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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Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Newsrag of the Zeitgeist spends 14 pages and 6,985 words to tell us we can't find you-know-who and haven't had a good lead in five years, so forgive us for thinking it's 14 pages and 6,985 words of nothing.
A warning for the Jack Valenti of Mortgages:
Is tanning addictive?
New studies suggest that people can become obsessed with sunbathing.
Sort of like second mortgages, n'est-ce pas?
Is tanning addictive?
New studies suggest that people can become obsessed with sunbathing.
Sort of like second mortgages, n'est-ce pas?
It's historical fact that some of America's most brilliant and cutting-edgiest stand-up comedians made liberal use of words and phrases commonly considered verboten. Lenny Bruce was a martyr to free speech, and among those following in his footsteps was the brilliant, madcap Sam Kinison, the comedy equivalent of the first man to walk on the moon -- or maybe relieve himself on it. But the best of the shock comics always had a counterbalancing social relevance. In their hands, obscenity was an artist's tool, masterfully utilized.
Okay Tom, so why is Bob Saget such a dork?
Okay Tom, so why is Bob Saget such a dork?
And in further entertainments of the rich and sexy:
THE risqué stage show at The Box early yesterday morning was canceled when dozens of police officers raided the Chrystie Street club and randomly searched some patrons for drugs.
Cameron Diaz, Jay-Z and Cuba Gooding Jr. were among the few who were able to flee during the "classic shutdown," doormen and security men told Page Six.
Diaz's current fling, John Mayer, was spotted holding court a few blocks away at the Bowery Hotel during the chaos....
The 1 a.m. raid forced the club to cancel its second show of the night, a revue featuring scantily clad showgirls, a gender-bending singer and a dancing dwarf.
THE risqué stage show at The Box early yesterday morning was canceled when dozens of police officers raided the Chrystie Street club and randomly searched some patrons for drugs.
Cameron Diaz, Jay-Z and Cuba Gooding Jr. were among the few who were able to flee during the "classic shutdown," doormen and security men told Page Six.
Diaz's current fling, John Mayer, was spotted holding court a few blocks away at the Bowery Hotel during the chaos....
The 1 a.m. raid forced the club to cancel its second show of the night, a revue featuring scantily clad showgirls, a gender-bending singer and a dancing dwarf.
Angelo Mozilo is the Jack Valenti of Mortgages.
And no, except in Washington, that is definitely NOT a compliment.
Somebody had better tell Angie to lay off the sun lamp; his face might bring on global warming.
P. s. at 12:08 P.M. Looks as if the Jack Valenti of Mortgages may have outsmarted himself.
Friday, August 24, 2007
I like this: Useless News thinks it's cornered the field on disreputable college rankings, so of course its success spawned rank imitators -- like The Washington Monthly, whose own Useless News ratings are damaged by their own crotchets (like how many alumni joined the Peace Corps? In 2007? Puh-LEASE!). No matter how well intended college rankings will always be unreliable because they rank the unrankable.
(Via Stale.com)
(Via Stale.com)
There may need to be a PBS ombudsman just for Moyers
OUTSTANDING idea!
P. S. Hey Romy, you provided a defective link on that story about the Twin Cities news swamped by the bridge disaster. Do you need an ombudspoop too?
OUTSTANDING idea!
P. S. Hey Romy, you provided a defective link on that story about the Twin Cities news swamped by the bridge disaster. Do you need an ombudspoop too?
Even before his guilty "plea", one could say Michael Vick's career, if not over, has been chewed up by dogs.
NBC is reviving classic competitive series American Gladiators....
Here's proposing we put every hack who uses "classic" in this manner in the middle of an arena -- with a very hungry lion.
And somehow somebody remembered "classic" but not the definite article.
Here's proposing we put every hack who uses "classic" in this manner in the middle of an arena -- with a very hungry lion.
And somehow somebody remembered "classic" but not the definite article.
