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Oprah Winfrey finally launched her cable channel, OWN, at noon on Saturday, three years and a reported $189 million after she first announced the venture. Soon to be screening in more than 80 million living rooms around the world, the network kicked off with a one-hour preview special, hosted by Oprah Winfrey herself, of course. The bitch-free network's line-up of shows, thus far, includes:
• Master Class, a series spotlighting prominent people like Diane Sawyer, Jay-Z and Condoleezza Rice.
• In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman, a show providing counseling to couples who need to repair their sex lives.
• Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star, a reality show on which contestants compete for a hosting gig of their own on OWN.
• A reality series with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, as she seeks to rebuild her life.
• Miracle Detectives, on which two investigators - one a believer, the other a scientist - explore seeming miracles.
• The Gayle King Show, which is self-explanatory. And long in the making.
• Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes, a show about The Oprah Winfrey Show's final season.
That's a lot of Oprah and things Oprah likes. So, what do people think so far?
The AP's Frazier Moore found the kick-off a bit anti-climactic, but promising: "Oprah Winfrey's network has begun not with a bang but with redeclared purpose ... After years in the planning and months of hype, the moment of launch on Saturday was rather quiet ... and free of glitz ... A soft opening, aimed at whetting viewers' appetites." [AP via NYDN]
The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley found the network almost ludicrously earnest: "Most striking for what it lacked: nowhere in that opening gush of feel-good highlight reels, self-improvement plans, spiritual quests, aha! moments, celebrity master classes, and people finding their truths and living their own best lives was there a snicker of malice or a hint of raillery. At times, it seemed almost like a comical conceit, like those movies that pivot on the sudden disappearance of a basic pillar of life, Death Takes a Holiday or even The Invention of Lying. OWN is a place where cynicism takes a holiday and mockery hasn’t yet been invented." Ultimately, she considers it "a gamble." [Arts Beat/NYT]
Salon's Matt Zoller Seitz finds the whole thing a bit unsettling if ultimately enjoyable: "One of the more disquieting aspects ... is the pervasive sense (inevitable, I suppose) that this cable network is not just a programming venture and a brand extension, but a living monument to its creator's power -- and a celebration of her willingness to use that power as a force for good," he wrote. "We won't just watch OWN; we will gaze upon it with awe and affection and marvel at the sweet magnificence of its founder." However, he admitted: "It won me over." [Salon via HR]
Gawker's Adrian Chen challenges the notion that the network will encourage viewers to tone down their cynicism, expecting more back-patting: "Oprah's famous friends [will] talk about how awesome they are. It's sort of like an infomercial, but for a person." He added: "Do miracles really exist? No, but that won't stop OWN from having an entire show about the idiots who believe in them." [Gawker]
IndieWire's Caryn James said the fare - fluffy but smart - will appeal to true Oprah believers: "OWN displays a whiff of spirituality, a huge amount of life-style fluff and a surprising layer of substance." James noted that "only die-hard Winfrey fans would like most of the program," but: "Beneath the inspirational advice that often sounds like hot air, and the clean-up-your-room mom’s voice, Oprah has a bedrock belief in reason, intelligence and education. That’s what makes her so valuable and OWN so promising to the non-banshees among us." [IndieWire via Mediaite]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: the most important people in the world, media, oprah, oprah winfrey, oprah winfrey network, own, tv
Republican lawmakers, start your symbolic attacks on the Obama administration. The GOP-led 112th Congress will get things rolling with a reading of the Constitution before moving onto repealing the president's health care reform law. Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, incoming Chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee, told Fox News Sunday that the GOP has 242 votes in favor of repeal, and that "there will be a significant number of Democrats who will join us" in a vote sometime before Obama's State of the Union address. Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, said: “It’s important that we repeal Obamacare as soon as possible because it is already harming the economy and killing jobs." Bachman is the queen of prompt health care reform repeals: she introduced a repeal bill a day before the law was even signed.
