A people defies its dictator, and a nation’s future is in the balance  

A brutal regime is fighting, bloodily, for its life. Robert Fisk reports from the streets of Cairo



It might be the end. It is certainly the beginning of the end. Across Egypt, tens of thousands of Arabs braved tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and live fire yesterday to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak after more than 30 years of dictatorship.

And as Cairo lay drenched under clouds of tear gas from thousands of canisters fired into dense crowds by riot police, it looked as if his rule was nearing its finish. None of us on the streets of Cairo yesterday even knew where Mubarak – who would later appear on television to dismiss his cabinet – was. And I didn’t find anyone who cared.

France upholds ban on marriage for gay couples

The Irish Times – Saturday, January 29, 2011

RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Paris

FRANCE’S CONSTITUTIONAL court has upheld a ban on gay marriage, reviving a political row and prompting opposition calls for the government to change the law.

In rejecting a challenge taken by a lesbian couple with four children, the court said it found no conflict between current law on same-sex marriage and the principle of equality. It noted that it was for parliament rather than the constitutional authorities to decide any change to the statute books.

Opposition figures seized on that observation yesterday and urged President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government to make France the ninth European country to allow same-sex marriage.

An Inside Look at Difficult Negotiations with Julian Assange

Lifting the Lid on WikiLeaks

By Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark  

The joint publication of classified United States embassy cables in November 2010 in a number of major newspapers and magazines rocked the diplomatic world. In newly published books, editors at SPIEGEL and the New York Times have documented relationships between the founder of WikiLeaks and the publications that were at time tumultuous during preparations for the documents’ release.

For some time now, Julian Assange has been sparring with New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller. Assange claims the paper didn’t publish the material in its entirety and made too many concessions to the White House before going to print.

Now, Keller is fighting back. On Monday, the New York Times will publish a book with its full account of the publication of the WikiLeaks documents. In his preface, Keller describes the stormy relationship with WikiLeaks founder Assange, comparing the Australian to a character straight out of a Stieg Larsson thriller, “a man who could figure either as a hero or villain.”

The tearful origins of China’s stealth

 

By Peter Lee  

The recent test flight of China’s J-20 stealth fighter has occasioned certain uproar in international security circles, as well as paroxysms of joy among China’s more nationalistic netizens.

Despite no hard information on its stealthiness or its capabilities beyond the fact that it was able to take off, fly for 15 minutes, and land, the J-20 is already serving as justification for heightened concern and its inevitable adjunct, higher military spending, in the United States, South Korea and Japan.

From a psychological standpoint, an interesting sidebar to the J-20 furor has been the reporting on allegations that China used industrial and military espionage to develop its stealth capabilities, perhaps with the implication that China’s reactive and decadent communist system would be incapable of such innovations on its own.

For Governors, Medicaid Looks Ripe to Slash

 

By KEVIN SACK

Published: January 28, 2011  

Hamstrung by federal prohibitions against lowering Medicaid eligibility, governors from both parties are exercising their remaining options in proposing bone-deep cuts to the program during the fourth consecutive year of brutal economic conditions.

Because states confront budget gaps estimated at $125 billion, few essential services – schools, roads, parks – are likely to escape the ax. But the election of tough-minded governors, the evaporation of federal aid, the relentless growth of Medicaid rolls and the exhaustion of alternatives have made the program, which primarily covers low-income children and disabled adults, an outsize target.

Guerrero election kicks off weighty Mexico political year

The balloting Sunday in Guerrero, which except for Acapulco is an impoverished rural state, kicks off elections in six states across Mexico that will set the tone for the 2012 presidential campaign.

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Acapulco, Mexico – A bouncy Madonna tune thumps from loudspeakers on a campaign truck, an incongruous anthem for a political race draped in tension.

Rattled by drug-related killings, voters in the coastal state of Guerrero will pick a new governor Sunday after a campaign marked by accusations of attempted vote buying and partisan-based violence.

The balloting in Guerrero, which except for the Acapulco resort is an impoverished rural state, kicks off elections in six states across Mexico this year that will set the tone for the 2012 presidential campaign.

This piece was partially inspired by a conversation that I had with Kossack smileycreek in the comments after my most recent Pique the Geek installment.  That commentor’s sig line included words to the effect that all that the Republicans have is fear.

To a point I agree with that, but I would also add greed to it.  Greed has a component of fear in it, since greedy people always have the fear that they will not get enough of whatever their particular greed includes, but is enough of a distinct desire as to be included separately.

On Wednesday past, I logged all of the adverts on two TeeVee shows, Glenn Beck from the FOX “News” Channel, and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC.  I believe that most would agree that one is pretty right wing, and the other pretty left wing.

This is not what I would refer to as a scientific study, since it involved only two programs on one evening from two competing networks.  However, I think that it speaks volumes about the perception that the advertisers have about the programs on which they spend money.

Before we go into the the somewhat Geeky list, let me tell you for what I was looking.  Adverts that either are directed by the nature of the product, or those in which the content suggests fear are the prime target.  The ones that do the same for greed do as well, and often they overlap.  As the piece develops, you will see what I mean.

It should be noted that many of the adverts are plugs for other pieces of its product line.  Sometimes it is hard to tell a plug from a paid advert, but I shall try to sort them out for everyone.  A plug usually is a paid advertisement, but paid by either a parent company or a subsidiary of the same parent company.  Plugs cost almost nothing for a network to carry, since the revenue goes right back to the bottom line of the parent.  They are often used to fill in otherwise unsold advert space.

Here is the rating system that I shall use.  I am rating each advert for its fear factor, its greed factor, and its deceptiveness factor using a scale of zero to three, zero being none, one being slight, two moderate, and three being high.  These are purely my own subjective observations.  The ratings will appear in bold after my discussion of each advert as FF=x, GF=x, and DF=x.  We shall tabulate each of those after the discussion of all of the adverts.  Plugs will not be rated.

We might as well start with the Beck program, since it was first.  His show is sort of unique in that he has a full 20 minutes before the first advert.  This is quite unusual on TeeVee, especially on these kinds of programs.

At the first advert block, starting at 5:20 PM Eastern, the following were run:

A plug for The Weekly Standard, and conservative magazine that is owned by News Corporation (a misnomer itself), the parent of the FOX “News” Channel.  No Rating.

