Bret Baier’s Panel Tilts? NPR’s Brooks-and-Dionne Friday Night Chat Is Often Center vs. Left
April 9, 2011 No Comment
While he skewered the “Fox News All-Stars” panel as tilted — just conservatives and reporters from the “non-ideological” media elite — NPR's David Folkenflik
Continue reading …A look back on Beck’s nutty Fox News career: Turning discourse into a series of stunts
April 9, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media I’m not sure exactly what Roger Ailes and his fellow poobahs at Fox News were thinking when they hired Glenn Beck to join them in January 2009, but it is a telling fact that Beck’s primary professional background was as a morning zoo-show host — someone who specializes in goofy stunts and wild-over-the-top envelope pushing. Because that, of course, is exactly what they got for the next couple of years, before they finally decided to cut their losses. Now, there are plenty of things to object to about Glenn’s trainwreck of a career at Fox, particularly the noxious and yet little-noticed way he almost effortlessly mainstreamed extremist ideas and rhetoric , most recently with his full-bore descent into promoting John Birch Society conspiracism . Undoubtedly, Beck’s relentless fearmongering and the vicious eliminationism of his rhetoric were important components of what made Beck so toxic. Media Matters has compiled an impressive list of the “50 Worst Things Glenn Beck Said On Fox News” that gives a pretty good rundown — but is really only a start. Ultimately, the worst damage he caused was to the shape of our national discourse — from all these factors, but especially in the way he wrapped it up in a “zany” morning-zoo-show format, dragging that discourse down to the level of a prearranged pro-wrestling match. As Will Bunch puts it : Because the truth is that Beck’s ouster isn’t really the end of the nightmare, but just the beginning of the end. Over the last 27 months, Beck — and let’s be clear that he had a lot of help from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity and Rand Paul and all the folks in the Tea Party Movement — managed to do incalculable harm to the American body politic, that Beck was exactly like Tom and Daisy Buchanan in “The Great Gatsby” who “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness..” You’ll probably hear a lot about how Beck coarsened the political debate and how his words may have incited violence, but I think the wreckage is a lot more substantive, to actual policies that affect Americans every day. You see, there was a reason that Beck was so fond of a political theory called the Overton Window– so enamored, in fact, that he made it the title of his (officially) fictional “thriller” novel last summer. The Overton Window is a notion that you can radically move the parameters of political debate by pushing talk to the outer limits, so that ideas that were once deemed extreme suddenly appeared to be normal. Ironically, no one mastered the use of the Overton Window better than Beck. With all the focus on the leading edge of Beck’s craziness — the “caliphate” stuff, the flirtation with “the FEMA camps,” or President Obama’s “deep-seated hatred” of white people — it’s easy to foget how he rationalized once out-there ideas to millions of American conservatives, and how those ideas became ingrained in the Republican agenda that has thwarted progressivism from virtually the day Obama took office. … You could go on and on — the talk-radio jihad against big government that has put gutless Democrats so on the defensive that they no longer fight to protect vital programs but only over whether to agree to “steep” spending cuts or “draconian” ones, or the fear-mongering on terrorism and Gitmo that made quivering members of Congress afraid to house terror suspects in our supermax prisons. Don’t think that Beck’s nightly burst of insanity didn’t have a lot to do with these things, because they did. Don’t believe me? Then ask a fellow in South Carolina named Bob Inglis who was a Republican congressman until he told his constituents to “turn off Glenn Beck,” and lost a primary to an upstart who got 71 percent of the vote. Why do you think the Republicans in Washington remain in lock step, even as 90 percent of what they stay in lock step for is bat-guano crazy? As Amato said , Beck inflicted the damage that conservatives needed him to inflict. Now the rest of us get to pay for the long, slow, and perhaps impossible job of repairing it.
