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!
Blogroll Me!
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Saturday, October 25, 2008
Daimler, the company that bought Chrysler for $36 billion and whose worth on its books is now zero, is shutting production for a month, which would seem to reveal this crisis may go on a little while longer.
(Via SeekingAlpha)
(Via SeekingAlpha)
JonBoy and the head of the CFR issue some soothing talk to The Lord about how He should be multilateralist and bipartisan and blahblahblah. Fine. But let's see if multilateralism gets us any further with Iran and the Palestinians. And let's see if bipartisanship ends when The Lord fulfills a campaign promise.
Even The Paper of Re-CORD must admit one-party control may not be an unalloyed good.
If the Democrats can temper their thirst for revenge and remember that at least a few of us didn't vote for their party, they could do well. If not -- let the comedy begin!
If the Democrats can temper their thirst for revenge and remember that at least a few of us didn't vote for their party, they could do well. If not -- let the comedy begin!
Democrats Carrying Anti-Abortion Banner Put More Congressional Races in Play
You're the Lord God PINCH. Do you smile or frown?
We shall see when these stalwarts have to vote for something.
You're the Lord God PINCH. Do you smile or frown?
We shall see when these stalwarts have to vote for something.
The TWXSTERS' cable news Web sites get curiouser and curiouser, judging from their leads:
Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says [DOMESTIC site lead]
Briton, South African shot dead in Kabul shooting [INTERNATIONAL site lead with yellow "DEVELOPING STORY" banner]
And the ROGUE story doesn't appear in the top International stories list yet. This proves two things: 1. American news hacks are trying to swing (to put it politely) the election; and 2. What is supposedly important to American Web surfers may not be important to the international kind...or at all.
Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says [DOMESTIC site lead]
Briton, South African shot dead in Kabul shooting [INTERNATIONAL site lead with yellow "DEVELOPING STORY" banner]
And the ROGUE story doesn't appear in the top International stories list yet. This proves two things: 1. American news hacks are trying to swing (to put it politely) the election; and 2. What is supposedly important to American Web surfers may not be important to the international kind...or at all.
And elsewhere in the State Press, a curious juxtaposition from GREG's home page:
SATURDAY ENDORSEMENTS Updated: Obama Picks in Hartford, Charlotte, St. Pete -- Cincy Goes for McCain
Official: 40% of 'Star-Ledger' Newsroom Exiting
Remember, GREG: it's THE DO-NOT-CALL LAW.
P. S. The combined market cap of NYT, GCI, MNI, AHC and SSP is $4.81 BILLION. Remember THAT when you gloat the day after ELECTION DAY.
Incredibly, GOOG is STILL worth about as much as DIS, TWX, NWS, VIA and CBS combined, and they're worth $114.93 BILLION, which suggests what the former Wizard of Oz called "froth" -- at both ends.
SATURDAY ENDORSEMENTS Updated: Obama Picks in Hartford, Charlotte, St. Pete -- Cincy Goes for McCain
Official: 40% of 'Star-Ledger' Newsroom Exiting
Remember, GREG: it's THE DO-NOT-CALL LAW.
P. S. The combined market cap of NYT, GCI, MNI, AHC and SSP is $4.81 BILLION. Remember THAT when you gloat the day after ELECTION DAY.
Incredibly, GOOG is STILL worth about as much as DIS, TWX, NWS, VIA and CBS combined, and they're worth $114.93 BILLION, which suggests what the former Wizard of Oz called "froth" -- at both ends.
The WaPo's ombudspoop tries unknotting several pretzels:
Photo errors can be worse than word errors because they stand out so much. The Post had two bad photo errors last week -- one a real howler. In Monday's Reliable Source, Amy Argetsinger wrote an account of the annual National Italian American Foundation gala. Post photographer Richard A. Lipski took the gala photos, as he had in 2006.
Well, let's put it this way, ombudspoop: WPO hit another new twelve-year low yesterday (it came back, unfortunately). Have you ever thought of shorting the stock?
P. S. And because over HALF of WaPoCo's revenues now come from TEACHING THE SATs and the like this means for all practical purposes its media operations are worth close to ZERO -- an outcome richly deserved.
By the way, we will no longer refer to WaPoCo; we will refer to KAPLANCORP -- and we are sorely tempted to call its diminishing "flagship" THE DAILY KAPLAN.
Photo errors can be worse than word errors because they stand out so much. The Post had two bad photo errors last week -- one a real howler. In Monday's Reliable Source, Amy Argetsinger wrote an account of the annual National Italian American Foundation gala. Post photographer Richard A. Lipski took the gala photos, as he had in 2006.
One of the photos in the layout was of actors Mel Brooks and Alan Alda and of Jack Valenti, former chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America. Valenti died April 26, 2007. Several readers, including ABC-TV newsman Sam Donaldson, asked how such a mistake could happen since Valenti was so well known inside the Beltway.
Here's how: A layout editor looking for the pictures in The Post's photo database picked three pictures and didn't notice that one was two years old. A copy editor wrote the caption, also failing to notice the date, and a copy desk supervisor failed to check the information on the printout of the photo. A proofreader failed to question whether Valenti was alive. One supervisor, upon seeing the page later, expressed surprise that Valenti was alive, but assumed the photo proved his suspicion wrong.
