Lightning strikes the world's tallest building

The Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai last week, as the world's new tallest building. Below is a spectacular shot of the building absorbing a lightning strike. More photos, including some from the top of the half-mile tall tower, are here.

Stenography 101: How the press let Palin and Cheney rig the system

(Media Matters)

Not content with its lapdog coverage of President Bush over the past decade, the Beltway press has adopted a new, super-soft way to deal with Bush's former vice president, Dick Cheney, as well as GOP media star Sarah Palin. Journalists have set aside what had been decades' worth of guidelines and embraced special new rules for how Cheney and Palin get treated.

In a word, it's stenography.

That's how too many scribes have covered Cheney and Palin in recent months, allowing them to dispense tightly controlled pieces of information, which journalists then trumpet as breaking news. And yes, the trend is unprecedented in modern day American politics.

It's actually a two-fer. First, it's unprecedented because the Beltway press has never showered attention on political losers, such as Cheney and Palin. Meaning, the press has never cared what a former VP had to say about current events right after leaving the White House (think: Dan Quayle), or what a failed VP candidate had to say just months after losing in a landslide (think: Geraldine Ferraro). Traditionally, pundits and reporters disdain political losers (think: Mike Dukakis). But for Cheney and Palin, the rules have been generously reworked.

The second oddity is that journalists now allow Cheney and Palin to completely dictate the media ground rules and afford them the chance to have one-way relationships with the press.

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The purpose of terrorism is to provoke an overreaction

"The purpose of terrorism is to provoke an overreaction. Its real aim is not to kill the hundreds of people directly targeted but to sow fear in the rest of the population. Terrorism is an unusual military tactic in that it depends on the response of the onlookers. If we are not terrorized, then the attack didn't work. Alas, this one worked very well."

— Fareed Zakaria

Jon Stewart plays Terrorball

Conan's raw deal

So NBC has finally admitted that moving Jay Leno to prime time 5 days a week is a disaster. Which, for the record, Howard Stern called back in the fall. NBC will move “The Jay Leno Show” to 11:35 p.m. pushing Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” back half an hour to 12:05 a.m. and shoving Jimmy Fallon's "Late Show" to 1:05.

This is a raw deal. Conan, however, has shown himself to be a man of class, releasing the following statement:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over “The Tonight Show” in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my “Tonight Show” in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the “Tonight Show” to 12:05 to accommodate the “Jay Leno Show” at 11:35. For 60 years, the “Tonight Show” has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.” Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the “Late Night” show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard, and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the “Tonight Show,” I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

David Letterman has some bitter feelings:

Why do we not account for right-wing domestic terrorism?

With all the talk about "keeping us safe", we seem to be missing the bigger threat to "us".

When we speak of "us", I assume we mean domestic terrorism. So let's look at this graph from Bob Cesca. The real threat to us appears to be right-wing domestic terror.

Now clearly, in terms of the numbers of deaths, Islamic terror has claimed more victims, on the basis of 9/11 alone - as these graphs illustrate. But seeing as how UndieBomber has us ready to let our government see us naked to "keep us safe", we need to be aware of the greater risk of incident that comes from our own home-grown domestic terrorists in the anti-abortion movement.

Philadelphia Eagles 2009 post-mortem

1) Who'd have thought the Eagles would have a bad D? The Eagles O-line is undersized, the linebacking corps doesn't have enough players and the secondary was patchwork all season. The return of Stewart Bradley should help resolve some linebacking issues, but the fact remains that losing one linebacker shouldn't cripple the squad.

2) Is the answer one or the other, or both?: A) Donovan McNabb is not a big game quarterback. B) Andy Reid is not a big game coach. I don't know for sure, but simple logic dictates that it leans towards A. Donovan has rarely shown up in big games, which doesn't give much insight into Andy's coaching. It's hard to coach well in a big game when your most important player isn't producing.

3) Was this 5's last game in green? This question has been asked for at least the last 3 seasons. I don't know. I do know that the answer is getting closer to 'yes'. Is Donovan in the twilight of his career? Probably? His legs aren't what they once were which compromises his mobility, but he still makes decisions as if he can escape like the SuperFive of a decade ago. He still has great touch on the deep ball and he still hits his receivers in the shoe laces from 7 feet away. But the question is more than 'Is Donovan done?', it's....

4) Is Kevin Kolb the quarterback of the future? Or is he Bobby Hoying, showing flashes of brilliance only to die in a fetal ball once the job was his? I think we'll know Andy's true feelings about Kolb come April. Does he draft a QB in the first or second round to compete wioth Kolb? We'll know his true feelings about Donovan much earlier, specifically if he deals him to Oakland or St. Louis before the draft. For what it's worth, I think we take one more year with Donovan and the young guys and give the new chemistry time to gel. Either way, I think next year is it and Kevin Kolb is under center in 2011.

5) The Youth Movement at the offensive skill positions, it's here to stay. LeSean McCoy is the new starting running back and the once-spectacular Brian Westbrook is gone. The starting wide receivers are deSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at the ends and Jason Avant in the slot. A more dangerous corps, the NFL does not have. Brent Celek is the rock at tight end. This is a young group with massive upside.

6) O-line: The tackles are set with Jason Peters - Mr. Streaky - and Winston Justice both under long-term contract. Assuming Jamaal Jackson's knee is OK, he's your center. Todd Herremans and Max Jean-Gilles are both more-than-servicable at guard, though an upgrade via free agency wouldn't surprise me.

7) Defensive line: at end, no one other than trent cole scares anyone. Abiamiri and Parker are spotty. Clemons and Howard were nowhere to be seen. Patterson and Bunkley ar eundersized and get mauled in the run game. Dallas, the new class of the NFC East, is loaded with beef and the Eagles MUST deal with it in the offseason.

8) At linebacker, it's Stewart Bradley. Period. And he didn't even play this year. What happened to Chris Gocong? He fell off the earth. Was he sleeping with Andy's wife?

9) Secondary: Assante Samuel and Sheldon Brown are fine corners who were stretched thin by a lack of help (and consistency) at the safety spot. Quentin Mikell will be fine, but Sean Jones, Macho Harris and Quentin Demps need to be upgraded.

10) Do we stay with Donovan and Andy out of love, trust or fear? I remember how bad it was being an Eagles fan in the 80's and through much of the 90's. Excepting the Randall/Buddy years, we were awful. Say what you will about Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb, we've been in the playoffs 8 out of their 11 years here. That's remarkable. We've risen to a level of success - granted, not postseason - that had been elusive for 40 years prior to their arrival. BUT, at what point do you say 'this just isn't going where it should be' and retool? Or do you say 'but there are no guarantees, and you've got to be in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl, and so let's ride this streak'? I don't know the answer, but I'm realizing that I've become loyal out of fear - I just don't want to suffer thorugh more 4-12 seasons.

The injury bug killed the Eagles this year. We were an 8-8 team and I think I got sucked in by the 6-game streak in November and December. I began to believe that we were more than the sum of our parts. I thought offensive firepower alone could have saved us. I acted as if Jim Johnson were still here and with some duct tape and chewed-up gum and sheer force of his amazing will, he could make the defense hold. But he wasn't, and we weren't. And now we aren't.

There IS hope for 2010. We're young and don't need a major overhaul. But there are deep questions to be answered.