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 31, 2009
To anyone with bad memories of how Gore's fact-filled debate performances against George W. Bush in 2000 failed to connect with voters, it may come as no surprise that Our Choicehas [SIC] a graphic on "how a wind turbine works," and a long section that begins: "Conventional hydrothermal plants are built according to one of three different designs. The steam can be taken directly through the turbine and then recondensed … " But because of one sentence, and one chapter, it does surprise. The chapter is an astute analysis of the psychological barriers that keep most Americans from taking the threat of climate change seriously, his acknowledgment that emotion, not just reason, drives the decisions people make. The sentence is this: "Simply laying out the facts won't work."
I think we get the message, JonBoy: we must drum climate change into their dear little ears...the only problem being we can't drum it into as many dear little ears as we used to, an unfortunate consequence of rather being right. Which may explain the relative reason of what we've skimmed of this piece -- it seems to highlight the limits of drumming along with the unlimits of Mr. Internet's "flexibility" -- but then we'd rather not have to read a whole article just to figure out if KAPLAN, INC. will throw another tantrum...and so, alas, we didn't.
SIXTY PERCENT, JonBoy!
P. S.
In addition to the newspaper, [KAPLAN, INC.] owns Kaplan Inc. [SIC] educational business [SIC], CableOne, a small cable company whose customers live mainly in the Northwest and Gulf States, six television stations and several other print and online publications, including Slate, Express and El Tiempo Latino.
Hmmm -- I think we're MISSING something!
I think we get the message, JonBoy: we must drum climate change into their dear little ears...the only problem being we can't drum it into as many dear little ears as we used to, an unfortunate consequence of rather being right. Which may explain the relative reason of what we've skimmed of this piece -- it seems to highlight the limits of drumming along with the unlimits of Mr. Internet's "flexibility" -- but then we'd rather not have to read a whole article just to figure out if KAPLAN, INC. will throw another tantrum...and so, alas, we didn't.
SIXTY PERCENT, JonBoy!
P. S.
In addition to the newspaper, [KAPLAN, INC.] owns Kaplan Inc. [SIC] educational business [SIC], CableOne, a small cable company whose customers live mainly in the Northwest and Gulf States, six television stations and several other print and online publications, including Slate, Express and El Tiempo Latino.
Hmmm -- I think we're MISSING something!
I have mentioned Babbitt before as it's my favorite novel. It is dated in many ways, as when Sinclair Lewis ascribes some vague evil to the communions in the silent movie house, but that's part of its charm, and we learn what intangibles we've lost. But it also speaks more to us than we may want to admit.
It certainly speaks to me. I don't like discussing my personal life but I've lived in a cocoon and can't escape. Though Babbitt was the last word in conventional -- he was especially conventional in his religion, attending church as everyone else did; he'd have appreciated today's mega-"churches" -- he was not quite the prototype of the Organization Man people think. No, he was Walter Mitty before James Thurber coined the name. We forget the book really deals with a sensitive man's midlife crisis: Consumed by a sudden dissatisfaction with his bourgeois ways Babbitt tries becoming a Lothario in the spirit of the Twenties, but he can't drink with pleasure, and he is much too self-conscious but to see others' faults, and it fails him. He sulks back to his miserably conventional life and his dumpy wife and not-too-bright children.
And speaking of the Second Coming, he had a brief devotion to baseball. This is where Babbitt has such value; we get to see life on another planet called America. ZELIG and the greedmeisters posit a day of baseball purity to mask their foulness, but the sport was very difficult to follow in its supposed golden age; there were no night games (and no blacks), and no television or even radio -- you had to be at the game, an inconvenience at best for working people, or follow it "live" at a local newspaper. Or to quote from the salient spot:
Baseball, he determined, would be an excellent hobby. "No sense a man's working his fool head off. I'm going out to the Game three times a week. Besides, fellow ought to support the home team."
He did go and support the team, and enhance the glory of Zenith, by yelling "Attaboy!" and "Rotten!" He performed the rite scrupulously. He wore a cotton handkerchief about his collar; he became sweaty; he opened his mouth in a wide loose grin; and drank lemon soda out of a bottle. He went to the Game three times a week, for one week. Then he compromised on watching the Advocate-Times bulletin-board. He stood in the thickest and steamiest of the crowd, and as the boy up on the lofty platform recorded the achievements of Big Bill Bostwick, the pitcher, Babbitt remarked to complete strangers, "Pretty nice! Good work!" and hastened back to the office.
He honestly believed that he loved baseball. It is true that he hadn't, in twenty-five years, himself played any baseball except back-lot catch with Ted--very gentle, and strictly limited to ten minutes. But the game was a custom of his clan, and it gave outlet for the homicidal and sides-taking instincts which Babbitt called "patriotism" and "love of sport."
Notwithstanding the ham-handed commentary at the end we can see that for many sports are something less than a full-time devotion, and for a reason.
And Babbitt can still speak to us because it survived Babbitt. Despite his less-than-success in business Harry S Truman was his good side; Dubya (whose first name is also George) would have reclined comfortably in Babbitt's many lazy prejudices and platitudes. And we have recent evidence it may yet be vaguely alive. Recently PILLHEAD's favorite intellectual wrote a telling review of a novel from the "thriller" novelist Robert Ferrigno set in the America of 2040, where half the country is an Islamic republic and the other half fitfully Christian. While this seems unthinkable given how easily we can demoralize ourselves it is not impossible. Or as this Substitute Host puts it,
Meanwhile, the [Bible] Belt is less a bastion of republican virtue than an impoverished swamp of garish sentimentality whose national shrines are Waco and Graceland.
