• Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin … profitable negotiations.
• Vice President Joe Biden (in tandem with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) • Regarding Israel’s decision to begin building Jewish settlements on the West Bank, which was great timing because Joe-boy just happened to be in town. Abbas wants Israel to reverse its decision. This is also bad because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put a halt to all housing starts for ten months back in November. For those playing at home, it hasn’t been ten months. And Netanyahu is pissed. source

• 15 trips to rehab for the former
  child star, who reportedly cleaned
  up in 2004
• one drug-induced stroke in 2001; TMZ says he died in the same apartment complex as Rick James source

• reenacted
• chilled
• pensive
• refined
• blustery
  

• Between this and Debbie Medina, Glenn Beck is really starting to prove his worth as a part of the political conversation. Sure, he still has wacky moments, but his wacky moments are starting to get outweighed by astute observations such as this one, where he essentially admits that it was a waste to bring on former Rep. Eric Massa, who seemed just a wee bit uncomfortable with the appearance. In other news, the Washington Post actually wrote an article on whether lawmakers conduct political business while naked. The answer: Not really, though the showers are reportedly communal, so the Rahm incident could have happened. source

• good Bank of America, which has made millions of dollars in profit off of people not having much in their bank accounts, will end the often-pricey practice of automatically charging fees at retail this summer.
• better Consumers will have more flexibility when deciding when to accept overdrafts elsewhere – they have to accept the charge at ATMs and can still set it up for automatic payments or checks. source

• We blame Lee Abrams, right. Our friends at the Newport News, Va. Daily Press got some awful news this week, when they found out that much of their paper’s copy-editing and design facilities would be outsourced to the Tribune Corp. mothership in Chicago. 10 percent of their newsroom staff will get laid off as a result of this. Lee Abrams, above, is responsible for starting something similar with the radio industry. So, here’s a brief explanation of what’s up with the Daily Press:

• Tribune is bankrupt The iconic media company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant and a ton of other major regional newspapers, is trying to cut costs whereever they can. So as a result, they’re trying to outsource where they can.
• slippery slope Tribune has already been down this road with many of their papers – they started doing a modular system for many of the inside pages of their papers last year. The result of what’s happening to the Daily Press is something of an extreme case of the process.
• Abrams is the point guy As the Chief Innovation Officer of Tribune, many of these changes happened due to his influence. He’s done this before. He invented the tools used to eventually turn radio into a soulless wasteland. Sure, he has XM under his belt, but his story’s already been written.

Turning news into Clear Channel

• This is a model that, particularly in smaller markets, although I can see it in larger markets as well, can change the economics of the newspaper business the same way Clear Channel changed the economics of … the radio business.
• Daily Press President and Chief Executive Digby Solomon • Regarding the changes, which are in the midst of taking hold. Many of the employees who followed Sam Zell to Tribune used to work for Clear Channel, which should give you an idea of what the company is trying to do. It’s everything you hate about radio, in newspaper form. Great. Hope you guys don’t succeed at sucking the life out of news. source

• 41% of young Republicans plan to vote this fall
• 35% of youthful Democrats plan the same
• 11% of independents plan to not stay home source

• I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe, and then four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th birthday. … You can take anything out of context.
• Former N.Y. Rep. Eric Massa • Speaking on Glenn Beck’s Fox Ne … ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah … phew … ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah … oh my god he really said that… ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah … LOL. source