Dancing with glee at Slashdot: Bugmeister's ditching a Web site that poopoos Linux!
I wouldn't dance too hard though. How many people run Linux -- and how many of them aren't geeks?
I wouldn't dance too hard though. How many people run Linux -- and how many of them aren't geeks?
Boogie Everynight Television is purportedly trying to get its viewers to read a book, and a LALA hack accidentally approximates the truth:
The coarse language is bleeped out when it is broadcast on BET, which is part of Viacom, the owner of CBS, which earlier this year fired shock jock Don Imus for using what he called hip-hop-flavored humor in his comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Viacon does NOT own CBS. (It used to, though.) SUMNER does. SUMNER owns Viacon AND CBS through four classes of stock. Get it?
SUMNER.
The coarse language is bleeped out when it is broadcast on BET, which is part of Viacom, the owner of CBS, which earlier this year fired shock jock Don Imus for using what he called hip-hop-flavored humor in his comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Viacon does NOT own CBS. (It used to, though.) SUMNER does. SUMNER owns Viacon AND CBS through four classes of stock. Get it?
SUMNER.
Meantime the government says new home sales "rose" 2.8 percent, but because it's a guess and the margin of error is so high it means they didn't rise 2.8 percent.
P. S. at 1:55 p.m. Which has not prevented the Wall Street casino's dealers from fantasizing.
P. S. at 1:55 p.m. Which has not prevented the Wall Street casino's dealers from fantasizing.
News hacks are busily and showily scratching their heads today wondering why Mother Teresa had doubts. Religious people aren't supposed to have doubts. They're supposed to know everything! Thus the defensive reasoning of people who don't have doubts and do know everything -- and don't even have to go in a church! I'd say Mother Teresa was a little more human than most news hacks.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
For a problem that so many have repeatedly said is of little import an awful lot of people are asking somebody to do something.
And the something, often enough, involves Uncle Sucker. We're not going to be Amity or Andrew Mellon about it but why does our Uncle have to bail out every doofus who made a stupid investment or got in over his head? Or does the present crisis involve so many doofuses that our Uncle may have no choice?
And the something, often enough, involves Uncle Sucker. We're not going to be Amity or Andrew Mellon about it but why does our Uncle have to bail out every doofus who made a stupid investment or got in over his head? Or does the present crisis involve so many doofuses that our Uncle may have no choice?
National NAACP head says Vick must be held responsible
The only reason we won't accuse this grand old organization of speaking with forked tongue is because it's using at least two mouths.
The only reason we won't accuse this grand old organization of speaking with forked tongue is because it's using at least two mouths.
Outstanding U.S. commercial paper fell 4.23 percent, the biggest weekly drop in almost seven years, as investors fled asset-backed debt and opted for the safety of Treasuries.
Is this supposed to be good news?
Is this supposed to be good news?
Here's a news-hack let's-prop-our-feet-on-the-desk-and-have-some-cheery-nostalgia moment: George Wallace's would-be assassin is being released. After Arthur Bremer shot Wallace in 1972 it quickly emerged from his "diaries" that he was a fan of A Clockwork Orange and what he called "that good old ultra-violence." At least one liberal JERNALISM REVUE or political rag quoted him approvingly. Alas for the hacks, Wallace continued to serve as governor. Moreover
[his son] told [the Mobile Press-Register] that the shooting had a "purifying" effect on his father, who became more religious and sought forgiveness for his support for segregation. The shooting also shortened his life, his son said.
Alas for us, things like Wallace's shooting and the smug relief of news hacks that followed had more like a poisoning effect, the first step in our complete detestation of politics in general and the JERNALISM racket in particular.
[his son] told [the Mobile Press-Register] that the shooting had a "purifying" effect on his father, who became more religious and sought forgiveness for his support for segregation. The shooting also shortened his life, his son said.
Alas for us, things like Wallace's shooting and the smug relief of news hacks that followed had more like a poisoning effect, the first step in our complete detestation of politics in general and the JERNALISM racket in particular.
