The last post on Anthony Weiner on my watch, I swear. But with his resignation now official and the media casting about for the next scandal du jour (hey, guys… look over here! ), it’s time for a little perspective on just what Anthony Weiner did not do, courtesy of Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker and Lawrence O’Donnell: Weiner’s sins, being wholly online, basically onanistic, pathetically “immature,” and totally without direct fleshly carnality, are literally ridiculous. They lack the swaggering macho that pushes more traditional, arguably crueler male transgressions – having affairs, whoring, fathering children out of wedlock – into the comparatively (though only comparatively) safer territory of “boys will be boys” and “men are like that.” One more factor that comes to mind: the particular media addictions of the political class. I suspect that, unlike normal people, a preponderance of that class – commentators, political reporters and editors, operatives, “strategists,” aides, news producers, etc. – spends several hours of every day watching cable-news television (or having it drone and flicker in the background), reading political blogs, sending and receiving e-mails about the latest political uproar, and talking about same to other members of the same class, on the phone or face to face. Actual office-holding politicians don’t necessarily have the time for all that, but they live inside the bubble it creates. The ambient atmosphere is one of constant overexcitement, hysteria, and sometimes unbearable tension, all focussed on the story of the day. That may be a reason why the protagonists of political scandals are dispatched more quickly and more mercilessly than in the past.
Continue reading …AP Miscasts NY State Same-Sex Marriage Bill Status, Calls Common Cause Member a ‘Good Government Advocate’
June 21, 2011 No Comment
The headline at Michael Gormley's Associated Press story on the status of New York State's legislation legalizing same-sex marriage (“NY GOP tables gay marriage; showdown looms”) does not reflect the bill's status in the legislative process as described in his underlying report. Additionally, Gormley had either the ignorance or the gall to characterize an official with Common Cause, an organization whose leadership and national governing board comprise a virtual leftist Who's Who, as a “good government advocate.” Gosh, the people at Heritage are also “good government advocates.” Does anyone think they'll live to see an AP reporter describe any Heritage official in such terms? (To be clear, the wire service shouldn't do that in describing leftist or conservative officials.) Here are excerpts
Continue reading …Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from… Yahoo?
June 21, 2011 No Comment
This afternoon rumors rapidly spread that an unnamed company had offered to purchase Hulu from its media giant owners, and now the LA Times Company Town blog has fingered that entity as Yahoo . According to the initial Wall Street Journal report, the offer received was not solicited, but it has caused the board to consider soliciting offers from other companies. The last time CEO Jason Kilar checked in he was looking forward to breaking one million Hulu Plus subscribers, now we’re wondering which giant may be first in line to snap the streaming site up and add its content licenses to their warchest. Whatever happens, the newly formed NBCUniversal conglomerate won’t have a say in it after forfeiting its board seats to get the merger approved. Drop in your wildly speculative commentary below — rumors including YouTube, iTunes, Xbox, or some insane Spotify rumor you just made up, we’re willing to listen to them all. Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from… Yahoo? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Spider-Man is going to die tomorrow, or at least a Spider-Man will. For those who haven’t been following comics lately, here’s the skinny: The Spider-Man that’s been around since 1962 is fine. The Peter Parker who’s biting the dust is “Ultimate Spider-Man,” an alternate version of the character introduced 11…
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Brazilian Maria Gomes Valentim put her longevity down to coffee, bread rolls, milk – and minding her own business A Brazilian woman officially recognised as the world’s oldest person has died just weeks from her 115th birthday. The title now reverts to a woman in the United States. Maria Gomes Valentim died of multiple organ failure, said Helerson Lima, a spokesman for the nursing home where she lived. Valentim would have turned 115 on July 9. An update on the Guinness World Records website said Valentim, “the first Brazilian super-centenarian to hold the title,” died at the age of 114 years, 347 days. On May 18, Guinness determined that Valentim was 48 days older than the person previously considered the world’s oldest human, Besse Cooper from Monroe, Georgia. “With Maria’s passing, the title of oldest living person reverts back to American Besse Cooper, age 114 years 299 days,” Guinness said. The Georgia woman’s son, Sid Cooper, said his mother was doing well at her Monroe retirement community. “She’s gained some weight, she’s eating real good,” he said. “Her memory is still really good. She remembers things from a long time ago and recognises people.” Guinness verified that Valentim was born on July 9, 1896, in the city of Carangola in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, where she lived all her life. Last month, Guinness said on its website that Valentim, who was known as “Grandma Quita,” attributed her longevity to a healthy diet: eating a roll of bread every morning with coffee, fruit and the occasional milk with linseed. Valentim’s family told reporters she had a stubborn streak and always made a habit of minding her own business. They also said that her father lived to be 100. “She says she has lived long because she has always taken care of her own life – and not meddled in the lives of others,” granddaughter Jane Ribeiro Moraes, 63, told a local newspaper in May. Valentim married her husband, Joao, in 1913. He died in 1946. She is survived by four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. Her only son died at age 75 in the early 1990s. World records Brazil State of Georgia United States guardian.co.uk
