While scant serious attention is paid to mad cow disease by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and others responsible for keeping the food supply safe, some people are worried – the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security. TheTimes-News in Twin Falls, ID reports that the threat of agroterrorism through the introduction of Mad Cow or hoof and mouth disease would have tremendous repercussions. “It’s not very likely, but if it was to occur, it would be the one (terrorist strike) that would have the most impact economically,” said Clint Blackwood, Jerome County disaster services coordinator. “It would devastate the livestock industry,” said Terry Bingham, acting area field officer for the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security. Center for Media and Democracy staffers Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber wrote about Mad Cow disease in their 1997 groundbreaking book Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here.

Technological advances in a refurbished White House Press Room open the door (or wall, actually) to daily presidential video news releases, says Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. "The equivalent of press releases could go out without interruption or analysis," Thompson said of the new "video wall" that likely will be added to the press room when it reopens next year. The Wall Street Journal reports that the new press room will take its design from Defense Department and political convention displays and quotes a senior White House official as saying that the room will have the capability to include everything "from flags waving in the breeze [to] detailed charts and graphs." The White House has also described the refurbishing as a safety matter in a cramped space, with President Bush playing with a line from his predecessor by telling reporters, "We felt your pain." But S. Robert Lichter of the Center for Media and Public Afffairs points out, "These new toys will aid the administration in setting the agenda by giving them more time, more video evidence, and a larger profile."

Saturday's conference of the Society of Professional Journalists featured a presentation on "software, hardware and other tools revolutionizing journalism," with useful tip sheets provided by Amy Gahran and Jeff South. We've been building our own list of tools for citizen journalism at SourceWatch, our wiki-based encylopedia that anyone (including you) can edit. If you'd like to help add to the list, please visit SourceWatch.

According to a recent survey conducted by two Michigan universities, 91.7 percent of Iraqis now oppose the presence of U.S. troops in their country — a nearly 20 percent increase since 2004. A big majority (76 percent) thinks the U.S. is in their country for the oil. The survey also found "a growing sense of powerlessness, pessimism about the future and insecurity. Among Iraqis as a whole, 59 percent of those surveyed in 2006 strongly agreed with the following statement: 'In Iraq these days life is unpredictable and dangerous.' That compares to 46 percent who strongly agreed in 2004." The University of Michigan's news release announcing the findings oddly omitted the statistic showing Iraqi opposition to the U.S. troop presence, choosing instead to highlight an increase to 41 percent in the number of Iraqis who support separation of religion and politics. According to sociologist Mansoor Moaddel, this means Iraqis are "moving closer to American values."

Wal-Mart's new television ads promote "its health care plans, charitable contributions and positive impact on the American economy" in "unusually detailed terms." In one ad, the narrator says, "Our low prices save the average working family $2,300 a year. Which buys a lot of things -- and a whole lot of freedom." Wal-Mart's Robert McAdam stated, "These ads are more direct than anything we have done before." The New York Times' Michael Barbaro compares them to political campaign ads. One spot shows "Sam Walton's first five-and-dime store" while the narrator says, "It all began with a big dream in a small town." To Barbaro, the ad "evokes Bill Clinton's 'A Place Called Hope'" message in 1992. Wal-Mart's new spots were created by Edelman's ad agency, Blue Worldwide. The campaign-like feel may come from Edelman, which hired "former political operatives to develop a public relations strategy for the retailer."