Meantime the idiotic Manhattan real-estate boom has hit a sudden patch of brains. Again, is all this soothing talk about Countrywide on purpose?
On-WARD Slash-DOT sollllllllldierrrrrrrrrrrs:
An anonymous reader notes an article up at IEEE Spectrum outlining the history and dangers of the accelerating tendency of music producers to increase the loudness and reduce the dynamic range of CDs.
P. S. The kind of CDs most likely to be compressed are the same ones most likely to be augmented with ROOTKITS.
An anonymous reader notes an article up at IEEE Spectrum outlining the history and dangers of the accelerating tendency of music producers to increase the loudness and reduce the dynamic range of CDs.
"The loudness war, what many audiophiles refer to as an assault on music (and ears), has been an open secret of the recording industry for nearly the past two decades and has garnered more attention in recent years as CDs have pushed the limits of loudness thanks to advances in digital technology. The 'war' refers to the competition among record companies to make louder and louder albums by compressing the dynamic range. But the loudness war could be doing more than simply pumping up the volume and angering aficionados — it could be responsible for halting technological advances in sound quality for years to come... From the mid 1980s to now, the average loudness of CDs increased by a factor of 10, and the peaks of songs are now one-tenth of what they used to be."I haven't the foggiest idea what the geeks are up to now, but it sounds like another of their tiresome defenses of vinyl, and is it really that important that the junk they feed into their ears all day is (gadzooks!) compressed? Compressed or no, it's still JUNK.
P. S. The kind of CDs most likely to be compressed are the same ones most likely to be augmented with ROOTKITS.
England's going down the rathole of history and its PM is "shocked" by a vicious crime?
And here come the flowers -- just like Di.
(Via BloomyLite)
And here come the flowers -- just like Di.
(Via BloomyLite)
Sen. Barack Obama's sexiest fan respects the presidential candidate more than ever now that he has knocked her Web video, "I Got a Crush on Obama."But [SIC] "Obama Girl"actually [SIC] may vote for Hillary Clinton.
People wouldn't pay attention to these publicity mongers but for the hacks' obsession to constantly fill their space with the most mind-numbing content possible. We would bet the imbeciles have devoted more space to YouTube "campaigning" stunts than to the issues. That's okay; so long as we can make the public so uninformed that we justify our existence all the more.
People wouldn't pay attention to these publicity mongers but for the hacks' obsession to constantly fill their space with the most mind-numbing content possible. We would bet the imbeciles have devoted more space to YouTube "campaigning" stunts than to the issues. That's okay; so long as we can make the public so uninformed that we justify our existence all the more.
There is a ci-ne-ma fes-TEE-val in Toronto, and the ahteests are hanging their heads to around their navels, which they're staring at intensely:
“The world has changed, and the kind of films coming out have changed to a certain degree,” said Barry Avrich, a member of the festival’s governing board, speaking of the lineup in a telephone interview. “I think the festival is recognizing its role as a communicator.”
TRANSLATION: We're here to hector the public, and salve our consciences. Not one work of AHT in this glorious fes-TEE-val will live without the help of the crrrri-TICS -- and half the crrrri-TICal STAHF of THE PAPER OF RE-CORD is there already.
“The world has changed, and the kind of films coming out have changed to a certain degree,” said Barry Avrich, a member of the festival’s governing board, speaking of the lineup in a telephone interview. “I think the festival is recognizing its role as a communicator.”
TRANSLATION: We're here to hector the public, and salve our consciences. Not one work of AHT in this glorious fes-TEE-val will live without the help of the crrrri-TICS -- and half the crrrri-TICal STAHF of THE PAPER OF RE-CORD is there already.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
In more grinding of the teeth over JERNALISTIC ETHICS, the whole TV "news" profession is in a royal snit because SLIME is airing a "reality" show in which a mannequin anchors a local broadcast. That mannequins male and female have anchored the local news for some time seems not to have occurred to our latter-day Murrows. But then for these imbeciles to claim what they extrude nightly is "news", of course, is as credible as the "news" they extrude.
