THE NEWS HACK'S CREED:
I know more than you.
I make lots more money than you.
I'm smarter than you.
I'm sexier than you.
I appear on TV all the time.
I work ten minutes a day.
I rule the universe.
I'm going to live forever.
You are an idiot.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 2:
A lie isn't a lie when it tells THE TRUTH.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 3:
I've come to realize that the looseness of the journalistic life, the seeming laxity of the newsroom, is an illusion. Yes, there's informality and there's humor, but beneath the surface lies something deadly serious. It is a code. Sometimes the code is not even written down, but it is deeply believed in. And, when violated, it is enforced with tribal ferocity.
--JOHN "OMERTA" CARROLL.
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 4:
News isn't news when we don't report it.
PERMALINKS:
THE NEWS HACKS' DICTIONARY
THE EUGENE DAVID GLOSSARY
AMERICA'S MOST UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY WEB SITE!
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Tuesday, November 07, 2006
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The GREAT WHITE, er, HOPE of the LALATIMES is FIRED! THE BEANCOUNTERS WIN!!!!! THE TRUTH SUFFERS!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
So maybe tomorrow won't be such a good day for the hacks after all.
(Via Forbes.com, which quotes the Fighter: "By now you've seen the Wall Street Journal story on L.A. Observed that I'll be leaving the paper. Believe me, I didn't want it to come out this way." I think he's written the news biz' epitaph.)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
So maybe tomorrow won't be such a good day for the hacks after all.
(Via Forbes.com, which quotes the Fighter: "By now you've seen the Wall Street Journal story on L.A. Observed that I'll be leaving the paper. Believe me, I didn't want it to come out this way." I think he's written the news biz' epitaph.)
I suppose the Web is AGOG over this, but really, these are two very ordinary people with luck and press agents.
Now comes the election, and the specter of the lesser of two evils hovers over the land. I have still not decided whether to vote -- I have three hours. If I don't vote I am in contempt of my "obligations" as a citizen; never mind the dispiritment that you may vote for lost causes, or candidates who shouldn't be. If I do vote I have to determine which candidates to vote for -- straight party line is stupidity, or worse. And the last time around I voted not for Dubya but against Sen. Hein-TZZZZZ, a bad choice either way. I'm tired of voting against. The only people who win in elections are broadcasters.
Which makes me think of the mess to come. If the Democrats win the House (at least) it will be two years of turmoil, and no different from the turmoil just past except that where Republicans would line their wallets, Democrats would brandish their cowardice. I suppose the party will first try to defund the war, but one suspects enough Democrats will play chicken to prevent that. I can see Mssssss. Pelosi losing control of her more righteous charges, and said clowns spending the next two years in the Wagnerian fury of impeachment -- which would mean more Republican misrule. Then again it could be two fat years of nothing, the likeliest outcome. What a revolting choice.
Which brings us to 2008 -- I'm guessing Mitt vs. Hillary. I can see Boobs McKeating having a Muskie on the trail; Rudy Giuliani has a "woman" in his past. But there is something green about Mitt, and there is a miasma of the otherworldly to Mormonism. Then again Hillary's a permanent tantrum. And the campaign starts when this election stops, so we have no surcease from the bloviating.
One other thing: there's been much gas about electronic voting. Why can't we go all the way and do it in our homes? It's inevitable. And it would be no less secure than this patchwork system of levers and cards and touchscreens. There's no reason it can't be as secure as Internet shopping, with every voter required to enter his name, DOB, driver's license and Social Security numbers, and his mother's maiden name. It would give voters a chance to talk out their choice; no fake veil of secrecy. And it might bring thought into voting, and start to wean us from the oppressive influence of the consultants and the greedmeisters.
And finally, perhaps the pollsters have this right; but the elections of '48 and '94 are good reasons to think they may have it wrong, either way.
Which makes me think of the mess to come. If the Democrats win the House (at least) it will be two years of turmoil, and no different from the turmoil just past except that where Republicans would line their wallets, Democrats would brandish their cowardice. I suppose the party will first try to defund the war, but one suspects enough Democrats will play chicken to prevent that. I can see Mssssss. Pelosi losing control of her more righteous charges, and said clowns spending the next two years in the Wagnerian fury of impeachment -- which would mean more Republican misrule. Then again it could be two fat years of nothing, the likeliest outcome. What a revolting choice.
Which brings us to 2008 -- I'm guessing Mitt vs. Hillary. I can see Boobs McKeating having a Muskie on the trail; Rudy Giuliani has a "woman" in his past. But there is something green about Mitt, and there is a miasma of the otherworldly to Mormonism. Then again Hillary's a permanent tantrum. And the campaign starts when this election stops, so we have no surcease from the bloviating.
One other thing: there's been much gas about electronic voting. Why can't we go all the way and do it in our homes? It's inevitable. And it would be no less secure than this patchwork system of levers and cards and touchscreens. There's no reason it can't be as secure as Internet shopping, with every voter required to enter his name, DOB, driver's license and Social Security numbers, and his mother's maiden name. It would give voters a chance to talk out their choice; no fake veil of secrecy. And it might bring thought into voting, and start to wean us from the oppressive influence of the consultants and the greedmeisters.
And finally, perhaps the pollsters have this right; but the elections of '48 and '94 are good reasons to think they may have it wrong, either way.
When CEOs aren't busy playing at three, four or five country clubs they rush to their luxury suites at NASCAR races -- which brings up a question: With all the golf and NASCAR and Hollywood schmoozing, when do these idiots do any work?
After the media's successful campaign for Democrats CJR whines that John Kerry's gaffe got too much coverage.
These tyrants will never be satisfied.
These tyrants will never be satisfied.
Excellent advice, Jack, not to buy a newspaper today -- it's so good we haven't bought one in years.
(Via the usual Romy)
(Via the usual Romy)
TNR is predicting a Democratic "ripple", thanks to gerrymandering. We hate it too.
Of course this might be a backwards mirror image of with those right-wing "surges", but this has the advantage of at least slight intellectual honesty.
Of course this might be a backwards mirror image of with those right-wing "surges", but this has the advantage of at least slight intellectual honesty.
Keeping in mind these are social scientists, how apt that they've come up with a new trope of television as visual alcohol. Can anyone other than B. S. DEFENDER doubt that too much TV is bad for children?
Amazing too -- this is RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s rag.
Amazing too -- this is RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s rag.
Monday, November 06, 2006
As I attempted to read an absorbing account of "Supermax", the TWXSTERS kept shoving pop-ups on every page in my face asking for my help in a "survey"; pressing "no thanks" repeatedly didn't stop them. Not long ago there was a stink in AdAge over how people have survey burnout. And why not? They're a chore to complete and no one pays attention to them. If the TWXSTERS PAID for my time or if I knew I could speak directly with a top PEOPLE WARNER official about his product (fat chance), it would be worth it. Instead, it's pop-ups in the face and another self-inflicted black eye for PEOPLE WARNER.
