Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Edition
It's Crowded 'Under the Bus'
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/11/2008 2:18:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, John
McCain, Featured Stories, 2008 President
Greetings from our nation's capital! Here, a
robust public transportation system helps
shield the local populace from the pain of
high gasoline prices. But that's not to say
there aren't mobility problems. In fact, this
year, DC has witnessed a sharp increase in
high-profile political figures who have
been tossed "under the bus." Really, it's a
wonder that they run at all anymore.
The single-most overused cliché among
pundits and journalists these days, "under
the bus" connotes a public cutting-of-ties
with a former ally. The action, like a
sucker-punch on its hapless victim, often,
but not always, comes as a surprise. Those
who are tossed under that large, moving
vehicle usually express outrage, or shame,
or both. Those who toss run the risk of
charges of hypocrisy. The timing of the
tossing is always seen as suspect, a
symptom of political convenience rather
than of true moral fiber.
Here's a highlight reel of the dizzying
number of U.T.B. moments from our
current presidential campaign, in no
particular order.
John McCain tosses Phil Gramm
In perhaps the single-most tone-deaf
utterance of the campaign season so far,
McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm
diagnosed our economic woes as being a
figment of our whiny imaginations.
McCain's response to his old friend was
anything but kind. Asked if Gramm would
still hold a place in his hypothetical
administration (Treasury?), McCain
quipped:
"I think Senator Gramm would be in
serious consideration for ambassador to
Belarus, although I'm not sure the citizens
of Minsk would welcome that."
Belarus, under the bus with you, too.
Jesse Jackson tosses Barack Obama
This is the strangest UTB television
spectacular this season. A live mic
catching Jackson threatening to castrate
Obama for having the audacity to hope that
black fathers will take more responsibility
for their own lives. Come on, Jesse, tell us
how you really feel! The subsequent
apology tour has dragged on for two days,
giving Jackson more airtime than he'd seen
since Bill Clinton threw him under the bus
in South Carolina. As I wrote yesterday,
sometimes being thrown under the bus is a
gift.
Scott McClellan tosses the entire Bush
08/07/08 - 11/07/08
Administration
If you've got a whole group of people
you'd like to stuff under a bus, a tell-all
memoir is the way to go. Scott's
blockbuster, What Happened, paints a dim
portrait of way our government trumped up
the case for war in Iraq and systematically
stifled dissent. Dick Cheney, Condi Rice,
Donald Rumsfeld, and, yes, Scott's former
boss, President Bush can now all be found
under one very powerful bus. A great
beach read!
Barack Obama tosses Jeremiah Wright
and Wright tosses back.
File this one under, "What took you so
long?" Obama's critics say that Wright's
inflamatory preaching style qualified him
for under-bus placement long ago. About
twenty years, in fact. But in this "damned
LibertyNewsprint.com U.S.
if you toss, damned if you don't toss"
world, some have criticized Obama for
breaking with Trinity, and disavowing its
fiery former pastor. Among the latter was
Wright himself, who, like a woman
scorned, unleashed his bizarre fury on
Obama in a series of painfully entertaining
public appearances.
These are but a few of the instances of
UTB. Feel free to leave your own favorites
in the comment section. Let's get them all
out, and then maybe we can be done with
the term for a while. I, for one, am ready to
throw "Under the Bus" under the Metro
train.
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Did President
Bush Get Into
the Sake?
By Christopher Weber (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:23:00 AM
Filed under: President Bush,
Environment, Gaffes Is there anyone worse
than that guy at the party who thinks he's
HILARIOUS but is really just obnoxious
and dumb? What if the party was the
annual G8 summit and that annoying guy
was President of the United States? Well
then something like this might happen:
George Bush surprised world leaders with
a joke about his poor record on the
environment as he left the G8 summit in
Japan.
The American leader, who has been
condemned throughout his presidency for
failing to tackle climate change, ended a
private meeting with the words:"Goodbye
from the world's biggest polluter." Yes that
did actually happen. And it gets even better
(ie. worse). The president drove home his
witticism thusly: He then punched the air
while grinning widely, as the rest of those
present including Gordon Brown and
Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.
Punched the air? What, he didn't have the
presidential snare and cymbal handy?
If I ever finish this damn time machine
I'm going to set it for January 20, 2009.
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2 Politico* Business*
Obama on Women, Dr. Phil, Gilligan
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:18:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama,
Economy, Abortion Democratic
Presidential candidate Barack Obama
delivered a speech today at the Women's
Economic Security Town Hall, in Fairfax,
VA, and his campaign held a conference
call to discuss the policies.
The address comes on the heels of
Senator Hillary Clinton's reintroduction to
the Obama campaign, as the two former
rivals appeared at fundraisers together this
week.
Obama rolled out a laundry list of
policies in his speech, mostly having to do
with economic issues, but he also took a
swipe at John McCain: (via email) Senator
McCain, however, has said that we've
made "great progress" on the economy.
And Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic
advisor to Senator McCain, just recently
said that this is merely "a mental
recession." Senator Gramm then deemed
the United States - and I quote - "a nation
of whiners." This comes after Senator
McCain recently admitted that his energy
proposals will have mainly
"psychological" benefits.
Well, you know, America already has
one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the
economy, we don't need another. The
McCain campaign has not responded to
queries of, "How does that make you
Obama Channels James Dobson?
By Greg McNeilly (Political Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:54:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, Religion,
2008 President In an under-reported
sermon campaign speech, Barack Obama
gave a pitch to people of faith. This
political pitch was a homily this past
weekend, in St. Louis, to the African
Methodist Episcopal Church General
Conference.
One wonders if the repetitive mentioning
of "Jesus" and reciting Christian scriptures
suggest he'd be comfortable with Mike
Huckabee as his running mate?
feel?"
On the Obama campaign conference call,
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
compared McCain's agenda for women to
a classic sitcom: When I see (McCain's
policies), it reminds me of TV Land
rerunning, over and over again, episodes of
"Gilligan's Island, and Ginger and
MaryAnn are never getting off the island.
This is in keeping with the rest of
McCain's policies, which are modeled after
the show, "Lost." I asked Klobuchar where
Some observations...
-- Offering a prayer for those afflicted
from flooding...had a Republican done
this, how would media elites react?
-- He calls for a celebration of the
promise of America...does this preclude
celebrating its current nature?
-- When he says "I won't be fulfilling the
Lord's will unless I am doing the Lord's
work" do we think he means something
different than if a Republican were to say
the same?
-- Does the above quote mean Obama
believes he transcends the "Wall of
Separation" and like those certain about
Mrs. Howell fit in there, and she
responded, "Well, Mrs. Howell is among
the group whose tax cuts we'd like to scale
back."
The call ended before I could ask if any
of them knew the full name of The
Professor's character.
Heidi Hartmann, President of the
Institute for Women's Policy Research,
urged any women thinking of voting for
John McCain to "take another look."
The campaign released a "50 State
their Faith, his religion will dictate public
policy? After all, if he doesn't, he says he
won't be doing the "Lord's will."
-- Obama adds our faith - the Lord's will -
must be expressed in our public
policy...had a Republican said this, would
it have been extreme and radical?
-- Obama says our values must be
expressed in our government and then
notes government needs to support faith-
based organizations. Does that apply to
those organziations that compete with
unionized failing government
bureacracies? (Example, school vouchers
to empower parents with children stuck in
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Impact Report" on the Senator's proposals,
available here. The plan addresses income
inequity, and a variety of life/work balance
issues.
Senator McCain, meanwhile, as David
Knowles reports, was unable to muster any
answer at all to a question about his
support for women's access to birth
control. That question was a result of his
finance co-chair's observation that ""There
are many health insurance plans that will
cover Viagra but won't cover birth-control
medication. Those women would like a
choice,"
McCain couldn't remember his previous
vote on the subject, and apparently could
not remember his current position, either.
In fairness, most candidates only memorize
their positions on issues they care about.
The Obama speech provided a stark
contrast for women voters, many of whom
have expressed concern over Senator
Obama's commitment to abortion rights
and reproductive choice. Senator McCain
has pledged to overturn Roe v. Wade, and
doesn't even know his own position on
access to birth control.
CT. Senator and McCain butler Joseph
Lieberman has made clear his opposition
to making emergency contraception
available to rape survivors, so perhaps he
can whisper that into McCain's ear.
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failing schools.)
-- What part of the scripture justifies
Obama's class-warfare? Generally, it's
been a common belief that jealousy and
envy are not virtues but vice.
-- Does Obama's belief in an eternal
afterlife qualify him as an anti-science
neanderthal?
-- Does this speech in anyway violate the
host church's nonprofit tax-status?
After listening to Obama it makes since
why Democrats - more so than
Republcians - want to rewrite the U.S.
Consitution to their own personal agenda.
Rassmussen reports that 51% of Barack
Closing bell: markets
flip-flop and
financials dive again
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:36:00 AM
Filed under: After the bell, Dell (DELL),
General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT),
Intel (INTC), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM),
Wachovia Corp (WB), Lehman Br
Holdings (LEH)
At the close, most of the indexes had
done OK
DJIA: 11,229.58 up .75%
S&P 500 : 1,253.52 up .71%
NASDAQ: 2,257.85 up 1..03%
And, of course, the 52-Week Low Club
Most of the market did relatively well,
but shares in big financials could not be
saved, even by reassurances from the
Treasury Secretary himself. Comments
from the former president of the New York
Fed to the affect that Fannie Mae(NYSE:
FNM) and Freddie Mac(NYSE: FRE) sent
the stocks down with Freddie Mac down,
at one point, over 25%.
Continue reading Closing bell: markets
flip-flop and financials dive again
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Obama's party want major or minor
changes to our Founding document. 23%
of Republicans want a change but 76% of
GOPers see no change needed.
So maybe...because we still dont' know,
and we're left guessing...the change that is
Obama's mindless mantra means rewriting
the U.S. Consitituion and adding God to it.
Maybe! Or maybe something else...who
knows!
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Hispanics Are People Too
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/11/2008 3:09:00 AM
Filed under: Ads, John McCain, Featured
Stories, 2008 President, Immigration
Update: I can't believe it, either, but here I
am in agreement with Captain Ed: This is a
monumentally stupid ad. It spends a full
minute saying nothing about the issue it
supposedly addresses, and it insults the
intelligence of the people whom McCain is
trying to woo. And I'm someone who has a
little more sympathy for McCain's efforts
on immigration than most on the Right.
Take two big steps backward, Senator
McCain. John McCain has released a new
campaign ad, entitled, "God's Children,"
that seems to be stating something so
obvious, you have to wonder why it
needed to be said at all. Via press release:
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John
McCain's presidential campaign today
released its newest television ad entitled
"God's Children." The ad features John
McCain's remarks at a June 2007 debate in
New Hampshire honoring the service and
sacrifice of Hispanics in our Armed
Forces. The ad will air in Colorado,
Nevada and New Mexico. The McCain
campaign has also scheduled a conference
call to discuss the ad. I'll have more on that
later.
Here's the ad, followed by the transcript.
Ask yourself, "Who is this ad aimed at?"
Script For "God's Children" (TV 1:00)
Petraeus Confirmed as CENTCOM Commander
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:15:00 PM
Filed under: Bush Administration, Senate,
Breaking News, Iraq, Foreign Policy Iraq
Commander Gen. David Petraeus was
confirmed by the Senate today to be the
new chief of U.S. Central Command
(CENTCOM). In his new position,
Petraeus will give up day-to-day control of
events in Iraq and take charge of all U.S.
military activities in the Middle East and
central Asia. President Bush nominated
Petraeus for the post back in April on the
recommendation of Defense Secretary
JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, I want you
the next time you're down in Washington,
D.C., to go to the Vietnam War Memorial
and look at the names engraved in black
granite. You'll find a whole lot of Hispanic
names.
When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan
today, you're going to see a whole lot of
people who are of Hispanic background.
You're even going to meet some of the few
thousand that are still green card holders
who are not even citizens of this country,
Robert Gates. But Gates' promotion of
Petraeus for the job was probably a mere
formality, given the fact that Petraeus has
been the general in charge of the troop
surge strategy that has been so remarkably
successful at reducing the level of violence
in Iraq and helping to boost the confidence
and competency of the Iraqi government.
The Senate vote was 95-2. Only Senators
Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Robert Byrd (D-
WV) voted against Petraeus's
confirmation. Byrd said that his vote was
based on his belief that Petraeus has been
successful in Iraq, and should remain there.
"[I]t does not seem prudent to remove the
mastermind behind the fragile successes
who love this country so much that they're
willing to risk their lives in its service in
order to accelerate their path to citizenship
and enjoy the bountiful, blessed nation.
So let's from time to time remember that
these are God's children. They must come
into country legally, but they have
enriched our culture and our nation as
every generation of immigrants before
them.
Thank you. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John
McCain and I approve this message. The
that have been thus far achieved," he said.
The reason for Harkin's no vote are
unclear, but he also cast the lone vote in
ad does have some kind words for
Hispanic Americans, so it is tempting to
see this as a grab for the latino vote. If it is,
it seems to be a pretty tone-deaf one.
"So let's from time to time remember that
these are God's children." Who is
forgetting this? That line seems to be
directed at other Americans who would
lump all Hispanic people into the illegal
immigration problem, and who are hostile
towards them. Hmmm...who does that?
But, then, McCain himself lumps all
Hispanic Americans into the category of
immigrants, legal or not. "They must come
into country legally, but they have
enriched our culture and our nation as
every generation of immigrants before
them." You know, a lot of "them" come
into the country the same way I did, in a
hospital delivery room.
There is another possibility. Perhaps
McCain is saying that only Hispanics are
"God's Children," and the rest of us
are...what...Demon hellspawn? Soulless
animals? God's Adults? Cleverly disguised
androids?
This ad is clumsy, at best, and offensive
at worst. This is a shame, because McCain
really does deserve credit for having a
reasonable immigration plan. Which he
now does not support.
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opposition to the promotion of Petraeus's
deputy, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, to be the
new Iraq Commander. Odierno will
receive a fourth star as a result of his
confirmation and take over responsibility
for operations in Iraq.
Petraeus's tenure as the top commander
in Iraq has been nothing short of
remarkable. He successfully developed and
implemented the troop surge strategy,
changing U.S. tactics in fighting the
stubborn insurgency in Iraq and rescuing
the war effort there. He has also seen first
hand the daily meddling of Iran in Iraq,
and will no doubt take that knowledge to
his new post, where he will be charged
Politico* Business* 3
Option Update: Royal
Caribbean and Carnival put
volume and volatility spike
By Paul Foster (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:25:00 AM
Filed under: Carnival Corp (CCL),
Options
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.(NYSE:
RCL) recently down $1.03 to $20.31:
RCL is expected to report Q2 EPS in late
July. RCL call option volume of 2,789
contracts compared to put volume of 8,808
contracts. RCL July option implied
volatility was at 67, August at 74; above its
26-week average of 47 according to Track
Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Carnival Corporation(NYSE: CCL)
recently down $1.57 to $30.83:
CCL call option volume of 7,827
contracts compared to put volume of
33,198 contracts. CCL July option implied
volatility was at 50, August at 58; above its
26-week average of 39 according to Track
Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock
Specialist Paul Foster of
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with countering the growing threat from
Iran in the region. Petraeus has won praise
from Republicans and Democrats alike for
his candor, his calm and confident
leadership, and his tactical brilliance. He
seems destined for much greater things and
a higher profile role in the Pentagon in the
years ahead. He is a once-in-a-generation
military leader and is rapidly approaching
the exalted status of a MacArthur, Bradley,
Pershing, and Eisenhower.
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4 Politico* Business*
EPA: No New Regs for Greenhouse
Gases
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/11/2008 3:30:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
Environment The Environmental
Protection Agency is expected to announce
today that it will not issue new regulations
for greenhouse gas em missions this year,
delaying action on the issue until the next
Administration takes office. Last year, the
Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must
regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean
Air Act, or provide a good reason for not
regulating it. The EPA argued that it did
not have the authority under the act to
regulate carbon dioxide partly because the
gas is a ubiquitous substance, and not
simply a product of emissions from
factories and power plants.
The EPA denied that it is dragging its
feet on the regulations, saying that
regulating is, "a long process."
"You don't just wake up one day and say,
'Here's the decision.' It's a long process
with lots of thought, lots of analysis and
lots of research that gets you to that
decision point. We're going to be more
transparent than we've been, laying it all
out and saying, 'How should we do this?'"
But some inside the agency tell the
Washington Post a story of a series of
moves by the Administration to
deliberately delay new regulations,
including editing congressional testimony,
Steve and Barry's files for bankruptcy
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:12:00 AM
Filed under: Bad news It's a dark day for
bargain-savvy college students across the
country.
Steve and Barry's -- whose low price and
rapid expansion made it a poster child for
success in innovative retailing just a few
weeks ago -- has filed for bankruptcy. The
company is eliminating 172 corporate jobs,
but plans to keep its 276 stores open while
changing official agency policy, and
burying reports from career professionals
in the agency. In effect, putting a
bureaucratic lockdown on the process.
"They argued that this increase in
regulation should be on the next president's
record," an unnamed official told the Post.
Part of the debate revolves around
whether the agency should declare global
it continues its search for a buyer.
But according to The New York Times,
"If a deal is not reached with another
retailer or investor, the company will most
likely begin to close some stores, and it
still faces the possibility of a total
liquidation." I still think there are a number
of companies that should consider making
a bid for the company, including Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc.(NYSE: WMT), which could
use it as an entry into the wallets of cost-
conscious college kids, and Sears Holdings
Corporation(NYSE: SHLD), which is
warming to be harmful to human health
and welfare. Making such a declaration
would require the EPA to regulate carbon
dioxide, potentially adding billions of
dollars in regulatory costs for auto makers,
utilities, and industrial producers. That
drew criticism from Rep. Ed Markey (D-
MA), Chairman of the House Select
Committee on Energy Independence and
Global Warming.
"If this administration spent the same
effort fighting global warming as they do
editing and censoring global warming
documents, the planet might not be in such
dire straits."
But it is far from certain that U.S. action
alone would do anything to significantly
impact global warming, if it is indeed
caused by human activities. And the sheer
magnitude of the changes required in the
U.S. economy to fight greenhouse gases
argue for a slower approach to developing
regulations meant to control em missions
of carbon dioxide. The delays inherent in
government rule-making, the timing of the
Court's decision so late in the Bush
Administration's term, as well as the
complexity of the task, have all combined
to slow the process. Ultimately, that may
be a good thing.
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rumored to be interested in acquiring some
of the company's brands.
But if the 126 comments left on one of
my recent posts on Steve and Barry's
problems are any indication, whoever
decides to buy them will have a lot of work
to do in the employee morale department.
People identifying themselves as
employees were upset with the lack of
communication in recent weeks and the
company is also accused of stiffing many
of its vendors. Read| Permalink| Email this|
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Dems Getting Nervous
About Drilling Bans
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:09:00 PM
Filed under: Democrats, 2008 Senate,
2008 House, Energy
Some Democrats may be just now
waking up to the fact that there is huge
frustration over high energy prices and
they see danger in allowing too much time
without addressing this issue. Specifically,
Harry Reid and Dick Durbin:
"I'm open to drilling and responsible
production," Senate Majority Whip
Richard Durbin told The Wall Street
Journal, adding that Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid could also support the
move.
However, Durbin said his support for
opening new areas to drilling was
contingent on setting requirements that oil
and gas companies begin production
within a specified time frame on acreage
they have leased from the government.
Steny Hoyer in the house is trying as
be drilling like there is no tomorrow. So it
well: sounds to me as if the Steny Hoyer is all in
Following weeks of bashing by
favor of drilling where there's no oil and
Republicans who criticize Democrats for not drilling where the oil is. (ANWR, Oil
opposing an expansion of offshore oil
Shale, and offshore). They may be able to
drilling and opening part of an Alaskan hang on with rhetorical flourishes like this,
wildlife reserve to production, House
but it's clear that the Republicans think
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tried to put they've found an issue they will ride to
Democrats squarely on the side of more
November on.
domestic oil production. And as the weather gets colder and the
Speaking to reporters, Hoyer said, "Let's
first fillups for fuel oil tanks happen in the
be clear: Democrats support increasing the northern states, the GOP could well be
domestic production of petroleum and right. The Democrats are at least now
other energy resources."
...
Democratic leaders also hammered away
signalling that they recognize this as an
issue, but they'd rather not give any ground
just yet and have to choose between the
at the U.S. oil industry, saying it is doing
environment and keeping their seats.
little with the leases it already holds to drill UPDATE
on 68 million acres in the lower 48 states.
Put Jim Webb in the category of Drilling
Under the Democratic bill, such lease Dems.
holders would have to "use it or lose it,"
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I don't know, the oil industry has been
laughing off the use it or lose it line, saying
if there was oil on those properties, they'd
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Man Retires Rather Than
Lower Flag for Helms
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:35:00 PM
Filed under: Senate, Featured Stories,
Media, Obits
"Monday was sunny. And Eason was out
of a job."
L.F. Eason III, a 29-year veteran of the
state Department of Agriculture and life-
long Democrat, had no issues asking his
staff at the North Carolina Standards
Laboratory to lower the facility's flags to
half-staff for former senator Ted Sanford
or Ronald Reagan. He didn't need to act on
it though - it rained on both days. The
News & Observer reported yesterday that
Eason retired rather than order his staff to
lower the flag for the recently deceased
former North Carolina Senator Jesse
Helms.
But this time Eason didn't believe this
politician deserved the respect afforded by
lowering the flag in his honor. In an email
to his staff the night before this chore was
to be performed, Eason informed
employees, "Regardless of any executive
proclamation, I do not want the flags at the
North Carolina Standards Laboratory
flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms
any time this week".
After an employee called Eason's
superior in another location in Raleigh, Mr.
Eason was given an ultimatum - order the
lowering of the flags or retire. Eason's wife
and co-worker's tried to reason with him
that the lab and the flags belonged to the
state of North Carolina. but he wouldn't
Marriott International F2Q08 earnings transcript
By earningstranscripts
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:04:00 AM
Filed under: Conventions and
conferences, Marriott Intl'A' (MAR),
Earnings transcripts
Marriott International, Inc.(NYSE:
MAR)
F2Q08 Earnings Conference Call
budge:
Eason and a previous boss had sketched
out the building's rough design on a napkin
at the Atlanta airport in 1984 after
attending a national conference on weights
and measures.
He then worked to get funding for it in
the state budget, and he recently helped
snag state money to study building another
lab.
"I designed and built that lab," he said.
"Even though technically the bricks and
mortar belong to the state of North
Carolina, I feel very strongly that
everything that comes out of there is my
responsibility."
The flags were lowered by a co-worker
that day as Eason's superiors drove by to
make sure the deed was done.
Good on you, Mr. Eason. Godspeed.
You may never know what results come
of your action, but if you do nothing there
will be no result. - Mahatma Gandhi
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July 10, 2008 10:00 AM ET
Management Summary
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Good day and
welcome to this Marriott International
second quarter 2008 earnings conference
call. Today's call is being recorded. At this
time for opening remarks and
introductions, I would like to turn the call
over to Executive Vice President, Chief
McCain Has Cash
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 7/11/2008 1:00:00 AM
Filed under: John McCain, 2008
President, Fundraising
Insert Dr. Evil pinky finger to end of
mouth: $95 Meelyun Dollars! CBS News:
Davis said that the McCain campaign
and Republican National Committee had
$95 million cash on hand at the end of July
- $26.7 million for the McCain campaign
and $67.8 million for the RNC. (McCain's
figure is down from the $31.5 million he
had on hand at the end of May.)
He said McCain raised "just over $22
million" in the month of June- more than
the candidate has raised in any previous
month.
Davis also said that " the McCain
campaign spends about $10 million a
month less to run their campaign" than
Obama, which he suggested has helped the
campaign of the presumptive GOP
nominee close the cash-on-hand gap on his
rival.
As the article states at the end, the last
time we heard from Obama he had raised
$23 million in May and had $43 million
cash in hand.
Two points here obviously. One is that
those that were impressed by Obama's
fundraising numbers and were looking at
that as a reason to choose him over Hillary
are probably getting a queasy feeling in
their stomachs. Unless Obama can pull a
rabbit out of a hat, his numbers will not
look that impressive next to McCain here.
My own queasy feeling relates to the part
Financial Officer, and President of the
Continental European Lodging, Mr. Arne
Sorenson. Please go ahead, sir.
Arne M. Sorenson, Chief Financial
Officer, Executive Vice President,
President - Continental European Lodging
Thank you, Kat. Good morning,
everyone. Welcome to our second quarter
2008 earnings conference call. Joining me
today are Laura Paugh, Senior Vice
that I bolded above. As I recall Kerry ran a
very efficient campaign and even had
money left over. But he lost. I'm hoping
McCain remembers that and remember
that the election is not won by the
candidate that most efficiently manages
money.
But still, it appears that McCain's moves
dating back to a year ago, when his
campaign was on the ropes and he was
bleeding money are still paying off. He has
a tight disciplined campaign, that's not a
bad thing.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
President, Investor Relations; Carl
Berquist, Executive Vice President,
Financial Information and Enterprise Risk
Management; and Betsy Daum, Senior
Director, Investor Relations.
