush has undergone this procedure. In the late '90s, doctors found some benign polyps, so they want to follow up over time. I give the president full marks. Just thinking about having it done once is daunting, let alone four times.

The other part of this news, of course, is that when you have a colonoscopy, they knock you out or at least relax you enough that you're not completely coherent. So this means that Vice President Dick Cheney will be in charge while the president is indisposed, so to speak.

Hmmm. I know some people who will be nervous with Cheney in charge. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, for instance, might have a long day Saturday hoping for the president to get back to work quickly.

Company to Offer Free Internet Phone Calls

As I've mentioned, my wife has been in Turkey for the past month. It's not her first long trip, which means I've spent a lot of money in the past on long-distance bills. Sometimes the bills could reach as high as $200 or $300.

But I've not spent a penny during this trip. Skype and SightSpeed, two Internet peer-to-peer telephony services, have saved my pocketbook. Both my wife and I have these programs installed on our computers, and we each have a Web cam. That means I get to talk to her for free as long as I want each day (working around that nasty seven-hour time difference), and I get to see her while I'm doing it.

But not everyone wants to use a computer to make phone calls. There's the more traditional-phone-service-like Voice over Internet Protocol, of course, and while you pay less, there's still a monthly fee to use services like Vonage. (Skype and SightSpeed also offer similar fee-based services.) And there are taxes as well.

But the San Francisco Chronicle's Technology Chronicles blog reports that a new company is offering a product that, after the purchase price, allows you to make as many domestic calls as you want for free. No taxes or anything. For as long as you want.

Ooma, a company from Palo Alto, Calif., has "announced a beta version of their ooma product, which allows people to make unlimited free calls from home using a broadband connection." A hub costs $399, meaning it would probably take a little more than a year for it to pay for itself based on the cost of other VoIP services. (Ooma says it will charge low per-minute rates for international calls.)

Business folks think the company is taking a bit of chance, BusinessWeek reports. Another VoIP company, SunRocket, is closing down, and Vonage is in a slump. But the people who run ooma think their product will get around problems other companies face.

Tour de France Leader Has Skipped Two Drug Tests

Michael Rasmussen rides uphill during the 12th stage of the 94th Tour de France today.

Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

I am shocked -- shocked I say -- to hear there may be another drug scandal brewing in the Tour de France.

Morning Edition reports that current race leader Michael Rasmussen "will be dropped from the Danish team for not informing Danish anti-doping authorities of his training whereabouts." And German TV has dropped coverage of the race after a German rider tested positive for a banned substance.

The New York Times reports that Rasmussen was cleared to start the 12th stage this morning, despite the revelation that he skipped drug tests on May 8 and June 28. A third missed test within 18 months would bring a two-year suspension. The Danish Cycling Union tested Rasmussen at the recent Danish national championships and has reported no positive results.

It seems that hardly a season goes by without some now-not-so-shocking allegations involving a well-known cyclist and drugs. It will be interesting to see if the latest news has an effect on how people view seven-time tour winner Lance Armstrong and his adamant denials of drug use. Do you find it more difficult to accept his word when it seems almost every other major cycling star has either been caught cheating or come under a similar cloud of suspicion?

Conrad Black Must Stay in U.S., Can't Return to Canada

Former Hollinger International CEO Conrad Black arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago on Thursday.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Media mogul Conrad Black won't have to go to jail while he awaits sentencing for his recent convictions on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice. But he can't leave the United States -- meaning he can't go back to Canada.

The Financial Times reports that Judge Amy St. Eve allowed Black to remain free on his $21 million bond but said he had to stay "within the northern district of Illinois or the area surrounding his home in Palm Beach." She rejected a request from prosecutors that Black be jailed, saying she didn't think he would "run and hide." She did express concern, however, that Black might go to Canada and fight extradition back to the U.S.

But I'm pretty sure The Great White North isn't waiting with open arms. Although he was born in Canada, Black conducted a loud and rancorous slugfest with then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government several years ago about his desire to become Lord Black in the British House of Lords. (Canadian citizens are not permitted to accept foreign titles.) As the Toronto Star reports, Black ultimately renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001, describing it as "an impediment to my progress in another more amenable jurisdiction."

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this annoyed the average Canadian. As a result, there is a "quiet feeling of glee" among Canadians over Black's conviction, Will Ferguson writes in an op-ed piece in The New York Times.

Last night, I called friends in four cities -- Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver -- and asked what they would think about Black coming back to Canada. It was not a popular idea. As one friend put it, "He didn't want us; we don't want him."

Black will be back in court on Aug. 1. His lawyers plan to argue that he be allowed to return to Canada until his sentencing on Nov. 30.

July 19, 2007

The BBC Gets Caught Faking Audience Phone Calls

Tsk, tsk, tsk. The BBC, one of the world's great media organizations, has been caught with its broadcast license down. Day to Day reports that "BBC television and radio has suspended phone-in contests from its programming after editors admitted they put fake winners on the air."

The BBC has compiled a list of its indiscretions on its Web site, saying there were "six shows in which production staff passed themselves off as genuine viewers or listeners, or invented fictitious winners." And it's reporting that a number of senior editors have been suspended for their roles. Rival media outlets, heads of concerned citizens groups and politicians gleefully joined in a chorus of condemnation.

But you want to know a dirty little secret? I've seen stuff like this before. More than once I heard producers for radio or TV shows where I worked in Canada tell an intern or production assistant to call the program when the number of calls from the real audience started to tail off with 20 minutes to go.

It happened in print, too. Years ago in Nova Scotia, I worked with an editor who, when he had not received any usable mail for the op-ed page, would write letters to the paper under his cat's name. It became a sure sign that things were slow when we would see Mrs. Tuffy's name in the paper.

New Zealand Bans Forms of Political Satire

I found this story hard to believe when I first read it, but the government of New Zealand, land of hobbit films and sheep, last month banned broadcasters from using images captured inside parliament to "satirise, ridicule or denigrate MPs," The New Zealand Herald reports.

Apparently, Kiwi politicians were upset at the media for broadcasting images of government ministers appearing to sleep at their desks or making rude gestures. But it wasn't just members of the governing party who were saying "no humor allowed" -- only six members of the 121-seat parliament voted against the measure.

This seems like one of those things that politicians do because they can but often come to regret mightily later.

Not only is the move unpopular with the people of New Zealand (in a recent poll, 71 percent said they opposed the ban), but it probably won't help the country's image in the larger world. I can just imagine what the Australians (who make fun of Kiwis endlessly anyway) will do with it -- or someone like Jon Stewart or those great British comedy shows.

Some New Zealand television networks have said they won't comply with the ban, which took effect Monday. Now, Prime Minister Helen Clark's government is "in talks" with the media about changing parts of it. Does that mean we'll hear reports of furious backpedaling and flimsy rationalizations coming from Wellington any day now?

Wolfgang Puck: The Candidates' Common Denominator

Chef Wolfgang Puck

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Normally, I don't understand the things politicians do.

The Democrats make a big to-do about holding an all-night session in the Senate about the Iraq war? Please. They never even used those cots that were so dramatically rolled into the room adjacent to the chamber.

Meanwhile, several prominent GOP senators have "expressed discomfort with the president's Iraq policy," but when they get a chance to cast a vote that shows how uncomfortable they are, they find a reason not to do it. It makes one's brain hurt.

But this political activity I understand. Scott Horsley did a nifty piece on Morning Edition today about how the presidential candidates are spending that record amount of money they've been raising. Big campaigns mean providing food and shelter for a lot of folks. And Scott noted that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have one thing in common: Celebrated Los Angeles chef Wolfgang Puck has catered some of their events (for a combined $50,000).

At last! I get it. I too have had my Puck moment. Several years ago, when I was the executive director of the Online News Association, we had a conference at an L.A. hotel where all the banquet catering was handled by Puck's outfit. Still, I expected regular old hotel food when it came down to it -- you know, the ever unpopular chicken a la king or salmon cooked in a fashion not readily familiar to people, served with a miserly helping of vegetables carefully prepared to remove all flavor.

But, holy cow, was I wrong. The food was great. It still ranks as the best hotel food I've ever had -- and I've spent a lot of time in hotels.

So the next time I get together with Hillary, Rudy and the gang, we'll finally have something in common to talk about: good eats.

Report: Chinese Food and Drug Critics Silenced

When I was talking to my son Wednesday about not buying products from China, I told him that one of reasons some people try to avoid them is because of concerns about safety -- especially in food and drugs.

The Washington Post offers a scary addition to the saga this morning. The paper documents several cases in which Chinese citizens tried to bring illegal activities involving food or drug companies to the public's attention and were silenced by Chinese government authorities. Several of these whistleblowers were jailed.

Factors like local protectionism play a role in this -- friends protecting friends -- but it seems the main reason is the Chinese government's fear of anything that makes the country look bad.

[Zhang Zhijian, who helped spread online an essay about the corrupt practices of former Food and Drug Administrator Zheng Xiaoyu and lost his job and spent time in jail because of it] said he has received no apology from the state or from the local government. The last communication he had with officials was the day Zheng was executed. He got a phone call from the prosecutors who helped convict Zheng, he said, and they told him not to talk about his case anymore, saying: "It's over. You understand? It's not certain people's fault."

July 18, 2007

Scientists: Hidden Lake May Help Bring Peace to Darfur

Scientists have made a dramatic discovery in the Darfur region of Sudan that they believe could change the horrible situation there.

The BBC reports that a group of Boston University researchers have found a huge underground lake in the region that could provide as many as 1,000 wells. The ancient lake was the size of Lake Erie, so we're not talking your local swimming hole here.

"Much of the unrest in Darfur and the misery is due to water shortages," said geologist Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, according to the AP news agency. "Access to fresh water is essential for refugee survival, will help the peace process, and provides the necessary resources for the much needed economic development in Darfur," he said.

(In a cool side note, El-Baz learned how to interpret geological features by helping to pick landing sites on the moon for the U.S. Apollo space program.)

In the Middle East and Africa, it's all about water. Access to water resources lurks behind much of the festering violence there. That includes in Darfur, as many observers believe drought and desertification in North Sudan caused Arab nomads to move south and into conflict with black farmers. Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed in four years.

Wouldn't it be great to solve this problem and end the enormous human suffering with only 1,000 wells?

