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Did Newsweek choose Michele Bachmann cover photo to make her 'look crazy'?

The Cutline

Did Newsweek choose Michele Bachmann cover photo to make her ‘look crazy’?

 
Dylan Stableford

Senior Media Reporter

The Cutline 
 
 
 

 

Another Newsweek cover controversy is brewing--and once again, it involves women.

A month after editor-in-chief Tina Brown Photoshopped the late Princess Diana walking alongside Kate Middleton onto the cover of Newsweek, sparking outrage among fans, Brown is drawing the ire of the tea party for selecting a photo of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for Newsweek's cover that makes the 2012 Republican hopeful look, well, crazy.

The photo of Bachmann, shot in Washington on Aug. 1 by photographer Chris Buck, accompanies a cover story by Lois Romano entitled "The Queen of Rage." (Newsweek tweeted the cover image late Sunday with the #QueenOfRage hashtag.)

Reached via e-mail, Alice Stewart, Bachmann's press secretary, declined to comment. "We are focused on meeting with the people of Iowa in advance of the Straw Poll," she wrote in an email to The Cutline. And Bachmann brushed off a question about the cover from a voter in Iowa.

Conservative media pundits, though, were more than happy to respond.

"Under the editorial control of Tina Brown, the rice paper magazine barely struggles against its bias towards conservative women to view them with anything other than contempt," Dana Loesch wrote on Andrew Breitbart's BigJournalism.com.

It's not the first time that Newsweek has drawn the ire of conservatives--and women--over a candidate's cover photo. In 2008, Newsweek published an extreme close-up of Sarah Palin on its cover, sparking criticism.

"Memo to conservative women," Ed Morrissey wrote on HotAir.com. "When approached by Newsweek or Time for a cover story, always bring your own photographer."

In 2009, Newsweek published an old photo of Palin in running shorts--alongside the coverline "How do you solve a problem like Sarah Palin?"--prompting more outrage among conservatives. (Palin herself denounced the selection of the photo--from a Runner's World shoot--in a note to her Facebook fans: "The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now.")

But critics charge that the newsweekly is using more than just its cover image to editorialize about Bachmann and the basis of her popular appeal. An interior image--featuring Bachmann at a campaign stop and also taken by Buck--was shot from an angle that shows the conservative candidate with devil horn.

"Newsweek needs to be ashamed for propagating one of the typical female stereotypes used to denigrate women," a commenter on Newsweek.com wrote. "If you don't like Bachmann's positions, say so. But to slot her in the typical witch, bitch, nut, or slut memes hurts all women!"

A spokesman for Newsweek declined to comment on the controversy.

Brown defended her decision to Photoshop the image of the late Princess Diana onto the July 4 cover. "We wanted to bring the memory of Diana alive in a vivid image that transcends time," Brown said then in a statement to The Cutline, "and reflected my piece." Newsweek's newsstand sales are up roughly 30 percent since its redesign under Brown debuted in March.

The Newsweek Bachmann cover controversy also recalls a 2008 incident in which The Atlantic apologized to Arizona senator and presidential hopeful John McCain for hiring a freelance photographer--Jill Greenberg--who used a strobe light to create shadows on his face during a cover shoot. "He had no idea he was being lit from below," Greenberg told Photo District News after The Atlantic issue was published.

Greenberg created her own Photoshopped images from the McCain shoot for her personal website, including one of an ape defecating on McCain's head.

"She has, in fact, disgraced herself, and we are appalled by the manipulated images of John McCain she has created for her Web site," the Atlantic wrote in an editor's note. "Obviously, we will not work with her again."

UPDATE: "Michele Bachmann's intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now," Brown said in a statement to The Cutline. "Newsweek's cover captures that."

Entry #5,197

How Sarah Palin Got a AAA Credit Rating for Alaska

How Sarah Palin Got a AAA Credit Rating for Alaska

The Atlantic

Joshua Green

 

Aug 8 2011, 9:01 AM ET

 

The former governor has a lot to teach Washington about earning a strong credit rating. Her secret: raise taxes.

Sarah Palin over shoulder - Brian Frank Reuters - banner.jpg

In light of Friday's decision by Standard and Poor's to downgrade the United States' credit rating to AA+, it's worth mentioning again -- as I first did in this Atlantic piece -- that Alaska recently had its bond rating raised to AAA for the first time in the state's history, largely due to fiscal improvements brought about by Sarah Palin while she was governor.  The state currently enjoys a $12 billion budget surplus.  I was reminded of this fact over the weekend by Ian Lazaren, the indefatigable supporter-cultist behind Conservatives4Palin.com.

