tough white collar trials

the supreme court unanimously threw out the conviction of shredder extraordinaire arthur anderson. justice rehnquist cited vague jury instructions as the basis, but further sets a disturbing precedent that file shredding isn't necessarily a no-no:

Legal experts said the ruling...will shield former partners at Andersen from possible future litigation. Corporations that have document-retention policies also will have more freedom to destroy documents without fear of potential prosecution.

while the prosecutor in the case is weighing the options, this continues the trend of difficulty in white-collar crimes cases including the richard scrushy and tyco exec re-trials.

update (06/01): i'm particularly troubled that the fallout of this decision could be more of the 'ignorance is bliss' defense. a ny times article [bugmenot login] counters the notion of the ruling as pure vindication of guilt (check out this headline), instead more the result of a technicality/legality.

¶ - nitish @ 6:06 PM | 0 comments

  everyone's wild about danica

i tend to equate the indy 500 with the triple crown in that somewhat niche sports with rabid fans cross over to the mainstream.

apparently, danica patrick helped for a bigger crossover than usual--the highest ratings in 10 years. Two years ago annika sorenstam generated similar buzz by competing at the colonial. while annika played relatively well, she ultimately did not make the cut. danica performed even better, leading for ~20 laps as late as lap 194.

i'm guessing another letterman appearance considering her team owner...

¶ - nitish @ 5:33 PM | 0 comments

  it can happen to anyone

anyone can become a victim of credit card fraud, even an anti-fraud expert. however, andrew goodwill is trying to turn the $600 in bogus charges as an example or 'testimonial' to the widespread problem.

full disclosure: several months back, i suffered similar fraud to the tune of $1000. luckily, i was not on the hook for the charges.

¶ - nitish @ 11:54 AM | 0 comments

  animals using animals

terrorists/insurgents tried to blow up a US military convoy near kirkuk in iraq. unfortunately, that in itself is not new, the delivery method is.

an explosive belt was tied around a dog, but missed the target as the explosion inflicted no injury nor damage. Eight suspects were arrested in connection to the attack.

This was not the first time that animals have been used in insurgent attacks. In 2003, donkey carts were used to conceal makeshift multiple rocket launchers in a flurry of attacks in Baghdad. Animal carcasses and human corpses have been used to conceal explosives.

¶ - nitish @ 10:33 AM | 0 comments

  rubin still overrated

further proof that robert rubin is a bum....his default position when he became a public servant was to bail out his wall street buddies with taxpayer money....continued his chumpy ways when he intervened on scandal-ridden enron's behalf....

now he suggests the democrats do nothing to address social security's looming insolvency/bankruptcy. the most telling line:

“Putting out a Democrat plan on Social Security would be a horrible mistake because right now it’s the president’s principles against our principles,” Rubin said, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The aide added that Rubin told his party colleagues that it would be hard to win a battle of specifics. [italics added]

of course, kneejerk lefty leader of lemmings josh marshall demonstrates thorough confusion:

"In discussing this question, one must always come back to the simple fact that the Democrats especially shouldn't come up with a concrete plan when the president himself still hasn't put one forward."

but then says

"That has to be the case as long as Republicans are still sticking to their principles of private accounts and sharp benefit cuts for the middle class."

which is it? is there a plan or not?

¶ - nitish @ 6:42 PM | 0 comments

  product placement as payola

increasingly worried about being ignored/skipped, advertisers increasingly choose product placement within tv shows to reach potential consumers. examples include coke in american idol, cisco in 24, various mark burnett reality shows like contender, apprentice and survivor (which actually prompted a legal spat).

i don't have a problem with it, as long as it is not intrusive to the content of the show. however, more troubling to advertisers and media companies is that an fcc member has a problem on the lack of disclosure.

¶ - nitish @ 12:14 PM | 0 comments

  'junk food' in schools

most of the headlines morgan spurlock's super size me garnered dealt with the fast food industry.

whether or not the movie had any influence on mcdonald's decision to drop the super sized option, another issue dealt with in the movie (with much less media fanfare) is being addressed. several states are examining 'junk food' policies within schools. while eating fast-food is a choice, serving junk food to kids in school is different.

i'm not saying these are a direct result of the movie, but mr spurlock definitely addressed valid issues in a compelling manner. i'll give his new fx show 30 days a shot.