Heck, I'll bet George Clooney would be willing to pay for them all.

Britain-Russia Kerfuffle Gets More Serious

So this whole kerfuffle between Russia and Britain over the murder of an ex-KGB agent just keeps getting more bizarre.

Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky told the BBC today that both British intelligence and friends in Russia had warned him that someone he knew would come to Britain to try to kill him.

British police later acknowledged they had arrested a man in late June in London on suspicion of conspiracy to murder in Berezovsky's case. He was questioned and released to the immigration service two days later.

This news comes after Britain announced this week it was expelling four Russian diplomats. Britain took the action over its frustration with Russia's continued stonewalling in the investigation and extradition of the main suspect in the death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko from radioactive poison.

Russia responded by saying that it would have an "adequate and appropriate" response. My guess is that they won't be sending Prime Minister Gordon Brown a case of vodka and a barrel of caviar.

Berezovsky was a good friend of Litvinenko, who accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the ultimately successful attempt on his life. Russian authorities have denounced these charges.

Russia has lots of oil that the West needs and that's making the country a "bit cheeky," as the Brits might say. In fact, in his report on All Things Considered Tuesday, Gregory Feifer noted many commentators believe Russia, rather than trying to mend this fence with Britain, is actually relishing the opportunity to throw its newfound weight around.

So I think we can assume this problem won't be getting solved any time soon.

5:12 PM ET | 07-18-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Family Finds Not Buying Chinese Products Difficult

As I drove my son to his summer camp this morning, we listened to a Morning Edition story about a family that spent a year trying not to buy products made in China.

Sara Bongiorni, a business writer, turned her family's experiences into a book, A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. In it, she details her problems buying things like tennis shoes or a new coffee pot.

Even before I heard about the family's difficulties avoiding Chinese products, I anticipated them. The domination of our lives by Made in China is overwhelming. Not just the pet food and toothpaste that we've heard so much about lately, but toys, computers, clothes, cell phones, birthday candles, shoes, you name it. You can't escape that label.

As my son and I listened to the story, he asked why it made a difference where these things are made. So I gave him my personal answer: A lot of these goods from China are manufactured in conditions that we would find horrible. Safety is often ignored to save money. And more than a few of these goods are made using prison labor.

He nodded. Then he asked, so why don't people stop buying things from China? That brought us back to the Bongiorni family's experience. You can try to do it, but it's more expensive and takes more time. And if there are two things that matter to American consumers, it's time and price. We want it now, and we want it cheap.

QB Vick Charged with Sponsoring Dogfighting

I just don't get it. When young professional athletes have so much to look forward to in our sports-crazed culture, why do some of them endanger opportunities that most of us would give our right arms to have?

The latest athlete to face charges of wrongdoing is the Atlanta Falcons' super-talented quarterback, Michael Vick. And the charges against him involve something that is a hot-button issue for many people -- deliberate cruelty to animals.

The Associated Press reports that an indictment handed down Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Virginia charges Vick and three associates with "'knowingly sponsoring and exhibiting an animal fighting venture' and conducting a business enterprise involving gambling, as well as buying, transporting and receiving dogs for the purposes of an animal fighting venture."

As NPR's All Things Considered reports, what makes this case particularly gruesome are the accusations of how some of the dogs who didn't "perform" up to expectations were allegedly killed -- by hanging, drowning or being shot. One of the men is accused of consulting with Vick before electrocuting a dog after it was doused with water. If convicted, Vick could face up to six years in jail and $350,000 in fines. He could face disciplinary action from the NFL even if not convicted in court.

Washington Post sports columnist Michael Wilbon writes that Vick's situation is a lot worse than those of other NFL players who have recently gotten into trouble with the law, such as "Pacman" Jones of the Tennessee Titans and "Tank" Johnson of the Chicago Bears. He is one of the league's best-known players, and his actions affect the reputation of the entire NFL.

But you know what? As I listened to sports talk shows Tuesday night, there were more than a few callers who said "Let Vick play!" even if he was guilty. One caller said he didn't care what NFL players did off the field as long as they performed well on it.

So should a player's off-field behavior have a bearing on how you see them as a player? Does the nature of an offense make a difference? I'd love to hear from you on this one.

Almost 200 Feared Dead in Sao Paulo Plane Crash

Nearly 200 people are feared dead after a plane skidded off a rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, crossed a highway, slammed into a gas station and burst into flames Tuesday night, The Associated Press reports.

The Sao Paulo airport, which is in the middle of the city, has been criticized for years for having a runway that's too short. The Congonhas runway is 6,365 feet, compared with a 7,003-foot runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Pilots sometimes call it the "aircraft carrier." Not exactly reassuring.

Congonhas also has a reputation for being slippery. On Monday, two smaller planes slipped off the runway in rainy weather, although no one was hurt. In 1996, in a similar accident, a plane skidded off the runway and down a street before exploding into a fireball, killing nearly 100.

But here's the real kick in the head. In February, a Brazilian federal court banned takeoffs and landings of three types of large jets at the airport because of safety concerns. But an appeals court overruled that decision, ruling that it would have severe economic ramifications and there were not enough safety concerns to warrant such a move.

It doesn't appear that the plane that crashed Tuesday was one of the types that had been briefly banned. However, it makes you wonder what kind of safety improvements might have been made if the ban had been left in place despite the economic considerations.

July 17, 2007

Dems and GOP Prepare for All-Night Debate

Get ready for an all-nighter up on Capitol Hill. All Things Considered reports that Senate Democrats plan to keep everybody around to have a marathon session about the war in Iraq.

I remember doing this kind of thing in college. Not trying to end a war, of course, but staying up all night trying to get some major paper done at the last second or studying for a ginormously important test. With lots of coffee, greasy fast food and maybe some beer.

Democratic leaders say their decision to keep senators up all night "is intended to bait Republicans into an exhaustive debate on the politically unpopular war, as well as punish Republicans for routinely blocking anti-war legislation," The Associated Press reports. Republicans have called it "political theater" that won't accomplish anything.

One night? One night is punishment? They get to stay up late and hang out with their homies, and that's punishment? And get this: Reuters reports "pillows, snacks and toothbrushes were also brought in."

Snacks? This is not punishment. This is a pajama party.

The bottom line is this: In all likelihood, little will have changed by the time the sun rises Wednesday because the GOP still has the votes to block whatever the Democrats want to do.

Now, if you do this every night for a week, then you might get a few people to start changing their votes. Then you'll be talking punishment.

Butterflies Show Evolution Can Happen in a Flash

Not too long ago, it looked pretty bleak for the males of the Blue Moon (or Great Eggfly) butterfly species. The butterflies, found on two islands in the South Pacific, seemed headed for extinction.

But the Blue Moon butterflies have made a dramatic recovery. Agence France-Presse reports that researchers believe it shows just how fast natural selection can work.

In 2001, a team of researchers surveyed the butterfly and found that males made up only 1 percent of the population, thanks to a parasite bacteria that was destroying them.

The researchers returned in 2006 for another survey when they heard that the male population had increased. When they first surveyed the butterflies on one of the islands, they found males were still vastly underrepresented. But by the end of the year, they found males and females were nearing parity. And the butterflies on the other island were at a 1:1 ratio.

"We usually think of natural selection as acting slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years," added Gregory Hurst, a senior author on the paper and a researcher in evolutionary genetics at University College London. "But the example in this study happened in the blink of the eye, in terms of evolutionary time, and is a remarkable thing to get to observe."

The Register reports that researchers believe the secret lies in a gene that holds the bacteria in check. It is so successful that "it spread throughout the entire population of butterflies within 10 generations -- over the course of a year."

Wicked cool, as we say in Boston.

So here's my question: Does this new discovery affect the whole evolution-intelligent design discussion?

Is the Government Blurring the Definition of Terrorism?

When most people think of terrorism, they likely consider the actions of al-Qaida and the kinds of groups mentioned in the latest National Intelligence Estimate, which is being released today.

But Shane Harris, National Journal's national security correspondent, writes that terrorism legislation is also being used against people in groups like the violent environmentalist Earth Liberation Front whose actions make them criminals but what some consider dubious "terrorists."

Harris mentions in particular "the so-called terrorism enhancement, an obscure measure that allows judges to dramatically increase a person's sentence if his or her offense 'involved, or was intended to promote, a federal crime of terrorism,' as defined by Congress."

... an extensive examination by National Journal of cases where the enhancement was in play suggests that the government more often targets individuals who didn't commit a religiously motivated act of terrorism, or who consciously avoided human casualties. Some defendants were driven by political outrage, and specifically targeted government facilities. But their crimes, while serious and violent, were covered by well-established definitions and punishments.

In June, NPR's Talk of the Nation looked at the issue of terrorism enhancements, and the question of how to define terrorism.

Harris reports that Justice officials were reluctant to talk about their use of terrorism enhancement or how they determine when they will ask a judge to apply it.

Authorities Grant Stay of Execution for Ga. Man

Georgia's parole board has granted a stay of execution for a black man convicted of killing a white police officer in 1989, NPR reports. Troy Davis, 38, was scheduled to be executed by injection today.

The stay will be in effect while the board weighs the evidence presented as part of Davis' request for clemency, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Washington Post reports that police officer Mark MacPhail was working an off-duty shift in August 1989 when he went to stop a fight between two men in a Burger King parking lot. He was shot in the chest and face. Without any physical evidence, authorities used only the testimony of witnesses at Davis' trial.

Since the trial, however, three of four witnesses who testified that Davis shot the officer have signed statements contradicting their identification of the gunman. Two other witnesses who told police that Davis had confessed to the shooting have said they made it up. Other witnesses say it was another man at the Burger King that night.

Some legal experts say the Davis case show flaws in the system that have limited a prisoner's ability to have a death sentence reconsidered over the past few decades. Even after witnesses recanted, a U.S. District judge denied Davis' request for an evidentiary hearing, citing a federal law (the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996) that limits such actions.

Former FBI Director William Sessions had submitted a written appeal on Davis's behalf, while Rep. John Lewis appeared at the parole board hearing, AFP reports. Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke out against the execution, and the Council of Europe urged the United States to reconsider.

The Associated Press reports that MacPhail's widow condemned the parole board's decision, saying it set "a precedent for all criminals that it is perfectly fine to kill a cop and get away with it."