Continue reading …A look back on Beck’s nutty Fox News career: Turning discourse into a series of stunts
April 9, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media I’m not sure exactly what Roger Ailes and his fellow poobahs at Fox News were thinking when they hired Glenn Beck to join them in January 2009, but it is a telling fact that Beck’s primary professional background was as a morning zoo-show host — someone who specializes in goofy stunts and wild-over-the-top envelope pushing. Because that, of course, is exactly what they got for the next couple of years, before they finally decided to cut their losses. Now, there are plenty of things to object to about Glenn’s trainwreck of a career at Fox, particularly the noxious and yet little-noticed way he almost effortlessly mainstreamed extremist ideas and rhetoric , most recently with his full-bore descent into promoting John Birch Society conspiracism . Undoubtedly, Beck’s relentless fearmongering and the vicious eliminationism of his rhetoric were important components of what made Beck so toxic. Media Matters has compiled an impressive list of the “50 Worst Things Glenn Beck Said On Fox News” that gives a pretty good rundown — but is really only a start. Ultimately, the worst damage he caused was to the shape of our national discourse — from all these factors, but especially in the way he wrapped it up in a “zany” morning-zoo-show format, dragging that discourse down to the level of a prearranged pro-wrestling match. As Will Bunch puts it : Because the truth is that Beck’s ouster isn’t really the end of the nightmare, but just the beginning of the end. Over the last 27 months, Beck — and let’s be clear that he had a lot of help from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity and Rand Paul and all the folks in the Tea Party Movement — managed to do incalculable harm to the American body politic, that Beck was exactly like Tom and Daisy Buchanan in “The Great Gatsby” who “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness..” You’ll probably hear a lot about how Beck coarsened the political debate and how his words may have incited violence, but I think the wreckage is a lot more substantive, to actual policies that affect Americans every day. You see, there was a reason that Beck was so fond of a political theory called the Overton Window– so enamored, in fact, that he made it the title of his (officially) fictional “thriller” novel last summer. The Overton Window is a notion that you can radically move the parameters of political debate by pushing talk to the outer limits, so that ideas that were once deemed extreme suddenly appeared to be normal. Ironically, no one mastered the use of the Overton Window better than Beck. With all the focus on the leading edge of Beck’s craziness — the “caliphate” stuff, the flirtation with “the FEMA camps,” or President Obama’s “deep-seated hatred” of white people — it’s easy to foget how he rationalized once out-there ideas to millions of American conservatives, and how those ideas became ingrained in the Republican agenda that has thwarted progressivism from virtually the day Obama took office. … You could go on and on — the talk-radio jihad against big government that has put gutless Democrats so on the defensive that they no longer fight to protect vital programs but only over whether to agree to “steep” spending cuts or “draconian” ones, or the fear-mongering on terrorism and Gitmo that made quivering members of Congress afraid to house terror suspects in our supermax prisons. Don’t think that Beck’s nightly burst of insanity didn’t have a lot to do with these things, because they did. Don’t believe me? Then ask a fellow in South Carolina named Bob Inglis who was a Republican congressman until he told his constituents to “turn off Glenn Beck,” and lost a primary to an upstart who got 71 percent of the vote. Why do you think the Republicans in Washington remain in lock step, even as 90 percent of what they stay in lock step for is bat-guano crazy? As Amato said , Beck inflicted the damage that conservatives needed him to inflict. Now the rest of us get to pay for the long, slow, and perhaps impossible job of repairing it.
Continue reading …
Footage leaked to the Observer shows Welsh Assembly candidate setting fire to Islamic holy book in his garden A senior member of the BNP who burned a copy of the Qur’an in his garden has been arrested following an investigation by the Observer . Footage of the burning shows Sion Owens, 40, from south Wales and a candidate for the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, soaking the Qur’an in kerosene and setting fire to it. A video clip of the act, leaked to the Observer and passed immediately to South Wales police, last night provoked fierce criticism from the government. A statement from the Home Office said: “The government absolutely condemns the burning of the Qur’an. It is fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society. “We equally condemn any attempts to create divisions between communities and are committed to ensuring that everyone has the freedom to live their lives free from fear of targeted hostility or harassment on the