Did you know that June 2007 is National
Internet Safety Month? No joke, it is. Turns out
that in the middle of May, Joe Lieberman, Barack
Obama, Ted "Tubes"
Stevens, and 15 other U.S. senators got together
to warn the country that the Internet is very
dangerous. Mostly they were worried about the
children. Eighty percent of kids in the U.S.
spend more than an hour online each week, they
pointed out. That's quite scary, because "there
are more than 1,000,000,000 Internet users
worldwide" -- meaning there has to be a weirdo in
there somewhere. What's more, the senators say,
"61 percent of students admit to using the
Internet unsafely or inappropriately," 20 percent
have had real-life meetings with folks they first
met online, and at least a third of our kids
possess "the skill to circumvent Internet filter
software." And 41 percent of parents feel that
their "ability to monitor and shelter their
children from inappropriate material on the
Internet is limited."
The Senate unanimously
passed a resolution declaring June as National
Internet Safety Month.
It's easy to make fun of this. I'm going to
do my share. (Kids only "spend an
hour online each week"? A major victory!)
Is any senator going to vote against the Prevent
Bad Things From Happening To Our Children Act?
But let's not let the senators' cluelessness mask
the real problems on the net. There are
spammers, viruses, predatory loan sharks,
pedophiles, religious cults and worse available
to anyone with an internet connection and a
computer.
But why now? I don't see the problems as
appreciably different than 10 years ago. Or even
20 years ago, pre-web. I might argue that the
net is far safer now than a few years ago: Many
of the legal issues surrounding accountability
have been dealt with, watchdog groups abound, and
kids aren't quite so clueless as their parents
think, and most parents know to keep a watchful
eye on their kids' computer use. Maybe parents
can't shield a kid from "inappropriate material"
such as nekkid ladies, but watching inappropriate
videos in their room at night is a whole
different ball game then surreptitiously going to
see an adult they've only met online. Because we
know more, and many parents grew up in the
computer age, I would argue that the percent of
problems is way down, even as the raw numbers
show that the problems still exist. We are a
victim of our own success.
The danger for kids on the net is real and
can't be ignored, but it's of the same type as
the danger at school, in the park or at a family
reunion. Parents need to keep an eye on their
kids, and kids need to know about the Real World
(tm).
So... why Internet Safety Month, why now when the problems are fewer?
No one disputes that parents need to oversee
the activities of their children, but some things
are more dangerous than others. Some of the
dangers are best left to Congress and some best
handled at home.
Trying to
regulate the net is part of the larger effort to
control information
The mainstream media is failing at its
appointed task. The right-wing is trying to gain
control of all media outlets. This isn't a
secret plot; they've been whining about their
lack of total control for decades, and arrogantly
preen when the ultra-conservative Fox "News"
gains in the ratings.
The effort to destroy the credibility of the
news media is nearly complete. Lies,
Signs and Politics, commondreams.com archive
of a Paul Krugman NYTimes article, June 8,
2007:
In Tuesday's Republican presidential
debate, Mitt Romney completely misrepresented how
we ended up in Iraq. Later, Mike Huckabee
mistakenly claimed that it was Ronald Reagan's
birthday.
Guess which remark The Washington Post identified as the "gaffe of the night"?
Folks, this is serious. If early campaign
reporting is any guide, the bad media habits that
helped install the worst president ever in the
White House haven't changed a
bit.
You may not remember the presidential debate of
Oct. 3, 2000, or how it was covered, but you
should. It was one of the worst moments in an
election marked by news media failure as serious,
in its way, as the later failure to question Bush
administration claims about
Iraq.
Throughout that debate, George W. Bush made
blatantly misleading statements, including some
outright lies 'До for example, when he declared
of his tax cut that "the vast majority of the
help goes to the people at the bottom end of the
economic ladder." That should have told us, right
then and there, that he was not a man to be
trusted.
But few news reports pointed out the lie.