¶ - nitish @ 1:14 PM | 0 comments

  if only they could use their power for niceness

add to the list of internet scourges (viruses, spam, spyware, etc), a particularly troubling exploit dubbed 'ransom-ware'. baddies (somehow) lock-up a user's files, then demand money to unlock the files.

¶ - nitish @ 10:06 AM | 0 comments

  good borders make good neighbors

the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus will issue a report suggesting the use of national guards or state militias in securing the US-Mexico border. the report places blame not on the border patrol on the ground, but rather the bureacracy above them.

contrary to many politicos--including president bush--who downplayed (at best) the efforts of the Minuteman project, the CIRC cites them as an example of the effectiveness of more manpower at the border.

i give much credit to colorado representative tom tancredo for taking the lead on this issue

¶ - nitish @ 3:10 PM | 0 comments

  it's good to be the (tech) king

tech execs are paying themselves like the good ole days...the bubble days.

Tech executives pocketed an astonishing $2.1bn in compensation last year, every cent at the shareholders' expense. That's the highest level since $2.1bn recorded in 1999, the San Jose Mercury reports in its annual survey of fatcat pay. Median executive pay rose 57 per[cent] last year.

i don't have an inherent problem with biz execs getting paid for getting the job done, but three of the execs cited in the register article--oracle's larry ellison, cisco's john chambers, and lam research's jim bagley--have overseen stock and earnings drops of 50%-80% from the heady bubble days.
the mercury news has a full list of tech executive compensation.

¶ - nitish @ 10:37 AM | 0 comments

  news-entertainment

while the movie network still proves compelling, i found it a bit too over-the-top [i have similar feelings about dr strangelove, but i suppose that's the nature of some satire], the intermingling of news and entertainment continues.

les moonves and cbs continue to explore interesting options in revamping cbs evening news. the news guys are not too happy, especially since those consulted include mtv news execs and the guy behind dr phil and pat o'brien's the insider

¶ - nitish @ 6:02 PM | 0 comments

  it's not just the money

a team of korean scientists make a breakthrough deriving 'tailor-made' stem cells from cloned human embryos. since the stem cells would be derived from patients themselves, rejection would not be an issue.

the circumstances of this breakthrough dispute a common complaint/fear that a lack of money prevents american scientists from stem cell breakthroughs.

The secret to the Koreans' success may not be cash, but the drive and manual skill of their scientists. Hwang Woo-suk said he received relatively little money for their breakthrough studyHwang told Reuters on Friday that he spent less than $200,000 on his latest study, which was published in the May 20 issue of Science. In comparison, the Bush administration spent $25 million on embryonic stem-cell research in 2003.

despite this, the article ends with another complaint riff.
btw, i don't understand why 'chopsticks' and 'oriental hands' were included either.

¶ - nitish @ 11:46 AM | 0 comments

  labor pains

somewhat related to the earlier wal-mart legislation bit, their is dissension within the labor ranks. so, perhaps instead of securing benefits via negotiations, that bill was an attempt to legislate it.

¶ - nitish @ 4:20 PM | 0 comments

  over-legislating business practices

maryland governor bob ehrlich vetoed the Fair Share Health Care Act essentially targeting one of maryland's top 10 private employers.

the republican governor may face political repurcussions in heavily democrat maryland. but a local op-ed piece effectively sums up arguments against the legislation noting "that profits are a good thing...Only profitable companies grow and create more jobs."
the legislation, backed by a labor movement in decline and potential wal-mart competitors, could have led to significantly more business legislation which proves a failure in the stagnant european economies.

¶ - nitish @ 1:32 PM | 0 comments

  return of the car

i got my car back on wednesday--6 to 7 weeks after the accident, 4 to 5 weeks of repairs. happily, the auto body shop repaired the extensive rear damage without much trouble.
this would not have happened if i went with the 'total' route allstate suggested. i would have had to accept a car with significantly more mileage--~20k mi. i put proceeds from the check allstate issued (which i successfully traded with) along with some of the daily stipend money towards the repairs to the point that no out-of-pocket money will be involved.

the car's first real road test came on friday, when i went down to dc to meet college buddies benny and juan--circumstances similar to the original accident. fortunately, this time was without incident, although that dc traffic is ridiculous...