Now all those CEOs with multiple country-club memberships can donate to the GOLFING MACHINE's new course-building fund!
How many will they have to fire to pay for it?
(And of course the ASSPress had to spell it "busines.")
How many will they have to fire to pay for it?
(And of course the ASSPress had to spell it "busines.")
Alas, the loony left's favorite dictator may not be recovering that fast.
"We are optimistic, and happy," he said. "The only ones who are sad are our enemies, who were all prepared to celebrate (his death)."
We may have reasons.
"We are optimistic, and happy," he said. "The only ones who are sad are our enemies, who were all prepared to celebrate (his death)."
We may have reasons.
Annoying: We laugh at the COMIC GENIUS OF THE AGES and then conjure storm clouds over our heads beholding Penn's dimwit president smiling vacantly at a Halloween party next to a student dressed as a suicide bomber.
Yes the stunt was stupid and distasteful, but why is it so many people can turn their sense of humor on and off, especially if dollar signs are present?
Yes the stunt was stupid and distasteful, but why is it so many people can turn their sense of humor on and off, especially if dollar signs are present?
Excellent: The British government may have to cough up an extra £1 billion ($1.9 billion at current exchange rates) to pay for the GE BANCORP AND REALTY GAMES!
The world's oldest adolescent says the Games will be "stupendous and positive." So will the cost for all those white elephants.
The world's oldest adolescent says the Games will be "stupendous and positive." So will the cost for all those white elephants.
HOW THE GOP SPUN JOHN KERRY'S FAILED JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And as we all know, the GOP LIED about what he said. What the Senator ACTUALLY said was:
"Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."
Yes, that is what Sen. Hein-TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ said. I think somebody's auditioning for CNN!!!!! Why does every last damnable pundit right and left want to stare at himself on TV?
And as we all know, the GOP LIED about what he said. What the Senator ACTUALLY said was:
"Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."
Yes, that is what Sen. Hein-TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ said. I think somebody's auditioning for CNN!!!!! Why does every last damnable pundit right and left want to stare at himself on TV?
"ANOTHER BLACK DAY FOR THE ENEMIES OF ISLAM!!!!!!!!!!"
Another slimeball in jail.
Sorry Princie, your money's tainted.
Another slimeball in jail.
Sorry Princie, your money's tainted.
Bugmeister's getting into the hotel biz?
This lends itself so well to jokes and I can't make any up.
He's investing with the Saudi Prince Alwaleed, and:
Gates and Alwaleed have been collaborating for at least two years. After attending a dinner [SIC] at Gates' Bellevue, Washington home in early 2004, Alwaleed agreed to explore ways of assisting Microsoft's expansion in Saudi Arabia, according to a report from the Saudi state SPA news agency archived on Saudinf.com.
The two billionaires also agreed to jointly support ``selected humanitarian projects in Saudi Arabia,'' according to the report.
Yes, this definitely lends itself to jokes -- the kind in which we're the punchline.
And how soon we forget -- this is the $10 million gift guy.
This lends itself so well to jokes and I can't make any up.
He's investing with the Saudi Prince Alwaleed, and:
Gates and Alwaleed have been collaborating for at least two years. After attending a dinner [SIC] at Gates' Bellevue, Washington home in early 2004, Alwaleed agreed to explore ways of assisting Microsoft's expansion in Saudi Arabia, according to a report from the Saudi state SPA news agency archived on Saudinf.com.
The two billionaires also agreed to jointly support ``selected humanitarian projects in Saudi Arabia,'' according to the report.
Yes, this definitely lends itself to jokes -- the kind in which we're the punchline.
And how soon we forget -- this is the $10 million gift guy.
G000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000GLENEWS Juxtaposition of the Day:
UPDATE 1-'Borat' vanquishes rivals in box office stunner
Reuters - all 424 news articles »
Hot Air Spells Death for Head Lice
Forbes - all 79 news articles »
UPDATE 1-'Borat' vanquishes rivals in box office stunner
Reuters - all 424 news articles »
Hot Air Spells Death for Head Lice
Forbes - all 79 news articles »
GE BANCORP AND REALTY will stream its GAMES live on the Web!
This is an admission of three problems: time zones, tape and synchronized swimming.
This is an admission of three problems: time zones, tape and synchronized swimming.
There was a swing "revival". That didn't last. Then came a burlesque "revival". That didn't last. Now comes a bluegrass "revival". These things don't last because the originals were indigenous, and they bloomed for a purpose, and they were integral to the culture, and they were popular. These revivals largely serve nothing more than half-baked nostalgia, and they're often too gimmicked up to be real, and unlike the originals they never get beyond the cult phase. And they're all the more painful because they remind us of the age of GENIUS we live in.
(Via the usual ArtsJournal)
(Via the usual ArtsJournal)
For a second last week we detected flickers of life in Effete Edelstein's mind when he refused to join the 96% in RottenTomatoes (albeit because he's squeamish), but now it goes back to sleep:
Thank god [SIC]—or, rather, a select few production entities—for the flood of documentaries that illuminate, at least for a sliver of the public, the misbegotten, tragic, and very likely criminal occupation of Iraq.
Did I just write that? There goes my career in country music.
Your career as a movie ad-blurbist went a long time ago.
Thank god [SIC]—or, rather, a select few production entities—for the flood of documentaries that illuminate, at least for a sliver of the public, the misbegotten, tragic, and very likely criminal occupation of Iraq.
Did I just write that? There goes my career in country music.
Your career as a movie ad-blurbist went a long time ago.
The Paper of Re-CORD's official movie publicist Laura moans over all the labor unrest in the biz, and for a moment she waxes philosophical:
Recently Mr. Ratner, the director, was driving down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when he noticed a going-out-of-business sign at Tower Records, the music retailer that once thrived on selling the music of superstars like Prince, Elton John and Madonna. Many here, like him, fear that the problems that plagued the music business are heading their way.
“What happens if the film business is not ahead of the curve?” he asked. “What is going to happen to me? To all of us?”
If your industry put out anything vaguely close to what it did at its best, decades ago, we might pull for you. But because you disgorge the artistic equivalent of the Cuyahoga River on fire we wish you nothing but the WORST.
P. S. LALA is wildly cheering for a flood of imitations of guess what -- and for possibly the first time in years PAUL DRECK opens his mouth and (unwittingly) speaks the truth: "'Candid Camera' on steroids." This is the masterpiece of our time. Thank you again, ad-blurbists!
