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Is the Observer Down to Just One Last Gay?

Former Observer scribe Choire Sicha has been watching changes over at the salmon paper with seeming concern. First he noted that, with the arrival of newish editor Kyle Pope, the staff had taken a decidedly more dudey turn than previous ("sort of a fruity, faggy, Jewy") eras. And now Sicha notes that, of the sixteen staff departures since Pope took over, twelve were by women or gay men. There is now only one female editor, he reports, and only one gay man on the entire staff. (Pope insists, somewhat mysteriously, that there is "more than one.") Can you imagine, a New York media institution with only one gay? That's like having a strip joint with only one nipple! [Awl]

Blogger Calls B.S. on New York Times Rumor About Microsoft and Adobe

By Nitasha Tiku

They say the enemy of your enemy is your friend. But what if you have another enemy and that first enemy also hates your second enemy, who just happens to be wiping the floor with you? Do you issue a détente with enemy one in order to jointly conspire to undermine enemy two? (This is why so many corporate leaders comb Sun Tzu for insights; it gets complicated.) Back in 2007, the already tense relationship between Microsoft and Adobe got combative after Microsoft began promoting Silverlight, a direct competitor to Adobe's software plug-in, Flash. But the New York Times recently learned of a secret meeting between the two companies, in which they discussed Apple's dominance in the mobile-phone market and whether a possible partnership might help them gain share. AllThingsD's Kara Swisher calls bullshit on the story.

Memo to the Times: When there is an acquisition afoot — in my experience — it’s all private airplanes and law offices and not a company HQ visit by the very loud and very noticeable [Steve] Ballmer, the exact polar opposite of a shrinking violet.

What happens if "the world's least creative company bought the company most of the world's creative artists depend on"? »

Sharron Angle Is Saying More Things That People Don’t Understand

By Dan Amira

Last week at a rally in Nevada, a man asked Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle for her thoughts on Muslims "taking over a city in Michigan and the residents of the city, they want them out."

Angle responds that “we’re talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe it isn’t a widespread thing, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it.”

“My thoughts are these, first of all, Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas, are on American soil, and under constitutional law. Not Sharia law. And I don’t know how that happened in the United States,” she said. “It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States.”

Wait ... what? »

Glenn Beck Is Having Trouble Feeling His Hands and Feet

The popular radio personality and Fox News host is taking next week off to have tests done on a series of strange symptoms he's been experiencing. "I believe physical, mental and spiritual are all tied," he told his listeners today. "A lot of physical things, a lot of mental things, are from spiritual wounds, and vice versa." [The Blaze via TVNewser/Mediabistro]

William Marimow Out As Editor of Philadelphia Inquirer

"The company's new management told Marimow that despite his national reputation as an outstanding print journalist, he did not have the background in digital media necessary to lead the paper going forward." [Philly.com via Gawker]

President Obama’s National Security Adviser Steps Down

By Dan Amira

Retired general James Jones, President Obama's national security adviser, is resigning today. Although he was rumored to be leaving by the end of the year anyway, the administration was reportedly none too pleased with some of his comments in Bob Woodward's Obama's Wars. According to a Times summary of James's gripes from the book:

Gen. James L. Jones, national security adviser: Resented the president’s political aides including Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff; David Axelrod, senior adviser; Robert Gibbs, press secretary; and Denis McDonough and Mark Lippert, National Security Council officials. Called them “the water bugs,” “the Politburo,” the “Mafia” or “the campaign set.” At one point, almost threatened to quit when he was denied access to the president. Ultimately pressured Mr. Lippert to leave.

James also wasn't too keen on Thomas Donilon, the deputy national security adviser, who is now taking over for James. Neither was Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who, according to Woodward, said Donilon would be a "disaster" as NSA. But we're sure Gates will come around.

Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser [Caucus/NYT]
Tom Donilon Would Be A 'Disaster' As National Security Adviser, Robert Gates Reportedly Said [HuffPo]

Officer Jon From CHiPs Charged With Securities Fraud

By Jessica Pressler

The SEC has charged Larry Wilcox, along with several other people, with paying kickbacks to corrupt money managers or stockbrokers as part of a penny-stock scheme.

In each instance, the Defendants attempted to conceal the kickback by entering into a consulting agreement with a phony company the trustee purportedly created to receive the kickback. Unbeknownst to the Defendants, the company was a fiction the FBI created for this sting.

You would think he would have guessed they were being framed, given his background in law enforcement. That's gotta sting.

SEC Charges Penny Stock Promoters in Series of Kickback Schemes [SEC]

Rick Sanchez Promotes Jon Stewart From ‘Bigot’ to ‘Classiest Guy in the World’

By Nitasha Tiku

Rick Sanchez delivered another mea culpa, this time on ABC's Good Morning America, for comments he made about Jon Stewart, CNN, and Jewish individuals who have chosen to pursue a career in media. "I screwed up, George," Sanchez told host George Stephanopoulos. Sanchez, who was fired the day after his ill-advised radio interview, apologized for scapegoating the comedian, saying "I went in there with a chip on my shoulder; I was a little bit angry." Sanchez said his issue was actually with inequality in media, pointing out that there isn't a single Hispanic, African-American, or Asian-American hosting a cable newscast in prime time. Sanchez, whose show Rick's List was on from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., isn't the only one to point this out. The National Association of Black Journalists noted the same thing in June after Eliot Spitzer was hired to fill the 8 p.m. slot.

