JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS AT THE STAR TRIBUNE:

Among other things, the editor advised me that Coleman’s attack on us involved no reporting, and that the column’s factual misrepresentations were to be read in that light. Moreover, certain of the misrepresentations were to be construed as sarcasm rather than taken at face value.

Finally, according to the editor, Coleman’s false assertion that he didn’t know and we didn’t say whether we might be on the take from some campaign, political party or anonymous benefactor, appeared to violate no Star Tribune standard.

Jeez. And these guys dis blogs?

UPDATE: Jim Geraghty writes:

Brent Bozell or other media critics could not have written a scenario that makes the mainstream media look worse.

Imagine that you are writing a novel. You write a scene in which a newspaper columnist wrote that his Internet-based critics had no “professional standards” and then got one of his central arguments wrong because he didn’t bother to check what he assumed about his critics. After the errors are revealed, neither he nor his editor can say what “professional standards” his column is held to.

Most book editors and readers would shake their heads at that scene — it’s not believable, stacking the deck too much. Newspaper columnists aren’t that sloppy or reckless with the facts. Editors don’t just let them write whatever they feel like – they edit.

Like the story of the CBS memo, this is turning stranger than fiction.

And, like the CBS story, it’s not over yet.

HURRICANE ROOTERS vs. tsunami buddies. Smackdown!

LASER ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL JETS? Quite possibly.

MADE IT HERE IN ONE PIECE, but I think I’ll give blogging a rest, chat with my mom (who came, too) and maybe read a bit of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell before bed. Enjoy the many other fine bloggers (and check out these excerpts from Donald Sensing’s forthcoming book), and I’ll be back tomorrow.

DER SPIEGEL: “Blogs are at the forefront of the tsunami recovery effort. While traditional media drags awaiting publication, and government hotlines jam or go unanswered, bloggers have hopped into the fray, providing needed information to relatives desperate to find loved ones and those hoping to join the rescue efforts.”

THE ECONOMIST SURVEYS NANOTECHNOLOGY:

For America, nanotechnology is the largest federally funded science initiative since the country decided to put a man on the moon. In 2004, the American government spent $1.6 billion on it, well over twice as much as it did on the Human Genome Project at its peak. In 2005, it is planning to shell out a further $982m. Japan is the next biggest spender, and other parts of Asia as well as Europe have also joined the funding race (see chart 2). Perhaps surprisingly, the contenders include many developing countries, such as India, China, South Africa and Brazil.

That’s not so surprising, really, as nanotechnology research is relatively inexpensive, and offers an opportunity to leapfrog countries with strong positions in established technology. (Via Howard Lovy, whose blog is a must-read for nanotechnology enthusiasts).

EUGENE VOLOKH offers some additional criticisms of Nick Coleman’s rather lame assault on Power Line. And Evan Coyne Maloney notes a rather dramatic admission by Mr. Coleman. As Volokh asks: “Where are those professional standards when you need them?”

MORE PROBLEMS FOR NEWSPAPERS: A reader sends this link to a story from Barron’s:

IN RECENT YEARS, online job site Monster.com has been gobbling up listings from newspapers, once the go-to place for employment ads.

And the beast is still hungry.

After eating newspapers’ lunch–the vital classified job listings posted by larger businesses – Monster now wants to grab listings taken out by small and mid-sized businesses seeking to fill blue-collar positions.

“People want to spend dollars where they can get the best employee pool, and a larger and larger percentage of that is on the Internet,” says Mark Mahaney, an analyst with American Technology Research.

What’s sad is that newspapers have seen this coming for 20 years — they went out of their way to get the Bell system breakup done in a way that kept phone companies out of electronic classified ads — but are still getting clobbered.

TRULY MOBILE BLOGGING: I’m blogging from the car, thanks to the Verizon wireless card. No, I’m not the one driving. Why am I doing this? Mostly because I can, I guess. But it’s pretty cool.

BLOGGING MAY BE somewhat light, as I’m off to Birmingham. My grandmother (aged 90) had a fall. She’s not doing too badly, but I’m going to bring her up here so that she can be closer to the family while she recovers and goes through rehab. I won’t be completely offline, as I have the Verizon card now, but I’m likely to be posting somewhat less, and harder to reach via email, than usual.

AMAZON TSUNAMI DONATIONS have now broken $2 million.

MUSIC UPDATE: Yesterday’s music mentions led to requests for more. Well, I got two cool CD’s from my rock-musician younger brother for Christmas, and they’re both pretty cool. One is The Killers’ Hot Fuss, and the other is Jeff Buckley’s Grace. I don’t know how they’ll hold up under repeated listening yet, but they’re both worth looking at.

JOSH TREVINO RESPONDS TO CLAIMS OF “STINGINESS” — but face it, there’s no pleasing people whose chief desire in life is to bitch.

