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Atheen "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States)
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Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson
48 used & new
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing. Full of lots of provocative concepts.
July 15 2004
This review is from:
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software (Paperback)
Emergence: the Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software by Steven Johnson is a compelling argument for higher order emergence from aggregates of lower order units. Like Stuart Kaufman's works on self organizing criticality-though a lot more easily understood than the latter- Johnson's discourse points out that order can be produced from apparent chaos when "rules" are in place and when some critical number of individuals interact with one another following these rules.
Probably one of the more interesting living systems the author discusses is the slime mold, that unique creature whose cells can act autonomously as individuals or collectively as a unified whole. I'd heard of this phenomenon before, but at that time no underlying cause was given. Johnson notes that their inherently human hierarchical point of view had led researchers to look for pacemaker cells that dictated when, where, and under what conditions cells would form a collective. After years of looking, it became obvious that either no such cells existed or they were very subtly distinguished from the others. According to the author, recent research suggests a more bottom up organization, with individual cells making local decisions about the need to collectivize and using pheromone trails to attract others to them.
Interesting too were the descriptions of emergent systems arising unconsciously from human interactions. The reader interested in modern social problems might benefit from the author's discussion of current top down changes in city organization and urban design. The anthropologist or student of mind/brain research might find his discussion of the rise in human awareness and the concept of self through so-called "mind reading" of interest.
For myself, as a student of history, I enjoyed some of his perspectives on the rise of cities, "Cities have a latent purpose as well [as a manifest purpose] to function as information storage and retrieval devices....Ideas and goods flow readily within these clusters, leading to productive cross-pollination, ensuring that good ideas don't die out in rural isolation....And the extraordinary thing again is that this learning emerges without anyone even being aware of it (p. 108-109)."
The changes that have occurred because of the feedback systems of the internet and the cable industry are also intriguing. Although like many people I've surfed the Amazon.com website, received my "suggestions" for potential purchases, expressed my likes and dislikes of the various books I've read, voted for reviewers whose critiques have help my decisions, and in short become part of a community of similarly minded people, I've not thought about the overall impact that this type of system creates as it spreads to other situations. Johnson makes some very interesting points regarding a bottom up movement in politics and the media and the loss of control by hierarchies. Unconnected, the individual makes little difference, but connected to others of like mind by way of the internet and feed back loops, the collective has power to change a great deal.
Probably the most important point Johnson makes is that much of what arises from this higher order emergence is unpredictable. It might be "good" or "bad" from the point of view of a single unit. As with evolution-one of those situations where this type of action is seen-other types of emergence depend upon random decisions and actions of large numbers of individual units, be they ants, software Sims characters, or cities. One can predict that at some critical number of units the system will go through a "phase transition," suddenly becoming something else. Just what else and what impact that change will have on any one individual is impossible to predict.
Intriguing. Full of lots of provocative concepts.
Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy
by Miyamoto Musashi
15 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like poetry it suggests more than it says
July 11 2004
This review is from:
Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy (Hardcover)
Okay, so I really have no clue as to what compelled me to buy this book. I hate to admit it but it looked "pretty" and it looked "historical," so I got it. I also love the Japanese film classics starring Toshir� Mifune as the ultimate samurai warrior. Many of them illustrate a combination of charm, sophistication, humor, even comedy, with violence, ruthlessness, and arrogance. The comparative lack of graphic bloodiness tends to focus the viewer on the human dynamics and art of the situation, and while some of these classics have been translated by the Hollywood film industry for Western tastes, what transpires still has a "foreign" feel. One sees the action and senses that something going on here is different, uncomfortable. Upon reading a few paragraphs of the Book of Five Rings : The Classic Guide to Strategy, I understood why.
For one thing, I had not understood that the character in the samurai collection that Mifune had been portraying had actually been an historic individual living in a unique period of Japanese history. Why I should have been surprised, I don't know, since the exploits of the likes of Pat Garret, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday became the basis for a good deal of 19th and 20th Century pulp fiction, TV series, and movies in the United States. In fact, the period in Japanese history that the translator describes sounds not unlike the "Wild West." The sod busters and the ranchers have made their peace, leaving hundreds of gunmen unemployed. The lucky ones find work as lawmen while the unlucky wander the country looking to enhance their reputations by lethal confrontations to see who's "fastest on the draw." The winner may ultimately find a job as a peace keeper; the loser finds a spot on boot hill. In the case of the American western, the contestants use guns; in the case of the Japanese samurai, they use swords and other equipment. Still there seems something more to it. The something more, I think, is a philosophy, a school, an etiquette, even an art that leaves the Western mind a little uncomfortable.
With some of the techniques of sword work and battle strategy, I think that as Musashi himself informs the reader, it is very difficult to "write" how to do a mechanical task. One can only convey the "feeling" that performing such a task has for the expert writer on the subject. In modern times this facet of the learning process is overcome by photo illustrations, but even then only to a very limited extent. As the author points out, there is no substitute for experience with the process and practice, practice, practice. Even the very limited experience I acquired years ago when I took fencing lessons helped me picture more clearly some of the moves the author described.
Part of the difficulty in connecting with the author's experience as he performs the various actions of sword fighting may be that this book is a translation from the Japanese, was originally written in an older version of the language, and embodied an ancient version of the culture itself, one that is no longer available even to modern Japanese let alone a Western translator. A warrior of Musashi's time may well have connected far better with the similes he uses than a modern person. The unique benefit of this fact, however, is that a great deal can be read into the work. Part of this is the author's intention, but part of it is due to the very ambiguity of the work. Just as the author himself suggests, the reader who does not concentrate on the words but allows the mind to float over them makes all sorts of interesting discoveries. For instance a book on dealing with problem people suggested a technique much like Musashi's "To Know the Times," essentially to match the rhythm and intensity of the subject until one can gain control of that rhythm to de-escalate it. His "To Become the Enemy" immediately brought to my mind the individual characters of Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and his opponent George McClelland. As Musashi suggested, the enemy always feels he is outnumbered which means that a few may defeat many if they are trained in The Way. Or as Lee is reputed to have said before a battle, "The Army of the Potomac is a very good one, unfortunately General McClelland brought himself along." Lee understood The Way. He knew that McClelland's personality, or lack of The Way, produced vast armies of the enemy in his mind.
In all a very interesting and surprising book, one I expect to read again and again to mine for concepts. For a slender 95 pages, the author, like a good poet, has packed each word with a maximum of information because they encapsulate concepts and principles.
The Big One: The Earthquake That Rocked Early America and Helped Create a Science
by Charles Officer
27 used & new
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to give it a number.
July 10 2004
This review is from:
The Big One: The Earthquake That Rocked Early America and Helped Create a Science (Hardcover)
I don't quite know what to say about this book. The Big One is a difficult book to put a number rating on really. For one thing I'm not quite sure for whom it was written. It strikes me as a "publish-or-perish" kind of production. I enjoyed the book, but only because I enjoy anything on geology. This said, I will point out the merits of the book from the point of various populations of readers.
The average adult with only the very meagerest background, if any, in geology and natural sciences might well enjoy the book-certainly the title and the cover blurb are designed to hook in such a reader-but he/she might be better served by spending the money on a more general title, the focus of which is learning the basics of these sciences. Certainly there are a wide number of such books out there, many of them textbooks for survey courses at the general college level. Just searching Amazon's own list, I turned up thousands of them.
The authors' stated goal was to describe the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, and the first few chapters do an admirable job of it. Unfortunately they tend to get off the track with their discussion of basic geology and don't return to their main topic until the end of the book where they speculate on the effects of a similar event in the future. I had the distinct feeling that they had only a slender amount to say about New Madrid and padded the volume out with a discussion of basic geology for the beginner. I certainly can't imagine a professional geologist reading the book when most of the information contained in it can be found with more precision and detail in professional journals.
Of their aim to demonstrate that the New Madrid quakes provided the impetus to the development of seismology and geology as disciplines, I'm not certain they achieved their goal.
While many people were interested in this event and a number of witnesses attempted to quantify as well as describe it, I'm not certain that this qualifies as any more than a minor branch root of these fields, an interesting aside. Again, if one has an interest in the history of geology, one can find other books that will give a broader and more connected narrative of the personalities and development of this field.
The primary population to whom I'd wholeheartedly recommend The Big One is to libraries that provide books on scientific topics for young people. For advanced students of middle/junior high or interested senior high, the book would be a splendid introduction to the topics of seismology and the geosciences as professions through the intriguing narrative these specific earthquakes and their effects on the people in the area. The book is especially good because it also discusses quackery in earthquake prediction and describes specifically what can and cannot be known about seismic events. It also defines geological terms that have come into the more ill-defined vernacular of journalism and tend to mislead. Furthermore, it describes how such irresponsible journalism can produce public panic that can needlessly cost millions of dollars, while debate about the expense of building codes illustrates how government and science work to protect affected regions. Young people trained to look beyond the headlines for solid information and who pay attention to the particulars of debates over codes, etc. are more likely to be sensible and responsible citizens.