"I externalized the problem and put it on Jon Stewart's shoulders. I was wrong to do that. When I called Jon Monday and said, 'Why do you always pick on me?' And he said, 'You're the one I like.' The guy's been so good ... I learned later that Jon Stewart is the classiest guy in the world."

Sanchez said the chip on his shoulder stemmed from a childhood incident with a resident of Boca Raton. »

Nobody Wants to Say That Sarah Palin Is Qualified to Be President

By Dan Amira

Sarah Palin sure has some fair-weather friends. In Alaska, when Joe Miller was still a nobody, Palin's endorsement put him on the map and pushed him to a primary victory over incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski. Now it's the general election, and Miller has to appeal to a broader audience than the GOP diehards who vote in primaries. So when he was asked point-blank this week whether Palin is qualified to be president, he merely acknowledged that she's constitutionally eligible.

Now it's Christine O'Donnell's turn. »

Working at Morgan Stanley Is Fun and Sexy

By Jessica Pressler
Watch Video

As we all know, the banking industry has been through a bit of a rough patch the past few years, and the financial crisis revealed a lot of dastardly characters working within its ranks. But Morgan Stanley's new recruitment video, Futures and Options, provides a heartwarming glimpse at the wholesome, young Bankers of the Future. Made by the advertising agency The Margin in a candid Real World style that recalls the work of the Ben Stiller character in Reality Bites, the video introduces us to a handful of hip, sexy real-life Morgan employees as they go about their days, from shaving and making coffee (Sour milk! Oh no!) to the office, where high-fives are exchanged, Ping-Pong is played, and "big dates" are discussed in between, of course, very fulfilling and exciting work. "We wanted to do something cutting-edge, that reflects the experience of working at the firm," a Morgan spokeswoman tells us, adding that they plan to show the video at universities to entice students. "One year out of college, I was able to be advising people, and for them to be taking me seriously," one young capital-markets associate informs the camera. Some outside the industry might actually find that alarming, but as one of the video titles reminds us, even if you screw up, it all shakes out if you're in banking: "In the financial world, some days, fortunes will be made. Other days, history will."

Read more »

Always Hang Up the Phone Completely Before Calling Someone a Whore

By Dan Amira

Just when it seemed like Democrat Jerry Brown was starting to pull away from Republican Meg Whitman in the California gubernatorial race, an oversight in telephone protocol could cost him. It happened in early September. Both candidates were seeking the endorsements of police organizations, and Whitman had earlier promised to protect police and other public-safety employees from pension cuts if she became governor. After calling the Los Angeles Police Protective League and asking for an endorsement in a voice mail, Brown hung up the phone and discussed the situation with an unidentified associate. Except he didn't actually hang up the phone, and the voice mail kept recording.

Bad news bears. »

Unemployment Holds at 9.6 Percent: Overall Jobs Lost, Private Employment Losing Steam

By Chris Rovzar

This picture will never get old.

Democratic hopes that job numbers would improve in the last unemployment announcement before the midterm elections were dashed today when the government announced that the national jobless rate held steady at 9.6 percent in the month of September. 95,000 jobs were lost overall — 77,000 of them temporary government jobs related to the census. Private employment, usually a better metric for how the labor market is actually going, was up 64,000. That's better than going down, but it's not as good as the previous month's rise of 93,000. The percentage of people who are working part-time because they can't find full-time work — or who have given up looking for work entirely — has risen to 17.1 percent from 16.7 percent in August. This is all-around worse news than analysts expected, and a serious blow to midterm candidates with any ties to President Obama. With today's numbers, expectations seem to be even higher that the Fed will take some sort of new action — perhaps buying more bonds to try to keep loan rates low for families and small businesses — in November.

Cuts in Government Led U.S. Economy to Lose 95,000 Jobs [NYT]

White House Minus Rahm: Less Machiavelli, More Socrates

By Nitasha Tiku

One week without Rahm Emanuel and the difference is already palpable. Gone are the days when staffers were summoned by "hollering for them to get the hell in here right away," says Politico. Instead, newly appointed chief of staff Pete Rouse will send an e-mail request. Eh, borderline namby-pamby, but we'll allow it. And where his predecessor was a whirling dervish of opinionated, on-the-spot decision-making, the more mellow Rouse signals "his intentions through pointed questions, the same Socratic technique favored by President Barack Obama." A top administration official compares the two: "Rahm is declarative. Pete is inquisitive." Wait, he is curious about things? Hardly the mark of a decider. But before you accuse Rouse of lacking cojones and dismiss him as a "64-year-old cat-loving recluse," consider how comfortable he is with the words "You're fired!"