DIGITALGLOBE HAS SATELLITE IMAGERY OF THE TSUNAMI and it’s pretty dramatic stuff.

THEY’RE ACTUALLY FIRING PEOPLE FOR POOR PERFORMANCE AT THE CIA:

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency’s analytical branch is being forced to step down, former intelligence officials say, opening a major new chapter in a shakeup under Porter J. Goss, the agency’s chief.

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency’s analytical branch is being forced to step down, former intelligence officials say, opening a major new chapter in a shakeup under Porter J. Goss, the agency’s chief.

This should have been done three years ago, as I said at the time, and as I suspect the Bush Administration now agrees.

SOME GOOD NEWS: We could use it, today.

IN THE MAIL: An advance copy of Eric Posner and Jack Goldsmith’s The Limits of International Law, which argues that the utopian (and perhaps hubristic) view of international law held by many in the chattering classes is not borne out by the way nations actually behave, or can be expected to behave. It looks quite interesting.

DON’T THESE GUYS HAVE EDITORS? The Star Tribune’s Nick Coleman has an end-of-year meltdown in which he savages the Power Line guys. Compare his hysterical column with the measured responses here and here and it becomes plain that Hugh Hewitt’s point is right: Lots of bloggers are just better writers than lots of people with cushy column sinecures at monopoly papers.

Ed Morrissey has further thoughts.

UPDATE: Reader Bryant Stone emails:

The ironic point about your link to Nick’s article is that I am unable to read the article in its entirety unless I subscribe to the Star Tribune online. The fact that powerline, instapundit and others are free and without subscription only serves to reinforce my belief (and to use a banking term) of how “out-of-market” msm has become in its methodology of reporting.

Indeed. Meanwhile, Betsy Newmark comments on Coleman: “He is remarkably vicious and personal in his attack. What he isn’t is substantive. He has no real complaint about what they’ve written and doesn’t even address any of their many fact-based posts. Instead, he just fills his column with ad hominem attacks and praise for himself.”

If I were a higher-up at the Star Tribune, I wouldn’t want Nick Coleman as my public face. Dave Friedman has further thoughts.

MORE: Jim Geraghty writes that this is the blogging equivalent of Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfields’s ear, and comments, “I’m sorry, did a mainstream media columnist just allege that his blogger critics are… deficient in their reproductive organs? This guy makes Dan Rather and Bill O’Reilly look like the epitome of class and cool.” Meanwhile reader Brian Faughnan emails:

The other interesting thing to me about Coleman’s attack on Powerline is what it means as a milestone for how far the Internet has come. One of the nation’s leading papers now has an opinion writer who has picked a fight with a leading blog. It’s practically incidental that the columnist appears to be losing. One of the rules of politics is that you try not to give your adversary any publicity, unless you have to. You don’t mention the fellow’s name. Even just a year ago, no one in the MSM would have entered into a debate with a blogger. Today, Coleman seems to feel threatened enough by Powerline that he has to attack them. How much does that say about the extraordinary growth of the Internet – and bloggers – as sources of news? To me, it seems that we’ve reached another major marker of the decline of the MSM.

And certainly of its standards . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader John Raynes emails:

I’m really confused . . . . First MSM told me that you guys all wore pajamas. Now they tell me that you work out of “paneled bank offices”. So do you guys blog from bank offices in your pajamas? The public has a right to know.

Yes, but they’re Brooks Brothers pajamas.

STILL MORE: Thomas Lifson says it’s a case of career suicide by blogger:

We have an extended holiday weekend coming up, one in which many poeple were already poised to pontificate on “the rise of the blogs” or “the year of the blog.” Coleman has just handed the year-end media pundits a late Christmas gift.

Ouch. Hugh Hewitt adds: “Coleman’s just the first to lose control –and dignity– but watch for others as the pressure of instant accountability wears on folks unused to scrutiny and ridicule. . . . What a year. 2005 will be even better.”

TWISTING-THE-KNIFE UPDATE: A reader points out that an ad at the bottom of Coleman’s column reads:

Start Your Own Blog Now!

Publish, be read, and get paid. Start writing instantly!

Conclusion: “He’s toast.”

Finally, several readers note that the “subscription” needed to view Coleman’s column in full is just a free registration. But it still sucks, like all such registrations, and the point that blogs don’t require such things is certainly still true. *cough*bugmenot.com*cough*

STEVE STURM says that the Washington Post is trying too hard to find an anti-Bush angle on the Tsunami story, with this piece by John F. Harris and Robin Wright.

UPDATE: Jim Geraghty has more on this:

What a lame story. The only on-the-record anti-Bush quotes come from Gelb, Abramowitz, who uses very careful words; and Wes Clark, who is not even quoted directly in his criticism of Bush. Instead, we are told Clark “urged Bush to take a higher profile.”

There is also a “senior career official” quoted anonymously. Anybody want to guess this senior career official was hoping to be working under a President Kerry come January? . . .

