Think Progress

The crystal ball that glides down atop Times Square in New York City at the stroke of midnight tonight will be more energy efficient than previous New Year’s ball drops. Event organizers are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the event by going green:

The new 6ft ball, weighing about 1,100lbs, is covered with 9,576 light-emitting diodes that use the same amount of electricity as 10 toasters. The LEDs are more than twice as bright as the previous bulbs and are capable of creating a palette of 16 million colors.

URL: Think Progress

   more »

Think Progress

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour named Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS) as Trent Lott’s replacement in the Senate, who resigned recently and is expected to become a lobbyist. “Wicker’s appointment is only temporary — he will have to run for reelection in November 2008,” but Barbour’s plan to hold the election in November 2008 may violate Mississippi election law, which requires a special election within 90 days of Lott’s retirement.

URL: Think Progress

   more »

News Hounds

As 2007 draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about the year that was on Hannity & Colmes. Sean Hannity, who is nothing if not consistent, started off the year distorting facts to promote his pro-war, anti-liberal, anti-Democratic, bigoted agenda and he ended the year doing the same thing. Alan Colmes, on the other hand, seems to be going through some real changes that might be described as “coming into his own.” So, just for the fun of it, I consulted with a News Hounds friend and astrologer for her insights into the year ahead for my two most-watched co-hosts. She confirmed my hunch that this will likely be an exciting year for Colmes and a static one for Hannity.

I have long said that Colmes deserves far more credit than he gets for the job he does on FOX News. But lately he’s taken some courageous positions and begun to stake out his own territory. For example, he immediately questioned whether the United States’ policy toward Pakistan might have helped set in motion the events that led to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto – definitely not what I have come to expect ...   more »

News Hounds

FOX and Friends reported, sorta, this morning 12/31/07 that now the The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is saying that consumers can not legally "rip" selections from legally purchased CDs onto their personal computers, calling it theft.
With video.

A Washington Post article reports that

"In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings."

[snip]

"RIAA's hard-line position seems clear. Its Web site says: "If you make unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings, you're stealing. You're breaking the law and you could be held legally liable for thousands of dollars in damages."

[snip]

"But lawyers for consumers point to a series of court rulings over the last few decades that found no violation of copyright law in the use of VCRs and ...   more »

News Hounds

This morning's FOX and Friends 12/31/07 featured a segment on "outrageous" quotes, where the quotes were read and viewers were supposed to guess who said it. All three quotes reinforced the FOX agenda items that the mainstream media supports liberals and hates the Bush administration. Source: Brent Bozell's Media Research Center, "The Leader in Documenting,Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias." There was no corresponding item sourced from Mediamatters.org, or for that matter, from News Hounds, where we've amassed a stunning collection of stupidity, hostility, disregard for human rights and the US Constitution, and hatred for fellow Americans.

The first quote,

"When I watched [President Bill Clinton] at Mrs. King's funeral, I just have never seen anything like it...there are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple. I mean, amazing ability to transcend ethnicity... in this country and, and speak to us all in this amazingly primordial way."

prompted Alisyn Camerota to say that the speaker (Chris Matthews) has a "man-crush" on the former President. Eliminated from the quote were the preface:

"I hate to pass on his lifestyle and questions like that, but ..."

and the follow-up:

"And that's the only good thing I'll say ...   more »

News Hounds

As I read the AP report on Rawstory.com last night 12/30/07 about Chelsea Clinton declining to talk to a young (9 years old) aspiring reporter, I considered how FOX would find a way to take a swipe at Hillary Clinton out of it. Sure enough, this morning on FOX and Friends (and later on FOX News Live and then on America's Newsroom) there were segments about the incident that misrepresented the younger Clinton. Not surprising from the gang who can't keep the Rodham family straight and just wants to create a negative for Hillary Clinton any way they can.

The AP story reports that

"Sydney Rieckhoff, a Cedar Rapids fourth grader and "kid reporter" for Scholastic News, has posed questions to seven Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls as they've campaigned across Iowa this year. But when she approached the 27-year-old Chelsea after a campaign event Sunday, she got a different response.

"Do you think your dad would be a good 'first man' in the White House?" Sydney asked, but Chelsea brushed her question aside.

"I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you're cute," Chelsea told the pint-sized ...   more »