Next was an advert for Goldline, a gold marketing outfit.  This strongly falls into the fear category, since the entire marketing strategy for gold is based on fear that the United States economy is collapsing.  There is also a good portion of greed there as well, since the company emphasizes that gold is going up whilst the dollar is going down.  This particular firm also has been accused of unethical marketing tactics.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

After that was an advert for My Solar Backup, an outfit that I debunked a couple of months ago on Pique the Geek.  Just hit my profile to find it.  The bottom line is that for thousands of dollars you can buy a system that will run a 1500 watt heater at half power for about an hour until you have to recharge the batteries, IF the sun is shining.  That one goes straight to fear, fear of not having power.  However, the advert implies that you get essentially unlimited power whilst the reality is that you get very limited power for a very high price.  FF=4, GF=2, DF=3

Then there was another plug for The Weekly Standard, and then one for Hannity, both News Corporation products.  No Rating

Then there was a legitimate advert for the internet telephone service Vonage.  This in nonpolitical, and does not have anything to do with fear, but there is a small greed factor involved, since their prices for “unlimited” calls are so cheap.  However, there is some fine print in the advert that indicates that folks actually do not have unlimited calling, but rather have to use discretion in how many minutes that they use.  They also do not bring out the fact that to use the service it is necessary to have a high speed internet connexion.  By the way, most high speed internet plans through telephone companies explicitly indicate that your agreement is voided if you cancel your telephone service with them and replace it with voice over internet protocol (VOIP) services like Vonage.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=1

The next one was for Bookit.com, a privately held reservations firm that offers discounts for travel and accommodations.  It has no fear component, but like many adverts, offers money savings, so there is a little greed factor there.  I am not aware of any issues with this firm, so I am giving them a deception factor of zero.  If you have any data to support a different rating, please comment.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=0

After the next program segment, the wave of adverts began at 5:30 PM Eastern.  The first was a plug for the very show that was on, Glenn Beck, begging for people to watch the rest of it.  No Rating

After that was one for Rosland Capital, the gold merchant that uses for its pitchman the convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy.  The comments about gold sellers above all apply here, and the use of Liddy is outrageous.  This man is a convicted criminal, a moral reprobate, and an opportunist of the highest degree.  Whilst purporting to be a conservative, he has gone on “lecture” (more like concert) tours with Timothy Leary (Liddy actually was instrumental in his arrest when Liddy was with FBI) and with Al Franken, all for money.  The worst parts of these adverts is that they advocate that our economic system is collapsing and that gold is the only thing that you can have to protect yourself.  Please see my pieces from a couple of weeks ago both in this series and on Pique the Geek for the debunking of gold.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

Next, there was the one from Americans against Food Taxes, where the worried mum in the store is loading her cart with mostly healthy foods (she even is shown loading reusable grocery bags into her vehicle) and complaining that there is a plan to tax those sugar laden, artificially flavored and colored beverages.  What they do not tell you is that this is a front group for the American Beverage Association, the premier lobbying organization for the soft drink and bottled water industry.  By the way, under Michael Huckabee, with whom I am not very fond, Arkansas passed a tax on soft drinks that has kept the Medicaid program solvent even now.  This advert is mostly about fear, the way it is written (“… the government is getting into our personal lives…”), and also a bit about greed.  FF=2, GF=2, DF=3

Then there is the one from Seniorpeoplemeet.com.  It is owned by People Media, a niche personal dating corporation.  I have not been able to find any ties to News Corporation, so it seems to be legitimate, but does prey on the fear that older people might be alone, and for many folks being alone is even more frightening than being broke.  FF=1, GF=0, DF=0

The next advert was the one for Lifestyle Lift.  That is a cosmetic surgery technique that is supposed to make people look younger.  There is no doubt that such cosmetic surgery works, but as with any surgery there are risks.  Their adverts say nothing about that, and are also misleading in that the actual patients had a second procedure applied to make their necks tighter, only indicated in the very fine print at the bottom of the advert for a few seconds.  This advert is directly tapping fear, the fear of growing old, probably the worst fear  that there is.  I find them morally objectionable.  By the way, this firm has settled accusations that it had its employees or consultants to set up sockpuppet internet sites, and to comment on other sites, about how satisfied they were with the procedures.  FF=2, GF=0, DF=2

The next advert was for Matrixdirect.com, a life insurance company.  I do not see much fear or greed in that one, since life insurance is a commonly purchased product.  They emphasize good prices, but I see nothing wrong with that if you can deliver. FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

Finally, before the next part of the show was a plug for Special Report with Bret Baier, another News Corporation issue.  I find him to be offensive, and his interview with the President a couple of months ago should puke everyone off of him.  No Rating

There was a little more show, and then at 5:38 PM, the adverts started again.

The first was a plug for Hannity, not unexpected.  No Rating

Second was an advert for Merit Financial, another gold outfit. This one is different that the Rosland one in that one of its VPs actually does the advert.  What they do NOT tell you is that they are owned by Seacoast Coin, Inc.  My comments about gold above and at the ones mentioned there still apply.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

The oddball there was the Comfy Control Harness, a dog walking product.  It is purported to be a product that dogs like better than a collar for walking, and is more humane.  Well, my research indicates that veterinarians think the opposite, and that a collar is better.  By the way, the URL that they advertise on the show was offline when I tried to access it!  This has nothing to do with fear or greed, but it is interesting that the product, which is bogus, advertises on the FOX “News” Network.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=2

Next was another Special Report plug.  No Rating

At 5:48 Eastern, after another small slice of program, came the next advert, this one from Lear Capital, another gold seller.  I really like this advert, because it shows a stormy sea, and a man who is on one of those stupid TeeVee cop shows as spokesman who says words to the effect “… and how can your guarantee your security?  GOLD!”  This is the same actor that had the sex organ transplant from a gorilla on the cult classic TeeVee show Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman! years ago now.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

The next one was for Thejewerlyexchange.com, where you can buy diamonds for half price!  That sort of goes to greed, and some folks think that diamonds are like gold in preserving value.  Here is who they are.  Goldenwest Diamond Corporation owns them, and Jewelry Factory® and Jewelry Source® as well.  If you can find a site with any useful information, please let me know.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=0

Next was one about a nutritional supplement, Qunol, a Coenzyme Q supplement.  The advert indicates that this will help keep ones heart healthy.  Research reports are spotty, but there is not any consensus that supplements of Coenzyme Q will improve your health.  FF=1, GF=0, DF=1

Next was an plug for that fingers on blackboard voiced von Sustren’s On the Record with Gretta von Sustren show.  No Rating

After that there was ANOTHER gold one, this time ITMTrading.com.  The same arguments apply here as to the ones before.  More gold nonsense.  Want a bite of gold?  It is delicious!  Sorry, sarcasm is often the best tool to deal with fear and greed.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

Next there is Plentyoffish.com, a dating site.  The name is actually sort of offensive, because I do not, and have ever not, considered a possible companion as one of a school of fish, just one for the taking.  I think that it is insulting.  This site, and the advert to which it is associated, is in keeping with the fear of being alone.  If fear or greed is not there, FOX loses. By the way, as far as I can tell, nearly five people work there.  FF=2, GF=0, DF=0

The next one was for Timeshareexitsolution.com, an outfit that promises to get people out of legal contracts that they have with timeshare companies that they (probably foolishly) bought vacation time in strange places.  Timeshares were really big at one time, and were NEVER a good deal.  I object to this advert because it implies that you really do not have to SELL your timeshare, just transfer title to get it out of your name.  I suspect that you have to pay them to do that.  It sounds shady to me.  FF=0, GF=2, DF=2