July 16, 2007

America: Once We Were Giants, Now We're Just Short

You know, I thought we were all looking relatively shorter these days.

Research shows that, basically, the world is getting taller ... and we're not. The Associated Press reports Americans, formerly the tallest people, reached a height plateau just after World War II and started falling behind the rest of the world.

And don't dismiss that height advantage as a tall tale. Many economists say it indicates a country's well-being.

It's not that being tall actually makes you smarter, richer or healthier. It's that the same things that make you tall -- a nutritious diet, good prenatal care and a healthy childhood -- also benefit you in those other ways. ... New research suggests that America's diet and its expensive, inequitable healthcare system may be the problem.

Some conservatives aren't impressed with that argument. Perry Eidelbus of the Eidelblog called the AP story "propaganda" promoting socialized healthcare.

Regardless of the political argument, researchers have put together some interesting statistics. For instance, people from rural areas like the Midwest are, on average, 1.75 inches taller than people who live in big cities like New York. (This could be why the great basketball movie Hoosiers is about players from Indiana, not Brooklyn.)

Turks Look Ready to Give Current PM Another Term

My wife has been in Turkey for the past three weeks on business. So I listened with particular interest to Ivan Watson's piece on Morning Edition about how Istanbul is changing as waves of rural migrants move there to improve their lives and often find grinding poverty instead.

Many of these rural migrants will play a key role in this weekend's Turkish elections. Because my wife speaks Turkish, she's been able to fill me in on what the Turkish press (and people) has been saying about the popularity of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan is the former Islamist leader who has become one of Turkey's most reformist leaders. He has introduced many reforms sought by the European Union that have opened his country up more to the global community and worked to revive the country's economy.

But speculation that he would try and have himself picked as the next president sparked a showdown with more secular, nationalist forces in Turkey. The same backlash occurred when he announced his party's official candidate, Abdullah Gul, a cabinet member with similar religious beliefs. So Erdogan called for early elections around this issue of how the president is selected.

London's Times Online writes in an editorial that the effects of this weekend's election should be a concern for everyone in Europe.

In a strange twist, the Financial Times reports that even if Erdogan's center-right, pro-business party wins more than 40 percent of the vote (up from 34 percent), it will likely win fewer seats in the 550-seat parliament than it did last time. Under the Turkish electoral system, a party must win 10 percent of the vote to win seats in the parliament. In 2002, only two parties reached that total. This time, three are expected to gain 10 percent, meaning fewer seats will be given to Erdogan's party, regardless of its share of the popular vote.

4:59 PM ET | 07-16-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Driving and Text Messaging: A Deadly Combination?

Many young people seem to love text messaging -- anywhere, anytime. But there's growing concern that "anywhere, anytime" could lead to some serious, if not deadly, consequences.

Police say text messaging could have played a role in a crash in June near Rochester, N.Y., that killed five recent high school graduates. The Buffalo News reports that records show that seconds before the crash, the driver's cell phone received a text message, and the sender received a response.

Police don't know if driver Bailey Goodman was the one who responded to the text message. They say driver inexperience, a dangerous passing maneuver and speed were factors in the crash.

I got a taste of how pervasive the text-messaging phenomenon is on Saturday as I stood in line to buy groceries. The young man who was bagging the purchases was only using one hand -- and with the other, he was furiously text messaging on his cell phone.

When it was my turn, I asked him to put away the phone and focus on my groceries. He mumbled "OK" and stowed his phone, but I noticed that he pulled it out again as soon as I walked away.

Obviously, that kind of multitasking would become serious behind the wheel. As Joe Gandelman notes at the Moderate Voice blog about the New York crash, "the most dreaded person on the road is now the person with the cell phone."

Do you agree? Has text messaging made cell phone use while driving too dangerous to be ignored? What about the idea of an age limit on cell phone use while driving?

Another Official Signals Change in U.S -UK Relationship

Another British cabinet minister is signaling that the country will change the nature of its relationship with the United States under new Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Daily Telegraph reported during the weekend that Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch Brown said it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy, and that it's unlikely the new prime minister and President Bush will be "joined together at the hip."

Malloch Brown indicated that building relations with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as with India and China, should be as important as the relationship with the United States.

Malloch Brown's comments came just days after International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander spoke in Washington, where he warned "against unilateralism and called for an 'internationalist approach' to global problems," the BBC reported.

Malloch Brown, the former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, has long been known as a critic of the war in Iraq. His appointment two weeks ago sent off alarm bells among neoconservatives.

The Telegraph reports that his reputation is divided between those who see him "as the great hope for Africa and a principled opponent of the war in Iraq, and those who believe that he is an anti-American egotist who defended Kofi Annan over the oil-for-food scandal."

Malloch Brown says he is not anti-American, but he's happy to be described as anti-neoconservative.

Rights Groups Upset over Terror Charges in Australia

The Australian government today revoked the immigration visa of a man charged with giving support to those who planned the attempted bombings in London and Glasgow in a move to keep him behind bars.

Only hours earlier, a magistrate had granted bail to Mohamed Haneef, a 27-year-old hospital registrar. Australian Associated Press reports that legal experts are accusing the government of undermining the independence of the court system with the decision.

Haneef was charged with "recklessly" supporting a terrorism organization because police say he gave his cell phone SIM card to relatives accused of being involved in the attacks, The Age reports.

From the beginning, his case has caused an outcry from human rights groups, who warn that even sympathizing with a designated terrorist group has become "a thought crime" in Australia. They say it could mean similar charges against thousands of people if they show even "a minute level of support to a terrorist organization."

According to human rights lawyer Greg Barns, such laws would have led to the jailing of thousands of ordinary people -- and politicians and sports stars -- who donated to Nelson Mandela's ANC or supported the IRA in the 1970s and 1980s.

Even the Australian police acknowledge that Haneef may not have intended harm, the International Herald Tribune reports. "The specific allegation regards recklessness rather than intention," said Mick Keelty, the head of the Australian Federal Police.

July 13, 2007

And Now for Something Completely Different ...

Watch the karate chimp.

YouTube

... A chimp doing karate.

No, I'm not joking. It's been a long and news-packed week, so I thought I would leave you with this karate-fighting chimpanzee.

He's actually pretty good. But it works a lot better if you hum "Kung Fu Fighting" while you watch the YouTube video.

Have a good weekend. Remember, if you see anything interesting, drop us a note at newsblog@npr.org.

5:06 PM ET | 07-13-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Wizard Rock Casts a Spell over Harry Potter Fans

Every night after supper for the past month, my four children and I have curled up on our couch and read aloud another chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The kids are so into the book that they don't want to go and see the movie before I finish.

But there's even another way they can enjoy the trials of Mr. Potter -- "wizard rock." While I remember hearing vaguely about a band whose members dressed like Harry and even named their group after him, I confess I was unaware of just how popular this new musical genre had become until I heard Melody Kramer's piece on Day to Day.

(It was one of those moments when I realized just how old I am. How had I missed this stuff when my house is full of kids who want nothing more in life than to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?)

The trend started with a couple of guys from Boston who called themselves Harry and the Potters, and there are now bands called Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willow and The Remus Lupins. The groups are particularly popular with -- go figure -- librarians.

Cindy B. Haynes, the children's librarian at the Fairfield Public Library in Fairfield, Conn., says she's amazed that more than 100 people have showed up to the library on a Friday night to see Draco and the Malfoys and The Whomping Willow. A typical Friday, she says, draws maybe 10.

If you want to listen to some wizard rock, you can find songs posted along with Melody's piece. You can also check out the MySpace pages of Harry and the Potters (if you're in Seattle, you can catch them tonight at the main public library) and Draco and the Malfoys.

This leads me, of course, to come up with ideas for other band names inspired by literary figures ... Ahab and the White Whales ... Hawkeye and the Mohicans ... The Catch-22's ... The possibilities are endless.

4:08 PM ET | 07-13-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Speech Seen as Signal of British Foreign Policy Shift

A speech given by a British official in Washington this week is being described as an indication of the change that new Prime Minister Gordon Brown will bring to his country's relationship with the United States.

The Guardian reports that Douglas Alexander, the British trade and development secretary, called on the U.S. to "change its priorities and said a country's strength should no longer be measured by its destructive military power." Speaking Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations, he said:

"In the 20th century a country's might was too often measured in what they could destroy. In the 21st century strength should be measured by what we can build together. And so we must form new alliances, based on common values, ones not just to protect us from the world, but ones which reach out to the world." He described this as "a new alliance of opportunity."

The BBC reports that Alexander, who once worked as an aide in the U.S. Congress, was careful to state the importance of the U.S.-UK relationship. But he also said it was time for the U.S. and its allies to "recognize the importance of a rules based international system."

Although the speech has been portrayed as the signal of a policy shift, David Blair, diplomatic correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, writes that a certain amount of "wishful thinking" has crept into the analysis of the speech. In fact, he writes, it is a speech that could easily have been given by former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

More New U.S. Troops Have Criminal Records

About one in 10 U.S. Army recruits has needed a "moral waiver" because of a criminal record this year -- a figure that's 2 1/2 times the percentage of recruits who needed one four years ago, The Boston Globe reports.

According to figures from the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, "11.6 percent of new active-duty and Army Reserve troops in 2007 have received a so-called 'moral waiver,' up from 7.9 percent in fiscal year 2006." In fiscal 2003 and 2004, 4.6 percent of new recruits got waivers.

One expert says this change can lead to increased discipline problems.

"Somebody who has demonstrated themselves to be guilty of misbehavior in civilian life has a good chance of behaving in the same way in the military," said John Hutson, judge advocate general of the Navy until 2000 and now dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center at the University of New Hampshire.

Hutson said in the 1970s, the last time moral waivers were given out in large numbers, many of the soldiers who needed them ended up in military court, often for what he calls "frustration offenses" -- drug use, burglary and violent behavior.

William Arkin, the national and homeland security blogger at The Washington Post, writes that right now, the Army is only meeting its recruitment goals because of the way it's stretching the rules. That includes accepting recruits without a high-school diploma and those previously rejected for being physically unfit, along with those with criminal records, he writes.

