Author: Source

It’s easily the most useful diagram I’ve found for understanding the practice of journalism in the United States, and the hidden politics of that practice. You can draw it by hand right now. Take a sheet of paper and make a big circle in the middle. In the center of that circle draw a smaller one to create a doughnut shape. Label the doughnut hole “sphere of consensus.” Call the middle region “sphere of legitimate debate,” and the outer region “sphere of deviance.”

That’s the entire model. Now you have a way to understand why it’s so unproductive to argue with journalists about the deep politics of their work. They don’t know about this freakin’ diagram! Here it is in its original form, from the 1986 book The Uncensored War by press scholar Daniel C. Hallin. Hallin felt he needed something more supple–and truthful–than calcified notions like objectivity and “opinions are confined to the editorial page.” So he came up with this diagram.

As the disappearance of honeybees continues, researchers are trying desperately to discover the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). General concensus at this point is that there is more than once cause and the latest culprit may be genetically modified crops. This is one area of research being neglected as mainstream scientists insist GM crops are safe.

For the last 100 years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacteria, (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other pathogens. These problems are dealt with by using antibiotics, miticides and and other methods of pest management. Losses are slow and expected and beekeepers know how to limit the destruction. This new mass die-off is different in that it is virtually instantaneous with no warning of the impending collapse.

Peace activists in the nation’s capital met for weeks last fall, brainstorming how they’d demonstrate their opposition at the inauguration of John McCain as president. Then Barack Obama won the election. What’s a liberal protester to do? “It was a happy dilemma,” said Barbra Bearden, spokeswoman for Peace Action, which is affiliated with the Activist Coalition of D.C.

As I watch newborn baby lambs playing King of the Hill, bouncing and playing like their legs are springs, my heart fills with both joy and dread. I’m a city girl, a lawyer, who got into farming because I believe passionately that small, sustainable farms are our future ….

Among the wars currently being fought by the American government is one in which there can be no winners. Our prior law enforcement experiences warn us that the “war on terrorism” has spawned an internal “war on dissent” in which everyone loses.

Both Michael Moore, who produced “Sicko”, and Congressional Representative John Conyers are very critical of President-elect Obama’s choice for Surgeon General. Rep. John Conyers has written a letter to Democratic colleagues urging them to join him in publicly opposing the nomination of Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General.

Sea bird experts up and down the West Coast are sounding the alarm about hundreds of California brown pelicans dying or becoming injured by bad weather or a mysterious malady. Reports of disoriented, malnourished and dead pelicans have come from Washington state to Baja California in recent weeks.

MARJORIE COHN: Since Israel began its war on Gaza nearly 2 weeks ago, more than 680 Palestinians — about a quarter of them civilians — have been killed. Some three thousand Gazans, including hundreds of children, have been wounded. Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” marks an escalation of Israel’s two-year blockade of the Gaza Strip which has deprived 1.5 million Palestinians of necessary food, medicine, fuel and other necessities.

Today – Thursday, January 8 – a group of 70 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) officials will join a conference call, set up in Washington, D.C., to decide the fate of 150,000 members of United Healthcare Workers-West, SEIU’s third-largest affiliate. Among the actions the SEIU International Executive Board (IEB) may take is transferring 65,000 long-term care workers in California, against their will, from UHW into a new statewide entity with officers appointed by SEIU President Andy Stern.

What does history tell us about the proper role of American politicians during wartime? Supporters of President Bush like to compare his leadership in pursuing the unpopular Iraqi war to the steadfastness of Abraham Lincoln in his own prosecution of the difficult Civil War. … Trouble is, Lincoln had quite a different attitude toward another war, the little-known Mexican War of 1846-48.

Like they did for the Iraq War, the corporate media has grossly under-represented this week’s U.S. peace protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza. A Dec. 31st Associated Press story on the protests reported that “hundreds” of people had participated in “pro-Palestinian protests” on Tues., Dec. 30th, and made it seem as if these protests had only occurred in five cities: N.Y.C, L.A., Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, and Dearborn, Michigan.

NEIL YOUNG: A Perfect storm for innovation is gathering in Washington. With the government’s recent financial assistance to GM and Chrysler, the Big 3 now have until the end of March to make the case that shows how they will survive. Survival is not enough though. America now has a chance to lead the world in power and fuel efficiency. The Big three will still be looking for help at the end of March.