College kids stopped dressing up a long time ago. It's no accident that standards went down the tubes at the same time decent clothing did. Needless to say our perennially brightest generation would bristle at a dress code, but it would be much nicer, say, to see the young ladies in a pleasing contouring dress than in their flab-exhibiting much-too-low-to-the-waist shmatas.
And given that some of the youngsters at Illinois State's College of Business are actually for this, there's hope.
And given that some of the youngsters at Illinois State's College of Business are actually for this, there's hope.
And speaking of blatant PR:
Vick Charges Shouldn't Result in NFL Lifetime Ban, NAACP Says
Who said anything about a lifetime ban? Possibly this doddering irrelevant organization did so first to pump up its morale. No one has proposed a lifetime ban on anybody. For one thing, no one's been sentenced yet. Let's give the legal system a chance first, crusading clods.
How did this go from a shameful crime against animals to another R-Card game?
Vick Charges Shouldn't Result in NFL Lifetime Ban, NAACP Says
Who said anything about a lifetime ban? Possibly this doddering irrelevant organization did so first to pump up its morale. No one has proposed a lifetime ban on anybody. For one thing, no one's been sentenced yet. Let's give the legal system a chance first, crusading clods.
How did this go from a shameful crime against animals to another R-Card game?
Clinton the favorite neighbor for older set
Well, here's a new way to measure the popularity of presidential candidates: Which candidate would you most like as a next-door neighbor?
ERA Real Estate asked that question as part of its fourth annual survey of people 50 and older across the country....
Why did you waste my time, O Lord God Pinch?
Well, here's a new way to measure the popularity of presidential candidates: Which candidate would you most like as a next-door neighbor?
ERA Real Estate asked that question as part of its fourth annual survey of people 50 and older across the country....
Why did you waste my time, O Lord God Pinch?
Wait! Walter Jones? He's one of the good guys! He's a man every Republican should be -- for opposing the war! And reaching out to the other side!* And he's "paying the price" for it? No! It can't be! Such a Profile in Courage?
*And Congresspoop Kook IS the other side.
*And Congresspoop Kook IS the other side.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYBODY OUT THERE?
YouTube Videos to Have 'Overlay' Ads
Now G000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000GLE can pay for Its copyright infringements!
Now G000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000GLE can pay for Its copyright infringements!
MORE CALAMITOUS NEWS IN THE J-TRADE: Mort Zuck is axing our favorite TV ad-blurbist David "PLATINUM" Bianculli because he wanted more PLATINUM, and now (as a suitably anonymous "source" says) "[t]hey'll probably replace him with some blogger who sits around in his pajamas" -- and who may write better.
Oh goody:
The reality is that, for Paulson and the Treasury Department, there are relatively few tools that would allow this or any administration to manage the ups and downs of financial markets, according to economists and economic policymakers of both parties.
Does that mean we're no better off than the last time Wall Street's tricksters plunged us into a depression?
The reality is that, for Paulson and the Treasury Department, there are relatively few tools that would allow this or any administration to manage the ups and downs of financial markets, according to economists and economic policymakers of both parties.
Does that mean we're no better off than the last time Wall Street's tricksters plunged us into a depression?
Today is Romy's day: 1. He copies an "EXCLUSIVE!!!!!" saying our city's lead Fred Flintstone and ESPN presence Mr. Smith has been STRIPPED of his column and now has to do lousy sports reporting -- because the Philadelphia Daily Babbitt's executive editor figured he wasn't getting enough for his MONEY! Well we think we know Steve's response: Da-da-DUT! Da-da-DUT!
And in more tragic news, the AMERICAN JERNALISM REVIEW is leaking dough, despite a staff of one, which will come when you try to say how wonderful your business is while pretending not to.
