The NYT's David Brooks talks about the natalists, people into big families. They're Dubya's kind of people. He carried the 19 states with the highest white fertility rates.

Read on:

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Sounds like the BBC's strategic thinkers want to shift resources from administration to programming by cutting 2,900 jobs -- or is it 5,300, as the Guardian says?

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That honour to the weighty tome -- primarily written by Daily Show host Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin and DJ Javerbaum with some other show writers -- comes from Publisher's Weekly magazine.

Here are some of the nice things ...   more »

The growing backlash against media scandals like Nipplegate and other tawdry spectacles on American TV screens can overwhelmingly be attributed to the Parents Television Council, according to this Mediaweek.com article.

An excerpt:

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An article by the U.S. publication Businessweek touts the growing commercial potential of bloggers.

An excerpt:

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A British firm posed the question "What are your top three cheesiest moments in film?" to Brit movie-goers as part of a promotion for a new cheese crumpet.

While I'm always willing to help out with marketing efforts, allow me to ask how come Tony Montana's epic bellow "Say hello to my leetle friend!" in Scarface isn't number one?

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This is from a Dec. 2 article from Pravda online. It confirms what I think about the current Russian leadership regime: They just don't think there is enough control over things.

Oddly, I can't find ...   more »

The case of Pat Tillman, millionaire football player turned volunteer U.S. Army Ranger who died under fire in Afghanistan, became the stuff of myth. And as a Washington Post investigation has found, the military did what it could to keep it that way.

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When it comes to the Ken Peters source protection case, The Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias hears a whole lotta nothing from the vast component of the populace we like to call The Public. But I think some of her reasoning isn't reasonable.

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Here's the links to a TorStar editorial on the Ken Peters case and a TorStar news story about whether Canada needs a shield law to grant journalists some defined legal right to protect the identity of sources.

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Foxymoron (aka TO j-student and blogger Andrea Chiu) asks: I just want some instrumental jazz (no vocals) to play at home while I cook, read the paper, surf, etc...who should I start with?

Here's my response:...   more »

This is a bit late, but the BBC is examining how it got hoaxed Friday on a Bhopal story.

Here is the Guardian's account:

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So, a bargoon-basement price trip to New Yawk is now $299.60 a day, eh? Actually, this NYT article by Seth Kugel has some useful tips on finding digs and came up with some interesting ways ...   more »

The NYT's Maureen Dowd goes on a full-scale rampage that begins (and ends) with thoughts of ripping Frosty the Snowman's face off, declares hatred of Christmas, anxiety over severe stress, and distress over Dubya's re-election. It's pretty damned funny!

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My friend Kevin sent me the following. The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time, by writer John Scalzi.

Here's a taste:

Noam Chomsky: Deconstructing Christmas (1998)

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Society gossip columnist Gillian Cosgrove has been dropped by the National Post after a Nov. 22 column on Gov.-Gen. Adrienne Clarkson.

Since I don't wish to repeat potentially libelous statements, I won't say what that column was about....   more »

Over at Blog on Blog, Samantha Israel asked: How important is the reader-writer relationship? The greater the interaction, the greater the journalist? Or are blogs taking it too far?

Here's my response (afterthoughts and ...   more »

Back in September, I got to do my first-ever interview with a real, live director: Shane Carruth, who created Primer. His film is now off the festival circuit and in theatres!

Here's some links to ...   more »

I saw this link from Opinionjournal.com via Cyberjournalist.net. It's quite amusing. See for yourself.

Cyberjournalist points to it as a classic example of why human editors still aren't obsolete.

Anyway, the story is listed as ...   more »

British MP George Galloway comments in The Guardian on his libel victory over conservative paper The Telegraph. It claimed to have found documents in post-April 9, 2003 Baghdad showing the anti-Iraq-war Galloway had received payments from the Iraq regime of Saddam Hussein.

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Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who writes for the Volokh Conspiracy blog, asks some questions in an NYT op ed piece about what happens to protecting source confidentiality when everyone's a journalist.

An excerpt:...   more »

Some more reaction and fallout from the case of Ken Peters, the Hamilton Spectator reporter found guilty of civil contempt of court:

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Microsoft has found out about some craze called "blogging," and has decided to get into the game -- two years after Google, which purchased Blogger back in the day.

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This story is a cautionary tale about checking twice (or even about checking at all) and publishing once. It involves Britain's conservative newspaper The Telegraph and lefty MP George Galloway.

After the fall of Baghdad, the Telegraph found documents that purported ...   more »

The health police have backed off! We'll still be able to eat raw fish here! Whoopee!

The story from CTV.ca:

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NYT writer Ed Levine is talking about competition for the classic New York Italian hero from the Vietnamese, Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in NYC.

Quick sandwich tips for Toronto: California Sandwiches on Claremont St. ...   more »

The NYT's Frank Rich on the transparent efforts by incoming NBC anchor Brian Williams -- and indeed, all U.S. network news shows -- to suck up to Red Staters:

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The perpetually Granny Smith-tongued Maureen Dowd on the boy's club that is anchoring a network newscast in the U.S.

A small irony of this is that when I saw Dowd on the Daily Show some ...   more »

The NYT's Thomas L. Friedman writes about what he sees as a looming financial calamity in the U.S. under the Bush administration's policies.

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By that I mean Ken Peters was found guilty of civil contempt and was assigned to pay legal costs, but but wasn't otherwise fined or given a jail sentence. Bonus commentary on promising confidentiality!

Here are a couple story links:...   more »

Never heard of him, you say? According to David Brooks, if evangelical Christians picked popes, he'd be the lead candidate.

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John Stewart was particularly miffed how the U.S. morning shows went berserk on Julia Roberts -- followed by NBC's broadcasting of some seven-year-old Lady Di tapes.

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Check out this offering from The Onion!

BAGHDAD—The Iraqi Department of Homeland Security recently released a 10-level, color-coded homeland security advisory system that will alert citizens to the risk of a terrorist attack within Iraq's ...

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