Happy New Year 2006

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Images of the News: Saturday, 31 Dec. 2005

NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD




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Tags: Photography, photo, photos, pictures, 2006, 2005
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

D.C. Metro Home Builders Feel the Market Glut

COMMENTARY
I have written before about having just moved from Mobile, Alabama, to relocate to the sticker-shocked D.C. metro area.

Ok, I just don't understand how ya'll have the nerve to ask $400K to $500K for a 1100 sq. ft., cheap, vinyl-clad frame-construction, two year old apartment-conversion condo passed off as new.

Regional differences aside, in Mobile, for $100K less, my 3200 sq. ft. all-brick house had 13 ft. ceilings, elegant moldings, granite, wood flooring throughout, and upgraded everything. Gas lights, huge outdoor living areas, and wrought iron added to all that a hint of local cajun flavor.

But the biggest difference between Mobile and D.C. is in the quality. The good `ol Bama boys are dang proud of what they build. So I really don't find any irony in the news story, Home builders try extras to lure customers.

The bottom line? I just feel insulted by what sells for a half a million bucks in the D.C. area. Furthermore, I am hesitant to pay top dollar for an overpriced albatross that will stick to me like stink on a skunk once I have done my time in the D.C. area and move back out into Red State bliss.

NEWSLINES
So deals, like a $40,000 break on a $500,000 American University dorm turned condo, are becoming popular. (I couldn't have said it any better myself.)

NEWSBYTE
Home builders try extras to lure customers
WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A glut in homes for sale is prompting Washington, D.C.-area home builders to offer extras to snag customers.

Daniel Oppenheim, an analyst with Banc of America Securities, said he's seen freebies worth up to 5 percent of a sales price. Read full story.

TENSION: It's a bust
GRAVITY: Insulting

Tags: In The News, Gulf Coast, economics, business, economy, housing
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Images of the News: Saturday, 31 Dec. 2005

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Memorable Phrases, Top Words of 2005

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Predictions: What's Hot, What's Not of 2006

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

NEWSLINES
And the top five image winners and losers for 2005/2006 are:

HOT: Google, Oprah, eBay, Las Vegas, iPod

NOT: Britney Spears, United Airlines, Howard Stern, Hummer, The Apprentice (Donald Trump)

NEWSBYTE
Google, Oprah expected to be hot stuff in 2006
(USA Today) NEW YORK — High-tech and feel-good brands will stay hot in 2006, but an SUV brand and Britney Spears will not, say results of a consumer survey due out today rating brands and celebrities in the news.

The list of image winners and losers shows that Madison Avenue marketing cannot trump free publicity -- good or bad -- according to marketing firms Landor Associates and Penn Schoen & Berland. Their second-annual Newsmaker Brands survey asked 1,744 adult consumers to rank 61 of the biggest brand newsmakers of the year -- products and celebrities -- on their performance this year and prospects in the year ahead.

The biggest category on the rise was technology, with Google, eBay, Amazon, Yahoo, iPod and digital video recorders, or DVRs, among the top 10 predicted winners in the new year. Google tops the forecast for 2006, after finishing 2005 behind iPod, which is forecast as No. 5 in 2006. Read full story.

Chart: Brands in the news: Winners and losers

TENSION: Not or
GRAVITY: Hot

Tags: 2006, 2005
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

"Penis Patch," "Donald Trump Wants You": Top Spam of 2005

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

COMMENTARY
No best-of grouping is complete without a prurient spam mention. Oh, and unlike AP, Reuters, and the rest, I have included a primary source.

NEWSLINES
Here's the list:

1) Donald Trump Wants You - Please Respond (popular recognition)
2) Double Standards New Product - Penis Patch (sexually oriented spam)
3) Body Wrap: Lose 6-20 inches in one hour (body improvement products)
4) Get an Apple iPod Nano, PS3 or Xbox 360 for Free (technology offers)
5) It's Lisa, I must have sent you to the wrong site ("personalized" correspondence)
6) Breaking Stock News** Small Cap Issue Poised to Triple (stock scams)
7) Thank you for your business. Shipment notification [77FD87] (bogus transactional spam)
8) [IMPORTANT] Your Mortgage Application is Ready (mortgage-related scams)
9) Thank you: Your $199 Rolex Special Included (high-end "deals")
10) Online Prescriptions Made Easy (pharmaceutical)

NEWSBYTES
Hey, 'Donald Trump Wants You'!! (... & Other Lies Told by Spammers in 2005)
According to AOL's 3rd Annual Top Ten Spam List - Spammers Are Getting More Sophisticated, Devious and Dangerous

SOS - or 'Special Order Spam' - Tops 2005 List

DULLES, VA - December 28, 2005 -(AOL Press Release) Does Donald Trump really want you? Will the Penis Patch improve your sex life? Is your mortgage application ready? Can you lose 6-20 inches in one hour with a body wrap? Did Lisa send you to the wrong site?

