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According the Washington Post (June 6, 2004) , the world is on the verge of oil famine. BBC News declares "as certain as death and taxes, we shall one day be forced to learn to live without oil." Further, "people in middle age today can probably expect to be here" for the terminal oil shortages. CBS, NBC and ABC have all presented grim and frightening reports of rapacious oil executives, unfeeling consumers, gas-guzzling SUVs and declining oil stocks, mostly in the powder keg countries of the Middle East. The unmistakable conclusion: An energy disaster of epic proportions is just around...

"Hi. Are you nuts? "Forgive me for being so blunt, but your reaction to our reelection of President Bush has been so outrageous that I'm wondering if you have quite literally lost your minds. One of Britain's largest newspapers ran a headline asking "How Can 59 Million Americans Be So Dumb?", and commentators in France all seemed to use the same word - bizarre -- to explain the election's outcome to their readers. In Germany the editors of Die Tageszeitung responded to our vote by writing that "Bush belongs at a war tribunal - not in the White House." And...

For decades, leukemia patients have had to rely on finding a bone marrow donor to give them a new supply of blood cells. Now, two studies show that adult patients can safely use umbilical cord to help them rebuild their health. Elizabeth Rhodes is alive today because of umbilical cord. She was diagnosed with leukemia and was told she needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. Leukemia patients often undergo radiation or chemotherapy to kill their cancerous white blood cells. But the treatment also wipes out their immune systems. Bone marrow is rich in stem cells that are capable of...

NEW YORK Don't expect an announcement right away on who'll succeed Dan Rather as anchor of the "C-B-S Evening News." The network's chairman says there won't be any word on that until at least the beginning of next year. Rather announced yesterday that his last day in the anchor chair will be March ninth -- exactly 24 years after he took that job. C-B-S isn't saying just how it will go about choosing a replacement. Two leading in-house candidates are John Roberts and Scott Pelley. Roberts has been the network's chief White House correspondent since 1999. Pelley held the White...

Dear Editor: The question is not who was hurt by Monday Night Football's sexploitation spot ("Don't cry in your towel for the NFL"), but rather who should be hurt. The answer is definitely ABC. By your rendition of the events, ABC misled the NFL with respect to the contents of the intro. It may also have misled the Eagles. The network's objective was solely to use the R-rated spot to boost ratings of the "MNF" and "Desperate Housewives." As a result of such conduct, the NFL should clearly punish ABC by awarding its "MNF" contract to NBC, which reportedly is...

``In the aftermath, the Democrats will form their ritual circular firing squad of recriminations.'' -- Former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal, writing in The Guardian on Nov. 4. Bruce Springsteen blames Jon Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi blames James Taylor. Taylor blames Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam blames the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks blame Dave Matthews. Matthews blames Michael Stipe, who blames Bono. Bono blames George Soros. Soros blames MoveOn.Org. MoveOn.org blames Michael Moore. Moore blames Don Imus. Imus blames Howard Stern. Stern blames Al Franken. Franken blames Jon Stewart, who blames Paul Krugman. Krugman blames Katrina vanden Heuvel. Vanden Heuvel blames...

I am wondering when the Democrats became the party of the elitists. That used to be the moniker they threw on the Republicans--the Democrats were the party of the blue collar, union, ethnic minorities. Now I find it amazing that they have become the elite simply because of left leaning professors, left wing media who do not have an opinion of their own but what someone else writes for them, the Hollywood group who are all sustained by the hard earned money of the middle class-elitists don't go to movies and concerts, they to theatre and opera-and are supported when...

NEW YORK Leave it to syndicated columnist/cartoonist Ted Rall. While others on the left wonder if, and how, they should reach out to those in the "red states" to try to win more elections, the acerbic Rall is sticking to his guns as a proud blue stater. In his latest column, "Confessions of a Cultural Elitist," Rall declared, among much else, that "living in the sticks doesn't make you more American" and "by any objective standard, you had to be spectacularly stupid to support Bush." Rall, who grew up in what he calls "flyover" Ohio, adds, "if militant Christianist Republicans...

What did Newsweek know — and when did the magazine know it? Barely 24 hours after the polls closed Tuesday, the newsweekly came out with its special election edition, chock-full of fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbits culled by a team of reporters during the lengthy campaign. After clinching the Democratic nomination, Newsweek reports, John Kerry was so desperate to enlist GOP Sen. John McCain as his running mate that he made an "outlandish" offer: He'd expand the role of vice president to include the duties of secretary of Defense. Moreover, Kerry — seeking the presidency in a time of grave international danger...

Media Ethics Project (“MEP”) of New York today submitted a request to the Thornburgh Commission to investigate the recent news reports of CBS News concerning 350 tons of missing explosives in Iraq. The Commission headed by former US Attorney General Richard Thornburgh was recently appointed by Viacom, Inc. to investigate certain reports by CBS News concerning the Reserve Guard service of President Bush allegedly based on use of forged documents. MEP is a newly formed group seeking to focus on the public interest responsibilities of mass media organizations. A key focus of today’s MEP filing is to seek an expansion...