An impoverished swamp of garish sentimentality -- definitely the successor to Babbitts. (It does seem strange that PILLHEAD and his fellow yappers could not come to the rescue, but that's another novel.)
Sinclair Lewis wrote a book called It Can't Happen Here. He was thinking of other isms. Given our weakness for stinky political fads and the tenacity of our enemies, it can.
It certainly speaks to me. I don't like discussing my personal life but I've lived in a cocoon and can't escape. Though Babbitt was the last word in conventional -- he was especially conventional in his religion, attending church as everyone else did; he'd have appreciated today's mega-"churches" -- he was not quite the prototype of the Organization Man people think. No, he was Walter Mitty before James Thurber coined the name. We forget the book really deals with a sensitive man's midlife crisis: Consumed by a sudden dissatisfaction with his bourgeois ways Babbitt tries becoming a Lothario in the spirit of the Twenties, but he can't drink with pleasure, and he is much too self-conscious but to see others' faults, and it fails him. He sulks back to his miserably conventional life and his dumpy wife and not-too-bright children.
And speaking of the Second Coming, he had a brief devotion to baseball. This is where Babbitt has such value; we get to see life on another planet called America. ZELIG and the greedmeisters posit a day of baseball purity to mask their foulness, but the sport was very difficult to follow in its supposed golden age; there were no night games (and no blacks), and no television or even radio -- you had to be at the game, an inconvenience at best for working people, or follow it "live" at a local newspaper. Or to quote from the salient spot:
Baseball, he determined, would be an excellent hobby. "No sense a man's working his fool head off. I'm going out to the Game three times a week. Besides, fellow ought to support the home team."
He did go and support the team, and enhance the glory of Zenith, by yelling "Attaboy!" and "Rotten!" He performed the rite scrupulously. He wore a cotton handkerchief about his collar; he became sweaty; he opened his mouth in a wide loose grin; and drank lemon soda out of a bottle. He went to the Game three times a week, for one week. Then he compromised on watching the Advocate-Times bulletin-board. He stood in the thickest and steamiest of the crowd, and as the boy up on the lofty platform recorded the achievements of Big Bill Bostwick, the pitcher, Babbitt remarked to complete strangers, "Pretty nice! Good work!" and hastened back to the office.
He honestly believed that he loved baseball. It is true that he hadn't, in twenty-five years, himself played any baseball except back-lot catch with Ted--very gentle, and strictly limited to ten minutes. But the game was a custom of his clan, and it gave outlet for the homicidal and sides-taking instincts which Babbitt called "patriotism" and "love of sport."
Notwithstanding the ham-handed commentary at the end we can see that for many sports are something less than a full-time devotion, and for a reason.
And Babbitt can still speak to us because it survived Babbitt. Despite his less-than-success in business Harry S Truman was his good side; Dubya (whose first name is also George) would have reclined comfortably in Babbitt's many lazy prejudices and platitudes. And we have recent evidence it may yet be vaguely alive. Recently PILLHEAD's favorite intellectual wrote a telling review of a novel from the "thriller" novelist Robert Ferrigno set in the America of 2040, where half the country is an Islamic republic and the other half fitfully Christian. While this seems unthinkable given how easily we can demoralize ourselves it is not impossible. Or as this Substitute Host puts it,
Meanwhile, the [Bible] Belt is less a bastion of republican virtue than an impoverished swamp of garish sentimentality whose national shrines are Waco and Graceland.
An impoverished swamp of garish sentimentality -- definitely the successor to Babbitts. (It does seem strange that PILLHEAD and his fellow yappers could not come to the rescue, but that's another novel.)
Sinclair Lewis wrote a book called It Can't Happen Here. He was thinking of other isms. Given our weakness for stinky political fads and the tenacity of our enemies, it can.
And yes, we did catch Ah-NULT's communiqué, which got the hacks all pinching themselves for its vast wit; but for our part we'd have a rather he'd written an "Ode to My Excellence as Governator", which would have involved the same coincidental letters.
THORB-JORN JAG-LAND SPEAKS!
Is it fair to say that Alfred Nobel did little to advance the cause of peace and much to thwart it as a chemist who invented dynamite in the 1860s?
Yes. He profited from war. That was why he became a peacemaker; well, not a peacemaker, but he saw the consequences of dynamite, how war became more efficient, an even more awful killing machine.
And since then he's made a LOT of peace, THORB.
The literature prize continues to go to ever more obscure choices. Had you heard of Herta Müller, the Romanian-German writer who is this year’s laureate?
To be honest, no, I hadn’t.
Have you read any novels by last year’s laureate in literature, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, of France?
Not before, but I read him afterward. It’s difficult reading.
What about Philip Roth or J. D. Salinger or Alice Munro or Joyce Carol Oates, who have freed literature from falseness and decorum, but whom the committee continues
to overlook?
Most people say what you are saying: Why don’t you choose one who is more known?
Because how many Americans write like Europeans?
INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.
P. S. All RIGHT, it's pronounced like THIS, which makes it sound worse.
(Via MICHAEL)
Is it fair to say that Alfred Nobel did little to advance the cause of peace and much to thwart it as a chemist who invented dynamite in the 1860s?
Yes. He profited from war. That was why he became a peacemaker; well, not a peacemaker, but he saw the consequences of dynamite, how war became more efficient, an even more awful killing machine.
And since then he's made a LOT of peace, THORB.
The literature prize continues to go to ever more obscure choices. Had you heard of Herta Müller, the Romanian-German writer who is this year’s laureate?
To be honest, no, I hadn’t.
Have you read any novels by last year’s laureate in literature, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, of France?