¶ - nitish @ 9:11 PM | 0 comments

  premature NFLX celebration

investors (or traders) in netflix appear to like the news that wal-mart is ceding its place in the online dvd rental market.

fending off a category-killer like wal-mart is a good thing. as it does in most of its pricing, wal-mark took the low cost route--~$13 for two titles at a time a month. despite this low price point, wal-mart garnered fewer than 100,000 subscribers. netflix admits picking up these customers won't necessarily improve their outlook.

however, wal-mart's pull-out may signal a few troubling things. it could mean a natural limit to netflix's addressable market. this could mean the all-you-can-rent model of dvd rental may be a niche market not ready for the mainstream market that comprises wal-mart's sweet spot. it also may mean the finances don't particularly compute.

while the service netflix provides may be great, the business model appears suspect. despite being a market leader, pricing power remains elusive evidenced by the yo-yo up (from $20 to $22) and down (back down to $18) netflix underwent within a 6 month period last year.

maybe, i'll get more positive when i take part in a gift subscription i got from some of my buddies.

¶ - nitish @ 1:14 PM | 0 comments

  fake but accurate

that's the lame damage control strategy the news media has taken after the newsweek retraction.
sound familiar? that was essentially the dan rather-cbs news defense last fall during the bush national guard memo-gate.

however, this time the entire media appears to be congealing around this strategy. the NYT's elisabeth bumiller [bugmenot login] is on the forefront:

"Newsweek's retraction dealt only with its mistaken assertion that the report on a months-long Pentagon investigation was expected to confirm the toilet accusation. But around the world, discussion continued on the larger issue of whether such abuse ever occurred at Guantánamo, as released prisoners have asserted over the years."

in the same article harvard univerity fellow marvin kalb turns the blame on the administration

"This is hardly the first time that the administration has sought to portray the American media as inadequately patriotic.... They are addressing the mistake, and not the essence of the story. The essence of the story is that the United States has been rather indelicate, to put it mildly, in the way that they have treated prisoners of war."

conservative brent bozell nails the parallels between memo-gate and flush-gate

¶ - nitish @ 5:14 PM | 0 comments

  most overrated villian-redux

with the star wars movie opening tomorrow, i go back to my first ever post

darth vader is the most overrated villain...ever.
the most villainous thing regarding darth vader so far has been the casting.

(spoilers to the various star wars movies to follow)
while i stipulate the voice, the suit and the ominous music certainly convey the requisite evil, the on-screen actions do not warrant the esteemed evil implied by the afi and the public in general

lemme go over the life and times of anakin skywalker/darth vader as i know it:

• kills baddies after the murder of a beloved family member.
  under that criterion, mad max and batman would be villains
• gets injured to the point where he needs that big (albeit stylish) suit to survive
• rematch with a ~65 year old obi-wan was kinda a tie until kenobi basically gives up
• chops off his newbie jedi son's hand, followed immediately by a "who's your daddy" and an alliance offer
• after his son subsequently busts him up, flip-flopper vader turns on his evil lord and master for one last attempt at sappy family reconciliation

if one is supposed to be cosmically evil, that person should live-breathe-and-eat-evil. don't pull this evil with a side of justification and some redemption for dessert.

vader apologists may point to the destruction of Alderaan....that should count for something. but i say any self-respecting intergalactic megalomaniac worth his evil salt would do this. frieza pulled that as a desperation move against goku

going forward, if villainous demonstrations from the upcoming movie consist mainly of defeating a not-so-slight mace windu and various anonymous jedi, that won't cement it for me.

better examples of true unmitigated villainy include de niro's version of max cady, the villain in the real manchurian candidate (avoiding another spoiler), doctor who nemesis the master, or the quintessential depiction of evil

please, mr lucas, do your worst...or at least have darth vader do his worst.

i'll see it this weekend, so i'll give my updated take then.

¶ - nitish @ 10:25 AM | 0 comments

  galloway goes nuts

brit minister-turned-parliament member speechified and
harangued the senate subcommittee investigating the UN oil-for-food scandal.

"Mr Galloway was in his element, playing the role he relishes the most: the little guy squaring up for a fight with the establishment."

it was unfortunate that committee chairman and carl levin (who galloway mistakenly labeled an iraq war supporter) could not, or would not respond with mcuh.

i haven't seen such bluster and political theater since richard clarke testified before the 9/11 commission.

¶ - nitish @ 7:26 PM | 0 comments

  let the spirits flow

the supreme court struck down the prohibition of out-of-state wines. i believe this will eventually lead to beer and/or liquor sales.

way to enable underage drinking...