Before I get into the discussion of our
results, let me first remind everyone that
many of our comments today are not
historical facts and are considered forward-
looking statements under federal securities
Politico* Business* 5
Overstock and
Gradient trade
barbs in the media
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:51:00 AM
Filed under: Law, Scandals Normally
when a public company is involved in
litigation, it discloses what it must to
shareholders via press releases and 8-Ks,
and then only material developments. In
light of its inability to turn a profit,
Overstock.com, Inc.(NASDAQ: OSTK)
has taken to issuing press releases
announcing the back and forth in its
lawsuit against Gradient Analytics, an
independent research outfit Overstock
CEO Patrick Byrne claims was involved in
a campaign to beat down the company's
stock.
Interestingly, Overstock has not been
filing 8-Ks about these developments,
indicating that they really aren't material --
just chest-pounding press releases designed
to hype the stock.
Yesterday Overstock put out a press
release: Overstock.com Announces
Favorable Court Ruling in
Rocker/Gradient Case, announcing that a
court "ruled favorably on a demurrer
brought by Overstock Chairman & CEO
Patrick Byrne, dismissing on statute of
limitations grounds three causes of action,
which Gradient had asserted as
counterclaims against Byrne personally."
Continue reading Overstock and
Gradient trade barbs in the media Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
laws. These statements are subject to
numerous risks and uncertainties as
described in our SEC filings which could
cause future results to differ materially
from those expressed in or implied by our
comments.
Continue reading Marriott International
F2Q08 earnings transcript Permalink|
Email this| Comments
6 Business* Tech*
Entrepreneur's Journal: So,
what is your business worth?
By Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 8:57:00 AM
Filed under: Small business
Let's say you want to sell or buy a
business. Or, suppose you want to gift a
piece of your business to your family.
Maybe you want to raise capital?
Well, you'll need to determine the value
of your business.
So, to get some perspective on the topic,
I spoke to Scott Gabehart. He has valued
over 700 businesses since 1991 and has
written several books on the topic, such as
The Business Valuation Book (with CD-
ROM).
According to him, there are several
approaches to getting a valuation:
Do-It-Yourself: Yes, the valuation
process can be extremely complex. But
Gabehart has an easy system that will
provide a rough estimate.
First, you will need to calculate your
company's adjusted cash flow (ACF). This
is:
Net income
+ Your salary
+ Your perks (personal travel,
discretionary expenses)
+ Depreciation
Martha Stewart goes to Wal-Mart
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:20:00 AM
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT) Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia's(NYSE:
MSO) recent announcement that its crafts
line would be debuting in Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc.(NYSE: WMT) stores
nationally sent MSO up more than 5% at
first, but the stock has since given all that
back and then some: the stock is down
nearly 10% from where it was before the
+ Interest expense
After all, it's common for owners to use
their business to pay for personal expenses.
Thus, it's important to factor our certain
items (for example, depreciation is a non-
cash expense).
Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal:
So, what is your business worth?
Permalink| Email this| Comments
announcement.
The company needs to replace the
guaranteed licensing fees from K-Mart that
are in the process of phasing out, and
revenue from that business is likely to
plummet when the guarantee declines from
$65 million this year to around $20 million
next year.
But Wal-Mart? Haven't their been entire
books written on how tough it is to make
money selling to Wal-Mart? It's easy for
me to understand Wall Street's skepticism
about this deal, and there have been a lot of
Poole talks solvency in Fannie,
Freddie
By Todd Harrison (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:05:00 AM
Filed under: Money and Finance Today,
Economic data, Headline news, Recession
Minyanville's Mr. Practical dares to
share the kind of keen insight and
actionable information you won't find in
any prospectus. For more original thought,
visit www.minyanville.com.
There's lot of speculation today
following former Fed official Poole's
comments on what exactly constitutes
solvency for Fannie Mae( NYSE: FNM)
and Freddie Mac( NYSE: FRE). The
definition of solvent is the ability to pay
back debt. Lenders may be willing to lend
money to the government-sponsored
enterprises (GSEs), thus keeping them
uninspiring developments for the company
in recent months: first the company paid
$45 million for the Emeril empire, what
was supposed to be company transforming
acquisition. Then a few months later, CEO
Susan Lyne resigned abruptly -- which
doesn't speak well for the new strategy.
Maybe the Wal-Mart deal will work out
splendidly -- but the company appears to
be all over the place. Read| Permalink|
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Live iPhone 3G Unboxing
and Review on CrunchGear
Tomorrow at 7am EDT
By John Biggs (TechCrunch)
from declaring bankruptcy, but that is not Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:37:52 PM
solvency.
Solvency connotes the ability to be a Get thee to the computer screen bright
continuous, sustainable institution because and early tomorrow for we will have a live
there are positive margins in production. unboxing and review on CG at 7am EST.
At current borrowing costs, the GSEs are Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
not making money. Unless margins widen, the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
they will not be able to pay back debt, save
for the government stepping in and
indemnifying that debt.
So while the GSEs may continue to exist,
because the business model does not work,
they're likely to exist in a different form.
Namely a government entity using
taxpayer money to pay back debt and issue
mortgages. Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Bringing new life to GE stock
By Peter Cohan (BloggingStocks) canceled. If I had appeared, I would have
discussed the benefits of focusing GE on
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:02:00 AM
businesses with high profit potential in
Filed under: General Electric (GE) which GE has a competitive advantage.
General Electric Company(NYSE: GE) GE's best business in that regard is its
used to have a great advertising slogan: booming Infrastructure Unit which had
"GE: We Bring Good Things to Life." I $58 billion in sales and $11 billion in profit
don't know when GE dropped that slogan -- up 23% and 22% respectively in 2007.
but since its stock has dropped 32% under
its current CEO, I was wondering how it
could bring new life to its stock.
Infrastructure sells power plants, aircraft
engines, and locomotives to growing
economies like the Middle East, China and
When GE announced this morning that it India. Unfortunately, GE has many other
would try to spin off its Industrial unit, I business units which do not perform as
realized that GE would like to bring new well.
life to its stock. And I was invited to GE's Continue reading Bringing new life to
CNBC Power Lunch this afternoon to GE stock Permalink| Email this| Comments
discuss this before my segment was

ACLU Sues Over New Surveillance Act

By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:53:04 PM
Following Congress granting President
Bush the "get out of jail free" card he
demanded, it probably comes as no
surprise that he's signed the bill into law --
claiming (laughably) that the bill was
designed to "protect the liberties of our
citizens." It's unclear what in the new bill
does that -- though there's plenty that does
the opposite. Almost immediately, the
ACLU has sued to challenge the
constitutionality of the bill, saying that it
appears to violate the 4th Amendment
against unreasonable search and seizure
without probable cause. Meanwhile, the
EFF is also preparing to sue over both the
telco immunity issue and the expanded
surveillance powers. All of these efforts
are probably long shots, but it means this
isn't over yet.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
UBS exec and McCain advisor Phil
Gramm: U.S. is 'nation of whiners'
By Peter Cohan (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:21:00 PM
Filed under: Presidential elections
The Washington Times reports that Phil
Gramm, UBS AG(NYSE: UBS) vice
chairman and senior economic advisor to
John McCain (R.-AZ), thinks we're a
nation of whiners. Gramm's UBS is a
leader on three important fronts in the
effort to destroy the U.S. economy: the
$1.3 trillion subprime mortgage
catastrophe, the $330 billion Auction Rate
Securities (ARS) freeze, and a tax evasion
scheme of unknown magnitude.
The Washington Times quotes Gramm as
saying: "We have sort of become a nation
of whiners. You just hear this constant
Rescue Memo: Jerry Yang
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 11:00:00 AM
To: Jerry Yang, C.E.O., Yahoo
From: Jack Flack
Subject: Becoming the $33 Candidate
I know you didn't get much of a chance
to consider the Rescue Memo I sent you
just before Microsoft first withdrew. The
sudden Icahn intervention and the
oscillations in Redmond radically changed
the situation.
But I knew it was time for some new
advice when I read your cringe-inducing
quote in today's Wall Street Journal story:
"I think that I can bring stability back to
Yahoo, and I want to get on with building
[the] company," Mr. Yang said. "I think
that the destabilizing by Microsoft has
become more and more intentional. I am
not happy about it."
Those words reveal four dangerous
assumptions:
Dangerous Assumption No. 1: All of this
will blow over. Ballmer and Icahn will go
away. Your shareholders will forget they
could have had $33, if not $40. You'll pick
up the pieces, and get the old magic back.
Unfortunately, that would qualify as a
The Most Unproductive "Productivity" iPhone App [Iphone 2.0]
By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)
whining." UBS probably pays Gramm well
for his services so I can see where he's
coming from. He is making money and
he's the only one who matters. But if you
think he is helping McCain, think about
these things:
Continue reading UBS exec and McCain
advisor Phil Gramm: U.S. is 'nation of
whiners' Permalink| Email this| Comments
minor miracle. Even if the rest of the
world—particularly Mountain
View—stood still for three years, you
wouldn't stand much of a chance. Yahoo
had been languishing for years, and the
trauma of the past few months has been
devastating. The lawsuits will pile up, and
demands that you sell the company will
continue, if not escalate. You'll be faced
with trying to lead a slim-chance
turnaround while operating as a marked
man.
Dangerous Assumption No. 2: You still
hold the cards. The day your stock dropped
back into the teens, it revealed what life
will be like for Yahoo if the company is
not acquired in full by Microsoft. That
specter puts you in a position of extreme
weakness.
Dangerous Assumption No. 3: You are
uniquely suited to stabilize Yahoo.
Unfortunately, at this point, you are
personally toting the symbolic baggage
that most destabilizes your company.
Your shareholders don't trust that you
have their best interests at heart. A big
percentage of your key leaders have
bolted. Most of your remaining Yahoos
question the latest round of internal egg-
Has to be Hold On!, a button which times
how long you can, um, hold it down, to
When Everything On The Internet Is
Encrypted...
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:49:00 PM
For years, we've been pointing out that as
the entertainment industry, telcos and the
government increase efforts to spy on the
activities of users (for various reasons,
good or bad), all it's going to do is speed
the adoption of encryption technologies.
Well, that appears to be happening. Thanks
to governments increasing the ability to
spy on citizens combined with ISPs
capitulating to entertainment industry and
government demands to start acting as
copyright cops, monitoring usage, more
and more people are getting interested in
scrambling. And all fingers are pointing at
you, not Bostock, Decker, or even Semel.
You should understand that Microsoft is
no longer trying to destabilize Yahoo; it is
trying to destabilize Jerry Yang.
Dangerous Assumption No. 4: Your
happiness matters. Actually, you are
widely perceived as having acted out of
emotion instead of rationality. Thus, your
personal feelings are probably not the
biggest concern of your shareholders at
this point.
U nless you change the state of play
quickly, things will get worse, not better.
Here's what you must do:
1. Respect the future. Get over the past,
and quit making decisions based on
expired realities. You rejected $40 because
you remembered the glory days. You
rejected $33 because you remembered $40.
Meanwhile, you accelerated the decline in
value of your enterprise by installing
prohibitively expensive defense
mechanisms.
Now, you must instead make decisions
based on the current realities, with a full
appreciation for the future implications.
Ask yourself, how the vote will go? If you
survive that, ask yourself what the odds are
"improve your concentration skills."
Screenshot, App Store link. [ via]
Business* Biz Buzz Tech* Tech Tips*
encrypting their internet activity. While it's
unclear if it will go anywhere (and some
argue it's guaranteed to fail), the folks
behind the Pirate Bay are the latest to jump
into the game, promising a system that will
"encrypt the entire internet."
Whether accomplished by The Pirate
Bay or others, this is the near inevitable
end result of this cat and mouse game.
Even if you believe the entertainment
industry, broadband providers and the
government have both the best of
intentions and the absolute right to do
these kinds of monitoring activity, the fact
that encryption will make it so those who
don't want to monitored can hide means
that you can successfully rebuild value at a
pace that will be the slightest bit satisfying
to your shareholders.
As you answer those questions, you
must...
2. Get very objective. I know it's hard.
But to avoid going down in history as the
most tragically self-destructive titan of the
tech era, you must become completely
clinical in your decision-making.
Otherwise, you will act out of pique,
instead of doing what's actually best for
you and your reputation.
Try this exercise. First, think how
personal this has become for you. Now, try
to imagine that it's become just as personal
for Ballmer. After all, the press has
skinned him about this deal almost as
much as they have you. The big difference
is that he's the one who now holds the
cards.
3. Explicitly offer $33. It's not enough to
sit on the porch and say that you'll
entertain a return visit from a suitor who is
tired of being scorned. Stop fanning
yourself like Scarlett, and take the action
required to reframe the game: Grab
Ballmer in Sun Valley and tell him you'll
do the deal for $33.
7
that it's only going to become more
popular. And, at that point, it only makes
the efforts by the entertainment industry,
the broadband providers and the
government that much more useless --
because all that monitoring they've pushed
to do will not only be nearly impossible,
but they've also lost the trust and respect of
all those users/customers/constituents. It's
a true lesson in the unintended
consequences of getting what you wished
for.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
If Ballmer demurs or hedges,
immediately issue a short statement
summarizing your offer. That will give
shareholders a meaningful reason to vote
for you. In effect, you will make yourself
the "$33 Candidate" and relegate Icahn to
being the "Beggar's-Price Candidate."
If Ballmer agrees, insist on jointly
issuing a short statement within 24 hours.
4. Move on to the next thing. Expedite
the deal with graciousness, and then start
clean by focusing on an idea that truly stirs
your passions. Make that idea work, and
the world will once again start thinking of
you as a gifted innovator.
And oh, no matter how this thing plays
out, do not even think of taking your old
title of "Chief Yahoo." Somehow, it's just
not as cute as it used to be.
Related Links
Yahoo: UPPER-CASE Icahn v. lower-
case yang
Icahn wants to fire Yang? SHOCKING!
The Takeaway: Microsoft-Yahoo Fallout
8 Biz Buzz
Don't Blame Canada
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 10:00:00 AM
T wo weeks ago, Portfolio.com posed a
simple question with a not-so-simple
answer: Who killed the economy? We
suggested a few possible culprits and
introduced an interactive bracket in which
Ben Bernanke faced off against OPEC and
Hank Paulson took on President Bush. And
then we opened the floor to readers, many
of whom said we had left off some other
probable suspects, including Congress, the
American people—even Texas. Of the
more than 130 comments on Portfolio.com
and over 4,000 on Yahoo, many took on
the legislature for failing to push for
alternative energy technologies and higher
gas-mileage standards that would reduce
costs. Others thought we had met the
enemy and it was us. We overspent, built
up personal debt, abdicated personal
responsibility, and now we are paying the
price, end of story. Additional candidates
included the media, U.S. monetary policy
over the past century, and Big Oil—but the
"whodunit" remains unsolved.
Below, an edited sampling of some of
the most insightful and provocative
comments on the Portfolio.com and Yahoo
websites.
Whose responsibility is it to ensure that
people don't borrow more than they can
afford? The government's, the bank's, or
the borrower's? Unless we want a
controlling-nanny state, it's clearly the
borrower's responsibility. The government
has a duty to ensure that the lender
provides clear and full disclosure of the
transaction, including risk, but it ends
there.
--by Yahoo
There are a number of people to blame
but I think Congress tops the list...and they
are not even on your list. Think about why
we do not provide more of our own oil or
gas, why we do not have more nuclear
power, why our cars do not get better
mileage, and why the price of food has
gone up so much. They are a major cause
of all of that.
--by mike
The Sheeple who live where the United
States used to be:
1. Trying to borrow themselves into
prosperity.
2. Sucking all possible equity out of their
homes to buy S.U.V.'s and big-screen
HDTVs.
3. Expecting a bailout when the
foolishness of their behavior catches up
with them.
--by Koozarian2000
I blame it entirely on the loose monetary
policy that Greenspan championed, from
bailing out L.T.C.M. in 1998 to the bailout
of Bear Stearns. If there is one thing that
he set the tone for, it is making the Fed
clean up the mess of the investment banks.
Greenspan has been more fond of Wall
Street than Main Street.
--by Austin
Consumers are to blame. They overspent
(credit-card debt); they took out hefty
mortgages, but with a little math
calculation these consumers would have
realized that a $350,000 first mortgage
with a monthly payment of $500 did not
wash. They also bought S.U.V.'s without
thinking about (1) the turmoil in the
Middle East, (2) more people driving, and
(3) the fact that with limited oil
exploration, the price of gasoline would
explode upward.
--by AlanLester
The real culprits are: F.D.R. and Nixon,
who serially eliminated the gold standard.
This economic mess (which is just starting,
BTW) was 80 years in the making. The
abandonment of gold-backed currency
allowed the Vietnam War, the Great
Society welfare spending (and the federal
debt in general), the exponentially grown
trade deficits with the Middle East and
China, and even personal (credit-card and
mortgage) indebtedness. And now...we
will pay the piper.
--by dr.shannon
Texas killed our economy. It is the greed
and arrogance of the Big Oil executives
that have kept our country "addicted to
oil." The U.S.A. should have led the world
to a renewable-energy-powered economy
30 years ago. Had we done that, we would
not be fighting energy resource wars or
paying for gas at all. The technology has
been here for years. It has been the will to
move forward and the leadership that has
been lacking.
--by BaronVonRichter
Where is the block for all the dumb-ass
people who were too stupid to do basic
math and consumed their way into
oblivion? Time to put the blame back
where it belongs—on the guilty.
--by Diogenes
I think that a lot of people are to blame.
We can start at the bottom of the list with
all the individuals out there brokering
mortgages who have no business
education, no ethical standards, no
certification, and fat commissions as
incentive to broker deals between lenders
and people who can't afford a flat-rate,
fixed-term mortgage.
Then I blame lending institutions who
come up with these mortgage plans that no
person in their right mind would ever
consider agreeing to in the first place, so
that people could "get in and get out" in a
short period when the market was hot so
they would accumulate enough cash on the
sale to use as a down payment on the home
they really wanted to buy with a flat-rate,
fixed-term loan. Entirely too many people
signed on to these kinds of mortgages
without realizing that these notes were
NEVER meant to be long-term loans—and
shame on the brokers who did NOT tell
them this.
Then I blame investment houses with
fund managers who bought all this bad
paper, bundled it up, and sold it to both
foreign investment houses and foreign
banks—realizing a nice profit for their
fund and for their investors (and pocketing
their fat commissions, of course), all the
while knowing that eventually this paper
was going to "go bad" and negatively
impact economies around the world. If
people think that America isn't liked
because of the war, they should read what
people around the world think of our
investment companies bringing down their
economies and collapsing their banks.
Funny how the American media isn't
touching that story. I blame the American
media.
I don't blame Alan Greenspan or Ben
Bernanke. Their job at the Fed was/is to
keep money flowing in a way that
stimulates business growth in America and
keeps the U.S. growing and competitive in
the world marketplace. They have done
that.
I blame Congress for passing bad
banking laws. For eliminating the usury
laws and letting the credit industry in
general write their own ticket.
--by OaklandWoman
Bush and OPEC. Didn't help that they
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
were in bed together.
--by stang
You forgot the media. They created a
relentless drumbeat of negative stories on
the evening news and in the print media. It
almost seemed like they wanted a
recession because of their partisan political
beliefs.
--by Red
I blame Hollywood. When I was a child,
the popular television shows did not show
working-class people owning a large
home, two cars, TVs in every room, and
every gadget that money could buy. The
only "homeowners" in television shows
when I was a kid were professional people.
And the families stress the importance of
saving money, being thrifty, and going to
school.
Now Hollywood depicts lower and
working class families as having all the
"toys" of life—which they can't possibly
afford. They grow up thinking that is what
they are entitled to have. And they
browbeat their parents into buying them
things they can't afford just so they will
shut up.
--by BlameGreed
The economy was killed by deregulation
of the banks together with the economic
policies of this regime. Restrictions in
place since the Great Depression were
eliminated, allowing the Wall Street
wonders to slice and dice mortgages and
sell the results. That created the housing
crisis. On top of that, most of the jobs
created in this country over the past seven
years require only that you can say,
"Would you like fries with that?"
--by alan_gesler (via Yahoo)
Bush& Greenspan—a weaker dollar and
a weaker country.
--by Ichenraksha (via Yahoo)
You guys don't get it, do you? Bush,
Bernanke, Congress, big corporations, etc.
aren't that important. It's human nature.
We've been on top of the world and are fat
and lazy. We don't want to work hard, save
more than we earn, or make our kids bust
their butts in school, etc. Let me see, we
save $0, we spend double-digit percentage
points more than we earn, we let our kids
watch 10 times the amount of TV as
compared to reading, worship pop stars as
idols, and expect the government
(somebody) to save us. Compare that to
China, India, and other third-world
countries that produce as good a product
(sometimes better) for 10 percent of the
cost. They are trying to kick our collective
arses while we change the channel. Turn
off the TV, get off the couch, and start
producing equal to your standard of living.
What a concept. Go figure.
--by fugawee60 (via Yahoo)
Before my comment, a small bit of truth:
The economy is not dead. We indebted our
economy to its present sick state. I am so
sick of Americans who call themselves
hapless victims. If we don't believe that we
are the ones who most should have known,
then we insult ourselves. Did Alan
Greenspan get a commission on your
mortgage refinance?
--by arctific (via Yahoo)
Why would anyone think that war
spending is an economy killer? The
defense industry is probably the least
'offshored' of U.S. industries at this time.
Of the billions spent each month on the
war, much of it is pumped right back into
the U.S. economy. I'm not saying this is
morally correct, merely that the money
spent is an economic stimulus.
--by Yahoo! Finance User (via Yahoo)
It's all fine to make a few dollars more
and to bring up the lifestyle of those in
other countries. However, when you take a
huge number of jobs and move them
elsewhere, you severely damage the
American consumer. The American
consumer was the factor that drove the
majority of purchases up until recently.
Now they can no longer continue to do that
with cheap wages, and worse yet, NO jobs
or decent wages. We cannot afford to
continue shipping work overseas. These
countries do not pay enough for their
employees to buy cars or anything else of
any significance. If they cannot afford to
buy products, they should not be trying to
manufacture. Secondly, Alan Greenspan
should have stuck to his guns initially
when he told Bush no tax cuts, but he
capitulated to Republican politics as usual.
--by Yahoo! Finance User (via Yahoo)
Anyone who has taken an entry-level
financial-markets class knows that the
good times cannot always last. The current
downslide of the economy was brought
about by financial innovations but not one
single person can be to blame. The
DON'T page 9
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
The Rot in C.D.O.'s
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 3:00:00 AM
H edge fund manager Simon
Mikhailovich is naming and shaming his
colleagues. Good for him.
Mikhailovich runs Eidesis, a hedge fund
that invests in distressed structured credit.
He has been in the market since the 1990s,
the Paleozoic Era of collateralized debt
obligations. Yet he was also one of the first
to raise flags about the toxicity of the
structured-finance business, turning
bearish in 2005.
C.D.O. management was a big business
in those days. But Mikhailovich was
proved right last year, when C.D.O.'s, in
particular those tied to subprime
mortgages, turned disastrous.
Fortunately for the underwriters and the
C.D.O. managers—the firms that create
and manage the securities that
Mikhailovich invests in—they took down
huge fees. At the peak, they were
generating $800 million a year from
creating asset-backed C.D.O.'s.
Now there have been $217 billion worth
of structured-finance C.D.O.'s that have
triggered default since October. And it's
going to get worse.
So far, less than half of C.D.O.'s in the
class of 2006 and 2007 have gone bad.
Given the rot in those vintages, that figure
will likely rise. So, Mikhailovich was
compelled to do a bit of research: Who
created these horrors and how much have
they lost?
The fund manager did an analysis,
compiling a list of the top wealth
DON'T
continued from page 8
economy will go up and then later go
down. Most of us have lived in a period
that has seen record levels of growth, and
now the economy has to slide down a bit to
readjust. Politicians can't fix it; the Fed
can't fix it; only time can fix it. Blaming
people gets us nowhere.
--by rickjamesb05 (via Yahoo)
Bankers and savings-and-loan executives
knew many years ago that a home loan's
value was based upon the homeowner
having equity in the home. With that we
destroyers. Not that they are acting with
any sense of shame. As a Bloomberg News
article last week pointed out, many of these
same managers are seeking to raise money
to buy some of this supposedly distressed
paper.
The pitch? They aim to follow in the
footsteps of Drexel Burnham Lambert
bankers. Drexel, you will recall, blew the
world up in junk bonds. Then its former
employees—famously Leon Black of the
private equity firm Apollo
Management—formed investment
partnerships to buy beaten-up junk bonds,
ultimately making a killing.
That's brazen, even by Wall Street
standards. As Mikhailovich writes in his
recent letter to his investors: "Drexel
bankers sold the overpriced bonds to the
gullible investors at par and then raised
money to buy the same bonds back for
cents on the dollar. Those bankers may not
have been terribly ethical but incompetent
they were not! Managers of the busted
C.D.O.'s, on the other hand, paid full
prices to buy the bonds that subsequently
became deeply distressed. Now they are
raising money to invest in the very same
bonds they failed to properly analyze the
first time around."
