Tech: In a graphic lesson on how images can be altered digitally, Der Spiegel writes about a weather broadcast that appeared to capture a nuclear bomb mushroom cloud in the background, courtesy of a Czech artists’ collective.
Nation: USA Today has a story today about airlines testing anti-missile systems that could foil shoulder-fired rockets.
Nation: In a related story, Woodland, Calif.’s Daily Democrat reports that there were 420 cases of laser beams aimed at aircraft reported to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2007.
World: The UK’s Telegraph reported Tuesday that the Russian government admitted customs officials “thwarted more than 120 attempts to smuggle ‘highly radioactive’ material out of the country last year.” There were 722 cases of importing “highly radioactive” material into the country as well. How comforting.
Entertainment: By writing his own jokes, late night TV host Jay Leno raises an ethics quandary in the Writers Guild strike, the LA Times reports.
O P I N I O N
It’s funny how voters like to repeat catchphrases that they’ve heard pundits tell them that they are saying. Such is the case with the two winners of the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabee and Sen. Barack Obama.
When you hear people talk about Mike Huckabee, it’s all about that he’s a “straight shooter” and a “values candidate.” Voters are drawn to Barack Obama, they say, because he is a “fresh face” who offers “hope” and will break the Bush/Clinton/Bush/?Clinton cycle.
My brother and I were discussing this phenomenon, and the fact that banished to the background in the main discussion by voters (and the plethora of pre-caucus debates) has been a focus on where the candidates stand on key issues such as Iraq, health care, the economy, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, immigration, etc.
No disrespect to Huckabee and Obama, but this distraction of character over platforms reflects the current state of muddle-headed America. It’s a time when Britney Spears’ latest meltdown merits breaking news, and a story on how a video of sleeping guards at a nuclear power plant has rocked the industry is briefed, at best.
This race is far from over. Let’s hope that voters do their homework on the issues and don’t allow pundit catchphrases to steer their votes.
♣ Nation/world news tally in my local paper today: 2 pages (much of it related to the Iowa caucuses).
Feed me 5 Under the Radar