Recently Mr. Ratner, the director, was driving down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when he noticed a going-out-of-business sign at Tower Records, the music retailer that once thrived on selling the music of superstars like Prince, Elton John and Madonna. Many here, like him, fear that the problems that plagued the music business are heading their way.
“What happens if the film business is not ahead of the curve?” he asked. “What is going to happen to me? To all of us?”
If your industry put out anything vaguely close to what it did at its best, decades ago, we might pull for you. But because you disgorge the artistic equivalent of the Cuyahoga River on fire we wish you nothing but the WORST.
P. S. LALA is wildly cheering for a flood of imitations of guess what -- and for possibly the first time in years PAUL DRECK opens his mouth and (unwittingly) speaks the truth: "'Candid Camera' on steroids." This is the masterpiece of our time. Thank you again, ad-blurbists!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL Republicans use -- telemarketing!
PINCH! Maybe we could get NANCY to pass a REPUBLICAN DO-NOT-CALL LAW!
Has anyone thought that because so many businessmen are Babbitts, and because so many Babbitts are Republicans, this gives them an edge?
PINCH! Maybe we could get NANCY to pass a REPUBLICAN DO-NOT-CALL LAW!
Has anyone thought that because so many businessmen are Babbitts, and because so many Babbitts are Republicans, this gives them an edge?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Speaking of overrated comic novelists:
I seem to be digging myself in deeper. I hereby take back everything I have said so far. It’s a disgusting, horrid, loathsome book. Miller should be ashamed. No — he should be executed. I issue a fatwa.
Normally, a reviewer quotes from the book. However, since there are very few sentences in these 321 pages that don’t contain an obscenity or moral atrocity, we will not be quoting extensively from the text. The more’s the pity, because Miller is a genuinely witty writer.
Sorry, I left my sense of humor at NYTIMES.COM. I must admit people like BILL BUCKLEYSON get me angry because I couldn't get published if I paid for it with a pound of my own flesh, and BILL BUCKLEYSON and his ilk can (and do) run anything, and get bootlicking raves.
Why do I continue blogging if all it gets me is five hits and angry?
I seem to be digging myself in deeper. I hereby take back everything I have said so far. It’s a disgusting, horrid, loathsome book. Miller should be ashamed. No — he should be executed. I issue a fatwa.
Normally, a reviewer quotes from the book. However, since there are very few sentences in these 321 pages that don’t contain an obscenity or moral atrocity, we will not be quoting extensively from the text. The more’s the pity, because Miller is a genuinely witty writer.
Sorry, I left my sense of humor at NYTIMES.COM. I must admit people like BILL BUCKLEYSON get me angry because I couldn't get published if I paid for it with a pound of my own flesh, and BILL BUCKLEYSON and his ilk can (and do) run anything, and get bootlicking raves.
Why do I continue blogging if all it gets me is five hits and angry?
Even as idiot hacks regaled us in THE GREATEST COMEDY OF ALL TIME, the Bloomy (!) was somehow able to report that multinational corporations bought materials made by slave labor.
Guess which story got 30 Google News links -- and which story got 3,510.
Guess which story got 30 Google News links -- and which story got 3,510.
You can't keep a good man -- down:
After his TD, Owens dropped to ground [sic] and rested his head on the football - likely a reference to his acknowledgment that he falls asleep during team meetings - and drew a 15-yard penalty from the officials and an angry scream from Parcells.
Go, T. O.!
I guess Canadians are no longer searching for the Carter of Sitcomdom, so it's back to three hits a day. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYBODY OUT THERE?!?!?
We smile because Carl Hiaasen may someday be known solely as the twit who inflicted ERAGON on us, and who provided The Bionic Woman with new BREASTS; that notwithstanding, this sales pitch for his latest book is the kind of gargantuan logrolling that usually means the opposite of what it says. For years people called Robert Benchley funny. Then they called S. J. Perelman funny. Then they called James Thurber funny. With rare exceptions (mostly Thurber's) they aren't funny anymore. And how many comic novelists live in posterity's ditch? The prolific Peter De Vries was once celebrated as a fun-NY comic novelist -- all of TWO of his books are in print, only one a comic novel. No, to our thinking, Carl Hiaasen is the twit who inflicted ERAGON on us, and provided The Bionic Woman with new BREASTS.
Tennessee starting running back Arian Foster and two other players were arrested early Sunday after police were called to a fight at a nightclub.
With professional college football players what's the difference between on and off the field?
With professional college football players what's the difference between on and off the field?
Poor PAUL DRECK must have laryngitis, but we wonder about his epochal B. O. triumph. It's as if every week the same pool of stupid blind teens gathers to make a number one hit, usually godawful horror movies. We should not be surprised if the relatively stable performance of teen-oriented garbage owes to high-school clannishness and youth's numbing conformity (not to mention that many of the popcorn restaurants are in malls, traditional delinquents' hangouts); everyone HAS to see whatever the piece of junk of the moment is -- and this week the piece of junk was THE GREATEST COMEDY OF ALL TIME.
We have said this before too: DICK SCHICK said seven years ago the movies are no longer a mass medium. Take stupid teens out of the equation you've taken out a third of your audience; take out the prefab stupid computer animations and "family" gross-out flicks and there's a good chunk more. How many go to see a movie for reasons beside peer pressure and humoring their kids?
We must congratulate one of the true Lex Luthors of our time, RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Opening at 800 "screens" was better than opening at 2,000. We're now suspecting He did this on purpose. Indeed given show-biz' veracity we question the definition of "screen." Whether His brilliant move will look so brilliant next week remains to be seen.
And thank YOU, David "Non" Germain -- we now know what that DIMWIT Michael Sragow had in mind when he wrote of "ADVERTISING."
We have said this before too: DICK SCHICK said seven years ago the movies are no longer a mass medium. Take stupid teens out of the equation you've taken out a third of your audience; take out the prefab stupid computer animations and "family" gross-out flicks and there's a good chunk more. How many go to see a movie for reasons beside peer pressure and humoring their kids?
We must congratulate one of the true Lex Luthors of our time, RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Opening at 800 "screens" was better than opening at 2,000. We're now suspecting He did this on purpose. Indeed given show-biz' veracity we question the definition of "screen." Whether His brilliant move will look so brilliant next week remains to be seen.
And thank YOU, David "Non" Germain -- we now know what that DIMWIT Michael Sragow had in mind when he wrote of "ADVERTISING."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Polls see Republicans keeping Senate control
Polls see Republicans keeping Senate control
The LALATIMES sent its whole staff plus reserves to run plugs for upcoming movies. (This is -- typical.) Ask any of them and they wouldn't have the foggiest idea why TRIB is selling itself piecemeal. Must be the DO-NOT-CALL LAW -- or FREEBIES.