People have frequently noted that this
has been the "smart money" bear market,
with investment banks, big commercial
banks, and other sophisticates bearing the
brunt of the credit crisis and market
downturn. The C.D.O. market isn't much
different. A couple of years ago, skeptics
like Mikhailovich were warning of a huge
influx of new, inexperienced C.D.O.
saw good maintenance and pride of
ownership. The idea that every American
should own his or her own home is
madness. Not every American should own
his or her own business. Home loans have
recently been treated the same way as auto
loans. No one has voiced concerns about
the high rate of auto repossessions we have
witnessed for many years. I have little
sympathy for a foreclosed homeowner who
paid no down payment, has no equity, then
quit making the payments. They have lost
managers. Yet, as he points out, his list is
dominated by the biggest and most well-
regarded names in the industry.
The C.D.O. crash hit the best and the
brightest, who were grabbing the most fees
and now are reaching for more investor
money.
Here's his list:
C.D.O. Manager # of C.D.O.'s in Default
Expected Losses (in millions)
• Strategos Capital Management 11
$10,946
• GSC Partners 10 $7,440
• Blackrock 6 $6,358
• Harding Advisory 8 $6,212
• ACA Management 6 $6,033
• Credit Suisse 7 $5,574
• Tricadia (Mariner Group) 5 $5,561
• Bear Stearns 4 $4,853
• Vertical Capital 5 $4,702
• Vanderbilt Capital Advisors 4 $4,401
• 250 Capital Advisors 3 $4,071
• Declaration Management & Research 5
$3,994
• Ellington Capital Management 3 $3,818
• TCW 6 $3,778
• State Street 3 $3,231
• Delaware Asset Management 3 $2,662
• Terwin Money Management 4 $2,620
• NIB Capital 2 $2,467
• Maxim Advisory 2 $2,269
• Seneca Capital 3 $2,110
Related Links
Wall Street Requiem
The New Committee to Save the World
Bad News for Bear Shareholders is Good
News for the Markets
nothing. Why should they be rescued with
taxpayers' money? This is only good for
politicians who are grubbing for votes.
--by msb1929 (via Yahoo)
Related Links
Why the Fed Won't Raise Rates to Prick
Bubbles
The Blame Game
Fed: Wall Street Needs More Time
Heavy Medal
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 4:00:00 PM
Keeping up with the Olympics this
summer promises to be an effort of, well,
Olympian proportions.
That’s because NBC, which is
broadcasting the summer sporting event
for the sixth consecutive time is
threatening to unleash 3,600 hours of
coverage on viewers.
"It’s more live coverage from a single
Olympics than the total of all previous
Summer Olympics combined," Dick
Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal
Sports & Olympics, said in a press release
issued by the company. "The enormity of
what we’re doing just blows me away."
Self-congratulation aside, the
coverage—which will be broadcast across
eight NBCU platforms, including the NBC
network itself, plus cable properties from
MSNBC to Telemundo, and on the web at
NBCOlympics.com—represents a bid by
chief executive Jeff Zucker to drum up
interest after disappointing ratings during
several previous summer Olympic games.
In 2000, the network coughed up $705
million—not including production
costs—to broadcast the Summer Olympics
in Sydney, Australia. The overall ratings
for those games, for which viewership
totaled about 200 million, were the lowest
for any Olympics ever broadcast by NBC,
for a variety of reasons. Interest is lower
for Olympics outside of the U.S., the
Games took place in late September, when
school and work obligations competed
with viewing, and the time difference
meant a lag during which Americans could
get the results of Olympic competitions
online or from the newspaper.
In 2004, the story was slightly sunnier.
After spending $793 million to broadcast
the Summer Games from Athens, Greece,
NBC garnered household ratings for the
event that were 245 percent higher than
those from the previous month. That year
also marked the first enormous increase in
coverage—the company aired a then-
record 1,210 hours, thanks to the recent
acquisition of three cable networks: USA,
Biz Buzz 9
Bravo, and Telemundo.
This year, the broadcast rights for the
Olympics cost a record $894 million, not
counting a reported $125 million extra for
production expenses. And in exchange for
that huge outlay of capital, NBC has found
itself embroiled in an international hubbub
about China’s human rights record, as well
as protests against and attacks on Olympic
sponsors.
To make it all worthwhile, the network is
no doubt banking on a huge payoff in the
form of ratings numbers, and is luring
viewers with promises of unparalleled
choice and live coverage. In addition to
225 hours of coverage on NBC itself,
viewers this year will be able to tune in
live to the heretofore ignored triumphs of
Olympic canoeing, archery, and judo
competitions via NBCOlympics.com.
Seventy-five percent of the broadcasts
across every NBC platform will be live.
Coverage from every Olympic sport will
be included, and barn-burner sports like
gymnastics and swimming will receive
especially comprehensive coverage.
Also in NBC’s favor: "The time
difference works well this year," says Brad
Adgate, senior vice president at media-
planning and -buying agency Horizon
Media. "If an event starts in the morning in
China, that’s prime time on the East Coast"
of the U.S.
Adgate forecasts an audience of
"upwards of 200 million" for the Games
this summer, but points to other, intangible
benefits of broadcasting the Games, such
as promoting its fall lineup.
And besides, NBC doesn’t have a ton of
competition in the form of quality
programming from the other networks,
most of which are sticking with a tried-and
-true slate of reality shows this summer.
Still, digesting 3,600 hours of Olympic
coverage? Now that’s gold-medal worthy.
Related Links
Strong Interest in Summer Olympics
Spurs Vibrant Ad Sales
Are the Olympics Worth It?
Music + Sports + Technology = Telecom
Trifecta?
10 Biz Buzz Tech*
Rush to Judgment
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 9:00:00 PM
R ush Limbaugh's reported mammoth,
eight-year, $38 million-per contract with
Clear Channel has quickly sparked two
very different reactions: It's given hope to
a bloodied radio industry and
simultaneously angered legions of talk-
show hosts who aren't making enough to
buy entire emerging-market nations.
But news of the contract "is a great
affirmation by Premiere"—Premiere Radio
Networks syndicates The Rush Limbaugh
Show—"and by the advertisers that there's
great reach still in radio," argues Jeff
Haley, chief executive of the Radio
Advertising Bureau.
That "great affirmation" comes as ad
revenue evaporates and audiences vanish.
Annual revenue for radio has been
spiraling. In 2007, overall revenue for the
U.S. radio industry declined 2 percent, to
$21.3 million, from the year before, wiping
out meager 1 percent gains in 2006.
Haley says (surely with fingers and toes
crossed, and eyes fixated on heaven) that
podcasts and streaming internet broadcasts
will likely be incorporated into Limbaugh's
new contract, as Clear Channel and its ilk
struggle to capture and retain tech-savvy
listeners, bored with the standard radio
box. And as that evolution takes place and
the medium modernizes, "it's only natural
that these strong franchises," like
Limbaugh's, "will expand," he says.
Limbaugh himself is a complete stranger
to audience woes. He claims to have 20
million listeners (other industry analysts
Connecticut Still Wants To Try Julie Amero
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:24:03 AM
You may recall the case of Julie Amero, a
substitute teacher in Connecticut who was
found guilty of charges that she had
showed pornography to children in her
classroom, and who faced 40 years in jail.
The problem was that the police and the
prosecutors seemed unable to understand
what had actually happened. The computer
in the classroom had been infected by
peg it at closer to 14 million), and he's
available on the AM dial, readily
accessible to anyone with a bare-bones
radio and a tolerance for ads, no
subscription necessary. His bombastic
personality and conservative views have
paved the way for the likes of Sean
Hannity and Glenn Beck. And the new
contract marks him as central to the
success of Premiere's business plan.
Despite that, the contract may serve as a
mixed blessing to the rank and file of the
radio industry as a whole. Sure, it’s a vote
of confidence for the viability of radio as a
successful medium for ads. Sure, it offers
some glimmer of hope to aspiring talk-
radio hosts.
More immediately however, it is causing
untold frustration among other up-and-
coming hosts. Michael Harrison, editor of
radio industry trade publication Talkers
magazine, says many have called him in
frustration to complain that they aren't
making enough.
Another high-profile radio personality,
Howard Stern, made headlines four years
ago after signing a reported $100-million-a
-year contract with the subscription-only
Sirius Satellite Radio. That arrangement,
too, was based on capitalizing on emerging
technology to garner new listeners, but has
had mixed results so far: Stern has failed to
drum up an audience bigger than
somewhere in the estimated "single-digit
millions" for his channel, according to
Harrison.
Still, Sirius's investment in Stern was a
wise one, he says. The star brought the
fledgling company significant notoriety
malware, which tossed up porn pop-up ads.
It wasn't that she was surfing porn, but that
the computer had malware. As news of this
wrongful conviction got out, more and
more security experts tried to explain to
everyone involved why Amero was not the
guilty party. Eventually, the judge agreed,
and struck down the guilty verdict.
However, the state still has not dropped
the case.
In fact, as reader Phil K lets us know, the
state has no intention of dropping the case,
and can be expected to build a more solid
audience given time now that Sirius has
merged with rival XM.
Amid the fuss, it's worth remembering
that the contract's financial details were
revealed by Limbaugh himself, hardly an
impartial source, in a profile in the New
York Times Magazine. The deal is
reported to be worth $400 million over
eight years, not including a nine-figure
signing bonus. But none of this has been
confirmed by Premiere. And, like any
contract, Limbaugh's is no doubt peppered
with protective clauses and contingency
plans to shelter the company signing the
checks.
The host is "going to have to continue to
do a heck of a job for that figure to come
to fruition," says Harrison, in terms of
ratings, revenue, and other performance
metrics. Premiere will likely expect
revenue growth to at least keep pace with
the cost of living, say 3 percent a
year—and ratings goals will reflect
similarly high expectations.
Still, if the contract numbers are real,
they may be justified. In radio, "there's a
powerful personal connection that
happens. That's what drives Rush's reach
and the valuation of his programming,"
says Haley. "The new contract will
absolutely pay off."
Related Links
All Talk?
Pump Up the Deal Volume
Music Wars
and appears to want a new trial. No one
involved in the case will explain why they
won't drop it. In fact, they won't even
apologize for what was clearly a wrongful
prosecution in the first place. The
prosecutors, the police and the school
Amero worked for haven't said a word.
The fact that they're planning to go through
another trial over this matter suggests they
still don't even realize what they did.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Fannie and Freddie Need a
Sibling
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 5:00:00 AM
Fears about the two mortgage giants,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have
dragged down the stock market into a bear
market and prompted doomsday
discussions in Washington.
The worry is that the two will not able to
weather the housing slump, as foreclosures
surge (up 53 percent in June), and that the
government will be forced to bail them out.
A bailout of the two government-created,
but investor-owned, companies would
make the rescue of Bear Stearns look like a
petty cash transaction. Fannie and Freddie,
the two largest buyers of American
mortgages, have some $5 trillion in
mortgage-related debt—about half of the
mortgage debt market.
"If Fannie or Freddie failed, it would be
far worse than the fall of Bear Stearns,"
Sean Egan, head of credit-rating firm Egan
Jones, told Katie Benner of Fortune. "It
could throw the economy into depression
or something close to it."
The former president of the Federal
Reserve Bank of St. Louis, William Poole,
tells Bloomberg News that under fair
accounting rules, both Fannie and Freddie
are technically insolvent.
"Congress ought to recognize that these
firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these
firms to continue to exist as bastions of
privilege, financed by the taxpayer,'' Poole
said in the interview with Bloomberg.
In early May, Charles Duhigg of the
New York Times had a remarkably
prescient report about the fears in
Washington over the two companies.
Following up on that, James Hagerty,
Deborah Solomon, and Damian Paletta of
the Wall Street Journal report today that
such discussions within the Bush
administration have stepped up in recent
weeks.
The focus in Washington has been on
now seemingly stalled housing legislation
that would increase the might of the
Federal Housing Administration and
overhaul the way Fannie and Freddie are
regulated. But the debate may have to turn
sharply radical as the housing slump
deepens.
Nationalization of the two is an idea, but
Benner says it is unlikely in an election
year and with a lame-duck administration.
What Congress should do is show the
same initiative it did during the dark days
of the Depression when Fannie and
Freddie were born: Create a new
government-sponsored enterprise to
compete with the two and buy mortgages
in the secondary market.
In other words, backstop the market,
don't backstop Fannie and Freddie.
Bailing out Fannie and Freddie would
reward years of aggressive use of
derivatives, accounting shenanigans, and
wasteful spending on top executives and
lobbying. And both companies failed their
public mission of making housing
affordable.
A new housing G.S.E. would of course
be a costly undertaking and thus, probably
politically impossible. But in the end a
government-owned corporation would
arguably benefit homeowning taxpayers,
whereas a bailout of Fannie and Freddie
elevates the problem of moral hazard to a
whole new level.
And the creation of a rival has been
proposed before, although by conservative
Congressional critics of Fannie and
Freddie when times were good.
In 2001, the director of the
Congressional Budget Office said that "if
the number of companies granted a G.S.E
charter was increased, the secondary
market would become more competitive,
resulting in a larger portion of the subsidy
being passed through to borrowers."
These are desperate times that call for
radical measures. Fiona Mo anyone?
Frankie Morg?
Related Links
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The Fed's 125bp Two-Step
Fed Leaves Door Ajar
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
The Art of Making Money
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 4:00:00 AM
A dearth of new buyouts? Check. Deal
implosions? Yep. Tight credit?
Unfortunately so.
Ergo, a private-equity slump, right? Not
so fast.
It turns out the buyout kings don't have
reason to hang their crowns up just yet.
According to a pair of studies this week,
money is still flowing into private-equity
funds at a healthy clip, and their managers
continue to make windfalls from exiting
their investments.
Or they did in 2007, anyway. Ernst &
Young's annual study of private-equity
value creation was released this morning,
and the takeaway for 2007 seems to be
much the same as it was in the 2006 and
2005 studies: Private-equity owners create
more value than their public counterparts.
Hear that, potential E&Y private-equity
clients?
The report looked at the 100 biggest
global private-equity exits in 2007. Three
were in Asia and Australia, 53 were in
Europe, and 44 were in North America.
The objective was to measure how much
value the portfolio managers created in the
companies they bought, including metrics
such as earnings growth and productivity.
The results aren't really surprising. After
Oil on the Trigger Finger
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 4:30:00 AM
What does it take to reignite a rally in oil?
Nine missiles.
Crude oil futures surged on world
markets after Iran announced that it had
test fired nine long- and medium-range
missiles. Among them was a Shahab-3,
which is said to have a range of 1,250
miles and is capable of hitting Israel.
The tests came just a day after the
Iranian president appeared to play down
the threats to Israel and the United States
over the stanadoff on Iran's nuclear
program and oil prices fell in dollar terms
by the biggest amount since 1991.
But the saber-rattling today revived
worries about a disruption to Mideast oil.
"While we're still in a phase of verbal
all, the first half of 2007 was a great time
to exit a portfolio investment made, on
average, three and a half years earlier. But
the study doesn't differentiate the results
from the first half of the year to the second
half.
Here's what did happen, according to the
study: P.E. exits in Germany showed more
growth in value than any other
geographical area; deals under $1 billion
outperformed their public counterparts
better than those over $1 billion; and
private-equity firms had better luck buying
private companies than taking publicly
traded companies private.
In fact, a big exit strategy for private-
equity-backed companies in 2007 was to
sell them to other private-equity firms. In
North America, 47 percent of the biggest
exits came from secondary buyouts, versus
27 percent in 2006.
One man's trash is another man's
treasure, or so they say.
It's clear that the 2008 E&Y study will
paint an entirely different picture (but rest
assured it will still conclude that private
equity creates value). The M&A market
has slowed to a crawl, and the I.P.O.
market is nearly nonexistent.
The report's authors suggest that the
industry spread its wings a bit to take on
more opportunities in sectors like mining,
energy, and financial services. They
attacks, the danger of military strikes is
real and Iran might halt its oil exports,''
Gerrit Zambo, a trader at BayernLB in
Munich, told Bloomberg News. "This is
driving the oil price up and the situation
remains tense.''
Crude oil futures slid 6 percent on
Monday and Tuesday on expectations that
the global economy will slow and
ultimately cut back on demand. The retreat
gave rise to the view that oil's climb may
have peaked. Americans have cut back on
their driving and air travel, and India and
China have reduced government subsidies
on oil imports.
Yet such optimism may be misplaced.
For one, the decline in oil came after the
dollar gained in value, which has more to
do with European interest rates than
anything else. Oil is priced in dollars, so
predict secondary buyouts will continue to
increase, and sovereign wealth funds will
become a stronger presence as exit
sources.
Instead of exiting investments this year,
the industry seems to be focused on raising
more money. According to data tracked by
Dow Jones' Private Equity Analyst, buyout
firms and their funds raised $132.7 billion
during the first half of this year, down just
3 percent from the same period last year.
Fundraising in Europe outpaced that in the
U.S.
They may as well get it while the
getting's still good. Pension funds and
endowments are still eager for places to
park their cash. Besides, fund managers
can use 2007's glowing figures to make
their sales pitches.
As for where all that money will end up
invested, it's anyone's guess at this point.
But these are financiers who can make 2
percent fees without even investing that
money for years if they want.
What's not to love about that?
Related Links
Private Equity: Breaking Up Is Not That
Hard to Do
WaMu Gets Its Deal
Split Decision in Europe
the decline was not as keenly felt by global
consumers and investors.
And oil has a geopolitical element that
has little to do with the market dynamics of
supply and demand.
Higher oil is in the political interests of
Iran, which produces more than 4 million
barrels per day, nearly 5 percent of the
world's oil supply. The Economist recently
noted, "The tightness of the oil market has
become, in effect, a line of defense for
Iran, letting its radical leadership hint,
truthfully, that any hostile act that may
impede the flow of Iranian oil would risk a
global economic decline."
Related Links
The Coming Oil Crash
Oil Prices Climb
Oil Strikes Out
IPhone 3G: The Story So
Far
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:30:00 AM
Let's face it. Today and tomorrow will be
about one thing. The iPhone. And not just
in the tech blogs. As we saw earlier, the
mainstream press has got iPhone Fever,
too, although US stalwarts Mossberg,
Pogue and Baig didn't fall over themselves
with gushing praise like they did last year.
So, ahead of tomorrow's Second
Coming, what do we know? Here's a
roundup of the latest leaks and
announcements.
First, we know that the handset is already
in the wild. Gadget Lab's all-action
playboy, Danny Dumas, showed us the
World's first unboxing, and the Boy
Genius Report went one better with a
video of an iPhone sneaked to them by an
Apple insider.
Software, too, has started to trickle out.
ITunes 7.7 is already available from both
the Apple website and via Software
Update, and some of the new features are
live (App Store: Yes. iPhone 2.0 OS: No).
And Mobile Me, the replacement for the
withering dotmac service, is already
available for download(for Mac users, at
least), and, for some, already live.
One of our own contacts, Kyle Wiens
from iFixit, had a 3G iPhone flashed at
him in the queue outside a New Zealand
store, doubtless accompanied by the words
"na-na na na-na". Kyle mailed me from the
line last night, where he's waiting to get a
phone to tear apart and photograph for our
pleasure:
Someone came by the line in NZ with a
3G iPhone to show off. I'm guessing it's
one of the demo units... I'm told the screws
It's the Little Things [Iphone 2.0]
By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 5:10:01 AM
Two tiny but handy features of note:
iTunes 7.7 can sync your Google Contacts
to your iPhone, and the iPhone 2.0
Biz Buzz Tech Tips* 11
are easily visible, and look like #00
Philips. We're #4 in line, so we'll have our
own soon enough.
As of this writing, the iPhone has just
gone on sale in New Zealand, where some
enterprising (or just plain crazy)
Americans have flown to join the queue.
Luke Soules, one of Wiens' colleagues, at
iFixit, is in line and will be pulling the
phone apart as soon as he has one.
Computer World New Zealand:
Soules flew in from California on
Wednesday afternoon and quickly grabbed
a spot in line [...] "hopefully, at 12.30am, I
will be pulling [the device] apart.
UPDATE: The iFixit site shows that the
boys have the iPhone, but have yet to take
a hammer to it.
This mania will doubtless continue until
the weekend. Lines are already forming in
the US, and Gear Diary has a blog
covering the goings on outside Apple's
flagship glass cube in New York.
To many, it might seem rather pointless,
especially after the launch of the original
iPhone: When the queues dispersed,
customers were able to walk in and just
buy one, no waiting required. What these
naysayers miss, though, is the camaraderie
and carnival atmosphere amongst the
Apple fans. As Gear Diary's Wayne Schulz
says:
It seems more likely that this line is some
type of odd family picnic.
Related Links
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Everyone Else
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software has a screen capture utility built
right in—and that "Hurrah!" you just heard
comes from tech writers across the
internet.
12 Biz Buzz Tech* Tech Tips*
Chemistry in Chemicals
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:30:00 AM
What does it take to do a $19 billion deal
at a 75 percent premium in this dismal
market?
Cold, hard cash from Omaha and the
Middle East, that's what. Or convertible
preferred securities will do.
Dow Chemical announced this morning
that it is acquiring Rohm & Haas for $18.8
billion, or $78 per share. The price
represents a 74 percent premium to
Wednesday's share price.
Dow is getting some help financing the
deal from Warren Buffett's Berkshire
Hathaway, which is contributing $3
billion, and the Kuwait Investment
Authority, with a $1 billion stake. Last
December, Dow Chemical entered a joint
venture with Petrochemical Industries
Company of the State of Kuwait.
Andrew Liveris, chief executive of Dow
Chemical, said the company had been
looking for an acquisition to help it
diversify its business from petroleum-
based commodity chemicals. Rohm &
Haas makes chemicals for acrylic paints,
adhesives, and personal-care products.
iPhone 2.0 Software Update Unofficially
Available [Iphone 2.0]
By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:29:03 AM
MacRumors unearthed a link to the
iPhone 2.0 Software Update which we've
confirmed does indeed work, if you can't
wait for Apple's official push. Download
the update, sync your device, then hold
down Option on the Mac (Shift on
Windows) when you hit the "Check for
WordPress and TypePad Spawn Mobile Blogging
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 8:07:03 PM
Forgive us while we navel-gaze for a
minute, but we were particularly pleased to
learn that a mobile app for WordPress will
debut in the iPhone store soon. The app
will work with both Wordpress.com blogs
and on-premise installations of version
"We only ever had two or three
companies in our vista that made sense for
us,'' Liveris said in an interview with
Bloomberg Television, "and our patience
and our discipline, the wait for the right
moment and the right time for the right
property. When it becomes available you
make the deal happen.''
Besides being a multibillion-dollar
transaction in an otherwise quiet M&A
market, this deal is notable for the absence
of any private-equity money. Debt
financing was committed by Citigroup,
Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley, who
were also advisers on the deal.
Buffett didn't let his dealmaking keep
him from attending the Allen & Co.
conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
DealBook noticed yesterday that Buffett
seemed preoccupied with work while
fellow attendees enjoyed golfing and other
activities. No word yet on whether or not
he participated in the bridge tournament.
Related Links
Kuwait's Chemical Reaction
A Dimon in the Rough
Mark-to-Model on Wall Street: The
Numbers
Update" button inside iTunes and choose
the file you downloaded. The update takes
several minutes and will wipe your device
and re-sync it. From our tests it only
worked on iPhones, not the iPod touch.
Here's the direct link to download the
iPhone 2.0 software update. Thanks,
jarhead!
2.5.1 and newer. Its announcement comes
just over a month after competitor
TypePad showcased its iPhone app onstage
at the WWDC keynote(you can download
it here).
Blogging through Safari is practically
impossible on the iPhone due to the
excessive real estate taken up by the
keyboard. As the demo below shows,
PR Guy Says Bloggers Should Shut Up
And Take Press Releases
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:47:05 AM
When we first started Techdirt, one of the
things I said clearly on the site was not to
send us press releases, as we had no
interest in writing about them. Yet, so
many PR people clearly chose not to read
the site and they send them anyway. They
don't read the fact that we don't want press
releases -- and in most cases they clearly
don't read the site because the press
releases obviously are about stuff we never
write about. And it just gets worse and
worse. These days, my inbox is filled with
more press releases than regular email --
and I don't post any of them. You would
think that PR people would eventually
recognize how inefficient it is to send these
press releases -- but since it's so easy to
just cc every email address in a press list,
they never even think about it. This leads
me to write posts trashing PR people. But,
of course, that does no good, because (as
already established) the PR people who
send us press releases obviously don't
actually read the site.
While there are some PR people who
understand this, and with whom I have a
good relationship, the vast majority don't
seem to care at all. And, now, some seem
to be going in the opposite direction.
Romenesko points us to a marketing/PR
guy who claims that bloggers with large
audiences have a responsibility to just
accept these press releases-- even if they
have no intention of writing about them: In
my view, a popular, well-read blog de
facto takes on some of the public trust that
the mainstream media have always
assumed.... Why shouldn't I send you a
native apps have the potential to make the
whole ordeal much more manageable, and
they could spawn a new trend of bloggers
who post while on the road.
Publishers will now have the option to
expound on their thoughts while on scene.
