Mood:
sillyNow Playing: LIBTARD MEDIA BULLSHIT ALERT
Topic: Lib Loser Stories
Will this CBS 'nonbudsman' be blogging in his PJs?
CBS News counters bloggers with 'Nonbudsman'
NEW YORK - After a controversial run-in with bloggers last year that helped sink "60 Minutes Wednesday," CBS has hired a "nonbudsman" to write a blog that will go behind the scenes at the news division.
Former "Hotline" editor Vaughn Ververs will report his findings on "Public Eye," which debuts next month on cbsnews.com.
Ververs will be a kind of media reporter, mostly focused on CBS News, reporting and writing about how the news is gathered, produced and placed. In addition to providing Journalism 101, "Public Eye" also could offer extended versions of segments that appeared on CBS, interviews with correspondents and producers and maybe even the daily story meeting for the "CBS Evening News."
"This is a way to open up the process (of network news)," Ververs said.
Although he's a CBS employee, Ververs doesn't answer to CBS News president Andrew Heyward (Left). His boss is CBS Digital Media head Larry Kramer (Right), who has a long career in journalism. Ververs has no power to change policy or the direction of stories.
"I'm not here to set the rules," Ververs said. "I'm not even here to voice my opinion. That's not my job."
Heyward, who coined the term "nonbudsman," makes it clear that he's not looking for someone to just pat CBS News on the back.
"It's going to be an honest, fair, unvarnished look at what we do, and that means that it's an experiment," Heyward said. "It's a risk. Not everybody approves of what we do. But I'm banking on the fact that people will also see how much effort we make about being fair and being ethical."
In an interview last week at CBSNews.com's headquarters, Ververs acknowledged that it's up to him to show right off the bat that he's neither a network apologist nor a media critic. He's not going to softball anyone, and if CBS News deserves the heat, it's going to get it -- but the network or correspondents aren't obligated to talk to him, either.
But Ververs pointed to the enthusiastic support given by Kramer and Heyward to provide as much transparency as popular in the often-insular world of broadcast news. In the wake of the discredited "60 Minutes Wednesday" report about President Bush's service in the National Guard, CBS News was criticized for not being immediately forthcoming after questions about the reporting emerged.
Kramer thinks that in the case of last year's "Memogate" involving Dan Rather and "60 Minutes Wednesday," something like "Public Eye" would have been useful.
"It would help a news organization deal with controversy because it brings it out into the open," Kramer said. "If you believe as I do that we're an honest, hard-working news organization, all you need to do is have the ability to explain how you do what you do and they'll understand."
Kramer said the more quickly that's done when there are questions, the better. He thinks Ververs, a veteran political journalist and media critic, is perfectly suited for the job.
"He's a combination of a good reporter and the host of a talk show," Kramer said. "The concept is for him to really moderate a debate. . . . That requires asking the right questions and being persistent."
Posted by uhyw
at 10:41 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 11:17 PM EDT
Sheehan Glad Bush Didn't Meet With Her 
CRAWFORD, Texas - A woman who led an anti-war protest for nearly a month near President Bush's ranch said Tuesday that she's glad Bush never showed up to discuss her son's death in Iraq, saying the president's absence "galvanized the peace movement."
Cindy Sheehan's comments came as war protesters packed up their campsite near the ranch and prepared to leave Tuesday for a three-week bus tour.
"I look back on it, and I am very, very, very grateful he did not meet with me, because we have sparked and galvanized the peace movement," Sheehan told The Associated Press. "If he'd met with me, then I would have gone home, and it would have ended there."
Sheehan and about 50 other peace activists arrived in the one- stoplight town Aug. 6, the day after she spoke at a Veterans for Peace convention in Dallas. She and a few others spent that night in chairs in ditches, without food or flashlights, off the main road leading to the president's ranch.
The Vacaville, Calif., woman vowed to stay until Bush's monthlong vacation ended unless she could question him about the war that claimed the life of her 24-year-old son Casey and more than 1,870 other U.S. soldiers.
Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the first day, but the president never did _ although he has said that he sympathizes with her and acknowledged her right to protest. His vacation is to end Wednesday, two days early, so he can monitor federal efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.
Sheehan's vigil attracted crowds of other anti-war demonstrators. Most stayed a few hours or days at the original roadside camp or at the second, larger site about a mile away on a private lot offered by a sympathetic landowner.
The massive response has transformed her life, she said.
"I thought our country was going down, down, down. I thought nobody cared about our children killed in the war, but millions care, and millions care about our country and want to make it better," she said. "The love and support I've received give me hope that my life can someday be normal."
The protest also sparked counter rallies by Bush supporters who accused Sheehan of using her son's death to push the liberal agenda of groups supporting her. Critics also said the anti-war demonstration was hurting U.S. troop morale while boosting the Iraqi insurgency.
Many Bush supporters pointed out that Sheehan never spoke against Bush or the war when she and other grieving families met the president about two months after her son died last year.
Sheehan said she was still in shock over Casey's death during that meeting. She said she became enraged after independent reports disputed Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons _ a main justification for the March 2003 invasion.
After leaving Crawford, protesters will spread their message on a three-week "Bring Them Home Now Tour" with stops in 25 states. Buses on three routes will meet in Washington, D.C., for a Sept. 24 anti-war march.
Sheehan will leave the tour next week to spend time with her family, including her mother who recently suffered a stroke, which caused Sheehan to miss a week of the protest. She plans to attend the march in the nation's capital, hoping to reunite with people who converged on the Texas roadside that came to be known as "Camp Casey."
"When I first started here, I was sitting in the ditch thinking, `What the heck did I do? Texas in August, the chiggers, fire ants, rattlesnakes, uncomfortable accommodations' _ but I'm going to be sad leaving here," Sheehan said. "I hope people will say that the Camp Casey movement sparked a peace movement that ended the war in Iraq."
On the Net: 
bright
Consumer Confidence Rises Unexpectedly in August
NEW YORK - Consumers reassured by the strengthening job market stayed optimistic in August despite the surging price of gasoline, giving a widely followed measure of consumer confidence an unexpected boost.
The Conference Board said Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index, compiled from a survey of U.S. households, rose to 105.6 this month up from a revised 103.6 in July. The August figure was better than the 101 analysts expected.
"Consumers appear to be weathering the steady rise in gas prices quite well," Lynn Franco, director of private group's Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.
Wall Street had little reaction to the upbeat confidence report, with investors focusing on the impact of Katrina. In early afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 74.67, or 0.71 percent, to 10,388.38. The news didn't boost retail stocks. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s shares fell 46 cents to close at $45.19, while Target Corp.'s shares fell $1.58, or 2.8 percent, to close at $54.14 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The increase in confidence, which followed a drop in July, came as a surprise to economists with the average price of gas reaching $2.61 a gallon nationwide last week. Prices were expected to surge again this week as Hurricane Katrina affected refinery output in the Gulf of Mexico.
The upbeat confidence report is also in contrast to the sluggish sales pace seen at the nation's stores this month, with the International Council of Shopping Centers reporting Tuesday that sales decreased for the fourth straight week. Merchants are scheduled to report their August figures on Thursday. And while hot weather has wilted shoppers' appetite for fall clothing like sweaters, some analysts believe higher oil prices are starting to make middle-income consumers scale back on discretionary purchases.
Economists closely track consumer confidence because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity. With gas prices climbing, and heating costs also expected to be sharply higher this fall and winter, there have been concerns among economists and business owners that energy prices would prompt consumers to retrench. Up until now, consumers have been largely resilient to oil's upward trek, though low-income shoppers have reduced their spending over the last year, dampening sales at stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
"It is important to look at what consumers are doing, not what they are saying," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "And consumers are already starting to cut back on discretionary purchases." He believes one of the most vulnerable areas will be jewelry.