grounds of a particular characteristic, such as religion.” Owens, who has previously stood for a council seat, was last Tuesday unveiled by the BNP as a candidate for next month’s assembly elections. Several photographs place him alongside party leader Nick Griffin, including one showing the pair embracing during a party conference. The footage comes at a time of heightened tensions. Internationally, protests continued in Afghanistan last week against the recent Qur’an burning by the US pastor Terry Jones in his Florida church. Jones’s act triggered a wave of global violence that nine days ago led to protesters storming a UN Afghan compound, killing three UN staff members and four Nepalese guards. Police had feared that far-right British extremists might attempt to stir tensions here by replicating Jones’s stunt. Superintendent Phil Davies of South Wales police, who led the investigation, said: “We always adopt an extremely robust approach to allegations of this sort and find this sort of intolerance unacceptable in our society.” Owens was arrested within hours of police receiving the video. A second person, believed to have filmed the Qur’an burning, is also in police custody. It is unclear when the incident took place, but the five-minute footage is already understood to have been circulated to extremists. There is no evidence that Griffin was aware of the film. When Jones went ahead with his “punishment” of the Qur’an on 20 March it was initially largely ignored until it was streamed on the internet and preserved on YouTube. The footage of the burning in Britain clearly identifies Owens, who is wearing a “Whitelaw No Surrender” T-shirt. The film starts with the Qur’an lying in a Quality Street tin before Owens begins dousing the holy book in flammable liquid and then setting fire to it. The camera zooms in as the Qur’an burns. Saqed Mueen of the international security thinktank, the Royal United Services Institute, described the act as proof of the “globalisation of outrageous stunts”. Concern over Islamophobic provocation among far-right elements is epitomised by the rise of the English Defence League, which was founded in 2009 and claims to have thousands of members in scores of regional branches. The EDL’s rise coincides with the decline of the BNP as a political force, evident during last year’s poor general election performance. Although Griffin’s party had 338 candidates in the parliamentary elections, a record number for a far-right party in Britain, its share of the vote in key seats fell. The BNP fared little better in the council elections, failing in its concerted attempt to win control of Barking and Dagenham council and losing all but two of its 28 wards. The news that a senior BNP figure has been arrested after a film showing him burning the Qur’an will only discredit the party further, according to anti-fascist campaigners. Photographs show Owens at a Welsh Defence League demonstration with a group of alleged Nazis including Wayne Baldwin, who has been pictured posing in front of a swastika flag. The Observer has also been passed images that show Owens’s face apparently superimposed on Hitler’s body. Owens was officially announced last week as the BNP’s number three candidate for the South Wales West constituency of the Welsh assembly. In 2008 he stood for the BNP in council elections, polling almost a fifth of votes in his ward but finishing last out of three candidates. His campaign posters at the time show him standing on a ticket against “mass immigration, enforced multiculturalism, political correctness”. Although the BNP announced a record number of candidates for the Welsh assembly elections last week, anti-fascist groups maintain the party is a fading force, claiming that it has struggled to field candidates in the forthcoming local elections in areas that used to be target seats. BNP Islam Religion Wales Mark Townsend guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Shane Chowen – favourite in race to be new NUS president – would be the first non-graduate After months in which the battle over tuition fees has left Britain’s student movement battered and divided, the challenge of steering the NUS in a time of austerity could go to a candidate who has never been to university. Shane Chowen, 22, who has four science A-levels from City College Plymouth, is the frontrunner in the race to be the next NUS president, a contest which will be decided when student delegates gather for a national conference in Gateshead this week. The new president will take over from Aaron Porter, who decided against seeking re-election after facing fierce criticism that he had not done enough to stop the tripling of university tuition fees. If elected, Chowen would be the first NUS president without a degree. He argues that university students made common cause with further education colleges over fees. “I’m coming from the background of the majority of NUS members – two-thirds of NUS members are in FE,” said Chowen, who is currently vice-president for further education. His close relationship with Porter – the outgoing NUS president has endorsed him – may tarnish him in some eyes. The split in the student movement