 
This is unquestionably a good thing for the people of Alaska, just as the country's downgrade is a bad thing.   The state enjoys lower borrowing costs as a result.  But especially in light of the current dysfunction in Washington, it's important to understand whyAlaska's fiscal situation improved:  It was largely because Palin raised taxes. Specifically, the state oil tax.   Her central achievement as governor was signing a law, Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES), that dramatically increased the state's share of oil profits just as oil prices began to take off.   There's a direct line between increased revenue and improved fiscal health. (Alas, the good folks at Conservatives4Palin have posted a gloating item about Alaska's credit-rating that both attacks Obama for raising taxes and neglects to mention that Palin's own tax increase was the basis for the improvement.)
This chart from the Alaska Department of Revenue nicely illustrates the result. For purposes of comparison, ACES is best measured against EFL, since the intervening tax (PPT) was tarnished by corruption and ultimately replaced by ACES, a story recounted in my piece:
 
Palin-ACES-chart.jpg



Image credit: Brian Frank/Reuters

Entry #5,196

Morning Smokers Face Higher Cancer Risk

SearchThe Susquehanna Valley News

Morning Smokers Face Higher Cancer Risk

Studies: Early Morning Smokers 30% More Likely To Develop Lung Cancer

Amy Novak

POSTED: 1:13 am EDT August 8, 2011
UPDATED: 6:07 am EDT August 8, 2011

 
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(CNN) -- Smokers who indulge in their first cigarette shortly after waking up have an increased risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers, according to two new studies published in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society.

The findings may help identify smokers who have a greater risk of developing cancer. These smokers could then be more urgently targeted for smoking cessation programs.

The first studies to show a link between cigarette smoking and cancer were published back in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 1980 that nicotine dependence was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a psychological and physiological problem.

The new studies out of Penn State College of Medicine look at nicotine dependence, which in part can be determined by the amount of time elapsed before a smoker lights up his or her first cigarette after waking up in the morning.

"These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more," says Joshua Muscat of the Penn State College of Medicine, who led the investigation.

Subjects who smoked their first cigarette between 31 and 60 minutes after waking up were more than 30% more likely to develop lung cancer; the odds increased to nearly 80% for those who smoked in their first half-hour awake. For head and neck cancers, subjects were more than 40% more likely if they indulged in the 31-60 minute window, and nearly 60% more likely for those who smoked in their first half-hour awake.

"One of the things we use to measure dependence is called the Heavyness of Smoking Index, which includes two questions," says Dr. Richard D. Hurt, the director of the Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center, who is not affiliated with the new studies. "How much do you smoke, and how long after you arise do you have your first cigarette?"

Hurt also points out that waiting a little longer before indulging in a first cigarette of the day would mean fewer total cigarettes in a day.

 
"The more dependent are more likely to be heavier smokers," he says. "But you also have to look at how aggressively these people are smoking. Those who inhale deeper, hold longer, and smoke their cigarettes all the way to the end are receiving more of the harmful constituents of that cigarette."

This makes them more likely to develop cancer than those who smoke less aggressively.

The half-life of nicotine is relatively short -- only two hours -- so after six or eight hours of sleep, your body has gotten rid of nearly all of the nicotine you've inhaled the day before. There's very little left in the body in the morning and the receptors in the brain are crying out for more nicotine. Those who are the most dependent need that cigarette earlier, and often smoke more cigarettes throughout the day, more intensely.

The takeaway here is about what you'd expect. "Stop smoking as soon as you can," says Hurt. "We have more things to offer now than ever before. (You) can go to a physician or call a telephone quit line. We combine behavioral counseling with medications, which can double, triple, or even quadruple your chances of successfully quitting."



Read more: http://www.wgal.com/health/28796108/detail.html#ixzz1URtAkgKe
Entry #5,194

Woman ordered to jail for refusing to divorce her husband

Rabbis order woman to jail

 

July 26, 2011 at 7:44 AM

JERUSALEM, July 26 (UPI) -- The Jerusalem Rabbinical Court ordered to jail a 59-year-old woman for refusing for 15 years to divorce her husband.

In an interview with Haaretz the woman said: "I won't take the get (religious separation) under any circumstances -- even if they take me to jail … I'm made of steel, you can't break me."

The woman refuses to divorce her husband because of an ongoing property dispute, the newspaper said.

The court ordered her confinement after a series of sanctions failed to secure her agreement.

