6-Year-Olds Under Arrest: BOB HERBERT

THE COMPLETE ARTICLE
THE NEW YORK TIMES

OP-ED COLUMNIST
By BOB HERBERT

Published: April 9, 2007

An outlandish trend of criminalizing very young children has spread to many school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country.

Avon Park, Fla.

When 6-year-old Desre’e Watson threw a tantrum in her kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago she could not have known that the full force of the law would be brought down on her and that she would be carted off by the police as a felon.

But that’s what happened in this small, backward city in central Florida. According to the authorities, there were no other options.

“The student became violent,” said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police. “She was yelling, screaming — just being uncontrollable. Defiant.”

“But she was 6,” I said.

The chief’s reply came faster than a speeding bullet: “Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we’ve arrested?”

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Rough Start in '07: 5 Newspaper Companies Report Slides

By E&P Staff

Published: March 21, 2007 9:45 AM ET

CHICAGO Several newspaper companies today reported big hits to their revenues in early 2007.

Tribune Co. said today its publishing revenues were off 5.1% for February with circulation revenue off 7% (see separate story).

Advertising revenue at The New York Times Co. plummeted 6% in February due to weakness at its flagship and regional papers, the company announced yesterday. Total revenue for the company was down 3.6%.

Hammered by double-digit decreases in automotive, real estate and help-wanted classified ad revenues, Sacramento, Calif.-based The McClatchy Co. reported Wednesday that, on a same-property basis ad revenues in February fell 5.2%, and total revenues dropped 5.1%.

Total classified on a pro-forma basis -- counting results from the 20 dailies acquired in the Knight Ridder Inc. acquisition and excluding the recently sold Minneapolis Star Tribune -- fell 12.4% to $59.4 million.

Newspaper automotive classified plunged 15.4%; real estate dropped 16.3%; and help-wanted fell 11.6%.

McClatchy said Internet advertising, while up 1% for the month and 7.6% year-to-date, was affected by the new affiliate agreement with CareerBuilder for online employment advertising.

"This agreement is helping to grow online employment revenues at the legacy McClatchy newspapers, (which was) up 40.7% in February and 31.0% year-to-date in this category, and is an attractive agreement for these papers," McClatchy CFO Pat Talamantes said in a statement. "However, under the new affiliate agreement selected products are no longer available to be sold by the 20 acquired Knight Ridder newspapers, which is depressing their Internet revenues. We will begin cycling through this change in August 2007. We believe our underlying online advertising is quite healthy, as represented by our February growth of 19.8% in online advertising excluding the employment category."

Ad revenues by market were down pretty much across the board.

Meanwhile, newspaper publisher Media General Inc. said Wednesday it expects to report a first-quarter loss on a weaker-than-expected start to the year for its publishing and broadcast businesses and loss on its investment in a recycled newsprint manufacturer.

The publisher of the Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal forecasts a quarterly loss between 26 cents to 30 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for a profit of 20 cents per share.

The company said revenue from its publishing division fell 4.2 percent in February, reflecting a decline in national and classified advertising. Broadcast revenue dropped 2.7 percent, excluding revenue from stations acquired last June.

Declining newsprint prices had both a positive and negative effect on results.

"While lower newsprint prices have enabled the publishing division to hold expenses almost even with last year, we expect a loss of more than $2 million from our one-third interest in SP Newsprint in the first quarter, with continued downward pressure expected as the year unfolds," President and Chief Executive Marshall N. Morton said in a statement.

Publisher and broadcaster Journal Communications Inc. said Wednesday that total February revenues fell 3.5 percent on weakness in publishing and broadcasting and the absence of Olympic revenue.

Sales at the daily newspaper and community newspaper and shopper segment declined last month to $22.9 million from $24 million in the year-ago period.

Monthly advertising revenue slid 4.6 percent to $32.6 million from $34.2 million.

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E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)

The Oval Intervention: MAUREEN DOWD

THE COMPLETE ARTICLE
The New York Times

The Oval Intervention
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: December 9, 2006

The Council of Elders tries to deprogram the defiant decider.

t is not a happy mood in the Oval Office.

Poppy is sobbing, his face in his hands, slumped in one of the yellow-and-blue striped chairs. Laura is screaming the words “Oscar de la Renta” and “rendition” into her cellphone, still seeing red after showing up at a White House gala in the same $8,400 red gown as three other women who did not happen to be first lady.

Bob Gates is grim-faced, but not as grim-faced as Barbara, whose look could freeze not only the Potomac but the Tigris and the Euphrates. Scowcroft is over on the couch, trying to nap while Kissinger drones softly in his ear.

And, of course, there is the Deprogrammer for the Decider, James Baker, perfectly suited in bright green tie and suited perfectly for his spot behind the president’s desk.

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UPDATED - BREAKING NEWS: BOLTON RESIGNS

BREAKING NEWS: BOLTON RESIGNS The previous story

Addition

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John Bolton, Israel's Man at the UN

Well, goodbye to a major Palestinian adversary, and come to think of it, an enemy of Real America, if not the whole world..

Yet, we may still have a problem on our hands.

Joe Lieberman might be the next Ambassador to the U.N. Imagine that. The fellow who traipsed the world during the 4 years immediately preceding the Iraq war with John McCain selling Shock and Awe.

A warhawk, neocon, Zionist through and through.

Palestinians and world beware.

BREAKING NEWS: BOLTON RESIGNS

Bush Man At UN Resigns
Updated: 14:46, Monday December 04, 2006

John Bolton, President Bush's controversial appointment as US ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned.

His position had been under threat since the Democrats took control of Congress in the US midterm elections.

Mr Bush had braved political opposition to give him him the job temporarily in August last year.

His confirmation has been languishing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ever since.

The no-nonsense Bush ally was opposed by Democrats and some Republicans.

The White House has now announced that Mr Bolton would leave office in a matter of days.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino said Mr Bush had reluctantly accepted Mr Bolton's decision to leave the UN post when the current session of the US Congress ends, probably at the end of the week.

Sky correspondent Andrew Wilson said that independent Senator Dan [?] Lieberman was a possible replacement. The former Democrat could be an acceptable compromise candidate.

More follows ...

Video: Bolton Steps Down

UPDATED - BREAKING NEWS: BOLTON RESIGNS: Background and commentary added