P. S. at 5:25 p. m. Now the COLUMBIA JERNALISM REVIEW is boasting of a surplus, meaning even self-righteousness can't get in the way of one-upmanship.
And in more tragic news, the AMERICAN JERNALISM REVIEW is leaking dough, despite a staff of one, which will come when you try to say how wonderful your business is while pretending not to.
P. S. at 5:25 p. m. Now the COLUMBIA JERNALISM REVIEW is boasting of a surplus, meaning even self-righteousness can't get in the way of one-upmanship.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Almost a year ago I sneered about "the supremely hermetic group that combines the two deadly traits of musical 'eclecticism' and obsessive record collecting" so inescapable in pop cultyure, and on the Web. So I must confess these last two days I've been glued to WFMU.org's blog, and if any psychobabblers wish to claim the Internet an addiction they must point their keyboards here. As a fount of show-biz trivia and obscurities seeking it is unmatched. I have just spent the last half hour scanning this astonishing essay on Hanna-Barbera Records, a small but hyperactive outfit from the mid-sixties owned by those notorious kings of limited animation; it defined eclectic long before the term could be soiled by cultists, recording everything from kiddie albums to soundtracks to surf to jazz to soul; yet despite CBS Records distribution it seems to have gone almost unnoticed at the time, and Bill and Joe did not know what they were doing, and with rare exceptions its stuff is fodder for Goldmine maniacs and YouTube phreaks.
Which underlines an inescapable fact about these pop-cultist sites, vastly pleasing though the best are (and WFMU.org is indisputably the best): they engage in industrial-strength copyright infringement. Yet it's obvious the microscopic following for most of what's infringed can't justify commercial redistribution; merely to revive such material puts it in the red. But this detritus can't remain safely stowed underground; it is part of our national heritage. Our media superiors should look upon such occasional innocent stealing as flattery. More to the matter, when it comes to control of their property, they aren't losing; they've already lost.
P. S. He does get Hoyt Curtin's name wrong, though. Does that make me a geek too?
The unprecedentedly exciting field of presidential candidates is making unprecedented gaffes, and
[i]t is happening so often, "you'd think it's deliberate!" quipped G. Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
Given who's running, we do.
[i]t is happening so often, "you'd think it's deliberate!" quipped G. Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
Given who's running, we do.
IF PELOSI PERSISTS IN HER IMPERIOUS, MEAN-SPIRITED, AND MYOPIC THINKING IN DISREGARD OF HER OATH TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION, MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE SHOULD REPLACE HER WITH MAJORITY LEADER STENY HOYER, D-MD!!!!!!!!!! [Angry overemphasis added]
This being Stale.com we figured this might be satire, or at least its patented heavy-handed irony, but alas, it isn't. The clock took impeachment off the table far more readily than Speaker Babs, and so did the fear of being a one-term speaker. Even the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL RASPUTIN could not have dreamed that up.
This being Stale.com we figured this might be satire, or at least its patented heavy-handed irony, but alas, it isn't. The clock took impeachment off the table far more readily than Speaker Babs, and so did the fear of being a one-term speaker. Even the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL RASPUTIN could not have dreamed that up.
EXCITING NEWS:
The deadline for SAE International's inaugural Commercial Vehicle Excellence in Media Awards is fast approaching -- only 10 days away! Entries need to be received by Aug. 31, 2007.
Get those facts 'n' figures rolling!
The deadline for SAE International's inaugural Commercial Vehicle Excellence in Media Awards is fast approaching -- only 10 days away! Entries need to be received by Aug. 31, 2007.
Get those facts 'n' figures rolling!
Our Daily Babbitt is selling its Tower of Babble, and
[t]he company also is soliciting in the memorandum ideas for where to put the 950 journalists, ad people, executives, computer technicians, clerks and others who now work in the building, company officials said.
