The most interesting news to me today?
Huge star explodes in brightest supernova yet seen
By Will Dunham, Reuters
Mon May 7
...
- And there is one such star in our own Milky Way galaxy that appears to be on the brink of dying in just such a supernova.
...
- The exploding star's dramatic death may have come in a rare type of supernova reserved for "freakishly massive" stars that astronomers had speculated about but never previously witnessed.
...
- Astrophysicist Mario Livio said the supernova may have resulted from a type of explosion mechanism that had existed only in theoretical calculations. He said the first generation of stars in the universe may have died in such a manner.
Welcome to Yahoo News. A lot of people like this site as a source for news because it's customizable, you can rate the stories, and there are discussion groups so you can comment on them. And Comics, can't forget the Comics.
To me the big drawback is the limited number of sources.
There are 15 categories-
Top Stories where your sources are-
Top Stories also has feeds from U. S. News and World Report, Pew Daily Number, and Photos and Slideshows.
Most Popular-
Local News
- Hmmm... No Stars Hollow. I wonder why?
World
U.S. News
Politics
Business
Science
Technology
Health
Entertainment
Travel
Checking In (2/22/07) and Adventure Beat (8/31/06) are old news.
Sports
Odd News
Opinion
In the box underneath each category are (generally) the headlines of the 5 most recent stories from the source you have selected, along with how recent they are.
I say 'generally' because Top Stories and Most Popular are not time sensitive. Top Stories? Who knows how those are picked? I sure don't. Most Popular is based on the user ratings, 1 to 5 stars, and activity of the described type. I've frequently seen calls on dKos to up and down rate stories, which I've often done, and sometimes it seems pretty effective because a lot of them don't have many ratings at all.
You zoom in on all the stories from a particular source (in category) by selecting the source on the top of the box and then clicking the button that says "All (category) from (source)".
The NPR Source is audio files for you audiophiles. Personally I find Radio and TV both inferior sources for news because of their serial nature.
What do you mean by that ek?
A book or a magazine or a newspaper is random access. You can turn to any particular section in an instant and read it as many times as you want in whatever order.
Video and audio are time based, you start at the beginning and go to the end. Various seek mechanisms try to make it more random access, but they all fail in my estimation.
As with most of my pronouncements, you don't have to agree with me.
There is no pattern to the number of stories within any given source, if there are more than 40 or so they'll put up a second page. Also, while the pattern of stories within a particular source seems to be roughly time based (newest on top), I've noticed some exceptions.
AP and Reuters sources predominate, with AFP and NPR close behind. I find the stories from Reuters and AFP a little less right wing than the ones from AP.
A very interesting field of analysis that I won't have time to get into tonight is seeing which stories are covered by which source. Recently (I have no idea how recently) the Opinion section has become a little less biased with the addition of the HuffPo as a source (I note our fellow Kossack davidsirota is a contributor of prominence).
I have terrible news habits that I don't mind sharing. I read The Daily News every day, mostly for the sports and comics. The Hartford Courant is pretty good, but it's not nearly as good as I'd like. The Boston Globe used to be much better before the New York Times (subscription only) took it over. When I'm in Washington I read The Washington Post because it's relatively cheap (now $.50) and it's thick so you can wrap a lot of fish and line a lot of litter boxes and bird cages with it.
Most of my news I get from TV which is on all the time. I watch Faux during the day because I like my bullshit straight up. In the evenings I do Tucker, Tweety, Special Report, Tweety 2 (because my blood pressure is never high enough), Keith (an oasis of sanity), Scarborough or H&C, Underpants, TDS/TCR, Keith again (can't get enough Keith), TDS/TCR again (I ♥ Jon and Stephen), more Underpants, Redeye, and then Special Report and O'Reilly if I can't sleep.
The only actual news in all of that is TDS/TCR and Keith.
I get a lot of news straight from The Daily Kos. I find that many times we are days or weeks ahead of the curve.
Because I am shallow and one-dimensional I look at news mostly as a place to find Diary topics. If you are doing that too I have some advice, poke around in the less trafficked corners.
Below you will find some examples of stories in the oddball categories-
Business
World Bank ethics panel corners Wolfowitz
by David Dieudonne, AFP
Tue May 8
...
- Nearly a month after the accusations surfaced and rocked the 185-country development lender, a World Bank ethics panel set up to investigate the matter has unequivocally found Wolfowitz breached bank rules, a European source said.
- "The committee concluded clearly that Mr. Wolfowitz did not respect the rules," the source, with knowledge of the situation and speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
...
- "He has until today to respond," the source said. The two documents would then be transmitted to the board of directors.
__________________
Science
Ceiling Height Alters How You Think
Ben Mauk, Special to LiveScience
Tue May 8
...
- The concept of freedom promotes information processing that encourages greater variation in the kinds of thoughts one has, said Meyers-Levy, professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. The concept of confinement promotes more detail-oriented processing.
- The study consisted of three tests ranging from anagram puzzles to product evaluation. In every tested situation a 10-foot ceiling correlated with subject activity that the researchers interpreted as "freer, more abstract thinking," whereas subjects in an 8-foot room were more likely to focus on specifics.
