Thursday, May 22, 2003

ITC tackles Fox News bias claims

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Broadcast | ITC tackles Fox News bias claims
The Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel, whose determinedly pro-US stance during the Iraq conflict brought it critical notoriety but commercial success, is being investigated by television regulators in Britain for alleged bias.



The independent television commission is looking into nine complaints from viewers about the US channel, which is broadcast in Britain on Rupert Murdoch's Sky Digital satellite service.
If the US network is found to have breached the strict "due impartiality" rules laid down by the commission, it could be forced off Sky's network in the UK.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Training peacekeepers (only non-Americans need apply)

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Lorelei Kelly and Ian Davis: Training peacekeepers (only non-Americans need apply)
As the US military grapples with the most ambitious peacekeeping and nation-building operation in 50 years, you might think that planners in the Pentagon are looking at ways to increase resources that support peacekeeping and peace enforcement. Well, you would be mistaken. The Department of Defense has just decided to eliminate its only institute devoted to such operations: the Peacekeeping Institute at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania. The Institute will close in October.

Monday, May 19, 2003

Plan to Secure Postwar Iraq Faulted

Plan to Secure Postwar Iraq Faulted (washingtonpost.com)
BAGHDAD -- A month before the war began in Iraq, senior Bush administration officials said their plan for winning the peace was built upon the swift provision of basic services that would "immediately" make the Iraqi people feel they were better off than they had been under the government of Saddam Hussein.
Five weeks after the war ended, the administration is still struggling to accomplish that goal. It has failed to establish law and order on the streets and has achieved only mixed results in restoring electricity, water, sanitation and other essential needs.

McAuliffe: Bush Exploiting Patriotism

AP Wire | 05/19/2003 | McAuliffe: Bush Exploiting Patriotism
McAuliffe, carrying his message to the Ohio Democratic Party's annual state dinner on Saturday, said the White House "has shamelessly exploited the heartfelt compassion and patriotism that brought our country together after Sept. 11.

Sunday, May 18, 2003

Shaping Cultural Tastes at Big Retail Chains

Shaping Cultural Tastes at Big Retail Chains
The growing clout of Wal-Mart and the other big discount chains — they now often account for more than 50 percent of the sales of a best-selling album, more than 40 percent for a best-selling book, and more than 60 percent for a best-selling DVD — has bent American popular culture toward the tastes of their relatively traditionalist customers.

Saturday, May 10, 2003

Scirus - Search Engine for Scientific Information added to the Science Section Sidebar

Added Scirus a Search Engine for Scientific Information to the Science section of the sidebar.

Waves of Fascination, Shortwave radio: Where the lunatic fringe lives, breathes, and flourishes

East Bay Express -Waves of Fascination,Shortwave radio: Where the lunatic fringe lives
For forty bucks, you can buy a device that emits some of the most irritating and beautiful sounds imaginable, a device that not only presents an international kaleidoscope of opinion, but also receives secret spy transmissions. Best of all, every time you turn it on, the thing behaves differently, depending on where you listen to it. It's an old, discarded technology that most tech nerds know little about, it's free to operate, and every program it receives is shrouded in mystery.


One of the best articles I have ever seen on shortwave radio. (I use to be really into this as a hobby - so I have read quite a bit about it. In fact this article might make me take up the hobby again.)

More Settle In for a Slow Job Hunt (washingtonpost.com)

More Settle In for a Slow Job Hunt (washingtonpost.com)
Of the 8.8 million jobless workers in America, almost 2 million have been out of work for half a year or longer, the highest number in two decades, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

Mercury News | 05/06/2003 | Despair behind downturn is all very real

Mercury News | 05/06/2003 | Despair behind downturn is all very real
Every now and then a desperate voice stands out from the chorus of downturn despair.



Lenore Christ first called me last summer. She was sick with cancer and out of work. Her husband was out of work. She didn't know how she was going to survive.

Yahoo! News - Citations for High Speed Driving Zoom in California

Yahoo! News - Citations for High Speed Driving Zoom in California
A new CHP survey shows speeding citations for drivers going faster than 100 miles an hour have tripled over the last decade.

