Today's Blogs - Yahoo! News:
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Actor Matt Damon defends teacher tenure in testy exchange
Tue,2 Aug 2011 02:10 PM PDT
The Lookout - Actor Matt Damon got into a tense exchange with a journalist from the libertarian Reason TV site after she asked him whether teachers with tenure would lack incentive to work hard at their jobs. The journalist argued that Damon has an incentive to work hard as an actor because he lacks job security, while teachers [...] Full Story | Top |
"The West Wing" on the debt ceiling
Tue,2 Aug 2011 01:44 PM PDT
The Upshot - The debt debate is settled--for now, anyway. President Obama signed into law a bill that raises the debt ceiling. The law puts to rest a bitter back-and-forth that left politicians exhausted and ordinary Americans incredibly annoyed. While the debate and down-to-the-wire bickering may have seemed unprecedented, it's worth noting that at least one high-profile TV [...] Full Story | Top |
Famous people who simply vanished
Tue,2 Aug 2011 01:33 PM PDT
The Upshot - Fame is a notoriously fleeting thing, but one way of outwitting it seems to be capping one's celebrity career with a mysterious disappearing act. This slideshow, courtesy of Life magazine, profiles seven renowned figures who seemingly vanished into thin air. They all have yet to be found--and of course, they have all spawned a virtual [...] Full Story | Top |
New bill would ban anti-jobless discrimination
Tue,2 Aug 2011 01:11 PM PDT
The Lookout - We've told you about how some employers are posting job ads warning the unemployed not to apply--placing yet another hurdle in the path of the more than 14 million jobless Americans looking for work. When we asked readers who've been out of work for a while to share their experiences, this kind of discrimination against [...] Full Story | Top |
Huntsman implies Bachmann's looks are driving media coverage
Tue,2 Aug 2011 01:00 PM PDT
The Ticket - Jon Huntsman insists he wasn't trying to insult Michele Bachmann by suggesting her looks are driving media coverage of her 2012 presidential bid. In an interview with New York Magazine's John Heilemann, the former Utah governor-turned-2012 contender seemed to imply his GOP rival's appearance is a factor in the attention she's getting. "She makes for [...] Full Story | Top |
With today's jobs scarce, Obama admin. turns to tomorrow's
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:53 PM PDT
The Lookout - The Obama administration doesn't seem able to do much about the dire state of the present U.S. jobs picture. That may be one reason why--with the debt crisis out of the way for now--White House officials are focusing on the jobs of tomorrow, instead. The government today announced an effort to make it easier for [...] Full Story | Top |
Vilnius mayor mounts a tank to crush car parked in bike lane
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:43 PM PDT
The Envoy - It's true that former Soviet republics have unwelcome experience with tanks in the streets of their capitals. But never before, it seems safe to say, has a political leader brought out the heavy artillery to protect the integrity of a bike lane. But that's just what happened recently when Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, [...] Full Story | Top |
Debt debate dominates news coverage
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:32 PM PDT
The Cutline - The Senate's vote on Tuesday to raise the U.S. debt ceiling brought to a close not only weeks of national anxiety about a federal loan default, but a fast-moving story that has dominated much of the media dialogue. Indeed, between July 25-31, 52 percent of the weekly American newshole was devoted to the economy, according [...] Full Story | Top |
Oprah defends her struggling cable network on Facebook
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:19 PM PDT
The Cutline - Oprah Winfrey--two months into her life as a former daytime talk show host--took to Facebook to update her fans on her first week as chief executive of OWN, and to defend her struggling cable network. "I spent my first full week at OWN merging new staff with Harpo folks," she wrote. "Alignment is the first [...] Full Story | Top |
Meet the new Super Congress
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:17 PM PDT
The Ticket - Now that Congress has agreed on a general framework to raise the debt ceiling, party leaders will establish a bipartisan committee of lawmakers from both chambers to hash out the finer details. Under the new law, the federal government will cap spending levels by about $1 trillion over a ten-year period and delegate the responsibility [...] Full Story | Top |
U.S. moves to ease restrictions on aid for Somalia famine victims
Tue,2 Aug 2011 12:00 PM PDT