Argetsinger said: "I'm absolutely sick about this. Obviously it was a terrible, terrible mistake -- one that jumped out at me the moment I saw the paper." Besides the fact that Valenti is dead, there was another clue -- Alda and Brooks were not mentioned in the story either.
That's bad enough; it brings DR. EVIL back from the dead. But then it gets worse:
A story about a close election in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, in which state Rep. Eric Paulsen (R) is a candidate, included a photo meant to be of Paulsen. It actually showed Alabama state Rep. Jay Love (R). The Post used a Getty Images photo with an incorrect caption. The only way to have caught the error would have been to check the picture against a photo of Paulsen in a legislative directory; such a mistake is so rare that no one thought to do so.
That was bad enough, but the photo of the Democratic candidate, Ashwin Madia, was about 10 times bigger than the picture of the Republican. Since the story focused on Madia as an unknown in a heavily Republican district, it made sense that he have a somewhat bigger picture. But it looked lopsided.
The correction included a photo of Paulsen -- so small it's called a thumbnail. Such disparity feeds criticism that The Post is biased toward Democrats.
[END OF ARTICLE]Well, let's put it this way, ombudspoop: WPO hit another new twelve-year low yesterday (it came back, unfortunately). Have you ever thought of shorting the stock?
P. S. And because over HALF of WaPoCo's revenues now come from TEACHING THE SATs and the like this means for all practical purposes its media operations are worth close to ZERO -- an outcome richly deserved.
By the way, we will no longer refer to WaPoCo; we will refer to KAPLANCORP -- and we are sorely tempted to call its diminishing "flagship" THE DAILY KAPLAN.
The especially awful murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother raises a question: if she had been an ordinary person would this have been another NO SNITCHIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! moment?
Friday, October 24, 2008
The next Fred Thompson? The defender of the working man and the pretty face should not take that one lying down!
It might muss your looks.
It might muss your looks.
White supremacists committing this heinous murder of a black man is the very definition of obscenity. In time however, the hacks will rub their hands, and an obscenity becomes just another sermon from the press molehill.
We are, alas, waiting.
We are, alas, waiting.
When the home of Anonymous says sports may be slumping it acts on your brain like the cover of Sports Illustrated. Some maniacs with dough must pull the greedmeisters out of the fire. That said, they deserve it almost as much as top executives at AIG. More so -- they took our tax money to the bank.
I think we get the message, Paramount Pete. Clint makes movies for himself -- not for an audience. Once upon a time that might have been a virtue, but in today's hollowed-out culture it's just another way of playing with yourself. He's always making the sort of well-CRAFTED downers (with a very definite accent on CRAFTED) you scream are chasing people away from fillum, and he's always winning Os-CARS® and new friends among the thumbs-up brigade. Turned toward his ever-loving, never-critical muse he's turned his back so insistently to the audience and as intransigently as Miles Davis did Clint has become a platinum-plated superstar irrelevance.
And possibly -- just possibly -- even the ad-blurbists are starting to catch on.
P. S. at 6:28 p. m. And that was before we saw this one.
Even David "From the Arthouse to the Porno House" Denby didn't quite like it.
And possibly -- just possibly -- even the ad-blurbists are starting to catch on.
P. S. at 6:28 p. m. And that was before we saw this one.
Even David "From the Arthouse to the Porno House" Denby didn't quite like it.
Could be might be possibly maybe CHEAP CHANNEL could be might be possibly maybe adding audience by discovering digital gimmicks, which could be might be possibly maybe won't help CHEAP CHANNEL pay down its enormous Chapter XI-beckoning DEBT.
P. S. Entercom at 75 CENTS. Emmis at 60 CENTS. And CITADEL, Drunken Slob's unearther, at 27 CENTS.
It's a GOOD THING you went private, LOUSY!
P. S. Entercom at 75 CENTS. Emmis at 60 CENTS. And CITADEL, Drunken Slob's unearther, at 27 CENTS.
It's a GOOD THING you went private, LOUSY!
A STERLING ACHIEVEMENT FOR SELIGISM: The second game of its Festival drew FEWER fans than the FIRST!
Re: Assaulted volunteer story [Mark Steyn]
Jonah, the young lady has now confessed to making up the story and is facing charges.
As Talleyrand would say, this is worse than a crime; it's a mistake. This McCain volunteer's fake hate crime will get more coverage than a real assault would have.
Congratulations to Michelle Malkin, whose instinct for these things is very impressive. I regret that I was among those (on the radio yesterday, having not seen the dubious pictures) who took the story at, so to speak, face value.
10/24 02:45 PM
1. What of your boss PILLHEAD? 2. She has that kind of instinct?
Jonah, the young lady has now confessed to making up the story and is facing charges.
As Talleyrand would say, this is worse than a crime; it's a mistake. This McCain volunteer's fake hate crime will get more coverage than a real assault would have.
