Spiro Agnew must be laughing from his grave.

Nov 15, 2009 - Agnew speeches sparked move toward soft news Michael Socolow (Bangor Daily News) It remains the most influential indictment of American journalism ever made. Forty years ago today, this famous figure began railing against the corporate media. “A broader spectrum of national opinion should be represented among the commentators of the network news,” he argued, explaining that “men who can articulate other points of view should be brought forward, and the American people should be made aware of the trend toward the monopolization of the great public information vehicles and the concentration of more and more power over public opinion in fewer and fewer hands.” American democracy's perilous dependence on the corporate, capitalist media had previously been detailed. - 1 Comment

The DORF Matrix: Towards a Theory of NPR's Taste in Black Music

Oct 22, 2009 - Source     Posted Monday, October 12, 2009 4:07 PM | By Jody Rosen   In August, National Public Radio's flagship music program All Songs Considered published "The Best Music of 2009 (So Far)," a rundown of the top 30 songs and albums of the year-to-date as voted by the show's listeners.   The results of the survey suggest that the All Songs Considered audience has a fuzzy understanding of the word "all." "The Best Music of 2009 (So Far)" consists almost entirely of indie-rockers: acts like The Decemberists, Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, Regina Spektor, and Animal Collective, the Brooklyn art-rock group that took the top spot in both the best songs and best albums tallies. - 3 Comments

Who Killed California?

Oct 15, 2009 - by Troy Senik http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/who-killed-california My apologies for having nothing originally in this post.  The text was here but didn't show up. Apparently this article is too long to be printed here, at about 11 pages.  It is nevertheless worth reading, unless, as someone has already done, you have made your  mind up what to believe before reading. - 29 Comments

Men are 7x more likely to leave a seriously ill partner

Oct 14, 2009 - Until her sickness do us part: why men leave ill partners Men are seven times more likely than women to leave a seriously ill partner, a study has found. So why are males less able to cope?     Cancer was, says Lesley Forrester, far easier to deal with than her husband’s reaction to her diagnosis. - 10 Comments

Women's Ass Size Study

Oct 05, 2009 - Women's Ass Size Study There is a new study just released by the American Psychiatric Association about women and how they feel about their asses. The results are pretty shocking: 1. Only 5% of women surveyed feel their ass is too big. - 2 Comments

One in 20 women has never had sex sober as they lack body confidence

Sep 27, 2009 - Millions of women drink alcohol before having sex because they lack confidence in their bodies, a study has found. Almost half of those questioned said they preferred sex while under the influence of alcohol because it helped them to lose their inhibitions and be more adventurous.   Researchers, who surveyed 3,000 women aged between 18 and 50, found the average woman has slept with eight men, but was drunk with at least five of them. - 33 Comments