Is it OK for the Army to meet its goals this way? Does it hurt the military in the long run, or is the shorter term goal of meeting recruitment targets more important in the face of the Iraq war and other commitments around the globe? Love to hear your opinions.

North Korean Military Wants to Talk to U.S.

In a somewhat unexpected move, North Korea's military has proposed direct talks with its U.S. counterpart. The Associated Press reports that the North's Korean Peoples Army proposed that a UN representative also attend the talks "for the purpose of discussing the issues related to ensuring the peace and security on the Korean peninsula."

The invitation comes as hopes are rising for a new peace treaty to replace the 54-year-old ceasefire between the North and South. Technically, the Korean peninsula is still in a state of war.

"It is easy to miss a chance, but difficult to get it,'' the statement said. It's unclear why North Korea has made the offer at this time. The U.S. military said it will study the invitation.

But the BBC notes that the North Korean military's statement wasn't completely friendly. It warned that U.S. pressure could end a key disarmament deal that gives North Korea fuel aid and political incentives in exchange for ending its nuclear program.

Nine UN inspectors left Vienna on Thursday on their way to Pyongyang. It will be the first "working" visit by an International Atomic Energy Agency team since 2002.

Report: Iraqi Insurgents Winning Public Relations War

In the war for the hearts and minds of Iraqis, media-savvy insurgents seem to be doing a very good job of getting their message out.

Reporting for All Things Considered, Michele Keleman looked at a recent report from the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on how Sunni insurgents use media, particularly the Internet.

The Washington Post reported last month on one of the insurgent productions, a "Top 20" compilation video of attacks on U.S. forces that is designed to create a "healthy rivalry" between insurgent groups. Daniel Kimmage, one of the report's authors, described it as "fast-paced and clearly aimed at the video game generation."

But Kimmage and co-author Kathleen Ridolfo also saw something else in their study of insurgent media. The RFE/RL Web site reports:

Kimmage and Ridolfo argue that the loss of coordination and message control that results from decentralization has revealed fundamental disagreements about Iraq's present and future between nationalist and global jihadist groups in Iraq and that these disagreements are ripe for exploitation by those interested in a liberal and democratic Iraq.

The Bush administration has already spent millions on Arabic-language broadcasting to try to get its message across, including on satellite channel Al-Hurra, but it has consistently failed to gain large audiences in the Arab world. One of the problems was demonstrated recently in disagreements in Washington about Al-Hurra's programming. As long as politicians continue to argue over these sorts of questions, it's unlikely that the U.S. will be able to take the upper hand in the media war.

9:35 AM ET | 07-13-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 12, 2007

Whole Foods CEO Made Anonymous Attacks on Rival, Then Tried to Buy It

I know that on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. But it seems that people are increasingly using the anonymity of the Internet to throw ethics out the window.

The Associated Press reports that John Mackey, chief executive of the Whole Foods grocery chain, wrote anonymous postings online about a rival, questioned why anyone would purchase its stock and then tried to buy it. Mackey's anonymous persona was "outed" this week as part of an antitrust lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission to block Whole Foods from buying the rival, Wild Oats.

The postings on Internet financial forums, made under the name "rahodeb," said Wild Oats Markets Inc. stock was overpriced. The statements predicted the company would fall into bankruptcy and then be sold after its stock fell below $5 per share.

All Things Considered reports that legal and business experts say Mackey's behavior is "unethical and embarrassing."

Whole Foods admitted its CEO posted the comments between 1999 and 2006 but said they are no longer relevant. It added that the comments were Mackey's, not Whole Foods'.

It's amazing to me that people think they can get away with this stuff. In May, I blogged about a well-known Boston pediatrician who settled a malpractice suit after he was exposed in court as a blogger who had been making unflattering comments about the jury in his case.

FDA: Little Evidence Tomatoes Help Stop Cancer

Damn. It seems that all the "cancer-preventing" ketchup I've doused my food with during the past year may have been for naught.

Researchers at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, Md., wrote in an article published online at the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that there is no credible evidence that tomatoes and lycopene (the pigment that gives tomatoes that bright red color) cuts the risk of lung, colorectal, breast, cervical or uterine cancers. They did say there is "very limited evidence" that tomatoes can reduce the risk of prostate, ovarian, gastric and pancreatic cancer.

The MedPage Today site notes that the FDA's explanation of its position on tomatoes comes 18 months "after the agency refused a request from food companies to allow them to make unfettered claims that both fresh and cooked tomatoes have anti-malignancy properties, and that lycopene, the anti-oxidant in the fruit, is responsible."

ABC News reports that Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said the report only reaffirms what scientists have already learned.

"There is no silver bullet in food. Dietary pattern influences health very powerfully. But that power does not tend to reside in a single food, and certainly not in a single nutrient. Lycopene joins the ranks of vitamin C, beta carotene, and vitamin E in this regard."

But there is that one ray of hope. In an editorial accompanying the report, Dr. Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard School of Public Health writes, "Although it may be premature to espouse increased consumption of tomato sauce or lycopene for prostate cancer prevention, this area of research remains promising."

OK, so maybe I'll still put ketchup on everything.

4:10 PM ET | 07-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Bloggers Weigh In on Bush Press Conference

The blogosphere is buzzing following President Bush's press conference today to talk about the Iraq benchmarks report. Conservative bloggers seemed to zero in on the questions asked by the media, which were characterized by some as propaganda. Liberal bloggers, on the other hand, focused on what they saw as the president's attempt to spin the situation in Iraq.

"The press was entirely uninterested in asking the President questions, and instead chose to use their airtime to make political statements," Pat Dollard wrote at his blog. "Statements mostly quasi-disguised as questions, but to no rational mind recognizable as anything other than propaganda."

Over at NewsBusters, a site dedicated to "exposing and combating liberal media bias," Ken Shepherd live-blogged the conference, quoting the questions the media asked without any of the answers from Bush.

Meanwhile, Joe Sudbay at Americablog, a liberal site, said President Bush was in "spin mode." (Sudbay also live-blogged the event, focusing on Bush's answers.) "That's all he does. When Karl Rove is in the room directing the Iraq response, we can expect nothing but political machinations."

James Fallows at The Atlantic Online said he didn't know what was "the most contemptible part" of the president's press conference:

But it's going to be hard to top what he just uttered: the most blatant attempt so far to blame everything that went wrong in Iraq on the advice of the military.
Don't have the transcript in front of me now, but the point was: Hey, I asked Tommy Franks if he was ready to go -- including the postwar phase; and he said Sure, no problem. So (says the President), Don't blame me! I was listening to the experts!

3:15 PM ET | 07-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Could Merit Pay Lead Teachers to Game the System?

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich -- speaking in a commentary about the No Child Left Behind act on Marketplace Wednesday -- said teachers' unions are going to have to accept a merit-pay system if they want higher salaries.

"Great teachers should be generously rewarded. Lousy ones should be sacked," he said.

The argument makes sense to a lot of people. But, interestingly enough, before I heard Reich I had just finished reading a rather compelling deconstruction of the merit-pay system over on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

The posting came from a reader who claimed to have been a public school teacher for eight years, teaching in the barrio in San Diego and in southeast Washington, D.C. The reader said experience in a school that had a merit-pay system convinced him or her that the idea as it is now practiced is a mistake.

Basically, teachers game the system to assure a good showing and, thus, more money, the reader wrote.

... experienced teachers would fight to get the higher proficiency classes leaving the lower classes for the inexperienced or rookie teachers. The lower performing classes tended to also be the discipline problems and therefore many young teachers simply would get frustrated and leave the profession.

So students who needed to work with the most experienced teachers instead ended up with the least experienced.

The reader wrote that it would make more sense for a merit-pay system to be based on improvements in each class instead of the test-score targets primarily used now. What do you think? I'd especially love to hear from teachers who have worked under a merit-pay system or who support the introduction of one in their schools.

New Report Says Al-Qaida Has Grown Stronger

Six years after the United States and its allies declared war on al-Qaida, the terrorist network has regained strength using a safe haven in western Pakistan and is in a better position to plan future attacks, NPR reports.

The warning comes in a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, entitled "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West," according to The Washington Post. John A. Kringen, the CIA's deputy director for intelligence, told a House committee Wednesday that al-Qaida appears "to be fairly well settled into the safe haven in the ungoverned spaces of Pakistan."

Reuters notes that the situation is complicated by the U.S. relationship with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The Bush administration sees him as a key ally and has avoided actions that could harm his government. For instance, The New York Times has reported that a secret operation to capture top al-Qaida leaders in 2005 was called off at the last second over fears it could jeopardize relations with Pakistan.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Kringen also downplayed comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who had told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune earlier this week that he has a "gut feeling" an attack might occur this summer.

Chertoff clarified his remarks in an interview with NPR on Thursday, saying that "the phrase 'gut feeling' was just perhaps a little more colloquial way of saying 'informed judgment' or 'informed conclusion.'" But Pam Fessler reports that the lack of specific details in Chertoff's comments has disturbed some people, including Michael Greenberger, director of the University of Maryland's Center for Health & Homeland Security.

"The American people are well aware there is a threat, and I don't see this casual comment advancing the ball very much. And I find it troubling in terms of the overt lack of preparedness on the part of the administration," Greenberger said.

10:56 AM ET | 07-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Lebanese Army Shells Refugee Camp Held by Militants

Smoke and fire rise from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon today.

Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images

Lebanese army troops shelled the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon today. The Associated Press reports two soldiers were killed during the shelling of the camp, which is held by members of the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group.

Witnesses say the shells were often being fired at a rate of seven to 10 a minute, The Guardian reports.

More than 150 Palestinian refugees fled a few hours before the firing started, fearing the army was preparing for a final assault. The Daily Star of Lebanon reports that seven members of the militant group also surrendered.

According to Reuters, "Security and political sources said the army was concerned it was being dragged into a war of attrition with the militants dug in inside the camp's narrow alleys and decided to move in to crush them after they refused repeated calls for surrender."

Since the fighting started in late May, more than 200 people have been killed.

AP also reports that today's fighting comes on the first anniversary of the start of Israel's war with Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called for "putting a final end" to the standoff at the camp in an address to the nation Wednesday night to mark the anniversary.

