Achenblog - The Washington Post's Joel Achenbach on whatever strikes his fancy - December 7, 2008

Anderson Cooper's Stunt Journalism

Anderson Cooper is a fine journalist, which is all the more reason for CNN to stop trying to feed him to sharks. Last night CNN ran its program "Planet in Peril: Battle Lines," which careened from continent to continent,...

Remembering Liz Donovan

Liz Donovan, who died this week at the age of 63, was surely the world's most beloved news researcher. Laser-sharp, yet gentle; a champ on deadline, yet preternaturally unflappable. (I can't improve on Elinor Brecher's description of her as...

Major NASA Kerfuffle

[Cross-posted from 44, formerly known as The Trail.] NASA Adminstrator Michael Griffin today denounced a report that he and the space agency had been uncooperative with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. The story, headlined "NASA Has Become a Transition...

Free Rod Blagojevich

Some call it extortion, but I see the governor of Illinois showing a healthy respect for tradition. Rod Blagojevich is the keeper of the flame of Chicago politics, which just happens to emanate from a burn bag. This is...

How to Build a T.rex

This came in over the transom yesterday and I immediately realized we'd gotten way behind on our paleontology news here on the A-blog: ' ATHENS, Ohio (Dec. 8, 2008) -- Paleontologists have long known that dinosaurs had tiny brains,...

Obama Ball [Updated]

Raging cynic that I am, I don't think Obama has the power to transform our wheezing, rattling, clanking '67 Mercury Monterey of an economy into the Starship Enterprise overnight, but I do think he can order up some college...