Is Rouse Washington's answer to Donald Trump? »

China’s Most Famous Dissident Wins Nobel Peace Prize While in Jail

By Nitasha Tiku

Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident currently serving an eleven-year prison term for subversion, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today for “his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Liu, a political essayist and advocate for democracy, was sentenced in 2009 after he co-authored Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reform and human rights. Liu has been harassed and detained since his role in the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989, where he negotiated the peaceful retreat of student demonstrators while armed soldiers stood by. His wife, Liu Xia, said it was unlikely that he had heard and was packing her bags under police surveillance to go tell him the news. After the announcement, China acknowledged Liu's achievements and vowed to scale back its increasing intolerance of domestic dissent called the decision a "blasphemy" to the peace prize and said it would harm Norwegian-Chinese relations. Liu's lawyer told CNN that the prize could mean a longer prison sentence for his client. "I hope that he'd be released earlier because of the prize, but in reality, that will not happen."

Nobel Peace Prize Given to Jailed Chinese Dissident [NYT]
Chinese dissident wins Nobel Peace Prize [CNN]

Sean Parker Donates $100,000 Toward Weed Legalization

On the heels of Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to Newark public schools, Napster founder and onetime Facebook president Sean Parker donated $100,000 toward marijuana legalization in California, according to a spokesperson for Proposition 19. And though Facebook recently blocked ads supporting the legalization of marijuana, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz also donated $50,000 toward the cause. Finally, some Facebook founders who just thought they seemed cool in The Social Network, trying to hang on to that cred. [HuffPo]

Fox 5 Reporter Charged With Sexual Assault

Fox 5 reporter Charles Leaf was reportedly arrested in New Jersey last night and charged with sexual assault on a minor. The 41-year-old newsman was being held in Bergen County Jail on $250,000 bail. Fox 5 is "aware of the situation," said a spokeswoman. [NYDN]

Christine O’Donnell Was a Twentysomething When She Denied Evolution, So It’s Fine

By Mike Vilensky

Time was, a politician said he smoked some pot in his twenties, maybe even tried "a little blow," and that was the end of the story. But these days, candidates are using youth as an excuse for everything from fellating a red dildo worn as a nose by their ex-husbands in a reindeer costume to, now, dating witches. On CNN last night, Delaware's GOP candidate for senator Christine O'Donnell became the latest political hopeful to blame her politically harmful behavior on her twenties. "I'm not embarrassed, and I'm not saying that I'm proud," she said, of once publicly loathing masturbation and claiming evil scientists are creating mouse-human hybrids. "They're painting a picture of who I was twenty years ago. I've matured. Today, you have a fortysomething woman running for office. Not a twenty-year-old. That's a big difference. Back then, a lot of what I said — I had a newfound faith." Well, at this rate, you can use your twenties as an excuse for anything.

O'Donnell on the Maher tapes [Political Ticker/CNN]

10/07/10

This Year, the Deficit Was Only a Trillion Dollars

The U.S. federal government ran a deficit of around $1.3 trillion in the fiscal year that ended September 30, according to preliminary estimates released this evening. But that's chump change compared to last year's, which was a whole $125 billion more. Sure, last year's was also the worst on record since World War II, but one trillion is practically thrifty! [CNN Money]

Expensive Tunnel From Jersey to Manhattan Will Not Be Built After All

By Mike Vilensky

New Jersey contractors have been hard at work on the largest public-transit project in the nation, a commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey to Manhattan — until today, when New Jersey governor Chris Christie found out the tunnel would cost $5 billion more than he'd expected, and decided splurging on this thing was actually "completely unthinkable," as he does not want to put Jersey taxpayers "on what would be a never-ending hook." So, change of plans! Pack up and go home now, guys. Except, "Mr. Christie’s decision stunned other government officials and advocates of public transportation because work on the tunnel was under way and $3 billion of federal financing had already been arranged — more money than had been committed to any other transit project in America." Oops.

N.J. governor kills Hudson River tunnel project [CNN]
Governor of New Jersey Halts Train Tunnel [NYT]

Nobel-Prize Winning Mario Vargas Llosa Doesn't Know What The Future Holds For Books

At a press conference in New York this afternoon, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature this morning, was asked what he believes the future holds for the book publishing industry. The 74-year-old, who has written over thirty books, said: "My idea of books is paper books. I think this will change and keep changing, but my hope is that new technology wont mean the trivialization of the contents. I hope new technology will keep literature something deeply related to the most essential problems - social, human. The danger is that technology will impoverish the contents of the book, but this also depends on us! If we want literature to keep being what it has been, I think it's in our hands, not to permit technology to destroy what has been built on the long route of civilization. But we don't know what will happen in the future with literature and the arts, with technology. It's an enigma." [ArtsBeat/NYT]

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Senior Editors
Chris Rovzar and Jessica Pressler
Assistant Editors
Dan Amira, Nitasha Tiku
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