News Junkie - Live Wire

ROBERT FEDER’S GIMMICK

It’s a subject I’ve left mostly alone, not because I’ve been told not to address it but because I’m hesitant to give airtime or blog space to a man who still calls Web traffic ‘hits‘ and has an unhealthy obsession with WGN Radio. Tonight, on the podcast, I’ll dive into the mud on this one. Stay tuned.

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FOX/CNN/MSNBC DISSECTED

Some great analysis of the current cable media landscape from CJR today. I disagree with a few points (especially the bit about MSNBC offering a rainbow of opinons) but this quote is interesting:

From personal experience covering news around the world, you almost always run into a CNN crew or stringer. You almost never run into a Fox reporter, and never one from MSNBC.

Read the whole thing at CJR’s website.

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ROY ASHBURN: “I’M GAY”

California State Senator Roy Ashburn admits to being a homosexual in an interview today on KERN. You can listen to the interview in this post and read the details here. Ashburn vows to carry on.

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BETTY WHITE TO SNL

After a massive online movement to draft her into the hosting duties at Saturday Night Live, Betty White confirms she will appear on the show.

But will she host?

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PETA TARGETS SEAWORLD

PETA sees a wounded opponent in SeaWorld after last month’s killer whale attack. Their latest mantra: “Let whales and dolphins ‘out of prison.’

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ADAM GADAHN CAPTURED

HUGE news out of Pakistan: American-born al-Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn has been arrested.

Update: It’s not him?

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NYT ON SCIENTOLOGY

‘Breaking With Scientology’ won’t hit print until tomorrow but you can read the New York Times assault on Scientology online right now.

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PHOTOS: TOYOTA HEARINGS

Executives from Toyota Motor Corp made the journey to Washington D.C. this morning to face down angry customers seething over their company’s recall follies. Take a look at these pictures from today’s event.

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THE BLOOM BOX

I can’t decide if the Bloom Box is the greatest invention ever or if I’m a bit like an old lady being conned by a slimy auto mechanic. Regardless, you have to watch this video. [Video]

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SCOTTY LAGO PHOTOS

Snowboarder Scotty Lago leaves the Olympic village in Vancouver after sexually suggestive photos of the bronze medalist and his trophy surfaced online. Lago says he’s in a ‘blackout’ and can’t talk about the event until next month. [View The Photos]

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RAY GOSLING ARRESTED

What happens when you admit to a murder on British public television? Well, you get arrested, of course. BBC presenter Ray Gosling arrested on suspicion of murder. [Details]

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TIGER WOODS PRESSER

Tiger Woods will finally reemerge from the shadows this Friday. The golf pro and reported sex addict is planning on holding a press conference at the PGA headquarters at 11AM Eastern. [Details]

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CHEMICAL ALI EXECUTED

Iraq TV outlets reporting that Saddam Hussein’s cousin, widely known as Chemical Ali, has been executed in Iraq. Officials in Baghdad confirm…


INSURGENTS HACK DRONES

Insurgents in Iraq have found a way to hack the aerial drones flying over that country. A $26 program called ‘SkyGrabber‘ allows the fighters access to the drone’s video streams.


IRAQ ATTACK KILLS 118

Bomb-rigged cars remind the President that Afghanistan isn’t the only pot on the stove.


IRAQI SHOE THROWER

Shoe thrower gets a taste of his own medicine.


Media Snap Photos Of Returning Dead

The ceremony itself is actually quite beautiful and somber…:

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DOVER, Del. — For the first time since an 18-year ban on news coverage of returning war dead was lifted, the media witnessed the arrival Sunday night of a soldier killed overseas.

After receiving permission from family members, the military opened Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to the press. An eight-member team wearing white gloves and camouflage battle fatigues carried the body


Video: Iraq, Six Years Later

After all the political squabbling. After six years of anti-war marches on the Capitol and around the globe. After countless claims that Iraq was a ‘quagmire’ and nothing more than a country in the midst of a ‘civil war’. After it all, this:


Obama Sets A Date For Iraq War End

August 31, 2010:

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President Obama, declaring there is “renewed cause for hope in Iraq,” on Friday announced his plan to end combat operations in Iraq by August of next year.

Let me say this as plainly as I can. By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end,” Obama told Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

In stating it ‘plainly’ President Obama glossed over the key fact that though the…


Obama Iraq Pullout Plans Coming

WASHINGTON — A “substantial” number of the roughly 100,000 U.S. combat troops to be pulled out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, will remain in the war zone through at least the end of this year to ensure national elections there go smoothly, senior Obama administration officials say.

That pacing suggests that although Obama’s promised withdrawal will start soon, it will be backloaded, with larger numbers of troops returning later in the 18-month


Iraqi Shoe Thrower Talks In Court

Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi shoe tosser, speaks at a court appearance:

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He explained his actions in an hour-long appearance on Thursday at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Asked if anyone pushed or motivated him to do this, al-Zaidi said he was spurred on by the “violations that are committed against the Iraqi people.”

I could only see Bush and feel the blood of the innocents flow under his feet, as


Iraqi Prime Minister’s Party Wins

It seems Iraqi’s looked outside of religion for leadership at the polls:

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BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s allies swept to victory over Shiite religious parties during last weekend’s provincial elections in Iraq — a rousing endorsement of his crackdown on extremists, according to official results released Thursday.

The impressive showing, which must be certified by international and Iraqi observers, places al-Maliki in a strong position before parliamentary elections late this


Recounting The Ballots… In Iraq

The Sunni ‘Iraqi Islamic Party’ appears to be behind this:

BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials moved to quell rising tensions between rival Sunni Muslim Arab factions in once-restive Anbar province Wednesday by recounting some of the ballots that were cast in last Saturday’s provincial elections, even before the official results are known.

The Independent High Electoral Commission in Baghdad said it had acted after Sunni tribal leaders accused the province’s ruling Iraqi


Green Zone Transferred To Iraq

Some good news that will end up buried in the cycle


The State of Iraq: NYT Graphic

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AS 2008 and the Bush presidency conclude, Iraq has settled into a kind of violent semi-peace. The population-protection strategy initiated by Gen. David Petraeus has been a remarkable success on balance. Its logic continues even though American force numbers in Iraq have nearly returned to pre-surge levels.

The NYT tries to point out the bad in this story but they don’t have much to work with. It appears this graphic gives…


Photos: Dana Perino’s Black Eye

Bush

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, sporting a black eye from the scuffle in Iraq during the shoe throwing incident over the weekend, responds to a reporters question, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, during her daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)

The comments on sites like the Huffington Post in connection with this story are appalling.

who cares about her ,bush,cheney and all the crooks
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They


Shoe Hurling Journo Detained In Iraq

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi television reporter hurled two shoes at President Bush — one after another — as he held a news conference Sunday with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The president — who dodged both shoes — was not hurt during the incident.

An official told The Associated Press on Monday that Muntadar al-Zeidi is being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s guards and is being tested for alcohol