Politics: Meg Whitman, homophobe valleywag.com: “With her unofficial bid to be California's governor, Meg Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of eBay, is leaning hard to the right. Her support of a gay marriage ban could doom her campaign.
Whitman, as we've noted, is an oddity among Silicon Valley Republicans, who tend to worry more about lower taxes than hot-button social issues like abortion and gay marriage. In the Republican presidential primaries, she supported Mitt Romney, a Mormon with conservative social views. But it wasn't until recently that Whitman started talking about her own support for Proposition 8, California's recently passed ban on same-sex marriages.”
Monday, December 15, 2008
President Bush Dodges Shoes Thrown by Iraqi Journalist
Wow. What I now think is shoes should be removed and stored during a press conference. I'm rather serious here.
Greta Van Susteren Goes Off On CNN Layoffs - Gretawire
Blood Bath at CNN ? No “heroes” in management there! « GretaWire: “They did it again! CNN fires people just in time for Christmas! Make you sick?
People often ask why I left CNN…..I didn’t like management. I liked my colleagues in the news gathering but the corporate culture that seized management when AOL came in (Steve Case and Gerry Levin) was disgusting. Everything changed. Don’t get me wrong - I like corporate organization and a corporation should make money - what I don’t like is a mean spirited selfish management that, despite not doing its job of efficiently running the company, lines it pockets. And then the topper? because the management didn’t run the company well, CNN fires loyal people to meet some bottom line the management failed to meet. Blame the little guy not the way the company is run? Go figure! Well….CNN management did not disappoint me yesterday…meaning, it met my low expectations.”
--- This is a crass move by CNN management. It's the timing. Why the holidays?
People often ask why I left CNN…..I didn’t like management. I liked my colleagues in the news gathering but the corporate culture that seized management when AOL came in (Steve Case and Gerry Levin) was disgusting. Everything changed. Don’t get me wrong - I like corporate organization and a corporation should make money - what I don’t like is a mean spirited selfish management that, despite not doing its job of efficiently running the company, lines it pockets. And then the topper? because the management didn’t run the company well, CNN fires loyal people to meet some bottom line the management failed to meet. Blame the little guy not the way the company is run? Go figure! Well….CNN management did not disappoint me yesterday…meaning, it met my low expectations.”
--- This is a crass move by CNN management. It's the timing. Why the holidays?
Franken Camp: Coleman Is Desperate, Knows He's Going To Lose TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo |
TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Franken Camp: Coleman Is Desperate, Knows He's Going To Lose: “In a press briefing just now, a very exuberant Franken campaign put forward a clear message about today's big news that the wrongly-rejected absentee ballots can be counted, which the Coleman campaign is trying to halt by going to court: Norm Coleman is desperate, because he knows he's going to lose.
The shift in tone from the Franken camp, compared to their more defensive posture in previous calls, reflects just how suddenly the dynamics of the race have shifted in his favor today.”
The shift in tone from the Franken camp, compared to their more defensive posture in previous calls, reflects just how suddenly the dynamics of the race have shifted in his favor today.”
Iraqi reporter throws shoes at Bush, calls him dog TPM: News Pages | Talking Points Memo |
TPM: News Pages | Talking Points Memo | Iraqi reporter throws shoes at Bush, calls him dog: “BAGHDAD, Dec 14 (Reuters) - An Iraqi reporter called visiting U.S. President George W. Bush a "dog" in Arabic on Sunday and threw his shoes at him during a news conference in Baghdad.
Iraqi security officers and U.S. secret service agents leapt at the man and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the room where Bush was giving a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The shoes missed their target about 15 feet (4.5 metres) away. One sailed over Bush's head as he stood next to Maliki and smacked into the wall behind him. Bush smiled uncomfortably and Maliki looked strained.
"It doesn't bother me," Bush said, urging everyone to calm down as a ruckus broke out in the conference room.
When asked about the incident shortly after, Bush made light of it. "I didn't feel the least threatened by it," he said.”
Iraqi security officers and U.S. secret service agents leapt at the man and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the room where Bush was giving a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The shoes missed their target about 15 feet (4.5 metres) away. One sailed over Bush's head as he stood next to Maliki and smacked into the wall behind him. Bush smiled uncomfortably and Maliki looked strained.
"It doesn't bother me," Bush said, urging everyone to calm down as a ruckus broke out in the conference room.
When asked about the incident shortly after, Bush made light of it. "I didn't feel the least threatened by it," he said.”
Tina Brown And "The Daily Beast": Any Black Folks Around There?
The Daily Beast is a new website along the lines of The Huffington Post from a content standpoint and started by long-time magazine editor Tina Brown and with an investment by Barry Diller. The rumor has been that $18 million was invested in the site and that the company was burning through $1 million or so in a month. Here in the video, Brown dispells those rumors.
In all, The Daily Beast is certainly an interesting "go" in that Brown is not going to have a set of unpaid bloggers, as The Huff Post does, but all paid writers, In other words a news and content staff.
I think that's a terrible idea because it places a high cost template in the business model and causes a higher level of revenue to be reached. Translation: a constant burn rate. But what's even more alarming to me is this staff photo we see: where the hell's the staff diversity?
Has Tina ever heard of Black folks at all? Indeed, she wasn't a fan of President-Elect Barack Obama, but one of those who knee-jerk pointed to the "media bias against Hillary Clinton " while walking ignorantly past the dark racism that Obama faced during the campaign.
Regardless, assembling an almost-all-white (one Indian) news staff in an era that prizes diversity is massively irresponsible.
Partly as a result of this "one-think", The Daily Beast is woefully devoid of any original content at present. It's a cross between the online version of The New York Daily News, and The Huffington Post. If "news is advertising" as Brown says in the video, The Beast has terrible ad content.
For some reason I can see this lasting two or three years -- tops. That's not because of the staffing, but the total package. There's nothing original here.
Interview: New NYT.com GM Denise Warren: | paidContent.org
Interview: New NYT.com GM Denise Warren: Tip-toeing Into Aggregation With Guarded Optimism | paidContent.org: “As if heading advertising for the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) Media Group wasn’t tough enough in this climate, Denise Warren is taking on the role of GM of NYTimes.com as the site fends off increased challenges from competitors and the economy. Warren has been chief advertising officer of the NYT Media Group for three years and has been with The New York Times Company for 20 years.”
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