Grant Dahl's blog

A story prominently displayed on the Science News headlines at Yahoo! News on Friday came from LiveScience.com, which used this question as its headline: "Is Global Warming Driving Polar Bears to Cannibalism?" and later in the article, after asking the question "are polar bears more often resorting to cannibalism because of increased hunger and desperation, or are we simply more frequently observing a behavior that has always existed?" they proceeded to address the cannibalism side of the question without even considering the idea that this behavior might indeed be normal for polar bears.

After asking what was causing the polar bears' descent to cannibalism, the article proceeded to state that the answer to the question would "reveal whether or not the Svalbard polar bear population has started to feel the heat from climate change." In other words,  the writer suggested the probability that young polar bear cubs being cannibalized by adult polar bears has been caused by people being unsafe with their car's emissions or overusing their barbecue pit.

One of the stories prominently featured on the U.S. headlines at Yahoo! News on Thursday was a Reuters story detailing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's newest step in his campaign against gun rights. The headline 'Bloomberg sets sights on illegal gun sales online' implies that online gun sales are already illegal and therefore that Bloomberg is simply trying to make sure the law is followed. 

The next big misstep in this article is its one-sentence dismissal of Bloomberg critics. "The National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. gun lobby, was not immediately available for comment on the study." Close examination of The National Rifle Association's home page would have revealed  two posts on their home page which deal with Bloomberg and the NYPD and the Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization. In the first post, which deals with an earlier anti-gun address Bloomberg gave to students at MIT, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre made the observation that "Bloomberg should also remember that a 'ruler' (which is what he seems to think he is) that denies the people of their Right to Keep and Bear Arms while maintaining a large 'army' (the NYPD) is apt to be viewed as a petty tyrant, not a benevolent and wise leader."

In a softball interview with Sen. Debbie Stabenow on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough on Tuesday asked the Michigan Democrat if it was difficult for her to grill a friend and colleague, the former New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, on the MF Global scandal. At one point, Scarborough enthused, "Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him."

Co-host Mika Brzezinski started out the interview by asking Stabenow on how they would be taking on the MF Global investigation. The Michigan senator essentially rattled off the hearing's witness list.