Just before signing off, at 5:55 ran these adverts:

One from the American Petroleum Institute, and propaganda piece about how wonderful the petroleum industry is.  This one is not really greed or fear based, at least directed towards the audience, so is what I consider to be just a promotion for a lobby, paid for by the lobby.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

Then there was another Goldline advert, and I have discussed that outfit for the 5:20 set of adverts.  FF=3, GF=3, DF=2

Next came a plug for The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corporation, so that is truly a plug.  No Rating

The Hutton Law Firm had the next spot, this one about recalled hip replacement hardware.  This one has a large greed factor and somewhat of a fear one, because it indicates that if you have a certain hip replacement, you MIGHT be eligible for monetary settlements for the greed part, and also that you might not even know if you have a bum hip, with free research offered to supply the fear factor.  What really is interesting to me is that this advert is for trial lawyers who are squeezing medical device manufacturers for money!  The FOX “News” Network constantly rails against trial lawyers and advocates tort reform that would make it much more difficult for mistreated patients to sue for these very kinds of things.  Hypocrisy is not a problem for FOX, nor for Beck.  FF=1, GF=2, DF=0

Then there was another spot for Lifeline Lift, discussed earlier.  FF=2, GF=0, DF=2

Finally, there was another American Petroleum Institute advert.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

Then Beck kissed everyone good-night.  I just made that up.  I would rather dance barefoot on hot steel than kiss Glenn Beck.

Altogether, there were a total of 31 adverts, 9 of them plugs for other FOX “News” Channel shows or other Newscorp products, for a total of 22 actual adverts.  I shall break them down regarding their ratings after we examine the MSNBC entry.

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell aired at 8:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday.  Obviously, this is in the old timeslot that Countdown with Keith Olbermann used to have.  I do not know the circumstances of MSNBC and him parting ways, but it certainly caused us to lose the most eloquent and passionate of their lineup.  In any event, the first advert block started at 8:14 PM Eastern.

The first advert was for Cisco Systems, a telecommunications company.  No fear nor greed in it, and no false claims.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

After that aired the advert for JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, a men’s clothing outfit.  I have talked about them before because they always are using sales to get folks in the door, but they seem otherwise OK, just selling at higher prices than they should, but having a sale EVERY day!  FF=0, GF=1, DF=1

Next was an advert for ADT, the home security company.  I have personal experience with this firm, it is legitimate.  However, fear is its major selling point.  FF=1, GF=0, DF=0

The show went on from then, then the next block of adverts started at 8:17 Eastern.

The first advert was for the new TeeVee series, Face Off.  It appears on The Syfy Channel, owned by General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC.  Therefore this is a plug, although sort of a deceptive one.  No Rating

Next was an advert for the new motion picture, 127 Hours.  Since it was made by a studio apart from General Electric, it is a legitimate advert.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

An advert for Hotwire.com, the travel agency, was next.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=0

Just before programming resumed was an advert for Dr. Scholl’s Gel Insoles.  This is a fine product, and helps most folks feel better, although of course the benefit is somewhat inflated, so I give it a slightly inflated DF.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

After the next part of the show came the block of adverts that started at 8:25.

The first advert was for Audi, the automobile company.  This particular one was very strange, but not fear nor greed mongering.  Like all automobile adverts, it is a bit deceptive in that the car that they show is not the one priced.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

Liberty Mutual Automobile Insurance was next.  Nothing unusual here.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

Following was the Hoover Carpet Cleaner, also an upfront product.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

Vonage was next, and happens to be the ONLY advert that also ran on Beck’s awful show.  Please see my analysis (vide infra). FF=0, GF=1, DF=1

The term life insurance outfit Select Quote was next.  They look to be reputable, and are not deceptive.  However, due to the fact that life insurance, unlike automobile insurance, is completely optional, there is a bit of fear that makes one buy it.  There is no greed, since one will be dead when it is paid.  FF=1, GF=0, DF=0

The next one was a plug for the MSNBC weekday lineup.  No rating

After that was a plug for The Dylan Ratigan Show, another MSNBC show.  No Rating

The programming resumed until 8:29 PM Eastern, and started with a plug for The Rachael Maddow Show.  No rating  

Next was still another plug for the MSNBC lineup.  No comment, and No Rating

Then there was an advert for Advil, the brand name ibruprofen pain reliever.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

The one following was a spot for Cisco Systems, discussed already, vide infra.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

There was another advert for 127 Hours, also already discussed.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

Royal Caribbean Cruises was next, and they were offering a discount, so a little greed is there, but not much.  I also personally think that cruise adverts make the images look better than the actual experience, so I added a bit of deception to their score.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=1

The last one in this block was for Temperpedic Beds.  This has turned out to be a pretty reliable firm.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

When the programming was over the next time, the subsequent advert block had these:

The automobile firm Subaru, a fine car as has been told to me by everyone that has owned one, and I ask about this kind of thing.  Suburu does have a tendency to talk up its safety record, and its resale value, so I have bumped this advert up a little.  I have never seen anything deceptive, however, unlike most automobile adverts.  FF=1, GF=1, DF=0

The osteoporosis drug Reclast was next.  As a former bigwig in FDA, I have a problem with prescription drugs being advertised in media other than professional medical ones, but the First Amendment says that they can be so marketed.  This particular drug can be very effective, but it marketing makes it look like it is perfect, and the potential negative effects are very much glossed over in the copy for the advert.  FF=2, GF=0, DF=2

TDAmeritrade was next, a discount broker outfit.  All of them inflate their merits, but are not really bad entities.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=1

MSNBC has the annoying habit of interrupting its commercial blocks with a bit of commentary, and this is not any exception.  After a 15 second piece by O’Donnell, they went back to adverts at 8:43.

Florastor was the next one advertised.  It is supposed to be a remedy for intestinal problems, but studies are not complete.  It is a swallowable form of the fungus Saccharomyces boulardii and actually shows promise for several gut related problems, but as I said, has not been completely investigated.  It is a very old folk remedy.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

The resort firm Atlantic Resorts was next, and there is no issue other than the images always looking better than the reality.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=1

The last advert in this block was for USAA Insurance.  That is a pretty upfront company, and does give some breaks for current and former military service members, but still shop around a bit.  I sort of find it offensive to our military folks that this firm uses images of active duty folks and say that “this is our board of directors”.  I downrate them for deception for that.  Perhaps their board USED to be active folks, but I seriously doubt that they teleconference to Afghanistan for director’s votes on issues.  Also, the particular one that was aired was extremely creepy for reasons that I will not mention unless someone brings it up in the comments.  FF=1, GF=1, DF=2

They went back to regular programming until 8:49, and then the last block of adverts aired.