Congratulations to Michelle Malkin, whose instinct for these things is very impressive. I regret that I was among those (on the radio yesterday, having not seen the dubious pictures) who took the story at, so to speak, face value.
10/24 02:45 PM
1. What of your boss PILLHEAD? 2. She has that kind of instinct?
1. HERSELF. 2. THE LORD!!!!!
Well, 1. isn't so new but she does have a way of renewing herself.
Elsewhere in Forbeslist.com, an investor named Ralph Shive opines:
In your spare time, you're an avid reader. One of your all-time favorites is Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips[*]. How come?
I love history. I try to understand cycles, which help me envision where we are now and where we might be going. That book was a great recap of the rise and fall of great nations. The United States is a great nation. We are, in my opinion, peaking and preparing for decay. We have already been decaying.
I found the book fascinating. He pointed out that, in peaking nations, we turn into paper shufflers. Young and hungry countries are mercantilists. They create and sell. But peaking nations shuffle paper. That's what we do here now in America. We shuffle Collateralized Debt Obligations and credit default swaps all over the globe. And this is what it gets us, this mess.
We will not guess whether we're declining (though our culture certainly is) but undoubtedly America has reached a new high in paper shuffling.
*The faux-conservative.
In your spare time, you're an avid reader. One of your all-time favorites is Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips[*]. How come?
I love history. I try to understand cycles, which help me envision where we are now and where we might be going. That book was a great recap of the rise and fall of great nations. The United States is a great nation. We are, in my opinion, peaking and preparing for decay. We have already been decaying.
I found the book fascinating. He pointed out that, in peaking nations, we turn into paper shufflers. Young and hungry countries are mercantilists. They create and sell. But peaking nations shuffle paper. That's what we do here now in America. We shuffle Collateralized Debt Obligations and credit default swaps all over the globe. And this is what it gets us, this mess.
We will not guess whether we're declining (though our culture certainly is) but undoubtedly America has reached a new high in paper shuffling.
*The faux-conservative.
"You know what Lehman was doing with that money? They were funding their operations. They weren't buying securities and protecting it with some kind of hedge. They're borrowing money from their clients."
TRANSLATION: Lehman engaged in a Ponzi scheme.
It is fashionable to squinch and ask whether the Feds should have saved Lehman. Perhaps there was nothing to save.
TRANSLATION: Lehman engaged in a Ponzi scheme.
It is fashionable to squinch and ask whether the Feds should have saved Lehman. Perhaps there was nothing to save.
Another brilliantly timed bit of thinking from Forbeslist.com:
Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.
--Sophocles
As we can see in yet another quick decision to throw stocks out the window.
Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.
--Sophocles
As we can see in yet another quick decision to throw stocks out the window.
It's not over.
Why did Peggy BS's sudden two-faced multiple-sided off-mike "it's over" win her fans?
By the way, BS, you write for a conservative liberal rag owned by a liberal conservative conservative moderate liberal conservative -- WHATEVER. Your two-faced character fits in well.
(Via The Daily Beast. Much as we hate to admit to it TINA!!!!! has come up with something.)
Why did Peggy BS's sudden two-faced multiple-sided off-mike "it's over" win her fans?
By the way, BS, you write for a conservative liberal rag owned by a liberal conservative conservative moderate liberal conservative -- WHATEVER. Your two-faced character fits in well.
(Via The Daily Beast. Much as we hate to admit to it TINA!!!!! has come up with something.)
Jeez, another Branson East theme park's closing: the one about youth sex that was supposed to change the theme park forever and ever -- and changed it for all of about 25 months, to barely above half-capacity.
P. S.
"We are in a very, very serious situation," says veteran producer James B. Freydberg.
That's because you very, very seriously run nothing but theme parks.
P. S.
"We are in a very, very serious situation," says veteran producer James B. Freydberg.
That's because you very, very seriously run nothing but theme parks.
You don't have to tell us PINCH, Republicans are NAZIS.
Meantime how's Your junk-bond-rated EMPIRE doing?
Meantime how's Your junk-bond-rated EMPIRE doing?
The heart of wisdom -- from a comedian:
"Everybody talks about politicians - I don't do it because I do comedy already," he said, declining to comment on either Barack Obama or John McCain. "There's nothing fun about it."
May you perform for another 82 years, Jerry Lewis.
"Everybody talks about politicians - I don't do it because I do comedy already," he said, declining to comment on either Barack Obama or John McCain. "There's nothing fun about it."
May you perform for another 82 years, Jerry Lewis.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
No, we're not going to become Japan. But there still remains the danger that U.S. regulators will overreach, forgetting that in the decades preceding the subprime disaster America's free-wheeling financiers provided boom after boom, underwriting the country's ravenous but growth-promoting consumption habits. In Washington, the temptation will be to reverse the Big Bang and, like its cosmic counterpart, let it crash in upon itself, turning New York into a black hole of lending inactivity. We could face an outcome analogous to what happened to the CIA after the Church commission hearings of the '70s, which exposed agency abuses but made it so risk averse that it proved fatally incapable of taking on Al Qaeda later. Let's hope that instead reason prevails this time, and the pendulum does not swing too far to the left.
