Posted 11:23 PM by Gene

We see the vote went faster than we thought -- evidently the bribes kicked in early -- and Speaker Babs wore a bright red dress, a rather oblivious color.

We also see the ASSPress is using the words "historic" and "landmark", the smiley-faced opposite version of GRIM MILESTONE.

Posted 11:20 PM by Gene

About 1.6 million [Vancouver OLYMPICS®] tickets overall are being sold, and organizers are making sure 70% of those go to the public.

TRANSLATION: Most of the remaining thirty percent are for the marquis events that are already locked up by CEOs and other high mucky-mucks, and whichever aren't will go for two hundred times face value.

Anyone for a non-metals round in CURLING?

Posted 10:53 PM by Gene

Six of one: Mogul's Friend blasting Dick Schick for reviling Pauline Kael's God, Robert Altman.

Half-a-dozen of the other: Dick Schick blasting movies he probably raved as first-runs.

We're more apt to believe Schick, if only because so many ad-blurbists are such knee-jerk thinkers in the first place. He also describes the noun "genius" as "a conventionalized descriptive", and news hacks (including lots of ad-blurbists) did most of the conventionalizing.

Posted 4:22 PM by Gene

I can abide by the notion that we had a psycho who happened to be a Muslim, and that this was not political. That said, we cannot ignore the man's religion, and for news hacks to do so clears the way for public disservice the next time, when the psycho is political.

Posted 1:13 PM by Gene

Yes, everyone wants to end these massacres, but to do so (if it could be done) would involve the kind of domestic spying and micromanagement of our lives that would be unconscionable. Besides, a country that can tolerate so many abortions seems to have found it within her increasingly withered self to tolerate these killings.

At least Lee is man enough to point a finger at both sides, but this has gone on for so long more than two sides may be to blame, and they've gone on long enough as to render such blame ascribing all but meaningless.

Ed Murrow rendered that line about "the fault, dear Brutus" into a politically correct joke, but it applies.

Posted 12:56 PM by Gene

The Insane Asylum on the Hill prepares for the longest vote in its history.

Posted 7:03 PM by Gene

ARCHDaily!



Now here is a rarity: modern architecture that is humble, that strikes a new note while bowing to the past.

On the other hand:



A fine old building grows a third-rate factory and balcony-shaped zits.

Posted 12:19 PM by Gene

Surprise: Nukeman may be further along to nuking Israel than the Wet Noodle Throwers could talk themselves into believing.

Hey Luigi! Get out 5000 more boxes of noodles!

(Via WeeklyStandard.com, which got the news the con-SER-va-tive-PC way -- see, The Guardian's COMMIE, so....)

Posted 11:39 AM by Gene

The Man Who Invented Must-See TV! is -- dictating a MEMOIR about it!

"I said to myself, 'I want to do this'!" [EUREKA! overemphasis added]

Who'll want to read this?

"There was a moment in time where, on one night, at one time, everyone in America said, 'I need to go to my TV set! And if they didn't they didn't show up for work the next day!'" [Further EUREKA! overemphasis added]

So why did so many people still show up for work?

I believe we have a textbook definition of megalomania.

(Via MediaBistro)

Posted 10:54 AM by Gene

We meant to note this before, but it is instructive when a con-SER-va-tive states that whatever their epochal victories of Tuesday Republicans cannot yet be trusted with our taxes.

Posted 10:30 AM by Gene

It is a mean, sour person who would not be moved by the story of the little girl dying of cancer who somehow had the strength to hide hundreds of love notes for her family in their house, and whose family amplified her love by selling a book of the notes for a cancer charity.

We cannot know why God wills such things, but even grief cannot stop love.

Posted 9:39 AM by Gene

Not surprisingly Mr. Bew-KES has time for backpatting from a self-regarding celebrity columnist, whom He vigorously assures that PEOPLE WARNER is making SCADS of money, which confirms that this man does not consume His own products.