For THOSE WRITING PAPERS on geology, seismology, history, journalism, political science, and urban planning. One might look at how the mythology of the New Madrid quakes grew from the actual events. What human needs were met by this mythology? What kind of distortion do you think may have occurred and why? One might look at how interpretation of published accounts has allowed geologists to fine tune their evaluation of the New Madrid earthquakes and how they fit into plate tectonics. Why did some earlier researchers feel some of the accounts were due to hysteria, while even later researchers believed them to be true. What kinds of things were each looking at? What data did each use to evaluate the narratives? One might look at how governments like that of Peru got almost unavoidably carried away by the quake quackery. Were the responses of these foreign governments any different from the responses of local governments in the US as described by the book? What human issues underline the similarities and differences in these responses? What suggestions, if any, would you make to avoid panic? To what extent is journalism responsible for promoting this type of panic? How might it be held accountable? Can it be held accountable? One might look at the issues of building codes in earthquake prone areas. Do you think that California and the New Madrid area should have similar codes? Why? If not, how should they differ?
Real Eve
by Steven Oppenheimer
15 used & new
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Eve as gene flow
July 6 2004
This review is from:
Real Eve (Hardcover)
I found reading The Real Eve a little difficult to stick to, getting lost occasionally among all the letters identifying this group and that group. Hanging in there, though, was worth it. Most of the literature I've read recently has accepted the theory that species H. sapiens and its immediate Homo ancestors originated in and spread from Africa. Although other scenarios have been proposed from time to time, the Mitochondrial Eve study topped off the debate so that it is now taken almost as a given. What was less contentious throughout most of the discussion is the route by which the various species of our dynasty took to arrive in Europe, which was usually through the Levant to Europe and Asia. In The Real Eve Dr. Oppenheimer gives very cogent reasons for believing otherwise.
Following genetic studies conducted recently by a variety of researchers including himself, the author puts together for the reader an intriguing tale of a southern exodus across the Red Sea to Yemen and from there to coastal Asia, where the Beachcombers as he describes the culture, spread from India to the Americas and when climate permitted to the Levant and Europe. What makes his theory so forceful is the interwoven elements of genetics, archaeology, paleontology, geography and paleoclimatology with which he creates it.
What I found most fascinating was Dr. Oppenheimer's critique of the American adversarial style of archaeological and anthropological studies. His description of an entrenched elder generation vigorously fending off the encroachment of an energetic younger generation that is trying to make a name for itself by overturning respected theories is not far off the mark. Reputation means academic power and control of grants and tenure. With cut backs in government finance of education and research, these plums are harder to come by than they were, and he-and it's usually been a "he" in these situations-who controls the department controls the future of the fledgling wannabes. I saw this type of professional skirmish in action myself while studying history some time ago. The reader can see it in action by simply following the course of the debate over the peopling of the Americas that has occurred in the literature of the past 50 years. Dr. Oppenheimer gives a blunt overview of it in his book.
What is most admirable about the discussion-despite its confusion for the lay person-is the fact that the author tends to stick with genes rather than individuals. Other authors try to depict individuals like Oppenheimer's Nasreen or Cane as people to capture the reader's imagination. While this is entertaining, it also creates the false idea that "A" Nasreen lived and breathed when in fact a particular gene sequence rather than a person is what is being followed. Human beings are masses of genetic sequences which we reshuffle with each generation. I found myself getting caught up in this mystique of an individual Eve when I first started reading literature on the subject, and it took a while to get the concept clear of personalities. I think the sense of gene flow is more apparent in this work than in others I've read.
Campion: The Complete Second Season
~ Various
16 used & new
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely place to visit.
July 5 2004
This review is from:
Campion: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
Although I enjoyed reading all of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion series, I wasn't sure if I'd like the film series. Sometimes the characters and ambience that are in your mind as you read are so different from those presented by putting them into three dimensional reality. I needn't have hesitated, however, since Peter Davidson's Campion and Brian Glover's Lugg are just as I imagined them. While the latter would be a fairly simple character to enact, the former is by no means easily captured. The Campion in the stories is a complex character, slightly foppish and light hearted, like Lord Peter Whimsey, yet no ones fool. Davidson gives the character just the right blend of wittiness, intellect, and affability.
Each of the stories in the collection are a treat for anyone interested in period settings, and the 1920s and 1930s are among the more enjoyable. The architecture, furniture, automobiles, clothing, make-up, and hairstyles encapsulate the era beautifully. The mysteries themselves are quite clever and entertaining. A lovely visit to a pleasant time and place and interesting people.
Of this foursome I enjoyed Flowers for the Judge, about a murder in a publishing house, the most enjoyable, with Sweet Danger the dearest of the set. Dancers in Mourning seemed to wander a little like it was having trouble finding its solution, and Mystery Mile seemed a little too contrived and melodramatic. Still all four are worth watching more than once just to spend time with the characters.
Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library: Over 190 Creative Knitwear Designs
by Kaffe Fassett
11 used & new
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible resource
June 29 2004
This review is from:
Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library: Over 190 Creative Knitwear Designs (Hardcover)
My mother got me started knitting when I was five years old. Admittedly my first scarves were trapezoidal marvels as I lost or split stitches, but I've enjoyed the hobby ever since. Kaffe Fassett's book of designs is an incredible resource. Not only are there useful designs for the knitter, but needlepoint, cross-stitch and other enthusiasts of handwork will also find wonderful ideas for their artwork. I used a pattern of flowers taken from the book to design a decorative band for the front of an otherwise very plain swing coat sweater, and I have yarn now for a similar sweater using another, broader floral pattern for the lower edge of another garment. Really, if you're tired of the routine, this book--an eye pleaser just as something to look at--will give you tons of ideas for your own designs.
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve
by Mary Pope Osborne
50 used & new
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hooray for the Osbornes
June 29 2004
This review is from:
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Hardcover)
For some reason I've gotten into reading children's books. Maybe only a nostalgia for lost youth or something, but I have found some very enjoyable entertainment in some of those I've read recently that were not available when I was a kid myself. The Magic Tree House series is just such.
I picked up Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve as my introduction to Miss Osborne's work and was thoroughly delighted with it. Simple and direct, it is instructive without being pedantic, and introduces new words in contexts where their meanings are apparent-or explains them when they aren't. The story hangs together well, introducing the protagonists and some of their past exploits sufficiently to engage the reader no matter where in the series one starts.
I think that some of the better children's stories are written to capture the attention of adults as well. If an adult can read them, or reread them as an adult, and not lose interest in the narrative, the book is a good one. Children have as complex a gift for understanding plot and theme as adults do. I think years of television have made them better at it than they were when I was a kid. It's not the structure or complexity of the tale that loses them so much as the reading vocabulary. Language and relationships are probably "hotwired" into humans. The written word is something else again! The Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve was interesting enough to keep the reader involved with the story and working through the new vocabulary.
One of the most significant things about the author's work is her background in history, literature, and culture. As she explains in the final pages of the book, she put her tale together from many sources, including English history, Welsh and Irish poetry and Celtic mythology and folk beliefs. In looking over the titles of her other stories, I see that she and her husband have been able to weave into their children's adventure stories information about historical topics of a wide variety making learning something fun to do. I say hooray for the Osbornes. I expect to read some of their other books and share them with others.
Great Influenza
by John Barry
42 used & new
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just the flu
June 27 2004
This review is from:
Great Influenza (Hardcover)
Wow. The Great Influenza sort of blew me away. Like most people I've heard of the 1918 influenza, but also like most I've never actually read anything on the epidemic. My first introduction to the topic came as a young nurse working on a neurology ward where Parkinson's Disease was diagnosed and treated. At the time it was believed to have arisen as a late neurological response to that infection. For all I know they may still think so. During the swine flu epidemic and the controversy over whether the vaccine had caused a rise in the incidence of Guillian Barre, the so-called French polio, the 1918 flu was frequently mentioned. After reading Mr. Barry's book I can certainly see why.