The first one was from Staples, the office supply company.  FF=0, GF=1, DF=0

Next, the Black Swan motion picture was offered.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

A repeat of the Cisco advert was next run.  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

Then there was an advert for Aflac, “the put money in your account if you get hurt or sick” insurance company run.  Good idea, but sort of expensive.  FF=1, GF=1, DF=1

Oddly, Pictsweet frozen vegetables were next.  I have used them for years, they are good!  FF=0, GF=0, DF=0

There was another advert for ADT, and discussed already (vide infra).  FF=1, GF=0, DF=0

Finally, there was a plug for The Rachael Maddow show. No Rating

For this program, there were a total of 34 adverts, 5 of which were plugs, leaving 29 legitimate adverts.  Now we shall compare the adverts from the two networks and see the results.

First, FOX had 22 paid adverts, and MSNBC 29 of them.  This is a bit misleading, because some of the FOX ones were longer than the ones on MSNBC.  I did not have a stopwatch, so the times of each are not available.  I would guess that they were most probably just about equal.

Second, the tabulation of the negative factors are extremely telling.  Let us examine them carefully.  Here are the Fear Factor scores for FOX, and then for MSNBC:

32 for FOX, 8 for MSNBC.  By my analysis, FOX ran FOUR times more adverts that preyed on fear than MSNBC did in one hour.

Here are the Greed Factor numbers:

29 for FOX, 9 for MSNBC.   That comes to 3.2 more more adverts that played on greed for FOX than for MSNBC.

Now, for the Deceptive Factor numbers:

29 for FOX, 12 for MSNBC.  That means that FOX ran 2.42 times as many deceptive adverts than did MSNBC that night.

Right off of the top of my head I can come up with at least three conclusions from these analyses.  Let us start from the bottom.

First of all, deceptive advertisement is quite common, and not limited to the conservative outlets, but certainly favored by them.  The FOX “News” Network has no compunction about deceiving people in its programming, and this analysis shows that this also carries over to their advertising.  On the other hand, even MSNBC runs adverts that are deceptive, but only at a rate or intensity less than half that for FOX.  Note that the level of deception was much lower on MSNBS’s adverts compared to the outright, highly misleading gold adverts on FOX.

Second, greed is used as an advert tool more than three times more on FOX than it is used on MSNBC.  The numbers speak for themselves.  The combination of these two observations indicate that the advertisers on FOX are wont to use both deception and greed to sell their products.  Now we get to fear.  Greed is a designed into FOX’s programming as well, to draw their most desired demographic:  wealthy, mostly white, men.

The fear factor was exactly four to one!  Sponsors on FOX are using fear as a selling point 4 times more than the ones that advertise on MSNBC.  This is consistent with the programming on FOX as well.  Their programming is designed to incite fear in their audience, because fear draws the other demographic that FOX desires:  less educated, working class or lower middle class people.

Fear and greed are time proven methods to influence thought.  Interestingly, Glenn Beck himself often brings up the grandfather of marketing, Edward Louis Bernays.  Beck uses him as a whipping boy, but Beck’s entire money making universe is based on Bernays’ groundbreaking work.

I had always noticed that the tone of the advertising on FOX was quite different than that on most other outlets.  Back in the day, when Turner ran his own stations, Turner Broadcasting was the champion for airing cheap telemartketed products, like Ronco stuff and things like The Clapper.  This is no longer the case, but I remember it fondly.  This little exercise does put into numbers what most of us already knew about FOX’s advertising:  just like its content, fear, greed and deception are very welcome there.

Well, this has been much longer than most of my Popular Culture entries usually are, and with no music nor any pictures.  I apologize for that, but I think that this comparison is extremely important.  Please offer comments either to tell me that I am off base, or to solidify what I have said.

Thank everyone very much for reading this extremely long post!  To give you a sort of an after dinner mint for showing so much patience for this piece, enjoy this, from what was intended to be the opus after Tommy, called Lifehouse.  The project was abandoned and much of it was released as Who’s Next.  Pete finally completed it, but without Keith and John, it never got to the masterpiece status that it deserved.  By the way, in my opinion The Who peaked with the release of Who’s Next.  Listen to the superb bass work that Enwistle does here.

Please enjoy this version, with all four original band members.  I had not heard this particular one before.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Crossposted at Dailykos.com, Docudharma.com, and at Antemedius.com

Meh.  If you can get out a good night for a date.

You are too old and fat to be jumping horses.

• AMC– True Grit (I don’t understand why they ever remade this)
• Bravo– Jerry Maguire
• Disney– Good Luck Charlie Snow Show
• Discovery– Gold Rush (last week’s and new), Flying Wild (premier)
• E!– The Soup (premier)
• ESPN– Winter X Games; Hoopies, Celtics @ Suns
• ESPN2– Milrose Games
• FX– Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda
• National Geographic– Dog Whisperer (premier)
• Nick– An hour of new Spongebob
• Oxygen– Titanic x 2
• Sci Fi– Being Human (Series Premier repeat)
• Style– Garden State
• TBS– Get Smart (Steve Carell is just awful, in everything)
• Turner Classic– Tunes of Glory, The Odessa File (Ronald Neame night)
• TLC– Say Yes to the Dress marathon (with premier)
• TNT– The Dark Night
• Toon– Clone Wars (premier of Part 1 of the 3 Part Mortis story arc)
• VH1– Ghostbusters

You’re gonna endanger us, you’re gonna endanger our client – the nice lady, who paid us in advance, before she became a dog…

Not necessarily. There’s definitely a *very slim* chance we’ll survive.

I love this plan! I’m excited to be a part of it! LET’S DO IT!

Later-

An American without ice in his drink is unthinkable, if not unconstitutional!

…

Yours was gin and ginger ale, right?

Mine was NEVER gin and ginger ale. Montrochet ’69, right next to the beer.

• AMC– El Dorado
• Bravo– Something’s Gotta Give
• Comedy– Eddie Murphy Raw
• Disney– Phineas and Ferb
• FX– Lights Out (this week’s)
• Spike– Days of Thunder
• TBS– Legally Blonde
• Turner Classic– Hopscotch (genuinely good and horribly under exposed caper flick with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, you should set your VCR)
• TNT– Lethal Weapon, The Negotiator
• USA– Chaos

Dave in repeats from 1/13.

And at the end, everybody sued me. Claiming I whipped they ass. I’m 5ft 10in, I weigh 180lbs. I cannot whip a disco’s ass by myself.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 54 Top Stories.