A repeal has a 0.00 % chance of clearing the Senate or securing Obama's signature, but it does give GOP congressmen a legitimate reason to blast Carrie Underwood from their office computer speakers: The Times reports that many have latched onto her hit "Undo It" as "the refrain for their planned attack." The song's chorus, which states "you stole my happy / you made me cry," is seen as having a special resonance for incoming House Speaker John Boehner.
And then there's noted corruption of the Obama administration. Wait, what? Following the elections in November, incoming House Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa dubbed President Obama, "One of the most corrupt presidents in modern times," and then obviously felt so bad he had to "explain." During an appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning, Issa said: "What I meant to say - you know, on live radio, with Rush going back and forth - is this is one of the most corrupt administrations ... When you hand out $1 trillion in TARP just before this president came in, most of it unspent, $1 trillion nearly in stimulus that this president asked for, plus this huge expansion in health care and government, it has a corrupting effect. The sooner the administration figures out that the enemy is the bureaucracy and the wasteful spending, not the other party, the better off we'll be."
And here we thought Wednesday would be filled with bi-partisan kick-off soirees.
New Congress Set its Eyes on Oversights [CNN]
GOPer calls Obama administration 'corrupt' [Political Ticker/CNN]
GOP Newcomers Set Out to Undo Obama Victories [NYT]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: early and often, barack obama, carrie underwood, darrell issa, gop, michele bachmann
The quiet town of Beebe, Arkansas woke up on Saturday, January 1, 2011, to find thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds on the ground. The bird corpses stretched for miles, yet an aerial survey showed that no other dead birds were found outside this specific area. "I thought the mayor was messing with me when he called me," a town street supervisor said. "He got me up at 4'oclock in the morning and told me we had birds falling out of the sky." Estimates have put the number of dead birds at between 4,000 and 5,000. Wow, that's nuts. But surely there must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this phenomenon, right?
Um, no, actually. Nobody has any idea why or how this happened. There are some theories, though. Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said she thought the birds could have been killed by lightening or a high-altitude hail storm. "Conspiracy theorists" suspect a "sonic boom" is to blame, according to MSNBC. Some officials noted that large New Year's Eve fireworks may have played a role. And though biologists believe it's unrelated, an estimated 100,000 dead drum fish, believed to be diseased, also lined the banks of a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River on Saturday, 125 west of of Beebe. In any case, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has collected some of the birds for testing, to try to determine how they died. But on MSNBC today, conservation biologist Reese Halter wasn't all that freaked out: "Flocks do come down, whether from noxious fumes or cold weather," he said. "There's death everywhere." Oh, okay. Happy New Year, Arkansas.
More than 1,000 dead birds fall out of the sky in Arkansas [NYDN]
More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark [MSNBC]
Arkansas game officials probe mystery of falling birds [CNN]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: the birds, arkansas, beebe, scary things, unsolved mysteries
In the light of day, she was your everyday JPMorgan Chase business analyst. But by night, she existed in the shady online underworld of historical fiction writing. Fifty year-old New Jersey resident Marilyn Tagocon, seeing nothing wrong with this picture, mistakenly let slip to her bosses that she spends her spare-time - gasp - blogging, and sometimes self-publishing her work. The company's code of conduct apparently restricts employees from posting "online personal speeches," so Tagocon went to human resources to make sure she was in the clear. That's when she was told: It's your job, or your historical fiction blogging.
In a lawsuit, she now claims that after sticking with the blog, she was subsequently canned from her paid job. Unfortunately, she wrote under a pseudonym and the pen name hasn't leaked yet, so a tip to Marilyn Tagocon: Now would be a good time to promote the writing that allegedly got you fired! It's the most news-worthy an anonymous historical fiction blog has been in a while.