The answer to each of these questions is almost certainly no. But they are examples of increasingly sophisticated methods spammers are using to prey on email users this year, according to AOL's third annual Top 10 Spam List. Read full story.

Trump, "Penis Patch" in list of top 2005 junk mail
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ads mentioning real estate tycoon Donald Trump and those hawking "Penis Patch" body enhancements were among the top 10 junk e-mails in 2005, according to America Online. Read full story.

TENSION: I got to type "penis"
GRAVITY: Spam

Tags: Computers and Internet, technology, America Online, AOL, New Media, online, spam, 2005
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Horse Sex Story Tops 'Seattle Times' Most Popular List for 2005

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

COMMENTARY
Top 20 stories provided by the Seattle Times; news analysis from Editor & Publisher. Be sure to look for the story list in the Times' center-page box.

NEWSLINES
"Some of us are not giving readers enough of what you really want."

NEWSBYTES
Horse sex story was online hit
(Seattle Times) As I look back at the year in news, it's clear I should have focused more on people having sex with horses.

That's the conclusion I reach after reviewing a new list of the year's top local news stories. Only this list is not the usual tedious recounting by news editors or pundits who profess to speak for you readers. This is the people's-choice list. Read full story.

Horse Sex Story Tops 'Seattle Times' Most Popular List for 2005 -- But Here's Why
(E&P) NEW YORK After reviewing the number of hits top local stories at his newspaper's Web site got in 2005, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat concludes today, "As I look back at the year in news, it's clear I should have focused more on people having sex with horses." Read full story.

TENSION: It's not what news you say you read.
GRAVITY: It's what you actually read.

Tags: 2005, lists, journalism, mainstream media, press
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #28

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Disabled Cookies Do Not Equal Privacy: NSA Muckraking

NATION/POLITICS

COMMENTARY
Ok folks, anyone out there who thinks that omitting site cookies will insure your privacy on the Web is slightly misinformed. Anyone making wild accusations of an illegal government data-mining conspiracy based on the placement of cookies is a freakin' idiot.

Information about where you come from and what Web pages you visit already exists in a Web server's log files and could also be used to track browsing habits (see this and this for references), cookies just make it easier.

Now that we have that all cleared up, I have yet to find any reference to a law passed by Congress that makes the use of cookies on government Web sites "illegal." Then again, I don't have access to LexisNexis. I have, however, run across a couple of departmental policy statements that eschew the use of cookies. If anyone can link us up to a federal law, that would be helpful.

So, this all begs the question, are the folks involved with the ranting-cookie issue just misinformed so as to not fully vet the story, or do they simply think Americans are freakin' idiots?

NEWSBYTE
Spy Agency Removes Illegal Tracking Files
(AP) The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most files of that type.

The files, known as cookies, disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week. Agency officials acknowledged yesterday that they had made a mistake. Read full story.

TENSION: Eat your cookies
GRAVITY: Half reported

Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Tropical Storm Zeta Forms in Atlantic

U.S. & WORLD


NEWSBYTE
Post-season Tropical Storm Zeta forms in Atlantic
MIAMI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on Friday, a month after the official end of a record busy hurricane season but forecasters said the straggler storm did not threaten land.

Zeta was the 27th named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ended on Nov. 30. Read full story.

TENSION: Tropical depression
GRAVITY: Post-season

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Tags: Gulf Coast, Hurricane, tropical storm, weather, severe, Zeta, Photography, photo, photos, pictures
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

100 Things we Didn't Know this Time Last Year: 2005 Year in Review

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

COMMENTARY
Many thanks to the BBC for some tantalizing tidbits to flush out what is shaping up to be a slow news day.

NEWSLINE
Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's.

NEWSBYTE
100 things we didn't know this time last year
(BBC) -- Each week the Magazine picks out snippets from the news, and compiles them into 10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week. Here's an end of year almanac. Read full story.