1 Clashes in Tunisia as new cabinet sworn in

by Ines Bel Aiba, AFP

2 hrs 2 mins ago

2 Eight killed in suicide attack on Kabul supermarket

by Usman Sharifi, AFP

31 mins ago

3 German MPs extend unpopular Afghan mission

by Simon Sturdee, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 7:38 am ET

4 Mubarak calls out army as protesters go on rampage

by Charles Onians, AFP

24 mins ago

5 Egypt police struggle to crush anti-regime protests

by Hania el-Malawani, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 10:28 am ET

6 Internet cut as Egypt braces for Friday protests

by Samer al-Atrush, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 5:15 am ET

7 Ford doubles profit in 2010, disappoints in Q4

AFP

Fri Jan 28, 12:23 pm ET

8 US steak, burger lovers face beefier prices

by Germain Moyon, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 9:26 am ET

9 Ferrari chief insists on 2011 title win

by Gordon Howard, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 8:40 am ET

10 US, Britain split on cuts in Davos

by Dave Clark, AFP

Fri Jan 28, 7:19 am ET

11 Mubarak orders army to back police against unrest

By Edmund Blair, Reuters

15 mins ago

12 Obama ratchets up pressure on Egypt’s Mubarak

By Matt Spetalnick and David Alexander, Reuters

Fri Jan 28, 12:13 am ET

13 Higher costs sink Ford profit, shares slide

By Bernie Woodall, Reuters

19 mins ago

14 China rating agency blames U.S. for "credit war"

By Zhou Xin and Kevin Yao, Reuters

2 hrs 17 mins ago

15 Microsoft’s Windows disappoints on lukewarm PC sales

By Bill Rigby, Reuters

1 hr 27 mins ago

16 Companies pull hard in pricing tug-of-war

By Alexander Smith, Reuters

1 hr 9 mins ago

17 U.S. and Japan told time running out to deal with debt

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Lesley Wroughton, Reuters

Fri Jan 28, 2:02 am ET

18 Japan vows fiscal reform after downgrade, but success

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White, Reuters

Fri Jan 28, 6:33 am ET

19 U.S. and Japan warned by IMF and rating agencies on debt

By Lesley Wroughton, Reuters

Fri Jan 28, 1:47 am ET

20 Afghan troop proposal may cost $2 billion more: U.S. aide

By Missy Ryan, Reuters

Fri Jan 28, 1:28 am ET

21 Amazon margins squeezed by costs, shares plunge

By Alexandria Sage, Reuters

Thu Jan 27, 7:28 pm ET

22 Bernanke: all but one major firm at risk in 2008

By Dave Clarke and Kevin Drawbaugh, Reuters

Thu Jan 27, 5:46 pm ET

23 US to review aid to Egypt, WH spokesman says

By MATTHEW LEE and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

59 mins ago

24 World markets sink as protests escalate in Egypt

By DAVID K. RANDALL and MATTHEW CRAFT, AP Business Writers

3 mins ago

25 The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer

Fri Jan 28, 7:29 am ET

26 Cables: Egypt, US clash over democracy

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, Associated Press

46 mins ago

27 WH: Egypt protests are opportunity for reforms

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

Thu Jan 27, 7:24 pm ET

28 GOP senator favors cutting US aid to Israel

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

1 hr 52 mins ago

29 Obama open to ‘tweak’ of health care, not repeal

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 12:29 pm ET

30 FACT CHECK: Did gov’t stretch health care stat?

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 12:21 pm ET

31 House GOP considers privatizing Medicare

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 1:11 am ET

32 NASA marks 25th anniversary of Challenger accident

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

39 mins ago

33 Challenger: 25 years later, a still painful wound

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

Fri Jan 28, 2:24 pm ET

34 Taco Bell takes its beef with lawsuit to public

By SARAH SKIDMORE and BRUCE SCHREINER, AP Business Writers

38 mins ago

35 Human meds trigger calls to pet poison hotlines

By SUE MANNING, Associated Press

1 hr 53 mins ago

36 Mets owners explore partial sale of team

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

1 hr 56 mins ago

37 In future, cars might decide if driver is drunk

By BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press

2 hrs 35 mins ago

38 Military rolls out plan to repeal gay ban

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press

9 mins ago

39 Ford stock falls after company misses expectations

By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writers

58 mins ago

40 Court puts Emanuel back in Chicago mayor’s race

DON BABWIN and DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 7:10 am ET

41 Taliban suicide bomber kills 8 in Afghan capital

By HEIDI VOGT and AMIR SHAH, Associated Press

2 hrs 47 mins ago

42 Board member won’t resign after pregnancy remark

By MURRAY EVANS, Associated Press

28 mins ago

43 AP finds execution-drug shortage widespread in US

By GREG BLUESTEIN, ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS and THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 3:02 pm ET

44 Fla. rep failed to explain thousands in expenses

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 2:42 pm ET

45 Immigrant who worked undercover fights deportation

By HELEN O’NEILL, AP Special Correspondent

Fri Jan 28, 2:20 pm ET

46 Relentless snow brings out the best in Easterners

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 10:52 am ET

47 Blind driver to debut new technologies at Daytona

By KYLE HIGHTOWER, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 6:55 am ET

48 Asian-American lawmakers demand Limbaugh apology

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 5:48 am ET

49 Arizona legislation targets automatic citizenship

By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 4:54 am ET

50 USDA asked to decide: Does organic mean outdoor?

By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press

Fri Jan 28, 3:50 am ET

51 Bill Gross sees dangers in the debt-limit debate

By MATTHEW CRAFT, AP Business Writer

Fri Jan 28, 12:39 am ET

52 Harry Reid unbowed in taking on GOP, Obama

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

Thu Jan 27, 11:25 pm ET

53 Indian leader: Unleash energy on tribal lands

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

Thu Jan 27, 6:26 pm ET

54 USDA will allow planting of modified alfalfa

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

Thu Jan 27, 6:23 pm ET

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Paul Krugman: Their Own Private Europe

President Obama’s State of the Union address was a ho-hum affair. But the official Republican response, from Representative Paul Ryan, was really interesting. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

Mr. Ryan made highly dubious assertions about employment, health care and more. But what caught my eye, when I read the transcript, was what he said about other countries: “Just take a look at what’s happening to Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom and other nations in Europe. They didn’t act soon enough; and now their governments have been forced to impose painful austerity measures: large benefit cuts to seniors and huge tax increases on everybody.”

Johann Hari: How Can Conservatives Object to Protecting Gay Kids?

I am exhausted. I have spent all week trying to brainwash small children into being gay, by relentlessly inserting homosexuality into their math, geography and science lessons. Their little eyes widened when the gay algebra lesson started, but it worked: Their concept of “normal sexual behavior” has been successfully destroyed. It’s all part of the program brilliantly coordinated by the Homintern to imposed The Gay Agenda on Every Aspect of Life.

That, at least, is what you would believe if you had read some of Britain’s bestselling newspapers this week, or listened to some of our most prominent Conservative politicians. The headlines were filled with fury. The Conservative Member of Parliament Richard Drax said gays were trying to impose “questionable sexual standards” on kids, while a right-wing newspaper said we were mounting a massive “abuse of childhood.”