In ZEITGEIST?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
In ZEITGEIST?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
That the Big Double-A Scribble can waste so much time on this dubious PR "poll" and the morons trying to manipulate it means half the people chicken-scratching about this election should really see a doctor. NOW.
``We have to do our best but not expect infallibility or omniscience."
Which did not keep The Wizard of Oz from being infallible and omniscient.
``If we are right 60 percent of the time in forecasting, we are doing exceptionally well; that means we are wrong 40 percent of the time,'' Greenspan said.
That's still a winning percentage -- is it not, Wiz?
Which did not keep The Wizard of Oz from being infallible and omniscient.
``If we are right 60 percent of the time in forecasting, we are doing exceptionally well; that means we are wrong 40 percent of the time,'' Greenspan said.
That's still a winning percentage -- is it not, Wiz?
TRANSLATION: Paramount Pete thinks not enough movees are getting enough awards!
Obviously Variety benefits richly from the awards season....
The understatement of the...awards season.
Obviously Variety benefits richly from the awards season....
The understatement of the...awards season.
We do not feel the least sorry for Mr. THUMBS® having to retract his own review because he saw only the first eight minutes of a masterpiece. We note that for decades THUMBS® was putting his seal of PR approval of all manner of direct-to-video goodies, no doubt having to skim through hundreds of masterpieces to do so, all so he and his fellow THUMBS® could make their millions. Roger, for all his occasionally good writing -- and given his propensity to praise he makes it as occasional as possible -- now proves he can be no more trusted than PETER TRAVERS, or Mr. AIN'T-IT-COOL-NEWS. But then we never really trusted him, so it's no loss for us.
(Caveat: from The Mogul's Friend)
(Caveat: from The Mogul's Friend)
BREAKING NEWS!!!!!
Greenspan says credit crisis is 'once-in-a-century credit' tsunami [SIC]
He should know: he helped churn the waves.
Greenspan says credit crisis is 'once-in-a-century credit' tsunami [SIC]
He should know: he helped churn the waves.
Having just been spun by Joe CONason Jr. I have concluded SPINNING IS LYING. There is no way around it. Spinning is the smiley face on a frown, the right-turn sign on a left-turn sign. It is up as down, in as out, full as empty. Any pundit who spins should have a big fat letter S branded on his forehead.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A Standard & Poor’s spokesman said lawmakers exaggerated the percentage of mortgage-backed securities that had to be downgraded and noted that none of the $855 billion worth of AAA subprime mortgage-backed securities that it graded over 2005-2007 had gone into default.
Well! That makes me hap-PY!
Well! That makes me hap-PY!
Republicans eye Palin for 2012 presidential campaign
1. Make it two in a row! 2. The GRAWF quotes A "leading conservative", so we can be sure it doesn't know what it's talking about -- which never stopped news hacks.
1. Make it two in a row! 2. The GRAWF quotes A "leading conservative", so we can be sure it doesn't know what it's talking about -- which never stopped news hacks.
Courtney Sale Ross' Glorious 740 Park Duplex Very, Very, Very Quietly Asking 'Over $60 Million'
Our Manhattan superiors can still dream -- can't they?
Our Manhattan superiors can still dream -- can't they?
Student Debt Rose Faster Than Starting Salaries for Last Year's Graduates, Report Says
Which, along with the burgeoning problem with endowments, raises the question: How long can HYER LURNING be a growth industry?
Which, along with the burgeoning problem with endowments, raises the question: How long can HYER LURNING be a growth industry?
Look at this chart. The last World Series to score the magical 30 rating was in 1981. That was the year of the disastrous mid-season strike, which took a solid chunk of fans out of the game. The Great Migration to cable soon followed, and it hasn't revived since; the last decent numbers -- and the last decent Series -- came in '91, and thanks to TED. And for all of Selig's idiotic talk the decline has grown steeper. Pundits are much anticipating that this year's Seligism festival will score all-time-low ratings. We would not bet on that, but this chart gives a classic look at what happens to a sports league when it decides it can do without most of its fans.
IF Boobs McKeating wins, could the time come the hard core might wish he hadn't?
We don't know why Sandy "Mozilo" Dodd should be worried; he can wait out the election or the Senate "Ethics" Committee issues a whitewash. Either way he can run for eight or nine more terms.
What would Oprah do....in an Obama cabinet?
Tough call -- unless The Lord divorces His wife, then we'd have a God and a Goddess -- as if we didn't already.
PREDICTION: She won't take the demotion, but that won't stop Him, Her or Them from pontificating.
Tough call -- unless The Lord divorces His wife, then we'd have a God and a Goddess -- as if we didn't already.
PREDICTION: She won't take the demotion, but that won't stop Him, Her or Them from pontificating.
If the banks are having such dire trouble lending money why do I keep getting unneeded and unwanted credit-card advance checks?
