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The Tribunal by criminal defense attorney Peter Robinson
When attorney Kevin Anderson decides to uproot his family and move them to Holland, he expects a fantastic job prosecuting war criminals at the United Nations Tribunal. But when he gets there, he is thrown into the defense of a notorious Serbian warlord accused of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Kevin faces a suspicious client, a self-righteous prosecutor, and hostile judges. When his spunky 11 year-old daughter, Ellen, is kidnapped, Kevin is plunged into a battle to win his client's freedom, and to save his daughter's life.
As the trial progresses, Kevin fends off not only the prosecution, but the American CIA and forces of the Serbian government, all who have a stake in the outcome. From the bulletproof courtroom to the streets of Sarajevo, Kevin scrambles to find the truth and preserve his integrity. While Kevin is fighting for his client; his daughter is fighting for her life. It all comes down to the verdict. Can Kevin obtain justice for his client --and for his daughter--at the Tribunal?
by TChris
Reporters who attended a conference on media coverage of the war in Iraq confirmed the impression that many had before the war: "Competitive pressures and a fear of appearing unpatriotic discouraged journalists from doing more critical reporting during the run-up to the invasion."
Much of the criticism focused on a Sept. 8, 2002, New York Times article by Judith Miller and Michael Gordon, which said Iraq was importing aluminum tubes that could be used in centrifuges to enrich uranium, a critical step in making an atomic bomb.
The Times failed to consult experts who could have refuted the claim. When experts later confirmed that the tubes weren't used to make nuclear weapons, the Times buried the story.
Oliver Willis, writing for DailyNewsOnline, says the culture war is over and the radical right has lost.
Eric Alterman was on Dennis Miller's CNBC show yesterday. We didn't see it, but Eric has some choice words for Mr. Miller today. Walter at Idols of the Marketplace saw some of it and says:
Eric Alterman couldn't couldn't see the show but I caught about three minute of Miller's juvenile behavior before I had to turn the channel. I actually felt like getting in my car, driving to the studio and punching him out. What's the point of inviting an author on a show to discuss issues and then pretend as if you are bored to death with his every word? Miller's act is just a mask for a man who really has no idea what he is doing and doesn't possess brain enough to realize it.
Update: You can watch the segment here. Eric writes today that Miller called and apologized to him.
We've never heard Howard Stern's radio show, so we were surprised to read he's been a Bush supporter....until now:
Stern had essentially backed Bush on most issues (including the war in Iraq) and talked him up as a capable leader. Those days, however, are officially gone. He lately attacks the president as a "maniac" and an "arrogant bast*rd" while whipping up opposition to what he contends is a dangerous Christian-right shift in Washington. In short, Stern as of this month has become the anti-Rush Limbaugh. If the Republicans ever wondered what it might be like to have a left-leaning version of Limbaugh hacking them to bits, they're now finding out daily.
If you're wondering whether Stern's view could have an impact, the answer is maybe, yes:
Stern has an estimated 8.5 million weekly listeners to his morning program. These multitudes very much worship at the altar of Howard -- buying what he tells them to buy, calling whom he tells them to call, supporting what he tells them to support and (yes) voting how he tells them to vote.
....Michael Harrison, founder and publisher of Talkers magazine -- a monthly that covers the radio news / talk industry -- believes that "in the case of a close election, a guy like Howard Stern could tip the scales. ... A generation of Americans has grown up listening to him and are now in their 30s and 40s," Harrison says. "The one thing they all have in common is they love Howard Stern. And they trust him. When he tells them to be critical of Bush, they listen and respond."
Maybe we'll tune him in after all, [link via Last One Speaks]
Released today:
House of Bush, House of Saud:
The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties
by Craig Unger, who asks:
Did the Saudis buy a president? How much money has flowed from the House of Saud to the Bush family and its friends and allies over the years? No one will ever know -- but the number is at least $1.477 billion.
by TChris
Why did so many media outlets uncritically report the charges that Saddam Hussein "was in league with Osama bin Laden, was developing nuclear weapons and was hiding biological and chemical weapons"? Because they got played by the Iraqi National Congress.