David Geffen may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Have any more Jackson Pollocks to monetize?
David Geffen may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Have any more Jackson Pollocks to monetize?
An election is coming up, and pundits, commentators and assorted pooh-bahs are full of predictions.
"Expert Political Judgment," a recent book by University of California psychologist Philip Tetlock, suggests that we shouldn't be too impressed by these predictions. With some exceptions, they're not much better than those generated by a good pair of dice.
So why do you infernal HACKS keep PUMMELING us with your BLANKETY-BLANK PREDICTIONS?
"Expert Political Judgment," a recent book by University of California psychologist Philip Tetlock, suggests that we shouldn't be too impressed by these predictions. With some exceptions, they're not much better than those generated by a good pair of dice.
So why do you infernal HACKS keep PUMMELING us with your BLANKETY-BLANK PREDICTIONS?
The Bush administration claim that North Korea cheated or reneged on a 1994 agreement with the U.S. to freeze its nuclear program is ``completely false and ridiculous,'' former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said.
Who needs Sen. HEIN-TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ when we have JIMMAH!
Who needs Sen. HEIN-TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ when we have JIMMAH!
Hmmm:
Cruise/Wagner will have to co-finance movies - with budgets ranging from $40 million to $60 million - with their own money or by raising it through third-party investors.
"They're looking for fool's money," said one source. "MGM will put up seed money in the hopes of luring the bulk of the financing out of a dumb financial player before they realize just how risky it is to pour money into movies."
We don't like anonymous sources -- but could this source be right?
P. S.
...Snyder's net worth runs into the billions of dollars....
You sure?
Cruise/Wagner will have to co-finance movies - with budgets ranging from $40 million to $60 million - with their own money or by raising it through third-party investors.
"They're looking for fool's money," said one source. "MGM will put up seed money in the hopes of luring the bulk of the financing out of a dumb financial player before they realize just how risky it is to pour money into movies."
We don't like anonymous sources -- but could this source be right?
P. S.
...Snyder's net worth runs into the billions of dollars....
You sure?
Bob Bruette now knows who’s charged with destroying nearly $300,000 worth of construction equipment and dealing a blow that staggered his company for weeks.
And it makes him sick to his stomach.
Sick because the alleged perpetrators are three young men who, after a night of partying, thought the destruction was funny. Sick because those three men each face up to 39 years in prison if convicted. And, perhaps more than anything, sick because he was forced to lay off six of his 10 workers.
“They went from bringing home a $1,500 weekly paycheck to trying to pay bills on $290 worth of unemployment checks,” he said.
Hey SUMNER! Maybe you should sign 'em to a contract anyway!
And it makes him sick to his stomach.
Sick because the alleged perpetrators are three young men who, after a night of partying, thought the destruction was funny. Sick because those three men each face up to 39 years in prison if convicted. And, perhaps more than anything, sick because he was forced to lay off six of his 10 workers.
“They went from bringing home a $1,500 weekly paycheck to trying to pay bills on $290 worth of unemployment checks,” he said.
Hey SUMNER! Maybe you should sign 'em to a contract anyway!
But my favorite method of gauging the vitality of India's publishing industry is to weigh it. That's what I did with the October issue of the local edition of Cosmopolitan. At 1,016 pages it landed with a solid thunk on my desk, evoking a mixture of shock and curiosity. Shock that anyone would need a thousand pages-plus of sex advice, fashion and beauty tips; and curiosity as to the secret of Cosmo's success given the struggle so many publishers in America face over declining readership and fickle ad sales. The verdict? October's Cosmo weighed a hefty 4.95 lbs.
"It's a sunrise moment for Indian publishing," says Mala Sekhri, publishing director of Cosmopolitan India and the brains behind the 10th anniversary issue — the biggest of any Cosmo edition anywhere ever. "It's really not as developed or evolved as the U.S. or U.K. But it's growing fast." Sekhri got the idea for a 1,000-page edition when she visited Cosmopolitan's New York headquarters two years ago. "The Russian edition had just put out an issue around 850 pages," she remembers. "I told them: India will soon catch up."
Psst! King Richard! Maybe we should buy HEARST, n'est-ce pas?
"It's a sunrise moment for Indian publishing," says Mala Sekhri, publishing director of Cosmopolitan India and the brains behind the 10th anniversary issue — the biggest of any Cosmo edition anywhere ever. "It's really not as developed or evolved as the U.S. or U.K. But it's growing fast." Sekhri got the idea for a 1,000-page edition when she visited Cosmopolitan's New York headquarters two years ago. "The Russian edition had just put out an issue around 850 pages," she remembers. "I told them: India will soon catch up."
Psst! King Richard! Maybe we should buy HEARST, n'est-ce pas?
On the surface, Barack Obama seems like a solid, reassuring figure. But as we know too well most politicians these days are nothing but surface -- scratch it and you risk a scalding expulsion of hot air, or a mass escape of slugs. Yes, Barack seems like a decent person, but he can't run for president solely on personal decency, and when we learn of the real person beneath the surface (ADA 2005 rating: 100; ACU 2005 rating: 8) we're apt to be let down again.
If a newsrag really wants to curry favor with its readers, why not, instead of running leading articles or the usual fake pabulum we expect of them, run stories that get few column inches here, for the international editions, where the chances of reader-rending bias are smaller -- stories like the still-smoldering French riots? If I edited a newsrag that's what I do -- and to the extreme displeasure of my bosses I would NEVER run cover show-biz plugs; such ads raise suspicions enough.
An e-mail I'd like to send out before day's end:
Dear Ms. Howell:
Is an ombudsman’s purpose merely to excuse mistakes and excesses after they happen – to provide a kind of intellectual fig leaf? And if an ombudsman is always apologizing for her paper’s mistakes and excesses but the paper goes on committing them, what’s the point of her job?
You well-paid hacks speak for yourselves – really, you do that too well. Who speaks for me?
Yours,
[Eugene David]
Dear Ms. Howell:
Is an ombudsman’s purpose merely to excuse mistakes and excesses after they happen – to provide a kind of intellectual fig leaf? And if an ombudsman is always apologizing for her paper’s mistakes and excesses but the paper goes on committing them, what’s the point of her job?
You well-paid hacks speak for yourselves – really, you do that too well. Who speaks for me?
Yours,
[Eugene David]
A publication which is 18-percent owned by THE LORD GOD tackles whose side Jesus should be on. We can be sure we know -- but just so our readers don't take it too personally, JonBoy has one of those annoying all-purpose last grafs that fool no one:
In the East Room of the White House on the National Day of Prayer in 2005—an event organized by Dobson's wife, Shirley—President Bush told an old story about Abraham Lincoln. A minister once remarked to Lincoln that he hoped God was on the president's side. No, Lincoln replied, that wasn't quite right: it was Lincoln's job to make sure he was on the Lord's side, for "the Lord was always on the side of the right." In the wars of our own time, we can hope, too, that we will end up on that side, whether we come from the right, the left or somewhere in between.