The bad news -- in the hed:
Wachovia takes huge write-down ahead of Wells deal
The good news -- in the subhed:
Goodwill impairment of $18.8 bln may mean fewer losses in future for Wells
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Wachovia takes huge write-down ahead of Wells deal
The good news -- in the subhed:
Goodwill impairment of $18.8 bln may mean fewer losses in future for Wells
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Newt's former spokespoop Tony, who has occasionally been very dense, gets at the heart of what ails modern conservatism -- by channeling FDR:
"Let me warn the nation against the smooth evasion which says: 'Of course we believe all these things. We believe in Social Security; we believe in work for the unemployed; we believe in saving homes. Cross our hearts and hope to die, we believe in all these things; but we do not like the way the present administration is doing them. Just turn them over to us. We will do all of them; we will do more of them; we will do them better; and best of all, the doing of them will not cost anybody anything.'"
Come to think of it -- wasn't that how Dubya worked?
"Let me warn the nation against the smooth evasion which says: 'Of course we believe all these things. We believe in Social Security; we believe in work for the unemployed; we believe in saving homes. Cross our hearts and hope to die, we believe in all these things; but we do not like the way the present administration is doing them. Just turn them over to us. We will do all of them; we will do more of them; we will do them better; and best of all, the doing of them will not cost anybody anything.'"
Come to think of it -- wasn't that how Dubya worked?
Count on SUPERADAM!!!!! to get into an excited nostalgia over punk rock. But while punk got news hacks initially in a state of adjective-scribbling frenzy, let us look around the muck and ashes of pop -- MUSIC and behold what the genius bequeathed us. No, we think we understand why so many people hated Nancy Spungen.
Add SUMNER to the list of overexposed media biggies who only ever loved themselves, as if we could doubt that.
(Via MediaBistro)
(Via MediaBistro)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
More from ASSPress Publicity:
"Star Wars" is hyperspeeding to an even longer time ago.
The next chapter in George Lucas' ever-expanding franchise will be "Star Wars: The Old Republic," a massively multiplayer online game set thousands of years before Darth Vader was born.
Maybe if LUKE SPIELBERG hyperspeeds fast enough into the past we won't have to countenance His rotten Buck Rogers remakes again.
"Star Wars" is hyperspeeding to an even longer time ago.
The next chapter in George Lucas' ever-expanding franchise will be "Star Wars: The Old Republic," a massively multiplayer online game set thousands of years before Darth Vader was born.
Maybe if LUKE SPIELBERG hyperspeeds fast enough into the past we won't have to countenance His rotten Buck Rogers remakes again.
MADONNA’S manic obsession with her body SHATTERED her marriage to Guy Ritchie, the News of the World can reveal.
As their relationship went into meltdown the musclebound singer insisted on sticking to her strict FOUR-HOUR daily exercise regime DESPITE Guy’s pleas they should spend more time together.
It meant the film director went 18 MONTHS without having sex with his wife.
I don't know -- If I'd been Guy I might have been happy.
And on the rare occasions when they did make love, he has told pals it was like “cuddling up to a piece of gristle”.
LIKE I SAID....
As their relationship went into meltdown the musclebound singer insisted on sticking to her strict FOUR-HOUR daily exercise regime DESPITE Guy’s pleas they should spend more time together.
It meant the film director went 18 MONTHS without having sex with his wife.
I don't know -- If I'd been Guy I might have been happy.
And on the rare occasions when they did make love, he has told pals it was like “cuddling up to a piece of gristle”.
LIKE I SAID....
A whopping 89% of New York City voters say the issue of term limits should be decided by a voter referendum, not an act of the City Council, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Half of respondents said they oppose extending the eight-year term limit currently in place to 12 years for the purposes of allowing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for a third term, and 52% said they would vote against extending term limits in a referendum.
Honorary Three-Term Mayor Mike says: LET THEM EAT BALLOTS!
P. S. I just typed Bloomberg in Twitter search and got ten Bloomberg.com links. So much for the people.
Honorary Three-Term Mayor Mike says: LET THEM EAT BALLOTS!
P. S. I just typed Bloomberg in Twitter search and got ten Bloomberg.com links. So much for the people.
Whenever Wired spots a trend my first instinct is to guess why not. I'd say most bloggers have been drowned out by the sameness of their own voices. Writing 3,000-word posts should never have cut it. And text messaging as blogging (that's what Twitter is) won't cut it for long either; it's even more CW prone than BIGMEDIA. I'd wish the world went back to newspapers but then I remember the sieg heil; all told, however, that mightn't be bad.
(Via IWantMedia)
(Via IWantMedia)
And why is it a "catastrophe" for so many unneeded car dealers to go out of business? Yes, it hurts their workers, but doesn't having all those dealers add materially to the cost of selling a car? And what good is competition when the competition's spread so thin?
Anonymous RESPONDS:
Next year, you may find me writing whole columns about McCain's courage on immigration...or some other issue, although I think the verdict of history is in on the guy and I believe his behavior should not be forgotten: he has run a dishonorable campaign. Next year, too, you may find me disagreeing with Obama about this or that. You may want to kick me off your plane.
TRANSLATION: Yes, I was in love with SLICK. FURTHER TRANSLATION: NOT BLOODY LIKELY.