To the Editor: Contrary to a Sept. 24 letter, the federal wire fraud statute was violated by use of forged documents relating to President Bush's National Guard activities, as stated in William Safire's Sept. 22 column. Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1987 in McNally that financial gain or loss was required to prosecute a federal fraud case, it subsequently clarified that case and held that information of a news organization was "property" within the meaning of the statute. Additionally, the letter did not mention that Congress then amended the wire fraud statute specifically to overrule McNally. It did so...

Group Wants Panel To Focus On Possible CBS Violations of FCC Policy Prohibiting Airing of False, Faked or Staged News Reports Media Ethics Project of New York today has submitted a filing to the members of the panel established on Monday by CBS to review the facts and circumstances related to CBS News’ broadcasting of a series of reports on the National Guard service of President Bush based on forged documents. The panel’s members are former US Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and retired Associated Press chief executive Louis Boccardi. The MEP filing with the panel includes the Petition for Declaratory...

Media Ethics Project (“MEP”) of New York today informed counsel for Viacom, Inc. that, based on the actions announced earlier today by CBS News, MEP will moving to dismiss its Petition for Declaratory Ruling, previously filed with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). The MEP Petition sought sanctions against CBS News and its parent organization, Viacom, for its recent broadcast of news reports by anchorman Dan Rather based on use of documents, which a steadily growing number of critics have alleged to be forgeries. CBS announced that it will shortly commission an independent review board to determine the process “by which...

The vice president travels on Air Force Two. A crew of about 10 reporters flies with him, representing all the networks, the wire services and two or three newspapers. There are snacks, cable television and camaraderie. But there is not a seat for me. I am told not to take this personally. Nor, I am told, is this intended as a slight against the paper, which normally maintains a seat (paid for handsomely) on all campaign planes, presidential and vice-presidential. Anne Womack, the vice president's chief spokeswoman, says such suspicions are baseless. There simply are not enough seats for all...

A New York-based group petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to sanction CBS News and its parent organization, Viacom, Inc., for its recent broadcast of news reports based on forged documents... "The actions of CBS News over the last week have been truly outrageous," said MEP Chairman William L. Whitely. "Most people familiar with [anchor] Dan Rather's reports have seen solid evidence from various credible sources showing the documents to be forged. Yet, day in and day out, CBS has stubbornly continued to maintain that the memos are authentic."... MEP seeks a finding from the FCC that the actions of CBS...

Media Ethics Project (“MEP”) of New York today petitioned the FCC to sanction CBS News and its parent organization, Viacom, Inc., for its recent broadcast of news reports based on forged documents. In announcing the FCC filing, MEP Chairman William L. Whitely stated: “Most people familiar with Dan Rather’s reports have seen solid evidence from various credible sources showing the documents to be forged. Yet, day in and day out, CBS has stubbornly continued to maintain that the memos are authentic. This supremely arrogant conduct violates the public trust and FCC rules and policies. Viacom cannot be allowed to flaunt...

Rather quotes: "I think the public, even decent people who may be well-disposed toward President Bush, understand that powerful and extremely well-financed forces are concentrating on questions about the documents because they can’t deny the fundamental truth of the story," he said. "If you can’t deny the information, then attack and seek to destroy the credibility of the messenger, the bearer of the information. And in this case, it’s change the subject from the truth of the information to the truth of the documents. "This is your basic fogging machine, which is set up to cloud the issue, to obscure...

A Way to End the Insurgency- Give All Iraqis an Interest in the Country's Vast Oil Resources. Real peace will come to Iraq when its citizens join together to support their central government. This can best be done by giving all Iraqis a real financial interest in their country's oil resources. With such a program in place, citizens will find it in their own interest to support the government and assist in preventing the insurgency. This is far from a new idea as such a citizen benefit has already been established in the State of Alaska. The following proposal by...

The former US president has charged the Republicans with bigotry and judicial manipulation, writes Peter Wilson BILL Clinton has delivered an extraordinary blast at America's top judge, William Rehnquist, and an uncharacteristically bitter attack on Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Speaking before his recent health scare, the former president accused Rehnquist, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, of deliberately politicising the system of appointing independent investigators, leading to years of relentless, politically motivated inquiries into his presidency. In an interview with The Weekend Australian, Clinton dropped the affection with which he usually discusses Reagan and...

JOHN KERRY GOES ROUND AND ROUND By Confused Citizens (To the tune of "The Music Goes 'Round and Round" by Tommy Dorsey) He flips and then flops John Kerry goes 'round and around Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho And he comes out wrong He says yes to the war in Iraq John Kerry goes down and around Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho And next he says oh no! He votes 87B for the troops John Kerry goes down around below Below, deedle-dee-ho-ho-ho Then he votes no, no. He’s a Senator for 20 years John Kerry went up and down Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho And has nothing to show On the Intelligence...