Posted 9:04 AM by Gene

And in excellent timing:

8:39 AM UBS out with a bullish note this morning: "In our view, a large correction remains fundamentally unwarranted. We find little evidence to support the assertion that the 2009 market rally represents a liquidity-induced 'bubble,' or that the recent spate of market choppiness is a function of over-valuation."

Posted 8:58 AM by Gene

Unemployment rate hits 10.2% in October

Well, that takes care of the...RALLY for today.

Or maybe not, knowing those frauds.

Posted 12:43 AM by Gene

Does the IDIOT who "runs" PEOPLE WARNER, Mr. Bew-KES, actually ever CONSUME any of His properties? We see a man in His huge office at PEOPLE WARNER CENTER, immersed in spreadsheets, having constant meetings, or else flying from coast to coast umpteen times a week, busily thinking what decayed parcels of His empire to sell, prodigiously memorizing buzzwords. We doubt He has a monitor in His office, or if He does, it's on as background noise. We doubt He watches much TV at home, and we'd guess He gets FREE CABLE, this despite the spinoff. We doubt He'd know what HISTORY'S GREATEST NETWORK programs without breathing in the press releases of armies of admiring ad-blurbists. We doubt He's ever attended a "world premiere" of a movie even though His DC COMICS UNIT loves to boast how it's a leader in its field. We doubt He's bought one of His company's DVDs. WE DOUBT HE WATCHES CNN, or even consults ITS WEB SITES. Heck we doubt He logs onto PEOPLE INC.'s sites. (The home page on his PC is most likely THIS.) And if He has MAGAZINES on His desk they're probably FOR SHOW, to impress gullible ADVERTISERS. We suspect the only difference between Him and the late Mr. LEVIN or His equal in nincompoopery Mr. PARSONS is that He has never boasted of saving the world through the Internet, nor has He intimated He'd like to be Noo Yawk's mayor. This man no doubt runs PEOPLE WARNER from IGNORANCE, and while it may be the best means of overseeing an outfit that produces such vast quantities of junk it may not be the best thing for those at the RECEIVING END of it.



BRING BACK DAWS BUTLER! (At left with Stan Freberg)

(Slightly revised 8/18/2010 with new THR link)

Posted 11:31 PM by Gene

Seized by federal regulators 14 months ago, the problems at Fannie Mae and sibling company Freddie Mac [typical ASSPress SIC!!!!!] have proven far worse than most experts had foreseen. Fannie Mae's request Thursday will bring the tab for rescuing both companies to about $111 billion. The government has promised up to $400 billion in assistance.

And Fannie Mae cautioned: "We do not expect to operate profitably in the foreseeable future."

How many points will this add to the new massacre rally tomorrow?

Posted 10:59 PM by Gene

Shel Dorf (!), the founder of COMIC-CON, the organization that plastered a huge sign on every movee house reading ADULTS NOT ALLOWED, has died.

Surely he didn't mean it. But he did found it.

Posted 10:30 PM by Gene

Allstate's CEO offers a ringing endorsement of the health of state and local governments:

“We’ve just recently begun to reduce our exposure to municipals because we are uncomfortable with some of the fiscal practices of some of the government entities,” Wilson said yesterday in an interview after the Northbrook, Illinois-based company reported a third-quarter profit. “If you look at their balance sheets or income statements and put it in financial terms, they are not in great shape.”

Posted 10:19 PM by Gene

PEOPLE WARNER, the company that gave us the antics of a celebrated "comedian", has now all but officially declared any talk of this psychopath's religion may qualify as a hate crime.

Again we must think of what Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman, for we are far too often convinced every word BIGMEDIA write or utter is a lie, including "and" and "the".

Posted 6:32 PM by Gene

How somewhat apt: a psychiatrist.

Posted 6:04 PM by Gene

Tomorrow, from PILLHEAD:

BARACK HUSSEIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OBAMA....

SHUT UP IN ADVANCE.

