February 11, 2009 4:06 PM
- Text
Al Qaeda In Iraq Goes Hollywood
The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.
Those monks in Myanmar aren't the only ones trying to harness media's power to drive their revolution. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been putting increasing emphasis on their media production capabilities, USA Today reports. And in response, the U.S. military in Iraq has stepped up its efforts to pull the plug.
The U.S. military says it has captured at least six al-Qaeda media centers in Iraq and arrested 20 suspected propaganda leaders since June. The seizures have "sharply curtailed" the amount of videos and other communications posted to the Internet from Iraq, according to Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, a staff officer at Multi-National Force-Iraq.
Why are the videos and websites so bad? Al-Qaeda often "uses the Internet to raise money and attract recruits," the U.S. military says. Also, Al-Qaeda's militants are ordered to film every attack they conduct on coalition or Iraqi forces, often adding music to the package "for effect."
"For some Arab viewers who don't regularly view Western media," USA Today explains, "the overwhelming impression from the videos could be that the militants are winning."
And what impression, exactly, are those viewers who do regularly view Western media getting?
In addition to raiding production studios, the Pentagon is also developing plans to attack computer networks and websites used by terrorists, the paper reports.
It's sort of weird they aren't finished with that project yet. Maybe they could ask the Myanmar government for some tips to speed things up.
Most Americans Think Their Culture Is Better Than Everybody Else's
Americans are more likely than most West Europeans to believe that their culture was superior, according to a Pew Global Attitudes poll reported on in the New York Times today.
Fifty-five percent of Americans think their culture is better than everybody else's. The only European country with a higher degree of self belief is Italy, where 7 in 10 respondents proclaimed cultural superiority. The Swedes, meanwhile, have serious self-esteem issues. Only 2 in 10 said their culture was superior. (From these figures, it might seem that the 45,000 adults surveyed confused "culture" with "climate.")
Interestingly, although most countries displayed a "clear negative correlation between wealth and strength of religious belief," the U.S. stood out from the pack with its high levels of both affluence and religiosity.
We're also among the most violent among our NATO allies. More than one-third of Turks and Americas said they "completely agree" that military forces was sometimes necessary to restore order. One-fourth of Canadians, French and Italians thought so; one-fifth of Britons agreed, as did only one-tenth of Germans and Spaniards.
So there you have it. America: rich, pious, violent and vain.
Birth Control Pills Without A Prescription?
Ladies, do you ever cry out in exasperation over all the hoops you have to jump through just to get a simple pack of birth control pills? The insanity may be about to stop.
The FDA is considering creating a new class of medicines that would let consumers purchase routine medicines like birth control pills, cholesterol drugs and migraine medicine without a prescription, the Los Angeles Times reports.
If approved, the new class, dubbed "behind-the-counter" drugs, could go into effect as early as next year.
Pharmacists and drug companies like the idea. They've been trying for years to get the FDA to try something like this. The move signals a "change of heart in public policy and an indication that the government is trying novel ways of increasing the public's access to medications and reducing drug costs."
Over-the-counter drugs typically sell for less than prescription medicines but often at higher volumes, making them potentially more profitable for manufacturers in certain cases.
Doctors, of course, think it's dangerous. They don't like the idea of patients "self-diagnosing," as one doctor put it. Some also worry that women who skip regular doctor visits to get prescriptions for birth control pills may also forgo gynecological examinations.
But pharmacists say they are trained to consult about routine medical information, and often know their customers far better than doctors know their patients.
"It's not like people would be getting these medications from a vending machine," said the president of the National Community Pharmacists Assn. "This would inclue an adequate level of care."
Rudy Giuliani's Radio Days
New Yorkers know this, but the rest of the country may not: Rudy Giuliani often addressed his constituents with sarcastic contempt when he was mayor. Not only that, but he did it with relish.
The New York Times goes back through the tapes of the former mayor's call-in radio show to dig up some highlights.
When Joe from Manhattan called in 1998 to complain about the city government giving special parking privileges to a white-shoe law firm, Mayor Giuliani emitted an audible groan into the microphone.
"Well, let me give you another view of that rather than the sort of Marxist class concept you're introducing," Giuliani said.
And when a National Rifle Association member opposed a ban on assault rifles in 1994, Giuliani got really annoyed.
"Now the reason why the N.R.A. has lost all credibility is statements like that," he said. "By definition these are attack weapons. They are used for offense. It really is absolutely astounding that the N.R.A. continues to have the influence in areas in which they make no sense at all," Giuliani said.
One of the former mayor's favorite things to do was recommend his callers seek psychological counseling. Especially if the callers got too close to attacking his circle.
When Bob from Manhattan asked about a report linking a mayoral friend to ethical wrongdoing, Giuliani butted in:
"Why don't you seek counseling somewhere Bob? I think you could use some help. I can see the direction we're going in - there are people so upset and so disturbed that they use radios for these sick little attacks on people. I hope you take this in the right spirit, Bob. You should go to a hospital. You should see a psychiatrist."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is available via e-mail. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Those monks in Myanmar aren't the only ones trying to harness media's power to drive their revolution. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been putting increasing emphasis on their media production capabilities, USA Today reports. And in response, the U.S. military in Iraq has stepped up its efforts to pull the plug.
The U.S. military says it has captured at least six al-Qaeda media centers in Iraq and arrested 20 suspected propaganda leaders since June. The seizures have "sharply curtailed" the amount of videos and other communications posted to the Internet from Iraq, according to Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, a staff officer at Multi-National Force-Iraq.