Here’s what is actually happening — with plenty of lessons for the U.S. A detailed study by the Schools Health Education Unit found that in Britain today, 70 percent of gay children get bullied, 41 percent get beaten up, and 17 percent get told at some point in their childhood that they are going to be killed. The evidence suggests the situation in the U.S. is just as bad.

Amy Wilentz: Haiti: Not for Amateurs

Lost in the uproar over the return of Jean-Claude Duvalier to Haiti and his to-ing and fro-ing from hotel to courthouse to hotel to mountain home, is the much more important political crisis. On election day in November, only 22.3 percent of Haiti’s eligible voters cast their ballots in what turned out to be an election plagued with fraud. The reason for the low turnout was apathy, coupled with the catastrophic loss of identity papers in the earthquake of January 2010. Given the miserable conditions of so many Haitians since the earthquake, the anemic turnout provided resounding evidence that Haitians don’t believe their vote matters.

And they are right. Many parties were kept out, including the popular party of Haiti’s first freely and fairly elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who has been living in exile in South Africa since a coup backed by the international community forced him from power in 2004. Many see post-Duvalier Haitian politics as a back-and-forth between the forces who support Duvalier, a prototypical right-wing strongman, and those who support Aristide, theoretically a leftist prodemocracy leader. Although this analysis is grossly simplistic, it is also partly true.

Ari Berman: At White House, Axelrod Outlines Obama’s Post-SOTU Strategy

Yesterday afternoon, I was fortunate to attend a roundtable discussion at the White House with Obama strategist David Axelrod and a small group of left-leaning reporters and bloggers. A day after the State of the Union Address, Axelrod offered few specifics of how the president planned to move forward on his call for new investments in technology, education and infrastructure alongside a five-year domestic spending freeze, but signaled there could be a major showdown with Congressional Republicans over how to fund the federal government in a few weeks, perhaps reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s clash with Newt Gingrich in 1995. (You can read the whole transcript over at Daily Kos).

While indicating that Obama will focus on cutting the deficit “in a responsible way” in the coming years, Axelrod also stressed that the president would not wholeheartedly embrace the rigid austerity politics currently being pushed by the GOP. “Dealing with spending is part of the equation, but it’s not the only part of the equation,” Axelrod said from the Roosevelt room. “And reducing the debt and dealing with spending is not in and of itself a growth strategy. And that’s where we may maybe have a philosophical difference [with Republicans].”

Robert Dreyfuss: Revolution in Egypt? Stay Tuned

Will revolution topple Egypt next? We’ll find out tomorrow. . . . . .

Needless to say, a revolution in Egypt-unlike in far less consequential Tunisia-changes everything. The entire Middle East balance, the Arab-Israeli issue, the stability of the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, and the future of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon are all tied to Egypt, which for a century has been the epicenter of the Arab world.

Serra Sippel: Ugandan Tragedy, Human Rights, and U.S. Foreign Aid

There are times when the words are hard to find, because the action they are needed to describe is so repugnant that any language in its entirety is insufficient.

A Ugandan gay rights activist, David Kato, was beaten to death with a hammer in his home yesterday, the result of a staggering climate of intolerance that has been fueled by local media, religious leaders and politicians, and in part by discriminatory U.S.-funded programs. There are other theories behind the murder: robbery and a personal dispute to name two. However, it is irresponsible and ignorant to exonerate from guilt the violent rhetoric towards homosexuals, and particularly David Kato, that has been running rampant in Uganda. While the U.S. has condemned egregious examples of rights-violating policies in Uganda, it still funds HIV interventions that are inherently anti-LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) and anti-woman. They assume and reinforce the idea that everyone is heterosexual, everyone is going to get married, and everyone has control over when and with whom they and their partner have sex; ideas that are flat-out wrong and result in useless HIV interventions and rancid discrimination. There is no justification; personal belief and morality are not excuses for perpetuating HIV infection and stigma that leads to slaughter. It stops now.

Alaa Bayoumi: ElBaradei’s last stand

ElBaradei’s return to Egypt could offer the opportunity for a good alternative to the current leadership.

The return of Mohamed ElBaradei to Egypt a year ago and him joining the ranks of its political opposition created lots of expectations and frustration.

He has been seen as an agent for democracy, hope and change in a country ruled by dictatorships for decades.

Yet, many feel he may have wasted an opportunity and failed many Egyptians who believed in him.

Thus, when he announced yesterday that he is returning to Egypt from a trip to Europe to join the ongoing and unprecedented protests against the ruling regime, his announcement was met with initial scepticism.

Some of the activists who have been participating in the latest protests in the street and online have sharply criticised his attitude toward politics in Egypt.

Gamal Eid, the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, an Egyptian human rights group, says

“whoever wants to be a leader of a democratic movement should be working among them. He cannot lead a real battle against corruption and authoritarianism by remote control or Twitter. People don’t forget who stood next to them and who deserted them when they were calling for democracy and fighting corruption.”

“My question to ElBaradei is if people started moving and taking by force their right for democracy, what is your role?”

(Bumped. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

News is breaking extremely fast. Both Al Jazeera and CNN are transmitting live images. You can watch the Al Jazeera broadcast live on line. Protests broken out all over Egypt and there are tanks on the streets of Cairo. Reports are that the police have withdrawn from the Alexandria.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Egypt yesterday and it is being reported by numerous news agencies that he has been placed under house arrest

As I am writing this, the commentator is reporting that state security has entered Al Jeezera’s Cairo building in an attempt to shut down their feed. Communications have been hampered in the building. The cutting of cell phone connections and the Internet blackout the past three days is unprecedented and reporters and crews are missing, as per live reports.

It is prayer time and the protesters are organizing for evening prayer and the riot police has back off to give them time to pray.

There are reports of at least one person killed in Cairo and a curfew has been imposed for 6 PM Egyptian time (11 AM EST).

This is a video of clashes on a bridge that took place earlier today.

UP dates will continue as they happen.

Mishima’s live blog

I’ve been awake for 22 hours I’m going to bed- mishima

Up Date #1: CNN reports that the Egyptian Army has been ordered to take over the security from the police.

Up Date #2: The New York Times has continuous up dates on the protests as they receive them.

Egyptian President is expected to give a live address.

Up Date #3: A curfew went into effect at 6 PM (11 AM) and is being ignored.

Al Jazeera reports that 5 Army tanks have entered Cairo as protesters take over security police armored personnel carriers and police stations, setting them on fire.

Further up dates and videos will be below the fold.

Update #4: Al Jazeera is reporting that protesters have formed a human chain around the Cairo Museum to protest it from looting. (TMC)

Up Date #5: CNN reports the headquarters of Egypt’s ruling party, have been ransacked and burned.

Delta Airlines has suspended all flights to Egypt.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert.

Lt. General Sami Hafez Enan is the Egyptian Armed Forces Chief of Staff who has cut short his visit to the US to return to Egypt.

