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  • 07:46 - 27.06.2009 News >> Latest

     From the Los Angeles Times Opinion Too much Michael Jackson? Newspaper editors and TV producers undercut the value of serious news media when they let website hits and social media volume dictate their coverage.  Tim Rutten

    June 27, 2009

    Given his recklessly eccentric and peripatetic personal life, Michael Jackson's premature death seems almost foreordained -- one of those deaths Yeats had in mind when he wrote of a friend's lost son: "What made us dream that he could comb gray hair?"

    Still, the global outpouring of grief and the frenzy of public attention focused since Thursday on Jackson's death is an acknowledgment not only of his popularity but of the reach and influence of America's most successful export: popular culture. Jackson was an icon and, in the end, perhaps, a prisoner of that now all-pervasive, world-girdling force.

    American popular culture's triumphant appeal around the world is the product of several forces: First among them is this country's historic aversion to assigning distinct values to high and low culture. Some would say the result has been a pervasive Philistinism -- that, as Oscar Wilde put it, "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." Others would say that a level playing field has opened high culture -- literature and classical music, for example -- to a valuable cross-fertilization with popular media and made it more vigorous by forcing it to compete for its audience.

    The real strength of American popular culture, in fact, is its democratic impulse -- a willingness to take into account the reality that, for most people, entertainment is an end in itself. American entertainment bows to what economists call "consumer…

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  • 09:01 - 05.10.2009 News >> Latest

     Gerald Shargel, the lawyer for alleged David Letterman extortionist Robert Halderman, says Letterman is a "master at manipulation"-- and hinted there's more to the sordid story, which Letterman...   Read Full Story  

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  • 08:40 - 04.01.2013 News >> Latest

    White House gears up for fight over immigrationDavid Nakamura and Tara Bahrampour The Obama administration has decided to ease visa requirements for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

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  • 07:39 - 28.05.2009 News >> Latest

    Roland Burris From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Roland Wallace Burris
    United States Senator
    from Illinois Incumbent Assumed office 
    December 31, 2008
    Serving with Dick Durbin Preceded by Barack Obama 39th Illinois Attorney General In office
    January 14, 1991 – January 9, 1995 Governor Jim Edgar Preceded by Neil Hartigan Succeeded by Jim Ryan 3rd Illinois Comptroller In office
    January 8, 1979 – January 14, 1991 Governor James R. Thompson Preceded by Michael Bakalis Succeeded by Dawn Clark Netsch Born August 3, 1937 (age 71)
    Centralia, Illinois
    (1937-08-03) Nationality American Political party Democratic Spouse Berlean M. Burris Children Rolanda S. Burris
    Roland W. Burris II Residence Chatham, Chicago, Illinois Alma mater Howard University School of Law (J.D.)
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale (B.A.)
    Profession Attorney, former financial executive Religion Baptist Roland Wallace Burris (born August 3, 1937)[1] is the junior United States Senator from the state of Illinois, and a Democrat. He is the third Black U.S. Senator from Illinois, after Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama. Burris is currently the only African-American in the U.S. Senate. Burris was appointed by Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich

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  • 09:08 - 16.12.2011 News >> Latest

    ‘Mission Impossible’ on Cruise control       The series has become all action and shots set to show Tom in the most manly lightRunning, jumping, scaling glass walls, driving random BMWs - Ethan can do it all, and by extension so can Cruise, a case of self flattery-by-proxy that as both the series and its lead actor ages, has begun to take on the whiff of compensatory overkill. (From the looks of a quick Durer-esque sketch he pens on his palm, Ethan is even an accomplished artist.)

    Read more...
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If the President doesn't run the government, then who does?

image

The Unaccountable Executive

If the President doesn't run the government, then who does?

If the scandal is showing anything, it is that the White House has a bizarre notion of accountability in the federal government. President Obama's former senior adviser, David Axelrod, told MSNBC recently that his guy was off the hook on the IRS scandal because "part of being President is there's so much beneath you that you can't know because the government is so vast." 