was laid bare after the NUS leadership took several days to show public support for direct action protest. Porter was also criticised for failing to attend the national day of action at which students were kettled for hours. Chowen said he was not “romantic” about university occupations. “I see them as a valid form of protest, a way of creating change, but only in certain circumstances.” He agrees that it is vital the NUS reaches out to the left of the student movement. At present, he says, there’s an “us and them culture”. If elected, he will campaign for the creation of an education system that “no longer has an academic, vocational divide”. He said: “It’s actually a class divide that starts at school, is reinforced at college and reinforced again at university. I want middle-class families to be OK with their young people coming home and saying, I want to do an apprenticeship.” His closest rival is Liam Burns, 26, a physics graduate from Heriot-Watt university and the current president of NUS Scotland. Both candidates oppose tuition fees, and argue that the rush by universities to charge the maximum fee will help to expose how a market in higher education is untenable. Burns said: “I don’t think they’re a done deal for very long. I don’t think I’ve ever seen legislation be so shaky in terms of implementation as fees.” He is critical of the NUS’s current leadership for allowing a rift to grow in the opposition to fees. “The NUS has retrenched back into the old narrative that there is a hard left and moderates, and that we have to do everything we can to marginalise them,” he said. “When we said we condemned everything that happened at Millbank, that was 30 or 40 people who were smashing windows. But there are far more people who have an affinity with direct action and we have to reach out to them.” Also standing in the election is Mark Bergfeld, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, and Thomas Byrne, a Conservative supporter who backs the tuition fees rise. The battle over fees is unlikely to be revisited in the lifetime of this parliament. A bigger challenge for the next NUS president will be the threat of diminished teaching hours at universities as government cuts bite. Student places could also be cut at institutions that ministers regard as over-priced. Wes Streeting, a former NUS president and now chief executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, said: “I think they’re going to be confronted with an immediate change which will shift the debate. There will be a university places crisis if [business secretary] Vince Cable follows through on the threat to cut places. “Much as they may want to challenge the fees model, the threat of cutting places is a serious threat to the widening participation agenda, and something I’m sure the NUS will have something to say about.” Students Tuition fees University funding Student politics Higher education Aaron Porter Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Police say bomb found in van on main Belfast to Dublin road could have resulted in huge devastation and loss of life Dissident republicans who prepared a 500lb (227kg) van bomb risked causing an Omagh-style massacre, politicians in Northern Ireland have said. Detectives believe the bomb, found at an underpass near the border on the main Belfast to Dublin road, may have been destined for a town centre attack. 29 people were killed and 220 were injured in a bomb attack in the centre of Omagh in August 1998. While it is believed the presence of a police checkpoint forced the latest bombers to abandon the vehicle, hundreds of motorists drove past the device unaware of the danger after traffic cones and warning signs had been removed, and even driven over, by others on the road. The blue Ford transit van, stolen in Maynooth outside Dublin in January and carrying false Donegal registration plates, was found near Newry and contained a wheelie bin packed with 500lbs of homemade explosives. The foiled attack is being blamed on dissident republicans opposed to the peace process, who last Saturday killed constable Ronan Kerr in a booby-trap bomb in Omagh. The device that killed the officer detonated not long after a fun run had passed the scene.Politicians have condemned the latest attempted bombing. Policing Board member and DUP representative Jonathan Bell said: “500lbs of explosives were planted to kill and we could have had another example of mass murder on our hands today. “Just as last week we had many children and families running past the explosive device that robbed our society of the life of a talented young officer, so today we could have had serious fatalities. “As our police raise their activities commensurate with the threat they face, so we must give them our full support.” The van was found on Thursday night and was made safe during a lengthy overnight security operation. Chief Superintendent Alasdair Robinson, commander for the area where the attack was uncovered, said poor warnings from the gang responsible had meant police only located the device after the van was spotted by a member of the public. He said the exact target was unclear, but added: “What we do know is