9:27 AM ET | 07-12-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 11, 2007

Marine Charged in Haditha Slayings May Be Cleared

A hearing officer has recommended that all charges be dropped against Marine Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt in the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Lt. Col. Paul Ware said conflicting statements by Iraqis, inconclusive forensic evidence and questionable legal theories used by the prosecution were inadequate to send Sharratt to a court-martial on charges of killing three Iraqi brothers.

The Washington Post reports that Sharratt was never linked to a major role in the group of houses where most of the Iraqi civilians were allegedly killed. Sharratt has said that he shot three or four men who he believed were threatening him with weapons later in another house.

Ware recommended that Sharratt be given immunity to testify in other cases connected to the Haditha incidents on Nov. 19, 2005. Two other Marines are charged with murder, and four officers in the unit are charged with failing to investigate.

As the Post reports, the shooting involving Sharratt "came hours after Marines shot five unarmed men who were ordered out of a car on a residential street and after a squad stormed into two nearby houses, using grenades and rifles to kill numerous people. Those shootings are still under intense scrutiny and will be the subject of future military hearings."

Another Marine has already been cleared in the case. Cpl. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, who acknowledged shooting at the men near the car after they were down, was granted immunity to testify. (Dela Cruz has already told a military hearing that Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich shot the five men outside the cab as they stood still with their hands in the air, then told him to lie about it.)

Leahy: Planned Terrorism Database 'Ripe for Abuse'

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has derided a 38-page report from the Justice Department on the FBI's data mining practices, saying it "raises more questions than it answers." The Associated Press reports that Leahy also said that a planned government database mentioned in the report that would determine the threat posed by potential or suspected terrorists is "ripe for abuse."

The report, which was required by lawmakers when they renewed the Patriot Act in 2005, was given to Congress on Tuesday. It showed that the FBI is using databases to find "potential terrorists, insurance cheats and crooked pharmacists."

The Washington Post reports that the system the FBI is developing to look for terrorists is called the System to Assess Risk, or STAR.

Leahy's concerns about STAR center on the government's lack of accountability in the way it collects and uses personal information. "The Bush administration has expanded the use of this technology, often in secret, to collect and sift through Americans' most sensitive personal information," he said.

While the government insists the system would be secure, the ACLU worries that bad information will get into the system and innocent people will be labeled as terrorists. And the ABC News blog The Blotter reports that other experts are concerned that the FBI's plans to use private companies to store collected phone and Internet records is just a way to skirt a law that forbids the agency from holding the records.

It's not the first time the FBI's methods of data mining have been questioned in recent months. In June, The Blotter reported that lawmakers from both parties were worried about another proposed FBI plan to gather information, the National Security Analysis Center, which "would bring together nearly 1.5 billion records created or collected by the FBI and other government agencies."

2:55 PM ET | 07-11-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Global Warming Worries Baseball Bat Makers

While people seem to argue daily about the existence of global warming, some people are actually preparing for the worst. The New York Times reports on one such group: baseball bat makers in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Bat makers are worried about the combined effects of a warming climate and a killer beetle on the white ash trees used to make their product. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 80 percent of the 850,000 bats that youth and adult leagues use every year under the brand name Louisville Slugger are ash, and 70 percent of that wood comes from Pennsylvania. Operators at one plant have already created a three-to-five-year emergency plan to use if the situation grows worse.

The Times reports that the beetles are the more immediate threat -- they can destroy a tree in two to three years. Perhaps as early as this summer, federal officials will release an Asian wasp that feeds on the beetle in an effort to stop it.

But the warming climate is also a concern because, as the growing season lengthens, the white ash gets softer and cannot be used for bats. In a worst-case scenario, the white ash could be greatly diminished as the climate grows warmer.

Baseball players -- men and women, boys and girls -- can get kinda weird about their bats, especially wooden ones. There is something magical about finding "the right bat." (Remember Wonder Boy in The Natural?)

Kirk Walsh speculates on his blog that Americans' love for baseball could be used to make people do something about global warming -- "[Forget] Live Earth and Al Gore. Get Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols together to explain the perils of global warming to bat production. Now, that will get action."

NTSB Places Blame on Big Dig Officials for Accident

The National Transportation Safety Board says the ceiling collapse in Boston's Big Dig tunnel that killed a motorist a year ago might have been prevented if the designers and inspectors had considered that the epoxy used to secure tons of ceiling panels could slowly pull away.

The NTSB's report said the likely cause of the accident was the "use of an epoxy anchor adhesive with poor creep resistance," which couldn't handle long-term loads, according to The Associated Press. Tons of concrete fell from the roof of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel on July 10 of last year, killing 39-year-old Milena Del Valle as she and her husband drove toward Boston's Logan Airport.

The Boston Globe reports that the NTSB's criticisms spared few parties involved in the tunnel's construction. But many of those contractors said they shouldn't be blamed for the tunnel's problems.

The Globe also reports that scores of Del Valle's friends and family attended a service Tuesday in her memory. Her husband's lawyer says the NTSB report should make reaching a settlement with the parties named in it easier.

Morning Edition reported today that many Boston drivers say they still feel nervous about going through the Big Dig, even a year later.

As resident of Boston until recently, I can vouch for that. Between the leaks in the walls and ceiling and then the collapse, using the tunnel in the last year always left me feeling on edge, especially when my kids were in the car. The Big Dig absolutely cuts a lot of time off your drive, but it's my guess that Bostonians will always be a bit nervous about using it.

Ex-Surgeon General Complains of Political Interference

Dr. Richard Carmona has joined a growing list of federal officials who have said publicly that the Bush administration plays politics with science and health issues. But Carmona's complaints stand out -- he recently finished a four-year stint as the nation's surgeon general, and he was appointed by President Bush.

NPR's Julie Rovner reports that Carmona told the House Government Reform Committee on Tuesday that political interference has left the very position of surgeon general in danger.

"The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas," Carmona said. "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried."

The Washington Post reports, for instance, that "Carmona ... said he was told not to speak out during the national debate over whether the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research." He also told the panel that his speeches were vetted and edited by political appointees. One rule was that Bush was supposed to be mentioned three times on every page.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto rejected the claims of interference, and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a written statement disagreeing with Carmona's testimony.

And Rovner's report notes that Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, the committee's senior Republican, said he had sympathy for Carmona's argument of political interference only to a point. "It's tough trying to define where you be a team player and where you speak out, and you try to balance that every day. But we have politicians who run the government, and not scientists," he said.

July 10, 2007

UN Report Shows Canadians Smoke a Lot of Dope

This statistic may actually explain a lot about Canada.

The CBC reports that the United Nations, which has regularly ranked Canada No. 1 on its Human Development Index, has put the country near the top of another list. It appears that Canadians smoke marijuana at four times the world average. That makes Canada the most stoned ... er, I mean, leader of the industrialized world in cannabis consumption.

Only four other nations were higher (if you'll pardon the pun): Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Zambia and Ghana.

And the study has led this Canadian/American to a jarring realization -- Canadians smoke more dope than Jamaicans, contrary to stereotype.

Dude!

McCain's Top Two Aides Quit Presidential Campaign

Sen. John McCain speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Senate chamber today.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In a blow to an already struggling presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain's top two aides quit today. Reuters reports that the resignations of manager Terry Nelson and longtime chief strategist John Weaver were announced while McCain was defending President Bush's Iraq strategy on the Senate floor.

The New York Times blog The Caucus notes that Weaver's departure is particularly significant because he has long been one of McCain's closest advisers. Weaver was instrumental in pushing McCain to repair relations with religious conservatives in the Republican Party.

McCain's aides say Rick Davis, another longtime adviser, will take over as campaign manager.

NPR's Mara Liasson says these departures signal that McCain is now a second-tier GOP candidate. Jay Carney at Time magazine's Swampland writes that the more critical media coverage McCain has received during this campaign cycle (last time he received almost entirely favorable coverage) has everything to do with his stance on Iraq.

Jonathan Singer writes at the MyDD blog that he thinks the writing is on the wall for McCain. "As if it weren't already apparent, John McCain's presidential campaign is over. Finished. Done. Finito. Dead."

William Wolfrum at Shakesville remembers when McCain seemed "but a few swiftboatings from Karl Rove" away from being the GOP nominee in 2000. But he also believes McCain's campaign is finished.

When you can't poll anywhere near Fred Thompson, and when the Ron Paul juggernaut is breathing down your neck, it's time to exit the stage, and perhaps pay attention to matters in Arizona for a change.

China Executes Former Food Safety Head

China executed the former head of its food and drug safety agency today for taking bribes and approving fake drugs. The International Herald Tribune reports that Zheng Xiaoyu's sentence was considered harsh even for China, which human rights groups say carries out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined.

Zheng, the former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, is the first "ministerial-level official put to death since 2000 and only the fourth since China opened it doors to the outside world nearly 30 years ago," the newspaper reports.

During his tenure, Zheng's agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fakes. One of the drugs has been blamed for the deaths of 10 people, state media report. Zheng also was convicted of accepting more than $800,000 in gifts and cash while he ran the agency.

The Australian reports that the execution comes a few months before the Communist Party's five-yearly Congress, noting that party officials typically make a big show of battling corruption leading up to the "showpiece political event."

The execution has largely been portrayed as a sign from the government that it's serious about fixing the country's product safety problems. While NPR's Anthony Kuhn said on Morning Edition that Zheng was executed because "this is what it takes to placate public anger" in China, the action has raised some concerns outside the country. Pierre Legrand comments on his Pink Flamingo Bar blog that it has him wondering if he should buy any products from China at all.

What worries me is I am supporting a State that is so serious about [t]aking my money they will execute some functionary whose actions might cause the world to slow down its purchases of goods from China.

Gun Control Advocate Erects Huge Anti-NRA Sign

John Rosenthal has a message for people driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike -- and it's one the National Rifle Association won't like.

For years now, the Newton, Mass., resident has placed pro-gun control messages on a huge sign that he owns on the turnpike, just behind Boston's Fenway Park. It's one of the most visible locations in Boston. (One of his past signs read, "Welcome to Massachusetts -- You're More Likely to Live Here," because Massachusetts has "the most effective gun laws.")

His new 252-foot sign, however, is sure to stir up more than the usual controversy. The Boston Globe reports that the sign features what looks like a ransom note -- huge letters that appear to be ripped from a newspaper or magazine. The note reads, "We have your president and Congress - NRA."