First off, who needs "God" when we have GOD -- or more to the point, ourselves? Second, because news hacks are true believers of a different sort, aren't those who believe in THEIR Nazi reactionary "God" somehow -- well, smaller in "His" eyes? Third -- and we've gotten so we must say this every time we encounter religion in the news -- when the hacks mention "God" with the usual gassy pieties (and the quotation marks merely reflect their beliefs) we know they haven't been inside a church other than to "report", and moreover, they're pulling the usual fake Our Town routine, to show their non-existent allegiance to the PEE-pul they despise in the highly exclusive shelter of the luxury news suites.
Meantime JonBoy pulls another ANNIE. He obviously thinks his readers either don't have computers, or they can't read. For our editions it's the banal "The Politics of Jesus." For the international editions it's "AMERICA'S GOD COMPLEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) These jerks' contempt for their readers is DEPTHLESS.
In the East Room of the White House on the National Day of Prayer in 2005—an event organized by Dobson's wife, Shirley—President Bush told an old story about Abraham Lincoln. A minister once remarked to Lincoln that he hoped God was on the president's side. No, Lincoln replied, that wasn't quite right: it was Lincoln's job to make sure he was on the Lord's side, for "the Lord was always on the side of the right." In the wars of our own time, we can hope, too, that we will end up on that side, whether we come from the right, the left or somewhere in between.
First off, who needs "God" when we have GOD -- or more to the point, ourselves? Second, because news hacks are true believers of a different sort, aren't those who believe in THEIR Nazi reactionary "God" somehow -- well, smaller in "His" eyes? Third -- and we've gotten so we must say this every time we encounter religion in the news -- when the hacks mention "God" with the usual gassy pieties (and the quotation marks merely reflect their beliefs) we know they haven't been inside a church other than to "report", and moreover, they're pulling the usual fake Our Town routine, to show their non-existent allegiance to the PEE-pul they despise in the highly exclusive shelter of the luxury news suites.
Meantime JonBoy pulls another ANNIE. He obviously thinks his readers either don't have computers, or they can't read. For our editions it's the banal "The Politics of Jesus." For the international editions it's "AMERICA'S GOD COMPLEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) These jerks' contempt for their readers is DEPTHLESS.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Bob Barker, a host who projects cool control and avuncular warmth at once, is now in his 83rd year on Earth, and his 35th presiding over this twinkling heaven.
Translation: Stale.com can make ANYONE sound pretentious.
Translation: Stale.com can make ANYONE sound pretentious.
America seems to be having a collective nervous breakdown. Is our vaunted interconnectedness to blame? Here's more circular behavior: We must follow every last bit of trivia on the Web, and when we're angry enough we type about it, thinking we can influence the uninfluenceable, and when nothing changes we type more, and get angrier. In some ways a computer is worse than a TV because where TV is a mere pacifier, a computer ties an interactive rope around you -- and it.
The time may soon come when we'll be as moved to throw our computers out the windows as we are our TVs.
The time may soon come when we'll be as moved to throw our computers out the windows as we are our TVs.
If I were a chief news hack I'd do the undoable -- ban public-opinion polls and reporting thereon. They create a circular story: news hacks commission polls, then report on the reactions, then do follow-up polling, then more reactions, then on and on into infinity. Indeed the whole point of the public-opinion gag is to influence elections. No one can calculate the space and time such cat's-tail chasing takes away from the alleged public service news hacks say they provide. But because this Moebius strip of reporting has itself become a story, what "responsible" news organization can ignore it?
I HATE NEWS HACKS!
I HATE NEWS HACKS!
RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'S comedian is fearless. All America's ad-blurbists say so. (Such courageous conformity!) We wonder how courageous someone is who's praised by a class that spends so much time hiding under its desks. We know this: Sacha is very bright, and he thinks publicity all the time. He'll never mock M-----ms.
Which reminds us: as RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s news net continues in free fall we should ultimately get -- this:
FOX News apologizes to (fill in the blank) for (fill in the blank). It was not our intent to make light of (fill in the blank)'s creed. Despite a few militants who would pervert it for their own purposes, Islam is a religion of peace. We further apologize to those who may have been offended by our reporting, and we promise never to do it again.
REMEMBER CHARLIE CHAN.
Which reminds us: as RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s news net continues in free fall we should ultimately get -- this:
FOX News apologizes to (fill in the blank) for (fill in the blank). It was not our intent to make light of (fill in the blank)'s creed. Despite a few militants who would pervert it for their own purposes, Islam is a religion of peace. We further apologize to those who may have been offended by our reporting, and we promise never to do it again.
REMEMBER CHARLIE CHAN.
Today walking past 19th and Chestnut I noticed another Starbucks about to come in where an independent eatery was, and I thought, who can explain its good rep? Why do I think this twee Mickey Ds, for all its cleverly manufactured aura as a "quirky" peace-and-love place, is every bit as ruthless as Wal-Mart? How many thousands of small businesses has it deep-sixed? The tragedy of Whole Foods (pffh-hh-hh) gives us hope. People can't go on overpaying forever. When will somebody wake up and smell the odor of Starbucks?
Noting those heady days of double-digit same-store sales growth, analyst Mark Husson of HSBC Securities said the "party is over for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever, as competition is reeling Whole Foods in."
Husson said its fresh food items are good, but "not that much better than, say, Safeway's."
When?
Noting those heady days of double-digit same-store sales growth, analyst Mark Husson of HSBC Securities said the "party is over for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever, as competition is reeling Whole Foods in."
Husson said its fresh food items are good, but "not that much better than, say, Safeway's."
When?
The hacks will be insufferable all weekend because their movie is a SUPERDUPERMEGASMASH, but look further down the list: junk that was regularly able to lure the suckers no longer does so. Third-rate "family" movies, the umpteenth replication of Toy Story -- these gimmicks won't work. Yes, media types will crow over their success -- and they may just as soon have to eat it.
Despite this epochal triumph B. O. could still be down double-digits for the weekend -- the first of eight straight bad comparisons that might deflate the media types' egos, a little.
P. S. DIMWIT:
Obviously, buzz has never been foolproof (and with media journalism and movies, you've got to emphasize the "fool" in foolproof) [What can that mean? That we media-consuming peons are fools?], but it's become so pervasive that when a creation built on buzz fails, such as "Snakes on a Plane," Hollywood is shocked. Movie-lovers, though, should be overjoyed: It's a sign of audiences declaring their freedom from advertising, and from "soft" feature-writing that might as well be advertising. [Emphasis added]
When will the hacks stop making excuses for themselves so they can go on doing as they please?