Vitner believes that while the confidence level is a fairly accurate assessment, the rise is misleading. "Consumers are still cautiously optimistic, and they will be severely tested by any further runup of oil prices," he said.
Whether job gains triumph over consumers' concerns over rising gasoline prices in the coming months remains to be seen, but the latest snapshot on consumer sentiment shows that they seem to be secure in the job market.
One component of the Conference Board report, which looks at consumers' views of the current economic situation, rose to 123.6, from 119.3, which was the highest level in nearly four years and was propelled by consumers' stronger confidence in the labor market. Another component, the Expectations Index, which measures consumers' outlook over the next six months, edged up to 93.7 from 93.2 last month.
The Conference Board index is derived from responses received through Aug. 23 to a survey mailed to 5,000 households in a consumer research panel. The figures released Tuesday include responses from at least 2,500 households.
Consumers' overall assessment of ongoing conditions was considerably more favorable in August. Those claiming business conditions are "good" increased to 29.8 percent from 28.7 percent. Those claiming conditions are "bad" slipped to 15.1 percent from 16.7 percent.
The employment picture was also upbeat. The number of consumers saying jobs are "hard to get" fell to 23.2 percent from 23.8 percent, while those claiming jobs are "plentiful" rose to 23.5 percent from 22.9 percent. For the first time since October 2001, consumers claiming jobs are plentiful outnumber those claiming jobs are hard to get.
Consumers' short-term outlook improved marginally from July. The number of consumers anticipating business conditions to improve in the next six months increased to 18.7 percent from 17.9 percent. However, consumers expecting business conditions to worsen edged up to 9.7 percent from 9.5 percent.
The outlook for the labor market remains mixed. Those expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months increased to 16.6 percent from 15.6 percent. But those expecting fewer jobs also edged up to 17.2 percent from 16.7 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating their incomes to increase in the months ahead improved to 19.8 percent from 18.6 percent last month.
On the Net: 
d'oh
Poll: Fewer See Democrats as Friendly Toward Religion
† WASHINGTON - Democrats' efforts to improve their image with religious voters after the 2004 presidential election appear to be getting off to a bumpy start.
Fewer people see Democrats as friendly to religion now than felt that way a year ago, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
That number has dropped from 40 percent in August 2004 who thought the Democrats were friendly to religion to 29 percent now.
"The change is seen across all groups," said Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, which conducted the poll for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
After Democrats fared poorly with religious voters in the 2004 election, the Democratic National Committee initiated numerous efforts to strengthen its standing with religious voters.
The DNC hired someone to coordinate religious outreach, encouraged state parties to work more closely with the religious community, and had Chairman Howard Dean meet with clergy and others in the religious community during his travels around the country.
"We're at the beginning," said Democratic spokeswoman Karen Finney, who said religious voters share many of the values of the Democratic Party. "But we know we need to do a better job of talking about our values in a way that people see we share their values."
More than half of those polled, 55 percent, said the Republican Party is friendly to religion.
A majority of political independents, 54 percent, said religious conservatives have too much influence over the GOP. Fewer than half of independents said those who are not religious have too much impact on the Democratic Party.
The poll of 2,000 adults was conducted July 7-17 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
On the Net: 
cheeky
Poll: Sheehan's Protest Backfired
"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan's Bush-bashing protest has apparently backfired, with a slight plurality of Americans saying her antics have actually made them more likely to support the Iraq war, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday.
Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed said Sheehan has had no impact on how they view the Iraq war.
But 10 percent say the tart-tongued Californian, who blames Israel for terrorism and said she wants to curse out the president to his face, has actually made them more pro-war.
A slightly smaller number, 9 percent, said Sheehan's protest helped turn them against U.S. efforts in Iraq, for a net pick-up of support for the Iraq war of one percent.
