No limits: It’s Sadie Hawkins Day

No Limits: The New York Daily News reminds all the women out there that as per tradition on this Leap Year Day, any man is fair game for your marriage proposal. Let the ring toss commence!

Outer Limits: ABC15 in Phoenix reports that a firefighter manual used in Arizona includes instructions on handling “Enemy Attack And UFO Potential.”

Spending Limits: Consumerist.com shares a Bank of America customer’s tale of woe in using his checkcard. Seems BOA puts a daily spending limit on accounts and consumers may not be aware of this.

Border Limits: The Jerusalem Post reports that with the current rocket attacks from Hamas, Israel is preparing world opinion for an assault on Gaza.

Financial Limits: Bloomberg.com reports that in response to the yen rising to the highest mark in three years against the dollar, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke “said some small U.S. banks may collapse.”

Duhs & Dumber: Journalists anger many for leaking Prince Harry news

Nation: The Chicago Tribune reports that nine people were injured and one is unaccounted for after an explosion rocked a mall in Waukegan. Initial reports suspect that the blast was triggered by a gas explosion. One eyewitness said “It lifted the roof off of the building, then set it down. Then the walls collapsed inside.”

Science: Breitbart.com reports that geneticist Craig Venter has discovered a way to create “a life form that feeds on climate-ruining carbon dioxide to produce fuel.” According to Venter, “We have modest goals of replacing the whole petrochemical industry and becoming a major source of energy. We think we will have fourth-generation fuels in about 18 months, with CO2 as the fuel stock.” Remarkable! This could change the planet.

World: Xinhua reports that China’s quality control watchdog agency says the recent case of Chinese dumplings that were poisoned with methamidohpos pesticide and sent to Japan was a “special case of sabotage.”

Health: The Guardian reports that the number of women in their 40s who became pregnant in 2006 reached a record high — up 6 percent from the previous year. The number of live births among women in the 40s in England and Wales rose just about 50 percent over the past decade.

Business: Bloomberg reports that as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke takes aim at cutting interest rates to avoid a recession, many are concerned about the increased likelihood of inflation it will spur.

O P I N I O N

What moron journalist thought it would be OK to break a tacit understanding  just so her or his new organization could be the first to announce that Prince Harry is in Afghanistan fighting the war on terror? Kudos to those who kept the silence and a big kick in the head to the idiots who broke the silence. How long before riots erupt in London? How long before one of Prince Harry’s fellow soldiers dies protecting his life? Will there be any safe way to get the prince out of there? Dumb! Dumb! DUMB!
     I think the first journalist/media organization reporting this news should be sent over to the front lines to take Harry’s place.

Debate draw in Cleveland

Journalism: The New York Times reports that noted columnist,founder of the National Review magazine and host of the long-running TV show “Firing Line,” William F. Buckley Jr., has died. Buckley was found at his desk, where his son Christopher said “He might have been working on a column.” If so, what a fitting way for this journalistic giant to pass. RIP.

Health: The Voice of America reports that a woman in Vietnam died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu and in Southern China, a third death from the disease has been reported this year.

Health: CBS News reports that studies done on rats shows that curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, helped prevent heart failure and in one study, “reversed heart enlargement.” Researchers hope it may also be true for humans.

Science: Reuters reports that the fossil of a “sea monster” found in Arctic Norway showed it had “dagger-like teeth in a mouth large enough to bite a small car.” Beware, Beetle drivers!

Business: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Microsoft has been fined $1.3 billion by the European Union because “the company charged ‘unreasonable prices’ until last October to software developers who wanted to make products compatible with the Windows desktop operating system.”

O P I N I O N

Well the last debate (as of this writing) between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton went out without a bang. Both candidates had good moments last night, both had vulnerabilities. Tim Russert seemed especially rabid (was there foam in the corner of his mouth?) when asking Clinton about disclosing her tax statements.
     Clinton made me laugh when she referenced “Saturday Night Live’s” parody of debate hosts fawning over Obama. And then, in a “oops we screwed up moment,” MSNBC showed controversial video of her instead of the expected one of Obama, proving her point neatly.
     Being in the comfortable position of front-runner, Obama exuded a presidential nominee confidence. In regard to Clinton’s anger at the mailings in Ohio that she said misrepresented her health care proposal, Obama said he’d endured similar false information being spread but he didn’t “whine” about it. (Meeeooow!) He even said in closing statements “When I am the nominee…” That said, in that comfortable position, you wonder why he said he would take back his vote on the Terry Schiavo case. Will he face an unexpected backlash for it?
     As the underdog, Clinton was obviously in a tougher spot. Did she do enough to draw voters to her side? We’ll find out next Tuesday.

Pakistanis want their YouTube TV

Tech:  Another day, another battle won for freedom of speech. The BBC reports that Pakistan has lifted the ban it imposed on YouTube last Sunday. According to the BBC, Pakistan Telecom allegedly “hijacked” the Web server address of the popular video site — causing a near global meltdown — in protest over “a trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which portrays Islam in a negative light.”