We could say something, but instead, we mourn at what the news biz has become, for the Tower of Babble (along with its neighborhood) was a warren of activity; it is hard not to see Ring Lardners and Damon Runyons clattering away on their typewriters and screaming into their telephones, and an impenetrable haze of cigar smoke and words permeating everything, and the boss running the city's politics from upstairs -- but now it is oh so sedate, upper-class, and omnipotently right, which is why newspapers are downsizing, and abandoning such symbolic edifices.
The Babbitt who owns the Daily Babbitt thinks he can turn it into condos, meaning he probably will not become an ambassador anytime soon.
(Via the usual Romy)
ANOTHER AP NEWS ALERT!!!!!
CHICAGO (AP) -- Tribune Co. shareholders have given their approval - as expected - to an $8.2 billion buyout of the media conglomerate. The deal still requires financing, however.
Good luck! Pffh-hh-hh!
CHICAGO (AP) -- Tribune Co. shareholders have given their approval - as expected - to an $8.2 billion buyout of the media conglomerate. The deal still requires financing, however.
Good luck! Pffh-hh-hh!
The U.S. Must Act in Darfur--RIGHT NOW! [Home-page link; overemphasis added]
So let's pull ALL our soldiers out of Iraq, and then....
Fortunately TNR's editors don't mention in Iraq. We should do something about Darfur, although truth be told if we had to send our soldiers where we should do good we'd need a draft ten times over. But you know with liberals and Darfur there's a quid pro quo. There has to be, when we can do so much good in Darfur and are doing so much evil in Iraq.
So let's pull ALL our soldiers out of Iraq, and then....
Fortunately TNR's editors don't mention in Iraq. We should do something about Darfur, although truth be told if we had to send our soldiers where we should do good we'd need a draft ten times over. But you know with liberals and Darfur there's a quid pro quo. There has to be, when we can do so much good in Darfur and are doing so much evil in Iraq.
Elsewhere in one of America's leading export industries:
Good taste is the first fatality in this gonzo thrill-seeker....
Since when has a movie had GOOD TASTE?
Good taste is the first fatality in this gonzo thrill-seeker....
Since when has a movie had GOOD TASTE?
• China says car ban has improved air quality [Home-page squib]
So let's do our part for global warming and make it permanent!
Pffffffffffffffffffffft!
So let's do our part for global warming and make it permanent!
Pffffffffffffffffffffft!
"We will certainly surpass $4 billion and probably be around $4.1 billion. I also think we will be at 600 million tickets sold, which we haven't seen in a few years."
When we saw this squib in ArtsJournal, how did we know without clicking on the link the I was the ever-irritating PAUL DRECK?
When we saw this squib in ArtsJournal, how did we know without clicking on the link the I was the ever-irritating PAUL DRECK?
AP NEWS ALERT!!!!!
A top Iranian judiciary official says the detained Iranian-U.S. academic Haleh Esfandiari will be released from prison on bail within hours.
Now what are they up to?
A top Iranian judiciary official says the detained Iranian-U.S. academic Haleh Esfandiari will be released from prison on bail within hours.
Now what are they up to?
"Idiot savants brought to industrial proportion" have helped screw up the Wall Street casino lately.
We smile at their hubris.
"It became increasingly transparent that many of the highly sophisticated quant funds employed similar investment approaches and held similar core holdings," Thomson Financial wrote in an analysis of the role of the 25 largest quant funds in the market meltdown. "This resulted in the funds selling similar long stocks and covering similar short positions."
Surprise: the casino has a herd mentality. What does one expect of bulls?
We smile at their hubris.
"It became increasingly transparent that many of the highly sophisticated quant funds employed similar investment approaches and held similar core holdings," Thomson Financial wrote in an analysis of the role of the 25 largest quant funds in the market meltdown. "This resulted in the funds selling similar long stocks and covering similar short positions."
Surprise: the casino has a herd mentality. What does one expect of bulls?
Monday, August 20, 2007
What is with these meek and mild Congresspoops? First that professional Milquetoast Mr. Shays annoys a member of the Hill police, and now Mr. Filner shoves an airline worker? Have they got their inner man going?