Not before, but I read him afterward. It’s difficult reading.
What about Philip Roth or J. D. Salinger or Alice Munro or Joyce Carol Oates, who have freed literature from falseness and decorum, but whom the committee continues
to overlook?
Most people say what you are saying: Why don’t you choose one who is more known?
Because how many Americans write like Europeans?
INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.
P. S. All RIGHT, it's pronounced like THIS, which makes it sound worse.
(Via MICHAEL)
GanNETt wants its SWAGGER back!
We know all about SWAGGER, disciples of NEUHARTH -- which may be why your stock has lost ITS.
Here's the best part: the NETt's being "IMPACTED" by LENO! GO JUT-JAW!
We know all about SWAGGER, disciples of NEUHARTH -- which may be why your stock has lost ITS.
Here's the best part: the NETt's being "IMPACTED" by LENO! GO JUT-JAW!
And we have tried ignoring this publicity stunt, knowing that complaining of such stunts means only more $$$$$$$$$$ for the publicists, but we would note this IS from PEOPLE WARNER, home of the DISCLAIMER, and the people responsible could not stop laughing -- either at their hilarity OR the audience.
AND PEOPLE WARNER HAS RUN ANOTHER DISCLAIMER! Don't SPIN OFF your RAGS, Mr. BEW-kes -- SHUT THEM DOWN!
AND PEOPLE WARNER HAS RUN ANOTHER DISCLAIMER! Don't SPIN OFF your RAGS, Mr. BEW-kes -- SHUT THEM DOWN!
This makes us think that, like so many sensations of the last forty or fifty years, Neil Simon's oeuvre may not have much of an afterlife.
We are rather pleased to note WACKO's CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED MASTERWORK is not doing the $250 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUPERNIKKI!!!!!!!!!! and her fellow press agents said it would, which makes us doubt whether that splotched friend of children will have much of an afterlife himself.
(First link via SUPERADAM!!!!!)
We are rather pleased to note WACKO's CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED MASTERWORK is not doing the $250 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUPERNIKKI!!!!!!!!!! and her fellow press agents said it would, which makes us doubt whether that splotched friend of children will have much of an afterlife himself.
(First link via SUPERADAM!!!!!)
And as our formerly grand city's denizens prepare to move to the heavens:
Six People Shot in Five Separate Incidents in Phila.
Six People Shot in Five Separate Incidents in Phila.
We have not commented on the contentious House race in upstate New York because we did not know what to say. On the one hand it is sad to see someone's campaign collapse like this, largely because -- let's face it -- she wasn't conservative PC enough; but the run in with The Weekly Standard was self-inflicted, and we have enough pols ready to compromise in the word's worst sense.
(Via ESPNCORP Network News)
(Via ESPNCORP Network News)
Our poor publicist Susan of USAOKAY!!!!! is having sleepless nights because the Os-CARS® expanded the best pic-tyure field -- and even another publicist looking hopefully up the ladder says "[a] lot more best-picture movies were made back then [i.e., in 1939] than now", although he carefully phrases it so that he won't have to admit that maybe there were a lot more good movies then.
Aw geez Sue, get a little shuteye! Take a cue from the NEUHARTH PLAYBOOK -- BLURB!
Aw geez Sue, get a little shuteye! Take a cue from the NEUHARTH PLAYBOOK -- BLURB!
Boehner: GOP offering the right health care ideas
TRANSLATION: BANEhead doesn't have a clue either.
P. S. at 1:58 p. m. Well all right, the Elephant Party does have these talking points. But why couldn't it have come up with them, say, four years ago?
We would note too point no. 4 is largely revenge at Democrats. We must admit, though, even someone suffering from PICA might not have an appetite for a 1,990-page bill.
(GOP link via the usual folk at Commentary)
TRANSLATION: BANEhead doesn't have a clue either.
P. S. at 1:58 p. m. Well all right, the Elephant Party does have these talking points. But why couldn't it have come up with them, say, four years ago?
We would note too point no. 4 is largely revenge at Democrats. We must admit, though, even someone suffering from PICA might not have an appetite for a 1,990-page bill.
(GOP link via the usual folk at Commentary)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wonderful:
Illinois Teacher Fund Confronts $35 Billion Unfunded Liability
We don't want to think how many other Illinois Teacher Retirement Systems there are.
(Via FinViz)
Illinois Teacher Fund Confronts $35 Billion Unfunded Liability
We don't want to think how many other Illinois Teacher Retirement Systems there are.
(Via FinViz)
Kaplan continues to be the company's biggest revenue generator. The education business, which includes online and brick-and-mortar higher education campuses in addition to test prep, reported $685 million in third-quarter revenue, or 60 percent of [KAPLAN, INC.]'s total revenue.
When does this company formally change its name to KAPLAN, INC.?
Meantime The Daily Broccoli pleads for government handouts for its news division. SELF-SERVING MORONS -- you COULD open a SALON.
(Both links via MediaBistro)
When does this company formally change its name to KAPLAN, INC.?
Meantime The Daily Broccoli pleads for government handouts for its news division. SELF-SERVING MORONS -- you COULD open a SALON.
(Both links via MediaBistro)
ROTGUT REEK, shunted off to FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Business???, draws an audience at least as old as he.
Maybe if he brought on some nappy-headed...never mind.
Maybe if he brought on some nappy-headed...never mind.
Moammar and Gordon's favorite smiley-faced oil company BP is being fined a lot for neglecting safety -- but what's safety when you've got Moammar and Gordon in your pocket?
