You would think that the NY Times would be honest in its reporting, but of course it isn’t. Today they are running an article titled, “Rice Faults Past Administrations on Terror.” With a title like that, you would expect that Ms. Rice actually said something explicit about past administrations.

However, when you actually read the article, you wonder if the NY Times is making it all up and relying on innuendo instead of substance. For example, there are no quotes where Ms. Rice attacks other Administrations. The best the NY Times can quote is, that Rice said, “‘until Sept. 11, the terrorists faced no sustained, systematic and global response’ from the United States.” This does not necessarily damn other Administrations.

The NY Times later opines:

While never naming Mr. Clinton or other past presidents, she argued that Mr. Bush had no choice but to take a far more muscular approach to American security, given the world he inherited, one in which she said the biggest threats to America were never taken seriously enough.
…
Parts of Ms. Rice’s speech could also be read as being critical of the Reagan administration and the administration of the president’s father, George H. W. Bush, for not connecting the dots on earlier attacks.

Parts of the speech could be read as being critical. With a title like “Rice Faults Past Administrations” the NY Times needs to do a better job than relying on supposed innuendo.

Thanks to Volokh Conspiracy for the pointer.

Jeremy and I have a bet that Schwartzenegger won’t raise taxes for at least 6 months. However, the San Jose Mercury News is reporting that Schwarzenegger may consider raising taxes to pay for the fire fighting costs. The costs to California of the fires will be about $90 to $100 million.

I love irony. Luckily for me, irony doesn’t get much better than today’s Sierra Club’s daily scoop. The Daily Scoop starts with this quote from Michael Kinsley, “Why get into tedious arguments when bogus facts can see you through?” The Daily Scoop then proceeds to dish out bogus facts. The Daily Scoop writes:

You may remember our mention of Sen. James Inhofe in this space a couple days ago. He was in fine form today, denouncing global warming as a hoax perpetrated by environmentalists. Yes, that and the hole in the ozone layer, Love Canal, Three Mile Island, the global rise in sea level, mercury in the tuna fish … all just a hoax, folks. Heh heh. You’re on to us, Jim. Sorry. [emphasis theirs]

The delicious irony here is that the Sierra Club’s examples of what is thinks are real problems are hoaxes. More accurately stated, at least two of its examples are hoaxes and a third isn’t likely true.
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An article in today’s Post talks about the copy protection on a new CD by Anthony Hamilton, an R&B singer. The article notes that the record company thinks that one of the reasons the CD has sold well was because the CD has copy protection. Despite the sophisticated copy protection, a college study learned how to hack the copy protection. As the article explains:

A Princeton University graduate student distributed a paper on the Internet shortly after the CD’s release demonstrating, he argued, how the copy-protection could be broken. But Jacobs, who initially threatened to sue the student before backing off, said his technology is meant to thwart casual copying, not determined hackers.

So how much of a “determined hacker” do you need to be do defeat the copy protection? Does it require you to understand the inter workings of CDs and CD readers? Do you need a specialized program? Nope, all you need is one little finger. Apparently the “hack” is that you need to hold down the shift key when you put the CD in your computer. That way, the computer doesn’t autorun the CD and start the program which makes it so you can’t copy the CD. Holding down the shift key, pretty hi-tech, if you ask me.

Gregg Easterbrook has sometime to say about the recent Senate hearings concerning the BCS. He writes:

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee actually held a hearing on whether college football’s Bowl Championship Series agreement conspires to freeze out non-football-factory schools such as Tulane University. In some ways the sheer ridiculousness of the hearing was soothing. It suggested that the country’s genuine problems are now sufficiently under control that the United States Senate can turn its attention to the vital issue of who gets invited to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

He is, of course, 100% correct.

Nick Gillespie writes in Reason: Here’s one reason to be happy that Napster, the notorious outlaw file-sharing system that took a long, court-ordered hiatus, is now back as a major-label-backed enterprise offering single-track downloads for 99 cents. The new

Even as our soliders are attacked in Iraq, this post argues we are winning the war. For example:

But the after effects, the ongoing guerilla war in Iraq, is not a sign of failure in the anti-terror war, as Sen. Tom Daschle claimed on ABC News last night, but of success. It forces al Qaeda and its allies to fight us there – and better there than again in New York or Washington or elsewhere on American soil.

The economy grew at the fastest pace since 1984. It will be interesting to watch the political spinning of this news. Republicans will says it was due to the President and the Democrats will counter by saying that “virtually no jobs were created.” For evidence, check out the sub-headline of the Post article on the economic news. I’m waiting with bated breath for Paul Krugman’s distortions of this news.

ABC used to have a pretty good Sunday morning political show with This Week with David Brinkley. Now they have George Stephanopoulos as their anchor. According to the Druge Report’s report on the latest Nielson ratings, ABC’s This Week now ranks a mere 3rd nationally and 4th in certain important markets and demographics (ie. Washington, DC and viewers 25-54).

I can’t fathom ABC’s decision to make Stephanopoulos an anchor. He was a political operative of a very political administration. I don’t want to listen to Clinton-esque bunk coming from him every Sunday, so there is no way I’m going to watch his show. Maybe ABC is blinded by their biases.

As I noted earlier, there should be three interesting stories this year–the Lakers, LeBron, and the Jazz (since I’m from Utah).