What amazes me most about the pandemic of 1918 is not its virulence so much as its repercussions. It definitely occurred during the most inopportune time, almost proving Murphey's law that if anything can go wrong it will and at the worst possible time. Probably one of the most significant outcomes of the flu seems to have been the effect it had on the peace terms. One is left to wonder if Wilson had not been affected by the flu in so damaging a way and at so crucial a time, whether World War II could have been avoided. Moreover much is made of the nihilism of the 1920s, that lost generation between the two world wars. The young of the era seemed to have gone through a loss of innocence that is often attributed to the effects of the WWI experience and the death of the overconfident 19th century way of life. It seems to me that far more damage to the confidence of young adults was due to the effects of the influenza epidemic. Certainly Barry's discussion makes the character of the 1920s and 1930s much clearer to me.
The differential effect of the flu on the various age groups, suggests much about the effect of the virus on the immune system. Having had to manage patients with ARDS in ICU, most of them very young people like those in 1918, I can hardly imagine what it might have been like to be a nurse during a time prior to mechanical ventilation and sophisticated drug therapy. We lose ARDS patients with an unpleasant frequency even now. In 1918 I don't know how one could have helped even a single patient survive it. It had to have been appallingly painful to the staff, overworked as they were, even ill themselves as some were, to watch a patient die that way especially as the author points out again and again because so many of these patients were in the prime of life and had so much to live for yet. I certainly know what its effect has been on me over the years.
Although the author attempts to reassure the reader that although we may have another similar pandemic, the outcome will be less devastating because of our modern medical facilities and experience, I can't help but think of the Titanic! It couldn't sink, you know, because it was the product of the most modern and up to date technology of its time. Maybe MRSA (methacillin resistant staph aureus) and VRE (vanco resistant enterococci) will be our armageddon!
A serious and fascinating book. One every health care worker should read.
A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket
179 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful story
June 27 2004
This review is from:
A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning (Hardcover)
I had a hard time getting into this book, although the title of the series intrigued me enough to try it again and I have to admit to a certain captivation. The series is almost like a cliff-hanger movie, with the characters facing an impossible and unpleasant predicament which they resolve only to find themselves faced with an uncertain future.
A Bad Beginning introduces the readers to the central characters, the three Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny. They are utterly charming and seem designed against stereotype. Violet, unlike the stereotype for girls, is mathematically and mechanically inclined; she's the inventor of the three. Klaus, unlike the stereotype for boys, is a great reader; he can learn anything from books and becomes a problem solver. Sunny, well she's just Sunny, an adorable infant given to bitting things.
While the author goes to great lengths to inform the reader that the orphans have a hard time of it, the actual tale is not particularly upsetting or threatening. Like Harry Potter, the Baudelaire children have lost their parents and are raised by family that is not necessarily pleasant. In the latter case this is the mysterious, threatening, greedy Count Olaf. While the book makes an effort to point out that not all of life goes smoothly, that it really is sometimes a series of unfortunate events, it emphasizes that these are problems to be solved, things from which we learn. It also teaches that resources are available for problem solving, things like books, reliable adults, even siblings.
Also like the Potter series, The Series of Unfortunate Events exhibits enough plot structure, complex vocabulary, and sophisticated wit to appeal to adults as well as children.
One of the things I particularly like about the book is that the author provides a number of words and idiomatic expressions the meanings of which are explained partially by context and partially by outright definition. He neither avoids using advanced vocabulary nor assumes that the reader will always figure out the words alone. He acts as a teacher/parent who helps the learning process along.
A vary charming book. I look forward to reading some of the others.
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
21 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sort of a girls' Tom Sawyer
June 27 2004
This review is from:
Little Women (Paperback)
I read Little Women along with other childhood staples like The Bobbsy Twins, Beverly Gray, Nancy Drew, and Laura Engles Wilder's Little House series when I was in third grade and loved them. Lately I've come across an entire selection of classic literature in the Barnes-Nobel Collectors Library among which Little Women was offered. It was so easily carried in a pocket, I decided to buy it. I was not disappointed. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are as delightful as ever. Although I enjoyed re-reading the book in this format, I found that there were many typos and many misused words, so for student/young person's use, I'd purchase a more carefully edited book like the one above. Also, for those of you who, as I, are also familiar with the story through the many film versions, make certain that the book you purchase includes the later story of the girls as they grow to adulthood and marry. The small collector's library edition did not include it, and I was rather disappointed.
The story contains a fair number of moral lessons dealt with in a typical, heavy handed 19th Century manner, but some of the points are not out of place even today. To those of you who might have difficulty over the frequent Christian references or with the role of women in society, I suggest that you sit down with your child and explain your family's position on the subject of religion and point out that the references are part of the history and culture of the time-it's Civil War period, 19th Century-and that people of that period would not have found the ideas unusual or unacceptable.
As many may know already, Louisa May Alcott was the second of four daughters of the controversial educator and transcendentalist, Amos Bronson Alcott, who believed that children should be actively involved with their learning and who founded several schools which failed to survive. She spent her younger years in Concord where the family was friends with various writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. As an adult she joined Clara Barton as a nurse during the Civil War, a career cut short by typhoid contacted in the field and from the treatment of which (mercury poisoning) she never fully recovered. Her best known works are of the March family and their domestic adventures, all loosely based upon experiences in her own family. Her book Little Women is sort of a girls' Tom Sawyer.
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QE3, QE Infinity, Q-Eternity are just some of the expressions for what the Fed's latest round of stimulus has been dubbed. At the September FOMC meeting, policy makers embarked on further accommodation in the form of mortgage-backed security purchases in an effort to stimulate growth in the midst of persistently high unemployment, headwinds stemming from the European debt crisis and an imminent tightening of fiscal policy. The interesting point about QE3 is that it is open-ended. This means that the Fed will continue to purchase bonds or employ additional policy tools until the labor market improves "substantially" which then brings into question its forward guidance of mid-2015.
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Why aren't movie theaters filled with comedies that incorporate science-fiction ideas and concepts? Can sci-fi no longer laugh at itself?
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Kathryn Walters does not go on holiday with her husband. Someone always needs to stay home with the pets.
The Australian office manager spends thousands of dollars each year on her beloved cavalier spaniels - veterinary bills for Maximus, who has a neurological condition, have cost at least $4000. Walters also runs Cavalier Rescue, a volunteer organisation of people passionate about the welfare of the floppy-eared breed. If a foster dog needs medical attention, Walters just puts it on her credit card until she can pay herself back through fundraising. No cavalier will ever go without.
"You wouldn't just go and put a human down because they broke a leg ... you're not going to put a dog down because it broke a leg, you fix it," she said.
Walters is far from alone in her devotion to her pets.
La Trobe University's Pauleen Bennett, an expert in human-companion animal relationships, said that in the past the family dog or cat was part of the furniture, not something to be studied. But there is some evidence to suggest that, in the developed world, "deep and meaningful" relationships between some pets and their owners are becoming more common, she said. "Pets have moved into this grey area - rather than possessions, they're now seen as a family member by a lot of people."
The indulging of pets can range from the relatively commonplace - spending big on toys and treats, allowing pets to sleep on their owner's bed - to making significant personal sacrifices. Annie, for example has two dogs that are so exuberant and noisy that she avoids having large groups of people over, despite being largely housebound due to chronic fatigue syndrome. She feels they are well worth the inconvenience: "[I] can't believe how much [I] love them."
An increasing number of owners seem inseparable from their domestic animals. While the Walters will eschew family holidays to stay with their pets, there is a growing market for pet-friendly holidays. Accommodation Association of Australia chief executive Richard Munro says demand has grown in the past few years, with families wanting to take their dogs, cats and even birds with them on a break. Some caravan parks have changed their by-laws to cater to the market.
What is driving the phenomenon is less clear, but Dr Bennett said technological and medical advances may have contributed. People and animals have always lived closely together, but the availability of flea treatments, for example, could be why more people are allowing their pets to sleep on their beds. Greater disposable incomes mean people can afford to spoil their cat or dog.
But she suggests the pace of modern life may be driving people closer to their pets.
"We're so frantically busy we don't have time to spend doing things that are important and meaningful," Dr Bennett said.
"[Pets] can ground us a bit by living in the moment and caring about things we should all care about, that the sun came up this morning and the flowers are out."
Devoted love for a pet can cause its owner problems. Relationships Victoria counsels blended families starting new lives together to talk about the animals. Different expectations about how much to spend on veterinary bills and whether they can sleep on people's beds can cause tension.
Bernadette Pasco, of the Victorian Financial and Consumer Rights Council said she had seen cases of people putting their pets' needs above their own for decades.
But community standards of what constituted good and responsible pet ownership had changed, which could put financial pressure those already struggling.
"I think the expectations have changed, people feel that they need to take them to the dog wash and they need to give them certain types of food ... it's similar to what we see with kids," she said.
But Dr Bennett says it is a common misconception that people who shower their animals with love, pricey toys and clothes are more likely to be lonely or lacking human friends.