 
Gabrielle Reece
[image]

Gabrielle Reece

"My Foot Is Too Big for the Glass Slipper: A Guide to the Less Than Perfect Life."

After suggesting on national television in mid-April that women should be submissive to their husbands, Ms. Reece, 43, immediately felt the backlash. Legions of social-media commentators wondered everything from how many years she had set back the women's movement to how "being a doormat is a sign of strength." It all started with a line in her book about how she behaves in her marriage to surfer Laird Hamilton: "To be truly feminine means being soft, receptive, and—look out, here it comes—submissive." 

 
George F. Will: Obama’s lawlessness

Obama’s lawlessness

Obama’s lawlessness

George F. Will 

His unconstitutional approach to the National Labor Relations Board.

 
Gavin Newsom: Homophobia and bigotry win out in US immigration reform debate
Gay rights activists in California

Homophobia and bigotry win out in US immigration reform debate

Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom

Once again political leaders of both parties sell out the gay community. It's not right. Shame on Democrats for conceding....

 
Robert Redford on US: 'Things have got lost'

Redford on US: 'Things have got lost'

Robert Redford attends the All Is Lost Press Conference during the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival.

The writer-director uses Cannes press conference to say that the US has lost its way since the second world war, and that rampant development must be controlled

"Certain things have got lost," said Redford. "Our belief system had holes punched in it by scandals that occurred, whether it was Watergate, the quiz show scandal, or Iran-Contra; it's still going on…Beneath all the propaganda is a big grey area, another America that doesn't get any attention; I decided to make that the subject of my films."

 
Joe Namath says NY Jets wasted a draft pick on quarterback Geno Smith

Mark Sanchez (r.) has a major ally in Joe Namath.

Joe Namath says NY Jets wasted a draft pick on quarterback Geno Smith

To Namath, the Jets already had a quality quarterback in embattled starter Mark Sanchez and would've been better off filling other positions.

“I am pulling for him,” Namath said of Sanchez. “I know that he can do better than he’s done. And we saw him lead a team to two AFC championship games, right? I also know what it’s like not to necessarily have the weapons you’d like to have, not to necessarily have the time you’d like to accomplish.”

 
Benghazi turns out to be a big deal, and not for just Republicans

President Obama speaks during a press conference. (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency)

Benghazi turns out to be a big deal, and not for just Republicans

By Jennifer Rubin

Give the public some credit. With most of the media ignoring Benghazi until recently and non-stop spin from the administration and its liberal enablers disparaging those seeking answers, the voters have figured out that it really does matter what happened and if our leaders lied to them.

 
Does Grief Counseling Cause More Harm Than Good?

Does Grief Counseling Cause More Harm Than Good?

By Vinita Mehta, Ph.D., Ed.M.

Dozens died in the tornado that barreled through Moore, Oklahoma. For those who lost loved ones, the grief is unimaginable. The mental health professionals in Moore are there to provide the bereaved with much-needed comfort, but also to encourage them to talk about what they experienced. But is talking about loss always therapeutic?

 
Electric Cars Priced at Nearly $0

[image]

Bronson Beisel got an extra subsidy from Georgia, cutting the cost.

Electric Cars Priced at Nearly $0

A new round of discount leases on plug-in cars, combined with federal, state and local electric-vehicle incentives, could make a battery-electric car an economical way to get around.

 
Soldier 'beheaded' in London terror attack

Soldier 'beheaded' in Woolwich terror attack

Two suspected terrorists in hospital after being shot by armed police at scene of vicious attack. 

 
One dead in suspected terror attack in London

One dead in suspected terror attack in London

Woolwich shooting suspect

Dramatic footage emerges of man addressing camera with bloody hands following attack

Brandishing a cleaver and a knife, and with the body of the victim lying yards away, the man said: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

 
If Cable Is Dying, Why Is It Still Making So Much Money?