Despite this epochal triumph B. O. could still be down double-digits for the weekend -- the first of eight straight bad comparisons that might deflate the media types' egos, a little.
P. S. DIMWIT:
Obviously, buzz has never been foolproof (and with media journalism and movies, you've got to emphasize the "fool" in foolproof) [What can that mean? That we media-consuming peons are fools?], but it's become so pervasive that when a creation built on buzz fails, such as "Snakes on a Plane," Hollywood is shocked. Movie-lovers, though, should be overjoyed: It's a sign of audiences declaring their freedom from advertising, and from "soft" feature-writing that might as well be advertising. [Emphasis added]
When will the hacks stop making excuses for themselves so they can go on doing as they please?
And in other news of greed:
$50 Billion Was Bid for Vivendi
You figure KKR must have found a lot of suckers willing to pay for a broken-down record company. Or maybe the principals were being nostalgic.
Fortunately the deal appears not to have gone through, saving quite a few people quite a bit of money.
$50 Billion Was Bid for Vivendi
You figure KKR must have found a lot of suckers willing to pay for a broken-down record company. Or maybe the principals were being nostalgic.
Fortunately the deal appears not to have gone through, saving quite a few people quite a bit of money.
Friday, November 03, 2006
The latest crusading, truth-telling news from the BILAL-inspired ASSociated Press:
`Grey's Anatomy' Plot Developments
`Grey's Anatomy' Plot Developments
So con-SER-va-tives haven't said anything about this hypocritical preacher. Just one problem: when we get into he-said-she-said we run out of our supply of tar and feathers -- or rather, this is like a slut accusing another slut of being a virgin. There is a manifest cluelessness to pundits of all stripes: they think they can say something and it won't hurt them. Don't these clowns know what GOOGLE is?
For a start, his work is instantly recognisable in a culture that sets high store by the brand. It almost symbolises its era: those groundbreaking years when American culture confronted the tenets of Western tradition headlong. Pollock replaced brush and palette and all premeditation with an impetuous process of swinging and pouring and spattering and dripping.
His canvas was less a construction than an arena of action. What unfurled on the long bolts of cotton rolled out across his studio floor was less a portrayal of intention than an improvisation, a spontaneous record of some spur of the moment dance.
TRANSLATION: 1. The difference between my paint splatterings and Jackson's is that Jackson's are worth $140 million; and 2. Art "critics" see things.
Who knew RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was such an art lover? Or does he have a few Jacksons in his basement?
His canvas was less a construction than an arena of action. What unfurled on the long bolts of cotton rolled out across his studio floor was less a portrayal of intention than an improvisation, a spontaneous record of some spur of the moment dance.
TRANSLATION: 1. The difference between my paint splatterings and Jackson's is that Jackson's are worth $140 million; and 2. Art "critics" see things.
Who knew RUPERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was such an art lover? Or does he have a few Jacksons in his basement?
Words for Gray-DON's tombstone:
"Vanity Fair doesn't do anything that upsets a publicist — ever."
(Via Romy)
"Vanity Fair doesn't do anything that upsets a publicist — ever."
(Via Romy)
If the hacks and the media buyers and the "hard-core" are so hot for EINSTEIN let them PAY for it -- via the Web, or HBO. (The TWXSTERS produce it; they could easily transfer it to THE GREATEST NETWORK IN HISTORY -- and I wouldn't be surprised if they do.) It is also wrong that the cri-TICS uniformly loved it; a number panned it for its preachiness, one reason maybe this is now a cause celebre within a tiny hermetically-sealed portion of the media biz.
So much for Philips Phree Phridays. Why do the Journals bother posting anything?
(Via MediaBistro)
So much for Philips Phree Phridays. Why do the Journals bother posting anything?
(Via MediaBistro)
We don't know what to make of the Microsoft-Novell Linux deal. Is it a demonstration of the Bugmeister's technology limits? Is it co-optation?
Is it oil and water?
Is it oil and water?
The latest cracked pottery among deep thinkers: an earth without homo sapiens.
Okay Bob, you proposed it. You first.
Okay Bob, you proposed it. You first.
A courageous artiste pulls a J'ACCUSE:
Rap star Kanye West was named Best Hip Hop artist but still came off as a sore loser at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Kanye apparently was so disappointed at not winning for Best Video that he crashed the stage Thursday in Copenhagen when the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends."
In a tirade riddled with expletives, Kanye said he should have won the prize for his video "Touch The Sky," because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons."
"If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility," Kanye said.
Now if only this had happened here SUMNER would dance a jig and THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF WILLFULLY IGNORANT ADVERTISERS would be knocking on said artiste's door.
Rap star Kanye West was named Best Hip Hop artist but still came off as a sore loser at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Kanye apparently was so disappointed at not winning for Best Video that he crashed the stage Thursday in Copenhagen when the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends."
In a tirade riddled with expletives, Kanye said he should have won the prize for his video "Touch The Sky," because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons."
"If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility," Kanye said.
Now if only this had happened here SUMNER would dance a jig and THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF WILLFULLY IGNORANT ADVERTISERS would be knocking on said artiste's door.
SIX OF ONE: Our Congresspoops may not have had the right idea by making military recruiting mandatory using the Every Child a Dilbert Act; it has the faint whiff of telemarketing before the Do-Not-Call Law. That said, all these parents and kids turning down the recruiters has the faint whiff of PC, and more than a little cowardice.
News hacks were all over Wal-Mart for not being "hip". So what happens? It tries to be "hip" -- and this hack is all over it for losing sales.
Don't pick a fight with people who buy their ink by the barrel.
P. S. We're troubled too that department stores are "back", meaning hundreds more boxes for people who don't need them, and not a dime's worth of investment for those who do.
Don't pick a fight with people who buy their ink by the barrel.
P. S. We're troubled too that department stores are "back", meaning hundreds more boxes for people who don't need them, and not a dime's worth of investment for those who do.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Many in the world would welcome a Republican defeat next week. (Home-page squib)
We KNOW, we KNOW -- and the WaPOST has had a POPULATION EXPLOSION.
We KNOW, we KNOW -- and the WaPOST has had a POPULATION EXPLOSION.
The future of England...
1,500 immigrants arrive in Britain daily, report says
...is somewhere else.
Oddly, most of the newcomers are Romanians and Bulgarians, but we've no doubt a gaggle of M-----ms is in the mix.
1,500 immigrants arrive in Britain daily, report says
...is somewhere else.
Oddly, most of the newcomers are Romanians and Bulgarians, but we've no doubt a gaggle of M-----ms is in the mix.