Up Date #6: This is video from Al Jazeera has useful primer on Cairo geography, giving readers (and journalists) unfamiliar with the city’s plan an idea of where some of the scenes we have been witnessing in video of protests have taken place:

This video from Al Jazeera, shot earlier on Friday night in Cairo and uploaded to YouTube recently, shows people on the streets of Cairo on Friday night cheering units of Egypt’s Army, which is more respected than the members of the country’s police force:

Up Date # 7: President Hosni Mubarak finally spoke.

CAIRO – President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt appeared on television early Saturday morning and ordered his government to resign, but backed his security forces’ attempts to contain the surging unrest around the country that has shaken his three-decade-long authoritarian rule.

President Barack Obama spoke shortly after and said little, remaining neutral, more or less, but the White House seems to be giving Mubarak the benefit of the doubt but support is dwindling.

Pres. Obama spoke with Mubarak for 30 minutes before Mubarak spoke. What else did they talk about besides not using violence against peaceful protesters and turn back on the cell service and internet? That might have taken 3 minutes, what else did they say?

News organizations are reporting the cell and internet service is back.

Wall Street Appears To Have Violated Federal Securities Law, Crisis Panel Finds

Shaihien Nasiripour, The Huffington Post

01/27/11 10:28 PM

Wall Street firms that sold mortgage-backed securities appear to have violated federal securities laws by misleading investors on the quality of the underlying mortgages, a bipartisan panel created by Congress to investigate the root causes of the financial crisis concluded.

…

In September, the crisis commission heard testimony from Keith Johnson, former president of Clayton Holdings, one of the nation’s biggest mortgage research companies. Johnson testified that some 28 percent of the loans given to homeowners with poor credit examined by his firm on behalf of Wall Street banks failed to meet basic standards. Yet nearly half appear to have been sold to investors regardless, he added.

Last April, the commission heard from Richard Bowen, a whistleblower and former chief underwriter for Citigroup’s consumer-lending unit. Bowen told the panel that in the middle of 2006, he discovered more than 60 percent of the mortgages the bank had purchased from other firms and then sold to investors were “defective,” meaning they did not satisfy the bank’s own lending criteria. On November 3, 2007, Bowen sent an e-mail to top Citi officials, including Robert Rubin, a former Treasury Secretary. Bowen’s warnings appear to have been ignored.

In Panel’s Report, Stern Warning on Repeating Financial Crisis

By SEWELL CHAN, The New York Times

Published: January 27, 2011

WASHINGTON – Behind closed doors, Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, called it “the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.”

He said that 12 of the country’s 13 most important financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, had been on the verge of collapse “within a week or two.” (The apparent exception: JPMorgan Chase.)

…

Enabling those developments, the panel found, were a bias toward deregulation by government officials, and mismanagement by financiers who failed to perceive the risks.

Goldman Sachs Got Billions From AIG For Its Own Account, Crisis Panel Finds

Shaihien Nasiripour, The Huffington Post

01/26/11 10:23 PM

Goldman Sachs collected $2.9 billion from the American International Group as payout on a speculative trade it placed for the benefit of its own account, receiving the bulk of those funds after AIG received an enormous taxpayer rescue, according to the final report of an investigative panel appointed by Congress.

The fact that a significant slice of the proceeds secured by Goldman through the AIG bailout landed in its own account–as opposed to those of its clients or business partners– has not been previously disclosed. These details about the workings of the controversial AIG bailout, which eventually swelled to $182 billion, are among the more eye-catching revelations in the report to be released Thursday by the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

…

At a hearing on July 1, 2010–two weeks before Goldman sent the e-mail acknowledging how $2.9 billion in AIG funds wound up in its own account–the crisis panel questioned Goldman’s chief financial officer, David A. Viniar and managing director David Lehman. Both said they knew nothing about AIG funds landing in the bank’s private coffers, according to a transcript of the hearing.

The report concludes that Goldman collected the $2.9 billion as payment for so-called proprietary trades made for its own account–essentially successful bets on large pools of financial instruments.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 337 days remaining until the end of the year (338 in leap years).

On this day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson nominates Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. After a bitterly contested confirmation, Brandeis became the first Jewish judge on the Supreme Court.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Brandeis quickly earned a reputation in Boston as the people’s attorney for taking on cases pro bono. Brandeis advocated progressive legal reform to combat the social and economic ills caused in America by industrialization. He met Woodrow Wilson, who was impressed by Brandeis’ efforts to hold business and political leaders accountable to the public, during Wilson’s 1912 campaign against Theodore Roosevelt. Brandeis’ early legal achievements included the establishment of savings-bank life insurance in Massachusetts and securing minimum wages for women workers. He also devised what became known as the Brandeis Brief, an appellate report that analyzed cases on economic and social evidence rather than relying solely on legal precedents.

Louis Dembitz Brandeis (November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Europe. He enrolled at Harvard Law School, graduating at the age of twenty with the highest grade average in the college’s history.

Brandeis settled in Boston where he became a recognized lawyer through his work on social causes that would benefit society. He helped develop the “right to privacy” concept by writing a Harvard Law Review article of that title, and was thereby credited by legal scholar Roscoe Pound as having accomplished “nothing less than adding a chapter to our law”. Years later, a book he published, entitled Other People’s Money, suggested ways of curbing the power of large banks and money trusts, which partly explains why he later fought against powerful corporations, monopolies, public corruption, and mass consumerism, all of which he felt were detrimental to American values and culture. He also became active in the Zionist movement, seeing it as a solution to the “Jewish problem” of antisemitism in Europe and Russia, while at the same time being a way to “revive the Jewish spirit.”

When his family’s finances became secure, he began devoting most of his time to public causes and was later dubbed the “People’s Lawyer.” He insisted on serving on cases without pay so that he would be free to address the wider issues involved. The Economist magazine calls him “A Robin Hood of the law.” Among his notable early cases were actions fighting railroad monopolies; defending workplace and labor laws; helping create the Federal Reserve System; and presenting ideas for the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He achieved recognition by submitting a case brief, later called the “Brandeis Brief,” which relied on expert testimony from people in other professions to support his case, thereby setting a new precedent in evidence presentation.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson nominated Brandeis to become a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. However, his nomination was bitterly contested, partly because, as Justice William O. Douglas wrote, “Brandeis was a militant crusader for social justice whoever his opponent might be. He was dangerous not only because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage. He was dangerous because he was incorruptible. . . [and] the fears of the Establishment were greater because Brandeis was the first Jew to be named to the Court.” He was eventually confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 47 to 22 on June 1, 1916, and became one of the most famous and influential figures ever to serve on the high court. His opinions were, according to legal scholars, some of the “greatest defenses” of freedom of speech and the right to privacy ever written by a member of the high court.

 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.

1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.

1547 – Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.

1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.

1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.

1754 – Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann.

1760 – Pownal, Vermont is created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.

1813 – Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.