Posted 5:59 PM by Gene

Today we had a massacre. Today also Wall Street Casino's dealers went bonkers. Something tells me we may have ANOTHER MASSACRE RALLY on our hands.

What despicable frauds!

Posted 5:47 PM by Gene

ARCHDaily!



Not too long ago we posted on some Depression-era designs for synagogues that suggested a library, or a bank, or a train station. This is the HIP! modern equivalent: the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. It says nothing except that we could afford a sexy starchitect.

Take out all the HIP! angles and it's perfectly banal.

Posted 5:45 PM by Gene

One might feel more "compassionate" about a drug abuser if said abuser hadn't made kabillions as a tennis sex symbol. Sorry, Martina's right.

Posted 5:42 PM by Gene

P. S. at 5:42 p. m.

• Source: Gunman was Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan
• Obama: Shootings "tragic" FULL STORY

Yep, I think he's starting to crawl there.

Posted 4:27 PM by Gene

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which may lose its top rating from Standard & Poor’s, is as much of a credit risk as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the railroad ranked eight steps lower that it’s buying.

B-b-but He's still a God!

Posted 4:11 PM by Gene

I would not be surprised if this is white supremacists or neo-Nazis at work. Nor would I be surprised if His Omnipotence has to crawl into the comfort of his rhetorical hole.

Then again it could be plain apolitical psychotics. We've seen that before, alas.

Posted 12:00 PM by Gene

We have not discussed that CIA "trial" in Italy as two words render the whole thing moot: "In absentia." How much time do prosecutors and news hacks spend pursuing chimeras?

Posted 11:47 AM by Gene

There are big, BIG profits in the art auction trade. How do they help anybody except a few parasites?

Posted 11:01 AM by Gene

Littler Malcolm engages in an argument he can't win. Perhaps if we were all rational we could understand the necessity of profit; but as this GEKKO KUDLOW DAY in the Wall Street Casino demonstrates business folk aren't the most rational on earth. We may ask what is rational about zillion-dollar bank bonuses? Or making the price of oil double in just a few months on a mere whim? Or building a zillion houses no one needs? Don't they have something to do with profits? And why is profit so often such a punitive thing for the people from whom it's extracted? Sorry, it's not just whiny commies like BERNIE SANDERS who should complain.

Posted 10:38 AM by Gene

When ANONYMOUS says Hillary has a "mixed record" that's putting it kindly.

Posted 12:18 AM by Gene

Oh and before I forget -- this has to have been one of the most tedious postseasons in SELIGISM's tawdry history, with short series and many one-sided games, and the championship averaging nearly four hours a night, and the constant delays on the mound. I don't care what BUD and SLIME and Nielsen say (and I'm convinced that last party has cleverly tweaked its ratings as they're showing absurd increases across the board -- we know how the ad buyers are dancing a jitterbug over the PLUS-THREES); the "sport" won't have its Boss-Tweed George to protect it every year.

And now we Philthydelphians, seeing the fairy dust turn to ashes, must confront the reality of a transit strike that may not end soon, a slow-motion disaster that spits in the face of civic pride, and exposes the morons who insist civic pride is a good -- like EDDIE.

One nice thing for me -- no Blutos outside my window...this year. It's a little sad hearing peace and quiet, but it's more than a little hair-tearing hearing Blutos. Honorary Mayor Mike can have them. He'll probably sleep through the disturbances, which we hope for New York's blameless millions are few.

Posted 11:55 PM by Gene

Congratulations to the "world" champion New York Yankee.

(I hope to update this later when I've mastered Paint.net.)

P. S. It will be interesting to see how two-faced that pile of Brawny called Metro is; it publishes in both cities.

Posted 3:14 PM by Gene

Please, PRETTY please WON'T WORK EITHER.