Rosenthal, the co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence, has drawn support from Massachusetts' lieutenant governor, public safety secretary and state police colonel, as well as Boston's police commissioner. They will attend a news conference to unveil the billboard today.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam, needless to say, is not amused. "The NRA works with members from both sides of the aisle, and we have supporters on the Republican side, as well as the Democratic side," Arulanandam said. "The simple fact is that gun control has been proven to be a political liability."

Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, supports the billboard's message. "I'm sure it's going to generate a certain amount of controversy because of the nature of it, but that's good old John. He gets people's attention."

GOP Senator Says His Name Is on 'D.C. Madam' List

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has admitted that his number appears in the telephone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman accused of running a prostitution ring in Washington, D.C. Politico reports that the Republican has apologized.

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling,'' he added. "Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter did not say exactly when his involvement took place but said it was before he ran for the Senate in 2004. The Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar served in the House from 1999 to 2004 and became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Visitors to the Web site of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans had varied reactions to Vitter's admission. "Here is a guy who preached about New Orleans being sinful. What a joke," one wrote. Others were more understanding: "Political consequences aside, [it] is crucial is that he acted remorsefully at a time of no imminent threat of exposure."

Pakistani Troops Storm Red Mosque

Pakistani soldiers stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad early this morning after last-minute negotiations with militants holed up inside broke down. At least 50 militants and eight soldiers were killed, according to the army.

The Washington Post reports that President Pervez Musharraf gave the go-ahead for the assault, aimed at ending an eight-day siege.

Morning Edition today talked to Aryn Baker of Time magazine, who was a witness to the original confrontation between students in the mosque and soldiers last week. Baker said there were reports that the mosque's leader, radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, has barricaded himself inside a room, along with women and children.

The New York Times reports that Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, a military spokesman, said the militants inside the mosque were using rocket launchers, grenades and landmines and that much of the area had been booby trapped. "There is a lot of resistance. They are well-armed, well-trained terrorists," he said.

Zahid Hussain, Islamabad correspondent for The Times of London, lives a short distance from the mosque. He writes that this is the first time Islamabad has experienced violence of this kind or even a curfew. He adds that the location of the mosque -- in the center of the city with residences for government officials on several sides -- "is the worst possible place for such a battle to be fought."

Tom's Update: The Associated Press is reporting that radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed as troops seized control of the sprawling Red Mosque compound. Ghazi had vowed to die rather than surrender.

July 9, 2007

Cartoonists Yearn for New Target after Years of Bush

I have known several editorial cartoonists in my time, including Pulitzer Prize winner Clay Bennett and the formidable Jeff Danziger. And if I've learned anything from hanging out with these folks, it's that they love finding new targets.

Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, good cartoonists love them all and can't wait for them to goof up -- or to do, wear or say something even remotely ridiculous.

Today on Morning Edition, John Ydstie reported on his trip to an exhibit at American University in Washington, D.C., which features cartoons of the Bush administration. (Seeing some of these cartoons reminds me why I would never want to be president.) But after more than six years of satirizing this administration, Rex Babin of The Sacramento Bee and freelancer Mikhaela Reid, for instance, are both ready for new targets.

Babin says he relishes the thought of a new Al Gore campaign -- he finds all that extra weight fun to draw. Reid thinks Hillary Clinton would be a cartoonist's delight.

Personally, I like the idea of Clinton too -- but just because you'd get Bill Clinton as well. As the former president once said, it's a two-for-one deal.

And if reading this makes you want to see some cartoons, head to the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists' site. Each day, it gives a large selection of what its members have been drawing. It's one of the first places I go every morning when I jump online.

Is 'Ghost Gas' Giving Your Wallet a Scare?

One day every week, I put my shoes on around 11 p.m., get in the car and drive to the local gas station, where I fill 'er up (for a better than average price if I'm lucky). Why skulk around in the night for gas? I'm trying to avoid the problem of "ghost gas."

What's ghost gas? Well, when it gets hot during the summer, gas expands. It's a liquid -- remember physics class in high school? The price of gas is calculated on the gas being about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So when you go to the gas station on a hot day (like today in Washington -- it's about 95 degrees) and put a gallon of gas in your car, you get less actual fuel than you would if you pumped it in cooler temperatures.

The difference can add up to as much as 10 cents a gallon, according to some estimates. And that's put a bee in some lawmakers' bonnets.

Today's Day to Day featured a Marketplace report about how a group of Democratic lawmakers has asked the National Conference on Weights to consider setting new standards for gas.

Here's a shocker: The oil industry wants none of it. Dan Gilligan with the Petroleum Marketers Association of America says retrofitting the pumps with temperature compensation devices would be too costly. Gilligan makes a familiar request in these situations -- let's study it some more. But The Kansas City Star notes that the National Conference on Weights has been debating the issue for three decades.

I first learned about ghost gas -- where else? -- on Car Talk. Tommy and Ray talked about it a couple of years ago while discussing ways to get more value for your buck at the pump.

'Seven Wonders' Losers Not Too Happy

The winners of a contest to name a new Seven Wonders of the World: (from top) the Great Wall of China; Chichen Itza; Petra, Jordan; the Taj Mahal; the statue of Christ the Redeemer; the Colosseum; and Machu Picchu.

AFP/Getty Images

Talk about sour grapes. It seems that the privately run contest to pick a new Seven Wonders of the World has prompted plenty of complaining -- including from the United Nations.

The winners of the global competition were announced Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal. They were Machu Picchu in Peru, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India, Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid, the Colosseum in Rome and Petra in Jordan. The pyramids in Egypt had already been declared a special winner.

But almost as soon as they were announced, people started complaining. Druid Terry Dobney, who is keeper of the stones at Stonehenge in Britain, suggested that the contest wasn't fair. "It's a bit like the Eurovision song contest, there's been block voting around the world so I'm led to believe," he said.

The New York Daily News wrote in an editorial today that "we don't care a whit" if the Statue of Liberty didn't make the final cut. "The list of seven announced Saturday (7/7/07, get it?) came from Internet and instant-message voting; hardly a scientific method, and one clearly not immune to ballot-stuffing."

Finally, the United Nations body for culture, Unesco, slammed the contest on Sunday, saying it has "a much broader vision" for its own list of world heritage sites. Christian Manhart, Unesco's press officer, said the ballot sent a "negative message to countries whose sites have not been retained."

Cindy Sheehan Says She May Run Against Pelosi

Cindy Sheehan

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It would seem that anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is not finished stirring things up yet.

Sheehan -- famous for establishing a protest camp in Crawford, Texas, in 2005, where she challenged a vacationing President Bush to come and talk to her about her son's death in Iraq -- says that she will run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi next year unless Pelosi starts impeachment proceedings against Bush by July 23. That's the day Sheehan and her supporters will arrive in Washington after a 13-day caravan and walking tour.

Sheehan had announced in May that she was leaving the anti-war movement, saying many of her supporters on the left turned on her when she began criticizing the Democrats.

A Pelosi spokesman said the speaker has repeatedly told the public that her focus is on ending the war in Iraq. "July will be a month of action in Congress to end the war, including a vote to redeploy our troops by next spring," Brendan Daly said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Sheehan's announcement electrified the blogosphere. Technorati shows hundreds of posts about her possible challenge of Pelosi.

And the reactions from both supporters and detractors have been strong. The conservative Big Dogs Weblog writes that "the thought of Cindy Sheehan as a member of Congress is chilling." Justin at the liberal Blue State loves the idea. "Although I may question some of Sheehan's tactics, this is one idea I really can get behind." His posting includes a picture of Sheehan and Pelosi, hand in hand in happier times.

Pope Brings Back the Latin Mass

Pope Benedict made headlines this weekend when he eased restrictions on the use of the Latin Mass, which was common in the church until the 1960s. The pope announced that parish priests can now say the Mass in Latin without permission from their bishops. The move was aimed at reconciliation with archconservatives in the Catholic Church, but it also made many people unhappy.

Liberals in the church are upset at what they see as a slap at the reforms of Vatican II intended to make the Mass more accessible. Jews are upset because on Good Friday, the Latin Mass includes a prayer that calls on God to "take the veil from the hearts" of the Jews and to end the "blindness of that people so that they may acknowledge the light of your truth, which is Christ, and be delivered from their darkness."

I remember the Latin Mass, but not fondly. Once upon a time, I was an altar boy at the Church of Blessed Sacrament in Ottawa, Ontario. The reforms of Vatican II were just beginning to touch my community, but when I signed up, we were still doing the whole mass in Latin.

I never got it; I never understood it. I recall the older altar boys racing through the Confiteor ("I confess") like they were pitch men telling you all the fine print at the end of a 30-second commercial. I would just pretend I could say it, mumbling as fast as I could. I distinctly remember one of the priests looking over once as I mumbled at high speed and kicking me.

July 6, 2007

Some Hope Saturday Will Roll Them Lucky Sevens

Oh, but we are a superstitious species. Saturday is, of course, 7/7/07. And all those sevens together are just too much for people to pass up.

Morning Edition reports that marketers are calling it the "luckiest day of the century."

Taco Bell is holding a contest called "7 Layers of Love." The winner will propose to his sweetheart on a virtual sign broadcast during a Major League Baseball game.
Wal-Mart's contest is called "Lucky in Love." The seven winning couples will win a $5,000 Wal-Mart gift bag and a free wedding ceremony. Of course, the winners do have to get married at a Wal-Mart store.

But Americans don't have a monopoly on numerology. Just two examples: Despite the current instability in Lebanon, "lucky 777" wedding fever is sweeping that country, and they're lining up at the altar in Australia, too.

We'll be back on Monday. Remember, if you see something interesting that you would like to share with other readers, send it to us at newsblog@npr.org.

The Changing Face of Marriage in America

While 80 to 90 percent of Americans will be married at some point in their lives, the paths that they take to get there can be very different and are often dependent on education and wealth. That's the finding of Johns Hopkins sociologist Andrew Cherlin in his new book, Public and Private Families: An Introduction.

As the blog for the senior dating site ErosOver40 explains:

Individuals from the middle or upper class traditionally get an education, become employed, meet someone or several people, get married and raise a family. People with a lower income value marriage but often postpone it because the men often times do not have steady employment. This in turn causes women with the same socioeconomic background to have children before they marry from the fear of waiting too long. Having children outside of marriage is often considered acceptable in lower income communities.

