Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Friday, March 11, 2005

The chattering classes of the NY Times

The following is the 5:13 p.m. E.S.T. list of The New York Times' Most E-Mailed Articles for the Past 24 Hours. Just for my own amusement, I've bolded those articles (most op-eds and editorials) that NY Times' readers are sharing amongst themselves that are critical of the administration, and italicized those articles the NY Times' readers have whizzing around the internet that advance values that could be deemed antithetical to red state beliefs. You get a fairly good picture of a paper that is strongly slanted to the left, no matter how it tries to argue that it sits in the center and simply publishes all the news that's fit to print.

1. NATIONAL | March 10, 2005 Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming By LAURIE GOODSTEIN The leaders have put their considerable political power behind a cause that has barely registered on the evangelical agenda. 2. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Op-Ed Columnist: Slanting Social Security By PAUL KRUGMAN This year's trustees report on Social Security will have to be read with an eye to the ways it will try to mislead. 3. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Editorial: They're Back, and Still Unworthy The federal judiciary deserves better than President Bush's judicial nominees. 4. ARTS | March 13, 2005 Frank Rich: The Greatest Dirty Joke Ever Told By FRANK RICH A post-9/11 Friars roast and 'Deadwood' show that indecency can be all-American. 5. NEW YORK REGION | March 11, 2005 Detectives Killed for Mob, Indictments Say By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Two former detectives were charged by federal prosecutors with taking part in eight murders on behalf of the Mafia. 6. TRAVEL / ESCAPES | March 11, 2005 Journeys: Vieques, Far From the Lounge-Chair Crowd By PABLEAUX JOHNSON The tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques feels more like a border town than an emerging tourist destination. 7. ARTS / ART & DESIGN | March 11, 2005 Photography Review | 'Diane Arbus Revelations': The Profound Vision of Diane Arbus: Flaws in Beauty, Beauty in Flaws By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN The Metropolitan Museum's retrospective proves that her most memorable work was all about heart - a ferocious, audacious heart. [Ed. -- this italicizing reflects my own prejudices, since I've never understood why Arbus' depressing grotesqueries have risen to the level of "high art."] 8. BOOKS | March 11, 2005 An Enigmatic Author Who Can Be Addictive By JULIE SALAMON Clarice Lispector, one of Brazil's most influential writers, has been described as the Kafka of Latin American fiction. 9. ARTS / ART & DESIGN | March 11, 2005 Art Review | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Collisions on Canvas That Still Make Noise By ROBERTA SMITH Jean-Michel Basquiat's bristling, ugly-elegant, stream-of-consciousness art looks stronger than ever at the Brooklyn Museum. 10. BUSINESS | March 11, 2005 How Long Can G.M. Tread Water? By DANNY HAKIM Since the Depression, General Motors has reigned as the world's largest automaker, but now the company is struggling and may be displaced by Toyota at the top. 11. DINING & WINE | March 9, 2005 Mumbai to Midtown, Chaat Hits the Spot By JULIA MOSKIN Chaat, India's varied and delicious national snacks, are finally emerging in New York City. 12. OPINION | March 10, 2005 Op-Ed Columnist: A Defense That's Offensively Weak By MAUREEN DOWD Can't the president find a little time to remake our security to protect this generation? 13. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Editorial Observer: Waiting for the Warm Night Air of Los Angeles By VERLYN KLINKENBORG Southern California has a way of reminding you that climate is a function of place and that season is a function of time. 14. OPINION | March 10, 2005 Editorial: Putting Last Things First The president seems determined to ignore the biggest challenges and to home in on politically charged side issues. 15. MOVIES | March 11, 2005 Critic's Notebook: Bon Voyage With French Cinema By STEPHEN HOLDEN Claire Denis's "Intruder" looms as the pinnacle of this year's "Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2005" series at Lincoln Center. 16. BUSINESS | March 11, 2005 Talk in Japan Shakes Dollar and Treasuries By JONATHAN FUERBRINGER The dollar fell Thursday after the Japanese prime minister implied that the country may move some of its huge reserves out of dollars and Treasury securities. 17. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Op-Ed Contributor: Guns and Poses By DAVID HAJDU In its bloodlust, hip-hop is more old school than many of its fans and critics may realize; in fact, the music is carrying on a tradition as old as the blues. [Ed. -- I haven't read this; I just take it on face value as defending, at some level, the violence and misogyny that characterize hip-hop.] 18. NATIONAL | March 11, 2005 3 Studies Link Variant Gene to Risk of Severe Vision Loss By ANDREW POLLACK Scientists say they have identified a genetic variation that substantially raises the risk of age-related macular degeneration. 19. NATIONAL | March 11, 2005 Man Flees After Killing Judge and 2 Others at Atlanta Court By SHAILA DEWAN and MARIA NEWMAN A defendant who was on trial for rape grabbed a sheriff's deputy's gun, opened fire and then kept shooting as he fled. 20. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Editorial: Abu Ghraib, Whitewashed Again Whitewash is typical of the reports issued by the Bush administration on the abuse, humiliation and torture of prisoners at camps run by the military. 21. TRAVEL / ESCAPES | March 11, 2005 36 Hours: Middleburg, Va. By JILLIAN DUNHAM Just 40 miles from the halls of Congress, Middleburg leaves Washington's blue suits and red ties behind for jodhpurs and riding helmets. 22. WASHINGTON | March 11, 2005 Pentagon Seeks to Transfer More Detainees From Base in Cuba By DOUGLAS JEHL The Pentagon is seeking to enlist help from U.S. agencies in transferring hundreds of suspects to foreign governments. [Ed. -- this may just be a neutral report, but it's neutrality is somewhat suspect what paired with Michael Scheuer's shrill claims, below, in an article I did read, claiming that the CIA is totally innocent of the heinous crime of transporting terror suspects to foreign countries, and that it's all the administration's fault.] 23. NEW YORK REGION | March 11, 2005 An Old View Is New Again, 70 Stories Up By DAVID W. DUNLAP After 19 years and a $75 million revamping, the observation roof atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza is going to reopen. 24. OPINION | March 11, 2005 Op-Ed Contributor: A Fine Rendition By MICHAEL SCHEUER The Central Intelligence Agency was right to ship terror suspects abroad. 25. OPINION | March 10, 2005 Op-Ed Contributor: Five Years Later and Still Floating By JAMES GRANT Five years after the peak of the great millennial stock market, the bubble is still unpopped.