Lewisland

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:41:07 GMT

Yahoo! US economic soft patch sparks debate on outlook (AFP). AFP - Is the US economy in a transitory "soft patch" or sliding toward a downturn? [Yahoo! News - Reader Ratings]

Sat, 28 Aug 2004 21:12:41 GMT

Yahoo! Poll: More Believe Bush Behind Attack Ads (AP). AP - Americans increasingly believe President Bush's re-election campaign is behind the ads attacking Democrat John Kerry's Vietnam experience, a poll found. [Yahoo! News - Reader Ratings]

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 18:19:11 GMT

Boing Boing How long can America stay scared?. Cory Doctorow: Bruce Schneier, America's sanest security expert, has just posted a slew of new articles, including this one, called "How Long Can the Country Stay Scared?"

A terrorist alert that instills a vague feeling of dread or panic, without giving people anything to do in response, is ineffective. Even worse, it echoes the very tactics of the terrorists. There are two basic ways to terrorize people. The first is to do something spectacularly horrible, like flying airplanes into skyscrapers and killing thousands of people. The second is to keep people living in fear. Decades ago, that was one of the IRA's major aims. Inadvertently, the DHS is achieving the same thing.
European countries that have been dealing with terrorism for decades, like the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, and Spain, don't have cute color-coded terror alert systems. Even Israel, which has seen more terrorism -- and more suicide bombers -- than anyone else, doesn't issue vague warnings about every possible terrorist threat.

Link (Thanks, Bruce!) [Boing Boing]

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 16:26:23 GMT

A.P.O.D.

general global
warming info

Reuters Experts Welcome, But Doubt, Bush Climate Softening. OSLO, Norway (Reuters) - Environmental experts Friday welcomed a hint of a softening in U.S. skepticism about global warming but saw little chance President Bush might rejoin international efforts to cap greenhouse gases. [Reuters: Politics]

Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:08:31 GMT

Yahoo! Greenspan Warns on Baby Boomer Benefits (AP). AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the country will face "abrupt and painful" choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation. [Yahoo! News - Reader Ratings]

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 22:21:39 GMT

Reuters Bush Team Rejects Call to Pull Olympic TV Ad. ATHENS (Reuters) - The re-election campaign for President Bush refused Thursday to pull an ad that has Olympic Games officials fuming. [Reuters: Politics]

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:07:16 GMT

Reuters Olympic Chiefs Ask Bush to Pull Election Ad. ATHENS (Reuters) - The U.S. Olympic Committee has asked the campaign to re-elect President Bush to pull an ad that refers to the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday. [Reuters: Top News]

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 16:49:49 GMT

A.P.O.D.

knowledge@wharton Guilt is Good: A New Approach to Environmental Problems

...Now two Wharton professors have concluded that re-framing environmental issues in such a way that individuals feel encouraged to take a personal initiative may be a better approach. While simply asking people to "do the right thing" might sound naïve, Paul R. Kleindorfer, a professor of management science, and Ulku Oktem, a senior research fellow at Wharton's Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, argue that such an approach may be the most effective way to prevent a global ecological catastrophe...

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 13:30:27 GMT

CNN General: Some Iraq prisoners were tortured [CNN Top Stories]

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 13:29:10 GMT

BBC Water 'wake-up call' given by UN. A UN report says key goals to improve clean water and sanitation by 2015 will fail unless the world acts. [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 12:57:13 GMT

I think McCain is right on all counts here. Kerry is using Vietnam as a political strategy to avoid looking soft on certain issues. As such, Kerry brought the controversy on himself. That said, the various criticisms are inappropriate and indefensible save meaningless points. Yahoo! McCain 'sick and tired of re-fighting' Vietnam War (USATODAY.com). USATODAY.com - Sen. John McCain argued Wednesday that Americans need to get past Vietnam, spreading blame for the bitter political debate among both presidential candidates, a federal agency and a veterans group attacking Sen. John Kerry's combat record. [Yahoo! News - Reader Ratings]

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 13:42:28 GMT

Boing Boing Craig of Craigslist interview. Cory Doctorow: Wired Magazine ran an interview this month with Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist and an all-round mensch:

Google's touchy-feely corporate mantra is "Don't be evil." What's yours?
Give people a break.
A break from what?
A break from how difficult our lives are. It's like, if you're walking out of your apartment building and somebody is coming the other way with an armful of groceries, you hold the door. It feels good - it's the neighborly thing to do. And our species survives by cooperating.
What poses the major threat to that survival?
Kleptocrats and sociopathic organizations that have the almighty dollar as their only goal.

Link [Boing Boing]

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 08:42:19 GMT

Yahoo! Clintons, John McCain Visit Iceland (AP). AP - U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain visited Iceland on Tuesday to study its use of alternative energies, but they were upstaged by former President Bill Clinton, whose separate 11-hour visit captivated the local media. [Yahoo! News - Reader Ratings]

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 07:57:51 GMT

BBC Double air disaster hits Russia. Two planes with 89 people on board crash after flying out of Moscow, with officials investigating a terror link. [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

Tue, 24 Aug 2004 17:03:50 GMT

Reuters Rumsfeld, Military Leaders Faulted in Prison Abuse. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Pentagon officials and the military command in Iraq contributed to an environment in which prisoners were abused at Abu Ghraib prison, a high-level panel investigating the military detentions has concluded, a defense official said on Tuesday. [Reuters: Top News]