Changing attitudes about marriage may also be affecting the way people think about starting a family. A recent national survey shows that children "rank as the highest source of personal fulfillment for their parents, but have dropped to one of the least-cited factors in a successful marriage," The Washington Post reports. The survey for the Pew Research Center also shows young people attach "far less moral stigma than do their elders to out-of-wedlock births and cohabitation without marriage."

Celeste Headlee reports on Day to Day that while the stats do show that marriage is declining among Americans, it's still seen as an important institution. One expert points out that children from two-parent families do better in school and social situations.

4:56 PM ET | 07- 6-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Has Murdoch Completed Negotiations for Dow Jones?

The British news magazine The Business is reporting that sources acting for Dow Jones board members say media mogul Rupert Murdoch has completed negotiations for a $5 billion takeover of the company that owns The Wall Street Journal. In a story co-written by former News Corp. editor Andrew Neil, the magazine reports that Murdoch is just waiting for the approval of the majority share-holding Bancroft family, with the sources saying the board is confident he will get it.

According to sources acting for Dow Jones in the negotiations, the deal was delayed until agreement was reached on a legally-binding undertaking by Murdoch to preserve the Wall Street Journal's editorial independence. Under the terms of this agreement, News Corporation will have the ability to hire and fire the top editors and publishers (a matter on which Murdoch would not budge); but a nominally independent five-person committee will have the right of veto on these decisions.

MarketWatch reports that a spokesman for Dow Jones (its parent company) says the report is incorrect, and there has been no change in the status of talks.

The Guardian reports that the Bancroft family also denied a deal had been reached. But a News Corp. source tells the newspaper that a deal with the family is "much more likely" because of the editorial agreement with the Journal.

(Americans) Don't Know Much About History

For years, I used to joke to my family back in Canada about the number of times I had to tell American friends about their own country's history, or which senator was from what state or where such-and-such country was.

Now, a new survey by Newsweek shows my friends weren't an isolated group: when it comes to history, current events or culture, the U.S. is a "Dunce-Cap Nation."

There were some pretty amazing results. More Americans could identify the most recent winner of "American Idol" than could name the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Forty percent didn't even to try to identify the first Republican president (Abraham Lincoln). A staggering 41 percent still believe that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was directly involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, despite all evidence to the contrary. Only 23 percent could identify Indonesia as the country with the world's largest Muslim population -- Iran and India were more often mentioned.

However, a majority could identify Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House. And in a result that surprised me, a plurality of 36 percent knew that Andrew Jackson and Al Gore both lost presidential elections despite winning the popular vote. I don't think I would have gotten that one.

(By the way, Americans shouldn't feel too bad. A recent survey of my native land shows that Canadians don't know much about their history either.)

Mass. Confiscates Suspicious Toothpaste

Massachusetts appears to be the latest state to issue a warning about potentially tainted toothpaste manufactured in China. The Boston Globe reports that health officials confiscated about 160 tubes of toothpaste that may contain diethylene glycol, a substance used in antifreeze. Long-term exposure can lead to kidney and liver problems.

The [MA] state Department of Public Health urged consumers not to use toothpaste falling into these categories:
If it is labeled "Made in China." The US Food and Drug Administration has identified a variety of brands made in China, including Cooldent, Dr. Cool, Everfresh Toothpaste, Superdent, and Oral Bright.
If is labeled as "Colgate" that is made in South Africa. Colgate officials have said their company does not import toothpaste from South Africa. The warning from health authorities does not apply to Colgate toothpaste made in the United States.
If the labeling is not in English.

In June, the FDA warned consumers to stay away from all toothpastes made in China. Morning Edition reported last week that more than 900,000 tubes of the tainted toothpaste were found in U.S. hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and some hospitals.

9:36 AM ET | 07- 6-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

July 5, 2007

Please Pass Me a Helping of T-Rex Noodle Soup

I understand that people can make mistakes. But do dinosaur and dragon taste the same?

The Associated Press reports that villagers in central China dug up a ton -- that's right, a ton -- of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powders for traditional medicines, thinking they were dragon bones with healing powers.

The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and made into a paste that was applied directly to fractures and other injuries, he said.
The practice had been going on for at least two decades, he said.

Maybe they got the kids to eat it by saying it tasted just like chicken.

Once the villagers discovered that the bones were not, in fact, from dragons, they donated some 440 pounds of fossils to the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It's kinda cool to still believe in dragons in the 21st century. There's no word if the knowledge the bones were from dinosaurs has extinguished that belief.

Last Chance to Vote in New 'Seven Wonders' Contest

The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images

Today and Friday are your last chances to get your vote in for the latest version of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Associated Press reports that the global competition to pick the new list has attracted more than 20 million voters. The winners will be announced Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal.

The list has been cut down to 21 finalists. The pyramids of Giza in Egypt are the only structures from the original list that made the cut this time -- they're the only ancient wonder still around.

The nominees for the new list also include: the Statue of Liberty, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island, the statute of Christ the Redeemer that looms over Rio de Janeiro, Petra in Jordan, the Sydney Opera House and the Great Wall of China.

You can see all the finalists and vote for your favorites at The New 7 Wonders of the World. (The site might be slow -- a lot of people probably trying to vote before it ends.)

As for me, my list would be: the pyramids, the Great Wall, the Alhambra in Spain, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Colosseum in Rome, Stonehenge in Britain and the Statue of Liberty. And yours?

Use of British-Style Security Cameras Debated in U.S.

The average Londoner is caught on camera 300 times a day. That's because Britain has an estimated 5 million closed-circuit security cameras in operation nationwide -- one camera for every 12 people as of October 2006, according to The New Statesman.

The cameras were thrust back into the news this week after the thwarted terrorist attacks in the country. Closed-circuit TVs captured the attempted Glasgow bombing. Officials have extensive video of the area of London where two car bombs were left. And a camera system that allows police to track license plates helped them find and stop two suspects on a major highway.

Now, All Things Considered reports that calls are increasing for a similar style of camera network in the U.S.

Miami police chief John Timoney, who opposed a similar system when he was police chief in Philadelphia because it was too intrusive, says he's now a believer.

"In the olden days -- the olden days meaning six, eight, 10 years ago -- even John Timoney had concerns about privacy -- the storage of these things, how the videos would be used," he said. "I think most of those concerns have been dealt with."

Other police chiefs and some presidential candidates agree with Timoney. But civil liberty advocates, such as the ACLU's Barry Steinhardt, say it's just too great an invasion of privacy.

"But the cost of pervasive video surveillance includes the potential for tracking innocent people, it includes voyeurism -- police officers and others using these cameras looking for attractive women, for example, and other abuses. And it could really have a tremendously chilling effect on our public life."

This is a rather "sticky wicket," as they say in Britain. On the one hand, CCTV would help police in criminal and terrorist investigations. But the "Big Brother" aspect of being constantly watched can't be easily dismissed. Your thoughts?

Australian Official: Oil a Reason for Being in Iraq

The Australian government was scrambling today to try to quell a political storm set off by remarks from Defense Minister Brendan Nelson that indicated oil is a key reason to keep his country's 1,500 troops in the Middle East.

"Energy security is extremely important to all nations throughout the world, and of course, in protecting and securing Australia's interests," he said. "The Middle East itself, not only Iraq, but the entire region is an important supplier of energy oil, in particular, to the rest of the world."

Nelson also said the main reason Australian troops are still in Iraq is to ensure that the humanitarian crisis there does not get worse.

Prime Minister John Howard, who has also made remarks that seem to indicate that oil is an important reason to be in Iraq, rushed to play down Nelson's comments, saying: "A lot of oil comes from the Middle East -- we all know that -- but the reason we remain there is that we want to give the people of Iraq a possibility of embracing democracy."

Opposition leader Kevin Rudd, however, seized on Nelson's comments as evidence of a government flip-flop. "Mr. Howard was asked back in 2003 whether this war had anything to do with oil. Mr. Howard said in no way did this have anything to do with oil. This government simply makes it up as it goes along," he said.

July 3, 2007

Va. Theme Park Wins Site's Award for Best in World

If you're planning to head to a theme park for fun and fireworks on the Fourth of July, you might want to check this out.

ThemeParkInsider.com, which covers the theme park industry (and has often served to bring its problems to light) has announced the winners of its annual awards. Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, Va., took the top prize as the best theme park in the world for the second year in a row.

The awards are decided by the site's more than 12,000 registered users. Other winners include the Mystery Mine roller coaster at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., as the year's best new attraction; Disney's Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World as the world's best theme park hotel; and, for the fifth consecutive year, Mythos Restaurant at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla., as the world's best theme park restaurant.

Hmmm. I like Busch Gardens, but I'm partial to Sea World in Orlando. I also like the restaurant there, the Sharks Underwater Grill. How about your picks?

We're taking Wednesday off to enjoy the Fourth. We'll be back as usual on Thursday.

5:11 PM ET | 07- 3-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Doctors Arrested in British Terrorism Investigation

There's been a lot of speculation during the past few days about the nature of the foiled terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow. But some of the most illuminating comments I've heard came from John Ydstie's interview on Morning Edition today with Kim Sengupta, a reporter for The Independent in London.

When Sengupta was asked about the fact that many of those arrested so far in the investigation are doctors or in the medical profession, he observed that they appeared to have been chosen because they were working in a respected field. If their profession made those responsible less likely to be viewed suspiciously, that could help explain why they were undetected by British counterterrorism officials.

Sengupta noted those accused also may have exploited the shortage of doctors in Britain's National Health Service, as there are fewer checks on medical professionals who want to come and work in the UK than most other immigrants. As Sengupta said, this shows a "degree of focus and imagination, almost, on the part of the terrorists."

Der Spiegel reports that one result of this outcome is that thousands of foreign doctors now working in Britain are under suspicion.

And The Washington Post reports that the style of attack foiled in the UK is what many U.S. counterterrorism experts believe will likely happen in the United States: "relatively unsophisticated, near-simultaneous attacks ... designed more to provoke widespread fear and panic than to cause major losses of life."