Street Stews Over Consumer Worries [Generic link on Forbeslist.com home page]
Consumers shouldn't worry! They should INVEST -- like WE DO!!!!!
Consumers shouldn't worry! They should INVEST -- like WE DO!!!!!
Speaking of Senor Vlad:
Russia fails to protect journalists, activists, prison inmates and others at odds with authorities from a wide range of abuses, including torture and murder, the U.N. Human Rights Committee said Friday.
Okay, that's done -- now on to the business of prosecuting ISRAEL.
Russia fails to protect journalists, activists, prison inmates and others at odds with authorities from a wide range of abuses, including torture and murder, the U.N. Human Rights Committee said Friday.
Okay, that's done -- now on to the business of prosecuting ISRAEL.
Aw shucks, Tony's lost his chance to win the Nobel.
Now he'll have to be content spending the rest of his life making very profitable speeches and being an appendage to sleazy businessmen.
Now he'll have to be content spending the rest of his life making very profitable speeches and being an appendage to sleazy businessmen.
I like this: right after a story on layoffs at PEOPLE INC.:
Looking for a Job? Pre-register for the New York Post Job Fair Today!” [SIC]
Looking for a Job? Pre-register for the New York Post Job Fair Today!” [SIC]
We'll come clean with you, we haven't been active South Park viewers for the last few years.
And how many of the press agents who obsessively blurb about their favorite teevee shows would say the same thing about some of the shows they obsessively blurbed?
And how many of the press agents who obsessively blurb about their favorite teevee shows would say the same thing about some of the shows they obsessively blurbed?
Why we stand AGHAST that CURLEY (Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!) would lay off ANY of his critically-needed reporters:
4-legged movie stars vie for 'canine Oscars'
LONDON (AP) -- Four-legged screen stars are vying for the Fido Film Awards, billed as the canine equivalent of the Oscars.
Nominees announced Friday include the animated dog stars of "Bolt" and "Up," the titular mutt in "Marley and Me" and - in a rare non-canine choice - the dapper, George Clooney-voiced "Fantastic Mr. Fox."
They are competing for prizes in categories including historical hound, rom-com rover and comedy canine.
Award organizer Toby Rose said the past year had scene [SIC!!!!!] "an unprecedented run of dog successes at the international box office."
The Fidos call themselves the world's first international awards for canine screen stars. The winners will be chosen by a panel of British film critics and announced at a Nov. 22 ceremony in London.
Necessary!
P. S. at 2:52 p. m. Testimony to the Web's (and news hacks') infallibility: For "Award organizer Toby Rose said the past year had scene" G000,000,000GLE shows 1,690 LINKS -- and TWO CORRECTIONS.
P. P. S. on 10/31 at 10:20 a. m. There are now 1,150 links -- and 146 corrections. Progress!
4-legged movie stars vie for 'canine Oscars'
LONDON (AP) -- Four-legged screen stars are vying for the Fido Film Awards, billed as the canine equivalent of the Oscars.
Nominees announced Friday include the animated dog stars of "Bolt" and "Up," the titular mutt in "Marley and Me" and - in a rare non-canine choice - the dapper, George Clooney-voiced "Fantastic Mr. Fox."
They are competing for prizes in categories including historical hound, rom-com rover and comedy canine.
Award organizer Toby Rose said the past year had scene [SIC!!!!!] "an unprecedented run of dog successes at the international box office."
The Fidos call themselves the world's first international awards for canine screen stars. The winners will be chosen by a panel of British film critics and announced at a Nov. 22 ceremony in London.
Necessary!
P. S. at 2:52 p. m. Testimony to the Web's (and news hacks') infallibility: For "Award organizer Toby Rose said the past year had scene" G000,000,000GLE shows 1,690 LINKS -- and TWO CORRECTIONS.
P. P. S. on 10/31 at 10:20 a. m. There are now 1,150 links -- and 146 corrections. Progress!
Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, has likened his rhetorical jabs at Fox to the high-and-inside throws of a pitcher determined to back a batter off the plate. But Ailes isn't the batter in this scenario -- he's the opposing manager. And if Team Obama throws beanballs at his guys, he's going to see to it that the other side hears a little chin music, too.
Guess who really gets beaned with government as beanball.
(Via MediaBistro)
Guess who really gets beaned with government as beanball.
(Via MediaBistro)
Bad Time for Sports Overspending
Bad time? Any time for sports overspending at professional college teams is a GREAT time!
AND it keeps the clien -- students happy! Civic pri -- school spirit!
Bad time? Any time for sports overspending at professional college teams is a GREAT time!
AND it keeps the clien -- students happy! Civic pri -- school spirit!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
We hate to be cynics but could someone have "unintentionally" disclosed these House "Ethics" Committee "investigations" to scotch them all?
Nearly half the members of a powerful House subcommittee in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress, who have trained their lens on the relationships between seven members and an influential lobbying firm founded by a former Capitol Hill aide.
Possible.
Nearly half the members of a powerful House subcommittee in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress, who have trained their lens on the relationships between seven members and an influential lobbying firm founded by a former Capitol Hill aide.
Possible.
More stimulus now would add to an already dangerously high deficit. There may be greater need for it in a year’s time, when the inventory boost will be waning and this year’s $787 billion stimulus plan is about to expire. Even then, more stimulus should be considered only if a deficit-reduction plan is in place.
HARDY-HAR-HAR!
HARDY-HAR-HAR!
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK -- IN THE CLUNKERS PROGRAM:
Edmunds.com says a lot of those sales would have happened anyway, with or without the clunkers program. Of more than 690,000 vehicles sold, only about 125,000 of the sales were entirely due to the government's added inducement, Edmunds.com says. The rest of buyers just got lucky by getting the government to kick cash into deals that they would have proceeded with anyhow. When the cost of the program is spread over just those extra incremental sales, the total is $24,000 per vehicle.