Before they often resorted to summarizing
them in 140-character tweets, or
broadcasting them through services like
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
press release? If you've got 2,000 readers,
you're like a small newspaper. Newspapers
don't complain when we send them press
releases. They may throw the release away,
but they don't write articles ridiculing the
person who had the audacity to send it, as
some bloggers do when they get an
unwanted release. Well, we've got a lot
more than 2,000 readers, and if we have
any sort of de facto "public trust" with our
readers, it's to write about what we think
they'll find interesting -- and they've made
it clear they don't care about press release
"fake news." And if we ridicule PR people
-- it's not simply for sending us a press
release. It's for clearly not reading the site
where we ask them not to send us press
releases and for not understanding what we
want to write about.
We do want story ideas. We have always
asked our readers for story ideas. But press
releases aren't story ideas. They're attempts
to spin a story in a positive manner with a
bunch of unwanted and useless
information that actually makes our job
harder. The fact is, in a very short time,
you've become a key cog in our society's
communication machine. You're part of
something that's destroying the old model;
at the same time, you're being given the
opportunity to help create something
worthwhile to take its place. Yes, and part
of that "something worthwhile" is getting
rid of simply parroting spin from a
company PR person. It's about having a
real conversation. Spamming people with
press releases is part of that "old model"
that isn't working. Why do you think it's
okay that journalism is changing, but it's
just hunky dory that PR people do the
same old thing? Don't get me wrong: I'm
Qik and Flixwagon. The ability to insert
photos into posts directly from phone-
based cameras will also come in handy.
Perhaps the greatest effect of these apps
will be to encourage spontaneous
coverage, since most bloggers equip
themselves with laptops and EVDO cards
when attending planned events. In any
case, check out the WordPress demo above
not saying that you have an obligation to
actually write about what's in press
releases. The world will go on whether you
tell your readers about XYZ Widgets or
not. But understand that you have an
audience and people are going to want
your ear. Accept that as a compliment, and
don't be indignant when it happens. No.
You've got it wrong. We know that we
have an audience and people are going to
want our ear. And that's why we make it
clear how to get our ear. You're the one
choosing to ignore the very clear terms of
engagement that we've laid out -- and thus,
you shouldn't get upset when we point out
that you weren't paying attention. Since
you seem to think our "ear" is so valuable,
isn't it up to you to at least understand how
to get that ear to pay attention? If you want
to be lazy and not understand, that's not
our fault.
Finally, the biggest problem with press
releases is simple: they're not actually
about getting the ear of the blogger.
They're about using the blogger as a one-
way path to that blogger's audience. It's
missing the point of why many (though
certainly not all) bloggers do what they do.
They blog to be a part of the conversation -
- which is more than a one-way path. It's a
multi-directional conversation where
everyone gets something out of it. If you
stop looking at the blogger as a one-way
road to an audience, and realize that the
blogger, the readers and the company you
represent should all be part of a larger
conversation, you might realize just how
ineffective press releases are for that
purpose.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
and prepare yourself for an even greater
frequency of spelling errors in the posts we
churn out.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
iPhone Application Overview And Demo Videos
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 8:59:13 AM
It’s not official quite yet, but the iPhone
App Store is live and you can download
version 2.0 of the iPhone software - which
is all you need to run the 552 applications
currently available.
We’ve been gathering videos and
overviews of many of the applications and
have held them until now. We received
demo vidoes for dozens of applications,
ranging from basic games to complex GPS
-enabled social networking applications.
Below are some of our favorites.
Among the apps that we didn’t include
below (primarily because of their
simplicity) are Recorder(a voice recorder),
Movies(movie showtimes), and iMaze(a
basic maze game).
Social Networking On The iPhone:
The iPhone, with cult-like users and l
ocation aware technology, is the perfect
social networking device. Earlier this year
we speculated that someone would emerge
with a killer social networking app for the
iPhone. It turns out that there are lots of
contenders.
Loopt
Loopt- We’ve been tracking Loopt’s
efforts around their iPhone application for
months now. In April we posted early
screen shots of the app without saying who
had built it. Think of Loopt as a simple
social network to find local businesses,
message friends and send status updates
with where you are (using the iPhones
location technology). And a key difference
with Loopt and many of the other networks
below: you can meet new people who are
nearby, if they choose to share that
information. If everyone used this, you
could see who’s single in a bar before you
approach them (and flirt with them by
phone first), and know the first name and
job of everyone at that cocktail hour at the
tech conference. We’re big fans of Loopt,
Nobel Prize Winners Continue To Explain How IP Hurts Innovation
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 3:10:00 AM
We've discussed multiple times in the
past about how economics Nobel laureate
Joseph Stiglitz believes that patents hurt
innovation. Michael Geist points us to
and will have more news on them later
today. For now, download the free
application here.
Limbo
Limbo- Limbo is another geo-aware
social network that behaves like a mashup
of Twitter, Loopt, and Whrrl. One of the
app’s most compelling features is its grid-
like diagram that visually groups your
friends according to what they’re doing
(for example, all of your friends that are
Out Drinking will be lumped together,
even if they aren’t necessarily drinking in
the same place). The app accomplishes this
feat by forcing users to select from a
predefined hierarchal list of activities
(while this might sound restrictive, the list
is pretty comprehensive). This
categorization allows users to see what
they’re friends are up to without having to
sift through each of their messages.
On the geo-positioning front, Limbo
allows users to interact users who are
within a close radius (about a quarter
mile), in a manner that is similar to Loopt.
You can download the app here for free.
MySpace
MySpace- The MySpace iPhone app is
everything you’d expect from a multi-
billion dollar company: the app integrates
seamlessly with the massive social
network, allowing users to add friends,
exchange messages, upload photos, and do
just about anything else they could do from
their computers at home. They aren’t yet
integrating with the location features, but
expect that in the near future. If you are a
MySpace user, you’ll be using this
constantly. You can download the app here
for free.
Shozu
ShoZu- The ShoZu iPhone app allows
users to interact with a number of social
websites, including YouTube, Facebook,
Flickr, and a number of others. Users can
upload photos to these services, comment
on other users’ profiles, and send status
Stiglitz's latest speech, where he teamed up
with John Sulston, a 2002 Nobel Laureate
in Physiology/Medicine, to point out how
the patent system is stifling innovation. It's
great to see Stiglitz continue to point out
the problems caused by the patent system
(and great to see other Nobel winners
updates, depending on the site involved.
You can download the app here for free.
Utilities and Reference:
The introduction of the iPhone app store
has effectively made the iPhone the
ultimate utility belt. We’re seeing no
shortage of apps that aim to make life
easier for users, and while many of them
are a little too simplistic (how many tip
calculators do we really need?), others will
be godsends for some people, serving up
the latest sports news, on-demand drink
recipes, and restaurant recommendations.
Save Benjis
Save Benjis- Save Benjis is a shopping
tool that will look up a product’s price
according to its model number. Using
model numbers instead of product names
helps take the guesswork out of pricing
comparisons (for example, it would be
much easier to compare two computers
with their model numbers versus a name
like “MacBook Pro”). The app integrates
the Safari web browser, so users can
browse and purchase goods on a website
from their phone if they find a better price.
You can download the app here for free.
Pocket Express
Pocket Express- Pocket Express is a
news and information service that is
available for a number of smart phones.
The app allows users to browse through
news articles written by the Associated
Press on topics that include politics,
science, and world news. Users can also
browse through sports scores, weather
reports, and movie information. You can
download the app here for free.
Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon- Urbanspoon brings a fun
(and gimmicky) solution to choosing a
restaurant for dinner. After using the
phone’s GPS to detect restaurants in the
area, Urbanspoon presents you with a slot
machine-like listing of cuisine types and
price. To activate the slot machine, you
give the phone a hard shake (the
noticing as well). While Stiglitz has
normally focused on pharmaceutical
patents, in this speech he also touched on
software patents. While Stiglitz hasn't yet
come around to believing that patents
should be abandoned, he is quite
convinced that they're doing plenty of
accelerometers inside the phone will
measure the movement). The dials will
spin around a few times, and you’ll be
presented with a suggested restaurant (you
can shake again if you’re not satisfied).
You can download the app here for free.
Cocktails
Cocktails- Cocktails is a well designed
reference for “potent potables” that will
put traditional bar-tending guides to
shame. Users can browse through a large
index of drinks, search by ingredient or
drink name, and label drinks as favorites
for future reference. The app also includes
information about the type of serving glass
to use, as well as the date that each recipe
was created (there are often multiple
recipes available for each drink). You can
download the app here for $9.99.
ForeFlight
ForeFlight- ForeFlight is an iPhone app
that is aimed towards pilots (both
recreational and professional) rather than
your average consumer. The app allows
users to find nearby airports, maps,
diagrams of airports, and lookup of plane
information by tail number. The app also
includes the A/FD, the Airport and
Facilities Directory, which includes
location data like field and approach
information and location data on hotels.
You can download the app here for a
whopping $69.99 (the highest price in the
store).
Audio and Video
App providers will make use of the 3G
iPhone’s speedy network with streaming
audio and video apps that will allow users
to consume a near-limitless amount of
content without having to sync up with
their computers. Unfortunately, the iPhone
is still unable to record video, so all media
uploading will be limited to photos for
now.
Kyte Mobile Producer
Kyte Mobile Producer- Kyte’s Mobile
Producer is a mobile image uploading app.
harm in many cases, often locking up
innovation and costing society a lot more
than they benefit it.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Tech* 13
Users can upload the images they take
from their iPhones directy to Kyte
Channels that they’ve embedded in their
blogs or onto their Facebook profile
through Kyte’s facebook app. Users can
also compile their images into slideshows,
complete with captions and polls, which
can also be played through the their Kyte
Channels online. You can download the
app here for free.
mdialog
mdialog- mdialog’s iPhone app allows
users to browse through content that have
been uploaded to the video site. The app is
reminiscent of YouTube, allowing users to
share and bookmark their favorite
channels, leave comments, and browse
through a “What’s New Section”. Users
can also attach polls to their videos. You
can download the app here for free.
Pandora Radio
Pandora Radio, our flat out favorite
application so far, is an audio app that
streams music to the iPhone over Wi-Fi,
3G, or Edge. Pandora is a popular music
service that creates a “Music Genome” to
analyze music a user likes and then
recommend new artists. Users can enter
the name of an artist or song they like, and
Pandora will generate a streaming playlist,
even if they haven’t created a profile. You
can try out the app here for free.
Update: Here is a late addition:
Jott
Jott- Self-dubbed “the notepad you’ve
always dreamed of,” the Jott iPhone app
records your voice and turns it into text.
You can add items to specific lists and
cross them off once you don’t need to
worry about them any longer.
Additionally, all of your notes are backed
up online. You can try out the app here for
free.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
14 Tech* Gadgets*
Facebook’s iPhone App (Almost) Replaces My
Contacts List
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 3:40:36 PM
All of us iPhone fanatics are just getting
our hands on the new apps, but I’ve
already found one that I’m sure to consider
indispensable within the next few months:
Facebook’s new app.
Why is it so compelling? Because it
almost eliminates the need to maintain a
separate contacts list on my phone. While
Facebook’s web app for the iPhone was
cool enough, the native app basically
transforms Facebook into a mobile
directory with rich information about your
friends.
If you’re even semi-serious about using
Facebook to keep track of your friends,
you may never have to click the “Phone”
icon to dial them up. Just hit the Facebook
icon and move over to the “Friends” tab.
You’ll see all of your Facebook friends
laid out, and when you click on their
names, their contact info appears in the
iPhone’s customary user interface.
Tap a friend’s phone number to call them
(or hit their email address to write). The
only time this method falls through is
when a friend has decided not to enter the
requisite contact info into their profile
(something unnecessarily cautious, in my
opinion, if you’ve set up your privacy
settings correctly).
This application has the potential to
eliminate the need for two other native
iPhone features as well: SMS and Email.
The app comes with Facebook Chat baked
right in so you can send instant messages
to friends who are currently online (either
at their computers or on their phones). As
soon as Facebook figures out a way to
keep you “online” and available for chat
even when the app is closed - and hooks
Chat to the new push notification service
so you’re aware of messages as they come
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11: 1.5TB of love
By Nilay Patel (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:10:00 AM
Filed under: Storage
You know, we're not actually certain we
want to trust 1.5TB of our precious
in - I’ll be one step closer to saving that
extra $10 per month I pay AT&T to let me
send ludicrously overpriced text messages.
Facebook should be working on a Chat-to-
SMS (or Message-to-SMS) conversion
feature that can be used to message with
my friends who don’t own iPhones, or any
other email-equipped smartphone.
As for email, Facebook’s messaging
system is also built right into the app
making it unnecessary to send lengthy
messages through email (who wants to
keep track of friends’ email addresses
anyway when you can look them up by
name?).
Joe Hewitt has also suggested on
Facebook’s blog that the application will
also become location-aware within the
next few months:
precious NES ROMS invaluable work data
to a single drive, but that doesn't mean
Seagate's latest Barracuda isn't
droolworthy regardless. The jump from
1TB to 1.5TB is the "largest capacity hard
drive jump in the more than half-century
The first version of Facebook for iPhone
is just a glimpse of the future. For instance,
the iPhone has the ability to find where
you are located, and we are looking for
ways to let you opt-in to share your
location and discover nearby friends.
We’re developing this and several other
exciting new features that we’ll release in
the coming months.
Looks like Loopt and all of the other
location-based social networks are going to
get a run for their money by the biggest
player in town.
I have no fear that Facebook will thrive
in the iPhone 2.0 world given this strong
start. It’ll just need to find a way to get its
developers involved since the platform is
noticeably absent from the first version of
this app.
history of hard drives," according to
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Learn how to install the new iPhone
software (which works on both the old and
new models) here. Cross your fingers that
you won’t lose any data during the update
(I had no problems, however). Also check
out the new MySpace iPhone app which,
while quite functional, doesn’t replace the
contacts list or provide chat.
Update: If you want to take a screenshot
of an iPhone app, follow the instructions
here.
Update 2: It looks like Facebook’s
iPhone app doesn’t know how to properly
render messages with quotations in them.
Hopefully such obvious bugs will be
worked out over the next few days.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Seagate, and the perpendicular-recording
drives should begin shipping in August.
There are also a pair of Momentus 2.5-inch
500GB notebook drives coming in Q4 in
5400 and 7200RPM speeds, but like big
brother, pricing is unavailable -- we've got
Japanese Gov't
Says No (Again)
To An iPod Tax
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 4:49:01 AM
Back in 2005, the recording industry in
Japan urged the government to create an
iPod tax, adding a tax to every iPod (or
other digital music player) sold. The idea
was that the recording industry wanted to
assume that every iPod owner was
obviously "stealing" music, and this tax
would help pay for the supposedly "lost"
revenue. Of course, as we all know, that's a
very questionable assumption. An iPod can
often make people buy more music, but the
recording industry has never been willing
to even consider that idea. Luckily, a few
months later, the Japanese government
rejected the idea.
However, with the recording industry,
these things always seem to have a way of
popping back up again. And, indeed,
there's been another big push this year for
Japan to add an iPod tax. Luckily,
however, the consumer electronics lobby
in Japan is a lot more powerful than the
recording industry lobby, and it appears
that the iPod tax proposal is dead once
again. Of course, it will likely be suggested
again next year, but as we start to see more
and more business models built on a base
of free music, perhaps more people will
recognize how unfair (and damaging to the
market) an iPod tax would be. It would
lower the incentives for people to buy
these devices, decrease music consumption
habits, and hurt all these other business
models.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
a hunch you might want to start saving
those pennies, though.
[Thanks, Dave] Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
MediaMax/TheLinkup Closes Its Doors
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:35:36 PM
After a tumultuous history including lost
data, upset users, and seemly endless name
changes, TheLinkup(aka MediaMax) has
shut its doors. Users of the storage site will
be unable to access their files after August
8th.
The company has a long (and extremely
confusing) history. In our last post on the
site, Charlie Jackson, one of the company’s
investors, left a comment explaining the
following (we’ve added links to relevant
events):
The original entity was Streamload. The
product name was changed to MediaMax
and it was still the same service. Steve
Iverson, the founder, was still CEO.
Patrick Harr was brought in to be CEO and
to help raise money, Iverson was moved to
being CTO.
When a C round investor was found,
Mission Ventures, this venture firm wanted
nothing to do with the consumer service of
MediaMax, only wanted to be in the back-
end business. The C investor allowed a
spin-out to be done, and the new company
Before the App Store “Opens”, it has already made
Apple $55,000
By Dan Kimerling (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:07:25 PM
Tucked away on the iPhone 2.0 version of
Apple’s Application Store is a counter for
the number of times that each application
has been purchased. When this information
is combined with an application’s price,
and the uniform 30% that Apple pockets
on each download, it is possible to know
how much Apple is making from the App
Store. As of 4PM (PST), that number
hovers around $55,000. This is pretty
incredible given that the iPhone 2.0
software is not officially available and App
Store does not officially open till
tomorrow, that bloggers have only been
able to access the Apps Store for less than
18 hours, and that the 3G iPhone, with the
was allowed to take the name MediaMax
and the consumer customers, but no
software, no servers, no data. The front-
end software was licensed to the spin-out,
but for a limited time. Steve Iverson took
over this company, while the existing
company, with all the servers and data,
was re-named Nirvanix. Virtually all the
employees stayed with Nirvanix. Nirvanix
is trying to compete with Amazon’s S-3
service.
Around the time this spin-out was
happening, Nirvanix engineers screwed up
royally and accidentally deleted half the
files. Most were recovered over time, but it
took months, and there was never 100%
recovery (I never got some of files back).
MediaMax wrote new front-end software
App store built in out of the box, is not
even on sale yet in the United States. If
sales of applications stay at the current
pace, which they won’t, because they are
going to speed up dramatically, the
Application Store would still provide
Apple with an additional twenty million
dollars of revenue per year.
Embedded in the post is a simple revenue
model for the App Store, using the fifty
most popular applications. We will update
this regularly, hopefully including all of
the 100 most popular Apps, so stay posted
for more data points and more revenue
models. That is, unless Apple disables the
counter in order to stymie bloggers and
stock analysts eager to know how much
incremental income Apple is going to
make from selling Applications in the App
and recently changed its name to
TheLinkup. Nirvanix wrote new back-end
software, but had trouble migrating all the
MediaMax files from its old software to its
new software.
MediaMax/TheLinkup coudn’t make all
its customers’ files available, ran out of
money, and not having a viable business
anymore, had to shut down (the C
investors never put any money into the
spin-out).
The company’s latest venture,
TheLinkup, was supposed to be a social
network centered around storage, but it
barely managed to get off the ground. This
could be considered a blessing in disguise,
as a storage-centric social network would
have probably had a difficult time building
a substantial userbase, and may have
simply resulted in more lost time and
money.
We’ve added the TheLinkup to the
Deadpool.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Store.
A few notes on the data are necessary. I
stopped updating the data at 4PM (PST),
but it was affected by sales that occurred
German Court Says That Open
WiFi Owners Not Responsible
For File Sharing Done By Others
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/9/2008 11:44:00 PM
There's been plenty of back and forth
over the years concerning the question of
whether or not an open WiFi network
makes the owner of that network liable for
or protected from charges of file sharing
by others on that network. Since the
entertainment industry can only trace back
to the access point, but has no idea who's
using that access point, some have always
contested that an open WiFi network is a
defense against charges of file sharing,
since it could be anyone doing the sharing.
Others contend that the owners of the open
network should be liable for any crimes
committed on that network.
over the ten or so minutes that I spent
collecting the data. Also, Apple’s counter
has some bugs. In the Application Store,
the number of sales does not always
correspond to an Application’s position on
the Top-50 list. My list is a correct ranking
based strictly on the number of downloads.
And, while collecting the data I noticed
that sometimes the counter would go
down, something that makes no sense in an
Application download store. However, this
is still the best and most accurate data we
have on the impact of the Application
Store on Apple’s bottom line.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Tech* Gadgets* 15
A German court has now ruled that open
WiFi network owners are not responsible
for actions committed by other users on
their network. This overrules a lower court
decision, which the entertainment industry
had been using to threaten people whose IP
addresses turned up in file sharing sweeps.
This doesn't mean that the owner of the
network won't still be hauled off to court,
or that they won't eventually be found
guilty of infringement -- but if the person
can present evidence that others used the
network, then they have a defense against
charges of file sharing. This seems like a
reasonable ruling that hopefully other
courts will follow as well.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
HTC Touch Diamond
gets FCC clearance,
smells like CDMA
By Chris Ziegler (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:54:00 PM
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Well,
looky here! Not happy with the Touch
Dual or Touch Pro, you saucy CDMA
lovers, you? Try this one on for size then:
the last piece in HTC's EV-DO puzzle for
2008 has now hit the FCC, the Touch
Diamond -- and though only Telus has
managed to announce it so far, we're
feeling good about plenty of other carriers
on the CDMA train recognizing the
importance of this device and signing on
before too long. We see test reports for
WiFi, too, though we imagine it'll be at
carriers' descretions to disable it if they're
so inclined. Let's get a move on, Sprint.
You too, Verizon, don't think we don't see
you whistling over there in the corner.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
16 Tech* Tech Tips*
Is This The Best Homeland Is Cost Accounting To
Security Can Do In Defending Blame For Patent
Laptop Searches At The Border?
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:21:02 AM
The courts have said that US Customs
officials do not need probable cause to
search laptops. While some Senators are
questioning why Department of Homeland
Security is searching laptops without
probable cause, the administration is
working hard to defend such searches at
the border as reasonable. However, they're
not making very much sense. The article
trots out James Jay Carafano from the
Heritage Foundation with a couple of
interesting statements. Let's take them in
order. First:"The idea that we would create
some kind of sanctuary for criminals and
terrorists to carry things across the border
to me is absolutely ludicrous." Well, that's
not just an exaggeration, it's wrong. Does
Carafano actually believe that someone
manually walking a laptop across the
border is the only way that data gets across
the border? Of course that's not true. Data
flows across borders via the network all
the time -- with no customs review
whatsoever. No one is walking across the
border with a laptop thinking that's the best
way to get some data across the border.
Dutch Chipmaker Sues To Prevent Researchers
From Publishing Info About Security Flaws
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:24:00 AM
NXP Semiconductors, which was
formerly Philips Semiconductor division,
is suing some researchers to prevent the
publication of a paper outlining the
security flaws in smartcards made by NXP.
These smartcards are widely used for
transit systems and building locks. Of
course, the fact that these cards have been
insecure has actually been known for quite
Then there's this statement:"It's also
unrealistic to require probable cause when
you think about the millions of people a
day who come in and go out of the
country." Let's just change a few words in
that statement and see how Carafano feels
about it: "It's also unrealistic to require
probable cause when you think about the
millions of people a day who walk up and
down the streets of America." Yet, we
don't hear Carafano pushing for a removal
of probable cause for searches on the
street, do we?
The border searches of laptops issue is a
ridiculous one. Yes, it makes sense to
search through what physical goods you
might be bringing into the country --
because you specifically chose to bring
those goods into the country. But the
digital things you have stored on your
laptop are an overall archive. You didn't
choose to bring those specific things across
the border -- and it's not like going through
a border crossing is the best way to move
that content across the border. There's
simply no reason for why laptop searches
should be allowed without probable cause.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
some time. Rather than fixing the problem,
though, NXP spent plenty of effort
denying any problem existed. Now that
multiple researchers have demonstrated
that the problem really does exist, NXP is
claiming it hasn't had enough time to fix
the problem, and thus is suing to prevent
publication.
Of course, if NXP hadn't wasted so much
time insisting there was no problem,
perhaps it would have been closer to a fix.
And, most importantly, those who are
Hoarding?
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:13:00 AM
Michael F. Martin is a lawyer/investor
who is always good for some interesting
debates in the comments here on the
question of patents. He's a supporter of the
patent system, with some fixes. Suffice it
to say that he and I disagree on an awful
lot, though I appreciate his willingness to
try to really dig into the questions being
discussed and to dig through all sorts of
ideas and research. It's just that we usually
come to almost the exactly opposite
conclusions.
I'm not sure where I come down on his
latest thought piece, suggesting that part of
the reason why companies have been
hoarding so many patents is because of
cost accounting. His assertion is that cost
accounting treats patents as an asset, rather
than as equity. That causes companies to
overvalue the patent itself, rather than the
investment and effort that need to go into
making a useful, marketable product. His
feeling is that as companies move away
from static cost accounting, the problems
related to patent hoarding will hopefully
looking to use this vulnerability already
have access to it. Publication in a journal
isn't going to alert criminals -- they already
know about it. What it could do, however,
is get more researchers helping on a
solution. But, apparently, NXP would
rather pretend that if they keep the details
hidden, they can pretend there is no
problem.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
decrease.
It's an interesting theory that I have not
heard of before. I agree that cost
accounting creates all sorts of problems
with accurately valuing company assets. I
also agree that companies overvalue
patents compared to the effort of actually
bringing a product to market. However, it's
not clear that it's cost accounting that's
leading to the problem. He presents no
evidence to show that the two things are
connected. It seems that there's a much
more straightforward explanation:
numerous high publicity patent lawsuits
with extreme awards combined with
loosening of the restrictions on what can
be patented has created a mad rush for
patents. And, to make matters worse,
companies feel they need to build up a
stockpile of their own patents to fend off
others with their own patent portfolios.