The owner of dogs, horses, about 20 goats and a cat warns against judging people who are besotted with their pets.
"People put a lot of time and effort into their pets, but we also put a lot of time and effort into our children, our homes and gardens," she says.
"Our pets need us and value us and they're always glad to see us, so if we're going to spend time and money and energy on something, it's probably as good as anything."
- The Age
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text:
Media Matters reports: When it comes to covering climate change, it's not just The Wall Street Journal's editorial section that is problematic in the Rupert Murdoch era — a new study shows the paper's newsroom has misinformed readers on the issue, too.
A new joint study from researchers at Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oslo appearing in the journal Public Understanding of Science (PUS) found major differences between the climate change reporting of The Wall Street Journal and other major U.S. newspapers. The July 30 study, titled "Polarizing news? Representations of threat and efficacy in leading US newspapers' coverage of climate change," examined non-opinion-based climate change articles in The Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post from 2006 to 2011.
The study found some disturbing trends in The Wall Street Journal's news reporting on climate change, including that the Journal was less likely than the other newspapers to discuss the threats or impacts of climate change and more likely to frame climate action as ineffective or even harmful. The authors of the study concluded that, given the Journal's conservative readership, the negative nature of its climate reporting "could exacerbate ideological polarization on climate change." [Continue reading…]
Not just the editorial page — WSJ reporting on climate change also skewed
Mudoch's plan to steal the presidency and install Petraeus
Carl Bernstein writes: So now we have it: what appears to be hard, irrefutable evidence of Rupert Murdoch's ultimate and most audacious attempt – thwarted, thankfully, by circumstance – to hijack America's democratic institutions on a scale equal to his success in kidnapping and corrupting the essential democratic institutions of Great Britain through money, influence and wholesale abuse of the privileges of a free press.
In the American instance, Murdoch's goal seems to have been nothing less than using his media empire – notably Fox News – to stealthily recruit, bankroll and support the presidential candidacy of General David Petraeus in the 2012 election.
Thus in the spring of 2011 – less than 10 weeks before Murdoch's centrality to the hacking and politician-buying scandal enveloping his British newspapers was definitively revealed – Fox News' inventor and president, Roger Ailes, dispatched an emissary to Afghanistan to urge Petraeus to turn down President Obama's expected offer to become CIA director and, instead, run for the Republican nomination for president, with promises of being bankrolled by Murdoch. Ailes himself would resign as president of Fox News and run the campaign, according to the conversation between Petraeus and the emissary, K T McFarland, a Fox News on-air defense "analyst" and former spear carrier for national security principals in three Republican administrations.
All this was revealed in a tape recording of Petraeus's meeting with McFarland obtained by Bob Woodward, whose account of their discussion, accompanied online by audio of the tape, was published in the Washington Post – distressingly, in its style section, and not on page one, where it belonged – and, under the style logo, online on December 3.
Indeed, almost as dismaying as Ailes' and Murdoch's disdain for an independent and truly free and honest press, and as remarkable as the obsequious eagerness of their messenger to convey their extraordinary presidential draft and promise of on-air Fox support to Petraeus, has been the ho-hum response to the story by the American press and the country's political establishment, whether out of fear of Murdoch, Ailes and Fox – or, perhaps, lack of surprise at Murdoch's, Ailes' and Fox's contempt for decent journalistic values or a transparent electoral process.
The tone of the media's reaction was set from the beginning by the Post's own tin-eared treatment of this huge story: relegating it, like any other juicy tidbit of inside-the-beltway media gossip, to the section of the newspaper and its website that focuses on entertainment, gossip, cultural and personality-driven news, instead of the front page.
"Bob had a great scoop, a buzzy media story that made it perfect for Style. It didn't have the broader import that would justify A1," Liz Spayd, the Post's managing editor, told Politico when asked why the story appeared in the style section.
Buzzy media story? Lacking the "broader import" of a front-page story? One cannot imagine such a failure of news judgment among any of Spayd's modern predecessors as managing editors of the Post, especially in the clear light of the next day and with a tape recording – of the highest audio quality – in hand.
"Tell [Ailes] if I ever ran," Petraeus announces on the crystal-clear digital recording and then laughs, "but I won't … but if I ever ran, I'd take him up on his offer. … He said he would quit Fox … and bankroll it."
McFarland clarified the terms: "The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger's going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house" – thereby confirming what Fox New critics have consistently maintained about the network's faux-news agenda and its built-in ideological bias. [Continue reading…]
Rupert Murdoch pressured me over Europe, says former British PM
The Guardian reports: Sir John Major has claimed Rupert Murdoch demanded his government change its policy on Europe or his papers would oppose him at the 1997 general election.
The former Conservative prime minister told the Leveson inquiry on Tuesday that Murdoch delivered the ultimatum at a private meeting with the News Corporation founder on 2 February 1997, three months before the election in which the Tories lost heavily to New Labour.
Major's claim appears to contradict Murdoch's own evidence to the inquiry. Murdoch told Leveson on 25 April that "I have never asked a prime minister for anything."
In his witness statement to the inquiry Major said he assumed Murdoch meant that "he has never asked for anything that would benefit him personally or his company". "In my very limited contact with Mr Murdoch his statement is on a strict interpretation literally true," he added.
"Certainly he never asked for anything directly from me but he was not averse to pressing for policy changes. In the runup to the 1997 general election in my third and last meeting with him on 2 February 1997 he made it clear that he disliked my European policies which he wished me to change.
"If not, his papers could not and would not support the Conservative government. So far as I recall he made no mention of editorial independence but referred to all his papers as 'we'.
"Both Mr Murdoch and I kept our word. I made no change in policy and Mr Murdoch's titles did indeed oppose the Conservative party. It came as no surprise to me when soon after our meeting the Sun newspaper announced its support for Labour."
Video: Listening in at the Leveson Inquiry
Rebekah Brooks to be charged with perverting the course of justice
The Guardian reports: Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, is to be charged over allegations that she tried to conceal evidence from detectives investigating phone hacking and alleged bribes to public officials.
Brooks, one of the most high-profile figures in the newspaper industry, will be charged later on Tuesday with three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in July last year at the height of the police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced.
She is accused of conspiring with others, including her husband, Charlie Brooks, the racehorse trainer and friend of the prime minister, and her personal assistant, to conceal material from detectives.
Brooks and her husband were informed of the charging decision – the first since the start of the Operation Weeting phone hacking investigation last January – when they answered their bail at a police station in London this morning.
They are among six individuals from News International, along with the company's head of security, Mark Hanna, to be charged over allegations that they removed material, documents and computers to hide them from officers investigating phone hacking. The charge is a serious one which carries a maximum penalty of life, although the average term served in prison is 10 months.
In a statement Brooks and her husband – who are both close to David Cameron – condemned the decision made by senior lawyers and overseen by Keir Starmer QC, the director of public prosecutions.
Murdoch facing new challenge as U.S. senator contacts investigators over hacking
The Guardian reports: Rupert Murdoch's global media empire is facing a challenge on a new front in the billowing phone-hacking scandal after a powerful US Senate committee opened direct contact with British investigators in an attempt to find out whether News Corporation has broken American laws.
Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation, has written to Lord Justice Leveson, who leads the British judicial inquiry into media ethics, asking if he has uncovered any evidence relating questionable practices in the US.
"I would like to know whether any of the evidence you are reviewing suggests that these unethical and sometimes illegal business practices occurred in the United States or involved US citizens," Rockefeller writes in a letter released on Wednesday.
The development adds to the potential dangers facing News Corp, a publicly-traded company with its headquarters in New York. Rockefeller has taken a close interest in the unfolding phone-hacking saga, but it is the first time that a Senate committee member has acted in his official capacity.
U.K. lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to lead News Corp
The Associated Press reports: News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch must take responsibility for serious failings that caused Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, lawmakers said Tuesday in a scathing report — as a narrow majority also insisted the tycoon was unfit to lead his global media empire.
In a report on the malpractice at Murdoch's now shuttered News of The World tabloid, legislators accused Murdoch and his son James of overseeing a corporate culture that sought "to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing."
Parliament's cross-party Culture, Media and Sport committee unanimously agreed that three key News International executives had misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking — a rare and serious censure that can see offenders hauled before Parliament to make a personal apology.
The panel said the House of Commons would decide on the punishment meted out to the three executives: New York Daily News editor Colin Myler, a former News of The World editor; the British tabloid's longtime lawyer Tom Crone and Les Hinton, the former executive chairman of News International, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and former board member of The Associated Press.
Members of the panel said Rupert Murdoch, 81, had insisted he was unaware that hacking was widespread at the News of The World, blaming his staff for keeping him in the dark. That explanation was not accepted.
