Tag Archives: media

Ida: Humankind’s Earliest Ancestor! (Not Really)

From the beginning, Ida’s unveiling has been a master class in ballyhoo. A week ago, the first breathless press releases began to arrive, portending the presentation of the now famous 47-million-year-old primate fossil from Germany: “MEDIA ALERT,” the notice shouted in all caps. “WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTISTS REVEAL A REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC FIND THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.” The press releases were followed by an international press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the publication of a book, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor , an ABC News exclusive and on May 25 a primetime television special on the History Channel

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Comment: UK Speaker’s resignation first step to clean stables

Michael Martin, forced to resign as Speaker of the British parliament, has become the highest profile victim of the expenses scandal which has dominated public life in Britain now for nearly two weeks. Martin has suffered because as Speaker he not only chaired debates in the Commons chamber but was in effect parliament’s chief executive. In that role he was responsible for the Fees Office.

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Colombo: Tamil Tiger Leader Killed in Ambush

Firecrackers exploded around Colombo on Monday as Sri Lankans celebrated what they hoped would be the end to a civil war that has plagued the nation since 1983. At 1:40PM in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s government radio made the official announcement that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , was killed early this morning by special forces in the island’s northern Karayamullavaikkal area.

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Obama girds for Supreme Court fight

President Obama has started arming for the possibility of a major Supreme Court nomination battle, pulling a longtime Democratic power player into the White House to help run the confirmation process, senior administration officials told CNN. Stephanie Cutter is leaving the Treasury Department, where she has served as one of Secretary Timothy Geithner’s most senior advisers during the financial crisis, to be the point person for mobilizing public support for Obama’s pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter, three senior administration officials said. Administration officials say Obama is likely to name Souter’s replacement in late May or early June, before the president leaves for Egypt to deliver a speech to the Muslim world.

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The iPhone’s Next Frontier: Porn

Apple may be golden because of the iPhone, but the soon-to-be-updated device is also increasingly the source of forbidden fruit. Steve Jobs’ company is keeping a civil, if embarrassed, silence on one of the potentially most lucrative and controversial uses of its handheld jewel: porn. The technological feats of the 3G iPhone are key to the coming pornucopia

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How Waterboarding Is Drowning Pelosi

Not many people get away with calling the Central Intelligence Agency a bald-faced liar, at least not when they’re speaking to a room packed with dozens of national media outlets. And yet that is exactly what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did on Thursday. “Madam Speaker, just to be clear,” stuttered a reporter at a Capitol Hill press conference, “you’re accusing the CIA of lying to you in September of 2002?” “Yes,” Pelosi declared definitively, “misleading the Congress of the United States

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The Drew Peterson Murder Case: Will Hearsay Evidence Seal His Fate?

“Testimony from the grave.” That’s what prosecutors are calling a key part of their strategy against Drew Peterson, the former Illinois police officer arrested last week on charges that he murdered the third of his four wives. It may sound like just another melodramatic turn in the tabloid tale of Peterson, who has been under a cloud of suspicion since his petite fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in the fall of 2007 after reportedly telling relatives that she wanted to leave what she described as an abusive relationship. But the prosecution’s strategy against Peterson, 55, could in fact be based on a controversial new Illinois law that allows for the admission of hearsay testimony.

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