¶ - nitish @ 1:12 PM | 0 comments

  crime enabler ebay

ebay has it too easy.
there have been and still are loads of wacky and sometimes illegal items up for auction on the site including human organs and an unborn child.

despite proclaiming "zero tolerance", the company appears to really have more of a 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' policy:

"The San Jose-based company has no system to spot questionable offers, but relies on users to notify them when they appear on the site, [eBay spokesman Kevin] Pursglove said."

of course, selling stolen goods via ebay can also happen. a maryland women found some items--stolen from her house--an engraved ipod and a laptop on ebay [bugmenot login]

while the police tracked down the nogoodnik, i believe ebay should take a more proactive role, especially in blatant cases where simple keywords could raise a red flag (human trafficking, weapons).

¶ - nitish @ 10:37 AM | 0 comments

  media-public discrepancy

editor and publisher refers to a survey demonstrating journalists and the public have wildly different views.
on the media:

- "Six in ten among the public feel the media show bias in reporting the news..."
- "More than 7 in 10 journalists believe the media does a good or excellent job on accuracy -- but only 4 in 10 among the public feel that way."

on sourcing:

- "[A] solid 53% of the public thinks stories with unnamed sources should not be published at all."
- "The survey showed that 74% of journalists and 89% of non-journalists said one should question the accuracy of news stories that rely on anonymous sources."

on political affiliation:

"[T]he journalists reported picking Kerry over Bush by 68% to 25%. In this sample of 300 journalists, from both newspapers and TV, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 3 to 1 -- but about half claim to be Independent. As in previous polls, a majority (53%) called their political orientation "moderate," versus 28% liberal and 10% conservative."

there's a bit more in the article, but three words come to mind: out...of...touch...

¶ - nitish @ 4:29 PM | 0 comments

  more proof that the UN is useless

kofi annan warns the US about iran's nuclear aspirations. specifically, that the UN security council would be unlikely to take action against iran. shouldn't iran be warned against a nuclear weapons program?

¶ - nitish @ 10:17 AM | 1 comments

  stuff your sorries in a sack

i have a feeling neither the 3 paragraph 'apology' or article Newsweek provides saying it "may have erred" in its story relating to qur'an desecration will be enough.

arab media giant al jazeera runs a story with the headline "Newsweek claims ‘Qur’an desecration’ report may be wrong" and the pentagon's...colorful response.

here is a round-up of initial reaction of the Newsweek story and arab protests. btw, roger l simon deserves credit for his initial skepticism.

¶ - nitish @ 6:23 PM | 0 comments

  with friends like these, part 2

...Khalid Shaikh Mohammed could still board a plane...

the House Homeland Security Committee was shocked by testimony from Debra Burlingame (the sister of the pilot of American Airlines flight 77 that crashed into the pentagon on 9/11) to that effect. she maintains that forged mexican identification cards could be used to board planes, open bank accounts, etc. to prove this, she submitted forged cards in the name of congressional committee members along with 9/11 mastermind KSM.

of course, some people oppose the real id legislation which toughens identification standards

¶ - nitish @ 11:45 AM | 0 comments

  with friends like these

it's become abundantly clear that mexican president vicente fox has no inclination to stem the tide of illegal aliens across the southern US border. he opposes tougher id rules [update: which are clearly necessary], a security fence (deemed "overly extreme"), basically any measure which may determine residence status/identification.

perhaps even apologists will find it difficult to defend fox's comments that illegal immigrant perform jobs "that not even blacks want to do" [italics added]

¶ - nitish @ 10:23 AM | 0 comments

  periodic economic crashes

during my daily financial web surfing, i came upon an interesting theory about The 40-Year Crash Cycle (via permabear fiend's SuperBear page). first describing the prior 40yr cycle--the crash of 1929 led to the great depression while the removal of the gold standard/OPEC oil embargo led to the stagflation of the late 1970's, the author attempts to point to the causes of the next crash scheduled for ~2010.

the argument starts off alright pointing to the normal biz cycle and the post election year hangover [i don't get the end of decade thing though]. it continues with the notion of baby boomers "shifting their economic behavior from spending to saving" (although i disagree since the boomers gave themselves enough perks that they'll be able to spend more freely than prior generations). the potential 'peak oil' crisis mentioned looms as the most likely external shock to spur a crash.

however, the interesting premise with decent if debatable support quickly devolves as politics is thrown into the mix. nearly every liberal bugaboo is thrown into the mix as a cause for economic doom: iraq, bankruptcy reform, deficits, the weak dollar, greenspan...

the author veers wildly off economics by offering his advice on how the democrats should capitalize on the dynamic. however instead of an agenda or strategy to avoid economic doom, he suggests they "begin speaking a language". way to be proactive. at least when the then-minority Republicans came up with an agenda (whether you agreed with it or not) through the contract with america]

¶ - nitish @ 12:19 PM | 0 comments

  webcams everywhere

there are all sorts of interesting webcams... and not just the smutty ones...