Instead, many news analysts chose to critique the
candidates' acting skills. Al Gore was declared
the loser because he sighed and rolled his eyes
'До failing to conceal his justified disgust at
Mr. Bush's dishonesty. And that's how Mr. Bush
got within chad-and-butterfly range of the
presidency.
Now fast forward to last Tuesday. Asked whether
we should have invaded Iraq, Mr. Romney said that
war could only have been avoided if Saddam "had
opened up his country to I.A.E.A. inspectors, and
they'd come in and they'd found that there were
no weapons of mass destruction." He dismissed
this as an "unreasonable
hypothetical."
Except that Saddam did, in fact, allow inspectors
in. Remember Hans Blix? When those inspectors
failed to find nonexistent W.M.D., Mr. Bush
ordered them out so that he could invade. Mr.
Romney's remark should have been the central
story in news reports about Tuesday's debate. But
it wasn't.
The mainstream media is astonishingly
partisan, totally in the pocket of the sphincter
conservatives. Here is an analysis from
Devilstower on DailyKos, as reporters ask
presidential candidates The
Wrong Question. CNN and others news sources
constantly harp on "Islamic Jihads" while
ignoring the Christian Crusades in this country.
Frederick Clarkson on DailyKos, What's
Really Scary (at least to me). The religious
right does not believe in the world G_d created,
and bears false witness to American History, as
detailed by Liars For
Jesus.
It will get
worse before it gets better
The US has always had A Thing for celebrity.
Fame is royalty, or something. Our lives are so
boring and tedious that we have to live
vicariously. The pain and suffering of You Know
Who and You Know Who Else is, gosh darn it,
fun to watch. Entertainment news is news
of a sort, but chronicling the rise and fall of
the rich and famous is not actual journalism.
One of the ways that you can tell a society is
on the decline is how we report on Nero while
Rome burns. We rarely associate Nero with the
first Jewish-Roman
War (ending in the siege of Masada) or any of
the military and political machinations of
running the Roman Empire; we remember the
salacious bits. (Do you really want your
children to know about Roman orgies? Why doesn't
the Senate pass a resolution declaring a Roman
History Safety Month?) American media have been
so cowed by the ultra right that they don't honor
our fallen soldiers by showing flag draped
coffins and have to carefully pick and choose to
air the two sentences Bush Lite doesn't screw
up.
Real news is not covered for the sake of
celebrity hissy fits and Republican talking
points. This is why supposedly "free market,
anti-regulation" conservatives are so intent on
stifling the internet. Not that everything on
the net is true or even worthy -- Sturgeon's
Law applies -- but real information sometimes
squeaks through the noise and that's a major
threat.
The scandalous decline of journalism is a
continuing story, and I haven't come down from my
soapbox yet.
Want Ad: Media
Consultant in the Bay Area
My former uncle Dr.
Arthur Lipow is starting The Institute for
Peace and Democracy in the San Francisco area.
They have the brainpower, but they lack media
savvy. I spoke to him about various aspects, and
it's clear they need a Media Consultant in the
area. This is still in the formative stages, and
I don't know payscale or time involved, and I'm
guessing the qualifications are along these
lines:
Must be familiar with audio production,
such as podcasting and streaming audio
Must be able to interface with radio stations
to get lectures broadcast
Must be able to write Press Releases and
other promotional material as necessary
A liberal viewpoint is helpful but probably not a requirement
If you are such a person, or know anyone who
might be interested, let me know and
I'll pass it on. This is still in the talking
stage, but I'd like to make connections as soon
as possible.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me
music to play on the air.
--////
"By the way, did I mention that Rudy Giuliani has been married more
times than Mitt Romney has been hunting?" -- EarlG, democraticunderground.com
scribegrrrl: The AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List (afterellen.com)
Let's face it: Maxim doesn't cater to lesbians. ... How is our list different from Maxim's? Eight of the top 10 women on our list aren't mentioned anywhere on the Maxim list (Angelina Jolie and Lena Headey are the exceptions), and only four of the women who made Maxim's top 10 (Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and Lindsay Lohan) appear somewhere on the AfterEllen.com list.
