Google going???

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch said what a lot of us are thinking. About Google. Instapundit has similar thoughts, too.

Above is a good example why Google is losing their reputation. (Click on image to enlarge and see the sponsored links to the right.)

Now try the same search at Yahoo and you won't find pornograpy or sex aid sites. That is because Yahoo insists that such sites meet editor approval, according to SearchEngineWatch.

Google used to have standards.

Now Google has competition as well.

IPSO-AP Poll

A new Ipso-AP poll has been released just in time for those year-end stories.

It's the Celebrity Ranking Poll Link

It is worth reading if only because it is reported so widely that president Bush topped the list for biggest villain of the year with 25%. He's was the first name on the list of 32 read to those interviewed.

The runner ups are worth looking at.
The second biggest villain was Don't Know/Not Saying at 20%.
Don't know/Not Saying Other also came in third with 15%.
So, overall, Don't Know/Not Saying/Other was the overall winner at 35%.

Biggest Hero of the Year
The DK/NS (27%) and OTHER (25%) also beat out all contenders for the biggest hero of the year as well. (Although at 13% Bush headed the list and beat out both Clintons at 1% each and Jesus Christ at 3%. Jesus tied with Barack Obama.)

Celebrities
By the time they got to Question #3 about the Best Role Model Celebrity of the Year and the Question #4 Worst Role Model Celebrity of the Year, respondents apparently cut off the pollsters because the Role Model questioners didn't read 7 names for Best category and didn't read 5 names for the Worst category. We can only guess that respondents at that point got very tired, probably figuring they'd been conned into responding to a bogus, politically- motivated poll.

The poll interviewed 1,044 adults, some 77% (779) of them registered to vote. They represent 60% Democrat/Independent and 27% Republican, although at this point I do not know why any Republican would respond to a media poll. As for religious, 21% identify themselves as None.

IPSO is a French firm with HQ in Paris.
AP is owned by member newspapers and their loyalities are in Paris and Iran.

Look for the Union Label

When I wrote about the sale of the Minneapolis Star-News, I thought it looked odd that Dutch-owned Editor & Publisher mentioned union contracts more than once. A new story today infers that McClatchy sold it off because it was union in "With 'Strib' Gone, McClatchy Sheds Another Union Paper -- Coincidence?"

Seems the Star-News was the next to the last newspapers McClatchy-purchased Knight-Ridder paper, that had union newsrooms. (The contracts will, of course, be honored. It was part of the negotiations.) The one former paper with a Guild newsroom that McClatchy kept was the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader.

Of course, selling such papers might be an issue of (shhhhh) p r o f i t a b i l i t y. As in, union papers are more (shhhh) c o s t l y to produce and union troubles are (shhhhh) a n n o y i n g and (shhhhh) t h u g g i s h. (Just ask the folks who bought the Philadelphia papers from McClatchy.)

But realism (or honesty) has never been a watchword for union organizations.

It is my contention, and I have written about it, that newspaper unions and newspapers dependence upon them is another factor in their liberal-leftwing politics. It is also my contention that in the 1960s the unions helped drive other newspapers out of business with long and costly strikes so that the public was left with only liberal-leftwing papers in major cities. (Think Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.)

And as they are trying to do in Toledo.

The sky is falling (or maybe not)

The Globe & Mail, Canada's lunatic leftwing newspaper - (think U.K.'s Guardian as opposed to the Independent) - has daily polls to test their readers susceptibility to their various campaigns.

They must be gnashing their teeth after a prominent story, "Giant ice shelf snaps free from Canada's Arctic," and their poll question hasn't the desired effect.

Question: If the unusual weather patterns observed in much of Canada this fall and winter are a byproduct of global warming, do you believe the change is caused mainly by natural events or human activity?

Natural events (49%) 13598 votes
Human activity (51%) 13911 votes

Thanks, Santa

The guys at Power Line have long maintained that the Minneapolis Star Tribune, their home newspaper is one of the worst in the country. It's a view shared by many of us who have visited the newspaper.