By the way, he says he's "paid to have opinions." But hasn't that been true of most of People Inc.'s organization men since 1923?
Next year, you may find me writing whole columns about McCain's courage on immigration...or some other issue, although I think the verdict of history is in on the guy and I believe his behavior should not be forgotten: he has run a dishonorable campaign. Next year, too, you may find me disagreeing with Obama about this or that. You may want to kick me off your plane.
TRANSLATION: Yes, I was in love with SLICK. FURTHER TRANSLATION: NOT BLOODY LIKELY.
By the way, he says he's "paid to have opinions." But hasn't that been true of most of People Inc.'s organization men since 1923?
Boobs McKeating has banned Anonymous from his campaign plane. This is counterproductive. All it does it get Anonymous more excited, and throwing more tantrums in print, and getting him even more in the tank for The Lord, and if there's one thing you don't want it's to make 99.999% media support for The Messiah into 100%.
That said, if we were petty and small-minded, we might ban him from our plane too.
P. S.
UPDATE: Campaign spokesperson Michael Goldfarb responded that "we don't allow Daily Kos diarists on board either."
Them's fightin' words!
(Via MediaBistro)
That said, if we were petty and small-minded, we might ban him from our plane too.
P. S.
UPDATE: Campaign spokesperson Michael Goldfarb responded that "we don't allow Daily Kos diarists on board either."
Them's fightin' words!
(Via MediaBistro)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Question: At what point do the Feds decide they can stop jacking up banks -- or do they decide to go all the way because they promised?
"At this rate, the question isn't just `Are you better off than you were four years ago?', it's `Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?"' [sic]
Hey but if you go by shorter time frames -- say, four days -- and you believe in Wall Street's fairies the answer can only be yes.
Hey but if you go by shorter time frames -- say, four days -- and you believe in Wall Street's fairies the answer can only be yes.
Usually when teddy bears and candles sprout in the ghetto, so does NO SNITCHIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thankfully, not this time.
Con-SER-va-tives are making a thing over Vice-President Kinnock's words. Like so many hack pols he wouldn't know a clear sentence if it hit him on the head with its nouns. We think what Neil meant is that in an unpredictable world, a rogue leader might want to tweak The Messiah, especially early on, but he's up to the challenge, and don't mistake his youth of callowness. Enamored of his copious verbiage, however, and under the guidance of a God who has more than a bit of the nonjudgmental in Him, he almost made it sound as though The Lord might cave under pressure. We can't be sure of course -- we figure Boobs McKeating might think of firing off his six-shooters when threatened -- but that Neil has once again subjected The Lord to a tiny and manageable controversy says something about the state of political oratory, and the state of political egos.
In a very showy way Col.'s boys are saying he had nothing to do with their courageous endorsements. The story of Henry Luce tells us a news tycoon doesn't have to scream in his slaves' ears to be heard. While we are certain Col. didn't TELL the boys to be courageous the fact remains he set up the circumstance that allowed for their courage by running his company off a cliff; if we're going to go down with the ship, they surely reasoned, may as well do it with all guns blazing. We stand by that assessment.
(Via the usual Romy)
(Via the usual Romy)
It's a little discouraging to learn The Messiah will apparently bring lots of hacks and retreads into His cabinet. Yes the Dems have been out of the White House for all but eight of the last twenty-eight years but does that mean there's no new talent left? Jack Reed will be a drone at Defense; we can hardly wait for Sen. Hein-TZZZZZZZZZZZZZ to put his foot in his mouth. As for the token Republicans Sen. Moderate and Sen. Hole-in-the-Bagel will likely be given useless jobs at Agriculture and Veterans to disabuse them of their bipartisanship. And how old is Paul Volcker? And after these folks come the true believers, and that's when The Lord gets into trouble.
And why did WaPo bury this on A12?
P. S. 81 on September 5.
And why did WaPo bury this on A12?
P. S. 81 on September 5.
We are sorry to hear Mr. Blackwell has died. He was very salutary in letting the world know celebrity females often have no taste.
And why is it when a guy like former SUPERADAM!!!!! star Jeremy is through with an enduring genius like Leonard Bernstein he makes him sound as appetizing as a plate of cold leftover Brussels sprouts?
Let's hope St. Warren folds the rag before he has a chance to be the next JACK KROLL!
Let's hope St. Warren folds the rag before he has a chance to be the next JACK KROLL!
Stephen "QUARTER OF A CENTURY" Holden is decidedly sour on Lerner and Loewe -- although you can't entirely blame him:
[I]t’s a little jolting to realize that a starring role on Broadway is no longer synonymous with stardom in the celebrity sense of the word.
Who needs celebrities with all the roustabouts?
[I]t’s a little jolting to realize that a starring role on Broadway is no longer synonymous with stardom in the celebrity sense of the word.
Who needs celebrities with all the roustabouts?
And elsewhere in the ADMINSTRATION of news, a pertinent question:
"Since when do you guys lean right?"
(Via the usual Romy)
"Since when do you guys lean right?"
(Via the usual Romy)
Obama: Powell will have a role in adminstration [SIC!!!!!]
Ka-CHING!