That's just about $2,000 shy of the average amount paid for a new car by buyers in August, $26,915.
DOW UP 180 KAZILLION TODAY!!!!!!!!!!
Edmunds.com says a lot of those sales would have happened anyway, with or without the clunkers program. Of more than 690,000 vehicles sold, only about 125,000 of the sales were entirely due to the government's added inducement, Edmunds.com says. The rest of buyers just got lucky by getting the government to kick cash into deals that they would have proceeded with anyhow. When the cost of the program is spread over just those extra incremental sales, the total is $24,000 per vehicle.
That's just about $2,000 shy of the average amount paid for a new car by buyers in August, $26,915.
DOW UP 180 KAZILLION TODAY!!!!!!!!!!
Conservatives want one kind of uneven playing field. Liberals want another.
We said it before: If PILLHEAD ruled America unions and organizing would be illegal. If SPEAKER BABS ruled America union membership and dues would be mandatory.
We said it before: If PILLHEAD ruled America unions and organizing would be illegal. If SPEAKER BABS ruled America union membership and dues would be mandatory.
Sam Zell is complaining about losing what amounts to pocket change on his ill-fated takeover of the Tribune Co....
Zell, who reaped a $39 billion windfall unloading his real estate empire, stands to lose the $315 million he personally put into the complex transaction two years ago. "It's certainly the most amount of money I've lost in a single deal," he said in a Bloomberg interview.
The 68-year-old billionaire, who daily rides one of his 15 prized motorcycles to work, said that if he could turn back the clock on the flopped deal, he "would have married someone else."
You mean PVT. ZELL wouldn't have married himself?
Zell, who reaped a $39 billion windfall unloading his real estate empire, stands to lose the $315 million he personally put into the complex transaction two years ago. "It's certainly the most amount of money I've lost in a single deal," he said in a Bloomberg interview.
The 68-year-old billionaire, who daily rides one of his 15 prized motorcycles to work, said that if he could turn back the clock on the flopped deal, he "would have married someone else."
You mean PVT. ZELL wouldn't have married himself?
How many others besides me have been sickened by the way Hollywood has attempted to deify Michael Jackson in death after its denizens vilified him in life blahblahblah....
I really wish NIKKI!!!!! "ZEIGFIELD" FINKE!!!!! would stop hectoring us about morals and stick with selling things.
I really wish NIKKI!!!!! "ZEIGFIELD" FINKE!!!!! would stop hectoring us about morals and stick with selling things.
The Value of Online Content: Practically Nothing
We've stared at a monitor long enough -- we know.
(Via MediaBistro)
We've stared at a monitor long enough -- we know.
(Via MediaBistro)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
"We know that in fact you punish us for size."
Sorry Mr. Moon 'n' Stars, big 'n' clumsy go together.
Sorry Mr. Moon 'n' Stars, big 'n' clumsy go together.
FBI kills leader of radical Muslims; 6 held in raids
It appears we are NOT finished with DOMESTIC holy cockroaches. Vigilance, ALWAYS vigilance.
We must post this comment:
WorkedTooMuch wrote:
I deeply regret that a canine unit was lost in defense of our (and his) country. It is quite possible that the dog took a bullet that would have otherwise taken out a human agent.
I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, yet I never fail to remember the intelligence and faithfulness that a well trained dog can display. RIP, my friend.
Good (sniff) dog!
(Via ASSPress via MyWay.com)
It appears we are NOT finished with DOMESTIC holy cockroaches. Vigilance, ALWAYS vigilance.
We must post this comment:
WorkedTooMuch wrote:
I deeply regret that a canine unit was lost in defense of our (and his) country. It is quite possible that the dog took a bullet that would have otherwise taken out a human agent.
I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, yet I never fail to remember the intelligence and faithfulness that a well trained dog can display. RIP, my friend.
Good (sniff) dog!
(Via ASSPress via MyWay.com)
NYC: the city that never smokes
A proposal to ban lighting up in New York’s parks has exposed the puritanical agenda behind the crusade against smoking.
Patrick Basham directs the Democracy Institute and is a CATO INSTITUTE adjunct scholar. John Luik is a Democracy Institute senior fellow. They are co-authors of Hidden in Plain Sight: Why Tobacco Display Bans Fail. [Smoking overemphasis added]
Everyone has an agenda, sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
A proposal to ban lighting up in New York’s parks has exposed the puritanical agenda behind the crusade against smoking.
Patrick Basham directs the Democracy Institute and is a CATO INSTITUTE adjunct scholar. John Luik is a Democracy Institute senior fellow. They are co-authors of Hidden in Plain Sight: Why Tobacco Display Bans Fail. [Smoking overemphasis added]
Everyone has an agenda, sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Tony Blair set to stand for EU presidency 'if job is big enough'
Haven't retired prime ministers heard of Douglas MacArthur?
Haven't retired prime ministers heard of Douglas MacArthur?
This one we must put in our neat-O file.
America must make up her mind about space exploration. The thing is: if we'd put all the money we BURNED ON FINANCIERS into the effort...
...we could have sent them to the moon ON A SPACESHIP.
Naturally, on the other side of this tiresome divide, the whole world (outside NOO YAWK) hates the Pinstripes.