Today that view was shared by the marketplace and Goldman Sachs.

"While McClatchy will "generate a tax benefit of about $160 million," Goldman observes, it is also taking a hit on the sale price, having paid $1.2 billion for the paper in 1998, now selling it for $530 million. "The substantial loss on the sale is a vivid reminder of the industry's declining fortunes ove the last several years," Goldman declared.

And THAT quote was found at Editor & Publisher, the leftwing rah, rah, rah cheerleaders for the industry that are helping lead American newspapers off the cliff into la la land with Greg Mitchell, the frequent-flashbacks-to-Vietnam prone editor.

[For the record, note that Editor & Publisher, whose masthead says they are "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" is Dutch owned.]

Not surprisingly, another article at the Editor & Publisher site, quoted Nick Coleman, "a metropolitan columnist for the paper."

"It was like, who? Everyone knows the whole industry is in play and that just about anything could happen, but nobody thought we could get sold. There’s a real sense of betrayal ...“At a fire sale,” he said, “people get discounted, so we’re very concerned, worried and anxious.” But he added, “maybe it takes someone from outside the newspaper business to see the way forward.”

Nick Coleman is one of the most egregious examples of a political hack with total unsuitability for the newsroom. A some-time host at Air America, he is, simply, a hack for the Democrat party, a tradition he shared with his father who was a Democrat party big shot in the state. The Power Line guys systematically took him apart a dozen times for his columns.

The power of the union at the newspaper was another leftward factor that made the newspaper so bad. It was acknowledged by E&P staff when they stated that union contracts will remain in place no less than two different times in the writeup of the sale.

But for the rest of us it's a belated Christmas present. That is, if you believe the newspaper will change. The day they fire Nick Coleman, you can believe the fairy tale. Until then, the likelihood is that the private equity firm is just there to prop up one of the worst newspapers in the country.

See Captain's Quarters entry and Power Line's take. Fraters Libertas isn't optimistic about the equity firm that bought the paper.

Frankly, I am basing my pessimism on the fact that the equity group "was formed following the separation of most of its partners from the former DLJ Merchant Banking Partners unit of Credit Suisse First Boston in July, 2005."

Darfur, the UN and Amnesty Int'l

You mean Clinton and the United Nations are not perfect?????!!!! Who would have guessed?

Well, maybe 800,000 Rwandans. And maybe those refugees in Darfur still waiting for the U.N. to do something -- anything -- to help them.

One of the real problems, however, is that Amnesty International is so politicized** that they don't have any crediblity either, even when they urge Canada to do something about Darfur. The shame is, that the people in Darfur need intervention desperately. It is a pity that Amnesty Int'l squandered their reputation and any chance they had of being listened to by any rational person.

**This has been called "Moynihan's Law" after the late U.S. Senator and former Ambassador to the United Nations, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who is said to have commented that, the number of complaints about a nation's violation of human rights is inversely proportional to their actual violation of human rights.

Reality Check

Finally! A reality check for the New York Times reporters who portray U.S. intelligence agencies everyone in the U.S. government as jack booted thugs.

Blogs for the MSM (pre-selected)

While the media derides bloggers, they're very, very busy creating and filtering blogs they can quote. And to help them, Reuters has just invested heavily in Pluck Corporation with their "BlogBurst capabilities".

What's that, you ask?

Well, first there is the "Editorial team: Our in-house editors manage the recruitment, filtering and maintenance of high-quality focused blogs." who will "Discover great blogs with sophisticated search and browsing tools. Pick a blog knowing it has been reviewed by our Editorial staff." [Emphasis mine.]

Best of all, they will "Leverage posts to show up as long-life content for evergreen topics." Whatever the hell that means. (The Washington Post, we are told, uses Environment blogs for their site, and leverages advertising and sponsorship opportunities around environmentally friendly products for Your Life Is Green.)