The Envoy - The Obama administration announced plans to ease restrictions on aid going to famine-plagued areas in Somalia under the control of the militant Islamist group al-Shebaab. With some 12 million Somalis at risk of starvation, U.S. policymakers said that the humanitarian crisis trumps concerns that aid could get into the hands of al-Shebaab. "Our number one [...] Full Story | Top |
Found: Messages in Bottles
Tue,2 Aug 2011 11:39 AM PDT
The Upshot - One year ago, off the coast of Oregon, a ten-year-old boy tossed a message in a bottle into the Pacific Ocean. Weeks ago, a 9-year-old girl in Hawaii found it. According to a popular article from the AP, Thomas Craig never expected his bottle to arrive safely in anyone's hands. He told West Hawaii Today [...] Full Story | Top |
Understanding Rick Perry's views on states' rights
Tue,2 Aug 2011 11:28 AM PDT
The Ticket - Facing pressure from social conservatives in the weeks leading up to an expected announcement of his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been cautiously clarifying his views on the balance between states' rights and federal power. In the past week, Perry has walked back comments that state governments should be free to determine their [...] Full Story | Top |
ABC claims it has the only American reporter covering famine, violence in Mogadishu
Tue,2 Aug 2011 11:04 AM PDT
The Cutline - When the News Corp.-owned Times of London ran a cartoon featuring starving African children pondering the phone hacking scandal, the image won harsh--and well-deserved—criticism. But the underlying point—that the media has largely ignored what's happening in Africa—was well taken. ABC claims that it is the only American news network to have a reporter in Mogadishu, [...] Full Story | Top |
Few, if any, winners emerge from debt debate
Tue,2 Aug 2011 10:30 AM PDT
The Ticket - After weeks of ugly partisan sniping, Congress approved, and President Obama has signed, legislation that will raise the nation's debt ceiling. The debt deal, which comes on the heels of a dramatic month and a half of confrontation in Washington, will help United States avoid a financial default that could have further sent the country [...] Full Story | Top |
Ash Carter to be tapped for Deputy Defense Secretary
Tue,2 Aug 2011 10:06 AM PDT
The Envoy - The White House has announced that it is nominating Ash Carter, the Pentagon's head of procurement, to be the next deputy secretary of defense. Carter, a trained physicist, has overseen Pentagon procurement as under secretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics in the Obama administration. He has previously served as a professor of international [...] Full Story | Top |
New York Times creates political desk to gear up for 2012
Tue,2 Aug 2011 09:58 AM PDT
The Cutline - Like television and cable news networks, newspapers have begun staff up for the 2012 election. The New York Times announced on Monday that it's creating a designated political desk. Dick Stevenson, the paper's deputy Washington bureau chief, will be its editor. "As the Presidential and Congressional campaigns move into high gear, so, too, is our [...] Full Story | Top |
Senate votes to raise debt ceiling
Tue,2 Aug 2011 09:51 AM PDT
The Ticket - The Senate on Tuesday voted to raise the nation's debt ceiling, saving the government from potentially defaulting on its debts and concluding a heated, protracted battle in Washington. Senators voted 74-26 to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling this afternoon following last night's House passage of the bill. The legislation increases the debt ceiling by [...] Full Story | Top |
Reports: Rachel Maddow extends MSNBC contract past 2012
Tue,2 Aug 2011 09:48 AM PDT
The Cutline - MSNBC has locked prime-time anchor Rachel Maddow into a deal that will keep her at the network beyond the 2012 presidential election, according to reports. The news first broke via the Hollywood Reporter's Marisa Guthrie, who writes: "By extending her contract, MSNBC seals [Maddow's] status as the face of the network and also puts any [...] Full Story | Top |
Western press largely overlooks heroism of lesbian couple in Norway massacre
Tue,2 Aug 2011 09:30 AM PDT
The Envoy - As Norway continues to grapple with the attacks by a home-grown extremist that killed 77 people last month, one couple, who moved to help young people fleeing from gunman Anders Breivik, is getting a bit of belated recognition. Hege Dalen and her wife, Toril Hansen, were eating dinner on July 22nd on the other shore [...] Full Story | Top |
Debt-ceiling deal sets off lobbying frenzy
Tue,2 Aug 2011 09:04 AM PDT
Exclusives - By Chris Frates National Journal The so-called super committee that would be responsible for cutting $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit is poised to create a new class on K Street: The Superlobbyists. Within 14 days of the debt-ceiling compromise … Continue reading → Full Story | Top |
Is new steel plant for Rust Belt city latest sign of manufacturing revival?
