How to ruin a great idea

The sad thing about commontimes at least to me is that it could be a great site. It’s rival Newsvine is much better for social purposes. But, commontimes offered a much nicer interface and a great front page style. The problem is …there seems to be very few members. And the BIG problem is that there seems to be ONE member who won’t lay off and allow newbies to feel comfortable and have their stories featured or commented on.

Sure, the stories are good. But, since it’s all about cut and paste with this guy, nothing gets commented on and newcomers DO NOT feel welcome. It’s almost as if this guy feels it’s HIS site and everyone else should fuck off. The other thing is, everything he posts I get in my inbox daily and don’t need to read there on the site. So what’s the point? Use newsvine . That’s the point.

Mr. Billbar, whoever you are. You come across as an attention desperate non-entity…just pasting article after article like some sort of manic loser. You’ve made it so my friends won’t use the site. You’ve made it so I don’t want to use the site.

Stop being so selfish.

Memorial Day – What Is This Special Day?

Fernando Suarez del Solar wonders what has happened to Memorial Day: “In spite of all of the wars that have taken thousands of our soldiers and millions of innocents, especially children, the world is still at war, and people everywhere suffer under unjust political systems where there is no freedom.”

Read the full story via CommonTimes

Iran offered recognition of Israel

Iran offered recognition of Israel

In 2003, Iran offered to come in from the cold in a proposal to George W. Bush. Recognition of Israel within 1967 borders, pressure on Hizbullah and the Palestinians to moderate, signing the additional protocols of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it was all there for Bush\\’s taking

U.S. Warplanes Bomb Afghan Religious School – TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime

U.S. warplanes hunting Taliban fighters bombed a religious school and mud-brick homes in southern on Monday, killing dozens of suspected militants and 17 civilians in one of the deadliest strikes since the American-led invasion in 2001.

Read the full story via CommonTimes

Read the full story via CommonTimes

More for the Jason Leopold Haters

I'm sure some of you have seen Kurtz's diatribe about how awful Jason is because he did some Coke back in the 80's, or whenever. I guess he forgets that our President did as well.

Well, Jason has a book where he made all this public ages ago. I admire a man that stands up and confronts his past. That's called maturity. That's called growth.

So, with that,I suggest anyone who wants to read Jason's autobiography can get it here .

And here are the reviews of the book:

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Leopold, one of the reporters who broke the Enron story, is now breaking his own story: how he got addicted to cocaine, committed grand theft, cleaned himself up and found happiness as a "news junkie." While residential rehab programs and an incredibly committed wife were key to his turnaround, what saved his life was his discovery of the adrenaline high of news scooping. After a few small successes, Leopold got lucky when he began investigating insider trading by aides to California's Gov. Grey Davis and stumbled onto the extraordinary scandal of Enron's manipulation of utility deregulation in California. By the time Leopold was pressured into resigning from Dow Jones in 2002, he was one of the few reporters who'd actually interviewed Enron president Jeff Skilling. He then rushed to publish a flawed exposé of the secretary of the army's Enron connections, seriously damaging his journalistic credibility. Disillusioned by the institutional biases of mainstream media, Leopold finally decided to freelance with independent, Internet-based news services. While there's a lot of lying admitted to in this scrappy memoir, from Leopold's hiding of his criminal past to his playing of sources to get his scoops, it's (probably) not an untruthful memoir—indeed, it might become required reading for aspiring journalists. (May 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
In News Junkie, the cutthroat worlds of journalism, politics, and high finance are laid bare by Jason Leopold, whose addictive tendencies led him from a life of drug abuse and petty crime to become an award-winning investigative journalist who exposed some of the biggest corporate and political scandals in recent American history.

Leopold broke key stories about the California energy crisis and Enron Corporation's infamous phony trading floor as a reporter for the Dow Jones Newswires. While he exposed high-rolling hucksters and double-dealing politicians, Leopold hid the secrets of his own felonious past, terrified that he would be discovered.

When the news junkie closed in on his biggest story-one that implicated a Bush administration member-he found himself pilloried by angry colleagues and the president's press secretary, all attempting to destroy his career.

Jason Leopold introduces us to an unforgettable array of characters, from weepy editors and love-starved politicos to steroid-pumped mobsters who intimidate the author into selling drugs and stolen goods.

In the end, News Junkie shows how a man once fueled by raging fear and self-hatred transforms his life, regenerated by love, sobriety and a new, harmonious career with the independent media.

Jason Leopold is a former Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires. He has worked for the Los Angeles Times and has been a frequent guest on CNBC; his articles have appeared in The Nation, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times. Leopold is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, and currently writes for CounterPunch, Political Affairs, and Z Magazine.

Rove Indictment Story

By Marc Ash,

Sun May 21st, 2006 at 11:58:26 AM EDT :: Fitzgerald Investigation

I'd like to break this posting into two categories: What we know, and what we believe. They will be clearly marked.