Among military families, the anti-Sheehan effect was even more pronounced, with 22 percent of military households saying the Peace Mom made them more likely to back the war - and just 17 percent moving in the other direction.
chatty
Since Arafat's death last year, a more politically savvy generation of Palestinian leaders has stepped up the legal battle for release of the assets, using more traditional arguments. Lawyers are arguing in a New York court that the Bank of New York should release $30 million in assets on the grounds that the Palestinian Monetary Authority is an independent entity. In another action, lawyers are using a UN agreement with the United States to fight the move to sell the PLO mission.
But the largely unpublicized court fight for the assets has taken a major toll, Palestinians say.
George T. Abed, the governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, wrote in an affidavit to the court in June that the freezing of Palestinian Monetary Authority assets had forced a halt of all Palestinian dollar transactions through the United States and could ''cause a banking crisis in the Palestinian territories with possible fallout elsewhere in the region." The Monetary Authority provides financial backing for banks in Palestinian territory.
The unpaid claim has also brought a diplomatic price. It has frustrated Palestinian efforts to send a new ambassador to Washington because the envoy would have no functioning bank account, according to two of the Palestinian officials based in the West Bank.
Staff at the PLO mission in Washington have not been paid for three months, according to Said Hamad, a senior member of the PLO mission in Washington.
"Unless the mission is able to use these funds, . . . it will be necessary to close the mission with attendant injuries to Palestine and its people and negative consequences to peace in the Middle East," Clark's legal team wrote in a motion earlier this month.
Court documents show that the Bank of New York has halted money transfers to Palestinian missions in Ukraine, Guinea, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Ivory Coast, China, Bulgaria, Norway, Pakistan, and Colombia, as well as New York, because of the court order.
The case could also hamper US government aid. Last month, the US government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation voted to contribute $110 million to a project that would give loan guarantees to small businesses in Gaza. But the Palestinian Investment Fund -- whose US assets have been frozen by the court order -- is required to make a substantial contribution of its money as a condition for launching the project.
A State Department official who asked not to be identified said the lawsuit had not yet prevented US aid from flowing to the Palestinians, but that he did not know whether it would be an obstacle.
Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who is also running for mayor in New York City, has called for the US government to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority until the claim is paid. "If they wish to continue receiving checks from the US government, the Palestinian Authority needs to pay the Ungar family what they are owed," Weiner said in a statement last week. "We must make sure this ruling is enforced to make sure that there is accountability."
Palestinians say that Strachman is going after the very funds that have recently been made public in celebrated reforms meant to curb corruption and terrorism funding. But Strachman and his legal team say they should stop making excuses and pay.
"We're looking for money," said Robert Tolchin, a New York-based lawyer working with Strachman. "If you create a cost for doing wrong, people will be motivated to stop doing wrong."
a-ok
TAKING OVER: An intelligence officer under Saddam Hussein, Col. Theya al-Tamimi now commands an Iraqi Army unit in Iraq's Diyala valley. >>>>>
An Iraqi Army unit ready to control its turf
On the edge of the Sunni triangle, Iraqis took the lead on security, and violence dropped.
MUQDADIYAH, IRAQ – In the fertile "bread basket" of central Iraq's Diyala valley, roadside-bomb attacks have nearly stopped.
This ethnically complex patchwork of towns, villages, fields, and orchards, which US commanders call a "little Iraq," has seen its share of insurgent activity since 2003. But nowadays, the local Sunni Arabs appear inclined to climb aboard the US-backed political process, rather than trying to derail it through violence.
The relative peace in 
Yet Diyala province could be among the first areas handed over to full Iraqi security control. Planned reductions of US-led coalition forces, which numbered 161,500 in July, might begin as early as next year - depending on political conditions, as well as the readiness of Iraqi military units, US commanders say.
About 79,900 Iraqi Army soldiers and national guardsmen have been counted as being "operational" in August, according to the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index. The stated US goal is to train another 18,639 troops.
"In the Sunni triangle, Diyala is well ahead of the others," according to Col. Steven Salazar, US brigade commander for northeastern Iraq.