The cost accounting angle is an interesting
one, but it seems like a stretch to think the
impact is that big compared to those other
factors.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
StreetRead Aggregates Financial Data
and Business News [Finance]
By Tamar Weinberg (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:00:00 AM
Webapp Streetread is a dead-simple
aggregator which compiles stock news and
economic data for the financial buff.
Updated in real-time, Streetread provides
visitors with the latest news about the
market. To track your favorite stocks,
register for a free account and add the
symbols of the stocks you want to track.
SynthaSite Launches New
Interface To Simplify
WYSIWYG Site Creation
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 8:57:31 AM
SynthaSite, an AJAX-based webpage
editor that lets users create websites by
dragging-and-dropping, has relaunched
with a new interface that it hopes will
make the site more appealing to casual
web designers. While most of the feature
set will stay the same, the company
believes that the new interface will expose
users to features that were hidden in
confusing menus in the last iteration of the
site.
One of the most useful features of
SynthaSite is its integration with Picnik, an
online image editing site. Users can easily
manipulate the images they’ve uploaded to
SynthaSite using Picnik’s browser-based
editor, with the changes seamlessly
reflected in their SynthaSite library.
We originally wrote about SynthaSite in
September 2006. A year later, the site
made the bold (and somewhat bizarre)
move of giving away some of its stock
away to users, prompting Michael to
question if it was becoming desperate. The
site later raised$5 million, allaying these
concerns. SynthaSite sees competition
from a number of other WYSIWYG
designers, including Wix and Weebly.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Quickly navigate through your favorite
stocks with the green arrows on the top of
the page. When applicable, news stories
will have a magnifying glass icon
displayed next to it; hover your mouse
over the icon to read a brief snippet of the
news story. Streetread currently only
supports US stocks but intends to support
international stocks in the future.
Streetread[via Webware]
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper Tech* Gadgets* 17

iPhone App Store: The Early List

of Top Downloads
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:13:19 PM

As of now (about noon California time)

the iPhone 2.0 software update hasn’t
officially launched yet, but everyone who
cares knows that for the last five hours
they could download v.2.0 anyway and
access the App Store.
Early download stats are coming in on
the most popular apps. We’ve divided

Browse Del.icio.us Bookmarks
Visually With FavThumbs
By Calley Nye (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:20:09 PM
While we’ve waited with bated breath for
the release of Delicious 2.0 (Yahoo’s been
teasing us for months), Ryan Sit, the
creator of Swurl, a recently launched
startup that offers a lifecasting aggregator
for web activity, has been toying around
with the Del.icio.us API to bring us
FavThumbs. FavThumbs offers a visually-
pleasing web application to view your
bookmarks.
Through the site, users can input their
Del.icio.us ID, and then browse their
bookmarks in a grid or a coverflow-like
display. Sit hopes that the site will offer a
much better alternative to the out-dated
Del.icio.us list. A similar app that was we
covered last year is Fichey. Fichey acts
like a microfiche for headlines from social
bookmarking sites. Users can flip through
the pages like a magazine, but they are
only the headlines, not user-specific.
Sit says that he was inspired by the
desktop client Delish, which was created
by Freestyle Labs. Another app created by
Sit is ListPic, an application to browse
local classified pages through a calendar-
like display.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
these into two lists, one for paid apps and
one for free apps (there’s a big difference
in download numbers). We’ll update for
comparison purposes in 24 hours or so.
We’ve listed some of our personal
favorites here. And the sleeper hit is
clearly PhoneSaber, which I deftly demo
here and here. With just 2,229 downloads,
though, it doesn’t make the top ten list for
free apps.
In early download voting, Facebook is
beating MySpace hands down with nearly
3x as many downloads. One thing
Facebook has that MySpace doesn’t - the
chat feature is enabled, which is a really
nice feature.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Ask Engadget: What's the
optimal DVD archival solution?
By Darren Murph (Engadget) DVDs, but I haven't seen anything that will
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:00:00 PM
present these via a DLNA server (to my
PS3) with their original menus intact so
Filed under: Home Entertainment, that you can access special features such as
Storage This week's Ask Engadget commentary tracks and featurettes. I am

That Didn’t Take Long…iPhone 2.0 OS Unlocked
By Peter Sauer (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 4:00:59 PM
It has not even been officially released
yet, and the iPhone 2.0 OS already has
been unlocked. In contrast, the original
iPhone OS took hackers a couple of
months to unlock. But this time they got a
head start. Gizmodo reports the iPhone
Dev Team has been working on
jailbreaking the phone since the beta
version went out with the iPhone SDK.
But does it really matter? While it’s
exciting that the new OS is unlocked and
unauthorized apps can be added, it’s not as
useful as when the original version was
jailbroken. That’s because there’s this little
thing called the App Store, along with the
new phone’s tighter bundling with an
AT&T contract no matter where you
purchase it, and because the phone will
soon be available in most countries.
But if you enjoy the sheer sport of
watching people hack Steve Jobs’ precious
creation, keep an eye on the iPhone Dev
Team’s site for the release of their tool. It
reportedly will be released “soon.”
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
question is a bit on the specific side, but
it's one we've heard asked time and time
again. Thus, we figured it was time to
finally get it out in the open for you
readers to debate.
"I have an extensive DVD library that I
would like to archive on a network drive
and be able to access via my PS3, menus
and all. I am currently using TVersity to
stream videos from my PC to the console.
I've seen walk-throughs for archiving
not even sure that it is possible to navigate
the menus via the PS3 remote. Any
recommended solutions out there?"
Can't you just hear the hopelessness in
poor Ron's voice? Throw the guy a bone,
will ya? And while you're at it, throw our
highly sophisticated email sorter a question
of your own at ask at engadget dawt com.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
18 Gadgets*
Konami sues Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV
over Rock Band
By Nilay Patel (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:17:00 PM
Filed under: Gaming
Alright, this is getting a little silly. First
it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band
and Guitar Hero violated a patent
covering"simulating a musical
performance," and now Konami is suing
Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game
because Rock Band allegedly violates a
similar set of patents covering "simulated
musical instruments" and "musical rhythm-
based matching games." Filed in good ol'
Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in
damages and an order preventing the sale
of Rock Band's instruments. Interestingly,
Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine
print on Activision's Guitar Hero
homepage says the game is covered by the
Konami patents in question, so it appears
that Activision's managed to reach a
licensing agreement with Konami -- which,
if true, doesn't necessarily bode well for
Harmonix and company. No one's
commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix's
lawyers are furiously punching in the old
up-up-down-down trying to get this to go
away.
Read- Wired article on the lawsuit
Read- Gamasutra article
Read- Konami's complaint (PDF)
Read- Konami patent covering simulated
musical instruments (PDF)
Read- Konami patent covering musical
arcade machines (PDF)
Read- Konami patent covering musical
game machines (PDF) Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Are you having problems with
iPhone 2.0?
By Nilay Patel (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:36:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones
So we can't help but notice that Apple
still hasn't officially released iPhone
software 2.0 for first-gen iPhones, even
though most self-respecting gadget freaks
have pulled it from the direct download
links that popped up earlier. Since the file
was hosted and available on Apple's
servers around the time it was expected for
release, it seemed safe to assume that it
was legit -- and indeed, it (for the most
part) works fine and plays well with the
newly-live App Store. But a few of us here
have had persistent problems on our first-
gen iPhones: interface lag, crashing apps,
hard resets, you name it. On top of that,
we're hearing whispers that the .ipsw in
question was meant only for 3G phones
and not first-gen units -- and bizarrely, the
build number of what we've got is 5A347,
while our launch iPhone 3G is running
build 5A345 on them. So until Apple stops
being, well, Apple, and clears this all up,
we're putting it to you: how are things
going? Any problems, or smooth sailing?
Happy you took the early plunge? Let us
know in comments! Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
AOC's 22-inch 2230Fm HD3
display includes integrated media
player
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 4:48:00 PM
Filed under: Displays, HDTV
AOC's 2230Fh LCD was fine and dandy,
but if you're looking for something similar
to pull triple duty as a media player and
digital photo frame (its words, not ours),
you'll need to refocus on the 2230Fm. Said
display is apparently the first from the firm
to boast HD 3 technology, which alludes to
its abilities to function as more than just an
HDTV. The unit includes a proprietary
menu and remote to play back clips loaded
Apple fesses up to MobileMe transition difficulties
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:12:00 PM
Filed under: Cellphones
It doesn't talke a genius to figure out that
there's something wrong with Apple's
MobileMe transition-- which was
originally scheduled to take place
onto memory cards (there's a 4-in-1
reader), not to mention a 1,680 x 1,050
native resolution, 20,000:1 dynamic
contrast ratio, USB 2.0 socket, DVI /
HDMI inputs, integrated speakers, 2-
millisecond response time and a piano
black finish. All that for $399.99. Full
release posted after the jump.
Continue reading AOC's 22-inch
2230Fm HD3 display includes integrated
media player Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Wednesday evening. Now, into the early
hours of Friday, and almost a day after the
iPhone 3G's launch in NZ, we've seen
maybe a total of 30 minutes of scattered
uptime for the service, and Apple is finally
confessing that the transition is "taking
longer than expected." The good news is
that .Mac users should still be able to
Analyst says Motorola "would be
lucky" to get $500 million
By Donald Melanson (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:34:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones Things have
been looking pretty bleak for Motorola and
its attempts to salvage its handset division
for some time now, but a number of
analysts are now painting an even clearer
picture of just how bad things might be.
According to BusinessWeek, some
analysts are saying that with spin-off plans
looking less and less likely, Motorola may
revert back to its original plan to sell off
the handset division outright, although
Envisioneering Group's Richard Doherty
says it "would be lucky to fetch $500
million." As BusinessWeek points out, that
very same analyst pegged the business at a
hefty $8 billion just last year. Analyst
Richard Windsor of Nomura even went so
far as to say that Motorola might actually
Video: iPhone 3G unboxing and first look
By Ryan Block (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:19:00 PM
Filed under: Cellphones Here she is: the
iPhone 3G, captured on video. We've gone
through a number of the new features on
the device and in the 2.0 software release,
but apologies in advance if you're looking
for side by side speed tests (there are some
check their mail, sync their contacts and
use their iDisks, but at the moment there's
have to pay someone to take the division
off its hands. Now that's an idea we can get
behind.
[Via Unwired View] Read| Permalink|
Email this| Comments
coverage issues where we're at). Video of
the unboxing, new feature walkthrough,
no telling when MobileMe's sexy new web
apps will be available, or what to expect
next as far as those other services.
[Thanks, Alec A] Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Gadgets* Tech Tips* 19
MeeBone Packages Meebo
Chat for Your Desktop
[Featured Download]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:00:00 AM
Windows/Mac/Linux (Adobe Air):
MeeBone, an Adobe Air implementation
of chat aggregation service Meebo, makes
the previously web-only chat service feel
like a standard instant messaging app,
complete with a skinny buddy list and pop-
up chat windows. You can sign into AIM,
GChat, MSN, ICQ, or any other service
supported by Meebo, and you'll get all the
integrated video and voice chat options
offered on Meebo's website. It doesn't have
all the options of dedicated desktop clients
like Pidgin, but it is slick, easy to use, and
adds simple video. MeeBone is a free
download, requires the Adobe Air platform
to run.
MeeBone[Google Code via AppAholic]
and GPS use (while on a train) after the
break.
Still got questions about the 3G? Get 'em
answered right here.
Continue reading Video: iPhone 3G
unboxing and first look Permalink| Email
this| Comments
20 Gadgets* Web 2.0
RED delivers new rendering of Scarlet 3K
camera
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:09:00 AM
Filed under: Digital Cameras
From the word go, amateurs and
professionals alike were hot for RED's
(relatively) minuscule Scarlet. After all,
can you really go wrong with a 3K camera
in one hand and a Dairy Queen dipped
cone in the other? (No, no you cannot.)
Nevertheless, those anxious to see more as
the run-up to its early 2009 release
continues can feast their eyes on an all new
rendering. Oh, and if you're the talkative
type, tag the read link and join in the 8+
page discussion about that image you're
eyes are still fixated on above.
[Thanks, anonymous] Read| Permalink|
Email this| Comments
Virtual Worlds: 20+ Tools for Creating
3D Graphics and Environments
By Sean P. Aune (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:52:25 PM
Earlier this week Google launched
Lively, a new social network where
anyone can create an avatar and virtual
room that can be embedded anywhere on
the Web. 3D services such as Lively are
popping up more and more online thanks
to the popularity of virtual worlds like
Second Life, Meez, and more.
So are your skills up to snuff? We’ve
gathered over 20 3D creation tools so that
you can create your own avatar or virtual
world. Whether you’re a 3D pro or just
starting out, we’ve got tools for everyone.
Try them out and let us know what you
think. Free 3D Tools
SceneCaster.com- Create 3D
environments, complete with talking
avatars, that you can then share on
Facebook, Flickr and more. 3D models are
partially based on items from major
retailers. Can be displayed on any device
that supports XHTML (i.e. the iPhone).
You can learn a lot more in the write up
our Kristen Nicole did.
Akebulan.com- Makers of 3DBuilder
and 3DRender. Builder is currently in beta
(you need to sign up and they will email it
to you), Builder lets you create interactive
3D environment that can then be accessed
in a browser via a regular URL. 3DRender
allows modelers to test their models with
the Java3D API.
Anim8or.com- A freeware 3D modeling
program created by a software engineer at
NVidia. The last stable release was in
April 2007, but it says it’s still being
worked on.
ArtOfIllusion.org- An open source
project for building a 3D modeling
program that can be used by all skill levels.
AutoQ3D- Has both free and paid
versions.
Blender.org- A full-featured, GNU
licensed free program that clearly gives
you more bells & whistles than we could
ever list here.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Seamless3D.com- An open source 3D
modeling program project, has several
tutorials and seems like a good place to get
your feet wet.
SketchUp.com- Proving that Google will
come out with some crazy stuff, this
Google app has numerous 3D modeling
possibilities, and can help you create more
3D buildings for Google Earth.
TopMod3D.org- An open source 3D
mesh modeling system that is platform
independent.
Wings3D.com- An open source mesh
polygon modeling program that is under
very active development.
ZModeler2.com- A 3D modeler
primarily aimed at those creating models
for games. Environments
Ajax3d.org- An effort to build 3D online
worlds using both Ajax and the X3D open
standards. Seems a bit quiet over there, but
there is some activity on the forums.
OpenGL.org- A standard for 3D, cross-
platform, cross-device development since
1992.
Web3d.org- A project that is working to
develop an open standards, royalty free,
system based in XML. The goal is for it to
work between the Web, networks, and
mobile devices from the same
development and render full 3D
environments. Commercial 3D Tools
3ds Max- One of the top tier makers of
3D programs, offers different programs for
different jobs, expect to spend several
thousand dollars.
Animation Master- This program will let
you create still images as well as
animation. Offers annual subscription plan
or one-time purchase pricing.
Bryce- This program boasts of its
landscapes, but from watching their demo
reel, it is capable of a lot more, and is
reasonably priced.
LightWave- High end 3D modeling that
has been used in movies such as Sin City
and 300. Will cost you around $1,000 at
the high end of pricing.
Modo- A rich 3D tool used by architects,
package designers, animators and more.
Price is in the $900 range.
Maxon- Is capable of lighting, polygons,
animating, texturing and more. Works well
with Adobe.
OpenWorlds.com- Used by groups as
large as NASA, you can find uses for
learning apps, ecommerce, gaming and
more.
3D Box Maker Professional- A
shareware licensed tool to create 3D
software-style boxes such as the one
pictured in the screenshot. Perfect for the
small software developer.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Best4c Offers Basic Chart Creation &
Whiteboard Tools
Adobe’s Buzzword Open to Public
Xcellery Excel Collaboration Tool For
Sale on eBay
SmartSheet Raises $2.69M in Funding
Zude Raises $5.3 Million for Web
Mashup Tool
Blurb Community Books for Multi-User
Publishing
Shutterfly Gallery: First Major Release
Since Acquiring Nexo
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Battle of the iPhone Apps: MySpace vs Facebook
By Paul Glazowski (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:10:32 PM
By now you’ve all been made well aware.
Apple’s App Store, crafted to make the
iPhone and iPod touch devices trump any
others in their respective markets, has been
activated, though not yet officially
introduced. And we’ve of course done our
customary duty, browsing the selection for
cool social applications that you might be
interested in.
Naturally, MySpace and Facebook stand
out among the pages of downloads (front
page placement can do that). They
command the largest percentage of users in
the marketplace, after all, and are currently
battling for global supremacy. Considering
that the iPhone will soon undergo a 22-
market rollout with 48 additional countries
to enter the picture in subsequent months,
it’s probably expected for a little contest
among giants to erupt.
Given the demographic that occupies the
Facebook network, it’s probably clear who
will rank higher in stature within Apple’s
new mobile software emporium.
Download counts aside, however, there is
still the question of which application is in
fact best. So, irrespective of popularity,
let’s go ahead and make that comparison.
MySpace vs. Facebook, the iPhone apps!
Which bears more features? Which bears
better features? And which bears a more
pleasant physique, etc., etc.?
(For the record, both applications are free
to download. No fees levied by either
company.)
First impressions…
The application being offered by
MySpace does look good, I must say. If
one were to come off the years-old
MySpace.com design, one would be in for
a shock. This iPhone application is quite a
pleasant adjunct to the host service, which
itself had a visual refresh not too long ago.
Menu buttons at the bottom are
straightforward and easy to understand.
And the layouts for various portions of the
The Mobile Photo Enhancer Improves Camera Phone Pics [Featured Windows Download]
By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:12:05 AM
Windows only: Although the quality of
camera phone pictures has increased over
applications are equally elegant.
Everything seems super intuitive, too.
Easily browse and search for top friends,
folks currently online, new contacts, plus
photos, email and so on and so forth.
Facebook’s iPhone application is
beautiful as well. It’s designed primarily to
let you know what friends are up to and
allow you to converse with those people
via Facebook Chat. Which I think makes it
especially appealing, to be honest. It kind
of gets to the root of what you want from a
mobile social application, and leaves
anything else to the desktop. If I had to
choose to award one network or the other
points for palatability, Facebook would
nab gold by a step or two. Not to say
MySpace is worse, necessarily. It’s just a
bit different. Facebook seems to prioritize
more of what I’m looking for in such a
utility. MySpace Mobile seems more busy
(some might understandably prefer this).
Technically speaking…
time, many camera phones still leave a lot
to be desired. If you have a bunch of
camera phone pictures you'd really like to
keep but the quality seems a bit off, a run
through the free Mobile Photo Enhancer
Feature for feature, they have their
similarities, but they also have some
significant differences, some of which will
prove crucial to users’ decisions of which
utility to pay more attention and which to
pay less. As I said above, Facebook’s
iPhone application arrives with Facebook
Chat on board. That’s a big plus in my
book. It also sports an email inbox and
page that asks you the simple question of
“What are you doing?” You and your
friends’ activities are published in
chronological order. Pretty basic stuff, but
again, quite useful when on the go.
Another thing. Both MySpace and
Facebook integrate themselves with the
iPhone’s camera, allowing users to snap
and upload images. These are definitely
nice options to have offered by each
company, since digital photography has all
but taken the social Web by storm the last
year or so. The applications display photos
a bit differently, though. MySpace has a
might be your saving grace. With single
and batch processing, Mobile Photo
Enhancer has a host of tweaks to correct
problems like low contrast, vignetting at
the edges, poor sharpness and artifacts.
standard menu button reserved for photo
album browsing and organization. The
Facebook application is geared towards
publish photos in line with postings on the
activity wall. Does this mean one is better
than the other? Who’s to say, really. To
each his own.
In conclusion…
As far as mobile usage with either social
network is concerned, they were all but
neck-and-neck prior to the debut of their
respective iPhone applications. MySpace
claims to have served some 1.7 million
“daily unique mobile visits,” while
Facebook reports having seen regular use
by some 1.5 million people. These
numbers certainly have no bearing on the
qualitative properties of the networks’
native iPhone offers introduced today. But
if I’m to hazard a guess about which
download takes off more strongly in the
coming weeks, Facebook will probably hit
the right spot for more people. Support for
Facebook Chat is quite a debut, after all.
That being said, numbers might
fluctuate. MySpace has made it known that
it intends to offer support for 12 languages
by the end of the month, so it might be a
toss-up on a global scale for the rest of the
summer. When all is said and done, both
applications are quite strong introductions.
And because they’re free, there’s really no
reason not to try both. Together they weigh
in at less than 2 MB. Download away, I
say. Facebook MySpace
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
STUNNING: Facebook on the iPhone
The Daily Poll: Which Platform is the
Best Opportunity for Developers?
World’s Simplest iPhone App
Facebook Overtakes MySpace for Search
Inquiries in the UK
Multiply Launches iPhone Edition
AWESOME: Meebo on the iPhone
MySpace Losing High Schoolers to
Facebook?
While it won't make your photos of Mardi
Gras revelry look like they were taken with
a medium format camera, it will put a little
sparkle back in your beads. The Mobile
Photo Enhancer is a free download for
Web 2.0 Tech Tips* 21
Share the Joy and Cheers
of the World iPhone 3G
Release via Qik Events
By Adam Hirsch (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:41:22 PM
I’ll be in line at a 6:30 am Tweetup in
Manhattan at New York City’s 5th Avenue
Apple store and sharing the joy, the
moments and scene with my N95 on Qik.
If you are at or going to be in line for the
iPhone 3G at any AT&T or Apple store,
share the scene, the joy when the doors
open, and the shouts and cheers (and boos)
as the first people leave the store with their
brand new “toys.”
Thank to Qik, as long as you are signed
in and click through our“iPhone 3G
Launches Around the World” event that “
You are Attending” then your streams will
be live on the page for everyone to see. I’ll
update this post with the link to the best
videos.
FYI, event is “scheduled” from 6am EST
till 9am PDT, so any Qik during those
hours will appear if you are “attending”.
*Qik isn’t compatible with iPhone 3G yet
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
iPhone to Offer YouTube Videos
Apple Making a Directory for iPhone
Apps?
iPhone Arrives in the UK and Germany
Today
iPhone. Europe. September.
World’s Simplest iPhone App
iPhone to Spur Growth in the Mobile
Video Industry?
Box.net Extends Your iPhone Storage
Windows only.
Mobile Photo Enhancer[via Life Rocks
2.0]
22 Web 2.0
SummerMash Sings Sweet Home San Francisco
By Karen Hartline (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:12:23 PM
Mashable is ready to rock in San
Francisco for the second stop on the U.S.
Summer Tour. Join the Mashable locals,
Pete Cashmore, Kristen Nicole, Alicia Lin,
Chris Peri and Karen Hartline, for a night
of drinks, prizes and fun. Make sure to
bring business cards and keep those fingers
crossed for some major prizes. There are
just a few tickets remaining - get yours
before they’re all gone.
Check out the other cities on the U.S.
Summer Tour:
Seattle| Los Angeles| Austin| Miami|
Boston| New York City
When: July 15th, Tuesday, 7:00 - 10:00
PM
Where: Mighty SF, 119 Utah Street, San
Francisco, CA 94103
What else?: Drinks Tickets, great people
and a few surprises!
RSVP?: Tickets will be released through
Eventbrite, 21+ Only
Socialize: Facebook, MySpace, Meetup
and Upcoming
Press Passes: Please inquire through
events [at] mashable |dot| com for Press
Passes
Local Sponsors:
‘ PubMatic is the world’s first service that
increases Web publishers’ revenue by
automating and optimizing ad serving
decisions.’
The Yuku platform makes it easy for
anyone to create an online community
around topics that they’re passionate about.
With a suite of message board, social
networking and video and photo sharing
applications, Yuku currently powers over
50,000 websites on topics that include fan
sites about reality television, retro
sneakers, and celebrity news & gossip.
Create your own Yuku now or join one
that interests you.
‘ speakTECH provides User Experience
and technical consulting for some of the
top social networking companies in the
world.’
Special Book Signing:
‘ Personality Not Included: Get the
ultimate guide to marketing with
authenticity from Rohit
Bhargava…featuring a forward by Guy
Kawasaki.’
Local Media Partners:
“Bernardo’s List is an email newsletter
about upcoming events for entrepreneurs,
investors and tech execs in New York and
other cities nationwide. Signup is free at
http://www.bernardoslist.com!”
‘ Social Radius is an award-winning
social media marketing firm, specializing
in SEO/SMO, thought leadership
platforms/social media creation,
viral/syndication, outreach and strategy.’
Tour Sponsors
The Sun(TM) Startup Essentials program
is designed to help startup businesses off
the ground by providing access to industry-
leading systems at deep discounts, free
world-class software and web-based
training, discounts on partner hosting
services, and more.
Yoono’s mission is to make the social
web accessible, easy and fun for everyone.
Its newly expanded service socializes your
browser, helps you manage your digital
life and brings the best of the web into one
single browser-based application. Today,
1.3 million users are leveraging Yoono.
Yoono is hosting Social Media Camp at
each tour stop which brings together the
top local names in Blogging, Podcasting,
Live Streaming, and New Media to
participate in an open workshop about the
power of social media.
MySites is a single place for all your
online needs. You can create and
customize a website, save and share any
media, decide who can view it, embed
anywhere, and use any device.
