be nice to whoever has your living will

MEDIA
* did anyone see the new am-version of The Office? the thought of it sounds appalling. report pls.

* if ashleysmith tried to read The Purpose-Driven Life life to me after id just killed a bunch of folk, she'd be toast.

* fauxnews is doing a massive jonk slam - showing the whole swiftboat thingy again on laurie wotshernames (dhue?) sunday magazine show. i saw the same piece 2 weeks ago - it goes for like 15mins or some such. they really really want hillary to run in 08...

* "The rest of the report, which is directed to the newsgathering process of CBS, is flawed. The panel was unable to decide whether the documents were authentic or not. It didn't hire its own experts. It didn't interview the principal expert for CBS. It all but ignored an important argument for authenticating the documents—"meshing." It did not allow cross-examination. It introduced a standard for document authentication very difficult for news organizations to meet—"chain of custody"—and, lastly, it characterized parts of the broadcast as false, misleading, or both, in a way that is close to nonsensical. One is tempted to say that the report has as many flaws as the flaws it believes it has found in Dan Rather's CBS broadcast." LINK
(James C. Goodale, an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, is the former Vice Chairman and General Counsel of The New York Times and represented the newspaper in the Pentagon Papers case. )

* in other news, cbs' purge is a good start sez the shitehouse. now they have a blankslate and can *start* to prove their credentials. LINK

* sciam does a great april1 ed - eg: "This magazine will be dedicated purely to science, fair and balanced science, and not just the science that scientists say is science." go read it LINK

* the very curious thing about naomi kleins explosive new details about sgrena is that these seem to be new details. how did that happen? how long has it been? a month? i dont get it. sgrena is a fucking journalist, and its a major interest story in italy, if not elsewhere - its not like she should be struggling to get her story out. how can it be that we only now learn that sgrena wasnt even on the famously dangerous road? or even that there is another road! curiouser.

* the beeb is still going crazy of mjacko.

* CI points to this sundayherald article slamming blair(i hardly never read the sundayherald and im always impressed when i do): " In fact, the Prime Minister had not asked the intelligence services for their views on Iraq’s WMD in the crucial months leading up to the war... If the Prime Minister is not punished then consider the consequences; if the precedent is established that ministers like David Blunkett can be fired if they commit a petty offence like fast-tracking a visa, but for the big crimes – like fast-tracking a war – there will be no comeback. Then the freedom for which we fought against Hitler will die out, our claim to export freedom will produce a cynical laugh around the world and the country will sink into a permanent condition of corruption."
i dont know a thing about uk politics, but it seems as tho the tide is turning somewhat against blair. maybe there simply isnt an opposition. tradesports.com has blair @ 90% (ie ten-to-1 that he loses) which is extraordinary in what we call a '2-horse race'. as a comparison, (just picking another 2-horse race at random), in the Roger Federer vs Mariano Zabaleta matchup today at the nasdaq open, u can get 12/1 the guy ive never heard of. and federer is apparently the best tennis player ever. is bliar really that bullet-proof? the mkts say that he is. astonishing.


SCHIAVO
* latest schiavo argument on teeve - some idiot saying: 'jeb has an obligation to save terri, just like his brother did when the UN told him he couldnt go to iraq to save the american people'

* fascinating article (in retrospect) from the Guardian from nov03 - read it all:
"But, given the vehemence with which he has been fighting to prolong Terri's life, it is a little surprising to learn that Robert 9schindler) decided to turn off the life-support system for his mother. She was 79 at the time, and had been ill with pneumonia for a week, when her kidneys gave out. "I can remember like yesterday the doctors said she had a good life. I asked, 'If you put her on a ventilator does she have a chance of surviving, of coming out of this thing?'" Robert says. "I was very angry with God because I didn't want to make those decisions."" LINK
im having trouble keeping score - but from memory, Delay turned off the machine on his dad. schiavos dad did the same to/for his mum. frist advocated it for everyone, and blinky did too if they couldnt pay. for starters.

* "Terri Schiavo's Blog" LINK

* everyone loves deconstructing brooks. its incredible how much time people waste/spend on him.

* " But a Newsweek poll taken a week earlier, before the dispute over Schiavo was being featured so prominently in the news, also showed a five-point drop, to 45 percent, for Bush." LINK

* schiavo got a drop of blood for communion. heh.

* rogerailes to the fetusfolk "And may the Easter Bunny have mercy on your eggs." LINK