(Via Marty)

Posted 2:29 PM by Gene

There had been some hope among Iran watchers and the U.S. government that, in the aftermath of Ahmadinejad's disputed election, the Iranian government would have more incentive to accept President Barack Obama's offer for an open discussion about Iran and America's fractured relations. According to this line of thinking, a contested government in Iran would need a deal with the West to bolster its international legitimacy. Further to the argument, the conservative Ahmadinejad was said to be one of the few Iranian leaders who could then pull off an about-face on 30 years of anti-Americanism and do a deal with the Great Satan.

In fact, the opposite is turning out to be the case.

TRANSLATION: Sometimes hope DOES NOT WORK.

Posted 10:23 AM by Gene

'All Campaign Hacks'

We've found a motto for His Omnipotency!

Posted 9:33 AM by Gene

We see someone named John Kenley, a godfather of the bus-'n'-truck company circuit, a man who brought star-turn vaudeville to summer-stock theater, has died. Any man who could cast Hugh Downs, Merv Griffin and Joe Namath in his shows must have been...a genius. I suspect we get only the faintest inkling of his approach from these closing grafs:

He would build his shows around them even if it meant making “adjustments,” as he put it, which could mean rewriting the script, adding musical numbers or doing whatever it took to make them happy.

“He would always add a tap number for Ann Miller, even in ‘Hello, Dolly,’ ” said Patrick Quinn, a former president of the Actors’ Equity Association and a former employee of Mr. Kenley’s in Ohio. Mr. Quinn spoke in an interview in 2006, the year he died.

“His most famous interpolation was in a 1975 production of ‘She Loves Me,’ starring Jack Jones and Anita Gillette,” Mr. Quinn said. “He had Jones close the first act singing, ‘What I Did for Love,’ the hit from ‘A Chorus Line,’ ” the musical created by Michael Bennett. That seemed to satisfy everyone, Mr. Quinn said, “at least until a telegram arrived from Michael Bennett.”

Oh well, just so long as it sold.

(Via the usual AHTSJournal; photo via Cleveland.com)

(P. S. on 11/10 at 1:43 p. m. I meant to mention this but one wonders if Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick knew about Mr. Kenley's six-left-footed interpolation, and what they'd have thought. They might not have been pleased. Banging and chiseling that song into a frothy romantic musical set in the 1930s would be in almost as bad taste as putting it at the end of the first act of FIDDLER. But singers like Jack Jones always had some bad taste.

It figures: He showed in AIRPLANE II: THE SEQUEL.)

Posted 9:03 AM by Gene

I figured out why the ACADEMY® needed two emcees: see, there are ten BEST PIC-TYURE nominees, and....

That's as good an excuse as any.

Posted 9:00 AM by Gene

And hardly a surprise from the PAPER OF RE-CORD: When Honorary nearly loses His race we attribute it to a "strong showing" by his opponent. When a de facto Republican loses the race in upstate New York we call it a "SETBACK FOR CONSERVATIVES!!!!!" with much the same toothy grin we used for words like GRIM MILESTONE. Such objective wishful thinking may not do the HARD CORE FANS any good if, in the name of soothing them, we refuse to prepare them for their own setbacks. SHUT UP, PINCH.

Posted 8:59 AM by Gene

So the only real surprise yesterday was that the voters put Honorary Mayor Mike on a short leash, which He's already chewed off.

Posted 8:38 PM by Gene

Perhaps by being unable to sell Opel GM caught a lucky break. It can't be half the company it must be without Europe.

Posted 4:53 PM by Gene

ST: [...W]hat media outlets do you read or listen to nowadays?

WS: I listen very regularly, almost religiously, to Democracy Now. And I would never miss an issue of The Nation. I'm a very slow reader [SIC!!!!!] and I can't say there are too many publications I read every word of. At times, I've read The Guardian every day, and The New York Review of Books. And there are great articles on Tom Dispatch on the web, and I'm a subscriber to Left Business Observer. CounterPunch. I wish I were one of those people who could read everything, but I'm not.

