Month: March 2005

Wow…look at what a few months in prison will do for you.

In a move that has raised questions of professional integrity, Newsweek magazine has combined an image of Martha Stewart’s head and a model’s body on its latest cover, according to a report Thursday.

The New York Times says the Newsweek cover depicts what looks to be a real full-body photo of Stewart, albeit a few pounds lighter, parting a curtain. The text reads “Martha’s Last Laugh: After Prison She’s Thinner, Wealthier & Ready for Prime Time.”

According to the Times, Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Lynne Staley said the photo was not meant to be deceptive but rather to illustrate what she might look like when she’s released from prison, which could come as early as Friday. Staley said a credit on the table of contents noted the image was a fake.

“If a reader thinks its a news photo, an actual photograph, as opposed to a piece of art, then you should never change the truth of the photo,” Castro told the Times.

Staley agreed and said the magazine should have been more careful, perhaps using an image that clearly couldn’t have been mistaken for a real picture.

“They fumbled, they blundered, but this is not like misrepresenting the news,” Castro told the paper. “They just did a dumb thing.”

Indeed.

UPDATE: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, she’s Free at last!

MORE: Dan Gillmor calls her as he sees her.

Hee hee.

I have my doubts about this. Yes, it is a serious issue, but I think the alarm is sounding a bit louder than reality due to the nature of the debate. It’s a tactic pure and simple, and I think Commissioner Smith is playing it up – TO THE BLOGOSPHERE. He’d like nothing more than for bloggers to FREAK OUT over his little interview on CNet and create havoc. Then the FEC will be forced to bow to the pressure and continue the Internet exemption portion of the 2002 campaign finance law. He’s no doubt seen the effect (Rathergate), and I’m sure he’s counting on his words to light a fire under…well, you know what I mean.

Will bloggers take the bait and crank up the volume?

Yep.

And that’s a good thing.

UPDATE: In 1999, the Brennen Center published some background on Commissioner Smith. Here’s how they describe him:

Imagine the President nominating an Attorney General who believes that most of our criminal laws are “profoundly undemocratic” and unconstitutional. Or an SEC Commissioner who has publicly called for the repeal of all securities laws with the plea, “We should deregulate and just let it go.” Or a nominee for EPA Administrator who believes that the agency he aspires to head and “its various state counterparts” should be abolished. It would be unthinkable. In a society rooted in the rule of law, we would never tolerate the appointment of a law enforcement officer who has vocally and repeatedly denounced the very laws he would be called upon to enforce, much less one who has called for the repeal of those laws and the abolition of the agency he aspires to head.

Unthinkable. Yet, some Senators thought of it.

The Republican favorite to fill the current vacancy on the Federal Election Commission, according to The Washington Post, is Bradley A. Smith, a law professor at Capital University Law School, who has devoted his career to denouncing the FEC and the laws it is entrusted to enforce in precisely those strident terms.

Brad Smith believes that the entire body of the nation’s campaign finance law is fundamentally flawed and unworkable – indeed, unconstitutional. He has forcefully advocated complete deregulation of the system. And, if the James Watt of campaign finance had his way, the FEC, and its state counterparts, would go out of business.

So, if even 1% of the above is true about the Commissioner, his red alert today could be a bit top heavy in the drama department.

MORE: FEC Commissioner Bradley Smith appeared on the Cam Edwards show this afternoon to discuss the possibility of regulating political activity on the Internet. RedState has the first half of the transcript posted here. They’ve also added a new section to their site which focuses exclusively on the story.

Discover magazine’s online edition published an article this month about the collective power of sharing files over the web. It’s a little techy, but Steven Johnson covers all the bases.

I’m even mentioned (ok, one sentence, but I’ll take what I can get.)

Go read the whole thing. (h/t Omniverse)

Introducing, the FIRE BIBLE.

When was the last time your class saw how “HOT” God’s Word is? Open this authentic looking “bible” and begin to share the scripture for the day as real flames are seen coming from your “bible”. This full size book comes with a battery operated ignition system. All you supply are the batteries, lighter fluid and composure as your class gets excited. (special note: Fed-Ex shipping is available if you absolutely have to have the Fire Bible for this Sunday!) Only $44.95!

Yep, it’s a real product.

I have one question. Just how fast can the Department of Homeland Security add this to their “do not allow on an aircraft” list? I can see the directive right now – beware of all Bibles…or at least Bibles filled with lighter fluid.