that we had a police operation in place that evening, so it is our belief that the van was being moved to another location, but it was thwarted by the police operation at the time.” He added that the bomb may have been destined for a landmark building or a town centre, and could have caused “huge devastation and loss of life”. “This was a sophisticated device and I am disappointed, particularly in a week where we buried one of our colleagues, that there are still people who feel that there is legitimate cause to take forward the use of violence,” said the senior officer. “The device itself was viable and it was a sophisticated device and it would have been devastating had it reached its destination.” He also issued a warning to people to observe police cordons after motorists removed or drove over traffic cones, causing hundreds of other unsuspecting vehicles to drive right through the bomb scene. Northern Ireland UK security and terrorism guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Click refresh to update or click the auto-update button • Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Read Lawrence Donegan’s day two report • Official Masters leaderboard • And in case you’re desirous of more golf reading… 6.55pm: Matsuyama is still the day’s main mover, having picked up three to move to -2, but perhaps not the most significant. The heroic Ryo Ishikawa, and Adam Scott with his stupid bloody broomhandle putter, are both two under through 4, and -4 for the tournament. And the defending champion Phil Mickelson is doing his usual Keystone Kops skittering up and down the leaderboard: he came out of the blocks flying, with birdies at 2 and 3, but has just dropped one at the short 4th; still, he’s in credit for the day at -3 for the tournament. 6.40pm: You’re all out in the hazy orange evening sun, getting slowly gaddered on crisp rosé, aren’t you. Hoy! Masters golf on over here! 6.35pm: Seven years ago, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson played out one of the greatest duels in Masters history. Els’ final-day 67 looked to have won it, but Mickelson, a few groups behind, came back with a late flurry of birdies to snatch the green jacket. Els has never won at Augusta – he was also second in 2000 – and now he’s reduced to going round on his own, the first out today, the odd man in the draw after the cut. It’s sad to see. He’s just this minute nearly drained a 40-footer on 15 for birdie, but it didn’t quite drop, and you get the sense neither the crowd, nor the man himself, gave much of a toss either way. Els is two over for the day, +3 for the championship. The 7 he carded on this 15th hole on the first day really took the puff out of him. 6.25pm: Unfortunate Juxtaposition alert! Kim’s playing partner Matsuyama has just sunk a birdie putt on 10 to move to -2. His is the best showing of the day so far: three birdies, no blemishes on the card yet. 6.20pm: Horror showing of the day so far comes courtesy of Kim Kyung-Tae. The young Korean bogeyed the 1st, steadied himself awhile, then dropped four more strokes between 5 and 9 to go out in an ugly 41. He was three under for the tournament after 14 holes of his first round, at which point a double-bogey 7 at 15 took the wind out of his sails. He recovered that day with a birdie 2 at 16, to card a very acceptable opening day 70, but yesterday took 75 strokes, and this sad trend appears to be continuing today. He’s now +6, after starting the day +1. 6.10pm: Bothering the lower echelons with mini-moves are Adam Scott and Ryo Ishikawa, both one under for the day and -3 overall. Martin Laird of Scotland, but America really, is one under for the day and -2 for the tournament, alongside the aforementioned Mr Palmer, who after his eagle at 2 has dropped one at 5. Tum te tum. Six O’Clock News with Sue Lawley, Nicholas Witchell and some troublemaking militant lesbians : Also two under for the day is Hideki Matsuyama, with birdies on 3 and now 8: he’s -1 for the tournament. I warn you, this is unlikely to hot up for a while. News at 5.45 with Leonard Parkin : Not a whole lot of early movement today. Only two men have picked up two shots on their travels so far: Ryan Palmer, now -3, and his compatriot Bubba Watson, at -2. The Ian Poulter rollercoaster continues apace: he bogeyed the 1st, but picked the shot back up again on 3, to return to -1 for the tournament. 5.40pm. Selected top tee times, worked out in the British money: Phil Mickelson is out at 5.55pm. Paul Casey at 6.05pm. SERGIO at 6.25pm. Ross Fisher at 6.35pm. Luke Donald at 6.45pm. Lee Westwood at 6.55pm. Freddie Couples and Rickie Fowler at 7.05pm. YE Yang and Ricky Barnes at 7.15pm. Geoff Ogilvy and Alvaro Quiros at 7.25pm. KJ and Tiger at 7.35pm. And Rory wanders round with his good mate Jason Day – an Augusta virgin this year, remember – at 7.45pm. As for the others – and let’s face it, everyone wants Tiger and Rory in the final pairing tomorrow, landing haymakers on each other as they both go on birdie blitzes down the back nine – there’s plenty of talent hovering. Lee Westwood. KJ Choi. Geoff Ogilvy. Luke Donald. YE Yang. Jason Day. Rickie Fowler. FREDDIE COUPLES. Alvaro Quiros. SERGIO. Someone’s