Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

31 Mar 2011 22:36

tags

U.S.: Watergate Gallery debuts at Nixon Library

  • Pulling back the curtain: In a move that is somewhat unprecedented, the Nixon Presidential Library has decided not to shy away from its subject’s most infamous scandal. The new Watergate Gallery is pretty unforgiving, with extensive exhibits detailing the break-in, cover up, and prominently featuring audio recordings from the 2,700 hours or so of Nixon’s Oval Office recordings. The Nixon Foundation, a group of loyalists to say the least, are likely unhappy with this; their original Watergate exhibit presented the scandal as a Democratic plot to bring down the former President. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 21:57

tags

Culture: AMC, Matt Weiner agree to new deal

  • $30 million for Mad Men creator Matt Weiner in new deal source
  • » Patching things up: Weiner and AMC had been butting heads over some rather unglamorous specifics of the award-winning show, the sorts of arguments that chill the blood of television fans. AMC had wanted to reduce the production budget by shaving two minutes off the running time of each episode, as well as killing off characters to save on the actor’s pay, which is a pretty brazen demand to make in an artistic sense. As the compromise stands, all but the first and last episode will be two minutes shorter, but character deaths won’t be mandated by management.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 21:57

tags

World: Kidnapped reporters speak out on Libyan captors

  • These are real thugs. They’re really people who shoot first and ask questions later…there was so little organization and absolutely no command structure going on.
  • Tyler Hicks, one of the reporters kidnapped by the Libyan military • Reflecting on the nature of his captors. Hicks and three others were held for six days by Gaddafi’s forces before being released. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 19:14

tags

World: More defections by Libyan officials reported

  • This is looking pretty significant: Al Jazeera reports that yesterday’s high-profile defection by former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is no isolated incident. They say that four senior Libyan officials are outside the country (with Tunisia as a likely location), and have no intention to return. Without overstating the case, this is very welcome news. The more high-ranking internal support Gaddafi loses, the harder it should become for him to demand the sort of loyalty that’s needed to commit these atrocities on an international stage.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 17:30

tags

Culture: “Governator” to remain a topical term

  • The word “Governator” combined two worlds: the world of politics and the movie world. And [this cartoon] brings everything together. It combines the governor, the Terminator, the bodybuilding world, the True Lies…
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger • Speaking about “The Governator,” an upcoming project he’s doing with comic book icon Stan Lee. Slated for release next year, you’ll be able to both buy “The Governator” comic book, and watch “The Governator” cartoon show. The project features Arnold as the protagonist, who after completing his term in office, decides to build a secret crime-fighting base under his home in Brentwood. Two questions: Will this fictional narrative acknowledge the fact that Schwarzenegger was, to be generous, an ineffective (and by the end quite unpopular) governor? And more importantly, when are we going to get the “Comeback Kid” Bill Clinton video game franchise we’ve so passionately desired?  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 15:56

tags

Politics: Florida Gov slashes disabilities services, then heads to Special Olympics ceremony

  • afternoon Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to announce a 15% pay cut for workers who aid developmentally-disabled Floridians.
  • eveningAs a sort of consolation prize to those whose services will be cut, Scott will then attend a photo-op for the Special Olympics. source
  • » Why the 15% cut? Florida’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities is facing a $170 million deficit, and Scott claims these cuts are essential to preserving the agency. Fair enough. Alternatively, he could lower his proposed $1.5 billion corporate tax cut to, say, $1.4 billion, and re-route that money to the APD. Just a suggestion. [hat tip: ThinkProgress]
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 15:53

tags

World: France may not wait for IAEA on nuclear safety

  • France may preempt IAEA summit: President Nicolas Sarkozy wants G20 nuclear industry officials to come to Paris in May to discuss safety issues. This might rankle the United Nations, as such an event would preempt the IAEA’s summit in Vienna, planned for June. The IAEA lacks the power to force action on its recommendations, which is why nations like France may not want to wait for the U.N. body. “I suspect that this will not be appreciated on the 28th floor,” said a diplomat, referring to the office of IAEA Director General Yukiyo Amano. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 Mar 2011 14:28

tags

Sports: A national pastime to pass your time

  • The long winter is over: For those of you who are baseball fans, Opening Day is an occasion when anticipation, good vibes, and nostalgia of all stripes can wash over you in an instant. And as two-thirds of us here at ShortFormBlog have the World Series-winning Giants in our backyard, the local enthusiasm is hard to miss. A fun bit of trivia, courtesy of The Atlantic: since William Howard Taft, every President besides Jimmy Carter has thrown out at least one ceremonial first pitch. Likely due to the kerfuffle that unfolded over his NCAA basketball bracket, President Obama will not be throwing the first pitch at the Nationals opener this year. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 13:53

tags

World: British officials say no deal struck with Moussa Koussa

  • NOMoussa Koussa was not offered immunity to defect source
  • » So say British officials: Koussa, the former Libyan Foreign Minister who defected yesterday, had been a cornerstone of the Gaddafi regime dating back to the 1969 revolution. As such, it wasn’t unreasonable upon learning of his defection to wonder just how dirty his hands were. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court lists Koussa as having had command control over Libyan forces suspected of “crimes against humanity” during his long career as Gaddafi’s confidant. If he has indeed defected with no assurance of legal immunity, that might be indicative of how Gaddafi’s inner circle is feeling right now. Here’s hoping more of these dominoes start to fall.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 13:16

tags

Politics: Orly Taitz endorses Trump for President

  • really? Donald Trump has employed a daring, if unscrupulous political strategy in courting the birther movement. Basically, he’s trading in whatever mainstream credibility he has to corner the market on a vociferous, single-issue base.
  • Orly! Orly Taitz, birther maven and former California Secretary of State candidate, endorsed Trump on her blog, calling him “THE PRESIDENT WE OUGHT TO HAVE NOW, ASAP.” As you can tell from the caps-lock, she’s deadly serious. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>