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NBC, Fox didn't challenge McCain's false claim that Obama was community organizer when Palin was in office

During an interview on the August 31 edition of NBC's Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams did not challenge Sen. John McCain's false claim that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "was in elected office when Senator [Barack] Obama was still a, quote, 'community organizer.' " Similarly, during the August 31 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace did not challenge McCain's false claim that "when she [Palin] was in government, he [Obama] was a community organizer." Neither Williams nor Wallace noted that McCain's claim that Palin was in government while Obama was a community organizer is false, as the website Politifact.com has noted. In fact, when Obama was a community organizer, from 1985-1988, Palin was an undergraduate at the University of Idaho (until 1987) and then -- according to National Journal's Almanac of American Politics -- was a television sports reporter. Palin joined the Wasilla city council -- her first elected office -- in 1992, the year Obama served as director of Chicago's Project Vote! -- the local chapter of a national voter registration organization -- and began teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. From the August 31 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams: WILLIAMS: You've heard the commentators, I know, and by repeating it, I mean no disrespect: A 72-year-old cancer survivor picks a not-yet one full term governor of Alaska. Is she the best person to be, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency, Senator? McCAIN: Well, let me just point out, facts are funny things. She's been in elected office longer than Senator Obama. She's been the chief executive of the state that supplies 20 percent of America's energy. She has balanced budgets. She's had executive experience as governor, as mayor, as a city council member, and PTA. So, she was in elected office when Senator Obama was still a, quote, "community organizer." He's never had one day of executive experience. I think it's almost ludicrous to compare her experience in elected office, and as a leader of one of the most important states in America -- certainly the largest -- and compare her experience with his. It's no contest. WILLIAMS: But you know the question, Senator. Given the field, given all that we know, is she the best person to be a heartbeat away from the president? McCAIN: Oh sure, in every way. In every way that I know of. From the August 31 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday: WALLACE: But, Senator, you talk about her years of experience. Ten of those years were as a city councilwoman and mayor of a town of 9,800 people. And in terms of foreign policy, in March of 2007, after -- two months after the surge had started, she was asked about it, and she said: "I've been focused on state government. I haven't focused on the war in Iraq" -- understandable for a governor; not understandable for a vice president. McCAIN: Well, by the way, also she was a member of the PTA. I think it's wonderful. But the point is she's been to Kuwait. She's been over there. She's been with her troops, the National Guard that she commands, who had been over there and had the experience. I'm proud of her knowledge of these challenges and issues. And of course as governor, she has had enormous responsibilities, none of which Senator Obama had. He -- when she was in government, he was a community organizer. When she was taking tough positions against her own party, Senator Obama was voting "present" 130 times in the state legislature, on every tough issue -- whatever it was -- while she was taking them on. That's the kind of judgment that I'm confident that we need in Washington. WALLACE: For people who aren't persuaded, at least, initially, in the first 24 hours, about her experience, especially on foreign policy, doesn't this raise even more concerns about your age? McCAIN: I don't know. Look, it was an issue in the primary, as you know. I've got to show them the vigor. I've got to show them the energy. I've got to show them the judgment. I've got to show them that my experience and knowledge qualifies me to lead.

Nudge: An Overview

University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Professor Richard Thaler gives an overview of his new book: "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness." He explains what nudges are and gives a few examples of how they can be useful.

Gobero: Preparing the Triple Burial

One of the most exquisite discoveries from Gobero is a triple burial which preserved an adult woman interred with two young children. The bodies were buried with their arms around each other and were holding hands. Paul Sereno's vision was to create something unique that would enable people to 1) view the burial from both sides and 2) preserve all of the scientific information in place: from the tiniest bones to the original position of the artifacts. He met with his staff at the University of Chicago Fossil Lab to make a plan. Paleoartist Tyler Keillor brought a "paleo-trifecta" of art, science and innovation to bear in order to help reconstruct this ancient scene. -- Written by Project Exploration