likely to come bursting out of the pack to make a determined tilt at the top of the leaderboard; well, it is Moving Day, after all. Awww-gusta, it’s you that I love… Rory McIlroy will have plenty to say about that, however. He’s leading after 36 holes, having followed up his stunning 65 on Thursday with a staunch 69. After a lucky escape at 11 yesterday followed by his first dropped shot of the tournament so far at 12, he showed minor signs of nerves, putting very averagely indeed, but he got round without any more drama to hold onto his advantage. Hopefully he’ll have regrouped, ready to attack (sensibly) today. Now then, it’s Moving Day today, when the serious contenders traditionally elbow their way into position, ready for the big push on Sunday. Tiger Woods, however, couldn’t be bothered to wait for it. Yesterday, languishing at level par after seven holes, he decided 18 months of being a laughing stock was more than enough for the greatest sports star on the planet, and got relentless. Eleven holes and seven birdies later, he’d carded a 66, and from a nondescript position in the pack, suddenly found himself three off the lead. Now, if any other golfer struggling with their game had done this, you’d put yesterday down as a blip, and expect the vagaries of form to send them crashing back into the pack today. But this is Tiger. And this is Augusta. He’s got to be the favourite to win this, hasn’t he? It’s Masters weekend! All together now: “Awww-gusta, it’s you that I love…” Masters 2011 The Masters Golf Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Click refresh to update or click the auto-update button • Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Read Lawrence Donegan’s day two report • Official Masters leaderboard • And in case you’re desirous of more golf reading… 6.55pm: Matsuyama is still the day’s main mover, having picked up three to move to -2, but perhaps not the most significant. The heroic Ryo Ishikawa, and Adam Scott with his stupid bloody broomhandle putter, are both two under through 4, and -4 for the tournament. And the defending champion Phil Mickelson is doing his usual Keystone Kops skittering up and down the leaderboard: he came out of the blocks flying, with birdies at 2 and 3, but has just dropped one at the short 4th; still, he’s in credit for the day at -3 for the tournament. 6.40pm: You’re all out in the hazy orange evening sun, getting slowly gaddered on crisp rosé, aren’t you. Hoy! Masters golf on over here! 6.35pm: Seven years ago, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson played out one of the greatest duels in Masters history. Els’ final-day 67 looked to have won it, but Mickelson, a few groups behind, came back with a late flurry of birdies to snatch the green jacket. Els has never won at Augusta – he was also second in 2000 – and now he’s reduced to going round on his own, the first out today, the odd man in the draw after the cut. It’s sad to see. He’s just this minute nearly drained a 40-footer on 15 for birdie, but it didn’t quite drop, and you get the sense neither the crowd, nor the man himself, gave much of a toss either way. Els is two over for the day, +3 for the championship. The 7 he carded on this 15th hole on the first day really took the puff out of him. 6.25pm: Unfortunate Juxtaposition alert! Kim’s playing partner Matsuyama has just sunk a birdie putt on 10 to move to -2. His is the best showing of the day so far: three birdies, no blemishes on the card yet. 6.20pm: Horror showing of the day so far comes courtesy of Kim Kyung-Tae. The young Korean bogeyed the 1st, steadied himself awhile, then dropped four more strokes between 5 and 9 to go out in an ugly 41. He was three under for the tournament after 14 holes of his first round, at which point a double-bogey 7 at 15 took the wind out of his sails. He recovered that day with a birdie 2 at 16, to card a very acceptable opening day 70, but yesterday took 75 strokes, and this sad trend appears to be continuing today. He’s now +6, after starting the day +1. 6.10pm: Bothering the lower echelons with mini-moves are Adam Scott and Ryo Ishikawa, both one under for the day and -3 overall. Martin Laird of Scotland, but America really, is one under for the day and -2 for the tournament, alongside the aforementioned Mr Palmer, who after his eagle at 2 has dropped one at 5. Tum te tum. Six O’Clock News with Sue Lawley, Nicholas Witchell and some troublemaking militant lesbians : Also two under for the day is Hideki Matsuyama, with birdies on 3 and now 8: he’s -1 for the tournament. I warn you, this is unlikely to hot up for a while. News at 5.45 with Leonard Parkin : Not a whole lot of early movement today. Only two men have picked up two shots on their travels so far: Ryan Palmer, now -3, and his compatriot Bubba Watson, at -2. The Ian Poulter rollercoaster continues apace: he bogeyed the 1st, but picked the shot back up again on 3, to return to -1 for the tournament. 