...
- The labeling for their somewhat abstract concepts, "freedom" and "confinement," comes from a speculative paper on how lofty cathedral ceilings might encourage a different religious experience from the low ceilings of a modest chapel.
__________________
Technology
MySpace to acquire Photobucket: source
By Kenneth Li/Eric Auchard, Reuters
Tue May 8
- LAS VEGAS/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - MySpace, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has reached a preliminary deal to acquire Photobucket, the world's top photo-sharing site, for around $250 million in cash, a source familiar with the deal said on Monday.
...
- Nearly 60 percent of Photobucket site traffic comes from users leaving MySpace properties, Hitwise click data shows. Photobucket is the third most popular destination for MySpace users after Google and Yahoo, according to Hitwise statistics.
- That relationship has proved rocky: Last month, MySpace blocked traffic from its site to Photobucket after a dispute over technical issues led MySpace to accuse Photobucket of violating the social network site's service terms.
__________________
Health
Perry won't veto virus vaccinations bill
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8
- AUSTIN, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday said he won't veto a bill that would block state officials from following his order that all sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
- The Republican governor accused the state legislators of politicizing the debate over his February executive order that required vaccinations against the human papillomavirus vaccine for girls starting in September 2008.
- However, he acknowledged the Legislature's overwhelming disdain for his program and said he will allow the bill to become law without his signature.
__________________
Entertainment
Southern English town most Harry Potter-crazy in Britain
AFP
Tue May 8
- The town (Wallingford in Oxfordshire), which was home to Agatha Christie, pre-ordered more copies of the seventh edition of author J.K. Rowling's hugely successful Harry Potter series of books per capita than any other in Britain, according to online retailer Amazon.co.uk.
__________________
Travel
U.S. Army opens new military-only resort
By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8
...
- The Armed Forces Recreation Center in Virginia Beach joins other locations in Orlando, Florida, Germany, Hawaii and South Korea that have been serving military families and civilians who work for the U.S. Department of Defense since 1946.
- Adding the new resort is part of the adaptation to an "increasingly continental United States based" military that is bringing back significant numbers of soldiers from Germany and Korea, said Rich Gorman, chief operating officer of the command based near Washington.
- The Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command assumed responsibility of a 93-room set of cabins and bungalows in April, but plans to expand the property over the next two years with additional rooms and conference facilities. Feet from the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, the Virginia Beach resort called Cape Henry Inn has been open for about 12 years under local management.
__________________
Sports
Riley still enthused after four Cup challenges
by Chris WRIGHT, AFP
Tue May 8
- VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) - The words pitwoman and pitperson may not officially have entered the yachting world's lexicon, but Dawn Riley has been flying the flag for women at the America's Cup for 15 years and her appetite is undimmed despite Areva Challenge's Louis Vuitton elimination.
- Areva general manager Riley, who sank her life savings into her America True challenge in 2000 and also sailed with America3 in 1992 and 1995, was unbowed Tuesday as she reflected on the French team's failed attempt to reach the semi-finals.
- "We have all the ingredients, but we took too long to figure out what the right one was," the 43-year-old from Detroit candidly admitted after five defeats in their opening seven second round robin outings left the syndicate she manages well off the pace.
__________________
A good example of AP bias from the Politics section-
Obama overstates Kansas tornado toll
By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8
...
- But minutes later, caught up in his exuberance, the Illinois senator blurted out that 10,000 people had died in twisters that tore through Kansas. The death toll was 12.
- A short while later, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his head glistening with sweat, Obama appeared to realize his error.
- "There are going to be times when I get tired. There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes," he said.
__________________
US News
First hearing for Marines involved in Haditha killings
AFP
Tue May 8
...
- Three Marines face murder charges over the killings while four other soldiers stand accused of covering up the deaths, the most serious war crimes case involving US forces since the invasion of Iraq four years ago.
...
- Initial reports of the incident by the Marines said 15 people had died in a roadside bombing. But an investigation published by Time magazine in March contradicted the official version of events.
...
- "We now know with certainty the press release was incorrect, and that none of the civilians were killed by the IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explosion," he (Colonel Stewart Navarre) said.
__________________
World
France's Sarkozy attacked over luxury cruise
By Jon Boyle
Tue May 8
- PARIS (Reuters) - Incoming French leader Nicolas Sarkozy was embroiled in a row over his stay on a luxury yacht on Tuesday, two days after winning election with a campaign to lift low wages and help hard-working families.
...
- "It sends a disastrous signal to the country, notably the 53 percent of French people who earn less than 800 euros a month and who voted for him," said Patrick Menucci, a former advisor to defeated Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.
- LCI television said the vessel cost 200,000 euros ($271,300) a week to hire and Jean-Louis Bourlanges, a European deputy of the centrist UDF party, attacked the stay as a "needlessly ostentatious luxury."
__________________
Just like last time I'm going to add some stories as we go along. Tonight I'll try and highlight some from today where I think we're out ahead of the MSM.
As always you can use the comments as an open thread or talk about some of today's news that you find significant.