• TraffiCams
• tourist spots
• mount st helens VolcanoCam--admittedly more interesting when it looked like it would erupt

but i had never really thought of the invasive nature of restaurant and/or bar cams. i'm self-conscious enough about eating in public, but to have it for all the world to see...

¶ - nitish @ 10:17 AM | 0 comments

  cable news wars

man, fox news and cnn don't mess any opportunity to slam each other. Jeopardy is apparently including a category tribute to cnn's 25th year anniversary. FNC offers some suggestions: (some editing done on my part)

Answer: The number of consecutive months CNN has been getting beat by FNC.
Question: What is 40?

Answer: The CNN anchor who continued playing a round of golf after the Columbia Space Shuttle tragedy occurred.
Question: Who is Aaron Brown?

Answer: He told USA Today he "flooded the zone" during the recent tsunami disaster.
Question: Who is Jon Klein?

Answer: This CNN executive made deals with murderous dictators in exchange for access.
Question: Who is Eason Jordan?

¶ - nitish @ 5:17 PM | 0 comments

  less steroids-less homers

through the first few weeks of the baseball season, home runs are down. i don't believe fewer homers and the tougher steroids policy are mere coincidence.

the absence of slugger barry bonds may explain the drop-off...but that may only further the point that there are less steroids in the league...

¶ - nitish @ 12:43 PM | 0 comments

  state of boxing

i'm a boxing fan, but the sport has fallen on hard times....

it was bad enough that james 'the fridge light never goes out' toney won a heavyweight belt, but it now appears he may be stripped of the belt due to a positive drug test.

boxing is in such bad shape that some writers cite the ratings anemic (but decent) contender for tweaks [bugmenot login] and a resurgence in interest--citing the ~5 million viewers as potential boxing fans.

¶ - nitish @ 6:30 PM | 0 comments

  upcoming television upfronts

next week is the upfront presentations where the tv networks hope to get loads of advertising cash based on their fall schedules. [disclosure: i am a periodic investor in viacom, parent company of cbs and upn]

• several of the shows i watch are 'on the bubble'. i won't explicitly come out say which ones because frankly i'm not 'proud' (if that's the right word) of some the tv shows i watch--but let's just say i was a big fan of john ritter and seinfeld while also being intrigued by the notion of talking to god.
• as for positive pilot buzz, it appears to help if there is a supernatural feel (a la lost) or political angle. (personally, i think those trends are a year too late...)
• naturally it helps if the cast is 'camera friendly', evidenced by fox's slate.

¶ - nitish @ 10:27 AM | 0 comments

  reality used to be a friend of his

vermont independent/socialist congressman bernie sanders needs a better grasp of the facts. (link found through howard stern's website)

i'll chalk his error to "2004 inaugural" instead of 2005 as a typo--that can happen to anyone. but unfortunately, sanders veers way past typos to mischaracterizations (at best) and half-truths:

• as his first example of "a full-scale effort to limit and control the programming" by "President Bush and his right-wing colleagues in Congress", sanders points to the passage of the broadcast decency enforcement act which raised indecency fines to $500,000. the mistake sanders makes is that 161 democrats voted for the bill too--hardly just bush and right-wing colleagues.
• sanders continues by extrapolating congressional actions from the utterances of two of its members. i don't recall sanders speaking out against charlie rangel's efforts to reinstitute the military draft (which ironically rangel himself voted against--talk about doa).

but sanders all but admits (like rangel voting against his own bill) the disingenuousness of his own argument when he writes "If Stevens and Barton have their way..." since there is no widespread support to broaden indecency enforcement outside broadcast media. both the former fcc chairman michael powell and current/incoming(?) kevin martin ("Even Commissioner Martin has acknowledged that the FCC probably can't police satellite radio...") say the fcc has no standing in this area.