5.40pm. Selected top tee times, worked out in the British money: Phil Mickelson is out at 5.55pm. Paul Casey at 6.05pm. SERGIO at 6.25pm. Ross Fisher at 6.35pm. Luke Donald at 6.45pm. Lee Westwood at 6.55pm. Freddie Couples and Rickie Fowler at 7.05pm. YE Yang and Ricky Barnes at 7.15pm. Geoff Ogilvy and Alvaro Quiros at 7.25pm. KJ and Tiger at 7.35pm. And Rory wanders round with his good mate Jason Day – an Augusta virgin this year, remember – at 7.45pm. As for the others – and let’s face it, everyone wants Tiger and Rory in the final pairing tomorrow, landing haymakers on each other as they both go on birdie blitzes down the back nine – there’s plenty of talent hovering. Lee Westwood. KJ Choi. Geoff Ogilvy. Luke Donald. YE Yang. Jason Day. Rickie Fowler. FREDDIE COUPLES. Alvaro Quiros. SERGIO. Someone’s likely to come bursting out of the pack to make a determined tilt at the top of the leaderboard; well, it is Moving Day, after all. Awww-gusta, it’s you that I love… Rory McIlroy will have plenty to say about that, however. He’s leading after 36 holes, having followed up his stunning 65 on Thursday with a staunch 69. After a lucky escape at 11 yesterday followed by his first dropped shot of the tournament so far at 12, he showed minor signs of nerves, putting very averagely indeed, but he got round without any more drama to hold onto his advantage. Hopefully he’ll have regrouped, ready to attack (sensibly) today. Now then, it’s Moving Day today, when the serious contenders traditionally elbow their way into position, ready for the big push on Sunday. Tiger Woods, however, couldn’t be bothered to wait for it. Yesterday, languishing at level par after seven holes, he decided 18 months of being a laughing stock was more than enough for the greatest sports star on the planet, and got relentless. Eleven holes and seven birdies later, he’d carded a 66, and from a nondescript position in the pack, suddenly found himself three off the lead. Now, if any other golfer struggling with their game had done this, you’d put yesterday down as a blip, and expect the vagaries of form to send them crashing back into the pack today. But this is Tiger. And this is Augusta. He’s got to be the favourite to win this, hasn’t he? It’s Masters weekend! All together now: “Awww-gusta, it’s you that I love…” Masters 2011 The Masters Golf Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Wisconsin Accountability Board Will Not Certify Election Results Until They Finish Investigation
April 9, 2011 No CommentThe members of the accountability board were appointed by the previous Democratic administration, so this will help answer the many questions about how this serendipitous discovery of extra votes — just enough to prevent a recount — actually happened : The agency overseeing Wisconsin elections will not certify results of Tuesday’s state Supreme Court race until it concludes a probe into how a county clerk misplaced and then found some 14,000 votes that upended the contest. Michael Haas, Government Accountability Board staff attorney, told Reuters on Friday the watchdog agency was looking into vote tabulation errors in Republican-leaning Waukesha County which gave the conservative incumbent a net gain of more than 7,000 votes — a lead his union-backed challenger seems unlikely to surmount. “We’re going to do a review of the procedures and the records in Waukesha before we certify the statewide results,” Haas said. “It’s not that we necessarily expect to find anything criminal. But we want to make sure the public has confidence in the results,” In the meantime, a reader points out this election-night live blog from Business Insider : Update #20: The race is tied (essentially). Prosser is putting up some truly crazy numbers in Waukesha and Washington counties. Both are solidly conservative. But 77% and 78%? Those are crazy. I would have penciled him in at 67/68% .
Continue reading …Wisconsin Accountability Board Will Not Certify Election Results Until They Finish Investigation
April 9, 2011 No CommentThe members of the accountability board were appointed by the previous Democratic administration, so this will help answer the many questions about how this serendipitous discovery of extra votes — just enough to prevent a recount — actually happened : The agency overseeing Wisconsin elections will not certify results of Tuesday’s state Supreme Court race until it concludes a probe into how a county clerk misplaced and then found some 14,000 votes that upended the contest. Michael Haas, Government Accountability Board staff attorney, told Reuters on Friday the watchdog agency was looking into vote tabulation errors in Republican-leaning Waukesha County which gave the conservative incumbent a net gain of more than 7,000 votes — a lead his union-backed challenger seems unlikely to surmount. “We’re going to do a review of the procedures and the records in Waukesha before we certify the statewide results,” Haas said. “It’s not that we necessarily expect to find anything criminal. But we want to make sure the public has confidence in the results,” In the meantime, a reader points out this election-night live blog from Business Insider : Update #20: The race is tied (essentially). Prosser is putting up some truly crazy numbers in Waukesha and Washington counties. Both are solidly conservative. But 77% and 78%? Those are crazy. I would have penciled him in at 67/68% .
Continue reading …