Nation: Eyewitness News reports that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force raided two Memphis-based Mid-South truck driving schools yesterday. “Sources say the feds are looking for information about truck drivers who illegally obtained their commercial drivers licenses.” The raids included the FBI, “Tennessee Highway Patrol, the ATF, the United States Secret Service and federal immigration officials.”

Science: The Washington Post reports that a “Doomsday” Seed Vault has opened in the Arctic to serve as a backup to all the seed banks around the world. The Post reports it can store up to 4.5 million seed samples from across the globe — a veritable “frozen Garden of Eden.”

Tech: MySpace and Facebook users beware. Computerworld reports that hackers are targeting the image uploader used by both Web services. According to Computerworld, Darren Kemp, the Symantec analyst who authored the advisory said, “Attacks begin when users receive spam or an instant message with an embedded link. The link takes users to a bogus MySpace log-in page, which tries to steal members’ credentials as it also silently probes the their computers for vulnerabilities in Uploader, Apple Inc.’s QuickTime, Windows and Yahoo Music Jukebox.”

World: Der Spiegel reports that a day-care center in Munich was shut down for fear the children there were being indoctrinated into the “principles of Scientology.” Germany’s government considers the religion a cult and considers it “a threat to its democratic system.”

O P I N I O N

From the notebook…
     In an industry first, bloggers went on strike  at Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser, Editor & Publisher reports. And the news for Gannett gets worse. A Minneapolis law firm is investigating “possible wage and hour violations within Gannett,” Gannett Blog reports. Will Gannett bloggers and strikers be the Upton Sinclairs shining light on the jungle of megamedia worker abuse across the nation? Let’s hope so!

     If you’ve been watching MSNBC’s political coverage, then you know that tonight is the “Alamo of Debates” for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Geesh, these people are talking as if she has already withdrawn from the race. (Remember, this is the network whose political reporter accused the Clintons of pimping out their daughter Chelsea.)
     Saturday Night Live’s depiction of last week’s CNN debate was hilarious and on point. Remember when the lines between reporting and opinion were drawn crisply?

Yawn ornaments… a night at the Oscars

Space: When is garbage day in Earth’s orbit? Good question. The Guardian reports the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety fears the amount of junk currently in orbit — including more than 200 dead satellites — is a serious threat to future space missions. “‘Failure to act now to regulate space to protect property and human life would be pure folly,” the association’s president said.

World: The Post Chronicle reports that Israel has warned all airlines with incoming flights to “tighten security measures to minimize the possibility of a terrorist attack.”

Business: Der Spiegel reports on Siemens streetcar designed to withstand collisions with cars. The company hopes it will be a boost to the light rail transportation industry in America.

Science: The Globe and Mail reports about a Virgin 747 flight from London to Amsterdam that “was powered by three tanks filled with standard jet fuel and a fourth tank carrying a blend of 80 per cent standard fuel and 20 per cent oil from the coconut and Amazon babassu nut.” That’s one small flight for man, one giant leap for biofuel. Babassu me, baby!

Business: The next threat to service industry jobs will come from robots, The Christian Science Monitor reports. “The service sector, which is a gigantic part of the employment landscape in the United States, is inevitably going to be a place where you can replace millions of people with robots that work 24/7 for less money,” futurist Marshall Brain told the newspaper.

O P I N I O N

What was more of a yawn: the 80th Academy Awards ceremony or the news that Ralph Nader is running for president again? Hmm. Tough one.
     Don’t you feel sorry for the Oscar winners in a group who don’t get to give a shout out to their spouses and kids because that darn “get off the stage, you’re not important” music swells and silences them. That’s why perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was to see Marketa Irglova get a chance after a commercial break to come back out and give her thanks for winning an Oscar. She won Best Song with Glen Hasard for their “Falling Slowly” from the Irish film “Once.”
     If you wanted to summarize the fashions for the ceremony, you might say “There will be red. Lots of it.” And if you wanted to discuss Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis’ wife Rebecca Miller’s getup, you’d have to say “There will be regrets!” What the hell was she wearing? Haute NO!

Lucy in the sky with debris

Science:  Click here to track the orbit of the debris left over from the spy satellite. Yup, just like the truth, it’s still out there…

Current election issues: Candidate security, indiscretions & 9/11 insider trading

Election 2008: UPI has a curious report about a campaign rally for Sen. Barack Obama in Dallas. The Secret Service “told Dallas police to stop screening for weapons while people were still arriving,” UPI says. “Several Dallas police officers — speaking on condition of anonymity because the order came from federal officers — told the newspaper it was worrying to see so many people get it without even a cursory inspection.” Uh, yeah. Don’t they remember what happened in Dallas about 45 years ago? Scary!

Election 2008: Wonder why the New York Times printed the story about Sen. John McCain and the lobbyist? Here’s your chance to ask the Times. Send your question to askthetimes@nytimes.com. Answers will be printed here.