TENSION: Later, 2005
GRAVITY: Good for Trivial Pursuit

Tags: 2005, lists
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Poll: 64 Percent of Americans Approve of NSA Wiretaps

NATION/POLLS

COMMENTARY
Here's a story sure to be ignored by the mainstream.

NEWSBYTE
National Security Agency
December 28, 2005 (Rasmussen Reports) -- Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree. Read full story.

TENSION: It's all relative
GRAVITY: Poll of 1000

Tags: terrorism, Middle East, Iraq, war, FBI, NSA, CIA
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life

Best Mug Shots: 2005 Year in Review by The Smoking Gun

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US Home Sales Data Signal End to Boom

NATION/BUSINESS

COMMENTARY
Having just sold a house in Mobile, Alabama, for an unheard of above asking price offer, and now looking for digs in the sticker-shocked DC metro area, I'll be interested to see how far I can lowball my price if the housing market is truly slowing down.

I'll kid you not though, Gulf Coast housing prices were so low that I lived like a third-world king down in L.A. (lower Alabama, as the natives call it). Sadly, I'd miss the area even more than I already do if it hadn't been for last year's hurricanes.

The sooner the press starts pounding this story and others like it, the sooner it will become a housing buyer's market (and I can check out of the hotel I'm holed up in).

NEWSLINE
"Housing activity has peaked," said David Lereah, chief economist for the association. But he insisted the market will not implode after years of red-hot growth. "There are no balloons popping."

NEWSBYTE
US home sales data signal end to boom
(Reuters) Sales of existing US homes dropped 1.7 percent in November while the stock of unsold homes on the market climbed to a 19-year high, the National Association of Realtors said. Admitting a slowdown is now under way, the industry group said existing home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.97 million last month, the lowest since March. Read full story.

TENSION: Not a bust
GRAVITY: Not around the Gulf Coast

Tags: In The News, Gulf Coast, economics, business
Global Tags: Washington DC, News, Politics, Current Events

Images of the News: Thursday, 29 Dec. 2005

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Tags: photo, photos, pictures
Global Tags: Washington DC, News, Politics, Current Events

Internet Reborn: 2005 Year In Review by CNET

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

COMMENTARY
It's been half a decade after the dot-com crash-and-burn, and it appears the Internet is finally rising from its ashes. Perhaps the Internet itself was the one true killer app of 2005? Check out CNET's in-depth review of the trends and trendsetters of 2005.

NEWSBYTE
Year in Review 2005: The Internet Reborn
If this year had a single theme, it would be rebirth.
(CNET) Five years after the dot-com meltdown, the Internet's technologies, industries and culture are showing a kind of vigor and inspiration not seen since the 1990s. Read full story.

TENSION: Is it Web 2.0 yet?
GRAVITY: Global

Tags: News, Computers and Internet, technology, online, Web2.0, Web 2.0, 2005

America’s Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses

NATION

COMMENTARY
Eh, I feel cheated that my school didn't have courses like, The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie: Race and Popular Culture, or Stupidity, which compares the American presidency to Beavis and Butthead. Talk about skating through electives! Is it activism or eccentricity? We know what's REALLY going on here.

NEWSLINE
At The Johns Hopkins University, students in the Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll in Ancient Egypt class view slideshows of women in ancient Egypt “vomiting on each other,” “having intercourse,” and “fixing their hair.”

NEWSBYTE
The Dirty Dozen
America's Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses
HERNDON, VA (YAF.org) -- As tuition rates climb to an average of over $21,000 per year, today's college students study prostitution, teeth whitening, and Beavis and Butthead. The following Dirty Dozen highlights the most bizarre and troubling instances of leftist activism supplanting traditional scholarship in our nation's colleges and universities.

TENSION: PC unhinged?
GRAVITY: Blah

Tags: In The News, Politics, Current Events, education

Gray Lady Down

NATION/POLITICS

COMMENTARY
Here's another story in the news about the liberal bias present in the New York Times. Who knows, following recent history in the mainstream media, sooner or later we may even witness a 'Timesgate' driven by the blogs where the paper ends up righteously deconstructed in full view of everyone. If enough folks appear to notice what's going on at the Times, it can't be imagination.

NEWSLINE
The Times finds itself in the unique position of publishing classified information at the same time it insists that terrorists in contact with their operatives in the U.S. have an expectation of privacy while plotting their next attack.

NEWSBYTE
Gray Lady Down
(IBD) Trust: The so-called mainstream media in general and The New York Times in particular are waging a relentless campaign undermining the war on terror. The Fourth Estate is beginning to look like a Fifth Column.