We note with some annoyance that StinkyInky Publishing Co. is in danger of selling at a fire-sale price. (Not OUR danger.) I can see its moth-eaten flagship doing this: Say the SELIGISM Series goes seven games. I see a fourteen-inning seventh game with lead changes each half-inning. When "our" side finally wins in the bottom half (bases loaded, two outs, full count, natch) the BLUTOS go into full riot mode. Our Stinky Inky, having run so many press releases during the Center City condo boom, does them a favor by draping the front page in a promotional "PHILLIES REPEAT!!!!!!!!!!" wrapper (i.e., a fake front page with four pages of photos) and playing down the rioting on the real front page. Yes, I can see a newspaper bankrupt in more ways than one doing this.
Of course the NOO YAWK tabloids would respond by gleefully overplaying the story on THEIR front pages, meaning more than one newspaper will be unreadable the day after.
(Second link via the usual Romy)
We note with some annoyance that StinkyInky Publishing Co. is in danger of selling at a fire-sale price. (Not OUR danger.) I can see its moth-eaten flagship doing this: Say the SELIGISM Series goes seven games. I see a fourteen-inning seventh game with lead changes each half-inning. When "our" side finally wins in the bottom half (bases loaded, two outs, full count, natch) the BLUTOS go into full riot mode. Our Stinky Inky, having run so many press releases during the Center City condo boom, does them a favor by draping the front page in a promotional "PHILLIES REPEAT!!!!!!!!!!" wrapper (i.e., a fake front page with four pages of photos) and playing down the rioting on the real front page. Yes, I can see a newspaper bankrupt in more ways than one doing this.
Of course the NOO YAWK tabloids would respond by gleefully overplaying the story on THEIR front pages, meaning more than one newspaper will be unreadable the day after.
(Second link via the usual Romy)
Tennis star Andre Agassi serves up a bombshell in his new memoir: In the late '90s he began regularly using crystal meth.
Why am I supposed to be bombed, PEOPLE WARNER? Wouldn't it be more astonishing if someone in big media and its tendrils didn't succumb to drugs?
Why am I supposed to be bombed, PEOPLE WARNER? Wouldn't it be more astonishing if someone in big media and its tendrils didn't succumb to drugs?
French financial watchdogs slammed Nicolas Sarkozy for spending £160m during his country's six-month stint in charge of the EU – including £250,000 on a personal presidential shower that he never used.
Remember when people were calling this guy "conservative"?
Nope, just another European.
On one occasion Sarkozy triggered the cancellation of an entire EU event he was due to host in Evian, because he wanted to sleep in his own bed at the Élysée palace. By then, hundreds of journalists, EU officials and national delegations had either already arrived in Evian or were on their way.
Your typical Congresspoop would appreciate that.
Remember when people were calling this guy "conservative"?
Nope, just another European.
On one occasion Sarkozy triggered the cancellation of an entire EU event he was due to host in Evian, because he wanted to sleep in his own bed at the Élysée palace. By then, hundreds of journalists, EU officials and national delegations had either already arrived in Evian or were on their way.
Your typical Congresspoop would appreciate that.
They're going berserk down there in that suburb of Camden....
Suburb of Greenwich and Fairfield doesn't sound that flattering either, as that's where many of NOO YAWK's corporate HQ went.
Heck any town that BOASTS it'll make $15.5 million from each of its SELIGISM Series games has a self-esteem problem. It wouldn't hurt to be humble a little. But as we said before, we in Philthydelphia have plenty to be humble about.
Suburb of Greenwich and Fairfield doesn't sound that flattering either, as that's where many of NOO YAWK's corporate HQ went.
Heck any town that BOASTS it'll make $15.5 million from each of its SELIGISM Series games has a self-esteem problem. It wouldn't hurt to be humble a little. But as we said before, we in Philthydelphia have plenty to be humble about.
"They're reporting better-than-expected earnings on back of significant cost cutting...but sales are not picking up. That's what's getting our attention. At a certain point of time they can't cut costs any further. Sales are not going higher."
When the markets go up a zillion points...who cares?
When the markets go up a zillion points...who cares?
This'll help us:
U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting.
U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that unified Democratic government has sparked a conservative counter-mobilization. Because we cannot rerun history as a controlled experiment, we will never know whether this could have been avoided had the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats adopted a different strategy. In any case, it’s too late to reverse it.
Still, Democrats must ask themselves whether there’s anything they can do over the next year--for example, a meaningful shift toward fiscal restraint--to reduce the intensity level of the conservative assault. If not, the combination of an energized opposition and an electorate battered by high unemployment, slow growth, and the perception of out-of-control spending could set the stage for an ugly outcome.
Already liberals are speaking of one-party government in the past tense.
(Via -- oh well -- JENNIFER)
Still, Democrats must ask themselves whether there’s anything they can do over the next year--for example, a meaningful shift toward fiscal restraint--to reduce the intensity level of the conservative assault. If not, the combination of an energized opposition and an electorate battered by high unemployment, slow growth, and the perception of out-of-control spending could set the stage for an ugly outcome.
Already liberals are speaking of one-party government in the past tense.
(Via -- oh well -- JENNIFER)
Each World Series game played at Yankee Stadium is worth $15.5 million to the New York City economy, according to an estimate by the city’s Economic Development Corp.
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sort of makes all the money You vacuumed from the turnips worth it, huh HONORARY MAYOR MIKE?
And how much does Your government waste in a day, Honorary?
The more these government clowns make up numbers the more their turnips think revolution.
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sort of makes all the money You vacuumed from the turnips worth it, huh HONORARY MAYOR MIKE?
And how much does Your government waste in a day, Honorary?