¶ - nitish @ 5:49 PM | 0 comments

  audioslave in cuba

i've been a fan of chris cornell since soundgarden through joining up with rage against the machine guys to form audioslave. this past weekend, audioslave held an historic concert in cuba.

the 26(!) song set included songs from audioslave's first album, upcoming album, while going back to the past (rage's 'bulls on parade', 'killing the name', and soundgarden's 'black hole sun' acoustic) while also playing with a local band. mtv's john norris files a story with some of his impressions.

audioslave will perform a little closer to home may 18th on jimmy kimmel live....check your local listings...

¶ - nitish @ 11:52 AM | 0 comments

  animals in the news

these animal stories hit the wires
- chicken ticketed for crossing the road --this is not from the onion...
- dog saves abandoned baby --animal saves the day

¶ - nitish @ 7:48 PM | 0 comments

  bringing home the bacon

surprise, surprise, surprise! another poorly constructed ny times article [bugmenot login]. this time it's an anti-corporate piece implying drug companies are cheating on their taxes.

there are simple explanations which seem to elude the 'experts' consulted in the article. (btw, these experts include wall street analysts who as a group loved worldcom, global crossing, enron, etc--basically companies that were doing real financial shenaningans...so they aren't necessarily spot-on in their analysis)

i'll use pfizer for illustrative purposes. [for the purposes of full disclosure, i am currently a pfizer shareholder]

• while 4 outta 8 pfizer r&d locations are outside the US, the vast majority of its $7.7 billion 2004 r&d budget likely was spent in the US (since one US location has nearly as many r&d employees as the int'l ones combined). that means subsidiaries in ~35 countries don't have r&d expenses within their operations, making them more profitable
• i'll stipulate to the off-shore manufacturing scheme mentioned in the article. but, this means some foreign subsidiaries may not have manufacturing expenses within their operations, making them more profitable.
• since r&d and manufacturing expenses may not apply to some int'l subsidiaries, only selling, general & adminstrative expenses remain (~30% company wide), making them more profitable.

summing up my admittedly scatter-brained argument (i'm listening to howard stern in the background), the US operations take on much of these expenses, leaving huge profit centers abroad as much of the revenue generated falls to the bottom line

[updated for formatting and clarity]

¶ - nitish @ 10:18 AM | 0 comments

  pot...meet kettle

senate minority leader harry reid called the president of the united states a loser...
in front of a bunch of a high school kids...

this is coming from a guy who has not been able to usher a single major piece of legislation from his party's agenda. the kicker was when he said, apparently with a straight face, that it's possible the republicans may "no longer count on Senator Reid working with them on the president's agenda."
could he point out to when he could be counted on?

at least he realized quickly his error.

¶ - nitish @ 10:58 PM | 0 comments

  everything is wrong

on the heels of the revelation of the wacky publishing policy of scientific journals, comes this mind-boggling article.

the half-glass-empty nature of the subtitle says it all: "Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect."

(incidentally that was a great album [bugmenot login] )

¶ - nitish @ 4:15 PM | 0 comments

  a balanced take

blogging pioneer mickey kaus comes up with some good stuff on social security.

[i usually don't like strict referral posts, but couldn't sum this up without adding my purely partisan points]

¶ - nitish @ 10:48 AM | 0 comments

  bud selig getting a bad rap

an interesting slate article on the life and times of baseball commissioner bud selig.

it chronicles his less than stellar period essentially beginning with the strike that killed a season through the infamous all-star tie game. but that appears to have been his low point. interleague play and expanded wild cards added excitement while some structural changes improved baseball's finances. his rebound continues with the proposal to strengthen the mlb drug policy.

¶ - nitish @ 4:39 PM | 0 comments

  more truth in movie times

loews movie chain announced plans to note actual movie start times by the summer movie season. loews had to weigh a possible decrease in revenue from ads and clips before the trailers and feature against the customer complaints about those ads and clips.

this is a good pr move, as people will still have to show up to get 'good seats'. but i imagine other theater chains will likely follow suit rather quickly.

¶ - nitish @ 10:40 AM | 0 comments

  public (subsidized) broadcasting service

a ny times editorial [bugmenot login]gets it right...for eight words anyway:

"The last thing Americans need is public broadcasting..."

unfortunately, the editorial continues with an alarmist 'republican takeover' angle.

a slate article by Jack Shafer details the politics, but also prescribes a solution: end the government subsidy

"The best remedy for this week's public broadcasting crisis isn't the dismantling of the 'objectivity and balance' firewall but the abolishment of the CPB itself. Bureaucracies inevitably conform to the wishes of the ruling party, and as much as CPB would like to rise above politics, every federal appropriation comes laden with political baggage."

in a media world with hundreds of channels, current 'public television' could find it's own niche.