The legislators said if that was true, "he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies."
In a ruling opposed by 4 Conservative Party members of the 11-member committee, the panel cast serious doubt on Murdoch's credentials as an executive.
"We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company," the report said.
The judgment on Murdoch implies that News Corp., which he heads, is also not fit to control British Sky Broadcasting, in which the company has a controlling stake of 39 percent.
Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, said it is reading the report with interest.
"Ofcom has a duty … to be satisfied that any person holding a broadcasting license is, and remains, fit and proper to do so," the statement read. "Ofcom is continuing to assess the evidence."
The News Corp hacking saga
How James Murdoch's phone-hacking cover-ups went belly-up
David Leigh writes: The wagons of the Murdoch media empire have long been circled protectively around one man, as the hacking scandal has raged on. Many other Murdoch myrmidons have been arrested, sacked, or turned out into the snow in his father's brutal closure of the News of the World: but not him.
James Murdoch's luck is still holding, in one way. The explosive news this week was that new evidence knocks a hole in his "I knew little" defence. But it failed to emerge in time to affect the recent shareholder revolt at BSkyB. For some reason, the News International group of executives and lawyers who are supposedly rooting out all evidence of malpractice, were a fraction slow in discovering this smouldering email chain and turning it over to a Commons committee. Had they been quicker, the outcome at Sky might have been different.
James's luck has held in another way too. Some public attention has been distracted by the timing of Scotland Yard's announcement that the murdered Milly Dowler's voicemails were indeed hacked by exploitative NI journalists, but probably not additionally deleted on purpose. The NI attack dogs have been set to bay at maximum diversionary volume, even trying to accuse the Guardian, which originally reported the deletions, of deliberately "sexing up" their disclosures. Tellingly, even this week NI refuses to confirm or deny whether its journalists did delete Milly's voice messages.
But in a more fundamental sense, James's luck has finally run out. The publication of the newly discovered emails between him and the then editor of the News of the World, documents not only the mechanism of a big cover-up but also, crucially, the way that James has repeatedly shifted his story and sought to blame others. It is not a good look for the would-be captain of a mighty international corporation.
MI5 references emerge in phone hacking lawsuit
The New York Times reports: A British private detective at the center of the phone hacking scandal that has shaken Rupert Murdoch's media empire cited the MI5 file of a close friend of Princes William and Harry in notes he kept on his work for the tabloid The News of the World, according to a suit filed in London.
But the court papers, released to The New York Times, do not clearly indicate whether the detective, Glenn Mulcaire, accessed the highly classified intelligence file directly, was told of its contents or was simply noting its existence.
The documents, dated Sept. 23, accuse Mr. Mulcaire and the now-closed News of the World of invading the privacy of Guy Pelly, a London nightclub owner and a confidant of the princes. The defendants, the suit says, hacked Mr. Pelly's cellphone, set up an e-mail address in his name and flew him to Las Vegas on false pretenses to trick him into revealing details about his royal friends.
But the most intriguing accusation relates to at least two references to Mr. Pelly's MI5 profile in Mr. Mulcaire's detailed records. He kept copious notes covering his conversations with his employers at the tabloid, his sources, his methods and the information he gleaned.
One reference, the suit said, was in an electronic file titled "Project Guy W. Pelly," which "included his mobile number, his parents' landline number, his parents' address and a further reference to the MI5 profile."
Somewhat ambiguously, the suit states: "It is to be inferred that individuals close to members of the Royal Family have MI5 profiles and that this information was obtained unlawfully by the Defendants."
Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive
The Guardian reports: One of Rupert Murdoch's most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries about a circulation scam at News Corporation's flagship newspaper, the Wall Street Journal.
The Guardian found evidence that the Journal had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own paper at a knock-down rate, misleading readers and advertisers about the Journal's true circulation.
The bizarre scheme included a formal, written contract in which the Journal persuaded one company to co-operate by agreeing to publish articles that promoted its activities, a move which led some staff to accuse the paper's management of violating journalistic ethics and jeopardising its treasured reputation for editorial quality.
Internal emails and documents suggest the scam was promoted by Andrew Langhoff, the European managing director of the Journal's parent company, Dow Jones and Co, which was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in July 2007. Langhoff resigned on Tuesday.
Phone hacking: News of the World Hollywood reporter is arrested
The Guardian reports:
James Desborough, an award-winning reporter at the former News of the World newspaper, has been arrested by officers investigating the phone-hacking scandal.
Desborough was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 after arriving at a south London police station on Thursday morning at 10.30am. He had arrived at the station by appointment for questioning about criminal activities at the paper.
The allegations are believed to relate to events prior to Desborough being promoted to be the newspaper's Los Angeles-based US editor in April 2009.
He was given the job less than a month after winning the British Press Award for showbusiness reporter of the year.
His move to the US makes his arrest, the 13th made by Operation Weeting, particularly significant. If Desborough was involved in hacking while in Britain, as police appear to believe he was, it raises the question of whether he practised those techniques in the US – and if so, whether he was the first and only News of the World journalist in the US to do so.
Meanwhile, News Corp shareholders have been warned about the cost of phone hacking.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has warned that it is "not able to predict the ultimate outcome or cost" of the phone-hacking scandal, admitting it could "impair" its ability to conduct its business.
In its annual report filed on Wednesday, News Corp said its reputation could be damaged by the crisis that has engulfed the company and led to the closure of the News of the World.
The report also revealed that Freud Communications, the public relations firm run by Matthew Freud, Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law, was paid $202,000 (£122,000) by News Corp in the financial year ended 30 June 2011 for "press and publicity activities".
News Corp, which is the subject of a wide-ranging FBI investigation, said it was "not able to predict the ultimate outcome or cost" of the police investigations and civil actions related to alleged unlawful activity.
"UK and US regulators and governmental authorities are conducting investigations after allegations of phone hacking and inappropriate payments to police at our former publication, News of the World, and other related matters, including investigations into whether similar conduct may have occurred at the company's subsidiaries outside of the UK," said News Corp in its report.
"The company is co-operating fully with these investigations. It is possible that these proceedings could damage our reputation and might impair our ability to conduct our business."
How Rupert Murdoch tries to destroy the lives of his enemies
The Guardian reports:
Five years ago Robert Emmel was enjoying the American dream. He lived in a detached house in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, drove a BMW, and earned $140,000 a year as an accounts director in a highly successful advertising company called News America Marketing.
Today, Emmel is described by his lawyers as destitute. Jobless and in debt, he was discharged from bankruptcy last year. He does occasional consultancy work that last month brought in $500, and this month, court documents show, will probably produce nothing. His wife's earnings raise monthly household income to about $3,000 – half their outgoings.
This is a cautionary tale about what can happen to someone who dares to become a corporate whistleblower. Or, more specifically, someone who incurs the wrath of News Corporation, the media empire owned by Rupert Murdoch, of which News America forms a part.
Emmel's lawyer, Philip Hilder, has had a ringside seat at the gradual unravelling of his client's life. A former federal prosecutor based in Houston, Texas, Hilder is well versed in whistleblower cases having represented Sherron Watkins, who helped uncover the Enron scandal. Hilder said: "News America has engaged in Rambo litigation tactics. They have a scorched earth policy, and it's taken a huge toll on him."
News Corp has devoted the efforts of up to 29 lawyers to pursuing Emmel personally, at a cost estimated at more than $2m. Emmel, by contrast, has relied on two lawyers, Hilder and Marc Garber in Atlanta, working for no pay since January 2009.
Attention has been focused on News Corporation's activities in the UK, where the News of the World phone-hacking scandal has led to the arrest of 10 people associated with the company. In the US, oversight of News Corp is gathering pace with the department of justice and the FBI looking into the company, while senators are considering launching committee hearings into News Corp practices.
One incident that US investigators are exploring is the hacking of a website run by one of News America's rivals, an instore advertising business called Floorgraphics. The firm discovered that its password-protected site had been breached from an IP address at News America's offices in Connecticut. News America has condemned the breach as a "violation of the standards of our company" but says it does not know how it happened.
Emmel was one of the main witnesses for Floorgraphics at a subsequent trial against his old company. He worked for News America for seven years from 1999 to 2006, turning whistleblower in his final year there. The company is the leading US provider of in-store advertising services, helping to bring products from firms such as Coca-Cola, Kraft and Nabisco to the attention of supermarket shoppers. Headed by Paul Carlucci, who now publishes Murdoch's tabloid the New York Post, it enjoys annual revenues of more than $1bn and has a 90% stranglehold on the market. News America also has a record of legal disputes with its commercial rivals, three of whom have launched lawsuits against it in recent years accusing the firm of using unlawful practices.