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Investors not told hedge fund Magnetar was influencing choice of mortgage assets for CDO investment JP Morgan has paid $153.6m (£95m) to US regulators to settle charges that it misled investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction just as the housing market was starting to plummet. The charges refer to a $1.1bn investment vehicle called Squared CDO set up by JP Morgan in 2007. The collateralised debt obligation made a series of complex bets on the mortgage market. Marketing material for the investment stated that the its portfolio had been picked using an independent adviser, GSCP, part of advisory service GSC Capital Corp. According to the securities and exchange commission, however, JP Morgan’s clients were not advised that the hedge fund Magnetar helped select the assets in the portfolio and had a short position in more than half of them. Magnetar was poised to benefit if the assets it was selecting for the portfolio failed, said the regulator. When the deal closed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calculates that Magnetar was betting $600m that the assets would fall and $8.9m that they would rise. The SEC claimed that JP Morgan launched “a frantic global sales effort” in March and April 2007 as the housing market appeared to be collapsing. In a 22 March 2007 email disclosed by the SEC, the JP Morgan employee in charge of Squared CDO’s global distribution said: “We are so pregnant with this deal … Let’s schedule the cesarian [sic], please!” Ten months later, the securities had lost most or all of their value. Robert Khuzami, the SEC’s director of enforcement, said the bank failed to tell investors “that a prominent hedge fund that would financially profit from the failure of CDO portfolio assets heavily influenced the CDO portfolio selection”. “With today’s settlement, harmed investors receive a full return of the losses they suffered,” he said. JP Morgan did not admit any wrongdoing. The bank said it ultimately lost $900m in connection with Squared CDO’s assets. This is the second time this week US regulators have clashed with JP Morgan. The National Credit Union Administration is also suing the bank for $800m alongside Royal Bank of Scotland, again for allegedly mis-selling mortgage-based securities. Earlier this month Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s chief executive, said financial reform was stifling recovery following the credit crisis. “Has anyone bothered to study the cumulative effect of all these things?” he asked the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke. “Is this holding us back at this point?” The SEC reached a record $550m settlement with Goldman Sachs over similar charges last year. Regulators are investigating many other deals from the housing crisis, with more settlements expected. JP Morgan Banking Credit crunch Financial crisis United States Securities and Exchange Commission Regulators Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Patrick J. Adams has the skinny on his new buzzed about show ‘Suits’ with co-star Gabriel Macht that premieres June 23 on the USA Network. (June 21)
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’30 Rock’ actor and comedian Tracy Morgan returned to Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday to apologize for anti-gay comments during a recent comedy show. (June 21)
Continue reading …David Gergen Conflates Mitt Romney’s Record on Job Creation With His Father’s
June 21, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Host Christine Romans filling in for Eliot Spitzer on CNN’s In the Arena allowed their regular network contributor David Gergen, who’s always painted as some bastion of even handed “centrism” because of the fact that he’s served as a political adviser for administrations on both sides of the aisle to get away with lying about Mitt Romney’s record on job creation. David Gergen did his best job to conflate what either other Mormon businesses have done to create jobs in America or what Mitt Romney’s father might have done to create jobs to Mitt Romney, completely ignoring Mittens horrid record of destroying jobs at Bain Capital. As I’ve already noted, it’s really pitiful that Stephen Colbert did a better job of telling the truth about Romney’s record on job creation than our corporate media has. Gergen just gave us another example here. GERGEN: The other thing is that Mormon business people we know have created a lot of jobs. And including his father who I have known for 40 years who is a terrific guy. They come from very good family. But they are very, very good at creating jobs. ROMANS: Well, that’s a good point because jobs is what’s so important here.
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Photography, nostalgia and Tumblr just might be NewsFeed’s new favorite combination. This week’s Tumblr is Dear Photograph, a sweet photo log which collects recent photos juxtaposed with older photos taken in the exact same location. Each image has a caption beginning, “Dear Photograph,” followed by a memory or a wish for the photographer’s younger self.
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