It's hard to imagine a major American newspaper in 1942 announcing before the Battle of Midway that we had broken the Imperial Japanese code or before D-Day that the Allies had a machine that let us read the Nazis' highest-level transmissions. Read full story.

RELATED
Also see: The NYT's War Against the War on Terror

TENSION: Take another leak
GRAVITY: Status quo

Tags: politics, News, terrorism, war, journalism, mainstream media, press, current events, FBI, Washington, D.C., Islam, Qaida, Muslim, NSA, CIA, Times

Images of the News: Wednesday, 28 Dec. 2005

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Clinton Would Have Gone Into Iraq, Too

MEDIA

COMMENTARY
Here is a piece that was quickly whisked down into the news abyss. While appearing on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert this week, two broadcast veterans, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Ted Koppel, agreed that given the same situation, Bill Clinton would have invaded Iraq. Editor & Publisher has captured relevant parts of the transcript for your perusal.

NEWSBYTE
Koppel and Brokaw Agree: Clinton Would Have Gone Into Iraq, Too
(E&P) NEW YORK Appearing on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert this week, two broadcast veterans, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Ted Koppel, agreed that the press shouldn't be faulted too harshly for not questioning more deeply the claims of WMD in Iraq -- and declared that Bill Clinton would have gone into Iraq just like George Bush if he was still president after 9/11.

TENSION: Unspun
GRAVITY: Burried

Tags: News and Politics, Current Events, Democrats, Republicans, Politics, Bush, White House, Iraq, Clinton

Blogosphere 2005 Year In Review by BlogPulse

BEST OF 2005 LISTS

COMMENTARY
Those of you in the blogosphere not familiar with Intelliseek's BlogPulse are missing out on a great blog analysis tool. In short, BlogPulse is an automated trend discovery system for blogs.

Check it out for yourself while you visit BlogPulse's 2005 Year in Review.

NEWSBYTE
What was hot in the blogosphere in 2005?
Politics took a back seat to entertainment, technology, natural disaster and media discussions, according to BlogPulse's review of blogging in 2005. BlogPulse scoured a year's worth of blog posts, links and trends to summarize and illustrate the year in blogging -- what, why and how and in what order. Click on the sections and links for details and deeper lists.

TENSION: Say hello to 2006
GRAVITY: Blogs go mainstream

Tags: News, Computers and Internet, Blogs, Blogging, spam, splog, online, Web2.0, Web 2.0, Citizen Journalist

United States of Angst: Americans Stressed, Depressed, Polls Show

NATION/ECONOMY

COMMENTARY
This here, folks, is what I call a damn useless poll.

For example, the article, United States of Angst: Americans stressed, depressed, polls show, clearly states:

"The University of Chicago survey published Wednesday found people reporting at least one significant "negative life event" jumped from 88 percent to 92 percent since 1991."

Well, I'm no genius but I'd venture to say without a doubt that 100 percent of all people have had at least one "negative life event." Anyone who hasn't had one, please raise your hand we all want to talk to you!

The poll goes on to claim that more folks can't afford medial care, and are unemployed -- and fewer folks have health insurance -- all vastly different than in the good `ol days of the early 1990s. Well, I guess you can just chalk that up to the inability of some people to shake off the dirge of reckless Clintonomics that eventually fostered an economic environment which trashed the market and caused the bust at the end of the 90s. Oh no, that just won't go down well out in Left field.

NEWSBYTE
United States of Angst: Americans stressed, depressed, polls show
(AFP) New Year is supposed to be a time of hope and fresh starts -- but more and more Americans seem to be stressed out, miserable and depressed, according to two new opinion polls. One long term survey shows that personal misery among Americans is at its highest levels since the early 1990s, with people saddled with woes over healthcare, unemployment, paying bills and romance. Read full story.

TENSION: US of Angst
GRAVITY: Just don't spend it all in one store

Tags: In The News, Politics, economics, polls

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #27

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Tags: News, photo, photos, pictures, Current Events, politics, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, Wilma, tropical storm, Katrina, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi

The NYT's War Against the War on Terror

NATION/POLITICS

COMMENTARY
The Times pounded us with Plamegate and stood outraged that a CIA agnet's classified identity was leaked and her cover blown. So where is the outrage now that the Times has published classified information and knowingly blown the covers of covert anti-terrorist programs?

NEWSLINES
"BUT it's not just the National Security Agency story." Referring to the number of stories the Times has recently published undermining national security.