All three lawsuits – including the Floorgraphics one and cases initiated by Valassis and Insignia – were eventually settled, but not before News America agreed to pay an astounding $655m to end the disputes. Emmel acted as a whistleblower in all three cases. He gave two days of evidence in the Floorgraphics trial after which News America rapidly settled, and was also named in the Valassis and Insignia cases.
Mounting evidence of a News Corp cover-up
The Guardian reports:
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.
In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.
The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".
Nicholas Wapshott writes:
The first letter, from News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman, who became the patsy for the affair, gives the lie to the suggestion to Parliament by Murdoch's most trusted retainer Les Hinton that phone hacking was the work of a single rogue reporter. In the letter, Goodman lets slip that "the actions … were carried out with the full knowledge and support" of some of the paper's other journalists and that "other members of staff were carrying out the same illegal procedures." The names of those others have been redacted for now, at the request of Scotland Yard, for fear of jeopardizing a prosecution.
Prime Minister David Cameron's judgment is also called into question by the letter. The socially remote Cameron felt he could not connect with humdrum voters and hired Andy Coulson, top editor at the News of the World when the hacking took place, to explain his government's policies in language the ordinary person could understand. Cameron says he hired the tainted Coulson because Coulson denied knowing of the illegality going on under his nose. But Goodman reports that hacking "was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the Editor [Coulson]." The "smoking gun" letter makes Cameron look naïve and gullible for being taken in so easily.
As in the Watergate affair, the coverup is becoming as important to understanding the culture within Murdoch's business, and the failure of corporate governance by the board, as the crimes themselves. The Commons media committee received two copies of the Goodman letter, one from News International lawyers Harbottle & Lewis, who were released from their confidentiality after sharp questioning of James Murdoch by committee members Paul Farrelly and Tom Watson. News International executives repeatedly tried to have Watson removed from the committee, and when they failed ran vicious stories about him.
While Harbottle & Lewis redacted a single line from the Goodman letter, at the request of the police, a second copy was issued by News International, on the instructions of James Murdoch. This version not only redacts the names of other employees implicated in the crime but also blots out the sentence saying Coulson openly spoke about the hacking in editorial meetings. Further, it blanks the section that shows that Murdoch's company wanted to buy Goodman's silence: "[H.R. director] Tom Crone and the Editor [Coulson] promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me."
A second letter also provides evidence of a coverup of the original crime. At the Commons hearing in July, questioning centred on what Rupert and James Murdoch knew about a Harbottle & Lewis investigation into thousands of e-mails that showed extensive use of hacking by Murdoch journalists in which the legal firm appeared to clear the company of permitting wrongdoing. James Murdoch used the letter to suggest that he had no reason to believe criminality was widespread. Released from its confidentiality, however, Harbottle & Lewis has now revealed that it was never asked to comment on whether they found that the hacking was prevalent, only whether Goodman had been ordered to hack by others. "There was absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes," it writes. "Nor was it being given a general retainer, as Mr. Rupert Murdoch asserted it was, 'to find out what the hell was going on.'" They found James Murdoch's attempt to hide behind their letter "hard to credit" and Rupert Murdoch's assertion "inaccurate and misleading."
News Corp.'s soft power in the U.S.
David Carr writes:
Over the last month, many Americans watched from a distance in horror or amusement as it became evident that the News Corporation regarded Britain's legal and political institutions as its own private club.
That could never happen in the United States, right?
As it turns out, a News Corporation division has twice come under significant civil and criminal investigations in the United States, but neither inquiry went anywhere. Given what has happened in Britain with the growing phone-hacking scandal, it is worth wondering why.
Both cases involve News America Marketing, an obscure but lucrative division of the News Corporation that is a big player in the business of retail marketing, including newspaper coupon inserts and in-store promotions. The company has come under scrutiny for a pattern of conduct that includes below-cost pricing, paying customers not to do business with competitors and accusations of computer hacking.
News America Marketing came to control 90 percent of the in-store advertising business, according to Fortune, aided in part by a particularly quick and favorable antitrust decision made by the Justice Department in 1997. That year, the News Corporation announced it wanted to buy Heritage Media, a big competitor, for about $754 million in stock plus $600 million in assumed debt. The News Corporation said it would sell the broadcast properties and hang onto the marketing division, which serviced 40,000 groceries and other retailers.
The deal would make News America Marketing the dominant player in the business and, for that reason, the San Francisco field office of the Justice Department recommended to Washington that the News Corporation's takeover bid be challenged on antitrust grounds. Typically, such a request from a field office would carry great weight in Washington and, at a minimum, delay the deal for months.
But the Justice Department brass overrode San Francisco's objections and gave its blessing in just two weeks. So who ran the antitrust division at the Justice Department at the time? Joel Klein, who this year became an executive vice president at the News Corporation, head of its education division and a close adviser to Rupert Murdoch on the phone-hacking scandal in Britain.


text:
Hello I upgraded all packages on my Ubuntu, and kernel also. But in upgrading process kernel upgrade failed, and I must always after grub load select older kernel. It is a terminal command to reinstall latest kernel?
Run the following command in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
Look for the kernel version you want to reinstall then run:
Of course, you must type the actual kernel version (e.g. linux-image-3.8.0-21-generic) instead of linux-image-3.X.Y-ZZ-generic.


text:
Definición de literature en inglés:
sustantivo[mass noun]
1Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit: a great work of literature
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- These deaths are real deaths, and they pile up in ways that define our histories and literatures and social sciences.
- The seminar's topic was Renaissance utopian literatures, focusing on More's Utopia.
- Many scholars consider this novel a modern classic in US literatures.
written works, writings, (creative) writing, literary texts, compositions, letters, belles-lettres;
printed works, published works;
humanities, arts, liberal arts
1.1Books and writings published on a particular subject: the literature on environmental epidemiology
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- There is almost no published literature on the subject, and we are largely guided by our own opinions, experience, and - in some cases - prejudice.
- And contrary to some assertions, they have published peer-reviewed literature on the subject.
- It is certainly true that the published literature on the subject is well surveyed.
publications, published writings, texts, reports, studies, relevant works
1.2Leaflets and other printed matter used to advertise products or give advice: advertising and promotional literature
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- For more straightforward cash rewards, consumers will have to read the small print of product literature to ensure they have the card that best suits their spending needs.
- They will be visiting problem areas to hand out literature and advice to people on how best to secure their vehicles, and offering support to victims.
- The campaign included rebranding the company and producing new corporate literature, advertising and media, website and promotional items.
For editors and proofreaders
Saltos de línea: lit¦era|ture
Definición de literature en:
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Pacific Post 320 held the lead throughout its Junior Legion baseball game Wednesday at New Haven in a 10-2 victory.
Post 320 (14-2, 10-1) suffered its first Ninth District loss of the season Thursday at home against Washington, 3-1.
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Over the weekend I received this from psychiatrist David Scasta:8/14/11Dear Warren:I want to thank you for keeping me and the American Psychiatric Association apprised of the situation in Uganda regarding the Anti-Homosexuality Bill – which failed to make it on the agenda of the last Ugandan Parliamentary Plenary but apparently is being resurrected in a modified form for the current Plenary. As you know, the American Psychiatric Association was alarmed that there has been a credible a … [Read more...]
American Psychiatric Association opposes Uganda's anti-gay legislation
Ghanaian prof says homosexuality not a US import
Two Saturdays ago, I interviewed Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr by phone about the recent upsurge of anti-gay rhetoric in Ghana. Dr. Okoampa-Ahoofe is a Ghanaian who now lives in the US and is a college professor at Nassau Community College. I intend to incorporate his input in future articles on Ghana. For now, I am just going to refer to a column he wrote for Myjoyonline about our interview. He included just about everything we discussed so it is a pretty efficient way to get across his views.In … [Read more...]
I am scheduled to be on CNN Newsroom Sunday
I will be on CNN Newsroom Sunday at 8:30am (ET) 7/24 to talk about evangelicals and reparative therapy.I believe the focus is going to be on the recent issues relating to Marcus Bachmann's clinic, Exodus, and Mark Yarhouse's research demonstrating no orientation change on average in mixed orientation marriages. … [Read more...]
Al Mohler presents us with a conundrum
Rev. Al Mohler, who lately has been calling evangelicals to speak honestly about homosexuality, seemed to defend religiously based orientation change yesterday in a column on his website.Much of what he writes about sin and redemption most evangelicals would agree with, but then he says this about Christians and same-sex desire.Christians with same-sex sexual desires must know that these desires are sinful. Thus, faithful Christians who struggle with these desires must know that God both … [Read more...]