Even Eating 'Athletes' Can Be Sidelined by Injuries

Because July 4 this year falls on a Wednesday -- a slow sports day -- all eyes will turn to a different kind of athletic event: what's been called the annual Super Bowl of eating competitions, the Nathan's Famous July 4th International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

There is much talk in competitive eating circles about the reported injury of Takeru Kobayashi, the six-time Nathan's champion. Kobayashi says he has been slowed down by arthritis in his jaw, supposedly brought on by opening his mouth so wide to stuff in all that food.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that there's suspicion that he's faking it, trying to gain an edge on his main rival, San Jose's Joey Chestnut, who recently swallowed Kobayashi's world record by eating 59 1/2 frankfurters and buns. (Kobayashi denies he's faking.)

The International Federation of Competitive Eating's site says Kobayashi is (I can't believe I'm writing this about a guy who eats hot dogs) "day to day." And speaking of Day to Day, the show plans to air an interview on the Fourth with Jason Fagone, the author of Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream. Fagone will talk about the injuries common to the sport.

I can think of a few, but this is a family blog, so I won't mention them. But I think the fact that I am actually writing about injuries suffered by "competitive eaters" is a sign of the coming apocalypse. (As long as it doesn't come before Wednesday afternoon, so we can see if Kobayashi competes after weighing in today.)

(Tom Update: Joey Chestnut seized the "Super Bowl of Eating Competition" - the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest - title from Kobayashi today, who did compete. Chestnut ate a world record 66 hotdogs in 12 minutes.

Blogosphere Rumbles with Libby Aftershocks

Well, if the blogosphere had fallen into a pre-Independence Day slumber, it was jolted awake by President Bush's decision Monday to commute the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Although the responses from conservative sites like National Review Online or liberal blogs like Daily Kos could probably have been written in advance, there are also a few more thoughtful opinions out there.

Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy wonders why many blogs are painting the prosecution of Libby as "purely political."

As I understand it, Bush political appointee James Comey named Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the Plame leak. Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Fitzgerald filed an indictment and went to trial before Bush political appointee Reggie Walton ... I'm open to arguments that parts of the case against Libby were unfair. But for the case to have been purely political, doesn't that require the involvement of someone who was not a Bush political appointee?

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters writes that by deciding to "split the baby" (commute Libby's sentence, not pardon him), President Bush will probably satisfy no one. But Morrissey approves, although he did not think Bush should have taken any action in the first place: "It strikes a balance that few will appreciate now, but later will accept as wise, as far as it goes."

ScotusBlog points out that, although the president's decision cannot be challenged in court, "the conviction remains intact, and thus an ultimate appeal to the Supreme Court remains a real possibility."

Todd Beeton of MyDD links to an instant poll of 825 people by Survey USA. Surprisingly, 35 percent of conservatives believe the president should have left the judge's decision alone.

For more blog stuff, head here.

Has Being a Lifeguard Lost its Coolness Factor?

Fewer and fewer people want to be lifeguards -- at least that's the story in New England. As a result, 10 Massachusetts beaches will have no lifeguards on duty this summer and many others only part-timers, The Boston Globe reports.

In recent years, there has been a 19 percent drop in kids applying for their lifeguard certification. The Globe reports many teens want a "career-oriented job," preferably one with air conditioning. One boy says teens don't want to work at a place where their friends go to relax. Also gone for many is the sense of responsibility that came with the job.

"Kids get fired and hired all the time," said Dustin Pineau, director of beaches and recreation in [Dennis, Mass.] "If they find out that going to a concert is more important than showing up on time for their shift, they're gone."

Years ago, when I was in high school and college, being a lifeguard was the best summer job you could get. Outside all summer, the dark sunglasses, hanging out with cute members of the opposite sex and the "Lifeguard" T-shirt that gave you instant cachet. The idea that it's more important to get a "career-oriented" job when you're 16 or 17 gives me shivers.

July 2, 2007

Missing Soldier's Wife Gets Green Card

Here's an update to the story of the missing soldier's wife who had been facing deportation.

Yaderlin Hiraldo Jimenez, whose husband, Army Spec. Alex Jimenez, has been missing in Iraq since his unit was attacked May 12, has been given a green card after all.

Hiraldo Jimenez entered the U.S. illegally and was facing deportation until those proceedings were stopped. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry had written a letter to Department of Homeland Security asking that she be given her green card under the circumstances.

Don't Mess with the Girls from Brooklyn

Verbal air pollution. That's how Michel Martin of Tell Me More referred today to street harassment -- the kind of suggestive and harassing comments that men make to women on public streets.

A group of women and girls in Brooklyn has said enough is enough. Girls for Gender Equity's work to raise awareness of the problem has included producing a documentary called Hey Shorty.

The women say street harassment is frightening and disrespectful. "We know that all men don't street harass," one group member says. "We just want the men who do street harass women to take responsibility for their actions."

It's a hard sell. The men's reactions to the women's responses are often violent and rude. They say most of the men they encounter don't see the comments as a problem and accuse women of being complaining "bit**es."

Martin also shared a story of her own experience dealing with this in Washington's Farragut Square Park when she was working as a reporter at the White House.

Pretty strong stuff.

Men, Manliness ... and All That Hooey

On today's show, Talk of the Nation discussed men, masculinity and manliness -- a topic that pushes many of my buttons.

The idea of "manliness" -- that entire shtick promoted by guys like Harvard's Harvey Mansfield -- makes me crazy. I think the patriarchal society would have disappeared about 100 years ago if we had been paying attention to how technology had removed the need for it.

What really sets me off like a rocket is when I hear people criticize women who work, saying kids need a parent at home, not just a babysitter -- as if only women are capable of childcare.

Uh, hello. Over here. Dad speaking.

As a guy who just spent more than two years at home with the kids -- by choice, I might add -- I find this argument myopic. To this day I'm still doing lots of domestic stuff: I cook for them, make cakes and cookies with them, go to PTO meetings, do the laundry for the two small ones, take them to appointments, read to them, etc., and I feel more "manly" now than I ever did in my life.

Oh, I still love steak, beer, football, baseball, the Final Four, NASCAR, hanging out with the guys, watching action movies and all that stuff. But the idea that doing all those things makes you "manly" is a load of hooey.

Arms Maker BAE Wins U.S. Military Contracts

British arms manufacturer BAE Systems may be under a cloud in Britain over reports that it made secret payments to a Saudi prince in connection with the largest arms deal in the country's history, but that doesn't mean it can't still get multimillion dollar contracts from the U.S. military.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating BAE, which denies wrongdoing, over allegations that the U.S. banking system was used to make payments to the prince. And the Sunday Telegraph reports that Britain's Serious Fraud Office is about to start interviewing company executives about its dealings in Romania, the Czech Republic, Tanzania and South Africa.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Army is giving BAE's U.S. subsidiary a $183 million contract to produce thermal weapon imaging equipment for U.S. soldiers in combat operations.

That follows Thursday's announcement that the U.S. Navy gave BAE Systems a $212.4 million contract to build Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. And there was more good news for BAE:

Last week, a government panel that oversees foreign investment in the U.S. approved a pending $4.1 billion buyout of armored vehicle maker Armor Holdings Inc. BAE proposed the acquisition on May 7 as part of a bid to tap into a heavy demand for American military for vehicles in Iraq and other war zone. Armor Holdings is one of the nine companies vying for a stake in the MRAP program.

3:25 PM ET | 07- 2-2007 | permalink | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

Stressed Out? Move Away from the Doughnuts!

This bit of science news made complete sense to me once I heard it. The Washington Post reports that researchers -- using mice as subjects (because they are so much like humans inside their furry little bodies) -- have discovered that living a high-stress lifestyle, accompanied by a junk-food diet, is one sure way to pack on the pounds.

"There is a lot of uncontrollable stress right now in our societies. There's also a lot of inexpensive high-fat food," said Mary F. Dallman of the University of California at San Francisco, who co-wrote a commentary accompanying the research. "This could help explain the obesity epidemic."

Well, duh! They could have just come and asked me about this. After the birth of every child... every time my wife goes on a monthlong research trip and I have to handle the whole kit and kaboodle... while watching the Red Sox play the Yankees in September... I EAT. And I don't eat healthily. I'm hurried and hassled and flummoxed and I grab the Oreos and eat the entire pack. Or make multiple trips to McDonald's.

The researchers say a nasty little substance triggers all this -- neuropeptide Y. But they also found a way to block its effect on mice "even if they were stressed and ate a high-fat diet -- and could shrink fat deposits by 40 percent to 50 percent within two weeks." I sense a new diet pill coming soon.

Maybe yoga or a little mediation and exercise might be better, eh.

Journalists Get Goofy over the iPhone

While we journalists are a skeptical lot most of the time, we've totally lost it, it seems, over the iPhone. The media coverage of iPhone has seemed like a tsunami. And NPR wasn't immune from it.

In fact, judging by the coverage on NPR alone, you would have thought someone had found a cure for cancer -- not created an overpriced piece of technology. (I counted at least 14 pieces in the last two weeks in our search engine.) There was a review for Morning Edition last week by David Pogue of The New York Times (who called it "flawed, but absolutely beautiful"), along with stories about the business, marketing, cultural impact, hype and humor of the iPhone.

An analyst quoted in the Financial Times points out that journalists started by giving Apple chief Steve Jobs a pass when he announced the iPhone several months ago: "If the chief executive of Nokia had stood up and said he was launching a phone that was big and heavy, had no keyboard, was only 2G and not available for six months, he would have been crucified," says Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight. "It is unique that Apple have been able to get away with that."

But, in the end, who cares about what journalists have to say about the phone's features and how it works? As Neil McIntosh, the blog guru at The Guardian, says on his personal blog, Complete Tosh, "Few iPhone buyers will be making a rational judgment on feature set when they buy one - brand, design and wow factor come first."

In other words, no one gives a Fig Newton if the thing even works right now, they just GOTTA HAVE ONE. (See this Opus cartoon for an example of what I mean.)

According to Marketplace Morning Report, Apple sold just over half a million iPhones over the weekend. One person apparently bought one for $12,000 online. (The phones cost $500 or $600 in stores.)

Personally, I'll stick with my regular old cell phone for a while. I'll pay $600 for an iPhone when it can also do my laundry. What about you folks? If you have one, what is it like? (Morning Edition says it's getting mixed reviews.) If you want one but don't have one, how much would you be willing to pay?

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