Or are they merely better than the people as usual?
(Via USAOKAY!!!!!.com's On Deadline, which quotes from Congresspoop Filner's Web site:
"Bob is a fearless fighter and always insists that the needs of the people must come first."
Especially when a people wants his luggage!)
Or are they merely better than the people as usual?
(Via USAOKAY!!!!!.com's On Deadline, which quotes from Congresspoop Filner's Web site:
"Bob is a fearless fighter and always insists that the needs of the people must come first."
Especially when a people wants his luggage!)
The only difference between Leona Helmsley and Anna is real estate, pills, and ugly.
Pamela Larsen, 41, a mother of two young girls, in Mt. Hood, Ore., gets a stomachache every time she looks up at the volcano nearby: the glaciers at its peak have definitely been receding over the years. As the mountainside gets browner and browner — evidence of climate change — the knot in Larsen's gut tightens.
Psychologists now have a name for Larsen's condition: eco-anxiety, the overwhelming and sometimes debilitating concern for the worsening state of the environment.
1. Is this our way of getting back at the Newsrag of the Zeitgeist? 2. Does this mirror the condition in which news hacks fear for their jobs because they must inundate us with THE TRUTH about subjects like global warming?
Psychologists now have a name for Larsen's condition: eco-anxiety, the overwhelming and sometimes debilitating concern for the worsening state of the environment.
1. Is this our way of getting back at the Newsrag of the Zeitgeist? 2. Does this mirror the condition in which news hacks fear for their jobs because they must inundate us with THE TRUTH about subjects like global warming?
Economic reforms and soaring rates of home ownership have coined a new moniker for the tribe of youth struggling to pay off home loans in traditionally debt-wary China: "fang nu," or "house slaves".
Don't tell me -- they have a problem too?
Don't tell me -- they have a problem too?
It looks as though our friends in Mountain View have turned off our access to Next Blog. Honest, we're tired of playing Pavlov, looking for hits. There's no joy in blogging if your only hits are mechanical.
On further news of sciENCE, we're no defenders of broadcasters, but we wonder if sometimes the doctors scream too much. At least these obese people showed some spirit in wanting to lose weight, and if ESPNCorp is to be believed (difficult, to be sure), they mostly succeeded. And on obesity the doctors' screaming has not prevented us from marching in reverse -- or rather lazing in reverse in a La-Z-Boy.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Gee Whiz! Romney's slang is stuck in the '50s
The face that Mitt Romney presents for public consumption could be right out of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver." (Today's Globe)
And what pray tell, o blithering Pinchians, you of the Devil-inspired profession that insists on mating words like raunchy and sweet, is wrong with that? Why does it offend your consciences so?
The face that Mitt Romney presents for public consumption could be right out of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver." (Today's Globe)
And what pray tell, o blithering Pinchians, you of the Devil-inspired profession that insists on mating words like raunchy and sweet, is wrong with that? Why does it offend your consciences so?
Analysis: Who's the Dems [SIC] Goldilocks?
You mean which one gets chased out of the house by the three bears?
By that standard mightn't they all be eligible?
News hacks have ZERO sense.
You mean which one gets chased out of the house by the three bears?
By that standard mightn't they all be eligible?
News hacks have ZERO sense.
One of the GREATEST PLAYWRIGHTS in the HISTORY of the UNIVERSE showed love and care for his fourth child.
We would be surprised if this hurts his rep.
(Via Arts & Letters Daily)
We would be surprised if this hurts his rep.
(Via Arts & Letters Daily)
OUR EINSTEIN CRIME OF THE MONTH:
Two employees at a Chinese bank dream of getting rich quick. The only two with the keys to the vault, they steal a few thousand dollars to see whether anyone notices. No one does. So they take more. In the course of a month, they walk away with $6.6 million.
Instead of running away with their mountains of cash, the two do something seemingly illogical.
They buy lottery tickets.