The Carnival of the Vanities left PunditGuy town last week and is now at it’s 128th stop – Belief Seeking Understanding. Go roll around in the goodness of the blog link o’ rama.

The Howard Dean “Scream” Tour o’ Tolerance rolls on…

“We’re not going to concede the South,” the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee told an overflow crowd of more than 900 people in a dining room that was set up for 800 in the Clarion hotel near downtown Jackson.

“The South will rise again, and when it does, it will have a D after its name,” Dean said to applause from the diverse crowd of blacks and whites.

Cue the house to unroll the confederate flag background.

Dean said he’ll go to Tennessee soon.

Will he lunch with Algore? Not likely.

“The way we’re going to win elections in this country is not to become Republican lite. The way we’re going to win elections in this country is to stand up for what we believe in,” Dean said.

Win? No. Go down in flames like the fringe leftist minority that you are? Yes.

Speaking at the $75-a-plate Mississippi Democratic Party dinner, Dean criticized the national debt and said: “You cannot trust Republicans with your taxpayer dollars.”

Go on Howard. Make the pledge. Tell everyone that Democrats won’t increase taxes, they won’t add their personal pork to ANY new bill, and insist that each existing social program be scrutinized for waste.

He prayed for American troops, saying even those who had criticized the war in Iraq should support soldiers and their families.

Would someone explain to me how you support a soldier in Iraq but oppose and criticize the job they have? Really…I don’t get it.

He also said the Democratic Party should reach out to evangelical Christians and the party has room for people with divergent views on abortion.

Attention tempest, find your teapot.

“I want to reach out to people who are worried about values,” Dean said. “We are going to embrace pro-life Democrats because pro-life Democrats care about kids after they’re born, not just before they’re born.”

What’s that? Did Dean say something he didn’t intend to say? Are we to believe now that Democrats consider the mass of cells inside a pregnant mother a “kid”? Is a “kid” not a human being? It’s time to fish or cut bait Democrats. Stand by this statement from your Chairman or issue the appropriate press release correction. You can’t have it both ways.

I’m starting to get anxious for each new speech that Howard Dean gives. I can’t wait to “roll tape” on him when campaign 2008 kicks in. Grab your popcorn…  

It’s MATH, something I haven’t thought a lot about since I was in college. Michelle Malkin has been using it lately. She’s looking into a subject that is near and dear to most serious bloggers. Hits. Visits. Visitors. Instalanches. So, get out your calculator, and do a little checking of Michelle’s arithmetic for yourself.

Oh, and as discussed here previously, PunditGuy is no where near the size of the blogs she mentions. I’m not even on Michelle’s blogroll for goodness’ sake.

Respectfully yours,

Mr. B-List

By the way…Michael Totten wrote a related article about the accuracy of SiteMeter and similar hit counters. In light of Michelle’s info, this is worth revisiting.

Other than reading a snippet somewhere which covered the recent deportation of Ernst Zundel, chronic Holocaust denial theorist, I hadn’t heard much at all about him. Now that I’ve taken time to look into his background, I understand one thing. It only takes a reasonable person two minutes to conclude that Zundel is a certified wacko. Just browse his website and you’ll see what I mean. Now that he’s been sent back to Germany, and directly to prison, people are coming out for and against his deportation. While there are dozens of examples of people who share the opinion that Zundel deserves everything he gets, I haven’t read too many opinions from the other side. I did read this one from Declan McCullagh. At the onset, I was ready to label Declan a sympathizer who deserves his own padded cell, but I kept reading.

Now, I think he’s right.

I agree with his assessment of the treatment Zundel received from the Canadian government. Even though Zundel is a lunatic, and even though he’s pushed the most insane Nazi propaganda I’ve read anywhere, he still shouldn’t have been deported on the grounds cited by The Crown.

Go on over and read Declan’s article.

Word from Captain Ed tonight that the “conscience of the Senate”, Senator Robert Byrd, has compared Republicans to Nazis. The former clansman, (he must love that label) didn’t just say this in passing to an aide, or to a fellow congressman, or even slip it to a member of the press. No. Byrd made this accusation right from the Senate floor.

So, for those keeping count — we now know that Howard Dean thinks Republicans are “evil”, and Robert Byrd believes that Republicans are reincarnated Nazi jackbooted thugs.

The party of tolerance, indeed.

UPDATE: A Jewish group criticizes Byrd’s comments. So far, no word outta Byrd.