In a quick, controversy-free sign off, Dan Rather vacated the CBS anchor seat he inherited from Walter Cronkite 24 years ago, using the word he originally unsuccessfully tried to use as his signature sign-off years ago. But unlike when Cronkite reluctantly relinquished his anchor seat seat and Rather was considered one of the hottest newsmen on TV, Rather last night left proud … [Read more...] about Dan Rather Goes Proudly And Gently Into The Night

So what can you say about this bankruptcy bill? The Senate assured final passage of the first major overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws in 27 years on Tuesday, when it took two votes that cleared the remaining political obstacles to a measure that the nation's credit and retail industries have sought for years. The bill would disqualify many families from taking … [Read more...] about Government Of The Credit Card Companies, For The Credit Card Companies And By The Credit Card Companies

Unless you want to ignore facts, you can't ignore the fact the militant Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah called and produced a huge pro-Syrian demonstration in Lebanon yesterday. Now this question lingers: was this a pro-Syrian demonstration, or did Hezbollah skillfully use the equivilent of Arab "wedge issues" to motivate a sea of people on the streets who were actually against … [Read more...] about Pro-Syria Demonstration In Lebanon: Backing Syria Or Expressing Backlash?

This isn't the first time police have had to deal with an ass in their work — but perhaps the first time they've taken an admitted one to jail: BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The suspect was a little long in the face after being arrested and is braying for an early release. Police said Tuesday they detained the suspect, a donkey named Pacho, after a motorcycle crashed … [Read more...] about Traffic Violater Is A Real Ass

The case of the U.S. forces firing on a car containing an Italian hostage and killing an intelligence officer moves into a new dimension with a prediction from a "senior military official" that in the end it'll turn out that the car was going 100 mph. If the car was going at that speed and U.S. forces were not advised of what was going on, it would certainly seem that the … [Read more...] about Was Italian Hostage’s Car Going 100 MPH

...at the latest news aggregator patterned after the You-Know-Who report. It's Dilby News Monitor, a superb news aggregator set up just like the other one — but it seems acutely careful not to pitch a specific ideological line. You can go to it at any time and find it updated with the latest stories and links. It is truly habit forming. But it also takes the concept of … [Read more...] about Take A Peek…..

"Bonking Boeing boss sacked." Can't we send boring American headline writers to London on an exchange program? (Via Reason Express.) … [Read more...] about British headline writers are so much better

Washington Post reporter Mike Allen might have stuck his foot in his mouth in describing how reporters give a subtext to the usual "he said/she said" reporting style...OxBlog's David Adesnik has the details. … [Read more...] about Orphan Annie decoder ring would help too

Catblogging, recipe-blogging, drunk-blogging...now we're truly reached our lowest end. (Via Lost Remote.) … [Read more...] about Call it “blinging”

Your views on police powers after 9/11 might have been shaped not by your news consumption habits per se, but which medium you prefer. … [Read more...] about Don’t shoot the medium

Up to 3 years in prison for smoking pot in front of your kid? I'm not terribly averse to 3 strikes laws or similar limitations on too much judicial discretion, but once you start meting out jail time for essentially self-destructive behavior that may set a bad example for your kids, I'd say it does more to hurt than help the child's emotional development to have a missing … [Read more...] about Better parenting through prison

Do you ever get sick of people who proclaim how tolerant they are by telling you what they hate? It's even worse when it's a business describing its social conscience - in this case a hotel on the beautiful Oregon Coast, not far from where I grew up. … [Read more...] about Better tolerance through exclusion

Why do liberals (and some old-guard conservatives) hate Paul Wolfowitz so much? David Brooks gives the intellectual hawk his due and Jeff Jarvis seconds the congratulations to a man who has been "an ardent champion of freedom" going back 25 years, often when the realists in Republican administrations were rhetorically slapping friendly dictators on the back. Jarvis says … [Read more...] about Love the Wolf

The Bull Moose asks if it is time to revisit the idea of national service. As a 40 year old man, it is easy for me to say "yes, it is a good idea whose time has come again," but those who will have to bear the burden should think about both the costs and, equally important, the rewards. … [Read more...] about Back to the future?

...is it really everything it's cracked up to be in management circles? … [Read more...] about Outsourcing…

Have antismoking ads gotten any less lame since The Truth made us hate tobacco companies more than lung cancer? I'm skeptical of the new material. … [Read more...] about That old dude is so, like, evil

If news legend Walter Cronkite is smiling these days it's probably because he's finally saying what analysts and various news people have privately said for years: he was not happy being forced to retire and thought Dan Rather was a poor choice to replace him. That's putting it bluntly, but if you cut away the nicities, that's what's going on right now with Cronkite's comments … [Read more...] about Cronkite: Picking Rather Was A Poor Choice

The latest stirrings of political upheaval in the Middle East are happening...where? … [Read more...] about Iraq + Syria = ???

Steve Barnett is mildly amused at a bill proposed by an Illinois legislator to criminalize implanting a piece of jewelry in someone's eye, a procedure offered only by a Dutch clinic at the moment:Just remember, folks, it’s okay for a woman to choose to suck a fetus out of her own body, but nobody, and they mean nobody, can choose to put something in their own eye.I tend to be … [Read more...] about No more eye dangers!

...for the death of the intelligence agent involved in freeing the Italian journalist held hostage. At least one blogger feels that the public mourning in Italy over this single death is a condemnation of the leadership in the United States because of the lack of public mourning for the 1500+ deaths of American soldiers in the Iraq war and occupation. In democracies, however, … [Read more...] about There is public mourning in Italy…