Iraqi troops still rely heavily on US support, from planning raids, to stand-by air support in case things turn bad, to detainee processing. But the Iraqi 2/2 Battalion is ready for its training wheels to come off, most US liaison officers say.
Theya agrees: "Right now we have the ability to do this on our own."
The Iraqi way 
The 2/2 is hardly like an American battalion. Its troops conduct patrols in unarmored pickup trucks, and the chain of command is still too top-heavy, in the American view.
However, an Iraqi formation can fight the insurgents in an efficient manner, Theya says. "We have a dialogue with people. If I find an explosive device, we'll close the road, and also close all the shops along it," he says. "So if people work with us, they help themselves."
Similar tactics by US troops tend to feed local hostility. Iraqi soldiers are inherently less provocative, Theya says, citing cultural affinities among all Arab Iraqis, whether Sunni or Shiite.
His US counterpart, Colonel Cloutier, also talks about the need to "put an Iraqi face" on operations, from patrolling roads to pamphleteering about the constitutional referendum. "When people here see the Iraqi Army, they see their countrymen, their brothers," Cloutier says. "When they see Bradleys and Humvees rolling through, they see Americans."
This is not to say the Iraqis don't want better equipment, too. Theya's battalion recently acquired four Soviet-made MTLB armored personnel carriers from the US. These rebuilt relics from the 1980s Iran-Iraq war carry great symbolic value for civilians, while also allowing the Iraqi Army greater reach on the roads between towns, Cloutier says.
Other tanks and personnel carriers are going into service with the new army's first mechanized brigade, which made its first public appearance during elections in January. The mechanized brigade will be far more visible at referendum polling stations in October, US officers say.
But Iraqi troops are also being given the technological edge over their opponents in smaller ways. Theya's troops are currently training with night-vision goggles - outdated early 1980s models being sufficient to outmatch insurgent gunmen. In recent months, the whole battalion has also received bulletproof helmets and body armor, although many soldiers still need to be persuaded to wear them.
Hurdles remain
Training and fighting capacity remain several steps behind the army's organizational charts, even if larger formations are gradually taking shape. "Before, we were training as platoons and squads," Theya says. "Now we're training at the company level. We use more machine guns, more firepower."
Six months ago, Theya dismissed the newly formed Fourth Division command as "only symbolic," whereas he now calls it a "necessary step in developing Iraq's military." The division, he suggests, is roughly where his own battalion was about a year ago.
Theya recently shuffled his company commanders and section heads, hoping to counter favoritism within the battalion's internal groupings. "He saw that some guys weren't pulling watch duty or manning checkpoints," a US officer said.
A major hurdle remains on the logistical side. Theya says his unit has not been directly touched by corruption in the Ministry of Defense, which has allegedly deprived the Iraqi Army of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons and equipment.
Yet the battalion depends on the Americans to provide it with sufficient ammunition and especially fuel, often on an ad hoc basis. According to US trainers, Iraqi officers are often reluctant to make requests, reflecting the old Iraqi army's traditional top-down mind-set.
The flow of materials is better than in the old army, Iraqi officers say. "Before, you would just listen to orders. You couldn't even get a notebook and pen, let alone ammunition," says Theya's brother, Capt. Saddam al-Tamimi, who also works at battalion headquarters. "Now, there's an obvious difference. Our soldiers' morale is better, because of the freedom to talk between officers and soldiers," he adds.
The 2/2 is recruited locally, and separate companies tend to reflect local tribal affiliations. Theya says this doesn't bode well for putting together a national army. The old army's recruitment system, based on mixing together soldiers from all over Iraq, was more effective as a way to downplay sectarian or ethnic tensions, he says.
Still, the 2/2 has started to look professional. The colonel, who used to meet visitors in a tracksuit and leather jacket, now wears pressed battle-dress uniforms. His troops conduct house-to-house movements with ease, even if the Americans still take a heavy hand in planning. "We have achieved irreversible momentum," Cloutier says. "This area will not go back to the way it was."