Ghana's Western Region Minister orders arrest of all gays
Yesterday, I reported on the worsening situation in Ghana for human rights for GLB people. Today, a government minister ordered the arrest of all gay people in his region.The Western Region Minister Paul Evans Aidoo has ordered the immediate arrest of all homosexuals in the region.He has tasked the Bureau of National Investigations and all security agencies to smoke out persons suspected to be engaging in same sex.He also enlisted the services of landlords and tenants to provide … [Read more...]
Sexual identity: APA sexual orientation task force report – Analysis
(First posted August 5, 2009)Earlier today, the American Psychological Association governing board received the report of the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Response to Sexual Orientation. The report and press release were embargoed until now. With this post, I want to comment on the paper and recommendations made by the Task Force.Generally, I believe the paper to be a high quality report of the evidence regarding sexual orientation and therapy. The authors of the paper (see this … [Read more...]
1984 Press Conference: Ronald Reagan opposed discrimination against gays
In a post earlier today, I referenced a Baltimore Sun article where Democrat Presidential nominee Walter Mondale said he heard President Ronald Reagan speak against discrimination against gays. I found a transcript of that June 14, 1984 press conference in the Reagan archives which supports Mondale's statement. Here is the brief answer to a reporter's question about gay rights in employment:Employment Rights for HomosexualsQ. Mr. President, there is a move afoot in the Congress that has … [Read more...]
UN restores reference to sexual orientation in violence policy – UPDATED
UPDATE: Paul Canning has this story from all angles. He has the vote changes listed and notes that 47 countries switched votes from the last time this issue came up.His summary demonstrates the striking changes in votes from the first time around when sexual orientation was removed as a basis for condemning executions.This means that 23 nations changed their vote to yes, 15 didn't vote no and nine more abstained - 47 in total went in a positive direction. This is a quarter of the UN … [Read more...]


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Definitions (3)
2.Banking: (1) presentment of a check or draft for payment and, subsequently, receipt of its amount in cash or as a credit entry. (2) Transfer of delinquent or past-due accounts to a collection agency (or a special department set up for the purpose) for full or partial recovery of the amount.
3.Foreign trade: Process through which the global banking system acts on behalf of an exporter (or seller) to collect cash payment or a time draft from the importer (or buyer) in return for documents required for taking delivery of the ordered goods.
Use collection in a sentence
It is always a hassle when customers do not pay their bills and our company has to send their information to a collection agency.
Over the years I have allowed many bills to go unpaid, so I get a lot of calls from many different collection agencies.
I had a really big collection of action figures that I got when I was younger and saved until I was an adult.


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This had randomly happened to me today. I had made no changes in my website or server in almost a month.
I tried to log in today and after entering my credentials, the entire content of wp-admin was "35" instead of all the html code to show a backend.
The code in full that I get back regardless of browser is "35". No actual <html> code, just "35"
Where do I even begin to debug?


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Mark Thomas <ma...@apache.org>
|Re: OrientDB Realm
|Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:02:29 GMT
On 08/06/2011 17:23, Jonathan Tellier wrote: > Hello, > > I'm not really sure where to post this, but I figured out that this > mailing list might be a good place. > > So I've been working on OrientDB Realms for both Tomcat 6 and 7. Both > are hosted on my Gitorious at > > https://gitorious.org/tomcat-orientdb-realm > > Is there any chance that that they could be integrated upstream? That depends on demand. If enough people want it included then yes. A quick scan of the archives shows that this is the first message to any Tomcat list the refers to OrientDB. > Anyway, I'll keep the repos public if anyone is interested in using > those Realms. Sounds good. If you wanted to setup a space on the Tomcat wiki for Tomcat add-ons and list these realms there that would be fine too. Mark --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com For additional commands, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Follow HitFix Follow @hitfix
'Guardians of the Galaxy' is the 'Star Wars' sequel you always wanted and so much more
The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe rests in the hands of a bunch of a-holes
(CBR) As a guy with a very big soft spot for late night talk shows, I'm certainly not opposed to watching Jimmy Kimmel's show -- I just know now that I'll only make a point to watch it if there's a guarantee of a machine gun-toting raccoon. I tuned in last night and I was not disappointed. Sidenote: I hope the Kimmel Promotion Team keeps us all abreast of any future non Marvel movie related machinegun-toting raccoon appearances. The first trailer for "Guardians of the Galaxy" dropped on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night, following a walk-on appearance by Chris "Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill" Pratt, and it exited our television atmosphere just before midnight -- meaning I got to avoid Jimmy gabbing with Bill O'Reilly. A night of victories!
So, how about that "Guardians of the Galaxy" trailer? That was pretty awesome, right? I've never seen a James Gunn movie (I'm fully anticipating an annoying barrage of "You GOTTA see 'Slither'!" responses, possibly tying the number of "You GOTTA see 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'!" comments I got last summer), but this James Gunn movie looks like one I definitely won't miss. Even if my own personal affection for the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning "Guardians" era was removed, and even if the Marvel ties were completely removed, I would still want to see it. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" trailer not only hints at a drastically different future for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also presents a movie that doesn't feel like any I've encountered in a good long while.
To address the latter point succinctly, so far "Guardians of the Galaxy" feels like the "Star Wars" sequel I've been waiting to see on the big screen since… well, forever. As a kid born a year after Ewoks overthrew the Empire across multiplexes nationwide, I've never known the joy of seeing a new "Star Wars" that accurately continued the original trilogy's tone. Sure, I got "The Phantom Menace" and its sister films, and I was even convinced that those jams were worthwhile for a good number of years, but I've since come to realize that the prequels don't capture the zest of the original trilogy. "Guardians," you guys, seems to have it.
That's pretty lofty praise! I mean, comparing a film to "Star Wars"? It doesn't get more complimentary than that in these circles. But "Hooked On a Feeling" and Earth shout-outs aside, the two and a half minutes of footage we've seen just scream classic "Star Wars" to me. The characters already seem dangerously alive, even with scant lines between all five of them, with every actor bringing a vivacious energy to their crazy sci-fi dialogue. Inhuman characters like Groot and Rocket are hard to pull off; you either get an unrelatable, cringe-inducing cartoon character like Jar Jar Binks, or you get sympathetic characters that feel fully formed -- despite or possibly because of their inhuman features -- like Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2. Groot and Rocket already feel like the latter. Zoe Saldana's upped her already considerable acting game for her performance as Gamora, one that fills the screen with gleeful menace every time she's seen. She's got Princess Leia's Death Star swagger and Boba Fett's menacing mystique (you know, the mystique he had before a blind guy accidentally sent him rocketing into a sand worm's belly). While Dave Bautista's Drax is still a bit of a captivating enigma, Pratt's Star-Lord makes up for it times a million. His performance feels as effortlessly charismatic as Harrison Ford's in "Star Wars," with the character feeling both ironically detached and passionately committed at the same time. We may never get a real Han Solo movie; "Guardians of the Galaxy" may be the next best thing.
The characters also feel so "Star Wars"-y because of the universe they inhabit. This isn't the clean "Star Trek" outer space, no, no, no. This is a dirty universe, filled with poorly painted starships, dimly lit corridors and walls with chipped paint. You could tell me that the Nova Corps HQ was actually the Death Star and, you know, I'd buy it. Everything that was shown in this trailer looks good and it looks cohesive.
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Page 1 of 4
CHENNAI: At least 20 people, including 13 children, of Thirupachur village near Tiruvallur fell ill after eating sambar from a local hotel on Tuesday morning. Police later quoted the hotel owner as saying that a lizard had been found in the sambar and that he had closed the establishment.
An expert in infectious diseases, when contacted, said complications reported by people who have consumed food in which a lizard has fallen in it were almost always psychological as most domestic lizards in the region were not poisonous.
Police said the incident came to light when T Selvi, 35, of Thirupachur bought idli and sambar from the hotel and gave it to her daughters Chandralekha, 3, and one-year-old Shrilekha. The girls began vomiting after eating the sambar and were taken to the Government Hospital in Tiruvallur, 55km from here.
Soon, more children and adults who consumed the sambar began coming to the GH in Tiruvallur and panic gripped the villagers. Police said all the 20 people treated at the government hospital were later discharged.
However, no case was registered "as we didn't receive any complaint from the victims," a police officer said. Tiruvallur taluk inspector Ekambaram is questioning the hotel owner, Senthil.
Senthil told police he was initially not aware that a lizard had fallen into the sambar. Only when people began complaining of a vomiting sensation did he realize that something was wrong. He made a check and then closed the hotel, police said.