Bank's blogger booted [NYP]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: blog-stained bankers, historical fiction, ink-stained wretches, jpmorgan chase, marilyn togocon
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile this afternoon, causing panicked residents fearing a tsunami to flee their homes for higher ground, but causing no injuries or damage. Onemi chief Vicente Nunez said, "We've told people to go back to their houses because there's no tsunami alert." [Reuters via NYT]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: scary things, chile, earthquakes, weather
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez bumped into Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Brazil this weekend at the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, and the two shook hands and chatted. "She had a very spontaneous smile and I greeted her with the same effusiveness," Chavez later explained. "It was a pleasant moment. We spoke about two or three specific things," he said, without specifying which two or three things those were. Playing it cool, the U.S. State Dept. hasn't said anything about the stop-and-chat. No big deal. It's whatever. Let the other guy talk about it.
But perhaps the two leaders talked about last week's incident, when the U.S. government revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to Washington. Or maybe they talked about the preceding incident: Venezuela's recent decision not to accept the diplomatic credentials of Larry Palmer, the U.S. ambassadorial nominee for Venezuela, after Palmer expressed rightful concerns about freedom of expression in the South American country and noted that there are "clear ties" between the Venezuelan government and Colombian guerrillas. Or, you know, maybe they just said, "Rousseff will be wonderful. You and I should talk soon. Nice to see you." World leaders: Forced to act cordial around people they feel iffy about when they run into 'em at their mutual friends' events. Ugh, just like us.
Chavez, Clinton shake hands at Brazilian inauguration [CNN]
Chavez, Clinton chat at Brazil inauguration [AP]
Earlier: Hugo Chavez Expresses His Feelings for Hillary Clinton in Song
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: early and awkward, dilma rousseff, hillary clinton, hugo chavez, larry palmer, secretary of awesome, stop-and-chats, venezuela
A bomb explosion outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt killed at least twenty-one people and wounded ninety-six others on Saturday. The bomb is believed to have been worn by a suicide bomber and intended as an attack against Egypt's Christian minority, set off shortly after midnight outside the Saints Church as the New Year’s Mass was ending, following a year of religious tensions in the region. Egyptian President Mubarak said authorities believe the bomb was set off by foreign terrorists, but authorities on Sunday were investigating local Muslim extremists who may have been inspired by Al Qaeda. Mubarak said, “We are all in one trench. We will cut off the head of the snake, confront terrorism, and defeat it.” Congregants returned to the targeted church early Sunday for Mass, with riot police manning the streets and shattered glass and blood still visible. The pews were nearly full, with worshipers occasionally directing angry outbursts at the Egyptian government for not preventing attacks against Coptic Christians, and sobbing throughout the service.
On Sunday, President Obama said, "The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshipers, and have no respect for human life and dignity. They must be brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act. We are continuing to gather information regarding this terrible event, and are prepared to offer any necessary assistance to the Government of Egypt in responding to it."
Egypt Churchgoers Return to Services After Bomb [NYT]
Fatal Bomb Hits a Church in Egypt [NYT]
Obama condemns bombing attacks [Politico]
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: terrorism, alexandria, awful things, coptic christians, egypt, hosni mubarak, suicide bombers, terrorist attacks
A record number of crazy people showed up for the New Year's Day Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual dip into the Atlantic yesterday, and it looks like they had more fun than ever. Oil-stained environmentalists (looking a bit like blood-stained Elvis impersonators) sprinted alongside girls in bikinis. Perhaps it was the unseasonably lovely temperatures that drew the big and jubilant crowd, or the money being raised for Camp Sunshine. Or maybe, even though science has disproved it, the age-old "2012 myth" and that Roland Emmerich movie have all of us subtly convinced that this year could be the planet's last (or, if Sarah Palin runs for president, the country's last). So let's make it count!
Read more posts by Mike Vilensky
Filed Under: photo op, 2011, coney island, neighborhood news, polar bear club
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has put together a veritable playground of security surprises and thrills for crowds planning on attending New Year's Eve in Times Square tonight. "We always change up what we do," he told Bloomberg today. "We don’t want to get stuck in a rut.” The obstacle course between revelers and Anderson Cooper starts with "magnetometers," which people will have to go through "perhaps as many as three times," he said. On top of that, there will be thousands of uniformed and undercover officers — operating handheld and vehicle-mounted radiation detectors, in helicopters, in elevated observation towers, and on the ground, opening handbags, making people open their coats, and (we hope!) maybe even doing some of that TSA-style junk-fondling for a "that's so 2010!" kick. "I expect to have a great time," the mayor, who will be attending the festivities, said. Yes, that sounds GREAT.