(And My Pets Food, Chicken, Pork, Spinach, and Peanut Butter)
Meat Supplier Expands Beef Recall to 5.7 Million Pounds in 11 States Over E. Coli Concerns
David Goldman, acting administrator of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection
Service, announced on Saturday that the recall would be expanded to
include products with sell-by dates from April 6 to April 20. The beef,
sold in 11 Western states, was distributed by California-based United Food
Group LLC.
Customers with questions about the recall can call United Food Group's hot
line at 1-800-325-4164. Those with recalled products should either throw
the product away or return it to the point of purchase for a refund.Source: USA Today
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Creature Comforts', followed by a RERUN'Old Christine', then a RERUN'2&frac;12 Men', followed by a RERUN'How I Met Your Mother', then a RERUN'CSI: The 2nd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Denis Leary and Flight of the Conchords.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Don Rickles, Ali Wentworth, and Marty Stuart.
NBC fills the night on the East Coast with LIVE'NBA Basketball', then pads the left coast with local crap.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Wanda Sykes, 7-year-old identical quadruplets, and John Mayer.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Seth Green, Eli Roth, and El-P.
On a RERUNCarson Daly (R) are Penn Jillette and Redman.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'Wife Swap', followed by a FRESH'Ex-Wives Club', then a RERUN'Supernanny'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 5/15/07) are Jimmy hosts the entire show from a bus, with guests Paula Abdul, and Flavor Flav, Feist.
The CW offers a RERUN'Everybody Hates Chris', followed by a RERUN'All Of Us', then a RERUN'Girlfriends', followed by a RERUN'The Game'.
Faux has a RERUN'Hell's Kitchen', followed by a FRESH'Hell's Kitchen'.
MY fills the night with a FRESH'IFL Battleground'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'The Sopranos', and more 'The Sopranos'.
AMC offers the movie 'Dead Calm', followed by the movie 'Girl, Interrupted', then the movie 'Original Sin'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Daily Cooks! - Episode 6;
[12:30 PM] Rick Stein's Food Heroes - Episode 6;
[1:00 PM] The Naked Chef - Ep 6 The Girlfriend;
[1:30 PM] Masterchef Goes Large - Episode 6;
[2:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 7;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 12;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 13;
[4:00 PM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 7 Warrington;
[4:30 PM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 8 Chinnor;
[5:00 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 14;
[5:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 1;
[6:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 8;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News - BBC World News;
[7:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3;
[8:00 PM] Murphy's Law - Ep. 1 Electric Bill;
[10:00 PM] Hollyoaks - Episode 5;
[10:30 PM] Hollyoaks - Episode 6;
[11:00 PM] Murphy's Law - Ep. 1 Electric Bill;
[1:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 5;
[1:30 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 6;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 8;
[3:00 AM] Sea of Souls - Episode 1;
[4:00 AM] Sea of Souls - Episode 2;
[5:00 AM] Sea of Souls - Episode 3;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News - BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Inside The Actors Studio', another 'Inside The Actors Studio', 'Top Chef', and another 'Top Chef'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', an old 'Jon Stewart', an old 'Colbert Report', 'Reno 911!', 'South Park', 'Scrubs', and another 'Scrubs'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is David Steinberg.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Dr. Michael D. Gershon.
FX has the movie 'The Italian Job', followed by the movie 'Big Momma's House', then the movie 'Big Momma's House', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Decoding The Past', 'Cities Of The Underworld', and 'Real Sin City: Sodom'.
IFC -
[07:05 AM] Dinner For Five #34;
[07:35 AM] Bus 174;
[09:40 AM] Johnny Stecchino;
[11:25 AM] The Last Days of Chez Nous;
[01:05 PM] IFC Short Film Showcase;
[02:05 PM] Bus 174;
[04:10 PM] Johnny Stecchino;
[05:55 PM] The Last Days of Chez Nous;
[07:35 PM] Tadpole;
[09:00 PM] Kinsey;
[11:00 PM] The Prince of Pennsylvania;
[01:00 AM] Kinsey;
[03:00 AM] Tadpole;
[04:25 AM] The Prince of Pennsylvania. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Spike Lee, screening his documentary about Hurricane Katrina, urged people to vote to ensure government functions better in the future than it did after the deadly storm.