Why are the videos and websites so bad? Al-Qaeda often "uses the Internet to raise money and attract recruits," the U.S. military says. Also, Al-Qaeda's militants are ordered to film every attack they conduct on coalition or Iraqi forces, often adding music to the package "for effect."
"For some Arab viewers who don't regularly view Western media," USA Today explains, "the overwhelming impression from the videos could be that the militants are winning."
And what impression, exactly, are those viewers who do regularly view Western media getting?
In addition to raiding production studios, the Pentagon is also developing plans to attack computer networks and websites used by terrorists, the paper reports.
It's sort of weird they aren't finished with that project yet. Maybe they could ask the Myanmar government for some tips to speed things up.
Most Americans Think Their Culture Is Better Than Everybody Else's
Americans are more likely than most West Europeans to believe that their culture was superior, according to a Pew Global Attitudes poll reported on in the New York Times today.
Fifty-five percent of Americans think their culture is better than everybody else's. The only European country with a higher degree of self belief is Italy, where 7 in 10 respondents proclaimed cultural superiority. The Swedes, meanwhile, have serious self-esteem issues. Only 2 in 10 said their culture was superior. (From these figures, it might seem that the 45,000 adults surveyed confused "culture" with "climate.")
Interestingly, although most countries displayed a "clear negative correlation between wealth and strength of religious belief," the U.S. stood out from the pack with its high levels of both affluence and religiosity.
We're also among the most violent among our NATO allies. More than one-third of Turks and Americas said they "completely agree" that military forces was sometimes necessary to restore order. One-fourth of Canadians, French and Italians thought so; one-fifth of Britons agreed, as did only one-tenth of Germans and Spaniards.
So there you have it. America: rich, pious, violent and vain.
Birth Control Pills Without A Prescription?
Ladies, do you ever cry out in exasperation over all the hoops you have to jump through just to get a simple pack of birth control pills? The insanity may be about to stop.
The FDA is considering creating a new class of medicines that would let consumers purchase routine medicines like birth control pills, cholesterol drugs and migraine medicine without a prescription, the Los Angeles Times reports.
If approved, the new class, dubbed "behind-the-counter" drugs, could go into effect as early as next year.
Pharmacists and drug companies like the idea. They've been trying for years to get the FDA to try something like this. The move signals a "change of heart in public policy and an indication that the government is trying novel ways of increasing the public's access to medications and reducing drug costs."
Over-the-counter drugs typically sell for less than prescription medicines but often at higher volumes, making them potentially more profitable for manufacturers in certain cases.
Doctors, of course, think it's dangerous. They don't like the idea of patients "self-diagnosing," as one doctor put it. Some also worry that women who skip regular doctor visits to get prescriptions for birth control pills may also forgo gynecological examinations.
But pharmacists say they are trained to consult about routine medical information, and often know their customers far better than doctors know their patients.
"It's not like people would be getting these medications from a vending machine," said the president of the National Community Pharmacists Assn. "This would inclue an adequate level of care."
Rudy Giuliani's Radio Days
New Yorkers know this, but the rest of the country may not: Rudy Giuliani often addressed his constituents with sarcastic contempt when he was mayor. Not only that, but he did it with relish.
The New York Times goes back through the tapes of the former mayor's call-in radio show to dig up some highlights.
When Joe from Manhattan called in 1998 to complain about the city government giving special parking privileges to a white-shoe law firm, Mayor Giuliani emitted an audible groan into the microphone.
"Well, let me give you another view of that rather than the sort of Marxist class concept you're introducing," Giuliani said.
And when a National Rifle Association member opposed a ban on assault rifles in 1994, Giuliani got really annoyed.
"Now the reason why the N.R.A. has lost all credibility is statements like that," he said. "By definition these are attack weapons. They are used for offense. It really is absolutely astounding that the N.R.A. continues to have the influence in areas in which they make no sense at all," Giuliani said.
One of the former mayor's favorite things to do was recommend his callers seek psychological counseling. Especially if the callers got too close to attacking his circle.
When Bob from Manhattan asked about a report linking a mayoral friend to ethical wrongdoing, Giuliani butted in:
"Why don't you seek counseling somewhere Bob? I think you could use some help. I can see the direction we're going in - there are people so upset and so disturbed that they use radios for these sick little attacks on people. I hope you take this in the right spirit, Bob. You should go to a hospital. You should see a psychiatrist."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is available via e-mail. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
18 Comments +
Popular Now in CBS Evening News
- 5/31: John Edwards mistrial, NYC soda ban
- Romney gives Obama an "F" across the board
- Edwards verdict: Why the gov't case fell apart
- Presidents add humor to presidential portrait unveiling
- Michael Bloomberg defends soft drink restrictions
- In Syrian town of Houla, a "vigil of despair"
- U.K. royal family's home movies, 1957
- 5/30: Stock market plummets, handling Syrian crisis
- 5/29: World responds to Syria massacre, Romney to clinch GOP nomination
- Rats with injured spines walk again
- U.S. Catholic nuns go about work after rebuke
- Romney on Obama attacks: I've got broad shoulders
- "Super-agers": What it takes to live beyond 100
- Flaws in case against Edwards
- Vatican scandal could further grow
- Romney: I give Obama an "F" on foreign policy