In other words, they find and/or create and pay pre-selected blogs for the media. And, trust me -- as the girl says in the Nutrisystem ad -- they will, miraculously, agree with the MSM opinion.

Gosh, what a surprise

Daily Mail (UK) headline: "Blackmail fear after Russia doubles the price of its gas"

FACT: Moscow forced Georgia to accept a doubling of gas prices and has warned Turkey not to help Georgia.

REALITY: No one really gives a darn about Georgia, especially in the EU (pronounced EWWWWW)

FEAR: The EU (pronounced EWWWWW) currently gets 25% of their gas supplies from Russia and Russia is taking over gas distribution as well. And then there's:

Similar price rise demand led to massive cuts in Russian supplies to Ukraine in January.
This also reduced the amount of Russian gas reaching Europe, prompting some European leaders to question the continent's reliance on Russia as its major supplier.

Did anyone expect otherwise? Of course they did. Socialists always think they are infallible. It comes from a combination of hubris and ignorance, with the latter the reason why they are Socialists to begin with.

Of course, the useful idiots among them will argue for even closer ties to Russia, the theory being that friendship will prevail over economic interests. It's more succinctly put by the mafia as "honor among thieves" because it takes some collusion to even make the relationship acceptable in the first place. And while it never worked for the Mafia either, Socialists are, at heart, suckers for invented history and self-delusion. Besides, let's be honest. They are thieves who hope to get theirs and then emigrate when things get really bad.

But that's the EU (pronounced EWWWWW) for you. And those Socialists are Howard Dean's friends.

WARNING - Viewing this is bad for their egos

Celebrities then and now from WNBC. [Warning: Do not drink liquids while viewing.]

British Spy Arrested

A UK soldier has been arrested on has appeared in court accused of passing secrets to Iran.

Daniel James was an interpreter for NATO commander in Afghanistan General David Richards.

As an interpreter for the British general who commands some 30,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, James would be privy to highly sensitive military and political information.

The charges are likely to embarrass Richards, the first British general to command a large force of U.S. troops since World War Two. Richards has been commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan since July 31 this year when the alliance assumed responsibility for peacekeeping across the whole of the country

James "is the first person to be charged with spying under Britain's Official Secrets Act since an MI5 officer was jailed for 23 years in 1984 for passing secrets to the Soviet Union."

The Mirror reported that James was a former salsa dancing teacher and nightclub owner. That could explain a lot.

Sakhalin

Trust Canada's Globe & Mail to run this headline: Kremlin scores another victory with Sakhalin energy deal as if the thuggish tactics Putin used to wrest control of Sakhalin from investors was a triumph of sorts. Maybe it was if you consider the takeover of AO Yukos Oil Co by the Kremlin a similar success story.

This is another blow to the delusion of the EU that they would be partners with Russia in any number of projects. Just as no legitimate business would willingly partner with the mafia, the EU is either corrupt to the point of collusion or desperate to the point of indifference in making Russia the primary source of oil and gasoline for the EU. I am guessing it's the former.

But it's wonderful to note that the ecological problems are now solved with the change in ownership. Tass says so.

Sandy Berger

Thanks to PajamasMedia, you can download the Inspector General’s report on Sandy Berger's destruction of classified documents. Here

PajamasMedia is inviting everyone to review the document with them. It's a case of many minds working to discover the facts the MSM folks are ignoring.

We are confident that by releasing this document in this manner we can call upon the networked intelligence of the Web to find within these pages not only more questions, but the beginnings of the answer to the central mystery of this entire incident: “Who was Berger looking to protect from the 9/11 Commission’s inquiry? Was it just himself and his role in our National Security in the Clinton years? Or were there others that the documents would either embarrass or implicate?

I haven't read the report yet, but will post on it later.

Palestinian Self-rule

Radio Netherlands is reporting

Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip have shot dead three children of a senior al-Fatah official. The three boys, aged six, seven and eight, were being dropped off at school in a car when the shooting occurred. Two other children in the schoolyard were injured. The killings are thought to be part of the escalating conflict between the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas' al-Fatah movement.

