by Chris Bodenner
That one resident of Amsterdam goes another round with O'Reilly:
The whole Fox clip in question is here. Money quote:
"The way they do statistics in the Netherlands is different. Plus, it's a much smaller country, a much smaller base to do the stats on."
A vision from O'Reilly's nightmares, after the jump:
by Julian Sanchez
NPR reports that management at Conde Nast acted to suppress a GQ story on "Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power," seeking to keep it off the Web, prevent print copies of the issue in which it appeared from being sent to Russia, and generally prevent it from getting any traction or publicity. Admirably, in what the NPR story calls an act of "quiet defiance," GQ editors nevertheless brought the story to the attention of other news outlets.
In a way, though, what I find more unsettling than the poor judgment of an individual lawyer is what it implies about the media environment. Because the executive who handed down the order must have acted on the assumption that an order, to professional journalists and editors, to bury an important and properly-reported story would be complied with. That is to say, it did not appear cross management's mind that the response would be a very loud, public, and embarrassing "screw you." I'm gratified that the editors were not, in fact, entirely compliant, but I'm not sure what the expectation that they would be says about the state of the profession.
The other somewhat surprising thing is how successful the suppression attempt initially was. Because the article did still run in the U.S. print edition of a fairly high-circulation magazine, which hit newsstands over a week ago, and the only Google results for the article's title, as of late morning, were half a dozen references to the NPR story. Nota bene, incidentally, to publishers who think keeping content offline or locked behind paywalls is a winning strategy. (Full disclosure: I used to work for Conde-owned publication—where, for what it's worth, I was never aware of any improper pressure on editorial from corporate.)
Update: Gawker has posted scans of the full article and is hoping to crowdsource a translation into Russian, which they're also pledging to make available. In an interview with Bloggasm, site owner Nick Denton says he'll deal with any copyright complaint "when we come to it." Legally they'd have a pretty airtight claim, but they'd have to have a brass pair to actually press it under the circumstances—something it'd be a shame for them to locate only now.
by Patrick Appel
This isn't going to end well. Obama's green jobs czar, who has been unfairly attacked by the fringe right for awhile now (that Weigel WND piece linked below provides a good introduction), signed a 2004 petition calling for an "immediate inquiry into evidence that suggests high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the September 11th attacks to occur." Jones has apologized and says he didn't carefully read the petition, but Harold Pollack is calling for Van Jones resignation, Kate Sheppard rounds up the news as of last night, and Ed Morrissey compiles what the right side of the blogosphere has unearthed.
by Patrick Appel
I've ignored the furor over Obama's address to the nation's schoolchildren about working hard in school because it's a fake story fueled by misguided outrage. Benen gets it about right here:
I can appreciate there's a question of whether the Department of Education erred in the wording of one sentence in the supplementary materials. It's reasonable to think officials should have been more cautious.
But that's not what this is about. The administration not only edited the supplementary materials, but has offered to make the text of the address available in advance, just so everyone can see how innocuous it is. It's made no difference. Conservatives don't want school kids to hear a message from their president. Those who claim superiority on American patriotism have decided to throw yet another tantrum over the idea that the president of the United States might encourage young people to do well in schools.
This is what American politics has come to in 2009.
James Joyner is also spot on.
by Patrick Appel
Patrick Ruffini takes a stand by supporting the WorldNetDaily boycott:
As a pretty down-the-line conservative, I don't believe I am alone in noting with disappointment the trivialization, excessive sloganeering, and pettiness that has overtaken the movement of late. In "The Joe the Plumberization of the GOP," I argued that conservatives have grown too comfortable with wearing scorn as a badge of honor, content to play sarcastic second fiddle to the dominant culture of academia and Hollywood with second-rate knock-off institutions. A side effect of this has been a tendency to accept conspiracy nuts as a slightly cranky edge case within the broad continuum of conservatism, rather than as a threat to the movement itself.
Weigel profiles the website and explains its influence over the Glenn Becks of the world:
WorldNetDaily’s Web traffic, revenue, and influence is no joke. It frequently leads the pack in conservative online media. According to James R. Whelan, the Florida-based marketer who runs WorldNetDaily’s ad operations, the site has already surpassed $1 million in ad revenue for 2009. It has a mailing list of more than 355,000 e-mail addresses, which has been built up through tools like daily polls on the site, and has been rented (through third-party vendors) by the Republican National Committee.
by Patrick Appel
Ryan Sager summarizes a new Nature article:
Imagine a future where the Iranian regime didn’t need to spend weeks in the streets beating, killing, and jailing protesters to put down the reform movement. Imagine in this future that the beatings would be replaced with something gentler, but ultimately more sinister: non-lethal, weaponized drugs designed to decrease aggression and increase trust.
by Patrick Appel
CopyRanter sends along an AIDS awareness spot:
Hot chicks always go for bad boys, right? To raise awareness for AIDS and the upcoming World AIDS day (December 1st), Germany’s das comitee produced these dirty despot posters…Hitler and Saddam look relatively authentic, but, uh, that Photoshopped Stalin isn’t even close to accurate.
I've put Hitler after the jump because the image is possibly NSFW:
Anup Kaphle reports on Afghanistan's police force. The officers make $110 a month:
Given the widespread discontent about the rate of pay, it’s not surprising that the police force is rife with corruption and bribe-taking. Talk with any taxi driver or farmer in Lashkar Gah, and you’ll hear stories about police shakedowns. One farmer from the nearby town of Gereshk, who was transporting his wheat harvest to Lashkar Gah, said that a police officer had taken 1,000 Afghanis from him the previous week. “They will search your pockets and take money and valuables from you,” he said, “and you can’t say anything because you know you will have to deal with them again the next day.”
This is not a new observation, but it's worth putting this sort of reporting alongside Ackerman's point about the Afghan government often getting out-governed by the Taliban. His plea:
Time to ask why this is and revisit the Taliban's reputation for incorruptibility in the context of a very corrupt Afghan government.
Rach Gia, Vietnam, 6.45 am
by Patrick Appel
As firms begin an industrywide overhaul, which has entailed slashing jobs and reconsidering hidebound inefficiencies like the lockstep salary, students will compete for half as many $160,000-a-year jobs this year as they did last. According to the National Association for Legal Career Professionals, the 2008 recruiting season marked “what is likely to be the beginning of a weaker legal employment market that may last for a number of years.”
Meanwhile, as job opportunities abate, law school matriculation rates rise unchecked. Each year, the number of students who enroll at one of 200 law schools approved by the American Bar Association inches closer to 50,000.
Professor Bainbridge follows up and suggests shuttering law schools around the country.
The Dish 