Touring Video Partner
Launched in February 2006, Stickam
emerged as the first and largest Web site
dedicated to live interactive video
streaming. Stickam’s cutting edge
technology delivers millions of streams
each day, reaching over two million
registered users. They are continuing on
the path of social interactive TV by adding
features that nurture its growing
community and tech-savvy broadcasters.
Whether you are famous for 15 or 150,000,
Stickam.com is where you will find your
friends and fans. See and be seen at
Stickam.com, The Live Community.
Exclusive Ticketing Partner
“ Eventbrite is the world’s largest self-
service online ticketing site. Eventbrite
makes it easy for anyone to sell-out an
event.”
Online Community Partner
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
‘ EventVue helps conference attendees
meet the people that matter to them before
they even arrive at an event.’
Tour Media Partner
“ Thrillist is a free daily email that sifts
through the crap to bring you the best of
what your city’s hiding. Each day, you’ll
get one quick email with info on the best
food, drinks, gear, services, and events.
Whatever it is, we promise it won’t suck.
Get on the list.”
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Get Your Startup on Mashable (If You’re
in a SummerMash City)
Qik Mobile Live Streaming Straight to
Mashable Events Pages
I’m on Tour with Mashable. Are you?
Google Offers GrandCentral Service
Free to San Francisco’s Homeless
Sponsor Opportunities for 1 to all 7 US
Summer Tour Cities
Millions of MySpacers Rejoice:
Photobucket Videos are Back
Tickets Now Available for SummerMash
San Francisco!
Introducing Mashable’s
New Mobile Web Site:
m.mashable.com
By Tamar Weinberg (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 1:00:07 PM
While all of the buzz today might be
about Apple’s new iPhone app store,
we’ve got a mobile announcement of our
own: we have a new mobile Web site,
available by pointing your mobile browser
to m.mashable.com!
The site is powered by Mofuse, and
includes our most recent blog entries,
marketplace listings, and exclusive invites.
As Mark recently wrote, Mofuse “defines
mashup,” allowing us to simply plugin our
RSS feeds to build a site optimized for the
mobile Web.
Give it a try and let us know what you
think. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Mashable Rocks SXSW: Schwag Bag
Update
Mashable Rocks: Announcing the
Winner of Rock Band
Mashable Officially Goes Mobile with
Viigo
Mashable Rocks with Viigo: Get
Mashable Content on Your Smart Phone
Reminder: Mashable Rocks SXSW
Contest Continues
Rock Hands: So Easy, Even Robert
Scoble Can Do It
Mashable Rocks SXSW: Win Rock Band
and TONS of Schwag!
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
IntroNiche: Back-Scratching Ad Network Ask Private Practice stars a
[The Startup Review] question for Outside the Box
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 4:44:09 PM
Editor’s Note: If you would like to have
your startup considered for inclusion in
“The Startup Review” series, please see
the details here.
STARTUP DETAILS:
Company Name: IntroNiche
20 word description: A simple classifieds
marketplace which helps small companies
and entrepreneurs find matching partners
for cross-promotion and marketing.
CEO’s 100 word description: One of the
main hurdles in making effective cross-
promotion deals is finding the right
partners. This basic marketplace helps you
to find companies who target a similar
market to yours and are willing to close
cross-promotion deals. By posting a
classified, companies can significantly
reduce the time and effort needed to find
their match. And then the cross-promotion
bonanza can begin.
Sam, the founder used to try his hand at
cross-promotion dealmaking at eBay.
When leaving for greener shores, he just
couldn’t help himself and made his own
little marketplace. There are just a couple
Announcing BLVD Status: A New Way to Track Statistics [video]
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:32:19 PM
Sean and I met with Chris Bennett from
97th Floor today on Mashable
Conversations - and a particularly
interesting conversation ensued. 97th
Floor is a Utah based social media firm
that has their hands in a wide variety of
projects, almost all of which are instantly
intriguing and interesting. We focused on
just two of them yesterday - briefly we
spoke about soapboxxer, an interesting and
surprisingly insular online community that
provides (as you might guess) it’s
members a soapbox for which to air their
grievances.
After your opinion is posted, it turns into
of hundred of cross-promotion ads right
now but Sam is convinced this could be the
beginning of something nice.
Mashable’s Take: You scratch my back,
I scratch yours. That’s a very common,
unspoken rule of the land, no matter what
industry you’re talking about. No matter
how small the favor, there’s always a way
you can work with somebody so that you
can both come out ahead. What those
benefits express on each end, however,
often comes down to your bartering skills
and what you have to offer. Different
versions of this have come about in the
form of various online marketplaces, such
as link-swapping sites. Most of these offer
a standard rate of exchange, however, and
don’t leave much wiggle room for the
individual parties. IntroNiche is hoping to
change all that.
Founded by Sam Desimpel, a former
eBay employee who spent all his time
working out mutually beneficial deals
between the online auction company and
an instant poll where the other members of
the community can agree, disagree and
comment further on their position - it’s set
up in such a way as to make it very
addictive.
What we spent the most time talking
about though was a brand new offering,
blvdStatus, a stats package that focuses not
just on providing accurate and detailed
statistics, but also an emphasis on
conversions. Most third party stats
packages offer conversions, but they’re
often difficult or intricate to set up.
You’re probably thinking the same thing
I was when I heard it was focused on
conversion tracking: “sales stuff? I’m not
particularly interested in yet another
system designed to track sales
conversions.” This one is different though.
trade organizations, IntroNiche has created
an open market system that is built around
classifieds from individual parties. Anyone
seeking a deal for any type of promotional
purpose can post their needs on IntroNiche
and seek out others that may be a good fit.
The desired result would be a marketing
tool that gets these individual parties in
front of niche audiences across the Web.
The necessity in such a system, however,
is critical mass. IntroNiche must scale to a
pretty large and prolific user base in order
to garner any major benefits as a self-
sustaining marketplace. The other
necessity, especially once critical mass is
achieved, is search and filtering.
IntroNiche has begun to address this with
a tiered search option on the left-hand side
of the page, allowing you to search by
region, language, market and industry type.
I think, in the end, such an open-ended
market will still need some sort of
standardization, even if it’s only by way of
a trust-based system that helps users
indicate which parties have built a good
reputation for this cross-promotional
network.
Sponsored by Sun Startup Essentials
Ever been curious as to which RSS
subscribers click on what? Been interested
in where folks discover your RSS feed
from or what stories turn a casual blog
reader into a blog subscriber? These are
the types of conversions they track.
Check in on the conversation below for
more information on this ( MP4).
Discussion: Sean and I had a
Web 2.0 TV* 23
By Kelly Woo (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:01:00 AM
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities,
Private Practice, Reality-Free Outside the
Box is an upcoming video interview series
from AOL TV, where stars of your favorite
shows sit down and answer questions from
fans. This is your chance to (sort of) talk to
celebrities!
We've already asked you to submit
questions for the cast of Scrubs and the
stars of Dirty Sexy Money, and next on
deck are Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Taye
Diggs and Audra McDonald from Private
Practice.
Practice has one of the sexiest casts on
TV. Daly and Diggs and Paul Adelstein
and Chris Lowell AND David Sutcliffe?
Addison.") when season 2 starts.
Come on. That's not even fair. The show's If you've got a burning question for the
first season was interrupted by the strike,
four Practice stars, submit it in the
but I'm hoping that the time off gave comments below by Tuesday, July 15.
creator Shonda Rhimes space to refine the
Don't forget to include your first name and
storylines, just like she did with Grey's city/state. And try to come up with
Anatomy. When we left off, Addison had
something other than "ur hot, will you
gotten her mojo back and asked police marry me," OK?
officer Kevin on a date. I'm hoping to see
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
more of that (and "I don't get stood up. I'm
here(video feed).
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast
here(audio feed).
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Facebook Removing “is” from Status
Updates
The Daily Poll: How Often Do You
conversation that delved even further into Broadcast Your Status?
the topic I wrote about earlier in the week - MySpace Dating Made Easy
How much should newpapers model SONR is a Terrible, Terrible Idea That
themselves after New Media, and do they Simply Won’t Work
have a choice? Discuss below, your Twitter Updates Now Connected to
comments coming up on tomorrows Facebook Status
episode! Plaxo Pulse Wants to Sync Your Status
Never Miss an Episode! Updates
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast Podbridge - Better Podcast Statistics?
24 Web 2.0 TV*
No Sex in Lively? Yeah,
Right!
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 6:59:08 PM
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again -
the Internet has been built on two
cornerstones: sex and hate. You’ll have
griefers anywhere there’s a group of
people, and if there’s anywhere that
creativity’s encouraged, folks will use that
creativity to come up with new ways to
talk about, view, or engage in virtual sex.
Virtual World News spoke a bit with the
folks behind Lively at Google to get some
background information on what separates
it from other virtual worlds like Second
Life. The take-a-way theme that Silicon
Alley Insider pulled from the interview
was that Google definitely intends on
defining themselves (and protecting their
brand) from the scourge of sex-talk.
As Eric Rice noted on FriendFeed last
night, though, “the top rooms on Lively
right now: Sex, Gay, Sex, Goons, Brasil,
Developer City, Caroline, Sex, Sex, Sex.”
Chalk it up to Google’s blue-sky
idealism, but they were under the mistaken
impression that if you set down the
guidelines from the beginning, you can
contradict human base instincts
(particularly when your target market is the
teenage set. Hormones, anyone?).
It’s definitely an issue that needs to be
addressed by more than making rules
against it. Despite those that would say
there’s something definitely morally
broken about having an erotic services
section on Craigslist, it serves an important
purpose. Sure, most of the services bought
and sold through that part of the forum are
illegal as hell, but it keeps it from cropping
up throughout the rest of the site. This may
be a situation where Google need to take
the PR hit and create sections for it where
it can be segregated out, so that there will
be “safe areas” on the service.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Google Launches Lively to Create a
Virtual World Across Social Networks
Is Google Building a Media Empire
Based on Your Searches? Of Course.
Virtual Worlds: 20+ Tools for Creating
3D Graphics and Environments
5 FriendFeed Rooms To Get The Party
Started
50 Great Widgets For Your Blog
70 Fresh And Modern Blogger
Templates
Blogging Toolbox: 120+ Resources for
Bloggers
eNotes Wants to Revolutionize the
Learning Process, But Does it Make
it Too Easy? [50 Premium Invites]
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:50:32 PM
eNotes is a new online resource for those
in the education field, or others that are
just interested in learning. Similar to some
other tools for aggregating content and
creating personalized notes on various
topics, eNotes allows you to bookmark
items, take notes and organize your
referenced data. eNotes, however, is unlike
most similar services in that it provides all
of its own content, which comes through a
regimented in-house publishing team that
verifies all work available on the site.
Upon registration you can tell eNotes what
type of user you are — student, teacher or
neither — so the content can be presented,
organized and recommended accordingly.
Some of the features I particularly found
useful on eNotes are the highlighted-text
dictionary search options, the deep
categorization of available content, the
ease of search, and the study guides. One
feature that students will especially
appreciate is the ability to print and cite
content; the citation option gives you the
reference already formatted so all you have
to do is copy and paste it into your term
paper, granted this is the bibliography
format your professor requires.
If you’re hoping this service is free,
you’ve already gotten your hopes up. It
will cost you $49.95 per year. Fortunately
for you, eNotes has given us 50 premium
accounts for Mashable readers, so you can
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
check out the full eNotes service. Just click
here and enter “Mashable-50 as the invite
code, and proceed to the registration
process from there. In addition, eNotes
offers custom versions of its service for
schools and organizations, which would be
ideal for shared lesson plans across a
school district, or a collaborative graduate
project at a university.
The real question, though, is concerning
the attitude certain educators will have
towards this online resource that’s aiming
to be an all-inclusive research tool. Given
the instant gratification that Web search
provides us is enough to make certain
educators fearful enough to ban specific
Web searches all together. So what
happens when a premium service like
eNotes comes along and provides search,
filtering, study guides, lesson plans, and
ready-formatted citations? I personally
think it’s a step in the right direction. It
won’t dumb us down, and such a resource
can only be improved with the support of
academia.
Chris Rock to do his
fifth HBO special in
September - TCA Report
By Kristin Sample (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:23:00 PM
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows,
Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, TCA
Press Tour, Reality-Free Chris Rock is
returning to HBO! The network announced
today at TCA that the comedian would
premiere his fifth stand-up special this fall.
The special will feature footage from three
locations: South Africa's Carnival City
Casino, New York's Apollo Theater, and
the Carling Apollo Hammersmith in
London. Of the return to HBO, Chris Rock
says, "I wanted to do that type of stand-up
special that I've never seen before, and the
only place that I could see doing that is at
HBO. I love HBO because they want to
take chances."
Also of note is that Rock set the
Guinness World Record on the No
Apologies Tour by playing to crowds of
15,900 at Greenwich's O2 venue. That's
the largest audience for stand-up comedy
performance in British history.
I'm psyched that Chris Rock will be
returning to HBO. He's on the few
comedians whose performance I can watch
from beginning to end and not get bored.
Ever.
Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger will
debut on Saturday, September 27th at 9:00
p.m. ET / PT on HBO.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Greystripe iPhone 3G API
Lets Game Developers
Earn Ad Revenue
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:51:02 PM
Greystripe has been one of the many
services to push mobile games, providing
incentives for both gamers and developers
with its ad-supported model. Now
Greystripe, along with many other
developers today, is launching an iPhone
3G API for game developers. One
differentiating point for Greystripe,
however, is its ad revenue-sharing model
that gives developers some of the monetary
benefits of the Apple application store.
While many iPhone apps will be free,
there are others that will cost iPhone users.
Greystripe’s mobile games are offered for
free, and are presented to gamers with the
Greystripe AdWRAP, which is an option
that the company introduced last year.
Greystripe’s iPhone API is an extension of
its existing mobile platform, which
distributes games created by independent
developers and installs an alternative route
to the mobile gaming economy.
The good thing about Apple is that it’s
come a long way since last year, when the
company seemed whole-heartedly against
supporting the developer community. In
terms of similar platforms being offered
across various social media networks,
What's On Tonight: Greatest American Dog, Hopkins, Burn Notice
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:01:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, Programming,
What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
• At 8, CBS has the premiere of Greatest
American Dog.
• TLC has two new episodes of Monster
Garage at 8, then a new American
Chopper.
• Versus has more coverage of the Tour
many have speculated that the platform
owners would eventually take a more
controlling stake in the use of their
networks for third-party revenue systems,
but Apple seems to have shifted from its
previous stance to one that is partaking in
some of the revenue-sharing. Regardless,
there are those, like Greystripe, that are
creating avenues for developers to further
their distribution and revenue, in addition
to any systems that larger networks may
put in place.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Greystripe Offers Hands-On Mobile
Games for Free
Greystripe Brings Free Mobile Games to
Opera Mini–With Ads
Greystripe Raises $8.9M for Ad-
Supported Mobile Games
World’s Simplest iPhone App
iPhone to Launch in Germany on T-
Mobile
3G iPhone Confirmed for 2008
Mundu Optimizes Multi-Client Chat
Tool for the iPhone
de France at 8.
• There's a new Chowder on Cartoon
Network at 9, followed by new episodes of
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
and Total Drama Island.
• At 9, NBC has a new, two hour Last
Comic Standing.
• TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show at 9,
followed by a new My Boys.
• History Channel has a new Modern
Marvels at 9, then a new episode of The
HBO execs sound off on possible
second SATC movie, Sopranos
movie, and Mad Men - TCA Report
By Kristin Sample (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:56:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, TV on the
Bigscreen, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
During the HBO's panel at the TCA Press
Tour, executives Richard Plepler, Co-
president, and Michael Lombardo,
President of Programming and West Coast
Operations, said they'd be interested in
doing a Sopranos movie and a second Sex
and the City movie. Plepler said that
Warner Bros. and New Line are definitely
interested in doing another Sex and the
City movie. They are trying to put
something together, but there's no timeline.
"Everyone associated with the project was
really heartened by the fans and by the new
fans to the show," Plepler said.
As far as a Sopranos feature goes,
Lombardo says HBO would be delighted
to take part in it. He says that series creator
David Chase is in France on vacation right
now but, "If David wants to do it, we'd be
delight to explore that."
When the executives were pressed about
Mad Men(rumors are abound that HBO
turned down the show and AMC snatched
Works.
• Hallmark has the new movie A
it up), Lombardo said only this, "Heres the
bottom line, it's a wonderful show and I
wish it were on HBO. Matt [Weiner is] an
extraordinary talent and I hope that one
day, he'll do something for us."
Would you see another Sex and the City
movie? How about a Sopranos movie?
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Gunfighter's Pledge at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new Swingtown.
• ABC has a new Hopkins at 10.
• USA has the season premiere of Burn
Notice at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Kathy
Griffin: My Life on the D-List.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Web 2.0 TV* 25
Talk Talk: Kathy
Griffin, Al Roker,
Willie Nelson
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:03:00 AM
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty,
Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show,
Reality-Free
Here's who's on the late night shows
tonight.
• Charlie Rose: a discussion with the
National Teachers of the Year
• The Daily Show: James Harding
(repeat)
• The Colbert Report: Barbara Ehrenreich
(repeat)
• The Late Show with David Letterman:
Paris Hilton, Steve Wyrick, and Panic at
the Disco (repeat)
• Jay Leno: Kathy Griffin, Adam Carolla,
Willie Nelson, and Wynton Marsalis
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Regis Philbin,
Sharon Osbourne, and Lil' Wayne (repeat)
• Tavis Smiley: Helen Hunt and Majora
Carter (repeat)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Al
Roker, Paul Pierce, and Pilobolus
• The Late, Late Show with Craig
Ferguson: Valerie Bertinelli, Paulina
Porizkova, and Estelle (repeat)
• Last Call with Carson Daly: Aviva Yael
and The Game (repeat)
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
26 TV*
Ask Dirty Sexy Money stars a
question for Outside the Box
By Kelly Woo (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:21:00 AM
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities, Dirty
Sexy Money, Reality-Free AOL TV's new
video interview series, Outside the Box,
takes questions from you (the fans) and
poses them to the stars of the hottest
shows.
We already asked you to submit
questions for the stars of Scrubs. Next up
will be Peter Krause and Lucy Liu of Dirty
Sexy Money.
While DSM's first season was tragically
cut short by the writers' strike, the 10
episodes that did air were full of frothy
fun. And that cast! Krause, Liu (who's new
for the second season), Donald Sutherland,
Jill Clayburgh, Billy Baldwin, Glenn
Fitzgerald ... and I could go on. And if you
don't quite remember where the show left
off, read Erin's review of the season finale.
So, if you're wondering what's in store
for Dirty Sexy Money, what Liu's
Conan staffers deface Burn
Prematurely canceled sci-fi shows Notice ad!
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:40:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free, Star
Trek: Original Series Topless Robot has
posted a list of the top 10 sci-fi television
shows that were canceled too soon.
I've never seen most of the other shows
(and if a lot of America followed my
example, that could somewhat explain
their early cancellation), but I have
watched numbers 1,2 and 7. Star Trek is an
obvious choice for number 1 given that it
is still the icon of science-fiction
television.
I've heard good things about Max
Headroom(number 3) and would probably
at least watch it on DVD should it ever be
released in the format. I disagree about the
1981 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
series (number 2) and think it works best at
its current length. I find it interesting how
the only reason the author wanted to
character will be like and if we'll ever find
out who killed Nick George's dad ...
submit your questions in the comments
below by Tuesday, July 15. Be sure to
include your first name and your city and
state. Good luck.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
extend Buck Rogers In the 25th Century
was to see more of Erin Gray ("Off think.
Off think. Off think").
Continue reading Prematurely canceled
sci-fi shows
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 11:37:00 AM
Filed under: Late Night, Web, Talk
Show, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Just in time for tonight's second season
premiere of Burn Notice comes this little
piece of news from the studios at NBC.
Two guys on the staff of Late Night with
Conan O'Brien are so ticked off at the ads
for the USA show (USA is part of the
NBC Universal family) that appear in the
building that they decided to deface them.
The insults range from dialogue bubbles
that say"It 'Burns' when I pee" and"Thanks
for the 'Notice' " to this entry on the Late
Here are some clues about Mad Men season two - VIDEOS
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 8:41:00 AM
Filed under: Video, Reality-Free, Mad
Men
It's somewhat rare when a TV show lives
up to massive hype, but Mad Men really is
one of those shows. It really is as great as
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Night blog where the staffers complain
about the ads and explain their actions. It is
kinda funny how many of these ads NBC
puts in their own building.
Of course, the blog entry isn't all bad and
acts as a nudge-nudge wink-wink push for
the show. Despite the graffiti, the Late
Night guys do say that the show is
"awesome," "smart," and "funny," and they
even want to make sure you watch the
show tonight. (And I'd like to repeat that
too - watch Burn Notice tonight at 10 on
USA!)
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
you've heard, and it's great to see AMC
putting so much money and time behind it.
The second season premieres on Sunday,
July 27 (after a July 20 marathon to get
non-fans caught up), and below are some
videos to give you a taste for what the
show is like and what might be in store for
the guys and girls at Sterling Cooper.
Burn Notice:
Breaking and Entering
(season premiere)
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 4:19:00 PM
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-
Free, Burn Notice
( S02E01) Man, it's been a long time
since last season. I remembered very little
of what they showed in the recap and after
being reminded, I was hungry for the new
season.
It occurs to me as I'm watching this
episode that Michael Westen is a less
philanthropic MacGyver. He knows a lot
of tricks that will help you in sticky
situations but he's smart enough to keep
most of them to himself. I, personally,
have never had to run from the police but
if I ever do, I now know the best way to
stop the airbags from going off.
Continue reading Burn Notice: Breaking
and Entering (season premiere)
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
(And yes, in the new cast photo above,
Paul has a beard!)
Continue reading Here are some clues
about Mad Men season two - VIDEOS
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
What's Good (and Free!) in the iTunes App Store
[Iphone 2.0]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 2:00:00 AM
More than 550 new applications arrived
for the iPhone and iPod touch this morning
in iTunes' brand new App Store and more
than 130 of them are available for free.
This morning we're taking a look at the
best free applications for your iPhone and
iPod Touch, available after the 2.0
software update officially arrives (or after
you've grabbed the unofficial update).
Check out our list after the jump—and
check back throughout the morning, as
we'll be updating it with more picks as we
find them.
Note: Most of the apps listed here work
with both iPhones and iPod touch models,
but we've noted where an app requires the
iPhone's voice, SMS, or GPS capabilities
to run.
Remote Controls Your iTunes Library
The iTunes App Store's marquee freebie,
the Remote app turns your iPhone or iPod
touch into a remote control for your media
library. Remote works almost exactly like
the iPod application on your device—the
main difference being that rather than
playing back music on your iPhone or iPod
touch, you've got access to your entire
iTunes library and you're playing it over
your computer's speakers.
Read more about setting up and using the
Remote app>>
Google Mobile is Quicksilver for the
iPhone/iPod touch Google already has a
fast and slick iPhone version, but this app
is hyper-optimized for quick searching.
Search-as-you-type results spin up for web
pages, click-to-call business and residential
phone listings, nearby stores and
restaurants, and more—and Google
Mobile's brought to you by the guy who
made one of our favorite free launcher
desktop apps, Quicksilver.
Read more about how Google Mobile
searches your contacts and the web>>
Jott Transcribes Speech to Text iPhone
only: Free voice-to-text service Jott is a
natural fit for an iPhone app, and its
implementation here is pretty nifty. You
can simply say a note into the recording
interface (at right), and it'll show up in
your Jott notes (or on Google Calendar,
Remember the Milk, or Jott-connected
applications). You can also simply type a
note in, making the Jott app a quick
interface for a lot of web apps. Managing
all your notes with finger-swipe deletion is
pretty handy as well.
Evernote The universal stuff-gathering
site Evernote gives you all the major tools
of its desktop and web software in its
iPhone app—add text, snap a phone cam
shot, record a memo, or upload a photo,
and it's all available for organizing,
tagging, or searching later. New in this
interface is a straight-forward voice
recorder; if you'd rather have your audio
transcribed, you can use the Jott app as a
gateway to Evernote. Given that even free
users of Evernote can have the service scan
their pictures and extract visible text,
Evernote's app makes your iPhone a
serious universal capture device.
NetNewsWire As Adam has detailed,
users of desktop-based readers like
NetNewsWire(Mac) or
FeedDemon(Windows) have their reasons
for sticking with them. NetNewsWire for
iPhone syncs with either of those clients,
meaning you won't read the same items
twice. There's a "Clippings" feature for
setting items aside for later (or when you'll
be offline) that also syncs to your desktop,
and the interface is straightforward—and
that's about it. If you're a Google Reader
addict, you're already set up with
GReader's iPhone beta view.
Read more about how NetNewsWire
brings synced RSS feeds to Your
iPhone>>
Zenbe Lists Free service Zenbe works as
a multi-account mail organizer in its web
form, but they've stuck with to-do-style
lists for their iPhone app. Those lists,
however, can be edited on any browser and
synced back to your Zenbe account, or
published on an iGoogle page. The real
benefit, though, is sharing with other
Zenbe Lists users. Anyone you share with
can then edit and update your list and sync
them back to you—a kind of nifty no-real-
computer-required list wiki.