The more these government clowns make up numbers the more their turnips think revolution.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
One graf in this story about the fellow behind that "sweat lodge" proves this age has more con artists than any other:
In 2006, Ray appeared in The Secret, a popular documentary in which he and others promoted the philosophy that positive thinking makes good things happen. He also appeared on Oprah.
In 2006, Ray appeared in The Secret, a popular documentary in which he and others promoted the philosophy that positive thinking makes good things happen. He also appeared on Oprah.
"It's all about money," Anderson said. "Period."
Yes Sparky, SELIGISM is, regardless of what its founder says about day games.
Yes Sparky, SELIGISM is, regardless of what its founder says about day games.
"The data is eye-opening and quite troubling - athletic expenditures are rising three or four times faster than academic budgets," said William "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland.
All the more reason to raise tuition!
Cal spokesman Mogulof said, "There's a reason that 10,000 students come to every home football game.
"They're not just at Berkeley to attend class. They come to be part of a community."
KOLLEDGES believe in the civic-pride humbug too!
All the more reason to raise tuition!
Cal spokesman Mogulof said, "There's a reason that 10,000 students come to every home football game.
"They're not just at Berkeley to attend class. They come to be part of a community."
KOLLEDGES believe in the civic-pride humbug too!
The good thing about ads like these is they remind us who is no longer alive to Twitter, and of the Pygmies in their wake.
And how many of these geniuses do it themselves?
And how many of these geniuses do it themselves?
Lots of people will stomp the feet over the BUGMEISTERS' "cowardice", but this is a mere rerun of what has happened thousands of times to advertisers who don't know what they finance -- and mostly don't care.
I'm guessing we will also hear from con-SER-va-tives. They should shut up too.
I'm guessing we will also hear from con-SER-va-tives. They should shut up too.
Another reason to revere Mike Royko, and to mourn for the press he left behind. (Via the usual Romy)
I would not have posted on this but when I read the Pinstripes are "heavy 2-1 favorites" I cringed. You'd think these days reps wouldn't count for much being constantly trashed, but that 2-1 is mostly Ruth and Gehrig and DiMaggio, and they may not be on the team. Meantime the Big Apple's hacks refer to "Silly-Delphia" and "the Frillies", the sort of mockery that looks awfully embarrassing after a rout. And neither city should point fingers -- we have our ghettoes, NOO YAWK has Goldman Sachs.
I suspect the professional sports buffs are picking "our" guys, and I wouldn't care less either way but for the prospect of more sleepless nights, and more Blutory. I further suspect this will do better in the ratings; last year was such an anomaly. But onward and downward thereafter for a sport that -- richly deserves it.
Interesting too that Joysey's rooting mostly for the Yanks, but then Joysey's mostly an Apple suburb.
No wisecracks about the smell. Got it?
Nope.
I suspect the professional sports buffs are picking "our" guys, and I wouldn't care less either way but for the prospect of more sleepless nights, and more Blutory. I further suspect this will do better in the ratings; last year was such an anomaly. But onward and downward thereafter for a sport that -- richly deserves it.
Interesting too that Joysey's rooting mostly for the Yanks, but then Joysey's mostly an Apple suburb.
No wisecracks about the smell. Got it?
Nope.
Unable to sleep and picking up on this tiresome feud between ESPNCORP and Nick Dorken (two villains if ever there were) we clicked on undated anonymous TWXSTER lists of the 25 "best" and five "most overated" (but not worst) blogs (note the typical PEOPLE WARNER asymmetry -- I smell ER). The "best" list was more telling than the "worst": five liberal blogs, plus Lileks (we thought he had retired), and Dooce, and not hardly a worthwhile one to be found (although it is touching how we do a favor for our former employee Mr. Mellerdrammer). The Web is approaching the same rarefied level of CW and irrelevance as the newspaper biz. When do we revolt against IT?
P. S. at 10:48 a. m. The presence of all the celebrities led me to ignore the Cuban blogger (!), but the fact remains these are choices you'd expect from PEOPLE WARNER, and from ER.
P. P. S. at 11:07 a. m. We also note that two of the "most overrated" appeared as "best" blogs in the list for 2008. And witness this roll-your-eyes observation:
By most estimates, this is the 10th most popular blog on the planet: a site that lets users upload pictures of cats and affix funny captions to them written in a made-up language. Further evidence of the decline of Western civilization.
TRANSLATION: Most listicles are worthless.
P. S. at 10:48 a. m. The presence of all the celebrities led me to ignore the Cuban blogger (!), but the fact remains these are choices you'd expect from PEOPLE WARNER, and from ER.
P. P. S. at 11:07 a. m. We also note that two of the "most overrated" appeared as "best" blogs in the list for 2008. And witness this roll-your-eyes observation:
By most estimates, this is the 10th most popular blog on the planet: a site that lets users upload pictures of cats and affix funny captions to them written in a made-up language. Further evidence of the decline of Western civilization.
TRANSLATION: Most listicles are worthless.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Just one problem with this sudden radio nostalgia binge: The people reading ADS may be "live", but there are a lot more ADS than in the days of Marlboro -- and these folks are still reading ADS.
ARCHDaily!
SUPERTWEEZERS!!!!!
Doesn't this building look bureaucratic - in an award-winning way?
Where's the other speaker?
SUPERTWEEZERS!!!!!
Doesn't this building look bureaucratic - in an award-winning way?
Where's the other speaker?
The BAD news:
CNN finishes last among the four cable news networks
The GOOD news:
> CNN has nearly 6 million followers on Twitter
Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!!!!!
(The usual Romy link)
CNN finishes last among the four cable news networks
The GOOD news:
> CNN has nearly 6 million followers on Twitter
Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!!!!!