They were the children of Colonel Baha Balousha. An adult bystander is also reported to have died in the attack. New York Times: Balousha escaped an attack by gunmen in September, Palestinians said.

Mr. Balousha is regarded as one of the figures involved in a Palestinian Authority crackdown against Hamas members a decade ago, and he has been at odds with Hamas (the radical Islamic group that currently heads the government) for some time, Palestinians said.

Palestinians voted for these guys, folks.

Drudge Falling Down on the JOB

Drudge has been running "Diana bugged by U.S. " story now for three days. It's tedious. And incomplete. The report also said that Henri, the driver, worked for French Intelligence Services. Which means, what????

It means Drudge is missing the really BIG stories in Europe.

As much as we complain about bureacratic stupidity, you only have to read about the EU (pronounced EWWWWWW) to feel slightly better. Deutsche Welle reported in November that since each EU country was entitled to have a commissioner, when Romania joins in January, they had to create a new post for the Romanian representative.

Leonard Orban (above right) will be the First Commissioner for Multilingualism. "English is not enough," Orban said. "Multilingualism is good for businesses and competitiveness." And then there is the gender-sensitive issue of language to consider. Uh yeah.

Bye and Write When You Can

FLATTERED. The U.S. should be flattered that Kofi Annan criticized the U.S. in his farewell speech. Annan is the tip of the corruption scandal that was the Food for Oil program. While he was in charge of peacekeeping forces, he was responsible for the delays in Rwanda that caused 800,000 deaths. And his reform of the Human Rights Commission that resulted in an even worse Human Rights Council is laughable.

Being lectured by a crook isn't new for the U.S. Hugo Chavez recently appeared at the U.N. with the same complaints. And, come to think of it, Nikita Kruschev and Fidel Castro had similar criticisms.

The word "corruption" isn't found once in the full text of his speech. The speech was given at the Truman Library. If Truman was alive, he'd have kicked the bastard out the front door.

Bad News, Good News, Predictable News

The bad news is that William Jefferson (Democrat- Louisiana) was reelected with 57 percent of the vote.
The good news is that the turnout was only 16 percent.
The predictable news was that no one in the media thought a turnout that low was extraordinary.

But, then, we are talking about Louisiana and New Orleans in particular. And our own lamebrain media and the Democrat party. No wonder the Democrats don't want democracy for Iraq. If they promised it for Iraq, they'd have to deliver for New Orleans, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, and Cleveland.

Reality Check

Headline: UN downgrades man's impact on the climate

Reality: Global scammers have overhyped their predictions of dire hurricanes and rising sea levels and lost credibility. And -- this is where the gun meets the bullet -- none of the Kyoto Accord countries have reduced emissions. In fact, they have increased emissions.

Plus, I strongly suspect the real reason is that those countries who intended to use the Emission Trading Credits to funnel money from their government to Russia are having second thoughts about dealing with Putin. He makes a dangerous adversary.

Hence, Al Gore might soon be out of a job as Chief Scaremonger. (Not that he's particularly believable.)

The Joys of Marxism

The Joys of Marxism - Zimbabwe.

ZIMBABWE has the highest inflation and lowest life expectancy in the world, not to mention the highest percentage of orphans. So desperate is the shortage of food that President Robert Mugabe’s own guards have been spotted shooting squirrels in Harare’s Botanical Gardens.

Of course, the media is doing their part by not mentioning that Mugabe is a Marxist reviving the Pol Pot dream delusion.

Only rarely does the media refer to Mugabe's commitment to his Marxist ideals, as in this 2002 BBC item. Few mention his racism , the almost constant violence, insane agrarian reform, and the deliberate policy of famine to stay in power. The fact that he is anti-West, anti-White, anti-capitalism, anti-colonial, and anti-American are good enough for the media to reward him with the silence they accorded Pol Pot. And help shield him and Kim Il-sung from condemnation.