"The New York Times — a once-great and still-powerful institution — is badly in need of adult supervision."

NEWSBYTE
THE GRAY LADY TOYS WITH TREASON
(NY Post) December 27, 2005 -- Has The New York Times declared itself to be on the front line in the war against the War on Terror?

The self-styled paper of record seems to be trying to reclaim the loyalty of those radical lefties who ludicrously accused it of uncritically reporting on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Read full story.

TENSION: Take another leak
GRAVITY: Status quo

Tags: politics, News, terrorism, war, journalism, mainstream media, press, current events, FBI, Washington, D.C., Islam, Qaida, Muslim, NSA, CIA

Terror Defense Lawyers Plan Challenges Based On N.S.A. Story

NATION/POLITICS

COMMENTARY
Are the lives of the innocents only fodder to be sacrificed upon the alter of freedom?

NEWSLINE
"If I'm a defense attorney," one prosecutor said, "the first thing I'm going to say in court is, 'This was an illegal wiretap.'"

NEWSBYTE
Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (NYT) -- Defense lawyers in some of the country's biggest terrorism cases say they plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps against several dozen Muslim men tied to Al Qaeda.

TENSION: Take another leak
GRAVITY: Status quo

Tags: politics, News, terrorism, war, journalism, mainstream media, press, current events, FBI, Washington, D.C., Islam, Qaida, Muslim, NSA, CIA

2005: The Year of the iPod

iPod/iTunes

COMMENTARY
After looking at the increasing number of hits on my blog post, Fix iPod Screen Scratches, I'd have to venture a guess that a lot of folks received iPods as Christmas gifts. I'd also have to guess the same folks have already scratched up their new i-toys!

That's just too bad.

My iPod has been scratched more than a few times. Ironically it hardly ever strays from the relative safety of its Otterbox. In any case, the fix I linked to above has with a few wipes, easily and inexpensively removed all but the worst dings -- without Brasso, without a buffer, and without toothpaste.

Now, I want a new 60 gig video iPod but I am just waiting till the corresponding Otterbox is available in January before I buy. I'll move my old iPod into its new home attached to the sound system in my vehicle. I have read that navigation is a bit clunky with the hook up, but 30 gigs of music sure beats a six CD changer any day.

NEWSBYTE
Year of the iPod
(Stuff Magazine UK) The story 2005 was the year that digital music went properly mainstream, with download sales eclipsing CD singles and MP3 players becoming the year's must-have gadget following 2004's iPod-white Christmas. While rivals played catch-up, Apple stole the budget market with the Shuffle, offering a gigabyte of music for less than £100 and illustrating the awesome power of the Apple marketing machine: who'd have believed we could be convinced that the lack of an LCD display was a unique selling point?

TENSION: Scratched
GRAVITY: Everyone

Tags: Computers and Internet, technology, iPod, Apple, iTunes

AOL IPO in '08?

TECHNOLOGY/BUSINESS

COMMENTARY
I'm not so sure of the source but here's some details on an SEC filing.

NEWSBYTE
Stage set for AOL IPO in '08
(Holywood Reporter) Google's purchase of 5% of America Online from Time Warner might pave the way for an initial public offering of AOL some time around July 2008, the companies disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

If Google wants to cash out its $1 billion investment in AOL via an IPO and parent company TW objects to the strategy, TW can choose instead to purchase Google's stake back at "an appraised fair market value," according to Friday's filing. Read full story.

TENSION: Google will take over the world
GRAVITY: Googlesphere

Tags: News, Computers and Internet, technology, America Online, AOL, New Media, online, Web2.0, Web 2.0, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google

Images of the News: Tuesday, 27 Dec. 2005

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Latest Cyberthreat Targets Your Sensitive Data

TECHNOLOGY/BUSINESS

COMMENTARY
I'll admit, I see an awful lot of file-attached spam originating from Asia landing in my Gmail account. The Asian spam never makes it to my other e-mail accounts, but then again, my Gmail address is meta tagged on the blog. Interesting, ay?

To stay safe, just follow the normal rule about opening files attached to e-mail -- the rule is to never do it unless you are positive you know who the e-mail came from. Beware of the spoof.

NEWSLINE
"These new attacks are corporate espionage."

NEWSBYTE
New breed of cyberattack takes aim at sensitive data
SAN FRANCISCO (USA Today) -- A new breed of targeted digital attack designed to filch sensitive data from computers at businesses and government agencies has emerged as the latest cyberthreat, tech security experts say.

