New York Times Employs Same Loaded ‘Big Oil’ Terminology as Liberal Democrats
May 18, 2011 No Comment
Senate Democrats failed to push through a proposal that would have deprived the five leading oil companies of tax breaks, New York Times reporter Carl Hulse reported Wednesday. Hulse’s headline writer, meanwhile, used the same ideologically loaded “big oil” terminology a liberal Democrat used in Hulse’s story: ” Senate Refuses to End Tax Breaks for Big Oil .” The phrase “Big Oil,” redolent of sophomoric liberals excoriating Republican greed, recurred deep into the story, from the mouth of a liberal Democratic senator. Also on Tuesday, Senate Democrats wrote to the Federal Trade Commission seeking an inquiry into whether domestic oil refiners had reduced production to drive down the gasoline supply and drive up prices. “This is just another piece of the puzzle that we need to get at as we try to take away taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil and hold Big Oil accountable for whatever may be going on in the supply chain that is hurting the families that I work for , ” said Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri. The Times also used “Big Oil” in a print headline over a May 9 story by Hulse on the same topic: ” Democrats’ Plan Would Offset Deficit by Ending Big Oil’s Tax Breaks .” Ironically, Hulse himself implicitly criticized the G.O.P. in an April
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Whether or not D-Wave has actually built a quantum computer is still a matter of debate (though, a study authored by the company and published in Nature claims to prove its success) but, whatever it is these crafty Canadians have created, you can order one now and start crunching qubits with abandon. The D-Wave One is the first commercially available quantum computer and, while its 128-qubit processor can only handle very specific tasks and is easily outperformed by traditional CPUs, it could represent a revolution in the field of supercomputing. As D-Wave scales up to thousands or tens-of-thousands of qubits, complex number theory problems and advanced cryptographic systems could crumble before the mighty power of quantum annealing… or at least give us faster Google searches . Just out of curiosity, we contacted D-Wave to see how much we’d have to cough up for a quantum desktop of our own, but we’ve yet to hear back. D-Wave One claims mantle of first commercial quantum computer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …When it comes to the 2012 presidential election, Republicans are “depressed,” says one integral GOP member. Lobbyists tell Politico that instead of asking, “Who do you like?” they ask each other, “Who do we back?” Top Republicans, in fact, believe President Obama will be reelected if no stronger candidates emerge,…
Continue reading …Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reached an agreement with the opposition and is expected to sign a deal leading to his departure later today. The agreement, modified slightly from the one Saleh refused to sign earlier this month , will ease him from power within one month, Reuters reports. A…
Continue reading …An al-Jazeera journalist has safely landed in Qatar, having been released by Iranian officials after being detained in Damascus last month. Al-Jazeera confirms that Dorothy Parvaz is “safe and well and back with us in Doha. She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now…
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Just over two weeks since 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid, United Airlines announced that it would be reactivating UA093 and UA175, two of the planes hijacked and crashed by terrorists almost 10 years ago. Perhaps a sign of closing yet another chapter in the post-9/11 era, United Airlines will reinstate
Continue reading …Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would forbid parents from having sex inside their homes while getting divorced. The bill is intended to reduce domestic violence and protect children until their parents’ divorce is finalized, supporters tell My Fox Boston . But critics aren’t comfortable with the idea of the…
Continue reading …Yoweri Museveni casts foreign media as Uganda’s enemies over protest coverage
May 18, 2011 No Comment
• President says BBC and others cheer on rebels • Rival Besigye blamed for ‘riots ignited by drug users’ Uganda’s president has branded the BBC and other media organisations as “enemies” because of their coverage of recent anti-government protests. Yoweri Museveni blamed “drug users” for the month-long demonstrations, the biggest civil unrest in sub-Saharan Africa this year, and pledged to “end this criminality”. In a statement published in the state-owned New Vision newspaper, Museveni warned: “The media houses, both local and international, such as al-Jazeera, BBC, NTV, The Daily Monitor, etc, that cheer on these irresponsible people, are enemies of Uganda’s recovery and they will have to be treated as such. Why do they not also report the negative acts of these elements?” Kabakumba Masiko, the Ugandan information minister, said laws would be amended to deal with any journalist who became an “enemy of the state”. She told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “If you look at the way these media houses have been reporting what has been going on in our country, you realise they were inciting people and trying to show that Uganda is now ungovernable, is under fire as if the state is about to collapse.” There have been signs that Uganda’s government feels increasingly threatened by both traditional and new media. At least 10 local and foreign journalists were assaulted by soldiers while covering the return to Uganda last week of the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, according to Reporters without Borders. Press have imposed a news blackout on the government in response to what they describe as rising brutality against those covering the demonstrations. In a press briefing following riots on 29
Continue reading …Yoweri Museveni casts foreign media as Uganda’s enemies over protest coverage
May 18, 2011 No Comment• President says BBC and others cheer on rebels • Rival Besigye blamed for ‘riots ignited by drug users’ Uganda’s president has branded the BBC and other media organisations as “enemies” because of their coverage of recent anti-government protests. Yoweri Museveni blamed “drug users” for the month-long demonstrations, the biggest civil unrest in sub-Saharan Africa this year, and pledged to “end this criminality”. In a statement published in the state-owned New Vision newspaper, Museveni warned: “The media houses, both local and international, such as al-Jazeera, BBC, NTV, The Daily Monitor, etc, that cheer on these irresponsible people, are enemies of Uganda’s recovery and they will have to be treated as such. Why do they not also report the negative acts of these elements?” Kabakumba Masiko, the Ugandan information minister, said laws would be amended to deal with any journalist who became an “enemy of the state”. She told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “If you look at the way these media houses have been reporting what has been going on in our country, you realise they were inciting people and trying to show that Uganda is now ungovernable, is under fire as if the state is about to collapse.” There have been signs that Uganda’s government feels increasingly threatened by both traditional and new media. At least 10 local and foreign journalists were assaulted by soldiers while covering the return to Uganda last week of the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, according to Reporters without Borders. Press have imposed a news blackout on the government in response to what they describe as rising brutality against those covering the demonstrations. In a press briefing following riots on 29
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A stone house in Tennessee was built for another predicted Armageddon that came and went. Now, with some saying Saturday will bring the end of the world, the home’s owner is not worried. (May 18)
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