Year: 2009

Gillibrand Selection Could Leave House a Little Redder

Trish
New York’s next senator

The Senate’s gain might be the House’s loss. By selecting Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to replace Hillary Clinton, New York Gov. David Paterson might have given Republicans a new House seat.

Gillibrand — an odd mix of gun control foe and gay rights advocate, anti amnesty for immigrants and pro alternative energy — carried her heavily Republican upstate district, something more typical Democrats might not be able to do.

Gillibrand will take the Senate office Sunday.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

It was a complete surprise, completely unexpected. And just like the United States prevailed in that, we’ll prevail in this.

— Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), quoted by the Associated Press, comparing his impeachment to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Jews Without News are Clueless

Buck Banks

kosher-but-clueless.jpgI’m on the mailing list of the National Jewish Democratic Council because sometimes they put out statements and position papers that are just a hoot. Today, however, they sent the following statement that caused me to do a double-take:

Ira N. Forman, Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), released the following statement:

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) welcomes former Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) to the fray as a consultant and strategic advisor to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). We look forward to engaging with Coleman in our ongoing dialogue over issues and ideas in the American Jewish community. By agreeing to serve in this position Coleman appears to have accepted the inevitable designation of Al Franken as the United States Senator from Minnesota.

What caught my attention was that last sentence, especially in light of all the reporting this morning about how Al Franken’s lawsuit to dismiss Norm Coleman’s lawsuit challenging the Minnesota Senate-seat recount had itself been dismissed, meaning that until Coleman’s suit is resolved, he’s still technically in the race to keep his senatorship.

Possible explanations:

A) Ira Forman knows things no one else knows, like Coleman has decided to give up the race, and just forgot to tell the media or drop the lawsuit.

B) Coleman thinks he’s going to lose the suit, and therefore the recount, and is hedging his bets by setting up some cushy consulting work for when he leaves office.

C) The NJDC is clueless because Ira Forman forgot to turn on NPR or CNN and only read the comics section in the newspaper this morning.

I really like explanation A, and I think B is conceivable, but given my track record with the Jewish Democrats, I am resigned to the fact that it’s probably C.

New ‘Green’ News Site Is Pretty Newsy

Buck Banks

mnn_logo.jpg
At a time when newspapers are imploding, whole newspaper chains are going unsold on the market and the news media are casting about to understand how to serve their audiences in a rapidly changing communications environment, it might not seem the most prudent thing in the world to start up a news organization. But if there’s one trend that is counteracting the collapse of the traditional newspaper, it’s the interest in all things environmental.

Hence, the creation of Mother Nature Network, the brainchild of company president Joel Babbit, a veteran marketing executive. The Atlanta-based site, which just launched this month, was bank-rolled by more than $10 million in venture capital. The company has hired 17 full-time staffers — many downsized by CNN and other media companies — and relies on a network of college-age bloggers. The site could become the standard for green-themed Web sites, strictly by its news content and the sheer amount of information on the site.

With a very magazine-looking graphic design and layout, the site has an eye-catching animated banner that uses compelling photos and catchy writing to grab the reader’s attention and send her to the latest news, trend or celebrity “green” article. Following the news hole where current affairs articles are displayed, eight columnists cover the gamut from business and technology to family, food and lifestyle. A video department offers four short features on varied topics.

Suffice it to say for an environmental news junkie like me, there are whole hours’ worth of stuff to peruse on the site. It also offers a weekly e-mail newsletter, a refreshing change from the daily environmental newsletters I receive that are short, but also a bit light on hard news.

That is probably the single element that will distinguish Mother Nature Network from such sites as Treehuggers.com, the Daily Green and especially the Environmental Protection Agency’s online presence. As long as it can maintain the variety, volume and pertinence of its content, the site should be able to buck the trend of a shrinking, irrelevant news media.

Obama as Food Critic: The Lost Episode of “Check Please!”

Trish

I’m not sure why this episode of the local public television show, “Check Please!” never aired but thanks to YouTube, we can still enjoy it.

The panel on this show reeks of circa 2001 yuppiness, and who serves pancakes in a basket on paper? I have a feeling I would find the restaurant less than authentic, but I can understand that if you are in Chicago it might seem pretty good.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

For a long time now, there’s been too much secrecy in this city.

— President Barack Obama, after issuing a Presidential Memorandum that instructs all members of his administration “to operate under principles of openness, transparency and of engaging citizens with their government.”

Chinese Censor Obama’s Inaugural Address

Buck Banks

While pundits picked apart President Barack Obama’s inaugural address — did it meet expectations, was it too sober, did he rip off earlier presidents’ speeches — Chinese authorities were busy censoring parts of the 20-minute speech. Though most Chinese news sites carried the full text of the speech in English, the versions translated into Chinese were mildly redacted, according to the BBC.

In his inauguration address, President Obama said: “Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.”

That entire passage was retained for an English-language version of the speech that appeared on the website of state-run Xinhua news agency.

But in the Chinese-language version, the word “communism” was taken out.

President Obama’s comments addressed to world leaders who “blame their society’s ills on the West” also fell foul of the censor’s red pen.

“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history,” the president said.

Once again, Xinhua included the passage in full in its English version, but the sentence was taken out of the Chinese translation.

Man, those Chinese are sensitive. I mean, Obama could just as easily been referring to Russia or to the United Arab Emirates as China. But the Chinese may be on to something, as Obama might not be as cozy as George Bush was with world’s third-largest economy.

As an editorial in the state-run China Daily put it: “Given the popular American eagerness for a break from the Bush years, many wonder, or worry to be precise, whether the new president would ignore the hard-earned progress in bilateral ties.”

Well, as long as they stop trying to poison our dogs and babies and toothpaste and break our Internet, we’ll stay on good terms with the Commies, er, I mean Chinese.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

He’s just one of those guys, you know, like Will Smith. There’s no Will Smith jokes. There’s no Brad Pitt jokes. You know, what are you going to say? ‘Ooh, you used to have sex with Jennifer Anniston, now you have sex with Angelina Jolie, you’re such a loser.’ What do you say? ‘Ooh,your movies are big. You make $20 million.’ There’s nothing to say about Brad Pitt. It’s like ‘Ooh, you’re young and virile and you’ve got a beautiful wife and kids. You’re the first African-American president.’ You know, what do you say?

— Comedian Chris Rock, on the difficulty of mocking President Barack Obama

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

I have reached a decision. I thought that since there are just 17 women in the Senate … I am going to go with Michelle Obama.

— New York Gov. David Paterson (D), quoted by NBC News , on his pending U.S. Senate appointment. He’s now expected to make his official pick Friday or Saturday.