Lee, who attended New Haven's annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas, showed his Peabody Award-winning 2006 HBO documentary, "When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts."
"It was a fiasco, a mockery on the local, state and federal levels, and once again, Americans got hornswoggled, led astray, bamboozled," he said. "And too many people have died so we all have the right to vote. Never tell anyone your vote doesn't matter."
Actor Paul Reubens reintroduces his alter ego Pee Wee Herman during the first annual Spike television's "Guys Choice" awards show in the Studio City area of Los Angeles June 9, 2007.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment after deciding he wanted to return home to see his son rather than go out for dinner, Yoko Ono said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
"We were returning from the studio, and I said: 'Should we go and have dinner before we go home?' and John was saying, 'No, lets go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.' And it was like he wasn't sure if we would get home before he (Sean) went to sleep and he was concerned about that."
Ono, 74, the wife of the late Beatle, made the comment on "Desert Island Discs," the British Broadcasting Corp. radio program that interviews famous people and plays their favorite songs.
She said Lennon uttered no dying words when he was shot and killed by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside their Dakota apartment building in Manhattan on Dec. 8, 1980.
Comedian Craig Ferguson clowns in front of a shark image as celebrities and their kids arrive for a preview of the new "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage" attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, June 10, 2007.
Photo by Mark Avery
Emeril Lagasse will spice up next year's Rose Parade.
The celebrity chef will serve as grand marshal of the traditional New Year's Day parade and toss the coin before the Rose Bowl football game, it was announced Friday.
"Emeril Lagasse is the very best ambassador for our theme, 'Passport to the World's Celebrations,'" said C.L. Keedy, president of the Tournament of Roses. "Food is an integral part of celebrations and traditions around the world, and Emeril is a master at bringing us all a taste of the fun and excitement through his culinary skill and creativity."
A number of celebrities have taken up the keyboard to blog to their fans and loyal readers. This digital skip over the velvet rope - a leap into public discourse rather than shrouded publicist-released statements - has offered a new perspective of the famous.
Mark Cuban. The entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner blogs at Blogmaverick.com, where he spouts on everything from YouTube's future to NBA refereeing. Cuban, known for his outspokenness, has sometimes appeared clownish in his courtside conniptions. His blog entries are typically combative, but he's frequently spot on; you don't become a billionaire by being dumb.
David Byrne. The former Talking Heads frontman has long had one of the best blogs on the Web. He's very consistent in posting his thorough, well-written entries on DavidByrne.com; expect a large diet of music, biking and modern art. What makes Byrne's blog especially enjoyable, though, is how he shines through - like us - as a fan. If he goes to an excellent concert or museum exhibit, he returns to his computer bursting at the seams to discuss and analyze it.
Miranda July. The multi-hyphenate July, an author, filmmaker, artist and musician, has increasingly used the Web as an outlet for her seemingly boundless creativity. While she does post entries on MirandaJuly.com, the reason she's on this list is because of the site for her new book, the title of which is in the Web address: noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com. The whole site is a series of messages written on her refrigerator.
Jeff Bridges. The star of such films as "The Big Lebowski" and "Fearless" has only hinted at his doodling abilities in movies like "The Door in the Floor," in which he played a children's-book author. But his posts on JeffBridges.com, aren't typed. Instead, they're brilliantly colorful drawings that announce his new projects or make various recommendations to fans.
Naked cyclists ride their bikes through downtown Vancouver, British Columbia during the World Naked Bike Ride Day June 9, 2007. About 50 cyclists rode through the streets trying to bring attention to pollution caused by cars.
Photo by Andy Clark
At the ripe old age of 100, Aloysius is too weary to revisit Brideshead -- but one of the world's most famous teddy bears may consider a cameo appearance.