Synthetic Blood From Stem Cells? Yes, a Company Says

News from Portfolio.com Also on Portfolio Tech Observer: IE8's New Privacy Features This Bit of Tedium Brought to You By... Forget McCain: How Does Obama Stack Up Against Phelps? Subscribe to Portfolio magazine Will bloodmobiles soon be a thing of the past, like vacuum-tube televisions and glass milk bottles delivered daily? More important: Will the use of embryonic stem cells, which became a heated issue during the 2004 presidential election, finally produce a breakout product? One that will squelch the controversy for all but a few die-hards who still prefer their milk in glass bottles? Researchers at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts, announced the breakthrough a few days ago. Working with scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the University of Chicago, A.C.T.'s team says it has developed a method for making potentially unlimited and scalable supplies of synthetic blood from embryonic stem cells. The findings are published in Blood, a scientific journal. A.C.T.'s chief scientific officer Robert Lanza led the team. If the claim holds up to scrutiny, it would be a huge boon for humankind, which until now has had to collectively open its veins to provide tons of this basic stuff of life for people who need extra blood because of injuries, surgeries or disease. The discovery also would remove the danger of blood being tainted by pathogens that cause hepatitis, H.I.V. and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, among other viruses and bacteria. But will this promise become reality? Advanced Cell Technology has made incredible claims before. Under recently departed C.E.O. Michael West?whom some critics compared with the circus promoter P.T. Barnum?the company routinely asserted that stem-cell therapies were likely to reverse the aging process and grow replacement body parts, while most scientists were talking a more cautious line. The company was the first to clone an endangered species, an Asian bovine called a gaur, which died soon after?possibly from causes unrelated to the cloning. A.C.T. also claimed it had cloned the first human embryo, attracting worldwide attention, though the embryos grew to only a few cells in size. Some blame the company's over-enthusiasm for playing into the hands of stem-cell opponents in the Bush administration and elsewhere who were bent on squelching this new therapy. President Bush severely restricted federal funding for stem-cell research in 2001?restrictions that remain today, and are likely to until the next administration takes office. Under Lanza, the company may not have fulfilled all of the promises made by West, but it has produced a string of solid discoveries and observations?though none have proved to be commercially viable. Most recently, Lanza's team has also induced stem cells to grow into retinal cells in eyes. Creating synthetic blood has proved difficult; decades of efforts have so far been in vain. Several potential products are being tested in human clinical trials, most of them focusing on the critical function that blood plays in transporting oxygen. Other products, however, have been abandoned when they either didn't work, or proved to have dangerous or deadly side effects. Blood created by stem cells is very similar to the real thing, and may avoid the pitfalls with other, more artificial techniques. If further tests confirm A.C.T.'s discovery?and, critically, show that the process is scalable and affordable?stem-cell blood may make the company more attractive to investors as it desperately seeks cash to carry on. In July, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that A.C.T. had $17 million in current liabilities, but only $1 million in cash and other current assets, the Boston Globe reported. A.C.T.'s stock has been trading at 6 cents per share, down from $8 per share three years ago. It's hard to know what the new techniques will cost once scaled up, or what revenues the discovery will bring in; Lanza says that he expects the company to know within two years if the processes will work. Independent scientists are hopeful that the discovery will pan out. "The problem with relying on donated blood is that there are always shortages," Professor Alex Medvinsky, a blood stem-cell expert at the University of Edinburgh,

How to persuade customer service reps to help you

Here's a clever tip for getting customer service reps to help you with a sticky problem that will require extra effort on their part. It's from Noah Goldestein, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the author of Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (co-authored by by Robert B. Cialdini, who wrote the terrific book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion). If you've ever contested a mysterious charge on your credit card, tried to resolve a problem with your computer, or wanted to return an item to a vendor, you've probably encountered stubborn customer service agents -- people who seem nice at the outset but change their tune when they realize complying with your request will cause additional work on their part. To change their orientation toward you, try the following: If you find toward the beginning of your interaction that the customer service agent is being particularly friendly, polite, or responsive -- perhaps before you get to your toughest request -- tell the agent that you're so impressed with his or her service and knowledge so far that you're going to write a positive letter or e-mail about your interaction to his or her supervisor as soon as you get off the phone. After getting the agent's name and the supervisor's contact information, you can then get to the more complex issues at hand. ... Although there are a number of psychological reasons for why this might be an effective strategy, the norm of reciprocity -- one of the best-studied norms in psychology -- is a powerful factor here: You've offered to do a favor for that person, so now that person is going to be motivated to return the favor. Trouble with customer service agents? Try this...