Yelp The iPhone app for business review
site Yelp takes good advantage of your
location-aware device to dish up the details
on nearby restaurants, bars, gas and service
stations, and much more. There's a custom
search function too, so you can always
know when you're in the presence of, say,
high-quality sushi while you're traveling,
and how much reviewers say it's going to
cost you. A great app for traveling, or just
seeing what the hive says about your home
town.
Read more about finding and filtering
everything around you with Yelp>>
Save Benjis Save Benjis (as in the face
on the bills) makes it seriously convenient
to compare prices on online purchases, or
the gadget that's sitting right in front of
you at the store. Type in a name, a product
ID number, or other details, and you'll get
a list back with links and prices from
Amazon, NewEgg, and other online
merchants. If you've ever wondered how
much markup you're paying to grab that
gear now, wonder no more. Saving Benjis
also integrates well with Amazon for
making actual purchases.
Read more about comparing prices on
the fly with Save Benjis>>
Talking Phrasebook ( French, Italian,
German, Spanish) Translation tools and
dual-language dictionaries are great, but
sometimes, you really just need to ask
"How much to park here?" in German. The
Talking Phrasebook apps offer phrases
you'll want to know translated from
English to Spanish, French, German, and
Italian, and you can click to hear them
pronounced (or, perhaps, just have your
iPhone speak for you).
Read more about getting the words you
need quickly with Talking Phrasebook>>
Midomi iPhone only: This one's not
terribly productive—unless you're the type
to spend far too much time trying to name
that song you just can't remember. For
those moments, or for proving a friend
right/wrong, Midomi is a true gift. You can
type in an artist or song name to get more
info (and you can write it phonetically),
but the true joy is in humming or singing a
few bars into your iPhone, waiting a bit,
then seeing your song title come back. You
can also hold your phone up to the music
itself, and Midomi will try to ID it.
Seriously neat stuff.
Read more about Midomi—and watch a
video demonstration—at Gizmodo>>
Where One of the most comprehensive
location-aware apps in the Store, Where
gives you all sorts of location-based
information—like where the nearest
restaurants, Zip cars, gas stations, and
Starbucks locations are in relation to you.
Enable Buddy Beacon to see nearby
friends also using Where. Get to know the
new place you're visiting—or even your
hometown—with one of the coolest
features, called HeyWhatsThat, which
identifies landmarks you can see from your
location—like the names of nearby
mountains and overhead constellations.
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) Send and
receive instant messages over Wi-Fi,
EDGE, or 3G networks, and manage your
AIM buddy list right on your device with
the AIM iPhone app.
PayPal Send money from your iPhone or
iPod touch to anyone—like your dinner
companion when you're splitting the
bill—with the PayPal app. You've been
able to send money via SMS using PayPal
for some time now, but the app makes it
even easier—it keeps you from having to
remember the text message format.
Aside: Gedeon Maheux points out that
six iTunes Store Apps listed under
Productivity use the check mark as their
icon. Group-think! [via Daring Fireball]
We'll be updating this list with more free
apps as we download and test 'em out.
What should we look at next? Post your
favorite free iPhone application in the
comments, and vote for the best you've
seen (so far) below.
What's your favorite free iPhone app so
far?
( surveys)
Tech Tips* 27
MyMobiler Controls
Windows Mobile From
Your Desktop [Featured
Windows Mobile
Download]
By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:00:00 AM
Windows only: The My Mobiler desktop
application controls your Windows Mobile
device through its Active Sync connection.
We've already covered the GetPDAScreen
program, which allows you to see your
mobile device remotely and capture the
screen, but My Mobiler adds so many
more features. What you see in the desktop
application is real time and you can
interact with your mobile device using the
mouse and keyboard as through you were
holding the phone in your hand. It has
screenshot and video capture capabilities
as well as the ability to cut and paste
between the phone and desktop
environment. The MyMobiler desktop
interface even has the ability to emulate
the physical keys on the phone which lets
you fully interact with the device. My
Mobiler is a free download for Windows
only. Thanks, joelena and fellow savvy
readers!
My Mobiler[mtux]
iPhone 2.0 Better
than Jailbreaking
Except... [Iphone 2.0]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:58:01 AM
Adventurous iPhone users willing to
jailbreak their device have had third-party
applications for almost a year now—so
now that the App Store's open, you may be
thinking: So what? Truth is, the iPhone 2.0
software update and its App Store
offerings actually are something to talk
about. The 2.0 software update has
introduced better applications, better app
management, and tons of other excellent
features worth the upgrade, but they still
haven't made jailbreaking obsolete. Here
are some ways iPhone 2.0 one-ups
jailbreaking, and then the stuff jailbreaking
IPHONE page 28
28 Tech Tips* Religion*
IPHONE
continued from page 27
offers that we're still waiting on from
Apple. What's Great About iPhone 2.0
• Apps Are Better: While this point may
still be up for debate, the offerings
available in the first iteration of App Store
are impressive. Among other things,
developers no longer need to figure
everything out as they go along—the
iPhone SDK provides them with a robust
toolkit for making great applications, and
the proof is in the pudding. That's not to
say that several developers who made
programs for jailbroken phones didn't do
amazing things, but overall the quality is
higher in the App Store.
• iTunes Remote Is Awesome: Everyone's
got their favorite jailbreak app that they
hate to leave behind, but one free
application that's almost worth abandoning
jailbreaking in and of itself is the iTunes
Remote application. Seeing that it's now a
default feature of iTunes, you almost have
to wonder why it's not included with the
rest of the default applications—maybe to
get people like me to abandon jailbreaking.
• country's default iPhone provider is,
• Location-Aware Is the Standard: One
thing that you'll see a ton of in App Store
applications is location-aware applications.
We already covered how your location-
aware iPhone will change your life, and
now apps from the very impressive Yelp to
the get-close-and-shake-to-exchange-
details Friend Book to friend tracking and
simple movie showtime applications are
delivering that. Location aware apps were
available in jailbroken iPhones, but it's a
stronger trend in iPhone 2.0.
• App Store is Better: As impressive as
the effort behind Installer.app is, the
official App Store is just a much better tool
for managing, browsing, and installing
applications. Again, that's not the fault of
the jailbreak developers—Apple just has
all the tools they need to make it what it
should be. When you installed an app on a
jailbroken iPhone, your iPhone had to do a
soft reset every time. App Store has this
very nifty download-and-install interface
for downloaded apps that's markedly
better.
• Managing Apps is Easier: Using
Installer.app, you had to completely
uninstall an application through Installer if
you didn't want it. With the 2.0 software
update and the latest iTunes, you've got
way more flexibility. You can remove an
app from the phone itself the same way
you deleted web clips in previous versions:
Just hold down on an icon until they all
start to jiggle, and each installed app will
have a black 'x' in the corner. Tap the 'x'
and confirm to remove it. Even better, you
can now remove an application from your
phone through iTunes. The beauty of this
method is that you don't actually have to
uninstall the application altogether, and
you can return it to your iPhone with all
the application data intact. Definitely not
the case for your jailbroken iPhone.
What's Great About Jailbreaking
• Ditching AT&T: If you're not into
rolling with AT&T or whomever your
jailbreaking is still your best avenue for
unlocking your phone to use on another
GSM cell network. We'll have to wait and
see if a jailbreak shows up for the 2.0
software update (my guess is that it will),
but right now you don't want to go 2.0 if
you want to use your phone with anyone
but the default carrier. UPDATE: iPhone
2.0 is already jailbroken.
• Background Apps: One of the biggest
drawbacks of iPhone 2.0 versus
jailbreaking is background
applications—namely that your jailbroken
apps can keep running in the background
while your official apps cannot. That
means functionality from great apps like
Mobile Scrobbler (sends music data to
Last.fm while playing from your iPod) is
lost in the wind, and it's questionable as to
whether or not it will ever return. Apple
has promised a very interesting
workaround for the lack of background
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Choose From Your Gmail Contacts in
apps with push notifications. (In short,
apps talk to Apple without your phone, and Any Email Form [Featured
Apple pings you with any info the app
wants to send you.) However, push
notifications aren't going to be available
Greasemonkey User Script]
until September. Push notifications will fill By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker) first day or so it was installed, the script
a need, but they don't altogether replace Submitted at 7/10/2008 12:30:00 AM
did nothing for me—then it magically
background apps. started working (see screenshot)—so your
• Play By Your Rules: Perhaps the most Firefox with Greasemonkey only: The mileage may vary. When it is working, this
attractive thing about jailbreaking your Google Contacts Autocomplete user script is a nifty way to access your contacts
phone is that you don't have to play by adds a drop-down of your Gmail contacts quickly and easily. The Google Contacts
Apple's rules. If you want to install an app on any web-based email form where you'd Autocomplete user script is a free
to run in the background and drain your enter an address. You must be signed into download and requires Firefox with
battery, that's your prerogative. With the your Gmail account for the script to work; Greasemonkey. Thanks, Matt!
App Store, Apple can be as strict and once it's installed, just start typing into an Google Contacts
arbitrary in what applications it allows and email text field to get search-as-you-type Autocomplete[Userscripts.org]
which developers are approved as they results from your Gmail address book. The
want to be. It's your device, you should get
to decide what applications you want to
install on it and what you want them to do.
If your into customization, you're also
unlikely to find any Apple-sanctioned
applications like Customize or
Summerboard (pictured right) to tweak the
look of your iPhone. Personalizing and
customizing your device is what some
users live for, and for those folks,
jailbreaking is currently the only way.
Photo by theopie.
What Else Is Missing Of course, none of
this addresses the iPhone's still-missing
features. Some—like video recording—is
already available for jailbroken iPhones
but is unavailable from the App Store.
Likewise, VoIP is still MIA from the App
Store but fully functional on a jailbroken
device. Luckily for us, the iPhone 2.0
software has already been unlocked and
jailbroken, so it's not unlikely that you can
enjoy the best of both worlds.
Finally, there are other features—like
copy-and-paste or MMS messaging—to
which we still haven't seen a practical
solution in either avenue. If you've gone
the jailbreak route in the past, let's hear
what you think of the App Store, iPhone
2.0, and the new iTunes in the comments.
Female bishops: Big story
or not? (updated)
By tmatt
FEMALE page 29
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
FEMALE
continued from page 28
On one level, it is obvious that the
Church of England’s decision to raise
female priests to the episcopate is a big
news story. I mean, click here for a Google
News tour of the coverage and here for a
regular Google collection. Or, if you wish,
here’s the New York Times report.
There is, in fact, too much coverage to
scan and critique in any fair manner. So
let’s just look at one or two things in the
London coverage via The Times. As you
would expect, Ruth Gledhill’s report has
lots of drama and details. Take a look at
the top of the story:
The Church of England decided last
night to consecrate women bishops, with
minimum concessions to opponents and
despite the threat of a mass exodus of
traditionalist clergy.
After one of the most contentious
debates faced by the Church’s General
Synod, its members voted to allow the
consecration of women bishops but
rejected compromise proposals for new
“super bishops”, who would have catered
for the objectors. The decisions, after more
than six hours of debate, led to
extraordinary scenes at the University of
York, with one bishop in tears as he spoke
of being “ashamed” of the Church of
England.
The Rt Rev Stephen Venner, Bishop of
Dover, who is in favour of women bishops,
said that the failure to agree to create
“super bishops” meant that every
opportunity to allow objectors to “flourish”
within the Church had been turned down.
Once again, this is the same kind of
church-within-a-church approach that
many in North America are seeking as a
way to wrestle with other issues, most
obviously the ordination of noncelibate
gays and lesbians who oppose the
Anglican Communion’s current stand on
the moral status of sex outside of a
traditional definition of marriage. It should
be noted that the left’s critique is accurate
that this “super bishops” concept also
requires major changes in centuries of
traditions and doctrines. Both sides are
proposing major changes, only on issues
involving different levels of doctrine and
biblical interpretation.
Gledhill also sums up the regional,
national and even global implications —
global as in Roman — of this action.
Catholic and evangelical bishops are also
understood to have held secret talks in
Rome to discuss how to proceed with unity
talks once women are ordained, and what,
if any, kind of recognition might be
granted to Anglo-Catholics by Rome.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr
Rowan Williams, who urged generous
provision for opponents, sat with his head
in his hands as a proposal for “super
bishops” for objectors to women bishops
was defeated. The super bishops would
have been an upgraded version of the
“flying bishops” appointed to care for
opponents of women priests.
The synod rejected the plan even though
it had the backing of the Archbishop of
York, Dr John Sentamu. Under the new
proposals to consecrate women, flying
bishops will also disappear and parishes
will no longer be able to opt into their care
instead of that of their diocesan bishop.
Like I said, the key details are in the
story and even more details are hidden in
the oceans of digital ink Gledhill — again,
there are other reporters doing the same
thing — are spilling on this story in the
form of blog postings. This is part of the
entire “ summer of schism” theme that is
developing online( again and again).
The Telegraph offered this apocalyptic
summation in a blog: “It’s the end of
Anglo-Catholicism.” In the actual news
story, the headline was just as
overwhelming: “Church of England set to
split over women bishops.”
It’s also clear that the Roman Catholic
option story is now going to be huge, with
reports that about 1,300 priests and bishops
are planning to leave the Church of
England over the issue of female bishops.
Click here for the actual document on that
threat.
Meanwhile, the Vatican Council for the
Promotion of Christian Unity, to no one’s
surprise, had this to say:
We have regretfully learned of the
Church of England vote to pave the way
for the introduction of legislation which
will lead to the ordaining of women to the
Episcopacy. The Catholic position on the
issue was clearly expressed by Pope Paul
VI and Pope John Paul II. Such a decision
signifies a breaking away from the
apostolic tradition maintained by all of the
Churches since the first millennium, and
therefore is a further obstacle for the
reconciliation between the Catholic Church
and the Church of England.
This decision will have consequences on
the future of dialogue, which had up until
now born fruit, as Cardinal Kasper had
clearly explained when he spoke on June 5
2006 to all of the bishops of the Church of
England at the invitation of the Archbishop
of Canterbury.
But I was struck by another quote, far
down in the Gledhill weblog, a quote that
actually gets at the heart of the various
Anglican disputes this summer and, thus,
at a theme that should be important to the
news coverage itself. This is a clip from
the reporter’s notes, posted online:
Moving at last to debate the final motion,
Alan Hargrave pleaded that none would
leave the Church and said that staying in
the Church was the ‘test of a true
Anglican.’
Stephen Venner, Bishop of Dover, said:
‘I have to say that for the first time in my
life I feel ashamed. We have talked for
hours about wanting to give an honourable
place for those who disagreed. We have
turned down almost every opportunity for
those opposed to flourish. And we still talk
the talk of being inclusive and generous.
The Rochester report said in many many
pages that there were a variety of ways in
which scripture and reason could be read
with integrity.’
Note the connection of two different
realities. On one side, people argue that the
ultimate doctrinal test of whether one is an
Anglican is whether one elects to stay in
the church. Period.
Meanwhile, others argue in official
reports that there must be two (or more)
different ways to read the relevant
scriptures, doctrines and traditions within
the same Communion. The doctrines do
not unite. Only the name of the church
provides unity and an agreement that there
are no set doctrines on these matters — for
now. But the liturgical actions of the
structure will change (an ordination is an
ordination, a consecration is a
consecration) which means that the
ultimate decision will be whether one can
live, doctrinally, with the changed
Communion or the creation of some new
option that clashes with Canterbury.
Again, this is so complex, if reporters are
going to try to cover the viewpoints of
those on both sides of these issues. Note,
for example, that there are evangelicals
who accept the ordination of women and
those who do not. There are also people on
the theological left who enthusiastically
claim the Anglo-Catholic mantle on issues
of worship. So the fault lines are in
different places for different people.
But there is one other reality to consider:
Look at the screen shot of the Times front
page for today, at the top of this post.
You’ve got soccer, of course, and
Madonna’s love life and other sex
scandals. There’s the state of the economy.
But where is this historic decision by the
Church of England? The story did not
make the front page until ( wait for it) the
Vatican reaction.
So there is the other side of the story.
The wars in the global Anglican
Communion are, ultimately, about
decisions that will be made in the Church
of England. But is the Church of England
big enough, these days, to make page one
in England? Strange.
UPDATE: Interesting email in from Ruth
Gledhill, offering some insights into how
British papers view the U.S. and this new
global WWW news cycle that we are all
in. This has been edited a bit to flesh out
some IM-style chat.
I think the reason it wasn’t page one
earlier was simply due to different staff on
night and day desk. Also this morning they
realised better the global interest and thus
gave story better show. Online is edited as
much with you guys over there in mind
and we often think here, perhaps, that the
US is not interested in the Church of
England.
Bookmark to:
Religion* 29
Sigh . . . Back
into ‘On
Faith’ fog
By tmatt
Submitted at 7/10/2008 7:34:08 PM
I know, I know. I have said what I have to
say already about the mini-firestorm over
Sally Quinn of the Washington Post
electing to receive the Sacrament of Holy
Communion at the funeral Mass for the
late Tim Russert. I really don’t want to
have readers start clicking “comment”
again to talk about the theology of this or
the state of Catholic canon law.
For me, the key is journalism. Why, at
the “ On Faith” site, is this a subject that is
defined in terms of feelings instead of
facts. As I said in my last post on the topic:
There are facts that matter here. Facts
about history, doctrine and courtesy. Facts
matter when you are covering religion
news and trends. Facts matter when you
are interviewing religious people — left
and right, members of major world
religions and members of lesser known
bodies that some would be tempted to call
“fringe.” Facts and doctrine matter to
religious people.. . .
This isn’t about emotions and feelings.
It’s about getting the facts right and
showing respect for the people for whom
those facts, doctrines and rituals are a
matter of eternal life and death. Facts
matter in journalism, religion and
journalism about religion
I bring this up, heading once again into
the fog bank defined in my first post,
SIGH page 31
30 Religion*
Williams: Russert ‘took the call’
By tmatt
Submitted at 7/9/2008 6:18:55 PM
We are into the second wave of media
coverage of the death of NBC’s Tim
Russert, featuring stories that are one step
away from the actual memorial service and
the mainstream press memorials. Some of
these events are going to be linked to more
complex, personal aspects of Russert’s
career — such as his faith.
Before his death, I had already noted that
Russert was scheduled to give a June 27
lecture for the Catholic Common Ground
Initiative, to be held at the Catholic
University of America. The announced
topic sounded a bit on the lofty, perhaps
even pretentious side of things: “Learnings
from the Political Process for Common
Ground in the Catholic Church.” That
certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of
blunt, direct language that Russert favored.
I immediately made plans to go or to get a
copy of the talk.
After Russert’s death, NBC anchorman
Brian Williams — a Catholic who briefly
attended CUA — agreed to step in and
speak in place of colleague. The emphasis
for the event changed, as you would
expect.
I am not sure that this was a “news
event,” per se. But Williams certainly took
on a question of interest to GetReligion
readers, which is the degree to which
Russert’s faith had an impact on his work
in politics and then journalism. Did it help
shape some of those infamous questions
that he aimed at politicians, questions that
often touched on the intersection of
religion and politics and the events and
trends that result when they are mixed?
Since I was out of town when the event
was held, I ended up writing a Scripps
Howard News Service column off an audio
recording (hat tip to my Washington
Journalism Center co-worker Greg
Perreault). Now, you can watch the
Williams talk online, as well. Click here to
go to the National Pastoral Life Center site
to view that. I have not found an embed
code for this yet, so if it hits YouTube let
me know.
In the column, I opened with that
infamous exchange between Russert and
Vice President Al Gore about abortion and
the question of when life begins. This leads
into the big questions that lots of people —
usually those on the religious and political
left — used to ask about Russert from
time. That’s an interesting comment in and
of itself, considering his years of work in
the offices of Sen. Daniel Patrick
Moynihan and New York Gov. Mario
Cuomo.
Anyway, here is the top half of the
column. Click here for the version that is
up at Scripps:
The politico facing Tim Russert was
Vice Present Al Gore and their testy
dialogue was one of the memorable
moments during the 2000 White House
race.
RUSSERT: When do you think life
begins?
GORE: I favor the Roe vs. Wade
approach, but let me just say, Tim, I did —
RUSSERT: Which is what? When does
life begin?
GORE: Let me just say, I did change my
position on the issue of federal funding and
I changed it because I came to understand
more from women — women think about
this differently than men.
RUSSERT: But you were calling fetuses
innocent human life, and now you don’t
believe life begins at conception. I’m just
trying to find out, when do you believe life
begins?
GORE: Well, look, the Roe vs. Wade
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decision proposes an answer to that
question —
RUSSERT: Which is?
Liberal critics said this line of
questioning veered out of journalism into
hostile territory, especially when Russert
probed Gore on laws banning the
execution of any pregnant woman on death
row, somewhere, someday. Gore defenders
defended his stunned, befuddled silence —
what one called a “pregnant pause.”
But the Gore showdown raised other
questions. Was the host of NBC’s “Meet
the Press” asking this question because of
his own Catholic beliefs? Or was Russert
pressing hard because he knew that, as a
U.S. senator from Tennessee, Gore had an
84 percent positive National Right to Life
voting record and he wanted to hear the
candidate describe his change of heart?
“Tim wore his Catholicism proudly. He
talked about it all the time,” noted NBC
anchor Brian Williams, who stepped in,
after Russert’s death, as the featured
speaker at a recent Catholic Common
Ground Initiative forum in Washington,
D.C.
In fact, Russert’s faith was not “an
elephant in the room. It was the room. It
was the room he was raised in. It was one
of his great charms, as was how he dealt
with it in life and in our public discourse.. .
. Catholicism was his base. It was never his
bias. I think that’s absolutely crucial and I
will debate anyone who contends to the
contrary.”
Williams said that the key question for
the night could be stated this way: Was
Russert’s relentless search for the truth a
result of his Catholic upbringing?
In a moment that could have produced an
entire forum, event or book, Williams
briefly discussed Russert’s internal
struggle during the waves of clergy sex-
abuse scandals that rocked his church.
Trying to handle that horrific reality — as
a Catholic parent and as a journalist — was
a test of Russert’s faith. But, Williams
said, he also knew that he needed to do the
“job of a journalist.”
The column ends with this quote from
Williams:
Russert always “understood that the
stakes were high. He knew that better than
most of us,” added Williams. “He knew
that the civility of our dialogue was under
attack. He knew that diversity in the public
square takes work every day. And he knew
that our standards of journalism were being
attacked. …
“He understood what it meant to be
‘called’ to be Catholic, and I think that’s
very important. He took the call.”
And some of the people said, “Amen.”
There are those who would disagree,
which is totally understandable in light of
the topics that Russert tried to cover as a
Catholic and a journalist, Sunday after
Sunday.
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McCain’s evangelical wooing continues
By dpulliam
Submitted at 7/10/2008 10:57:49 AM
Reading about presumed Republican
presidential candidate John McCain’s
outreach to so-called evangelical voters
and “leaders” is like reading the 2004
presidential coverage only in reverse.
Reporters should take whatever efforts
McCain’s campaign makes to “outreach”
to evangelical leaders with a large grain of
salt.
There are several reasons for this.
Contrary to the common assumptions,
evangelicals are anything but
homogeneous. Along with that, there is a
diverse group of evangelical leaders and
evangelicals are not easily led. Lastly, few
evangelical leaders have expressed much
excitement for a McCain presidency.
This of course makes the story much
more difficult to cover, particularly
compared to four years ago when
magazine covers blared the common
knowledge that evangelicals were voting in
huge numbers for Republican George W.
Bush and helped push him into his second
term in office.
Wayne Slater of The Dallas Morning
News appropriately conveyed this
skepticism Sunday as he wrote about how
McCain is stepping “up efforts to woo
religious voters.” Slater, in his second
paragraph, reports that McCain’s campaign
has already written off the evangelical as a
way of winning in November:
But even as he woos evangelicals, his
campaign is pursuing a different strategy
— abandoning George W. Bush’s model
of galvanizing the GOP base and targeting
independents to make up for lost social-
conservative votes.
“We can’t win the election the way
George Bush did by just running up the
SIGH
continued from page 29
because of an email blurb that the “On
Faith” team sent out to promote one of its
religious questions that are posted for
debate. The question:
What do you think about Sally Quinn, a
non-Catholic, going to Communion at Tim
Russert’s Catholic funeral? What are some
do’s and don’ts for observing the religious
rituals of others?
This was, of course, posted to the
score with Republicans, running up the
score with evangelicals and taking what we
can out of the independent mix,” said
Sarah Simmons, the campaign’s director of
strategy.
It is a risky move, though, as religious
conservatives have been instrumental to
Republican victories for a generation.
Some social conservatives warn that the
appeal to moderate swing voters will
jeopardize already lukewarm support from
evangelicals.
Simmons quote is rather significant,
particularly as McCain is in the middle of
efforts to gain the support of evangelical
“leaders.” A good question to ask those
“leaders” is why they would support a
candidate who won’t try to win their
followers’ support the way the current
president did just four years ago?