ST: To what extent do you worry, as I do, that your opinions aren't getting challenged enough when you pick your media so specifically? Do you worry about only reading the opinions of people who more or less agree with your assumptions?

WS: I don't worry about it at all.

Obviously Wally has NO sense of irony.

(Via the usual Romy, who is also quite irony-deprived)

Posted 4:51 PM by Gene

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wouldn’t commit to passing an overhaul of the U.S. health- care system this year, saying the chamber will take the time it needs to produce “quality legislation.”

What quality?

Posted 3:03 PM by Gene

Fox can thank baseball for a HUGE!!!!! average audience of 14.69 million viewers (8.8 rating, 14 share). [HUGE overemphasis added]

And SLIME can thank the ASSPRESS that a hack can think roughly 4.77 percent of almost 308 million is HUGE!!!!!

Posted 2:52 PM by Gene

Per FinViz, the top percentage gainer right now is a company called United Security Bancshares, whose ticker symbol is UBFO, and if you take out the B you have the perfect symbol for the financials.

Posted 2:38 PM by Gene

Dellums could owe $239,000 in taxes

Didn't this guy used to be a member of...never mind.

Posted 1:32 PM by Gene

BANEHEAD writes a 230-page press release. Speaker Babs writes a 1,990-page monster.

What more can these clowns do to make us hate them?

Posted 10:34 AM by Gene

Strike? What strike? Didn't you hear -- we settled it!

This will happen when certain people are contemplating their luxury boxes.

Posted 10:29 AM by Gene

Why is St. Warren getting into the railroad biz? It's a mature if not declining biz, with four national carriers and rampant deindustrialization. Is St. positioning Himself to be the next Cornelius Vanderbilt? Or is this one of those panicky actions He thinks can overcome further economic decline?

P. S. SYNERGY!!!!!

Haven't others tried that before?

Posted 9:38 PM by Gene

One year later, we are way beyond the T-shirt stage. The two documentaries are worth watching in tandem. One is a reminder of the hope Obama generated; the other is a reminder that there are no sure things in life, especially in politics.

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, another jernalist offers another excuse for the God his business sold.

Posted 5:17 PM by Gene

TRAGEDY: The Akron Beacon Journal, the Arizona Republic, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Baltimore Sun, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Contra Costa Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Dayton Daily News, the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Houston Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Oakland Tribune, the Orange County Register, the Palm Beach Post, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Providence Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Seattle Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Tacoma News Tribune, the Tampa Tribune and the Worcester Telegram were unable to send their personal presences to witness some ball games between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pity.

And thank you, Murray, for forcing us to look up the correct punctuations of five or six newspaper titles, which pretty well says all these treasured witnesses would have gotten them wrong anyway.

(Via the usual media-obsessive sites)

Posted 5:05 PM by Gene

President Barack Obama said the U.S. economy has pulled “back from the brink” and the government must now “get serious” about reducing debt and helping spur job growth.

With your health-care plan. PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!

Posted 5:05 PM by Gene

Hmmm, maybe if GEKKO KUDLOW could talk up some MERGERS....

Posted 10:49 AM by Gene

Question of the Day:

Is Hillary More Gaffe-Prone Than Biden?

Is that possible?

Posted 10:36 AM by Gene

And let us pity too the Democrat on FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!News.

But not on the MESS, CNN, Headline News, The Big C or Comedy Central News Network.

(First link via the usual Romy; second link via -- The CORNER)

Posted 10:16 AM by Gene

Pity the -- poor college president: twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week he must work to raise tuition. What a thankless task, for which he deserves seven digits.

The nice thing is he can pass off some of the agony to his cli -- the PARENTS.

Topping the list is Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., whose total compensation the Chronicle pegged at nearly $1.6 million....

Jackson, a physicist and former Clinton administration official, has clashed with Rensselaer faculty and been criticized for spending time away from campus to serve on six corporate boards. But she volunteered this year to return 5% of her base salary — which the Chronicle reported at just more than $1 million in fiscal 2008 — to be used for student scholarships. All salaries for senior administrators are frozen this year, RPI said.