And apparently the ASSPress was so excited at this Force of Truth and Justice getting a job that the spelling error appears all throughout the news food chain!
A specially misspelled NEUHARTHISM OF THE WEEK AWARD to ASSPRESS!
Ka-CHING!
And apparently the ASSPress was so excited at this Force of Truth and Justice getting a job that the spelling error appears all throughout the news food chain!
A specially misspelled NEUHARTHISM OF THE WEEK AWARD to ASSPRESS!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
OPEC Plans to Cut Supply as Oil Prices Head Toward $50 a Barrel
``OPEC is going to try to prevent some of the price decline,'' Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities research at Merrill in London, said in a Bloomberg television interview. ``It's going to be very difficult to stem a price fall.''
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Falling oil prices dent Hugo Chávez's clout
Commodities prices overall are slipping, generating new concern in a region heavily vested in exports of soy, copper, and crude. But it is Chávez who could stand the most to lose: a new report from Deutsche Bank says that Venezuela needs prices to stay at $95 a barrel in order to balance its budget.
Coupled with production declines, Chávez's days as the ultimate benefactor could be coming to a close.
See? Not all the economic news is bad.
``OPEC is going to try to prevent some of the price decline,'' Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities research at Merrill in London, said in a Bloomberg television interview. ``It's going to be very difficult to stem a price fall.''
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falling oil prices dent Hugo Chávez's clout
Commodities prices overall are slipping, generating new concern in a region heavily vested in exports of soy, copper, and crude. But it is Chávez who could stand the most to lose: a new report from Deutsche Bank says that Venezuela needs prices to stay at $95 a barrel in order to balance its budget.
Coupled with production declines, Chávez's days as the ultimate benefactor could be coming to a close.
See? Not all the economic news is bad.
We haven't paid much thought to Milan Kundera's travails as they may boil down to a game of East-Bloc insider baseball, with jealousy on all sides, a notion that gains validity from the remark that he "writes intellectual pornography for mediocre Western readers", which we would not be surprised to learn has a basis in truth (especially as he inspired a Hollywood arthouse extrusion); and it may be hard to find high-profile figures from that era who didn't collaborate. Nonetheless, if he did, it is a stain, a stain not bleached by the excuse that everybody did it -- or had to do it.
And on my way back from the not-so-great A I beheld as always this landmark in the sky, and today I couldn't help reflecting what it once stood for: Philadelphia National Bank. In twenty years it's gone through four mergers and four name changes, the first three accompanied by layoffs (and I suspect writedowns): first CoreStates (sic) Financial, then FirstUnion (sic), then Watchoverya; now it's the Federally-pastored shotgun wedding with Wells Fargo. If this bank had stayed local it might not have been better managed; then again had it hewed to local lending and sound, conservative principles it could have been a true public servant, a feather in our civic cap, and very profitable, and no one would talk about new lows, or RUNS. Walkoverya had planned to get rid of the letters but now, it appears, they'll stay forever, like the ones on the currently Loews hotel.
I would not wager though that Wells will pay full price to keep a name on the sporting Taj Mahal for rich people. It would show true principle to abandon it to the prima donnas and their losses. Then again, if their execs can find a way to put their feet on the luxury-suite railings maybe they will.
I'm now convinced the big consumer retailers are run by men whose hobby is pulling the wings off flies. Take CVS. I just bought an item for 95 cents. I got back a three-foot-long register tape. Plus at least some of its stores require ID with credit cards, but not debit. To protect the customer, they lie. It's to discourage credit-card use so they can PAY LESS ON FEES.
And lately the several A&Ps where I have to shop for groceries have taken to playing seventies foreground Muzak. I am convinced it's a malevolent inside joke -- especially as the A seems to have gone on a price-hiking spree, perhaps to pay for buying Pathmark. What sort of idiots do they think we are?
Yet there is no changing either company; both live on captive customers.
And lately the several A&Ps where I have to shop for groceries have taken to playing seventies foreground Muzak. I am convinced it's a malevolent inside joke -- especially as the A seems to have gone on a price-hiking spree, perhaps to pay for buying Pathmark. What sort of idiots do they think we are?
Yet there is no changing either company; both live on captive customers.
Speaking of share prices, Jonny works for a company that is down 65 PERCENT from its all-time high; Mark works for a company that is down ALMOST 90 PERCENT. Do they care for share prices? No. Do they care for their fellow employees, especially the ones who don't make their six and seven digits? No. So long as THEY have jobs and so long as THEY are better than their readers, nothing will matter, so they can spin until the whole universe gets whirled up in their vortex.
This is not to say rightists can't spin. We saw that when NRO's effete snobs tried to turn the airhead SARAH!!!!! into a goddess. But this is to say so long as people like Jonny and Mark can talk down to their readers with impunity we should do everything we can to see their employers' share prices get closer to zero, even though Jonny and Mark are likely to be among the LAST to lose their jobs.
This is not to say rightists can't spin. We saw that when NRO's effete snobs tried to turn the airhead SARAH!!!!! into a goddess. But this is to say so long as people like Jonny and Mark can talk down to their readers with impunity we should do everything we can to see their employers' share prices get closer to zero, even though Jonny and Mark are likely to be among the LAST to lose their jobs.
