the miracle of cut-n-paste

only provides accuracy when you cut-n-paste the primary source...

More on science reporting: tracking the spread of a story - The Panda's Thumb:

This spreading though is especially interesting as between the original press release(s), the paper itself and the blog post (and later interviews) I know which quotes and which information came from where and thus which errors or changes have come in at which stage and which media have picked them up from which other. It is noticeable therefore that one can track errors from report to report as they originate in one and then are copied to others (I tracked a spelling mistake of Tyrannosaurus as Tyrannosaurs across three generations of articles, and each time it appeared in basically the same sentence in the second paragraph of the report, each, theoretically written by a different journalist).

Maybe that chump from the NYTimes wasn't alone in plagiarism...

on the "end of life counselling" removal

Senate Republican announces that end-of-life provision will be removed from bill. : The Questionable Authority:

I'm hardly an expert in politics, but I can't see any political upside to stripping the provision. The message that it sends is that mob rule works. If you don't like something that Congress might do, lie to people, frighten them, and encourage them to start screaming. It will get you what you want. It's dangerous to let your three-year-old think that sort of thing will work; it's nothing short of insane to allow temper tantrums to set public policy.

(nevermind the fact that a Republican on the committee was allowed to announce it. How the hell does the party with a 60 vote filibuster-proof (hell, almost veto-proof) majority still strip themselves of their balls so much as to act like they are still the minority...)

more on Reid's incompetence

Whither Dawn Johnsen? : Dispatches from the Culture Wars:

Here's something I bet you haven't read about in the media for months: Obama's pick to head the crucial Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen, still hasn't gotten a confirmation vote in the Senate. The Judiciary Committee voted in favor of her confirmation way back in March, voting 11-7 to move her nomination to the full Senate. The Senate just held votes on a whole raft of Obama nominees last week, including Sotomayor, and Johnsen still hasn't gotten a vote.

The problem is not a lack of votes to confirm her. There are easily more than 50 votes in the Senate in her favor. Ben Johnson (D-Neb) says he plans to vote against her, but Richard Luger has endorsed her nomination. Arlen Specter hinted at opposing her before he switched parties. They have 57 votes at a bare minimum. The problem is having 60 votes to invoke cloture.

There apparently is no formal hold on her nomination, but Harry Reid has not held a vote to close the debate and take a vote on her confirmation. A group of legal scholars that ran the gamut from liberal to conservative to libertarian all signed a letter back in April urging her confirmation. Talking Points Memo back in May blamed it all on Reid and I'm inclined to agree.

Reid is a staggeringly incompetent leader in the Senate. If Hillary Clinton was still in the Senate, I would not be surprised if she had managed to stage a coup by now and replaced him.