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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Joe Buck
Published Letters: 260 Editor's Choice: 33
The BBC has the right idea: the person who reads the news on the air is called, naturally enough, a "newsreader". The job calls for good diction and the ability to read smoothly from a teleprompter, and not having the kind of voice, style, or presentation that annoys the audience. It is not assumed that the best reporter will make the best presenter, and no one is looking for the reincarnation of Edward R. Murrow.
To the extent that network news executives worry about whether a candidate has sufficient "gravitas", they are only deluding themselves. For the fluffy product being put out today, the chief attribute the presenter needs is a lack of shame.
To call Lucinda Williams' music "wallflower moping" is puzzling given the
vast range of her work; it also does a disservice to readers who might not
be familiar with her. Certainly you can pick a few songs where the label
could apply: "Right in Time", "Still I Long For Your Kiss" from "Car Whells On A Gravel Road". But what about the three-lead-guitar jam of "Joy" or the amazing roots vocal performance on "Can't Let Go" from the same CD? I wonder if the reviewer formed his opinion based on the first track.
Or consider her latest studio CD, "World Without Tears", that I've been listening to over and over again. The emotional range is huge; this is not a mopy woman.
Nino,
Riverbend is not "in Christ". She is a Sunni Muslim, though she is secular and has Shia Muslims in her family.
It shows real class as a reporter/interviewer to admit that an article you wrote could be improved on, and even better, to actually point to the improvement. It shows real respect for your readership.
If only the folks that run the Washington Post or New York Times could take the same attitude.
Competitive cheerleading at the college level is crippling young women at a huge rate. It's gymnastics taught by untrained instructors and when the spotters miss their catch, the result is sometimes brain damage or paralysis.
The San Jose Mercury News had a cover story (unfortunately you have to register):
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/colleges/san_jose_state/13669362.htm
The EU is an example of a trading bloc that has these kinds of rules. It's easy for both workers and employers to move across borders, but there are rules in place that require that standards be met. While it is imperfect, it's not the unfettered race to the bottom that NAFTA and CAFTA provide.
If "free trade" means that manufacturing jobs can move to where people are willing to work for less, that's one thing. If it means that the jobs can be moved to a place where agitating for a union gets you shot and toxic waste can just be tossed onto the street, it's another.
The Democrats have been promising a fight for the last year. If they don't fight, they will have betrayed their base. They can't go on and on about how horrible Alito will be, to raise money, and then wimp out at the end.
On Monday, Democrats will need to stand up and be counted. Those who vote for cloture will be sending a message, as will those that vote against.
Mr. Shapiro says it's pointless. If the Republicans have lined up 60 votes to end debate, then we lose, and Alito wins. But I disagree with those who say that the Dems should just roll over and play dead.
US troops kidnapped Iraqi general Abed Mowhoush's children. When he showed up, trying to get his children back, the troops beat him until bruises and welts covered his body, stuffed him into a sleeping bag bound with a cord, sat on his chest, and covered his mouth. He died from suffocation.
The Army convicted an interrogator of negligent homocide. The offense for torturing a general who had every right to POW status to death? $6,000 and 60 days confined to home, office, and church. No jail time. Not even a dishonorable discharge.
And this jerk asked for another sleeping bag the day after he killed the general, hoping to use this technique on others.
Lebanon has long held contested elections that have led to the defeat of ruling parties. The long-time existence of Lebanese democracy seems to be frequently overlooked, particularly by defenders of Israeli policies ("but it's the only democracy in the Middle East!").
And yes, the "confessional system" in Lebanon has undemocratic elements, but given the deep divisions between groups, distributing power in this way (guaranteeing some power to Christians and Muslims alike) may be the best achievable system.
The international intellectual property regime forbids free trade on any goods or services affected by patents; instead, it designates one monopolist, usually a corporation, and gives it the sole right to sell the affected goods or services. The right can be sold, or bartered with other organizations that also have large numbers of patents. But new participants (read: third world countries, new startups without backing from established companies) are frozen out. WIPO, the GATT, NAFTA, and CAFTA have all expanded the scope of the patent regime, meaning that processes and compounds that nature invented can be patented. Traditional healers who rely on medicinal properties of plants could be found to be violating patents, even when the patent-holders learned about the properties from the very same traditional healers!
Some of the proposals for fixing this attempt to sign up third world countries by offering a bit of graft: a payoff to the countries where the useful medicinal plants (or other substances) are found, in exchange for cementing corporate rights to patent the natural world (of course the elites and not the public would wind up with these payoffs). This is wrong. Patenting natural substances should be forbidden.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