1855 – The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.

1871 – Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.

1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.

1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.

1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).

1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’etat against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister Joao Franco.

1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.

1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.

1917 – Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California.

1918 – Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.

1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.

1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.

1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.

1934 – The first ski tow in the United States begins operation in Vermont.

1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.

1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).

1941 – French-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.

1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.

1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

1964 – An unarmed USAF T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.

1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.

1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which severely affects and cripples much of Upstate New York, but Buffalo, NY, Syracuse, NY, Watertown, NY, and surrounding areas are most affected, each area accumulating close to 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow on this one day.

1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Florida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.

1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.

1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.

1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.

1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.

1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

Holidays and observances

   * Army Day (Armenia)

   * Christian Feast Day:

         o Julian of Cuenca

         o Thomas Aquinas

         o January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

   * Data Privacy Day

Seizing a Moment, Al Jazeera Taps Arab Anger  

The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel whose aggressive coverage has helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next.

Al Jazeera has been widely hailed for helping enable the revolt in Tunisia with its galvanizing early reports, even as Western-aligned political factions in Lebanon and the West Bank attacked and burned the channel’s offices and vans this week, accusing it of incitement against them.

Live Blog Of Egyptian Protests Here  

Americas Must Trusted Allie In The Middle East

Mubarak regime may not survive new protests as flames of anger spread through Middle East

Egypt’s day of reckoning

A day of prayer or a day of rage? All Egypt was waiting for the Muslim Sabbath today – not to mention Egypt’s fearful allies – as the country’s ageing President clings to power after nights of violence that have shaken America’s faith in the stability of the Mubarak regime.

Five men have so far been killed and almost 1,000 others have been imprisoned, police have beaten women and for the first time an office of the ruling National Democratic Party was set on fire. Rumours are as dangerous as tear gas here. A Cairo daily has been claiming that one of President Hosni Mubarak’s top advisers has fled to London with 97 suitcases of cash, but other reports speak of an enraged President shouting at senior police officers for not dealing more harshly with demonstrators.

Congressman Peter King America’s Number1 Hater Of Muslims Wont Be Pleased

 

Quarter of world population will be Muslim by 2030

THE WORLD’S Muslims will number 2.2 billion by 2030 compared to 1.6 billion last year, and some 60 per cent will be concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new study.

But falling birth rates as more Muslim women are educated, living standards improve and populations become more urbanised mean the world’s Muslim population growth will slow over the next two decades, reducing it on average from 2.2 per cent a year in 1990-2010 to 1.5 per cent a year from now until 2030.

If current trends continue, Muslims will make up 26.4 per cent of the world population by then, compared with 23.4 per cent now, according to predictions by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Welcome To Germany Please Go Home  

 

Life Behind Bars Drives Asylum Seekers to Desperation

Seven times a day, a green-and-white bus stops on a main road near the village of Horst in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Against a backdrop of forests and fields, it discharges the newest arrivals into the country of their hopes and dreams. Women from Somalia get off the bus, along with men from Macedonia, children from Serbia and old men, some with nothing but a comb in their pockets.

They have completed long journeys, on foot, in truck beds, in inflatable boats, and on trains and airplanes. They have left behind wars, bombs and persecution. In many cases, their only reason to flee was to escape hunger. Ali Reza Samadi, from Afghanistan, got off the bus at this stop, after traveling for two years. Jamshid from Iran stood there and gazed at the camp. And for Prince from Ghana, the Germany he had arrived in wasn’t what he had expected.

The CIA In Action

First investigation into the Socialist president’s alleged suicide to be launched 37 years after he was found dead.

Chile to probe Allende’s death  

Chile is launching its first investigation into the death of President Salvador Allende, 37 years after the socialist leader was found shot through the head during an attack on the presidential palace.

Allende’s death, during the bloody US-backed coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power on September 11, 1973, had until now been ruled a suicide.

The investigation is part of an investigation into hundreds of complaints of human rights abuses during Pinochet’s 1973-1990 rule.

Beatriz Pedrals, a prosecutor in the appellate court in Santiago, said on Thursday that she had decided to investigate 726 deaths that had never previously been explored, including Allende’s.

Look At Those Numbers I’m Famous  

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, officially opened in January. For building residents, the rent also buys a bit of fame.

Some Dubai residents are celebrities just because of their address

The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, stands beside the world’s largest fountain, and above the world’s largest mall. The glimmering glass-clad tower thins to a shining needlepoint at 828 meters (2,716 feet), effortlessly surpassing the jungle of Dubai’s skyscrapers.

The building, which officially opened in January, is already a world icon. Residency in one of the tower’s 900 apartments centers on extravagant excess. Fast-flashing lights in the trees outside give paparazzi glamour. The lobby includes a marble table, rumored to cost $2 million. Armani’s six-star hotel is also here.

Some premiers.  Meh.

I like to watch.

• ABC Family– Practical Magic
• AMC– Mrs. Doubtfire x 2
• Animal Planet– Planet Earth marathon
• Bravo– Real Housewives marathon (with premier)
• Disney– The Incredibles
• Discovery– Survival Mashup (premier)
• ESPN– College Hoopies, Michigan @ Michigan State, Winter X Games
• ESPN2– College Hoopies, Vanderbilt @ Mississippi State, UCLA @ Arizona
• Food– Ace of Cakes (premier)
• FX– Archer (premier)
• History– Conspiracy Theories! (premier)
• Lifetime– The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
• Sci Fi– Ghost Ship, Identity
• TBS– Rush Hour 3
• Turner Classic– Man in a Cocked Hat, Being There (Peter Sellers night)
• TNT– Heat @ Knicks, Celtics @ Blazers
• Travel– Man v. Food marathon (thank goodness)
• USA– Royal Pains, Fairly Legal (premiers)
• VH1– SNL marathon

When they tortured you. Did you talk?

Ah, oh, no… well, I don’t think they wanted me to talk really. I don’t think they wanted me to say anything. It was just their way of having a bit of fun.

Later-

• ESPN2– College Hoopies, St. Mary’s @ Gonzaga
• FX– Me, Myself & Irene
• Sci Fi– Toolbox Murders (not the good 1978 version)
• Turner Classic– Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Lolita (more Sellers)

Dave in repeats from 12/17.  Jon has T. Boone Pickens (ugh), Stephen Brian Greene.  Conan hosts Jane Lynch, Joe Buck, and Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.

But this is absolute madness, Ambassador! Why should you *build* such a thing?

There were those of us who fought against it, but in the end we could not keep up with the expense involved in the arms race, the space race, and the peace race. At the same time our people grumbled for more nylons and washing machines. Our doomsday scheme cost us just a small fraction of what we had been spending on defense in a single year. The deciding factor was when we learned that your country was working along similar lines, and we were afraid of a doomsday gap.

This is preposterous. I’ve never approved of anything like that.

Our source was the New York Times.