We know that we have now three independent sources confirming that attorneys for Karl Rove were handed an indictment either late in the night of May 12 or early in the morning of May 13. We know that each source was in a position to know what they were talking about. We know that the office of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald will not confirm, will not deny, will not comment on its investigation or on our report. We know that both Rove's attorney Robert Luskin and Rove's spokesman Mark Corallo have categorically denied all key facts we have set forth. We know we have information that directly contradicts Luskin and Corallo's denials. We know that there were two network news crews outside of the building in Washington, DC that houses the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm that represents Karl Rove. We know that the 4th floor of that building (where the Patton Boggs offices are located) was locked down all day Friday and into Saturday night. We know that we have not received a request for a retraction from anyone. And we know that White House spokesman Tony Snow now refuses to discuss Karl Rove – at all.

Further, we know – and we want our readers to know – that we are dependent on confidential sources. We know that a report based solely on information obtained from confidential sources bears some inherent risks. We know that this is – by far – the biggest story we have ever covered, and that we are learning some things as we go along. Finally, we know that we have the support of those who have always supported us, and that must now earn the support of those who have joined us as of late.

We now move on to what we believe. (If you are looking for any guarantees, please turn back now.)

We believe that we hit a nerve with our report. When I get calls on my cell phone from Karl Rove's attorney and spokesman, I have to wonder what's up. "I" believe – but cannot confirm – that Mark Corallo, Karl Rove's spokesman gave Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post my phone number. I believe Howard Kurtz contacted me with the intention of writing a piece critical of our organization. I know that Anne Marie Squeo of the Wall Street Journal attacked us and independent journalism as a whole in her piece titled, "Rove's Camp Takes Center of Web Storm / Bloggers Underscore How Net's Reporting, Dynamics Provide Grist for the Rumor Mill." We believe that rolling out that much conservative journalistic muscle to rebut this story is telling. And we believe that Rove's camp is making a concerted effort to discredit our story and our organization.

Further – and again this is "What We Believe" – Rove may be turning state's evidence. We suspect that the scope of Fitzgerald's investigation may have broadened – clearly to Cheney – and according to one "off the record source" to individuals and events not directly related to the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. We believe that the indictment which does exist against Karl Rove is sealed. Finally, we believe that there is currently a great deal of activity in the Plame investigation.

We know that this story is of vital interest to the community, and that providing as much information as we can is very important to our readers. We want you to know that this is challenging territory and that we are proceeding with as much speed as the terrain will allow.

Marc Ash, Executive Director – t r u t h o u t
director@truthout.org

A Message to all the Jason Leopold Haters

Many on the left are pissed off at Mr. Leopold because they think he posted a false story on Truthout concerning the Rove indictment. What's amazing to me is that the left doesnt' see when it's being manipulated by Rove. No wonder they think we're weak All THEY have to do is deny and chuckle as we scramble to the shadows again. I mean, when are we gonna get it?

I've had an e-mail conversation with Mr. Leopold. He , at worst, jumped the gun on a story that WILL TURN OUT TO BE TRUE. That's right. I said it. Rove is probably already indicted. The announcement is coming.

here's a few things Jason told me:

I promise you that you are going to get the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This story is being discredited
yet it's going to be proven true shortly. I promise you that. And when it is
I am going to write about it. If you can, trust me and stick by me and I
promise you will not be disappointed.

And here's something he said that should wake everyone up to what's REALLY going on with this story:

What I find interesting and incredibly sad
and disturbing is that the attacks on me are exactly what happened to Joe
Wilson. It’s identical. The
people who claim to be his defenders are doing to me what the White House did
to him. It’s unbelievable. This is Karl Rove we’re talking about.
The most powerful political
operative in the country. Are people really surprised to read the vehement
denials?? Do people remember how Scott McClellan lied about Rove’s
involvement? Are people surprised that the MSM won’t touch this? There is
a mob mentality going on in the blogosphere right now and that is what is going
to kill the left. The fact that the left behaves exactly like the right in this
regard is the problem. While people are wasting energy on trying to destroy me
no one has yet called the WH to ask
about Karl Rove’s whereabouts Friday May 12.

Sacrifice liberty for security? Not without a fight

Sacrifice liberty for security? Not without a fight

“This is supposed to be America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. But I’m beginning to have my doubts, about the free part and the brave part, too. This America, this increasingly strange America, is looking more and more like the land of the cowed and the home of the silent.” Bookman questions the rationale of Americans willing to allow the government to erode our basic freedoms and rights through fear.

Diebold voting systems critically flawed

Diebold voting systems critically flawed

“It is like the nuclear bomb for e-voting systems. It’s the deal breaker. It really makes the security flaws that we found (in prior years) look trivial. “

Avi Rubin, computer science professor, Johns Hopkins University