A golden oldie from 2004:
Will someone tell the BUTTMAN INSTITUTE-DOW 36,000-BARNEY-FAG ARMEY CROWD, the more business practices UNFETTERED CAPITALISM, the more likely it is to BRING ON STATE SOCIALISM and NATIONAL-NANNYISM?
BUTTMAN INSTITUTE, by the way, was my reference to one of a certain Glibertarian think tank's finest supporters.
Will someone tell the BUTTMAN INSTITUTE-DOW 36,000-BARNEY-FAG ARMEY CROWD, the more business practices UNFETTERED CAPITALISM, the more likely it is to BRING ON STATE SOCIALISM and NATIONAL-NANNYISM?
BUTTMAN INSTITUTE, by the way, was my reference to one of a certain Glibertarian think tank's finest supporters.
TRANSLATION: Indiana, under a putatively Republican governor, is trying a healthy dose of RENDELLISM, with lots of emphasis on HEALTH CARE, and lots of big fat tax givea -- INCENTIVES, but it doesn't seem to be making the people any richer; if anything it's leading to a kind of economic caste system.
[C]reating a single viable biotech company with 10 to 20 employees takes as long as 10 years and as much as $100 million in cash infusions over those years, Eli Lilly start-up specialist Joshua Salisbury estimated.
By that rough measure, replacing the state's 133,400 lost factory jobs with the same number of knowledge workers would require amassing $670 billion to seed 6,700 new tech firms employing 20 workers each.
Is that doable in Indiana?
Well, Dubya helped the investment bankers -- so anything's possible!
[C]reating a single viable biotech company with 10 to 20 employees takes as long as 10 years and as much as $100 million in cash infusions over those years, Eli Lilly start-up specialist Joshua Salisbury estimated.
By that rough measure, replacing the state's 133,400 lost factory jobs with the same number of knowledge workers would require amassing $670 billion to seed 6,700 new tech firms employing 20 workers each.
Is that doable in Indiana?
Well, Dubya helped the investment bankers -- so anything's possible!
By the way, we just learned GCI has hit close to a twenty-five year low. This ought to be preposterous on the face of it, a manifestation of Wall Street's psychotics trashing the Casino; nonetheless it's something our superiors should keep in mind if they think they can endorse us into submission.
And we might add the more The Lord widens His lead in endorsements the less likely the climb back up gets any easier.
And we might add the more The Lord widens His lead in endorsements the less likely the climb back up gets any easier.
"The pendulum swings between big-government liberalism and small-government conservatism," said Dick Armey, former Republican leader in the House of Representatives. "We're going though one of those periods now. Democrats are feeling their oats. But the pendulum will swing back in our direction profoundly."
That can only mean one thing: the DEMOCRAT party (or is that DEMONCRAT) will so thoroughly destroy America we can start from scratch!
But remember Capo, they had help.
Or maybe he's just looking forward to getting all the spoils again.
That can only mean one thing: the DEMOCRAT party (or is that DEMONCRAT) will so thoroughly destroy America we can start from scratch!
But remember Capo, they had help.
Or maybe he's just looking forward to getting all the spoils again.
Gee willikers, Mike Nichols's greatest tourist trap, Monty Python's BLAZING SADDLES, is closing because in this economy people don't want to go to Branson East to watch third-hand productions of fourth-rate retreads.
Why just this economy?
Why just this economy?
You're Kos. Do you celebrate that a force of logic and reason has endorsed The Lord or do you scowl because he got us into HISTORY'S MOST EVIL WAR?
Or do you snooze because this old bozo was auditioning for a job?
Fortunately not so many people watch Deke the Press as when ST. TIM was on.
P. S. at 12:33 p. m.
REPUBLICAN Colin Powell endorses Obama [Overemphasis added]
We wonder how many hacks are playing this gag. Oddly the "domestic" Web site didn't do it. Perhaps they're being careful. (CNN -- careful?!?)
Or do you snooze because this old bozo was auditioning for a job?
Fortunately not so many people watch Deke the Press as when ST. TIM was on.
P. S. at 12:33 p. m.
REPUBLICAN Colin Powell endorses Obama [Overemphasis added]
We wonder how many hacks are playing this gag. Oddly the "domestic" Web site didn't do it. Perhaps they're being careful. (CNN -- careful?!?)
TRANSLATION: MORT ZUCK WANTS AN IN!
Does he still write those cloying editorials for Useless News? He could double his pleasure!
Well see Barack -- Mr. President, I have all these real-estate investments, and....
Does he still write those cloying editorials for Useless News? He could double his pleasure!
Well see Barack -- Mr. President, I have all these real-estate investments, and....
Oops: The Paper of Re-CORD admits helping poor people buy homes played a role in the housing depression, which means on Monday PILLHEAD will gloatingly thumphet that ONLY poor people started the housing depression, which means the vicious tantrum-throwing partisan circle will never end.
It might have been more than poor people, PILL.
It might have been more than poor people, PILL.