If Cable Is Dying, Why Is It Still Making So Much Money?

Derek Thompson

The story behind one of the best business models in the country

But the cable companies aren't exclusively in the business of selling TV. They're really in the business of communications infrastructure, which is TV, phone, and Internet. The Internet business in particular has done very well for them. Since cable video subs peaked in the late 1990s, the industry has added 45 million high-speed Internet customers.

 
Dan Brown talks about Inferno

aDan Brown Inferno book

Dan Brown talks about Inferno

The author on how much to believe in his books, and how Dante's 'rings of hell' inspired his new novel
 
A Dilemma in the Breast-Cancer Hunt

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A Dilemma in the Breast-Cancer Hunt

Doctors are divided about how best to scan "dense" breasts. A look at the options.

 
Man killed in FBI interview is said to implicate Tsarnaev

Man killed in FBI interview is said to implicate Tsarnaev

An interview at an Orlando apartment turned violent. (Brian Blanco/EPA)

Before being shot and killed during an interview in Orlando, Ibragim Todashev implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a triple homicide in Mass. two years ago, officials say.

 
Video Gaming: the future of foreign language education

When Video Gaming Replaces the Classroom

Digits From Asia: In China, the future of foreign language education may be online. About 1,000 primary school children in China's coastal area of Fujian are paying to play online games and learn English. WSJ's Eva Tam takes us to 3-D English Adventureland.

 
Infidelity in the Digital Age

Infidelity in the Digital Age

By Robert Weiss, LCSW, CSAT-S

Once upon a time infidelity was pretty easy to identify. However, in today’s world of social media, apps, sexting, and the like, the definition of cheating is somewhat murky. That said, I offer here a simple, straightforward definition of sexual infidelity, developed through more than two decades of work with betrayed spouses and their ultimately remorseful mates.

 
Obama’s War on Journalism: ‘An Unconstitutional Act’

Obama’s War on Journalism: ‘An Unconstitutional Act’

Because they tend to share his broad outlook on politics, too many journalists for too long have been in the tank for Obama. The press-punishing, speech-chilling, and unabashedly overreaching actions by the Obama administration against the Associated Press and Fox News Channel’s James Rosen lay bare the essential dynamic between any president and a press that is always more prone to being lapdogs than watchdogs: The president feeds or punishes them as he sees fit, while chanting a bogus rosary about “national security.”

 
A Bell Tolls at Morehouse

A Bell Tolls at Morehouse

by Matthew McKnight

The first black President’s commencement speech gave cause for both celebration and alarm…

 
Senate Committee Immigration Bill Excludes Gay Couples

LONG BEACH, CA - MAY 18:  A group that wants immigration reform for gay partners marches in the Pride Parade at the conclusion of the two-day 25th annual Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival and Celebration on May 18, 2008 in Long Beach, California. The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 to overturn a ban on gay marriage in California on May 15, 2008 making it the second state where gays and lesbians can marry. Legal gay weddings will begin in about a month. Anti-gay activists vow to change the California constitution to disallow voters the right to approve same-sex marriages.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Senate Committee Passes Immigration Bill, Minus Protections for Gay Couples

  • By Margaret Hartmann
  • After deliberating for five days and considering more than 300 amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bipartisan immigration reform bill on Tuesday evening, clearing the way for a debate on the Senate floor early next month. The bill was approved 13-5, with support from only three Republicans; Gang of Eight members Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, and Orrin Hatch, who the group wooed by accepting his amendment to offer more visas for high-skilled workers. The new version of the bill should be more palatable to Republicans, particularly since they won their game of chicken with Patrick Leahy over adding provisions to protect same-sex couples.
 
The Recipe for Success in Any Job

The Recipe for Success in Any Job

By Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D.

Here are the ingredients for workplace success: Equal parts of competence, conscientiousness, and commitment, with a dash of positive politics. Find out how to combine these to create a successful work career.

