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05 Dec 2010 23:56

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Politics: Max Headroom: Newt Gingrich calls Julian Assange a “terrorist”

  • Newt calls Julian Assange an “enemy combatant”: Talk about harsh words, but Newt Gingrich’s take on how bad Julian Assange is for the country is perhaps a weeee bit over the top. No matter, he just keeps on talking anyway, calling Obama’s approach to handling national security matters “amateurish.” Maybe we’re crazy here, but we have to imagine that the Obama administration didn’t singlehandedly build all of these security mechanisms that broke down. Rather, the work of MANY presidential administrations nosedived.
  • Like “groundhog Day”On “Meet the Press” today, Mitch McConnell claimed that he’s been talking to the Obama administration more in the last two weeks than he has in the last two months. However, he claimed (bizarrely) that Saturday’s vote on the tax cuts was like “Groundhog Day” – the same thing over and over again. That’s a good look for you, Mr. Kettle; reminds us of Mr. Pot.
  • Did he say “more immigrants”?The New York Times’ Thomas “Tommy Boy” Friedman was also on “Meet the Press” today talking (in that big-idea mode of his) about globalization and immigration. During the chat, he suggested that (in a talk about ways to boost the American worker’s value) the U.S. bring in “more immigrants” – which we’re still trying to wrap our heads around.

06 Sep 2010 23:03

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Politics: A couple New York Times liberals gang up on Obama

  • it’s one thing when the right rips Obama. It’s another thing entirely when he’s feeling the hurt from New York Times liberal columnists who should have his back, but don’t. Paul Krugman went so far as to say “Obama has had no vision.” Ouch. Here’s what we got a taste of yesterday on ABC’s “This Week”:
  • “DJ Pauly D” Krugman “What is Obama’s philosophy of government? He wobbles between sounding kind of like a liberal. Then he says, well, the conservatives have some points, too. He concedes the message.”
  • “Tommy Bahama” Friedman“Look, I’m for more health care. I’m glad we’ve extended it to more Americans. But the fact is, there is a real, I think, argument for the case that Obama completely over-read his mandate when he came in.” source

17 Jan 2010 11:19

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Biz: The meter’s on: Get ready to pay for the New York Times online

  • We’re in a megatransition. It hasn’t ever felt like anyone has the answer. My macro feeling is that I’m glad I had this job at this time. It was great working at the paper when it was on dead trees and could pay for itself.
  • New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman • Discussing whether he feels new technology has shown a next path for journalism. It’s something his bosses are currently feeling significant pressure about. According to New York Magazine, the plan seems to be a change from free to pay, using a so-called “metered” system that requests payment based on usage. It’s akin to what the Financial Times does – read a few articles, and a pay wall finally comes up. Since we post a lot about the Times, for example, and think it’s a high-quality publication, we’d probably get a subscription. source