Actor Tom Cruise to Run MGM's United Artists Studio
This is sheer PR buncombe. UA (which is "MGM"'s REAL name) brings a declining star and a little money to "invest" in a moribund marque, which will no doubt produce a couple of duds before the ruse dissolves in acrimony.
Meantime the company's "franchise" is having trouble enough with BOND? James -- BOND?
P. S. at 6: 25 p. m. The hacks are taking this story EXTREMELY seriously. If the scribblers never before proved they're full of it, they have now.
This is sheer PR buncombe. UA (which is "MGM"'s REAL name) brings a declining star and a little money to "invest" in a moribund marque, which will no doubt produce a couple of duds before the ruse dissolves in acrimony.
Meantime the company's "franchise" is having trouble enough with BOND? James -- BOND?
P. S. at 6: 25 p. m. The hacks are taking this story EXTREMELY seriously. If the scribblers never before proved they're full of it, they have now.
ROMY is EXCITED because HHHWWWALTER CRRRONKITE JR.'S UP 67 PERCENT!!!!!!!!!!
To an average of 637,000. His mortal enemy (and ours) the NO-SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN ZONE has 2.1 million. If we add these two blockheads together that means 297 MILLION DON'T WATCH THEM -- yet they seem to command attention in vast multiples to their audiences. Or do they merely scream a lot?
To an average of 637,000. His mortal enemy (and ours) the NO-SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN ZONE has 2.1 million. If we add these two blockheads together that means 297 MILLION DON'T WATCH THEM -- yet they seem to command attention in vast multiples to their audiences. Or do they merely scream a lot?
Caro kept an online cat diary for six months and hooked up her cats with about 50 friends each. "At that point, I thought, 'Who cares?' " she said. "Who cares if my cats have friends?"
Has "social networking" gone a little too far?
Has "social networking" gone a little too far?
David Geffen is an exceptionally astute businessman. He allegedly just sold some Jackson Pollock splatter to a "Mexican financier" for $140 million. Nice going for a messy paint job!
But then what happens? He may use the money to buy the LALATIMES?!?!? A subscription would be cheaper.
(Via ArtsJournal)
But then what happens? He may use the money to buy the LALATIMES?!?!? A subscription would be cheaper.
(Via ArtsJournal)
"Here is someone who has brought you pictures, images from a critical part of Iraq, who has now been in U.S. military custody for six and a half months, not charged with a crime, not charged with anything, but told he will be held indefinitely because HIS PICTURES ARE UNWELCOME!!!!!!!!!!" [Overemphasis added]
Perhaps more than his pictures are unwelcome.
"We are not saying release the guy. We are saying release him if you are not going to charge him."
Cle-VER phrasing by the ASSociated Press's executive editor. We're not saying release the guy but we're saying release him. The Pentagon does itself no favors with its top-secret excuses. But the ASSPress does itself no favors by all but proclaiming this guy a political prisoner.
Perhaps more than his pictures are unwelcome.
"We are not saying release the guy. We are saying release him if you are not going to charge him."
Cle-VER phrasing by the ASSociated Press's executive editor. We're not saying release the guy but we're saying release him. The Pentagon does itself no favors with its top-secret excuses. But the ASSPress does itself no favors by all but proclaiming this guy a political prisoner.
People who would not find themselves caught dead in a church (even at their own funeral?) will hallelujah no end as our national chapter of the British Vicarage and Tea-Time Club appoints a woman executive director. Whether this has anything to do with God or not is another matter.
She hopes to concentrate on winning the young back to the church, citing Bronx musician Timothy Holder's "hip-hop Mass" and a Eucharist ceremony based on music by the pop group U2 as examples.
God? What's God? Is that the second coming of John Lennon or something?
"I imagine we will start by greeting each other and learning about each others' contexts," she said. "Unless we can build some kind of human relationship, it's very difficult to build the trust necessary for real dialogue...."
With this kind of mumbo-jumbo she could do PR for one of those CEOs who golfs all the time.
She hopes to concentrate on winning the young back to the church, citing Bronx musician Timothy Holder's "hip-hop Mass" and a Eucharist ceremony based on music by the pop group U2 as examples.
God? What's God? Is that the second coming of John Lennon or something?
"I imagine we will start by greeting each other and learning about each others' contexts," she said. "Unless we can build some kind of human relationship, it's very difficult to build the trust necessary for real dialogue...."
With this kind of mumbo-jumbo she could do PR for one of those CEOs who golfs all the time.
Pat yourself on the back, Hugh:
When unique visitors to HughHewitt.com crashes through 125,000 on a single day, I know the public is engaged.
Compared to which newspaper sites, Hugh?
When unique visitors to HughHewitt.com crashes through 125,000 on a single day, I know the public is engaged.
Compared to which newspaper sites, Hugh?
Shucks, I guess we hacks can't fool the public ALL the time:
Voters said neither Democrats nor Republicans had offered a plan for governing should they win on Tuesday, the poll found. [NINTH graf]
They also expect the Dems to get us to cut-and-run from Iraq. Be careful what you wish for....
Voters said neither Democrats nor Republicans had offered a plan for governing should they win on Tuesday, the poll found. [NINTH graf]
They also expect the Dems to get us to cut-and-run from Iraq. Be careful what you wish for....
OH oh, Little Jeffy doesn't like the "ANALOG" biz anymore! He doesn't like that his stock price has gone nowhere in five years!
"This is a very important business for GE, a very important business," Immelt said. "A business we will stay in, a business that we've been good at and that we need to continue to be good at when I look at the future of where the company is going and where we have to be."
Wave bye-bye to TV, Little Jeffy!
"This is a very important business for GE, a very important business," Immelt said. "A business we will stay in, a business that we've been good at and that we need to continue to be good at when I look at the future of where the company is going and where we have to be."
Wave bye-bye to TV, Little Jeffy!
How surprising: the same idiot CEOs who can cause such grief merely by flexing their egos, who will not stop boasting of their salaries and options and perks and privileges, "sometimes belong to three, four and five country clubs at once."
Golf is to the CEO what the fiddle was to Nero -- and Nero played it better.
Golf is to the CEO what the fiddle was to Nero -- and Nero played it better.
There is this notion that politics has left a legendary SKNNNNNNNNNNX-presided Valhalla of "civility" and saintliness for our own current hell. We forget that Andy Jackson's wife was viciously slandered; Jackson blamed her death on it. We forget the campaign of 1840, unprecedented in its dishonesty. We forget when Abe Lincoln was called an ape. We forget the 1884 election, of Grover Cleveland's illegitimate son and James G. Blaine's railroad dealings. More recently JFK was chastised solely for his religion. Yes, I'd like the tantrum throwers to shut up, but we mustn't forget Mr. Dooley's old saying, "politics ain't beanbag", even if the participants too often are.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Too true:
Regardless of who wins, it won't make much difference for most of our pressing problems. We won't have a major new budget policy, energy policy or immigration policy. The election might not even much affect the Iraq war.