 
Immigration bill backers say not all back-taxes will be paid

**FILE** Roberto Morales, 25, holds a sign representing a permanent resident card while attending the "Rally for Citizenship" on Capitol Hill on April 10, 2013, in support of immigration reform. (Associated Press)

Immigration bill backers say not all back-taxes will be paid

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

The Senate immigration bill’s authors acknowledged Tuesday that their legislation does not require illegal immigrants to pay all back taxes, saying it would be too difficult to make them ante up everything they might owe.

 
Ibragim Todashev killed by FBI in Orlando

Orlando man killed by FBI agent was questioned in Boston Marathon bombing, friend says

An FBI agent in Orlando shot and killed a man who was questioned in connection with the Boston marathon bombings. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)

Friend: Orlando man killed by FBI agent was questioned in Boston bombings

An Orlando man who was shot and killed by an agent with the FBI early this morning was friends with the Boston bombings suspects, according to a friend of the victim.

Todashev, who is from Chechnya, "flipped out" during an interview Tuesday night and an agent was forced to shoot him, the FBI said, according to WESH.

 
How 'The Heatles' Make Their Music

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How 'The Heatles' Make Their Music

Underappreciated is the significant retooling that Miami underwent after assembling the powerful trinity of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, a sometimes painful process that fashioned the Heat into the offensive wrecking crew it is today.

 
Obama’s flagrant assault on liberty

Obama’s flagrant assault on liberty

Obama’s flagrant assault on liberty

Dana Milbank

The White House investigates reporters for doing their job.

"The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of."

 
Officer Involved in Shooting of Man Linked to Tsarnaev

Officer Involved in Shooting of Man Linked to Tsarnaev

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT 

A law enforcement official in Orlando, Fla., was involved in the fatal shooting of a man whom the F.B.I. interviewed about his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased Boston bombing suspect.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, the F.B.I. has sought to speak with people who knew Mr. Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar, in an effort to learn how they were radicalized. 

 
How America became a third world country

Student teachers protest against budget cuts in a demonstration organised by the Irish teaching unions outside the Irish parliament, the Dail, in Dublin.

How America became a third world country

Mattea Kramer

Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford for TomDispatch

The politicians who tweeted while America burned are dismantling our society piece by piece with budget cuts.

Blackout in Manhattan in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy

Without money for disaster relief or sound infrastructure, the authors predict frequent, widespread problems, like rolling blackouts and untended roads and bridges. 

 
What 'Stop the Leaks' Hardliners Won't Ever Win

What 'Stop the Leaks' Hardliners Won't Ever Win

 Conor Friedersdorf

If national security journalists are neutered, secrets will flow to transparency activists and the government will have even less control.

Many journalists are outraged that James Rosen, a Fox News correspondent, stands accused of criminal activity (though he is not being prosecuted) for soliciting classified information from government sources, something all national security reporters do. But there hasn't been the same outpouring of support for Julian Assange of Wikileaks, who has long been investigated for the same behavior: allegedly soliciting classified material from Bradley Manning, his source. 

 
Obama’s clean-up-your-act message for blacks is getting old, critics say

Obama’s clean-up-your-act message for blacks is getting old, critics say

Obama’s clean-up-your-act message <br> for blacks is getting old, critics say

Even some supporters say the president needs to stop lecturing predominantly black audience.

During the speech, Obama admonished black men to take care of their families and their communities and told the graduates that despite the lingering legacies of slavery and discrimination, “we’ve got no time for excuses.” Obama also used the occasion to talk about his own life, touching on the fact that he was raised by a single mother and that growing up he sometimes blamed some of his bad choices on “the world trying to keep a black man down.”

 
Can You Blame Moore on Global Warming?

Can You Blame Moore on Global Warming?

The type of tornado that hit Oklahoma could become more common as the atmosphere warms.

Or maybe not.....

 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 20 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was 30

20 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was 30

 
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