Two employees at a Chinese bank dream of getting rich quick. The only two with the keys to the vault, they steal a few thousand dollars to see whether anyone notices. No one does. So they take more. In the course of a month, they walk away with $6.6 million.
Instead of running away with their mountains of cash, the two do something seemingly illogical.
They buy lottery tickets.
Oops! Another masterpiece slides Friday-to-Saturday -- and this the GREATEST COMING-OF-AGE COMEDY OF ALL TIME! What will PAUL DRECK do? Break wind as usual.
We will not call Amity the Ann Coulter of economics but dammit she tries. In her latest scribble she suggests something entirely near and dear to her heart: that GUVMENT, and ONLY GUVMENT, caused the Great Depression.
Well then who brought on the Crash? Was GUVMENT investing in stocks? Did it decide it wanted to take profits? And if it was all GUVMENT's fault what prompted GUVMENT to do what it did in the first place? And Ben and his theorizing -- does that make him a socialist crank?
I HATE knee-jerks of any stripe, and Amity/Ann is at the top of the list.
Well then who brought on the Crash? Was GUVMENT investing in stocks? Did it decide it wanted to take profits? And if it was all GUVMENT's fault what prompted GUVMENT to do what it did in the first place? And Ben and his theorizing -- does that make him a socialist crank?
I HATE knee-jerks of any stripe, and Amity/Ann is at the top of the list.
Comforting: our current Wizard of Oz is "a self-described Great Depression buff." Let's hope he hasn't learned the wrong lesson.
[H]e theorized that ``the financial crisis of 1930-33 affected the macroeconomy by reducing the quality of certain financial services, primarily credit intermediation.''
Translation: Many commercial banks, considered efficient at allocating credit (they have a knack for differentiating ``good'' from ``bad'' credits), failed. The ones that remained solvent wanted to hold liquid assets or, if they were willing to make loans, charged a higher rate of interest....
``It was reported that the extraordinary rate of default on residential mortgages forced banks and life insurance companies to 'practically stop making mortgage loans, except for renewals,''' Bernanke said, citing the work of the late economist A.G. Hart.
Sound familiar?
NO COMMENT.
[H]e theorized that ``the financial crisis of 1930-33 affected the macroeconomy by reducing the quality of certain financial services, primarily credit intermediation.''
Translation: Many commercial banks, considered efficient at allocating credit (they have a knack for differentiating ``good'' from ``bad'' credits), failed. The ones that remained solvent wanted to hold liquid assets or, if they were willing to make loans, charged a higher rate of interest....
``It was reported that the extraordinary rate of default on residential mortgages forced banks and life insurance companies to 'practically stop making mortgage loans, except for renewals,''' Bernanke said, citing the work of the late economist A.G. Hart.
Sound familiar?
NO COMMENT.
Elsewhere in the land of the upraised arm midst the potted palms and the Poland Spring, the Daily Babbitt is attempting to make another LEGENDARY WELCH out of that guy here who wants to franchise his university. What makes newspapers do favors? Why is their first goal to anoint people who seem to share their extremely narrow world view as friends?
At the same time, Drexel has yet to crack the top 100 on U.S. News & World Report's college rankings. It placed 108 this year, far below its fifth-ranked neighbor, the University of Pennsylvania.
This is worse than a shame; it is a -- disaster!
When's the IPO, Taki?
At the same time, Drexel has yet to crack the top 100 on U.S. News & World Report's college rankings. It placed 108 this year, far below its fifth-ranked neighbor, the University of Pennsylvania.
This is worse than a shame; it is a -- disaster!
When's the IPO, Taki?
For firefighters, the blaze in the former Deutsche Bank office building added to a tragic toll, taking the lives of two members of a firehouse that had lost 11 in the World Trade Center disaster. [Emphasis added]
News hacks don't have to be told to sieg heil to sieg heil, and that's why their business is unreformable.
News hacks don't have to be told to sieg heil to sieg heil, and that's why their business is unreformable.