• I want to alert my regular readers that I am making a format change in JMBzine. In the past I separated Opinion and News stories. I am finding more and more that the line between the two is very blurry, especially when the news story is a feature story or is an analysis piece.
  

  So, from now on all opinion and news items will be grouped together under the heading "News and Opinions." Remember, the same warning applies... I don't neccesarily agree with all views expressed in these stories. I often display my own bias in picking stories, but I also pick items from time to time that I disagree with because of their thought-provocation value.
  

• On another note, I am working on a FAQ for this site. If you have any questions for me, please email them or post them to the comment link listed at the bottom of this post so I can be sure to include them.
  

News & Opinions:

• Reason: Uneasy Ride--- The cultural contradictions of Charlie Daniels.
  

• Reason: Just Say No --- In drug searches on the bus, is "consent" copspeak for "coercion"? an op-ed piece By Jacob Sullum
  

• Reason: Sex, Drugs, and Techno Music --- Why the rap against Ecstasy has a familiar ring to it
  

• CS Monitor: Civilization lost?
  

• CS Monitor: Seeking food and finding Dino
  

• CS Monitor: In largest unity movement ever, churches blur denominational lines
  

• NY times: Colleges' dismal work-study record - op-ed by Jonathan Alter
  

• LA Times: Missles not biggest threat, report says
  

• Christian Science Monitor: Mariachi music a hit again
  

Links:

• An interesting op-ed piece by Jeffrey Dvorkin that discusses the alleged liberal bias of the media - BTW, I think he is right. The media isn't neccesarily liberal, but rather lazy. "Lazy" wasn't the word used by Dvokin, but I think it is the right word to describe Dvorkin's concern that the media (be it MSNBC, CNN, NPR, Fox News, the NY Times, or even the Daily Disappointment) fails most notably, by focusing too narrowly. This problem is partially due to a lack of resources to pursue all points of view, but I think is more often the result of a desire to reach certain "target audiences" or to not offend sponsors. In that aspect, I think that non-profit media has distinct advantage over for-profit media.
  

• NY Times: The Greater Danger by By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF - an op-ed piece that dicussses the serious danger that North Korea poses, and the importance of American efforts to woo the nation's leader away from isolationism
  

• NY Times: Our wretched states by PAUL KRUGMAN - This op-ed essay says that we can forsee the difficulties of the future federal budget by looking at the current sorry state of many State governments who are now paying dearly for cuting taxes and increasing spending during the last economic boom
  

News:

• NPR: What color is the universe?
  
  
  
  And the Color of the Universe Is ...
  

  Pale turquoise.
  

  Scientists from Johns Hopkins University wrapped up the American Astronomical Society's meeting today with that announcement, Richard Harris reports for All Things Considered.
  

  Ivan Baldry and his collaborators amassed detailed light measurements from more than 200,000 galaxies. They then constructed a "cosmic spectrum," which represents all the energy in the local universe emitted at different optical wavelengths of light. They realized that if they simply summed up those measurements, they might be able to deduce something about the average wavelength, or color, of the light coming from their huge sample of objects.
  

  For example, the human eye, taking in a particular palette of colors and adding them together, ends up perceiving one dominant color. Applying this idea to their cosmic spectrum, the researchers came up with a color that's just a few shades greener than pale turquoise.

  
  

• NY Times: Scientists paint universe as a vast sea of green - Another report on the color of the universe
  

• NY Times: Major Death Penalty Appeal Accepted
  
  WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 — The Supreme Court agreed today to decide a potentially far-reaching challenge to the constitutionality of the death penalty laws in nine states where judges rather than juries determine whether to sentence a killer to death.
  
  

• NY Times: First 'Unlawful Combatants' seized in Afghanistan arrive at U.S. base in Cuba
  
  . . .Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called the prisoners "unlawful combatants," distinguishing them from prisoners of war. "Unlawful combatants do not have any rights under the Geneva Convention," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "We have indicated that we do plan to, for the most part, treat them in a manner that is reasonably consistent with the Geneva Conventions, to the extent they are appropriate." . . .
  
  

  So far, it looks like (based on what the rest of the story says) the DOD is treating the prisoners fairly well (at least in comparison to the cruel way that prisoners are treated in many county jails and state prisons in the US) but Rumseld's little "disclaimer" still leaves the door wide open. And since there won't be any media present, then there is nothing to stop the CIA from using torture as a means of intelligence gathering or from conducting summary executions sans trial of prisoners who don't cooperate.
  