Election 2008: The Jones Report says former presidential candidate and now running for his current seat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, is “initiating an investigation into the insider trading that took place leading up to 9/11, particularly in regards to put options placed on American Airlines and United Airlines stock.” According to Kucinich, “I’ve had long-standing questions about why this volume, why those airlines, why that time, who made the buys, why did they buy them, who told them to make the buys, who was involved? There are questions there that need to be answered as part of an effort to get to the truth.”

World: The Guardian is reporting that 10,000 Turkish troops have entered Northern Iraq.

Entertainment: Is an Oscar worth what it once was? According to Bloomberg.com the value has actually increased, thanks to the rising value of gold. This year’s trophy is worth $100 more than last year’s.

Three stories that won’t die

(Sorry, I’m slacking a bit today. :^)

Poopgate: According to Jim Hopkin’s Gannett Blog, employees of the Cherry Hill, N.J., Courier-Post (site of the “Poopgate” incidents) have “warned Publisher Walt Lafferty in a Feb. 10 letter that they would take their grievances to the U.S. Labor Department if their concerns weren’t addressed by Feb. 22.” Their letter to Mr. Lafferty is compelling, and the sad thing is the situations there are being repeated across Gannettland. Here are some excerpts:
     “Employees are overworked with no relief in sight, and not being paid for working overtime. Reporters often lack necessities to do their job, like having new notebooks; the photo department sometimes cannot handle assignments because of a lack of equipment. Upper management has taken an increasingly critical tone, often demeaning employees in public. The tension has increased to the point that the men’s and women’s bathrooms in the newsroom have been deliberately soiled by feces in separate incidents. This appears to be a result of demoralized employees seeking an outlet to vent ever-mounting frustration.”
     “Dealing with these challenges has been exacerbated by the increasingly critical tone taken by the executive editor and managing editor toward the staff. The result is a chaotic, mismanaged workplace in which the executive editor and managing editor are inconsistent in their direction to employees. Such an environment stifles initiative, creativity and productivity. Employees often are left frustrated by the lack of a clear, defined approach.”
     An anonymous poster on Hopkin’s blog writes: “If another company were practicing these unethical management decisions, newspapers — even Gannett ones — would be all over the story. Who’s watching the watchdogs?”
     Excellent point. Why hasn’t this story made the evening or 24/7 news?

Otherwomangate: While channel surfing last night, I saw a breaking news alert on MSNBC in which Keith Olbermann read from a breaking news post on the New York Times Web site. The story alleged Sen. John McCain had been warned by his advisers eight years ago to stop spending so much time with lobbyist Vicki Iseman “whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led.” Why is an incident eight-years-old worthy of breaking news?
     Obviously his almost-cemented GOP presidential nominee status warrants a closer look at McCain’s character. The Times wrote in a story today that “the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest.”
     The timing of course is curious. Is this swiftboating, 2008-style? Was this a case of the GOP eating its own? Is it hello, nominee Huckabee?

Dianagate: Was Princess Diana assassinated? CNN reports that in the trial today, focus was on the white Fiat that was at the scene of the accident (white paint was found in scratches on Dodi Fayed’s car) but never found. CNN reports “Paparazzo James Andanson owned a white Fiat Uno and there have long been questions about whether it was his car which hit the Mercedes. Adding to the mystery, Andanson was found dead in a burned-out car two years after the crash, leading conspiracy theorists to believe he was part of the murder plot and ‘assassinated. to cover up his role.”

It’s a hit

Breaking: CNN is reporting that the spy satellite has been hit. I was tracking the satellite on a Web site and it disappeared from the radar around 10:28 p.m. ET when it was southwest of Hawaii. No word yet on what the outcome is.

Satellite, rocket rendezvous planned for 10:30 p.m. ET

Nation: CNN is now reporting that the first attempt to shoot down the spy satellite at 10:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. Hawaii time) today. (It would place it during the lunar eclipse, too.) As I write this, the satellite’s altitude is 157 miles. An engineer friend told me that once it reaches 140 miles it will be at the point where it could plummet at any time.

Nation: Here’s an interesting twist to the story of that Texas oil refinery explosion that helped push the price of oil over $100 a barrel for the first time. According to HomelandSecurityUS.com,the oil refinery is owned by ALON Israel Oil Co. Ltd. In the wake of Islamic terrorist Imad Fayez Mughniyeh’s assassination, could this explosion be a form of retribution?

Tech:A blow against Internet freedom was delivered by a federal judge in San Francisco who ordered that Wikileaks.org be shut down, the New York Times reports. The Web site “invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging ‘unethical behavior’ by corporations and governments.”

Health: The Sydney Morning Herald reports Indonesia’s Health Minister claims that “the United States and the World Health Organisation are part of a global conspiracy to profit from the spread of bird flu and the US may use samples to produce biological weapons.”

World: The Associated Press (via The Jerusalem Post)reports that Iraqis are rounding up the homeless and mentally ill from the streets of Baghdad for fear they will be used unwittingly by al-Qaida as suicide bombers.