The sanctions included barring her from leaving the country, restricting her bank account and suspending her driver's license, the newspaper said.

According to Jewish law the power to divorce rests with the husband; however, a man cannot force his wife to agree to a divorce. For a divorce to be valid, the woman must accept it.





Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/07/26/Rabbis-order-woman-to-jail/UPI-55481311680671/print/#ixzz1URroNISo

Entry #5,192

Once heroes rescued Chile miners hit with fruit

Once heroes, rescued Chile miners hit with fruit

 

Eva Vergara

Aug. 6, 2011 09:35 AM
Associated Press

 

COPIAPO, Chile - It has been a bittersweet anniversary for Chile's rescued miners, who were honored as heroes in their hometown only to come under attack by anti-government protesters who threw fruit and small stones at them, accusing them of being ungrateful, greedy sellouts.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his ministers joined most of the 33 miners Friday at a Catholic Mass and then the inauguration of a regional museum exhibit recognizing their remarkable survival story.

But the events were marred by scuffles between riot police and students, teachers, environmentalists and other miners, all trying to make Pinera bow to their pressure on issues from reforming public education and increasing miners' pay to stopping controversial dams and power plants.

Some of the activists threw oranges and apples at the miners, accusing them of getting too cozy with Pinera's government and trying to cash in on their fame.

The treatment shocked rescued miner Omar Reygadas into silence. His son told The Associated Press in an interview that his father was deeply hurt to be accused of selling out to the government. Other activists shouted that the miners were trying to get rich with their $17 million lawsuit accusing Chile's mine regulator of failing to enforce safety requirements.

"My father was saddened, deeply saddened. He doesn't understand how people could act this way," said his son, also named Omar Reygadas. "When I got home I found him sitting alone, very sad. I asked him what happened and at first he wouldn't say anything, but gradually he let on what happened."

Some Chilean newspapers called the attack a low blow, especially considering how many of the miners still suffer from psychological problems after being stuck for 69 days underground.

"They aren't heroes ... they're victims who are simply trying to recover from their tragedy," El Diario de Atacama, Copiapo's hometown newspaper, printed Saturday under a picture showing riot police with a confiscated box of oranges and apples activists had thrown at the honorees.

"We have become accustomed to judging the 33 of Atacama, forgetting that they've only been victims of the terrible circumstances that confront hundreds of Chileans every day."

The miners were clearly grateful for Pinera's leadership of the rescue mission, which succeeded in bringing them all out alive more than two months after the Aug. 5, 2010 collapse. "I wouldn't be here talking with you today" if Pinera hadn't become personally involved, miner Jose Fuentes told the AP. "We were down there praying that he would do it."

But Pinera's ministers also are defending the government against the miners' suit, saying that they have to protect the Chilean taxpayers.

Pinera's popularity has plunged to 26 percent, the lowest of any president since Chile recovered its democracy in 1990, as protests have roiled the country. Environmentalists hope to block hydroelectric dams in southern Patagonia and a huge coal-fired energy plant in northern Chile. Unionized miners have briefly paralyzed the nation's largest copper mines, costing companies millions of dollars in lost production. Mapuche Indians have occupied ancestral lands, setting off violent confrontations with police and landowners. Striking high school and university students have taken over their schools and stopped classes for more than two months.

At the museum on Friday, Pinera appealed for an end to the unrest.

"The time of the protests, the strikes, the takeovers, the violence has passed. Now has come the time to construct and not keep destroying, the time of dialogue and not of intransigence; the time of solutions and not of confrontation, the time of unity and not of division," Pinera said.

Entry #5,190

Howard Dean says Tea Party has been 'smoking some of that tea

Howard Dean says Tea Party has been 'smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it'

Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, August 7th 2011, 11:56 AM

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean blasted the Tea Party on CBS' Meet The Nation.
 
Mark Wilson/Getty
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean blasted the Tea Party on CBS' Meet The Nation.
 
After the bruising debate over raising the debt ceiling, Howard Dean had harsh words for the tea party during his appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation."

The former Democratic National Chairman said the group was to blame for the debate which held the country on edge for weeks and greatly damaged the American economy.

"This is a Tea Party problem," the fiery politician said. "They are totally unreasonable and doctrinaire and not founded in reality.

"I think they've been smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it."

He also warned that even Republicans were being held hostage by the strict debt-reduction group that swept through Congress in the last mid-term elections.