Monday, May 05, 2003

About - Tornadoes - Why They Are Primarily an American Phenomena

About - Tornadoes
Tornadoes can occur almost anywhere on earth, but in most places, their frequency is very low... However, in North America, tornadoes occur with a relatively high frequency, as the conditions there in spring and summer are often just right for supercell storms to develop. Down the middle of North America runs a strip of land, roughly from Arkansas to Colorado and all the way from Texas to North Dakota, which is called Tornado Alley, due to the high number of tornadoes striking there. It is the unique situation by which upper-level winds are partially blocked by the Rocky Mountains, and low-level air can flow unobstructed from the Gulf of Mexico to the north, creating enough windshear with the upper-level westerlies and having enough moisture to feed supercell storms.

Wired News: SARS Lives Long, Prospers in Poop

Wired News: SARS Lives Long, Prospers in Poop
WASHINGTON/BEIJING -- The SARS virus can live for days in the stool and urine of patients, the World Health Organization said Sunday in a new report that could shed light on the frightening spread of the disease.

Newsday.com - Layoff Announcements Soar 71 Percent In April

Newsday.com - Layoff Announcements Soar 71 Percent In April
The number of job cuts announced in April soared 71 percent from March, marking the highest monthly number of layoffs since November, according to a survey released Monday...



The public sector shed the most jobs — 57,927 — accounting for 40 percent of the month’s total, as state and local governments continued to trim their work forces amid large budget shortfalls...



“The sharp increase in job cuts last month should serve as a warning that it is premature to conclude that the quick end to the war in Iraq will bring a quick turnaround in the economy and job market,” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

statesman.com | Most antiquities feared lost in looting found intact in museum

statesman.com | Most antiquities feared lost in looting found intact in museum
The vast majority of the Iraqi trove of antiquities feared stolen or broken have been found inside the National Museum in Baghdad, according to American investigators who compiled an inventory over the weekend of the ransacked galleries.
A total of 38 pieces, not tens of thousands, are now believed to be missing. Among them is a single display of Babylonian cuneiform tablets that accounts for nine missing items.

via metafilter.

Sunday, May 04, 2003

Fast Company | They Write the Right Stuff

Fast Company | They Write the Right Stuff
This software never crashes. It never needs to be re-booted. This software is bug-free. It is perfect, as perfect as human beings have achieved. Consider these stats : the last three versions of the program -- each 420,000 lines long-had just one error each. The last 11 versions of this software had a total of 17 errors. Commercial programs of equivalent complexity would have 5,000 errors.

Honda's New Accord - Cool UK Advert

Honda's New Accord - This is a very clever ad for the Honda Accord in the UK.

Saturday, May 03, 2003

The Bookie of Virtue

"The Bookie of Virtue" by Joshua Green
William J. Bennett has made millions lecturing people on morality--and blown it on gambling.

Friday, May 02, 2003

RollingStone.com: News: Hail to the Chicks!

RollingStone.com: News: Hail to the Chicks!
Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines began the band's U.S. tour with an open invitation to heckle her. "If you're here to boo, we welcome that because we welcome freedom of speech," she said from the stage of Greenville, South Carolina's Bi-Lo Center Thursday night. "So we're going to give you fifteen seconds to get whatever you have out."
Instead, the 15,000-strong crowd erupted in cheers. And from the moment the band launched into "Goodbye Earl" to kick off their twenty-two-song set, fans showed their support by standing up and stomping along.

Thursday, May 01, 2003

CNN.com - Worms found alive in shuttle wreckage

CNN.com - Worms found alive in shuttle wreckage - May. 1, 2003
Hundreds of worms from a science experiment aboard the space shuttle Columbia have been found alive in the wreckage, NASA said Wednesday.

STATE OF THE AIR 2003: Nearly Half the Nation at Risk from Smog

SOTA03 Release
Nearly half the American population—more than 137 million Americans—continues to breathe unhealthy amounts of the toxic air pollutant ozone (smog), according to the American Lung Association State of the Air: 2003 report released today.

NSU: science news from the Nature news service

NSU: science news from the Nature news service added to Science section.