Links and Minifeatures 01 16 Tuesday

Real Clear Politics: Sandy Berger: What Did He Take and Why Did He Take It?

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Maybe it's because I live in San Diego, and my father started taking me to the zoo before he taught me math or chess, but I pay attention to things like this: Scientists try to save world's rarest creatures.



Here is the EDGE home page. Being lucky enough to have the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and Sea World all within an hour means I've been lucky enough to have seen 27 of the 100 species on their list. I was disappointed to not to see the Guam Rail on their list. It was extinct in the wild; when I did a web search I found that page that indicates it has been re-introduced, much like the California Condor, so when we pass the San Diego Zoo's in the future, now I can tell my girls that this may be a success story like the California Condor someday, rather than to take a good look as it may be one of the last anyone gets.



We are not owners, but stewards. Whereas historically species have been going extinct since the beginning of life on earth (one example that had nothing to do with Western Civilization), the demands humans place upon earth's environment mean that we need to do what we reasonably can to preserve the other species that share the planet with us.



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The next time somebody puffs out their chest for having "spoke truth to power" for having insulted George W. Bush, consider that he has done exactly nothing to political opponents and critics of the administration in six years. Then compare and contrast to this news from Venezuela.

Chavez says he fully respects freedom of speech, and that turning over the channel's frequency to a "community" station will help democratize the airwaves, providing "communication power to those who almost never have a voice."



Venezuela's radio dial now includes hundreds of mostly state-financed and Chavez-friendly "community" stations, and three state-run TV channels have been launched since Chavez took office. They feature musicians singing songs about "El Comandante," segments calling opposition leaders CIA agents and documentaries about Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Cuban-produced cartoons feature peasants who prevent invading soldiers from seizing a palm-dotted island.

Funny how all these "community" stations just happen to hew to exactly the line Chavez most wants them to.

Two of those four channels have since toned down their criticism, while RCTV and Globovision have stayed their course despite sometimes-violent demonstrations. During pro-Chavez protests in 2004, an Associated Press reporter watched as a Chavez supporter fired shots at RCTV's studios while others rammed an ice cream truck into the wall, then set the truck afire.

Somebody should tell those other two channels about the definition of appeasement: Being nice to an alligator in the hopes it will eat you last.



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House votes to lift reverse mortgage cap for FHA



Not the dollar value, but the number it's permitted to manage, according to the article.



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Hong Kong limits pregnant Chinese women

Many come to evade China's one-child policy, take advantage of higher quality health care or earn Hong Kong residency rights for their babies.

See also Anchor Babies







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No softies in Canada's campy Pillow Fight League

The bigger picture involves a TV deal. Case says he has already turned down bids that didn't offer the mix of attention to the action and characters that he says makes the league more of a draw to the arts community than the mud-wrestling crowd.

Television always aims for the lowest common denominator, even the networks have to divide by zero. Assuming it really is an "art-house movie" crowd, if they were willing to watch what's on TV for free, that's where they would be.