"The American people are there, Democrats are there. A lot of reasonable Republicans are there," he said. "But they are terrified of these right-wing splinter groups, the radical right, because they are so powerful in the primaries."

Dean said he thinks the downgrade in America's credit store by Standard & Poor's could turn out to be a good thing because it could help Democrats earn enough political capital to do what everyone has been too politically shy to attempt: raise taxes.

With America in such deep financial trouble, he pointed out even some Republicans acknowledge that there has to be a new form of revenue coming in if America wants to make any kind of progress on the massive debt overtaking the country.

"This is ridiculous what's going on here," he said.

Dean is not the first Democrat to openly question the Tea Party's sanity. Earlier this week, Vice President Joe Biden reportedly likened compromising with them to negotiating with terrorists.

Entry #5,189

Woman asks friends to stab her to avoid probation hearing

Woman who asked friends to stab her sent to diversion

 

 
Luke Nichols/Daily Sun staff writer

Beatrice Daily Sun Onlne

Friday, August 5, 2011 6:00 am

  buy this photo

Jessalyn Stierwalt

A Beatrice woman accused of asking two friends to stab her in hopes of avoiding a probation hearing the following day was released from jail Thursday morning.

Gage County Judge Steven Timm ordered the release of Jessalyn Stierwalt, 21, on her own recognizance so that she could begin a diversion program.

The order was made at the request of Stierwalt’s attorney Julie Effenbeck. Timm and Gage County Chief Deputy Attorney Rick Schreiner agreed that the circumstances surrounding the case are unusual, but Schreiner did not object to Effenbeck’s request.

Timm stipulated, however, that Stierwalt is not to consume any alcohol or controlled substance and is not to possess any dangerous instruments — especially knives.

Stierwalt is being charged with conspiracy to commit assault, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. 

According to court documents, Stierwalt was admitted to Beatrice Community Hospital on July 5 for stab wounds to her shoulder and abdomen. Stierwalt told police she asked two male friends, Scott Roberson-Truman, 20, and Jerry L. Duke, 32, to stab her in order to avoid going to a scheduled probation appointment the following morning.

She said she needed time to “sober up.”

Court documents say that Roberson-Truman and Duke eventually complied with Stierwalt’s request and stabbed her twice, once in the shoulder and once in the stomach.

Both Roberson-Truman and Stierwalt indicated that they were intoxicated during the incident.

Duke, who’s being charged with second degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony, also had a hearing Thursday morning, appearing without his attorney.

The court appointed Lyle Koenig to represent him. Duke and Stierwalt are both scheduled to appear in court Aug. 25.

Duke faces a possible punishment of 1 to 20  years in prison on count one if convicted and 1 to 50 years in prison on count two.

Roberson-Truman was also scheduled for a hearing Thursday morning but did not appear. His attorney, Jeff Goltz, said Roberson-Truman called him earlier in the morning and was “very ill.” Timm continued his case to Aug. 9.



Read more: http://www.beatricedailysun.com/news/local/article_f3be9faa-bf02-11e0-8863-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1ULIUgHPH
Entry #5,186

After 98 years 1st woman promoted to 10th degree Judo Master

Sensei Keiko Fukuda at 98 years old teaches hand techniqu... Lance Iversen / The Chronicle

Sensei Keiko Fukuda at 98 years old teaches hand techniques to her Judo students at the women's dojo in San Francisco's Noe Valley. Fukuda is the only living student of judo's founder Jigoro Kano who opened

Judo master makes 10th degree black belt

Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Chronicle August 6, 2011 04:00 AM

Saturday, August 6, 2011

 

Lance Iversen / The Chronicle

Sensei Keiko Fukuda of S.F. became the first woman to be promoted to judo's highest levell.

 

 

After 98 years, the phone call finally came.

Last week, Sensei Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco became the first woman to be promoted to judo's highest level: 10th degree black belt.

Only three people in the world, all men living in Japan, have ever reached that mark.

The martial arts promotion by USA Judo brought 98-year-old Fukuda to tears at the women's dojo where she still teaches in Noe Valley. (Fukuda was the subject of a Chronicle Datebook profile on July 25.)

She gave up marriage and left her homeland to dedicate her life to judo, fighting gender discrimination that kept her at lower belt levels decades longer than men less skilled than she.

"The time was right," said U.S. Judo Federation promotion board member Eiko Saito Shepherd.

A celebration is being planned for mid-October to coincide with Fukuda's annual International Kata Championship at San Francisco City College.

"All my life," Fukuda said, "this has been my dream."

Entry #5,185
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