Aloysius gained iconic status as the teddy bear clutched by effete Oxford student Sebastian Flyte in the 1981 television adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh classic "Brideshead Revisited."
Now, with a remake of Brideshead being filmed, stardom could beckon again -- if age does not catch up with him.
"He is in good spirits but is getting on in years and really looks like a centenarian," said Ian Pout, owner of the Teddy Bear Museum in Witney, where Aloysius resides.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay for foreign terrorism suspects should be immediately closed and its inmates moved to the United States.
"Guantanamo has become a major, major problem ... in the way the world perceives America and if it were up to me I would close Guantanamo not tomorrow but this afternoon ... and I would not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system," Powell told NBC's Meet the Press.
"Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don't need it and it is causing us far more damage than any good we get for it," he added.
Big hair winner Tricia Nathan of Grafton, Mass., shows off her hair during the Imperia Vodka Hair Competition in Manchester, N.H., Saturday, June 2, 2007. More than 40 contestants competed for the biggest hair and the first place prize of $7,500 as they raise money for breast cancer.
Photo by Jim Cole
Actor Wesley Snipes is a victim of "unscrupulous tax advice" and is being selectively targeted for prosecution on federal tax evasion charges because he is black, his attorneys argue in a motion to dismiss the indictment.
In a June 4 motion to dismiss the indictment, Snipes' attorneys argue that prosecutors filed additional tax evasion charges against him and not against two other defendants because they are "Caucasian, while Mr. Snipes is African-American."
The Oct. 17 indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The star of the "Blade" trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.
A man dressed in a red and yellow costume representing the devil, known as El Colacho, jumps over babies placed on a mattress in Castrillo de Murcia during traditional Corpus Christi celebrations, June 10, 2007. This northern Spanish town has for centuries chosen to protect its young from evil spirits with an unusual ritual in which a man dressed as the devil leaps over mattresses each holding four or five babies.
Photo by Felix Ordonez
A special court that will pit scientists against activists in the debate over whether vaccines have caused autism in many children begins hearings on Monday with the first test case, involving a 12-year-old Arizona girl.
More than 4,800 cases are pending, filed by parents who believe their children have autism that was caused by vaccines. The little-known U.S. Court of Federal Claims has set up an omnibus hearing in Washington, D.C., with the first case expected to last three weeks.
No judges but instead three "special masters" will hear the test cases. They are Denise Vowell, a former U.S. Army chief trial judge; Patricia Campbell-Smith, a former environmental lawyer and clerk at the Federal Claims Court; and George Hastings a former tax claims expert at the Department of Justice.
A sheet of commemorative stamps bearing the image of United States resident George W. Bush, the first U.S. president to visit the Balkan nation, is seen in Tirana June 9, 2007. Albania has spent millions preparing for George W. Bush, even though he will be in the country, one of Europe's poorest, for just seven hours. Albanians have cleaned the streets, stocked up on thousands of United States flags and even retiled bathrooms for the U.S. president, the most important man ever to visit the long-isolated Balkan state.
Photo by Arben Celi
National park rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are battling to save a 2-month-old gorilla found clinging to its dead mother, who was shot dead through the back of the head, conservationists said on Sunday.
"She's more or less OK. It is certainly a worrying situation, but not hopeless," Paulin Ngobobo, senior warden in eastern Congo's Virunga National Park, told Reuters from the city of Goma where he is looking after the female infant.
He said the young mountain gorilla, born on April 15 and named Ndakasi by conservationists, had accepted baby formula from a feeding bottle. Mountain gorillas usually suckle for up to three years in the wild.
Only 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild, more than half of them in Virunga.
An albino Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) female and its 'joey' (young) look alert at the Zlin zoo, the Czech Republic, on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Albino wallabies usually bear brown offspring and an all-white 'joey' just like its mother is a rarity, spokeswoman of the zoo Romana Bujackova said.
Photo by Zdenek Nemec
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