All the summer talk is directed at
McCain’s running-mate selection. Former
Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee comes up
a lot, but the Associated Press’s Eric
Gorski rightly reported a week ago that a
Huckabee in the second spot won’t solve
McCain’s evangelical problem:
The group also agreed to sign a letter
urging the McCain campaign to consider
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor
and Southern Baptist minister, as his vice
presidential choice, said another
participant, Phil Burress. Burress, who
heads an Ohio group that helped pass an
anti-gay marriage measure in that state in
2004, was among a group of conservative
Christian leaders who met with McCain
last week.
Burress characterized the Huckabee
overture as a “suggestion, not a demand.”
“This is a man you don’t threaten,”
Burress said of McCain. “His principles
are his principles. The last thing you want
to do is try to force him to do something he
weblog’s 100-plus-member panel of
religious thinkers and leaders. Thus, we are
told:
With backgrounds and beliefs spanning a
wide range, panelists include Rock
musician Salman Ahmad, Arun Gandhi,
grandson of “Mahatma” Gandhi, best-
selling author Sam Harris, Bishop T.D.
Jakes, His Excellency Mohammad
Khatami of Iran, Reverend Susan Brooks
doesn’t want to do because he’d probably
do the opposite.”
Burress said that while Huckabee is a
favorite of Christian conservatives, the
most important thing is that McCain’s
running mate be “pro-life and pro-family.”
Huckabee isn’t a favorite of all evangelical
leaders, either; some dislike his populist
message, emphasis on the environment and
economic positions.
What deserves a closer look is the impact
of the big social issues — abortion, gay
marriage and embryonic stem cell research
Thistlethwaite, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Desmond Tutu, Reverend Rick Warren,
author of “The Purpose Driven Life,”
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel,
Anglican Bishop Nicholas Thomas Wright
among others.
The assumption is that all of these people
have something to say about this issue. I
can see that many would, about the
question about the “do’s and don’ts for
— on the evangelical vote.
Here is the AP:
Although McCain opposes abortion
rights, his support for embryonic stem cell
research and opposition to a federal
amendment prohibiting gay marriage
clashes with the widely held social
conservative view.
Have those issues remained significant
enough for evangelicals to avoiding voting
(or voting) for McCain regardless of their
other issues with him? On the other hand,
is the moderate position expressed by
observing the religious rituals of others.”
In a general sense, they can talk about their
various traditions. But that isn’t the issue
here, is it? The question concerns Quinn’s
decision to knowingly violate Catholic
tradition and law. If she didn’t know that
she was violating Catholic tradition and
law, then that raises another set of
journalistic questions.
What do all of these panelists have to do
Religion* 31
presumed Democratic nominee Barack
Obama enough to convince evangelical
voters that mobilizing against him is not
necessary?
More over, do these issues remain the
most significant issues that will decide the
evangelical vote this fall? Ultimately many
of these questions will not be answered
until after the November elections. But the
coverage of this will only get heavier in the
meantime. Check out the Los Angeles
Times or this Religion News Service piece.
Veteran RNS reporter Adelle Banks notes,
concerning the recent evangelical politico
summit in Denver:
The meeting featured conservative
Christians from various sectors of
evangelicalism, including African-
Americans, Hispanics and younger
evangelicals. Tim and Beverly LaHaye, the
couple known respectively for their roles
in the Left Behind book series and
Concerned Women for America, were
there, as were Eagle Forum founder Phyllis
Schlafly, former Christian Coalition
president Don Hodel, and Phil Burress,
president of Citizens for Community
Values, an Ohio organization affiliated
with Focus on the Family.
But one person who was not invited was
one of the movement’s most prominent
voices, Focus on the Family founder James
Dobson, who recently blasted Obama’s
politics and his theology, and has
previously said he would not vote for
McCain.
That’s the thing about covering issues
like this. When it doubt, find out who is in
the room. And who is not.
Bookmark to:
with the question at the heart of the
controversy?
If Quinn had chosen to visit a synagogue
and break Jewish traditions, the relevant
discussion would involve Jews in various
traditions.
If she had decided to visit a mosque and
do something totally contrary to Islamic
SIGH page 32
32 Religion*
‘No’ gets no religion coverage
By dpulliam
Submitted at 7/8/2008 12:56:26 PM
In the many news articles on the death of
former North Carolina Republican Senator
Jesse Helms, little is said outright of the
social conservative politician’s religious
faith. There are certainly hints of it, but
even in the Baptist senator’s home state
newspapers, most reporters failed to
mention anything of note regarding
religion.
Over the weekend, I conducted a rather
informal survey of the state’s major
newspapers and will include in this post
links to most of the news articles I found.
Please forgive me if I missed an article or a
newspaper’s coverage somewhere. I will
certainly note my oversight if that is the
case.
In The Charlotte Observer, the largest
newspaper in terms of circulation in North
and South Carolina, an article on Helms’
roots notes his Baptist upbringing, but
nothing is said about how this impacted his
youth or his later views:
Helms was born in October 1921, son of
Ethel Mae and Jesse Sr. — whom he
admiringly would refer to as the “real Jesse
Helms.” His mother was active at First
Baptist Church, which Helms attended.
“Everybody was poor, but nobody realized
it,” McLeod said. “Everybody went to
church on Sunday morning. The
environment had as much to do with him
as anything.”
Jesse Sr. was Monroe’s fire chief — and
for a short while police chief — and
among the son’s strongest memories was
his father’s generosity. Jesse Jr. sometimes
woke to his mother making breakfast for
hobos that Jesse Sr. had rounded up and
offered a place to sleep for the night.
Much is said of the senator’s steadfast
beliefs, but little is said of those beliefs’
source or origin. The simple question that
remains unanswered is how did Helms’
Baptist faith impact his political career and
politics?
For some insight, check out the blog“The
Big Daddy Weave,” which reports that
Helms’ funeral was held at “a decidedly
moderate Baptist congregation.”
It’s quite interesting that a true political
fundamentalist/purist like Helms known
best for his utter disdain for “liberals” and
his inability to “agree to disagree” chose to
remain a faithful member of a moderate
Baptist church that understands quite well
the importance of “agreeing to disagree”
and supports with its time and money
organizations that have been characterized
by many (if not most) of his fellow
conservative cohorts from the Christian
Right as liberal at best and not-Christian at
worst!
Quite interesting indeed. As a
commenter on the blog notes, perhaps
Helms’ personal faith was more
complicated than reporters are telling us
and/or perhaps moderate Baptists are more
diverse than people generally assume.
The Asheville Citizen-Times is
unfortunately vague about the senator’s
faith, although a book reference about
Helmes suggests that at least someone has
commented on the role of religion in his
life.
Helms is famously known for
the“Hands” campaign ad televised during
his 1992 race against Harvey Gantt, an
African-American and former mayor of
Charlotte. The TV spot show a pair of
white hands crumpling a piece of paper
that indicated the man’s job had gone to a
person of color.
He staked out his position on race and
civil rights early in his career, when five-
minute
Viewpoint” editorials on WRAL-TV
made him well known throughout eastern
North Carolina. In his book “ Righteous
Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of
Modern Conservatism,” University of
Florida history professor William Link
said Helms used “Viewpoint” as a soapbox
against what he considered as an intrusive
federal government bent on racial equality.
Helms considered the Civil Rights Act of
1964 to be a blow to states’ rights, Link
wrote.
What exactly was “righteous” about the
senator’s wars? Also, at the very end of the
article, the reporter cites a series of
individuals praising Helms. In addition to
quoting career politicians and the president
of the Jesse Helms Center Foundation, the
article quotes two evangelists praising
Helms: North Carolina residents Billy and
Franklin Graham.
The News & Observer, which is based in
based in Raleigh, N.C., points out that
Helms was key in making Southern states
a Republican stronghold that exists even to
this day. Part of this involved bringing
together “social conservatives” that helped
elect President Reagan, but is “social
conservatives all we get to define this
movement?
Much is also made in nearly every story
about Helms’ support, late in his career,
for funding AIDS relief in Africa.
Apparently Bono played a role in
convincing Helms that saving people’s
lives was a cause worth his time. Was the
role of religion discussed at all in that
conversation?
There’s a deeper story here that North
Carolina newspapers are not covering
about the role of faith in the life of Senator
Helms. Hopefully someone has told it and
I’ve overlooked the article, or it will be
written soon.
Bookmark to:
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SIGH
continued from page 31
law and custom, the relevant discussion
would be among Muslims.
The goal would be to explore the facts of
that tradition and the differing ways —
perhaps — that these facts are interpreted
by experts and believers in that tradition.
Rest assured that there would be a debate
between American Catholics on the left
and right on the Communion issue at hand,
between progressives and the pro-Vatican
traditionalists.
Meanwhile, we get all kinds of views on
Quinn’s act from all kinds of people,
including some Catholics. But the
emphasis is on the people outside the
Catholic fold, with Quinn. It is not
surprising that many take her side.
For example, here is the trailblazing
postmodern evangelical “emergent”
thinker Brian D. McLaren, who even
manages to jump inside the mind of
Russert as he argues that traditional
Catholics are bad Christian evangelists,
because they want to maintain centuries of
law and tradition:
Tim Russert, it was clear, lived in this
dynamic tension, and created this kind of
space for his friends. He was a deeply
committed Catholic who welcomed into
his circle of friendship people who did not
share — or even begin to understand — his
commitment. My guess is that Tim would
not have joined with those who took
offense, interpreted her choice with a
“hermeneutic of suspicion,” and who
blasted Sally for taking part in
communion.
Instead, I think that Tim would have
interpreted her choice with a “hermeneutic
of grace,” seeing in her action — which
strictly speaking, did violate Catholic
protocols — as a step of faith, and not as
an act of disrespect for his religion. All
priests and pastors and parishioners, it
seems to me, face similar situations, and
we all have four options:
A. To show this “hermeneutic of grace”
in neither our personal lives nor in our
church lives.
B. To show it in our personal lives but
not our communal lives.
C. To show it in our communal but not
our personal lives.
D. To show it in both.
Protocols? In other words, if a Catholic
pope, bishop or priest does not offer
nonbelievers Holy Communion, then they
are not gracefully taking part in their
search for God, truth, etc. They are turning
seekers away and, well, bad on them for
doing that. Forget centuries of converts,
martyrs and everyone else. But I am
straying from the subject.
The bottom line: What does this have to
do with the journalistic questions being
raised? McLaren is a Protestant’s
Protestant, although that statement will
anger many Protestants. He is free to do
whatever he wants in his church. The
question is whether he would want, let’s
say, some hardshell fundamentalists
coming into his services and taking actions
that directly oppose the teachings of his
church.
In other words, McLaren makes the rules
or anti-rules in his own church, correct? If
you are writing about his church, the
important thing is to know and understand
the teachings and traditions in the context
of his flock. You would want to show his
congregation respect, by “getting things
right” when covering them. That’s
journalism.
What do feelings and emotions have to
do with this, in the context of a journalistic
enterprise? There are facts linked to this
discussion. Right? Or, is the question of
whether there are facts or truth claims
about Catholic sacraments what is actually
in dispute? Is it a newspaper’s job to tell
the Catholic Church what is and what is
not good Catholicism? Is it the
newspaper’s duty to call for doctrinal
change? Would Quinn do that for other
world religions? Questions and more
questions.
More fog, instead of information. What
we need here is journalism.
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Troubles with Templeton obits
By Mark Stricherz
Submitted at 7/10/2008 9:47:51 PM
By most any measure, the late Sir John
Templeton was a remarkable man. He was
a pioneer in not one but two fields:
investing in stocks and donating money to
explore the intersection of science and
religion.
After Templeton died Tuesday, his
obituaries were quite detailed and
informative about one of those fields. You
can guess which one his obituaries didn’t
fare so well.
Religion News Service’s obituary was
not objectionable. It just wasn’t insightful.
Reporters Daniel Burke and Benedict
Cipolla noted, appropriately, that
Templeton grew up in a town not far away
from the Scopes Monkey Trial occurred, a
big influence on his outlook. Yet their
religious analysis was only skin deep. Take
this passage about the intellectual projects
that Templeton funded:
High-profile initiatives have included a
study on the healing benefits of prayer,
overseen by a researcher from Harvard
Medical School; an investigation into the
development of purpose among young
people; the Stanford Forgiveness Project;
and the Templeton Religion Reporter of
the Year award through the Religion
Newswriters Association.
In February, the Templeton Foundation
announced that it will donate $4 million to
researchers at Oxford University to
investigate the origins of belief in God.
While some critics questioned the
subjects and methods of Templeton-funded
projects, even skeptics acknowledged the
caliber of many of the studies, and several
grantees praised Templeton for his hands-
off manner.
Surely this last paragraph needs an extra
sentence or two of explanation; as I will
note later, two publications asserted that
actually the caliber of the studies was
questionable. To get their point across,
Burke and Cipolla should have found out
what made Templeton’s projects
distinctive or not. A quote from an expert
or academic would have been helpful.
This quote from Templeton, too, cried
out for explanation:
“I formed charity foundations. . . so that,
within a century, humans will know a
hundred times more about divinity and
spiritual principles as any human has
known to date,” Templeton said in 2003.
Templeton presumably is referring to the
masses, not spiritual leaders. But come on.
Templeton is making a bold claim: that his
charity foundations, and others like them
no doubt, will reveal divinity and spiritual
principles. A quote from a scholar or
Templeton aide would have been helpful to
readers.
At least RNS’ story was critical and
fairminded. Scientific American’s obituary
was one sided and sneering. According to
reporter JR Minkel, Templeton was a well-
meaning but naive old man. Consider the
obit’s final few paragraphs:
Critics charged that by attempting to
reconcile what the late evolutionary
biologist Stephen Jay Gould referred to as
the “nonoverlapping magisteria” of science
and religion, Templeton was twisting
scientific concepts in religion’s name.
“This is a sad event, since from all I’ve
heard from those who met him, he was a
Religion* 33
very nice fellow,” biologist P. Z. Myers, a
fierce opponent of creationism, wrote on
his blog, Pharyngula. “It’s just too bad that
he threw so much money away into a
fruitless and pointless endeavor that does
nothing but prop up belief in unreality.”
Others supported Templeton’s work. He
was knighted in 1987 by Queen Elizabeth
II for his philanthropy.
While Queen Elizabeth is better known
than P.Z. Myers, the contrast is not fair
toward Templeton. Myer’s quote is pointed
and polemical. The Queen is not quoted,
nor are any supporters of Templeton. Were
no Templeton Prize winners available?
The Los Angeles Times’ obituary had a
different problem. It made an outright
bizarre statement about the Templeton
Foundation’s projects:
. . . the Templeton charities have
engendered controversy over the years for
their support of research into such topics as
character development, forgiveness, free
enterprise and the role of prayer in medical
healing.
Detractors have argued that the grants
back flimsy science aimed at promoting
religion and right-wing causes. The online
magazine Slate called Templeton “a
conservative sugar daddy” whose ultimate
goal was “the reunification of science and
religion.”
How topics such as character
development and forgiveness are
controversial is never broached. I realize
that numerous post-Enlightenment
philosophies deny free will, as do some
‘Take, eat; this is My body’
Christian ones. But unless I am wildly off By Mollie the Eucharist and believed to symbolize
the body of Christ, to show to his non-
base, a typical LAT reader would wonder Submitted at 7/9/2008 4:55:37 PM
Catholic friend.
why character development and It seems that if reporters don’t know “Symbolize” the body of Christ? No. And
forgiveness, or even prayer, meet much else about Roman Catholics, they what a rookie error. Anyway, the rest of
intellectual resistance. should know something of what they the story is horrific as well:
Don’t get me wrong. Maybe believe about the Eucharist. Catholic belief College Student Gets Death Threats for
Templeton’s awards and prizes were in the Real Presence of Christ in the Smuggling ‘Body of Christ’
hokum, although I doubt it given the roster Eucharist has various supporting dogmas, A student at the University of Central
of its past winners. But these obituaries including Transubstantiation and the Florida claims his life — and afterlife —
needed to explain why it was so. Permanence of Presence and the were threatened by enraged Catholics after
Bookmark to: Adorableness of the Eucharist. he pocketed “the body of Christ” during a
But apparently the Catholic belief that church ceremony, according to a report on
the wafer and wine of Holy Communion myfoxorlando.com.
become the body and blood of Christ and Webster Cook says he received death
should be treated as such is unknown to threats and eternal damnation after he
reporters. Take this story from removed a wafer of bread from his mouth
FoxNews.com. I’m actually going to begin during communion and smuggled it from
with its closing paragraph: the church in a Ziploc bag.
The UCF student leader said he stole the
communion bread, known by Catholics as ‘TAKE, page 34
34 Religion*
Feeling blue about abortion coverage
By Mark Stricherz
Submitted at 7/9/2008 2:04:37 AM
Several days ago, two MSM reporters
described Barack Obama as a centrist on
the abortion issue, or at least wrote that his
position differed from that of liberal pro-
choice activists. Their news hook was an
interview that Obama gave to a magazine
aimed at young evangelicals.
For The Washington Post, reporter
Jonathan Weisman characterized Obama’s
comments this way:
Last week, Obama expressly came out
against using “mental distress” as a
justification for late-term abortions, a
position widely seen as the latest in a string
of moves toward the political center but
one aimed specifically at Christian
conservatives.
“Historically, I have been a strong
believer in a woman’s right to choose, with
her doctor, her pastor, her family,” he said
Saturday. “And I’ve been consistent in
saying you have to have a health exception
on any significant restrictions or bans on
abortions, including late-term abortions.
“It can be defined by physical health. It
can be defined by serious clinical mental
health diseases,” he continued. But “it’s
not just a matter of feeling blue.”
Such statements may run the risk of
alienating Obama’s liberal activist
Discussing doctrine
By Mollie
Submitted at 7/9/2008 2:19:21 PM
Unless Mitt Romney gets picked to be
John McCain’s VP nominee, the
mainstream media may completely forget
about that major news story from earlier in
the primary season: Mormonism. Without
that news hook, most reporters have
moved on to different topics — debunking
Christianity and shark attacks, or
something.
But the Salt Lake Tribune is always on
the Mormon beat. And I really enjoyed a
recent piece by Peggy Fletcher Stack, the
paper’s religion reporter. Noting that the
president of Fuller Theological Seminary
Richard Mouw was calling for more
dialogue with the Latter-day Saints,
Fletcher Stack explored the possibilities
supporters.
For the Associated Press, reporter Jim
Kuhnhenn characterized Obama’s remarks
this way:
The health care exception is crucial to
abortion rights advocates and is considered
a legal loophole by abortion opponents. By
limiting the health exception to a “serious
physical issue,” Obama set himself apart
from other abortion rights proponents.
Both reporters jumped the gun. Instead
and barriers to such dialogue:
Not all Mormons think Mouw’s proposal
is feasible.
The difference between Evangelicals and
Mormons is more than theological, says
Kathleen Flake, who teaches American
religious history at Vanderbilt University.
It’s also organizational and systematic.
Evangelicals are only loosely organized
around a set of principles; not least
emphasizing the primacy of the Bible over
theology, Flake says. Latter-day Saints, on
the other hand, “are tightly organized
around an enlarged canon of Bible-based
narratives. These are loosely employed to
express personal conviction of God’s
contemporary and revelatory immediacy.”
Mouw’s invitation for official, Vatican II
-like negotiation makes sense, she says,
“only if you think that Evangelicals and
of drawing political conclusions, they
should have given readers accurate facts.
Which is what bloggers, as well as the
Baptist Press, have been doing since the
stories came out: showing that Obama’s
statements were misleading and
incompatible with his previous record.
Over at ABC News, Supreme Court
reporter Jan Crawford Greenburg noted
that Obama supports the Freedom of
Choice Act, which would make the court’s
Latter-day Saints have a theology
sufficiently systematized to speak
definitively. It seems to me that neither
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v.
Bolton federal law in the event that those
decisions are overturned. Greenburg
implied that Obama’ s statements are at
odds with the high courts’ decision in Doe,
the companion case to Roe:
I’d like to hear how Obama can continue
to support the federal Freedom of Choice
Act, which contains a broad mental health
exception by specifically referring to the
1973 Supreme Court case that demands
that any abortion ban contain an exception
based on “all factors—physical, emotional,
psychological, familial and the woman’s
age. . . all these factors may relate to
health.”
A fair-minded critic should not be too
tough on either reporter. AP reporters have
arguably the toughest job in journalism, as
their stories not only have to be accurate
but also fast. The Post’s Weisman was
writing a wrap-up story not an examination
of Obama’s stand on individual social
issues and religion.
Yet both the AP and the Post’s stories
were more conclusory than factual. It’s
good that the stories attempted to link
Obama’s position with religious voters.
But it’d be better if the articles were
accurate.
(Photo by user Carf used under a Creative
Commons license).
Bookmark to:
does.”
Talking is good, Flake says, “but it’s
never going to be official, only academic.”
Rather than a boring story about the
evangelical proposal and official response
from the Latter-day Saints, Fletcher Stack
actually takes it to the next level. She
shows some of the challenges inherent to
dialogue between the two non-systematic
beliefs.
The rest of the piece looks at
conversations between evangelicals such
as Muow and Latter-day Saints over the
last decade:
“They’ve been good discussions,” Mouw
said in a phone interview. “We really
disagree about things but at the same time,
we have gotten to a place where there’s
trust between us.”
In a 2004 speech before a packed
‘TAKE,
continued from page 33
Though Cook returned the wafer one
week after the theft, outraged Catholics
were unforgiving, according to
WFTV.com.
“We don’t know 100 percent what Mr.
Cook’s motivation was,” Susan Fani, a
spokeswoman with the local Catholic
diocese, told myfoxorlando.com.
“However, if anything were to qualify as a
hate crime, to us this seems like this might
be it.”
If the headline alleges that death threats
were made, the story better cite those death
threats — not unsubstantiated claims of
death threats. More than that, though, what
a hysterical way to treat this serious
subject. The actual story is that a student
government leader — angry over funding
to religious groups on campus — pocketed
the host and broadcast that fact to the
campus. That fact is missing from this
story.
A few other things — rather than using
square quotes around “body of Christ,” the
reporter should just calmly explain
Catholics believe the body of Christ is
received in the Eucharist. Did Webster
Cook really say he received eternal
damnation or did the reporter mean to say
that anonymous, unnamed people said his
eternal life was in jeopardy? The whole
story is so amateur that it’s not really
audience in the Mormon Tabernacle on
Temple Square, Mouw chastised his fellow
Evangelicals for sinning against Latter-day
Saints by misrepresenting their views to
others in order to debunk Mormonism.
“It’s a terrible thing to bear false
witness,” Mouw said. “We’ve told you
what you believe without first asking you. .
.I remain convinced there are serious
issues of difference that are of eternal
consequence, but now we can discuss them
as friends.”
This bit of color is also helpful. So often
we see the mainstream media work from
the notion that dialogue can only happen
between people who are not dogmatic. All
in all, Fletcher Stack moves beyond press
release journalism to an interesting story.
Bookmark to:
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Chuck Colson, Renaissance man
By Mollie
Submitted at 7/10/2008 3:10:26 PM
Sir John Templeton, the wildly-successful
mutual-fund manager who pioneered
international investing died Tuesday at the
age of 95. He was also well-known for
giving away much of his fortune to
scientific and religious causes.
Mark will be looking at some of the
obituaries, which seem amazed by
Templeton’s belief that science and faith
might be reconciled, in the next day or so.
But one had an error we have to point out.
Like many other papers, the Telegraph
focused a great deal on Templeton’s
religious philanthropy. But check out these
paragraphs:
In 1973 he inaugurated the Templeton
Prize for Progress in Religion, an annual
award to remedy the Nobel Foundation’s
omission of religion from its prizes.
A brilliant publicist, Templeton
guaranteed that his prize would always be
‘TAKE,
continued from page 34
worth parsing. How did other media
outlets handle the doctrinal issues in this
story? Let’s take a look:
Here’s Cheryl Getuiza from WOFL:
Webster Cook says he smuggled a
Eucharist, a small bread wafer that to
Catholics symbolic of the Body of Christ
after a priest blesses it, out of mass, didn’t
eat it as he was supposed to do, but instead
walked with it.
WFTV:
A University of Central Florida student,
worth more than the Nobel, and arranged
for the Duke of Edinburgh to present the
award at Buckingham Palace, thus
ensuring full press coverage.
From 1973, when it stood at £70,000, the
prize money has risen to £820,000, making
upset religious groups hold church services
on public campuses, is holding hostage the
Eucharist, an object so sacred to Catholics
they call it the Body of Christ.
Ugh. The rest of the WFTV story,
however, is much better. Hopefully
reporters can learn these basic beliefs
about the Eucharist before their next
breathless reports.
Bookmark to:
Religion* 35
the Templeton Prize one of the world’s
largest annual monetary awards.
Winners over the years have included
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Alexander
Solzhenitzyn, the Reverend Dr Billy
Graham, and Charles Colson, the
Watergate-burglar-turned-minister.
Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews also
qualified to win the prize.
All of which is interesting. Except that
Chuck Colson(who, by the way, donated
his entire prize to Prison Fellowship) was
not a Watergate burglar and is not an
ordained minister.
Other than that, no problem. The
bungling of these descriptors is just sloppy
journalism. As for the second of those two
mistakes, it makes you wonder if the
reporter thinks that all people involved in
religious work are clergy ( see James
Dobson, etc., etc.).
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