Jackson received a strong statement of support from the university.

Applications to the school have doubled, research volume has tripled, and $690 million has in new construction and renovations have [SIC] taken place in Jackson's decade as president, said William N. Walker, Vice President, strategic communications and external relations, in a statement issued by the school. A request to interview Jackson was denied.

"The value she contributes to the Institute far exceeds the amount she is paid," Walker said.

Bill! When's the IPO?

Posted 10:09 AM by Gene

BILL "MENSA MAN" CARTER is cheerful because thanks to the DVR and Nielsen's prestidigtations the networks and ad buyers have come up with another excuse for burning money on television!

In the 18-to-49 group of viewers — the one prized by networks because most ad sales are directed there — Fox has the biggest percentage increase, from an average rating of 2.39 (which translates into about 2.5 million viewers) for its live programs to a 2.71 rating (about 3.1 million viewers) when the three-day DVR playback results are added in.

The numbers for ABC were a 2.5 rating live (2.87 million viewers) to a 2.81 (3.27 million) after three days. CBS had a 2.62 live (just over three million) and a 2.79 (3.2 million) after three days. NBC had 1.79 live (2.05 million) and 1.91 (2.19 million) after three days.

WOW!!!!! Those numbers are HUGE!!!!!!!!!!

What did I just say about biznews?

Posted 9:02 AM by Gene

Here's another excuse for a lousy press, this time for its business coverage.

For decades you clowns made heroes of LEGENDARY WELCHES and insisted investment bankers cured diseases. Your sleazy sycophancy has caught up to you. What scares us is that with so many toadies being fired business hackery will be worse -- in a different way.

(Via MediaBistro)

Posted 8:36 AM by Gene

Ford posts $997M 3Q profit, beats expectations

We did our part.

Posted 5:03 PM by Gene

CIT Group Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

DOW UP 1,000 TOMORROW!

Posted 3:44 PM by Gene

This odd story about a dispute between branches of the Gershwin family over royalties shows the limits of permanent copyright. Cretins like FORMER SEN. MICKEY-MOUSE PROTECTION ACT and CONGRESSPOOP MARY "FOREVER MINUS A DAY" BONO MACK have endorsed it. ("Hey maybe Ah cayn't sing a teeyune thahyt wayell but ah cayn shore hum $8 million!") But in time so many people would be fighting over increasingly diminished shares as to make money only for lawyers. Public domain has its flaws, but so does making intellectual property permanent private property. Let copyrights lapse after a reasonable time, then music such as a Gershwins' will belong free and clear to its true heirs -- the people.

(Via the usual AHTSJournal)

Posted 3:31 PM by Gene

Outfits like POLITICO will get excited but letting professional bloggers into the White House Day Care Center just means different people asking the stupid questions. And they generally don't break news despite their venture capitalists. This is a shrewd attempt to influence press releases at the margins, but it's still the margins.

Posted 1:43 PM by Gene

Wilbur Ross Sees ‘Huge’ Commercial Real Estate Crash

Again, I want someone to tell me why this isn't a dep -- an ECONOMY. Well, I can hear the ECONOMISTS whining, because we had an up quarter and unemployment is only 10 percent and.... Sorry, in nearly every particular, this IS a dep -- AN ECONOMY.

Posted 11:06 AM by Gene

PILLHEAD has a point when he says His Omnipotence does not care much for Afghanistan -- it's a monkey wrench in his permanent campaign -- but with PILLHEAD it comes out like this:

I DON'T THINK HE CARES MUCH ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!

-- and of course his bellowing causes some people think PILLHEAD NUTS, which allows hacks like David Axelrod to call him "an entertainer" (i.e., an AIRHEAD NAZI), which makes me wish all these screaming meemies would jump into the nearest active volcano.