Tue,2 Aug 2011 08:49 AM PDT
The Lookout - What comes to mind when you hear "Youngstown, Ohio?" We're betting it's images of shuttered factories--symbols of a former industrial powerhouse laid low by the steady decline of U.S. manufacturing and the rapid movement of jobs overseas. Which is why it may come as a surprise to hear about a project taking shape in the [...] Full Story | Top |
Super PACs raise $26 million
Tue,2 Aug 2011 08:34 AM PDT
The Ticket - The 2012 presidential cycle is already shaping up to be battle of the super PACs. Super PACs-- a new type of independent campaign committee permitted to raise unlimited funds--raised a combined total of $26 million in the first six months of this year alone, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group that promotes government [...] Full Story | Top |
Coin-sized robotic insect walks on water
Tue,2 Aug 2011 08:10 AM PDT
Technology News Blog - Scientists have been wowing us lately with robotic hummingbirds and octopus tentacles and now they done it again, this time with a tiny robot that walks on water. Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology took their inspiration from common water strider insects. … Continue reading → Full Story | Top |
Down But Not Out: 'Care enough to inquire. Care enough to assist however you can.'
Tue,2 Aug 2011 08:07 AM PDT
The Lookout - In June, we asked you for your stories spelling out what it's like to be out of work for an extended period. The thousands of anecdotes you sent us offer a heart-rending glimpse of how Americans are coping with long-term joblessness during the Great Recession and its aftermath. The responses The Lookout has collected from Yahoo readers [...] Full Story | Top |
Another arrest in phone-hacking investigation as police zoom in on former managing editor
Tue,2 Aug 2011 07:59 AM PDT
The Cutline - London police have made another arrest in their investigation into past criminal activity at Rupert Murdoch's British papers. Stuart Kuttner, a former managing editor at the recently shuttered News of the World, was arrested Tuesday on allegations of phone-hacking and bribing police, reports the UK Guardian's Amelia Hill. She describes the 71-year-old as the "public face [...] Full Story | Top |
Clinton meets with Syrian opposition
Tue,2 Aug 2011 07:44 AM PDT
The Envoy - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met this morning with members of the U.S.-based Syrian opposition. The meeting came as the United States intensified its condemnation of Bashar al-Assad's continuing crackdown on anti-government unrest. The Syrian regime's "assault on civilians" highlights "again the brutality and viciousness of the Assad regime," Clinton said in a statement released [...] Full Story | Top |
Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are not the best of friends
Tue,2 Aug 2011 07:15 AM PDT
The Ticket - It's no secret that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are total frenemies. But it turns out that the former Massachusetts governor also has tensions with another potential 2012 rival: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. While Perry and Romney have made nice for the cameras, the Austin American Statesman's Jason Embry writes today that the two have [...] Full Story | Top |
Obama administration sues Alabama over immigration law
Tue,2 Aug 2011 06:29 AM PDT
The Lookout - The federal government is again taking a state to court, this time suing Alabama for a tough immigration law even further-reaching than Arizona's SB 1070 last year. "Today's action makes clear that setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility that cannot be addressed through a patchwork of state immigration laws," Attorney [...] Full Story | Top |
Santorum pulls ahead of Obama in Pennsylvania, poll finds
Tue,2 Aug 2011 06:19 AM PDT
The Ticket - No major national polls suggest former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is a top-tier presidential candidate. Nevertheless, he's picking up some serious momentum in his home state, according to one new poll. President Obama is now virtually tied with Santorum--45 percent to 43 percent, respectively-- in a Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania registered voters released Tuesday. [...] Full Story | Top |
Americans spent less in June
Tue,2 Aug 2011 06:06 AM PDT
The Lookout - American consumers spent less in June than in the previous month--the first time that's happened in nearly two years, and another sign that a double-dip recession could be in the offing. Consumer spending dropped by 0.2 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday morning, with Americans cutting back on purchases of cars, furniture, and [...] Full Story | Top |
FIRST CUTS: Guardian's Davies to U.S.; New political editor at NYT
Tue,2 Aug 2011 06:06 AM PDT
The Cutline - Our list of stories that should be on your morning media menu: • The Guardian's Nick Davies has landed on U.S. shores to further investigate the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal. (Adweek) • Yet another phone-hacking arrest. (AP) • The New York Times has named a new political editor. (Politico/On Media) • A rift has formed [...] Full Story | Top |
FIRST LOOK: House passes debt ceiling hike
Tue,2 Aug 2011 05:28 AM PDT
The Lookout - Welcome to First Look, our daily roundup of early-bird news: • By a vote of 269-161, the House passed a budget deal to raise the debt limit and cut spending. (The New York Times) • Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House to vote 'yes' on the measure--her first vote since being shot in the [...] Full Story | Top |
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