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in The Huffington Post
by
Sen. Harry Reid, 30 April 2008
Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, shares an excerpt from his new book, The Good Fight. He details his humble beginnings in Searchlight, Nevada, where he lived in a house made of railroad ties that were soaked in creosote to keep termites out (which made his house flammable). It also had a layer of plaster on the outside that his dad put up as a kind of stucco. His father worked in everything from carpentry to mining, while his mother was confident and loud -- and they both drank too much. Though this excerpt gives a fairly good portrait of Reid's early life, a more complete excerpt could have been chosen.
Posted 3:50, 30 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Francis Merlie
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Jamie Lee Curtis, 28 April 2008
The actress describes the Miley Cyrus controversy as hysteria, arguing that it's a stretch to call her Vanity Fair pose "topless." She blamed Cyrus' advisers for not protecting her, but says it's normal for a teenager to develop sexuality; indeed, many media commentators happily comment on how grown-up child stars appear when dressed up for red carpet events. It's a well-written piece from what is clearly a voice of personal experience; the only disappointed readers will be those who misinterpreted the billing "Jamie Lee Curtis: Topless On TV."
Posted 3:47, 29 April 2008
This abstract was written by
John Lister
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
J.B. Powell, 28 April 2008
Bernstein, author of the new book, Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries), intelligently explains how the presidential candidates stack up on economics. He details how a president can influence the economy by redistributing wealth to avoid disparities, by stimulating private sector growth, and by regulating business; assessing the candidates, he thinks the real differences between John McCain and the Democrats is on redistribution and regulation. Bernstein also thinks you can trace the current financial meltdown to Phil Graham, John McCain's chief economic adviser. Barack Obama's tax policy is the most generous and realistic, but he doesn't expect major overhauls on trade by either Obama or Hillary Clinton.
Posted 5:24, 28 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Pinoli
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Thomas B. Edsall, 25 April 2008
In an unexpected shift of paradigm, the mainstream media, long thought to be giving preference to Barack Obama, have begun to defect to the now underdog Clinton campaign. Questions about the Illinois senator's electability in a general election, (a Hillary Clinton talking point for months now) have led to a perception of Obama as elitist, and out-of-touch with a blue-collar electorate that he will need to win in November. Citing articles in The New Republic and Time, Edsall laments the change and writes a brief piece on the ever-changing build-up to the nomination.
Posted 1:30, 25 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Gallaway
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 17 April 2008
Abdul-Jabbar pens a meandering critique of Horton Hears a Who, which he finds not to be racist, but sexist; that sexism, however, Abdul-Jabbar reasons, fuels intolerance and racism. The argument certainly has validity, but the article takes a bizarre approach. Abdul-Jabbar also reiterates his endorsement of Barack Obama, hoping he will usher in a dynamic new era of "government by inclusion," as well as a greater recognition for the racism so pervading our society that it's widely overlooked in a major Hollywood release.
Posted 2:39, 17 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Pinoli
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Tim Robbins, 16 April 2008
Robbins' hilarious speech, delivered at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas Monday, pulls no punches, calling out everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Ronald Reagan. He begins the address with an apology to conservative commentators for his anti-war stance, which he acknowledges made him a "naïve dupe of left-wing appeasement." Now, however, he's seen the error of his ways, thanks to the "festive and appreciative" Iraqis and our own robust economy. With tongue buried in cheek, Robbins chronicles a history of radio and suggests the industry's health can be maintained by erasing all diversity, instead focusing on sex scandals ("the absolute zenith of news") and racially divisive news.
Posted 5:20, 16 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Brian Willett
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Henry Blodget, 11 April 2008
Blodget dishes out some "boardroom intrigue" from the media world. Somebody leaked to the press details of a meeting between CBS executives, Katie Couric, and her agent where they "discussed whether Katie should remain an unpopular anchor of CBS Evening news or just give up and quit." According to Blodget, the leak could only have been intended to force CBS and Couric to part ways. The only question is: Who did it? After laying out possible scenarios, Blodget fingers CBS News president Sean McManus. Blodget's analysis is a decent piece of media gossip.
Posted 5:09, 11 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Chris Lugardo
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Arianna Huffington, 10 April 2008
Huffington takes a trip down memory lane, capably exploring the history of the Clinton-Colombia connection, noting that there is much more to the issue than recent revelations about the links between campaign staffers Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson and the South American nation. The ties were first established during Bill Clinton's presidency, with policies like the Plan Colombia package, which sent $1.3 billion to the Colombian military and served to "escalate the war on drugs." Possibly more offensive than the package itself, however, was the way it was passed; Clinton bundled the aid in with funds for military health care and disaster relief.
Posted 10:16, 10 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Brian Willett
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
David Fiderer, 9 April 2008
Soon after 9/11 a paid informant told Czech intelligence that he saw Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers, with an Iraqi diplomat in Prague earlier that year. The information was never corroborated and was largely doubted, but Douglas Feith made a "fraudulent" case for an invasion of Iraq based on it. Fiderer capably lays out the history of reckless reporting, including New York Times reporter William Safire's seven articles supporting Feith's rush for war. This includes not only a shocking commitment to the Atta story, but also countless overblown, if not manufactured, connections between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda.
Posted 3:43, 9 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Pinoli
and edited by Brijit.
in The Huffington Post
by
Arianna Huffington, 8 April 2008
General David Petraeus is scheduled to testify in front of Congress this week, and he's expected to recommend a pause in troop withdrawals beginning in July. Huffington argues that this recommendation is quite simply a declaration to "stay the course" and that the plan disregards the tremendous continuing cost of the war and the enormous strain on the military. Huffington does a witty job of dissecting Petraeus' rhetoric and revisits the administration's vast catalog of war slogans.
Posted 10:54, 9 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Gabriel Murray
and edited by Brijit.