But Iraqi military progress is far from evident in other parts of the country. While the 2/2 evolved out of one of Iraq's earliest postinvasion army formations, its success can be replicated everywhere with time, the US commander says. "I can't speak outside my sandbox. But to different degrees, you have the same things happening all over Iraq."
surprised
By 
This order to destroy the records occurred prior to 9-11-01. Weldon intimated that it happened during the Clinton Administration.
The witness, who Weldon did not name, says that he was ordered to destroy records and was threatened with jail if he failed to comply. Weldon said that he has the names of the people involved, including the person who gave the order, and HE WILL NAME THEM in his speech.
Congressman Weldon also said that his staff has met with Senator Arlen Specter's (R - Pennsylvania) staff regarding the upcoming Judiciary Committee hearings. Weldon wants to be sure that everybody is on the same page. Weldon also said that he will do whatever he has to do to make sure that ALL the facts come out and that the process "is not manipulated".
Curt Weldon is like a pit bull on a steak. He expressed disgust with the "incompetence" of the 9-11 Commission and said that the victims of the 9-11 terror attacks deserve answers. Weldon is determined to see that they get them.
Weldon did express confidence in Tim Roehmer and John Lehman and speculated that perhaps the poor job done by the Commission was the result of an incompetent staff. Weldon sounded amazed and disappointed that so much important information was either glossed over or swept under the rug by the Commission.
Weldon will give his September 8th speech either to the National Press Club or to a "9-11 families" group which has asked him to speak. He apparently hasn't nailed down the exact venue yet.
(For those unfamiliar with Dom Giordano, he is a very good conservative local talk show host here in the Philadelphia area, an area which includes Curt Weldon's district. Weldon comes on Dom's show often and, like this evening, sometimes breaks news.)
Sharpton Driver Arrested for Speeding
WAXAHACHIE, Texas - A car carrying the Rev. Al Sharpton led sheriff's deputies on a nine- mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph before state troopers stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver, authorities said.
The civil rights activist called the sheriff's report "ludicrous" and accused the Ellis County officers of "embellishing the story."
"That nine-mile chase is news to me," Sharpton told The Associated Press. "All I know is that the police pulled us over because they wanted to talk to the driver about speeding."
Chief Deputy Charles Sullins said driver Jarrett B. Maupin, 43, was rushing Sharpton to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after Sharpton visited anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Sunday at her camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford.
Because the 2005 Lincoln was rented to Maupin, of Phoenix, sheriff's deputies impounded the car. Maupin posted a $1,000 bond on charges of evading arrest with a vehicle and reckless driving, authorities said.
The car carrying Sharpton and two other passengers was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65 mph zone on the interstate south of Dallas, Sullins said.
He said the driver ignored deputies' attempts to stop it and weaved in and out of traffic before state troopers were able to get in front of the car.
Sharpton caught a lift from a passing driver and made his scheduled flight to New York.
irritated
'Arizona Daily Star' Drops Ann Coulter's 'Shrill' Column
NEW YORK - The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson has had enough of conservative commentator Ann Coulter.
In a 
Taking her place in the Star will be the Creators Syndicate column by fellow conservative Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show" on Fox News Radio and "Weekend Live With Tony Snow" on the Fox News Channel. He has also worked for several newspapers.
Stoeffler's piece also mentioned other changes in the Star's opinion pages, including smaller photos and cartoons to make room for longer columns and more letters.
Stoeffler has been at the paper just nine weeks. He said the paper had received about 300 e-mails on a recent re-design, and many were negative. So the Star is shifting back to "more words" and a less fancy design.
For one thing, the cartoons by David Fitzsimmons will now run smaller, freeing up room for another columnist.
"Running a newspaper is something like building a three-legged stool," Stoeffler explained. "We need to understand and satisfy a broad audience. Through a combination of market research and regular contact, we come to know what readers want."