Organized crime groups in Eastern Europe and Asia are behind the attacks, which spy on the PCs of employees with access to highly sensitive data so they can rip off bank account numbers, credit card numbers and other information, says Phillip Zakas, CEO of computer-security firm Intelli7. Read full story.

RELATED
US-CERT: United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors. Established in 2003 to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure, US-CERT coordinates defense against and responses to cyber attacks across the nation.

Information is available from the US-CERT web site, mailing lists, and RSS channels.

US-CERT also provides a way for citizens, businesses, and other institutions to communicate and coordinate directly with the United States government about cyber security.

TENSION: Check your e-mail
GRAVITY: Global

Tags: News, Computers and Internet, technology, Current Events, Politics, crime, e-mail, email, security

Hurricane Insurance Losses $57.6 Bln

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

COMMENTARY
I guess this means rates for propery and vehicle insurance are going to rise.

NEWSLINE
The losses amount to more than twice the annual total for other U.S. natural disasters and one-and-a-half times the losses from the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

NEWSBYTE
Hurricane insurance losses $57.6 bln: Advisen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Advisen Ltd. on Tuesday estimated worldwide insurance and reinsurance losses related to the three major hurricanes that hit the United States this year would amount to $57.6 billion, making the cumulative catastrophe losses the largest on record. Read full story.

TENSION: Economic
GRAVITY: Large scale

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Tags: News, photo, photos, pictures, Current Events, politics, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, Wilma, tropical storm, Katrina, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi

Track Americans Wherever They Drive: Fed Proposal

TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICS

COMMENTARY
Even if you have nothing to hide this still can't be a good idea.

NEWSLINE
No policy bans police from automatically sending out speeding tickets based on what the GPS data say.

NEWSBYTE
Perspective: E-tracking, coming to a DMV near you
(CNET) Trust federal bureaucrats to take a good idea and transform it into a frightening proposal to track Americans wherever they drive.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been handing millions of dollars to state governments for GPS-tracking pilot projects designed to track vehicles wherever they go. So far, Washington state and Oregon have received fat federal checks to figure out how to levy these "mileage-based road user fees." Read full story.

TENSION: Right to privacy
GRAVITY: Global

Tags: News, Computers and Internet, technology, Current Events, Politics

History Texts Downplay Clinton Impeachment

POLITICS

COMMENTARY
It's interesting to see how simply replacing the wrong words with the right words can stop the spin in a news headline.

Take for example the headline: History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment. According to the quoted article, of President Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal, history textbooks ask, "whether his actions justified impeachment," and attempt to place the president's terms of office in the context of how he handled the economy, etc. Wait a minute. As I recall, the boom days of the Clinton years actually rode in on Reagan era economic programs only to be derailed by the indiscretions of the late 90s. So maybe the headline should actually read: History Texts Downplay Clinton Impeachment.

The article clearly states that the texts water down the facts and even attempt to spread the blame because the "material that has by no means been settled." Excuse me, how much more settled can the facts be?

I shudder to think of how the same history texts will portray President Bush in a few years.

NEWSLINE
"The books not only influence the students, they influence the teachers," he said. "And given that many students don't go on to college -- and even those who do may not revisit the material -- the textbook may be their most significant impression."

NEWSBYTE
History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment
WASHINGTON (AP) - The impeachment of former President Clinton is in a gray area of history, too long ago to be a current event, too recent to be judged in perspective.

Yet history is already judging Clinton in the place where millions of students get their information about him -- textbooks.

TENSION: Spun
GRAVITY: Revised

Tags: News and Politics, Current Events, Democrats, Republicans, Politics

The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years

TECHNOLOGY

COMMENTARY
I'll just pick a few I like in no particular order. You can pick yours at the link to the article below. The only thing missing from the list is the BMW X5.

1. Sony Walkman TPS-L2 (1979)
2. Apple iPod (2001)
12. Motorola Razr V3 (2004)
21. Zenith Space Command (1956)
29. Sony Betamax (1975)
43. Polaroid Swinger (1965) (I loved mine.)

NEWSBYTE
The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years
(PCWORLD.COM) We're living in the golden age of the gadget. Don't believe it? Check your pockets. Odds are you're carrying a portable music player, an electronic organizer, a keychain-size storage device, a digital camera, or a cell phone that combines some or all of these functions. And you'd probably be hard-pressed to live without them.

TENSION: Relax
GRAVITY: Eand of year lists

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