(The usual Romy link)
And where the elite meet to ridicule their turnips:
The other hot topic of the day was, not surprisingly, the impact of the expected Comcast-NBC Universal deal. Jessica Reif Cohen, 1st VP/Managing Director at Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research, said Comcast's potential deal to acquire a majority interest in NBCU could create “incredible” value for the MSO.
Though she noted that a failed deal could hit Comcast's stock hard, her backing was enough that one media-company CEO in the crowd said afterward, “I should go fill my boots with Comcast stock right now.”
Coming on the heels of that famous sales -- ANALYST stock was not what I was thinking of.
The other hot topic of the day was, not surprisingly, the impact of the expected Comcast-NBC Universal deal. Jessica Reif Cohen, 1st VP/Managing Director at Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research, said Comcast's potential deal to acquire a majority interest in NBCU could create “incredible” value for the MSO.
Though she noted that a failed deal could hit Comcast's stock hard, her backing was enough that one media-company CEO in the crowd said afterward, “I should go fill my boots with Comcast stock right now.”
Coming on the heels of that famous sales -- ANALYST stock was not what I was thinking of.
We wonder if one reason UB IGER is saying the movee biz is DYING!!!!! is because he has a potential BOMB on his hands.
Whenever I hear "nano" I think of The Professor and his friend the guy who thinks we can live forever.
How apt that carbon nanotubes may cause the same problems as asbestos.
How apt that carbon nanotubes may cause the same problems as asbestos.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Say we've been so busy writing millions and millions of profitable words about our local $econd ¢oming that oops! we almost forgot -- our transit workers have had no contract in months and might strike.
OR -- whatever comes after NEWSPAPERS can only be an IMPROVEMENT.
(Via -- it figures -- CBS SPORTS)
OR -- whatever comes after NEWSPAPERS can only be an IMPROVEMENT.
(Via -- it figures -- CBS SPORTS)
Jeffry Picower, a de facto unindicted co-conspirator of the scum Madoff, has died. RIP.
Businesses would not be required to provide health insurance under legislation being readied for Senate debate, but large firms would owe significant penalties if any worker needed government subsidies to buy coverage on their own, according to Democratic officials familiar with talks on the bill.
For firms with more than 50 employees, the fee could be as high as $750 multiplied by the total size of the work force if only a few workers needed federal aid, these officials said. That is a more stringent penalty than in a bill that recently cleared the Senate Finance Committee, which said companies should face penalties on a per-employee basis. [Emphasis added]
How many firms have 50 to 1000 employees? Are they large too?
The more they talk, the more they write, the more convoluted this gets.
For firms with more than 50 employees, the fee could be as high as $750 multiplied by the total size of the work force if only a few workers needed federal aid, these officials said. That is a more stringent penalty than in a bill that recently cleared the Senate Finance Committee, which said companies should face penalties on a per-employee basis. [Emphasis added]
How many firms have 50 to 1000 employees? Are they large too?
The more they talk, the more they write, the more convoluted this gets.
When Sen. Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, broke with her party to vote a health-care bill out of committee, she said, "When history calls, history calls." And it's not asking for baby steps. [LAST SENTENCE]
Okay Anna, if this is a time for action, why did KAPLAN, INC. take such a big non-baby step with your rag's circ -- BACKWARDS? Since you're telling the truth why not tell it to more people? Oh, telling truth costs money. It didn't used to.
Okay Anna, if this is a time for action, why did KAPLAN, INC. take such a big non-baby step with your rag's circ -- BACKWARDS? Since you're telling the truth why not tell it to more people? Oh, telling truth costs money. It didn't used to.
7. Frank Rich: In Defense of the ‘Balloon Boy’ Dad [Home-page "Most Popular" link]
The credulous might find this a worthwhile essay -- and one could mount a defense of the man, however unlikely. It might make for decent writing. Not being that credulous I did a little experiment: using Find in Firefox I typed in four letters:
B - U - S - H
Ta-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn't bother reading it.
Here we have a reason newspapers deserve their troubles. A computer could type out most of the contents. Pinch pays this bozo what? A million? To repeat himself all the time? Perhaps he's a profit center. We should recall though when Pinch tried His first experiment with paid content no one missed him -- or any of His other columnists. His approach deprives us of unconventional viewpoints -- not conservative vs. liberal, but truly unconventional ideas, like a defense of the Balloon Boy's father. Absurd -- but it could make people think. Instead we get the usual 800 words of verbally-induced coma.
The press's collapse has not deprived the most deserving of unemployment of their jobs. The time has come.
The credulous might find this a worthwhile essay -- and one could mount a defense of the man, however unlikely. It might make for decent writing. Not being that credulous I did a little experiment: using Find in Firefox I typed in four letters:
B - U - S - H
Ta-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn't bother reading it.
Here we have a reason newspapers deserve their troubles. A computer could type out most of the contents. Pinch pays this bozo what? A million? To repeat himself all the time? Perhaps he's a profit center. We should recall though when Pinch tried His first experiment with paid content no one missed him -- or any of His other columnists. His approach deprives us of unconventional viewpoints -- not conservative vs. liberal, but truly unconventional ideas, like a defense of the Balloon Boy's father. Absurd -- but it could make people think. Instead we get the usual 800 words of verbally-induced coma.
The press's collapse has not deprived the most deserving of unemployment of their jobs. The time has come.
Believe me when I say that torture porn flicks embarrass the industry which has been moving away from that and towards PG-13 fright fare.
Believe YOU? NIKKI!!!!! "ZEIGFIELD" FINKE!!!!!?
Believe YOU? NIKKI!!!!! "ZEIGFIELD" FINKE!!!!!?