Notice all the dogs who didn’t bark – no Harry Reid, no Pelosi, Biden, Kerry, Albright, Kennedy. No one who actually has to face the voters is taking this moment to criticize the president. And the argument is pretty lame – “Never mind all these concrete actions to help the victims, the president hasn’t cried in front of the cameras to show he cares.”

And yet the Big Media guys call bloggers “ankle-biters?”

More here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Terrye Hugentober emails:

I saw your post about the WaPo’s article going after Bush’ lack of sensitvity and I agree with you. I rarely wrtie a letter to the editor, but I did on this.

Tens of thousands of people are dead, millions more have lost everything and all these idiots can do is bitch about whether or not Bush is “sensitive”. Silly unserious people.

Indeed.

A LOT OF READERS complain that the Amazon tsunami donation page sends money to the Red Cross. But a lot of their complaints are aimed at the ICRC — the International Committee of the Red Cross — and not the American Red Cross, a different organization, and the one that’s actually getting the money. I donated to them, but if you’re uncomfortable, there are lots of places you can give money to. What interested me most about the Amazon phenomenon was how quickly and dramatically it worked, raising lots of money without a lot of overhead.

Hugh Hewitt recommends WorldVision. I haven’t ever donated money to them, and don’t know a lot about them, but if Hugh is recommending them I’m sure they’re okay. The Salvation Army — which is generally regarded as especially efficient at getting relief money to actual recipients with low overhead — is taking donations, too. And, as I’ve mentioned several times before, there’s an absolutely huge list of places to donate at the South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog, though I can’t vouch for most of these. There’s also a big list at The Command Post.

As always, you should be careful about who you give money to. Most of these organizations are probably honest, but it’s best to take a little effort to make sure that your money will really go where it’s promised to.

UPDATE: Tim Blair emails:

I’m personally familiar with World Vision’s work (via them we sponsor a Zimbabwean boy with the beautiful name of Obvious) and recommend World Vision without hesitation. Low overheads, lean, efficient, get things done. They’re the opposite of the UN.

There’s no higher praise!

HERE’S A REPORT that the tsunami death toll in Indonesia’s Aceh province alone could reach 80,000. Mother Nature’s fist of fury has struck hard.

MORE FROM THE CULT OF THE IPOD: A reader emails:

In case you’ve missed it, Amazon has a great deal – buy 4 $15 itunes cards – get 5th card free – so in essence you get 75 tracks for $60 bucks. I think it ends 12/31 so hurry.

Being newly inducted into the cult a new iPod owner, I didn’t even realize that Amazon sold iTunes cards; I’m not sure I even realized that there were such cards to begin with. But here it is. And the deal’s good until 1/2. (Yeah, I bought ’em myself. I figure I’m bound to buy that many songs sooner or later, so why not get the discount?)

On the other hand, a heretic doomed to feel Steve Jobs’ wrath another reader says I should have bought the iRiver H320 instead. There are lots of good players (I’ve owned an iRiver flash media player for a while, and it’s pretty good), but I bought the iPod so those suggestions come a bit late. And I’m quite happy with it. One thing I’ve learned about buying consumer electronics is that once you buy the thing, it’s time to quit worrying about what other options were there.

HERE’S A ROUNDUP OF RESPONSES to Susan Sontag’s death.

STINGINESS UPDATE: The Amazon tsunami relief total is now well over $1 million — and several readers who were compulsively hitting “refresh” report that it crossed the million-dollar-mark at 6:38 Eastern. It is kind of hypnotic to see the numbers going up every time you reload the page.

Meanwhile, Tim Blair notes that France has sent $177,000:

That French figure seems impossibly low, but it checks out here and here (100,000 euros = $A177,000 = $US135,400). France is also sending rescue workers to Thailand and humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka, but please … $177,000? Andrew Sullivan probably makes more during his Pledge Week.

And while amateurs outperform the French government, the United States government is sending $35 million plus two Naval groups. Not that that has stopped people from bitching about the United States’ response. It’s almost as if they’re determined to find fault no matter what.

However, at this rate the Amazon donations will soon pass the German government’s contribution of 2 million Euros (2.7 million dollars), too.

UPDATE: A USAF reader notes that the U.S. is sending much more than two naval groups, and note, “And, as is usually the case in our relief efforts, the first ones in are U.S. Air Force C-130s.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: I wonder if ScrappleFace readers will surpass France?

FRANCE-DEFENDING UPDATE: The French Foreign Ministry puts France’s contribution at a much-more-respectable 15 million Euros, or roughly $20 Million dollars. Who to believe: Reuters or the French Foreign Ministry? That’s a tough one, but I think I’ll go with the larger figure because, as Tim Blair notes, the smaller one is just too absurdly small.

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE INTERNET AND DISASTERS: Over at GlennReynolds.com.

UPDATE: Read this related post from Oscar Chamberlain.