CNN: Rupert Murdoch plans to apologize Saturday amid a burgeoning phone-hacking scandal in the United Kingdom that led to the resignation Friday of Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of Murdoch’s News International. “We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred,” Murdoch will say in an ad that is to appear in newspapers on Saturday. “We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected.” Police in the United Kingdom have identified almost 4,000 potential targets of phone hacking. There were also allegations that reporters may have bribed law enforcement officers. MORE REBEKAH BROOKS: At News International we pride […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
U2, Lincoln Financial Field, 9:34 PM BY JONATHAN VALANIA DAN DELUCA: The band took the stage to the strains of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” And in the night’s most-winning gambit, the foursome brought off a gleaming, life-affirming “Beautiful Day,” dedicated to recovering Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, with the aid of her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, in a video clip recorded in outer space. “Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows,” Kelly said, speaking a Bowie line that Bono then sang as U2’s song segued into Bowie. It might sound corny, but it made my hair stand on […]
TONIGHT: One More In The Name Of Love
[Photo by CHICAGOKRISTI] BY JONATHAN VALANIA Because some bands have greatness thrust upon them and other bands thrust greatness upon themselves. Because U2 knew that if they had it both ways, they could be bigger than Jesus. Because in the early ’80s, if you listened closely, you could actually hear Bono’s mullet. Because the Edge figured out early on that with the right ratios of pinging echo to pealing delay, the electric guitar could build cathedrals of sound that are holier than thou. Because Bozo-haired bassist Adam Clayton and pretty boy drummer Larry Mullen Jr. could make rock do what […]
WOODY GUTHRIE: This Land Was Made For U & Me
Happy 99th, Mr. Guthrie, wherever you are. WIKIPEDIA: “This Land Is Your Land” is one of the United States‘ most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin‘s “God Bless America“, which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio, he wrote a response originally called “God Blessed America for Me”.[1] Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses in line with his sympathetic views of communism,[2] than appear in recordings or publications.
HOT DOCUMENT: The Complete Manning/Lamo Logs
WIRED: A little more than a year ago, Wired.com published excerpts from instant messenger chats between accused WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning and Adrian Lamo, the ex-hacker in whom he confided and who reported him to the authorities. It’s now time to reveal the previously unpublished portions of these conversations. […] Where indicated, we have chosen to redact certain names and identifying information to protect the privacy of some third-parties mentioned in the logs, and we’ve redacted one password. Otherwise, the full text of the logs we received from Adrian Lamo are published below. MORE (10:23:34 AM) info@adrianlamo.com: I’m a journalist […]
CULTS: Go Outside
Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on Vimeo. RELATED: Peoples Temple sprang from the heartland in the 1950s. Rev. Jim Jones built an interracial congregation in Indianapolis through passionate Pentecostal preaching and courageous calls for racial equality. Moving his flock to California, the minister transformed his church into a leftist social movement with programs for the poor. Political work by his followers elevated Jones to prominence in liberal Democratic circles by the late 1970s. He was head of San Francisco’s public housing commission when media scrutiny and legal problems spurred his retreat to Jonestown for what would be his […]
WORTH REPEATING: Murdochracy Now
THE DRUM: H. L. Mencken, among the most influential writers of the early 20th century, opined that any journalist worth his salt knew that his job was “to please the crowd, to give a good show; and the way they set about giving that good show was by first selecting a deserving victim, and then putting him magnificently to the torture”. The smart journalist knows, said the “sage of Baltimore”, that “it is hard for the plain people to think about a thing, but easy for them to feel“. Silas Bent, who fell into (as he put it) reporting in New York in […]
MEET THE NEW BOSS: A Bunch Of Rich White Guys Sell The 76ers To Another Bunch Of Rich White Guys
COMCAST SPORTS NET: A group led by billionaire Joshua Harris, a director at Apollo Global Management LLC, has reached an agreement to buy the Sixers from Comcast-Spectacor. The ownership group also consists of David Blitzer; senior managing director of The Blackstone Group; Jason Levien, a former player agent and Sacramento Kings executive; and Art Wrubel. (meet the new ownership) Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the sale is believed to be for $280 million. Comcast-Spectacor will continue to own the Wells Fargo Center, of which the Sixers will remain tenants. Comcast SportsNet also has the television rights through […]
FINALLY: Obama Finds Spine, Gives Cantor What For
NEW YORK TIMES: After the meeting at the White House, Republicans and Democrats offered differing versions of what by all accounts was a tense session. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, said he raised the idea of taking what savings could be achieved now — roughly $1.4 trillion — and then having additional votes to raise the debt limit again before the elections in November 2012, with Republicans ultimately seeking a total of at least $2.4 trillion in cuts with no tax increases. At this, Mr. Cantor said, the president “got very agitated, seemingly.” Mr. Cantor quoted […]
DEVIL’S HAIRCUT: Rupert Murdoch Drops Bid For Total Ownership Of BSkyB, Which Would Have Made Him More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine
NATIONAL JOURNAL: At the center of a firestorm over alleged phone-hacking, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced Wednesday that it is dropping its bid to buy the share of Britain’s primary satellite TV broadcaster that it does not already own. The dropped bid comes a day after a U.S. Senator encouraged officials to look into whether the scandal affected any Americans. News Corp.’s stock has been hammered by the widening scandal, shaving billions of dollars off of the company’s market capitalization. Shares in the company have plummeted from $18.13 per share right before the first reports of the phone hacking and […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR When the energy giant Enron collapsed 10 years ago, top executives of the company faced criminal prosecution, and many served lengthy prison terms. In the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, hundreds of bankers went to jail. But the financial meltdown of 2008 hasn’t generated a single prosecution of high-level Wall Street players — even though the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil cases against some companies and reached financial settlements. That’s a result of new guidelines issued by the Justice Department in 2008, which have allowed prosecutors to take a “softer approach” to corporate crimes. […]
MUST SEE TV: George C. Scott Is NOT A Fan Of The Aggressively Awful New Adam Sandler Movie
WASHINGTON POST: One cannot say he or she has watched a terrible movie trailer until he or she has witnessed all two minutes and 33 seconds of the recently released trailer for Adam Sandler’s upcoming comedy, “Jack & Jill.” This clip/promotional debacle boasts Adam Sandler in drag, Adam Sandler as the twin brother of himself in drag, Al Pacino hitting on Adam Sandler in drag with help from a hot dog weiner and Katie Holmes attempting not to look embarassed by her involvement in this motion picture. MORE GAWKER: I don’t know that there’s really anything to say about this. […]