Chennai-based infectious diseases expert Dr C Rajendran said most lizards found here are not poisonous and the problem was not the poison. "People take cow dung, salt and other things after they see a lizard in their food. This causes more harm. Most people vomit or have diarrhoea because they fear something is wrong. It's psychological. Most people are admitted because they feel better if they stay in a hospital," he said.
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text:
New York -- U.S. markets opened mixed Thursday after the U.S. Department of Labor reported first-time jobless claims fell by 17,000 in the week ending Dec. 4.
As expected, the Bank of England left its overnight lending rate unchanged at 0.5 percent Thursday. The leading index in Britain rose 0.4 percent in October, the Conference Board said.
In most of Asia and Europe markets rose. The dollar index, a pro-rated measure of the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.32 percent to 80.26, climbing for the third consecutive trading session.
New York -- Crude oil prices held steady on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight with equities mixed in Asia and Europe and the dollar index up 0.25 percent.
Traders are waiting for an afternoon report on U.S. energy stockpiles and keeping an eye on weather reports that presume a seasonal increase in a demand for heating oil.
January delivery light, sweet crude oil in New York added 2 cents overnight to $88.71 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 0.38 cents to $2.474 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock prices lost 0.2 cents to $2.321 per gallon.
Henry Hub natural gas prices added 15.9 cents to $4.552 per million British thermal units.
New York -- Crude oil prices climbed above $90 per barrel for the second time in a week Tuesday, with prices settling down in early morning trading in New York.
Prices hit an overnight peak of $90.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange with confidence rising as the White House announced a compromise tax bill that would extend the George W. Bush era tax cuts for all wage earners for two years. Along with the compromise between Republicans and the Obama administration, jobless benefits would be extended for 13 months for unemployed long-term.
The price of January delivery light, sweet crude settled lower at $89.36 by midmorning. Heating oil prices added 0.34 cents to $2.4791 per gallon.
Frankfurt, Germany -- The European Central Bank said Thursday it would leave its bank-to-bank overnight lending rate intact at 1 percent.
A statement on the widely expected decision issued by the bank left out mention of ECB bond purchases. An increased investment by the central bank in government bonds could shore up confidence in European government finances in the same week Ireland accepted a $90 billion international aid package to help support its ailing banks.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet scheduled an afternoon press conference to explain the bank's decision.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
New York -- Crude oil prices topped $84 per barrel overnight in New York with investors optimistic that demand was strong.
Key manufacturing indexes in China and the United States showed expanding business activity Monday. Oil prices have also found support from a weaker dollar. The dollar index on Tuesday morning fell 0.71 percent.
Canberra, Australia -- The Australian dollar was at 99 cents to the U.S. dollar overnight Thursday.
The dollar moved higher, driven by the strong Australian economy and a weakening U.S. dollar. The Australian dollar came within one cent of its American counterpart late Thursday before falling back to 0.98 cents to the dollar Friday afternoon.
Westpac Bank Chief Economist Bill Evans predicted the Australian dollar could reach as high as $1.05 U.S.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on themoneytimes.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. TheMoneyTimes advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decision.
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Kim Kiefer's decades-long career was celebrated at last night's Assembly meeting.Read More
"They had some folks in the pool that they thought were possibilities, but they didn't feel like they had enough of a selection so they've extended the recruitment period," said Mila Cosgrove, the city's human resources director.Read More
A subcommittee of three Juneau Assembly members is leading the search for the next city manager.Read More
Kiefer emailed city employees with the news Thursday. She offered glowing praise to her employees, but didn't say why she's retiring.Read More
City Manager Kim Kiefer talked to KTOO's Casey Kelly this week about a variety of issues facing the city and borough.Read More
Juneau Fire Marshal Dan Jager says Saturday's Gastineau Apartments fire was intentionally started.Read More
"We see opportunity for staff to collaborate more where our missions intersect," said Library Director Robert Barr.Read More
Juneau City Manager Kim Kiefer has officially been on the job for a year, meaning it's time for her annual evaluation by the CBJ Assembly.Read More
City and Borough Manager Kim Kiefer was a guest on Juneau Afternoon on Monday, June 18. This week she explains the temporary CBJ 1 percent sales tax that comes up for renewal in October.Read More
The Juneau Assembly has appointed Kim Kiefer as the next city manager. The longtime city employee, and current deputy manager, will replace Rod Swope, who's retiring March 31st.Read More


text:
Customer Reviews
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per page
- Hidden trick Review by Susan
- I was out of town when my shipment arrived. I opened one box to look upon my return. When I went to wrap and gives gift one glass was broken! (Posted on 1/19/2012)
- Good Review by Joe
- Good (Posted on 1/14/2012)
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Comments about 'Wu: International Olympic Committee unhappy with Russia over anti-gay law'
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There is no anti-gay law that will be enforced.
There is only a law against immoral behavior being propagandized.
Russia has ever right to enact laws that will preserve morality and prevent childrens minds from learning incorrect things as best they can.
Russia has found a good compromise
No one faces legal action as a result of their choices in life to be a homosexual.
Just don't try to convert others to being a homosexual and you'll be just fine.
Great job Russia
Keep up the good work!
- 1:24 p.m. Aug. 12, 2013
- Like (2)
- Report abuse
@Chris B --
"There is only a law against immoral behavior being propagandized."
What is immoral about insisting that all people should have equal rights??
Here's what the Russian government *really* thinks about gays. From a demonstration in June:
"During the melee, an unidentified Duma official from the Communist Party approached and shook hands with a policeman, and reportedly said: 'So are you guys ramping up the pressure on these ****? Beat them up well! Cut their **** off!' The anti-gay crowd also threw bottles and rotten eggs at the activists, who were surrounded by an antagonistic crowd of about 200 people."
And of course the gay demonstrators got arrested -- but NOT the people attacking them.
Here's part of an interview with the murderer and rapist of a gay man there. He thought his actions were perfectly acceptable, because his victim was gay.
"Univosti News: 'Why did you [violate] him?' (I can't post the actual words used)
Suspect: 'Because he said he was gay.'
[....] (graphic description of the rape)
U News: 'What did you do after?'
Suspect: 'I started stomping on his ribs.'
U News: 'And after?'
Suspect: 'I took a brick and dropped it on his head 5 or 6 times.'
- 4:30 p.m. Aug. 12, 2013
- Like (2)
- Report abuse
@ Chris B: I guess whether or not there is an anti-gay law that will be
enforced depends on what the meaning of is is.
Holding hands, stating you are gay, sending love to your partner, thanking your partner for supporting you, having a partner of the same-sex - all these are "propaganda" under the Russian law.
So, yes - if you pretend to be heterosexual, you won't violate the law.
If that is not anti-gay, please define what is.
- 4:47 p.m. Aug. 12, 2013
- Like (2)
- Report abuse
the russian LAW did not dictate what the unruly mob did, nor what the murderer did.
Thanks for the obfuscation.
- 12:31 p.m. Aug. 13, 2013
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@lost in DC --
"the russian LAW did not dictate what the unruly mob did, nor what the murderer did."
The Russian law, the homophobia behind it, and the atmosphere they encourage most certainly influenced both of those incidents.
Notice that it was a Duma official -- a member of the government -- who was telling the police officer to "cut their **** off!".
Thanks for the attempted apologia.
- 1:39 p.m. Aug. 13, 2013
- Like (1)
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text:
Video Industry News Video Company News Technology Industry News Technology Company News Novelty Industry News Novelty Company News Gay Industry News Gay Company News Legal Industry News All Company News
Released: May 01st, 2003
Running Time: 68
Company: Channel 69 Video
Cast: Sophie (I), Francesca, Kelly (I), Cassandra (I), Anastasia (I), Others
Critical Rating: AA 1/2
Genre: All-Sex
Could be fun for anyone who has fantasies concerning the gym.
Well, Francesca and Kelly are the only real body builders in heat. The other girls are just thrown in as pretend body builders, so anyone looking for a vid full of muscle-bound babes might be disappointed. However, Francesca and Kelly are buff enough to prop up the pickle of any horny weightlifting fan, and Francesca must also lift weights with her vagina because she has a clit the size of a golf ball.
They both get a good workout in as they exercise in the gym and then bang the guys who approach them, allowing their pussies and rectums to receive the training they need. Some choppy editing deters from the scene and only the guy fucking Francesca actually pops. Then, Anastasia and Cassandra turn a wrestling match into a cunt-licking competition that ends in a double-ended dildo event. After that, the incredibly hot Sophie gets a kickboxing lesson and then beats up on her instructor's cock. It's a shame the scene ends before it really gets going.
Finally, Francesca and Kelly return to lavish attention on each other, but not much perspiration is produced.