Deliberate famine is a not new as a political instrument. In modern times, the Cultural Revolution and the Politics of Famine comes to mind. It, too, was blandly dismissed by the MSM. As was the deliberate famine encouraged by Stalin that was dismissed by New York Times William Duranty.

Duranty was not a communist or even blind to the Soviet excesses; he simply excused the forced labor camps, property seizures, and political purges as measures necessary to drive a backward country into the twentieth century. "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs," was a phrase many remembered Duranty using to excuse Soviet tactics...

AND

But Duranty did more than equivocate; he repeatedly cast doubt on whether the famine was taking place, relying on scarcely more than official Soviet press reports. In so doing he allowed himself to become a vehicle of Soviet propaganda.

The media are still vehicles for evil. In Zimbabwe. In Rwanda. In North Korea. In Iran. In Darfur. And every despotic regime in the world they can't bring themselves to criticize.

United Nations Irrelevance? and MADD misdeeds

When the notoriously leftwing Toronto Star says the new United Nations Human Rights Council is "flirting with `irrelevancy'" and questions whether they are even necessary, you know the Council is so flagrant even the most leftwing can no longer deny it.

With a range of experts already monitoring human rights, some critics question whether a human rights council made up of governments, which have their own political axes to grind, can make any useful contribution to improving rights worldwide.

Indeed. In fact, some of the world's worst offenders are on that council. But the last one was the same way, which would lead any reasonable person to ask if the problem was institutional. That the Toronto Star doesn't even consider it really confirms it.

The Toronto Star has been busy investigating the charity MADD (Mothers against Drunk Drivers) Canada and finds "most of the high-profile charity's money is spent on fundraising and administration, leaving only about 19 cents of each donor dollar for charitable works."

Donors across Canada gave $5.4 million over the last year when the charity's telemarketers called. MADD's financial statements show 76 per cent ($4.1 million) was kept by the telemarketer. Part of the remaining 24 per cent ($1.3 million) was eaten up by other charity expenses such as administration, leaving little for good works.

Amazingly, the "charity" charges schools $800 a multimedia presentation on the dangers of drinking and driving. They make $100,00 profit a year on the presentation.

European Socialists

How many Democrats -- and independents and Libertarians -- would have voted for Democrats in the last election if they actually knew they were voting for this? European Socialists eager to work with U.S. Democrats

Howard Dean is attending the two-day conference together with the leaders of leftist governments of several countries and party leaders from across Europe.

Yellow Republicans

Why don't Republicans have these kinds of passions before elections? Sen. James M. Inhofe, in one of his final actions as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, held a hearing to investigate whether press accounts have "over-hyped" predictions of global warming.

Yellow Republicans, who are afraid of shadows and media criticism, run away from convictions as though they were signs of disease. Sen Inhofe has, to his credit, done much with the committee while he chaired it. But instead of crediting him with the spirit of debate, his fellow Republicans shy away from any "controversy" that might lead to an editorial in the Washington Post or the New York Times. Heaven forbid, they should do their jobs and stand up for something (besides re-election.)

The one thing I always liked about Newt Gingrich, and still do, is his unwaivering support of his own beliefs. I may not always agree with him, but I respect the intellectual exercise that lead him to his views. You can't say that about most Republicans.

We are truly blessed in this country that the men who chose independence over colonial rule and who persisted in their defense of religion, free speech, and morality had guts and fortitude. And decency. They would not have called themselves Yellow Republicans.

Brave, New World

In Spain, a new law passed in May -- The Assisted Reproduction Law -- is another step into a Brave, New World. Yesterday it came a step closer when three couples were selected to have a child that will be a donor for a sibling. The newborn children will not, of course, survive. They will be donating their bone marrow.

Airbus

When Lufthansa, Germany's largest airline and one of Airbus' biggest customers, decides to buy from Boeing, you can bet they know that the A-380 is kaput.