¶ - nitish @ 3:11 PM | 0 comments

  media chronicles media declines

newspapers are suffering circulation declines. poynter has its solid round-up of the story, while media life has the numbers.

the newspaper industry must learn from the network television industry which still commands big ad money despite declining viewership. more of this

"[The newspaper industry] still is an enormous advertising presence. Its advertising continues to grow, although at less ebullient levels than used to be the case. But advertising revenues are up in the 4 to 5 percent range, so it's not a calamity yet." [quote from analyst in ChiTrib article]

speaking of television, the NY Daily News relates the decline of the television news magazines, which are relying on a tabloid-y american idol expose for some buzz. yikes

¶ - nitish @ 10:47 AM | 0 comments

  newsflash: michael moore isn't always truthful

playing a victim and crying censorship from the man helped michael moore make a lot of money. and michael moore, much like his movies, was very liberal with the facts

"On the Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD, Moore says he resolved to get the film seen in America 'by hook or by crook.' His hook was censorship.
On May 5, 2004, the New York Times ran a front-page article headlined 'Disney Is Blocking Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush' The story included the sensational charge that Eisner 'expressed particular concern that [choosing to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11] would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.' The source for this allegation was Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel. Two days later, Moore claimed on his Web site that Disney's board of directors rejected Fahrenheit 9/11 'last week.' In fact, the Disney board had not made such a decision in 2004—the project had been vetoed in 2003.
Moore's excursion from reality proved a boon at Cannes. [emphasis added]

Michael Moore 2, Truth 0

"Disney, in honoring this deal, paid Moore a stunning $21 million. Moore never disclosed the amount of his profit participation. When asked about it, the proletarian Moore joked to reporters on a conference call, 'I don't read the contracts.'"

so actually, the score was Michael Moore $21 million, the 'unbiased source'/agent ~$2 million, Truth 0

expect similar shenanigans for his upcoming Sicko

¶ - nitish @ 3:31 PM | 0 comments

  intellectual dishonesty in judicial opposition

despite the fact that 4 out of 5 democrats voted against alberto gonzales in senate confirmation for u.s. attorney general, democrats like ted kennedy are liberally invoking him in their opposition to texas supreme court justice priscilla owen

aside from the dubious veracity of the claim (because when does that really matter?), its certainly politically convenient to vote against him in one instance then use him as a character reference in another.

¶ - nitish @ 10:29 AM | 0 comments

  intellectuals don't like intellectual debate

while the larry summers-harvard controversy awhile back hinted at the lack of debate within academia, another controversy involving publishing in scientific journal broadens the issue.

a December Science magazine article attempted to demonstrate explicit unanimity among scientist that mankind is largely responsible for global warming. 2 skeptical scientists separately submitted articles to dispute this theory. they were declined

"It's pretty clear that the editorial board of Science is more interested in promoting papers that are pro-global warming. It's the news value that is most important."

ultimately it all comes down to politics

"There is a fear that any doubt will be used by politicians to avoid action," he said. "But if political considerations dictate what gets published, it's all over for science."

but they keep telling us there is no bias in the media...

¶ - nitish @ 10:38 AM | 0 comments

  you need to coordinate...

so do lefties believe people to be selfless as the washington monthly and talking points memo maintain...
or are they selfish as ny times nicholas kristof describes [bugmenot login]
the non-lefty in me obviously leans towards the selfish angle as evidenced by my march 13th post

kristof summarizes 'me-first' selfishness

"We boomers are also preying on children in a more insidious way: We're running up their debts, both by creating new entitlement programs and by running budget deficits today. Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist and fiscal expert who with Scott Burns wrote the excellent and scary book 'The Coming Generational Storm,' calls this 'fiscal child abuse.'"

the relatively effective compare and contrast between the elderly and children--specifically poverty and healthcare coverage--is marred by some bogus health stats. he uses an already de-bunked infant mortality stat, and childhood vaccinations of measles and polio. polio? that was all but eliminated with only ~10 cases per year in america. perhaps the reason the US is lower in vaccination rate is because other countries have higher rates of polio.

it appears a faulty grasp of statistics is a prerequiste to be a columnist for the ny times, but kristof is much better than serial offender paul krugman

¶ - nitish @ 2:37 PM | 0 comments