As TalkLeft has noted, the Bush administration continues to pay for intelligence from the INC despite its self-interest and its demonstrated history of providing intelligence that isn't all that accurate. Now a Knight Ridder investigation reveals that the INC didn't just lie to the Bush administration. It lied to the media, as well, and much of the media bought into it.
A June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress to the Senate Appropriations Committee listed 108 articles based on information provided by the Iraqi National Congress's Information Collection Program, a U.S.-funded effort to collect intelligence in Iraq.
The letter said that the INC provided information to Arab and Western news media and to officials in the offices of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
Feeding the information to the news media, as well as to selected administration officials and members of Congress, helped foster an impression that there were multiple sources of intelligence on Iraq's illicit weapons programs and links to bin Laden. In fact, many of the allegations came from the same half-dozen defectors, were not confirmed by other intelligence and were hotly disputed by intelligence professionals at the CIA, the Defense Department and the State Department.
The strategy paid off. The media reports of IRC propoganda helped sway public opinion in support of the invasion of Iraq.
Air America Radio, the new liberal radio network, is set to hit the airwaves on March 31. Biggest names: Al Franken and Janeanne Garafalo. Also on board: Randi Rhodes. First markets: NY, SF, LA and Chicago. We hope Denver's not far behind.
Soon to open Off-Broadway is The Marijuana-Logues:
Ideal Entertainment Group and Magic Arts & Entertainment are stoked to present THE MARIJUANA-LOGUES, written and performed by Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony Camin, directed by Jim Millan. THE MARIJUANA-LOGUES is set for an open ended Off-Broadway run at The Actors Playhouse (100 Seventh Avenue South between Christopher and Bleecker). Previews begin Thursday, March 18th. Official Opening Night: Tuesday, March 30th at 7:00 PM.
Fact: 10.725 million Americans used marijuana in the past month. (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse).
Fact: 10.95 million tickets to Broadway shows were sold in the entire 2001-2002 season. (2001-2002 League of American Theatres and Producers, Who Goes to Broadway, The Demographics of the Audience).
Put that in a pipe and smoke it! Seems it's high time for Mary-Jane's long overdue theatrical debut?....THE MARIJUANA-LOGUES is a "hit" unlike anything New York has seen. Catch the buzz as Barker, Benson and Camin riff on the rites and rituals of pot and regale the crowd with the highs and lows of marijuana. (Disclaimer: This production does not glorify drug use. It merely illustrates that cannibus culture can be a thing of substance, humor and creativity).
[link via Last One Speaks]
Actor-writer Spalding Gray disappeared on January 10. His body was found this weekend floating in New York's East River. Suicide is suspected, as Mr. Spalding was plagued by depression and tried to jump off a bridge in 2002. May he now find the peace that eluded him the last several years.
Here's an open thread for The Sopranos, which has its season premiere tonight, 9pm ET, on HBO.
Update: Maxspeak details the show.
by TChris
In their quest for ratings, it has become popular for TV news programs to use reporters posing as teenage girls in internet chatrooms to lure men to locations with the promise of sex, only to embarrass them on camera with the news that they haven't been chatting with a teenager (or even a girl) at all. These televised "sting" operations copy a procedure that law enforcement agencies have been using for some time. But the law enforcement agencies point out that good TV isn't necessarily good policy.
FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi said the stings don't help law enforcement because evidence isn't collected in a legal way. Other law enforcement officials have said the "stings" can compromise real investigations.
Tom Bivins, a University of Oregon professor of media ethics, asks whether it is "necessary to entrap these people to get the story" rather than simply reporting that a problem exists. Bivins says, "Once you get involved, you become part of the story instead of reporting the story."
Courts have upheld convictions of attempted sexual assault of a child even when the "child" is a middle aged, balding FBI agent. Using that same dubious logic, isn't a TV station guilty of aiding and abetting an attempt to sexually assault a "child" when it invites a man to have sex with one?
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