  If these men are in anyway connected to the terrorist attacks, then bring them to the US to stand trial before an American jury. If not, then either recognize them as P.O.W.'s with the rights due to them under the Geneva Convention or release them. Doing anything besides this is shameful and is a disgrace to the values of our great republic.
  

• NY Times: City girds for protests at economic summit meeting
  

• MSNBC: Bush backs automotive revolution - This is a good news/bad news kind of story. Good that that Bush is backing fuel cells, but bad that he is passing up the chance for genuine improvements now through the use of hybrid technology. I am afraid that he is taking the easy way out, by making future administrations deal with how to combat air pollution and fuel shortages.
  

I have posted some new pictures at my other blog: www.pineridgeoklahoma.com.

Latest news of note:

• NY Times: In the White House, a sense of what history can teach
  

• Wash Post: Supreme Court says jurors must be told of death penalty alternatives
  

• MSNBC: GOP wins in Oklahoma's 1st District
  

• MSNBC: Era of DVD extras may disappear
  

• MSNBC: U.S. mulls encoding drivers' licenses
  

• NY Times: U.S. Ends Car Plan on Gas Efficiency; Looks to Fuel Cells
  

• NY Time: Vatican to hold secret trials in pedophilia cases
  

• NY Times: A quiet revolution for those prone to nodding off
  

• Scythian gold found in Siberia said to predate the Greeks
  

• NY Times: Dave Thomas, Founder of Wendy's, Dies at 69
  

• NY Times: Teenager's money-making plan drew 1,000 investors and S.E.C.
  

• NY Times: Supreme Court roundup --- A Property-Rights Claim Meets Resistance
  

posted by J.M. Branum at 10:47 AM | link

• NY Times: A sex offender who served his time fights civil detention - This is an extremely difficult case. I generally think it is a good idea to keep dangerous child molesters off of the streets, but I would rather that the juries gave appropriate sentences to begin with, than to use "civil detention."
  

• NY Times: Supreme Court will hear police search case
  

• NY Times: America as reflected in its leader
  

• NY Times: Parents claim officer killed their son at Columbine
  

• NY Times: A slow Texas primary for Governor suddenly picks up speed
  

  Thanks go out to Aaron for alerting me to this story:
  

• MSNBC: A body, spirit broken by the Taliban: One man’s library leads to imprisonment, torture
  

  This has to be the most tragic story I have read in a long, long time. If the leaders of the Taliban are ever brought to justice (I'm not talking about an Ashcroft kangaroo court, but a real trial before a jury.), they should have to answer for these horrendous crimes.
  

Opinions worth considering

• MSNBC: Polite policing in unfriendly skies by Jonathan Alter
  
  On one level, this is a no-brainer. The Secret Service agent should be the last one arguing that the pilot must ignore his instincts about danger; the agent himself makes that calculation every day in protecting the president. If the pilot, charged with protecting the lives of hundreds of passengers, doesn’t feel comfortable flying, that should be good enough for everyone, even the passengers who are inconvenienced. If the pilot’s mistaken, that’s OK; better safe than sorry. And if we start letting the abstract goal of non-discrimination trump the pilot (even when his gut is wrong), we’ll all be less secure. The hard truth is that all 19 of the Sept. 11 hijackers were of Arab origin. It’s unfortunate for the vast majority of law-abiding Arabs, but greater suspicion of such passengers is fully merited by the facts.
  
  

  No. Suspicion may be merited, but action based on that suspision is the issue. It is one thing to confirm this guy's story (since he is carrying a gun), it is another thing though to deny him a flight without checking this story. If pilots are allowed to discriminate, they are breaking the law and endangering the liberty of all. Also, what Mr. Alter doesn't tell you in this piece is that this case is not the exception, but rather the rule. Across the country, dozens of such cases have occurred, where people of Middle Eastern decent have been denied flights, or even thrown off of flights (as was the case with Delta Airlines flight from San Antonio recently.). Frankly, I don't think this specific story is that newsworthy. The fact that the agent was carrying a gun is a unique security issue. What I don't understand is why many more aggregious cases are not discussed by the majority of the press.
  posted by J.M. Branum at 9:18 AM | link