Harvey Silverglate, who is also a civil rights attorney, appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Dec. 11 to discuss National Security Agency leaks. At first the conversation was surprisingly civil, with Silverglate even ribbing O'Reilly by saying, "Fair and balanced, that's my motto." Silverglate mentioned his recent Phoenix article suggesting that New York Times staff could be indicted for publishing the domestic wiretapping story: he told O'Reilly, "I received more phone calls and e-mail, hostile e-mail, about that from my friends in the news media saying, 'Don't give the Department of Justice any ideas!'" However, as discussion turned to whether exposing the wiretapping could have undermined the war on terror, the segment ended with a brief shouting match. A summary of Silverglate's appearance can be found on O'Reilly's Web site.
Hybrid autos only hold a tiny fraction of Canada's vehicle market but they are gaining momentum. Sales of the gasoline-electric powered autos jumped more than six-fold from 2003 to about 2,300 units last year and industry watchers predict business could double or triple again this year. The observers said yesterday the only factors that could stymie major growth in hybrid vehicles is a decline in the overall auto market, falling gas prices or not enough supply to meet demand.
Now that the election dust has settled, an official tally of gains by medium during the 2004 political contest shows the newspaper industry's effort to hustle for dollars has paid off.
During the newspaper recession and the last few years of shaky recovery, wireless telephone service providers were aggressive and steady advertisers, all the more important because they pumped up revenues in the anemic national-ad category.But with Wednesday's announcement of the $35 billion merger of wireless giants Sprint and Nextel Communications -- which comes two months after Cingular's $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless -- newspapers now must ask: With all this consolidation, will cell phone service providers hang up on newspapers?
Goldman Sachs, an investment firm not holding a conference next week, put together a handy primer on what to expect for 2005. And judging from analyst Peter Appert's views, it's not much.
Nader-supporting alt-weekly readers living in 10 swing states will see full-page ads next week urging them to vote Kerry in 2004. The ads promote a statement by more than 70 former Nader supporters -- including Noam Chomsky, Ben Cohen and Susan Sarandon -- who endorse voting for Kerry in states where he's running neck and neck with Bush. Colorado Springs Independent publisher John Weiss, who organized the campaign, says, "Our goal is to reach voters who have been almost entirely neglected in this campaign: swing voters on the left."
