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Thursday, July 14, 2011

News Nuggets 692

"Sleeping with the fishes"?  A tired Alaskan Brown Bear takes a before-dinner nap.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

The Foxification of News from the Economist [of London]
"In the internet age, transparency may count for more than objectivity."

US Senators, 9/11 Families Call for News Corp. Probes from Raw Story
"The parent company of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal may soon face federal investigations in the U.S., if two Democratic Senators and a group representing the families of 9/11 victims have their way."

Former NoW Executive Editor Neil Wallis Arrested in London from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Neil Wallis taken for questioning at local police station, the ninth person to be arrested over phone hacking at News of the World."

Murdoch’s U.S. Tabloid Scandal (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The media mogul is under fire over the London phone-hacking scandal, but here in America his New York Post has struggled with allegations that it rewarded friends and punished enemies. Howard Kurtz reports."
"... punished enemies"?

Rupert Murdoch's Troubles Spread to U.S. from Politico
"The phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch, its billionaire chairman and CEO, has definitely crossed the pond."

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp Drop Bid For BSkyB from the Huffington Post
"Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. withdrew its $12 billion bid for BSkyB, the lucrative satellite broadcaster, on Wednesday."

Confessions of a 'News of the World' Reporter (Exclusive) from the Hollywood Reporter
"A former staffer describes for THR how she was sent with a tiny "pen cam" with orders to catch Mike Tyson in a "cocaine orgy"; finding none, editors embellished her story with "three-way sex and other activities I had not witnessed.""
Just make it up!  Why not?  The Fox News connection becomes clearer by the day!

Global Economy Hangs on 'Mood' of U.S. Voters from O Globo [of Brazil in English]
 "It’s hard to imagine that due to a tug of war between Democrats and Republicans, an American default could occur, with all of the serious consequences this would entail for the country and the global economy. … a few years ago this would have been regarded as pure fiction."

Wall Street Warns Congress: The Economy Post-Default Is A Man Post-'Suicide' (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
""Asking what the U.S. economy might look like after a possible U.S. Treasury default is akin to asking 'what will you do after you commit suicide,' " wrote Steven Wieting, Managing Director in the Economic and Market Analysis team of Citigroup, in a July 11, 2011 report."

Is Obama Winning the Debt-limit Fight? from the Los Angeles Times
"Mark Salter, for years a top advisor to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Wednesday that he has, that Obama has “outmaneuvered” congressional Republicans by appearing more daring on fiscal reforms -- and that the GOP had best find another strategy."

Bozo Congress (Roger Simon) from Politico
"We don’t have a debt crisis, a tax crisis or a spending crisis in this country. We have a hate crisis, an extremism crisis and a lack of patriotism crisis."

McConnell Pitches Debt Plan, Gets Slammed by Tea Party from the McClatchy News Service
"Tea Party message boards were abuzz with the news of what one poster in the Tea Party Nation forum called the "Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011"."

McConnell Taking Fire From Right Wing from Roll Call
"I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy,” McConnell said. He warned that as lawmakers press up against the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt limit, the administration will send letters to 80 million Social Security recipients and to military families, “and they will all start attacking Members of Congress.”"
Sending out those letters -- I bet that'll get the GOP's attention more than any debt ceiling default abstractions!!

GOP Message of the Day: Retreat! (David Frum) from the Frum Forum

"I think I can also perceive a dawning awareness among House Republicans of the financial and political dangers of the crisis they have created. This awareness has created a potential demand for a more chest-thumping exit from the crisis than McConnell offered. Call it McConnell-plus."
More on the "retreat" HERE from the Economist of London.

As Debt-ceiling Crisis Grows, McConnell Warns Default Could 'Destroy' GOP from the Los Angeles Times
"Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader who has proposed a fallback plan that would likely ensure the $14.3-trillion debt limit would be raised, said in a radio interview that a default by the United States could critically damage his party heading into the 2012 elections. A default, McConnell told talk show host Laura Ingraham, “destroys your brand.”"

Graham: GOP Has No One 'to Blame but Ourselves' from Politico

"South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham conceded Wednesday that he and his fellow Republicans are now eating their own words as they try to convince the country they are working to stave off a federal default."

G.O.P.’s No-Tax Stance Is Outside Political Mainstream (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"Few Americans, however, take the view that spending cuts alone should be made in a deal, with no tax increases at all. In fact, only 26 percent of the Republican voters surveyed in Gallup’s poll took that position, along with 20 percent of voters overall."

Democratic Leaders: We Don't Know Who's Running GOP Debt Talks from The Hill

"House Democratic leaders say they’re no longer certain who’s negotiating a debt deal on behalf of the GOP, a message they’re pushing to posit a growing rift between Republican leaders."

Does Obama's $86 Million Haul Make Him Unbeatable? from The Week
"The president smashes his quarterly fundraising goal, and takes a huge lead over every Republican seeking to topple him."

President Is Best Of The Worst On Economy from Quinnipiac University

"American voters disapprove 56 - 38 percent of the way President Barack Obama is handling the economy, but by 45 - 38 percent they trust the president more than congressional Republicans to handle the economy, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. "

Michele Bachmann's Church Says the Pope Is the Antichrist (Joshua Green) from the Atlantic
"The Iowa front-runner for the GOP nomination was a longstanding member of a strict Lutheran synod with controversial views of Catholicism."
Ok -- where's the media outrage about this!?  Obama endured months of abuse for the Jeremiah Wright fiasco.  Is Bachmann going to receive any heat at all for this?  Don't bet on it.

TWO HOME/OFFICE CONVERSION NUGGETS!!
(1) Dramatic Home Conversions: A Slideshow from The Week

"From a former brewery to an actual cave, these five properties take home renovating to a whole new level.
Very creative!

(2) The Office That is Just Like a Giant Playground from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"With work spaces decorated with swirly lollipops, giant cupcakes, a treehouse, boot houses and even a flowing waterfall concealing a secret office, Inventionland has been designed to get big minds thinking. "
Check out the pictures of this place!!

RENAISSANCE PAINTING NUGGET!!
'Lost Michelangelo' Masterpiece Worth £100million Found Hanging on Wall of Student Halls in Oxford from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A painting which has been hanging in a student hall of residence at Oxford since the 1930s could be a Michelangelo masterpiece worth £100million."

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