In many ways, the election doesn't matter, and all the hoopla is an exercise in delusional hype.
I have just skimmed Msssssssssssss. Pelosi's Contract with America. It's a glorified PowerPoint exercise in evasion. In practical terms the Dems will do next to nothing with their power, confirming Mr. Samuelson's wise thesis. But it also mentions a "responsible redeployment" from Iraq, worrisome tap-dancing in words, and nowhere does it mention the kind of social-engineering lunacies that even now make the Democratic Party suspect, but without which it has no self-esteem, and which must always be its priorities.
Regardless of who wins, it won't make much difference for most of our pressing problems. We won't have a major new budget policy, energy policy or immigration policy. The election might not even much affect the Iraq war.
In many ways, the election doesn't matter, and all the hoopla is an exercise in delusional hype.
I have just skimmed Msssssssssssss. Pelosi's Contract with America. It's a glorified PowerPoint exercise in evasion. In practical terms the Dems will do next to nothing with their power, confirming Mr. Samuelson's wise thesis. But it also mentions a "responsible redeployment" from Iraq, worrisome tap-dancing in words, and nowhere does it mention the kind of social-engineering lunacies that even now make the Democratic Party suspect, but without which it has no self-esteem, and which must always be its priorities.
As the bizarre becomes commonplace, it loses its shock value, and we lose our humanity. God knows how many more slimeballs are out there molesting children, but our society gives them free reign with a wink, a nod, and a quick turn the other way. And don't anyone DARE to mention MORALS.
The holy cockroaches won't need nukes to subjugate us; we'll have done the job ourselves.
The holy cockroaches won't need nukes to subjugate us; we'll have done the job ourselves.
We wonder if the ASSociated Press was trying to pull the usual fast one by suggesting that Veep Big Oil could resign. (Naturally we will never have a transcript of the interview so we won't know whether the ASSociated Press reporter brought it up, or whether this is just cute writing.) We don't know what the purpose is, other than a cheap partisan shot -- Big Oil can join Spiro T. Agnew as a DISGRACED VEEP! We have no respect for a man who will become either a superlobbyist to end all superlobbyists or a Fixer to end all Fixers; but our respect for the press partisans ended a long time before that.
At what point does a news hack make too much money to be honest?
GREAT: a FILM version of SPEED RACER.
Hope springs eternal -- that PEOPLE WARNER can return to $10 a share, where it belongs.
Hope springs eternal -- that PEOPLE WARNER can return to $10 a share, where it belongs.
Marketers are already in a tug-of-war over China's top athletes. With multiple sponsors to please, Chinese track-and-field champion Liu Xiang is designing pins for Coca-Cola's Olympic promotion and racing a kangaroo in Australia in a Visa International spot by BBDO Shanghai, the first Olympic efforts by both those marketers. Mr. Liu also has deals with Nike, China Mobile and China's top dairy producer, Yili.
The CHINESE overcommercializing THE GE BANCORP GAMES?!?!?
Why not? They're a natural!
The CHINESE overcommercializing THE GE BANCORP GAMES?!?!?
Why not? They're a natural!
Of course, Bush/Limbaugh/Malkin will try to keep this story alive, but, with Kerry now sidelined, hopefully [SIC] the mainstream media will have the good sense to ignore them and move on to covering more important matters.
Like the latest racial slurs!
The modern Republican Party — definitely not the party of Dwight Eisenhower or even Ronald Reagan — had full control of the government for a mere four years before they overreached so far that the American public became disgusted by them. It took Democrats 50 years to do that. So, you know, congratulations on that. Apparently pandering to THE MOST EXTREME ELEMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and selling their soul to K Street turned out to be less popular than they thought. Imagine that. [Overemphasis added]
These two wonk-magazine superliberals have just proved they live across the street from THE CORNER. How DENSE.
Like the latest racial slurs!
The modern Republican Party — definitely not the party of Dwight Eisenhower or even Ronald Reagan — had full control of the government for a mere four years before they overreached so far that the American public became disgusted by them. It took Democrats 50 years to do that. So, you know, congratulations on that. Apparently pandering to THE MOST EXTREME ELEMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and selling their soul to K Street turned out to be less popular than they thought. Imagine that. [Overemphasis added]
These two wonk-magazine superliberals have just proved they live across the street from THE CORNER. How DENSE.
Erlichman said Streisand, 64, believed the skit was in good fun and noted impersonator Steve Bridges, who wrote it, is a Republican.
So THAT's why it stays in?
So THAT's why it stays in?
I've said before the principal purposes of the drug store chains are to clone themselves and shake down Medicare. That contemptible behemoth CVS now wants a huge chunk of the drug-benefits-middleman pie to itself, meaning with luck a financial scandal down the road to make Rong-Aid's look like an innocuous short-change at a kid's lemonade stand.
Caremark was built by Edwin Crawford, a former Auburn football player and an executive under Richard M. Scrushy, the former HealthSouth chief executive.
NUF SAID.
(Corrected at 3:00 p.m. I thought CVS was the biggest of the three drug stooges; it's no. 2 to the equally bloated Walgreen.)
Caremark was built by Edwin Crawford, a former Auburn football player and an executive under Richard M. Scrushy, the former HealthSouth chief executive.
NUF SAID.
(Corrected at 3:00 p.m. I thought CVS was the biggest of the three drug stooges; it's no. 2 to the equally bloated Walgreen.)
Specter of tax man haunts Democrats
If you switched shoes, or parties, or brains (scarcely conceivable as there may be none to switch), the Times would be just like the Post, and vice-versa. Before liberals ruled the news world the reactionaries did, and there's been little change through the years, except their gall has grown worse.
If you switched shoes, or parties, or brains (scarcely conceivable as there may be none to switch), the Times would be just like the Post, and vice-versa. Before liberals ruled the news world the reactionaries did, and there's been little change through the years, except their gall has grown worse.
“I’m always suspicious of clubs and councils,” Mr. Zakaria said. He added that he would be interested in participating in a media council “as long as the involvement was fairly minimal.”
Oh puh-leeze, Fareed, being named to this meaningless clique is just another way to let your inferiors the readers know you've arrived. It's something you can beat us in your daydreams with, much as the CEO brandishes his Super Bowl ducats. SHUT UP.
Oh puh-leeze, Fareed, being named to this meaningless clique is just another way to let your inferiors the readers know you've arrived. It's something you can beat us in your daydreams with, much as the CEO brandishes his Super Bowl ducats. SHUT UP.