__________________
A good Example of a story we (and Keith) are out in front of)-
New Jersey sales clerks - fighting terrorism, falling behind
by dday
Tue May 8
- So today we added the Fort Dix Six to the lexicon, a band of terrorists so ruthless, so cunning, so methodical, so assured of success, that they taped themselves shooting guns in the woods and handed them over for dubbing to a retail store. Now, let's put aside the fact that this terrorist cell appears to be about as good at terrorism as the group in Miami who used to smoke pot and talk about waging a full ground war against the US, but didn't have enough cash for boots. And let's put side that the US Attorney in the case, Chris Christie, has come under scrutiny for politicizing his office to investigate Democrats. Let's put aside all skepticism about the timing of the announcement or the ability of the plotters to pull anything off or how the whole episode shows that effective law enforcement is the key to protecting America.
__________________
Condi approved $$$ FOR TERRORISTS??!?; WSJ demands investigation!?
by occams hatchet
Tue May 08
...
- Looks like somebody’s Secretary of State might need to be on a Terrorist Watch List for providing material aid to terrorist organizations . . .
- Seems our esteemed Shoe Shopping Shuttle Diplomatist Condoleezza Rice was involved in "the biggest scandal in human history" - at least, according to the New York Times, and Fred Barnes (of Fox News and The Weekly Standard)
- Condi sat on the board of directors of Chevron Corp. while they were paying illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime to purchase Iraqi oil from unscrupulous, shady dealers as part of the Oil-for-Food program.
__________________
Dick Morris:Troops In Iraq=Convenient Americans 4 AQ 2 Kill
by lapin
Tue May 8
...
- Only Fox News would give such immoral insanity an outlet. Morris is saying Al Qaeda must kill Americans so better to offer up the human sacrifice of American soldiers in Iraq than endanger chickenhawks like himself on their way to get their toes sucked. Disgusting.
__________________
Countdown to $100 oil (39) - BigOil running out of oil
by Jerome a Paris
Tue May 8
...
- What's going on? Aren't markets working? A price increase, especially such a longlasting and massive one, should be a signal to producers to produce more, and to consumers to consume less. As we know, consumers are burning more oil thanks to record economic growth in China and elsewhere, and demand appears to not be very sensitive to prices in both emerging economies and oil producing countries as the good times roll. Despite flatter consumption growth in the developed world, demand is going up overall, and drives prices up.
- But supply should then have delivered. And indeed it has, as spare production capacity around the world has been put in service. But new capacity, in particular that developed by the oil majors, should have followed. And yet we see from the above numbers that it hasn't. Again, BigOil has been unable to increase production in the past 5 years.
...
- Thus it means that they can't. Quite simply, they no longer have access to new reserves.
__________________
Hill Global Warming Week: Progress on Senate Energy Package?
by The Cunctator
Tue May 8
...
- Last week, ENR passed out its omnibus bill, S. 1321, which covers biofuels, energy efficiency standards, and carbon capture & sequestration research.
- Today the Commerce Committee approved a bill to increase fuel economy standards, S. 357, to (get ready for it) 35 mpg by 2020, only 13 years away. At least it eliminates the SUV loophole.
- So what about the two others? Boxer has introduced a more aggressive biofuels bill than S. 1321. Her bill actually calls for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
__________________
Cheney's Middle East Trip and the Iraq Oil Law
by LithiumCola
Tue May 08
...
- Here's my tentative conclusion, up front: The Bush Administration has had it with waiting for the Kurds in the Iraqi parliament to get on board with the draft hydrocarbon law. The Iraqi parliament, could, just barely, pass the law without a single Kurdish-bloc vote . . . but only with near-unanimous Sunni votes, and so far the Sunnis in Iraq have had their own doubts about the draft hydrocarbon law. Cheney is therefore preparing to run over the Kurds in Iraq. The Vice President is going to the Middle East to convince Sunni governments in the region to lean on Sunnis in the Iraqi parliament to get on board with the draft hydrocarbon law so that no Kurdish votes are needed -- essentially to cut off the Kurds.
__________________
Sunnis threaten to pull out of Iraq political process
by seesdifferent
Tue May 08
...
- The Shiite bloc of al-Sadr has given up its 6 ministries, but the Sunnis are not getting what they demanded in the way of power and guarantees, in return for voting for the constitution last year. The promised constitutional reforms have not happened, and are not even on the drawing board.
...
- If the Sunnis pull out of the political process altogether, the implication is that they are going to step up the attacks. The deadline they have given is only a week away, and they have told Bush to put up or shut up.
Hannibal Lecter Dick Cheney is on the way with his special brand of Chianti diplomacy.
__________________
UK to "radically" shift course
by zenbowl
Tue May 08
- According to the Independent this morning, Gordon Brown is planning a "radical" departure from the policies of Tony Blair in the Middle East.
...
- Brown will also be aligning UK policy towards formal negotiations with Iran, leaving the US as a lonely advocate for an extreme hardline Iranian policy. This will make those who seek a military engagement with Iran that much harder pressed to list any potential allies in such a mission.
- Brown's succession of Blair may serve as a guide to the American people about what it looks like when you stop enabling a power-drunk President. It might also serve as a guide to certain Democrats about what the American public would like to see from a leader.
