Bad Deeds for 10-3-2007

AT&T Threatens to Disconnect Subscribers Who Criticize the Company – AT&T has rolled out new Terms of Service for its DSL service that attempts to give AT&T the right to disconnect its own customers who criticize the company on blogs or in other online settings.

Corporate-funded research designed to influence public policy – Reports by well-known think tanks and individuals funded by telecoms are helping quash competition, increase phone rates and set up a corporate-oriented Internet system. It is clear that we are in the age of “stink tanks,” in which corporate-funded think tanks and well-paid, credentialed academics are hired to make corporate arguments and give the appearance of being independent experts.

Katie Couric Felt NBC Pressure on Iraq Coverage – Katie Couric now admits Rice After the interview, Couric said she received an email from an NBC exec “forwarded without explanation” from a viewer who wrote that she had been “unnecessarily confrontational.” “I think there was a lot of undercurrent of pressure not to rock the boat for a variety of reasons, where it was corporate reasons or other considerations,” she said.

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Record Low – Arctic sea ice is melting faster than most global warming models predict. On September 16, Arctic sea ice reached a record low of 1.59 million square miles, shattering the previous 2005 record of 2.05 million square miles. Compared to 2005, this year’s record minimum represents a loss of 460,000 square miles of sea ice — an area roughly the size of California and Texas combined.

Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations – When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations. But soon after Alberto Gonzales’ arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the CIA. The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

Fox News pushes claim that Media Matters is a ‘criminal enterprise’ – On the Sept. 28 broadcast of his radio show, host Mark Levin concluded that the media watchdog group Media Matters is a “criminal enterprise.” Fox News — on air — went beyond reporting Levin’s remarks by inviting guests to debate the legality of the media watchdog group.

Bush Vetoes Child Health Plan – Apparently, there are no depths to which Pres. Bush cannot sink. This morning, he chose the health of health care executives over that of poor children. There is no reason to veto the SCHIP legislation other than blind ideology.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs Says, “I hate all Iranians.” – British MPs visiting the Pentagon to discuss America’s stance on Iran and Iraq were shocked to be told by one of President Bush’s senior women officials: “I hate all Iranians.” And she also accused Britain of “dismantling” the Anglo-US-led coalition in Iraq by pulling troops out of Basra too soon.

Regards,

Jim