And with that, we're signing off for the day. Whatever you're doing this New Year's Eve, we hope it too involves safe and pleasant fondling. See you in 2011!
New York City Prepares for Quiet New Year's Eve Fete [Bloomberg]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: is that a radiation detector in your pocket or are you just happy to see me, good times, happy new year, mayor bloomberg, stuck in rut
Near the close of his second term as governor, New Mexico's Bill Richardson came close to making good on a 2003 pledge to potentially pardon Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid. A history buff, Richardson had looked into a promise from former governor Lee Wallace to Billy in 1879 to pardon the gunslinger in exchange for testimony before a grand jury in an unrelated murder trial. But Wallace never followed through in the end. "I've decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Governor Wallace reneged on his pardon," Richardson told Good Morning America today. Poor Billy. Even Jim Morrison got his pardon this year, though to be fair, he didn't shoot four to nine people to death.
Gov. Bill Richardson: 'I've Decided Not To Pardon Billy the Kid' [ABC News]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: gunslingers, bill richardson, billy the kid, pardons, politics
The charmingly period-accurate Edgar Allen Poe House on Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx is a little-visited landmark that housed the legendary writer in some of his final years. But the Bronx Historical Society is hoping that a modernist visitors' center will add to the appeal: Designed by Japanese architect Toshiko Mori, it would provide a stark counterpoint to the quaint 1812 home. [Real Deal via Curbed NY]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: neighborhood news, bronx, edgar allen poe, poe house
Martha Kunkle's name appears on thousands of affidavits sent out by Providian National, a credit-card company once owned by Washington Mutual, now owned by JP Morgan, to delinquent customers. In them, she swears that "to the best of my knowledge" the amount owed "reflects a true and correct accounting of the cardholder's credit card account," with a bubbly, neat signature whose friendliness belies the tone of the letter. Not much was known about Kunkle until 2008, when a number of Montana residents sued the collection agency Providian sold its debt to for abusive, unfair, and unlawful practices. "We made an effort to meet Martha Kunkle and verify what she said," the lawyer said. "They never made her available." BECAUSE SHE WAS DEAD.
It was subsequently discovered that Martha Marie Kunkle, a resident of Arlington, Texas, who was born, according to public records, in 1922, had died back in 1995. Her life, it appears, was undistinguished, or at least unblemished, until her daughter, Lorraine Kunkle, a onetime employee of Washington Mutual, made the unorthodox decision to authorize colleagues at the bank to use her mother's name for the dread process of "robo-signing." Today, Martha's name appears on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, featured as an example of the "an epidemic of mass-produced, sloppy and inaccurate documentation in the debt-collection industry," and will likely be repeated many times over as the story of this terrible period in history is repeated for generations. Immortality, Martha Kunkle, is thine.
Dead Soul Is a Debt Collector [WSJ]
He took the fight to debt collectors — and he collected [Billings Gazette]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: fi-cri fallout, business, credit cards, immortality, jp morgan, martha kunkle, providian
It took such a massive confluence of weather, infrastructure failure, and testosterone to create the chaotic situation on 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen this week that it almost seems like God had a plan. Here's what's going on: Starting on Monday, sanitation workers began piling up snow at the intersection of 38th Street and 11th Avenue near a heating device that would melt it away into the sewers. Foot traffic on the street was entirely blocked, both for passersby and for workers whose job was on the block. And what is one of the biggest employers on 38th Street near 11th Avenue? HeadQuarters, the infamous strip joint. Even though the strippers have largely been able to "totter through an arctic winterscape in their stiletto heels," business has basically been smothered by the snow. "A normal night for us, we can make anywhere from, say, $500 to $1,500," exotic dancer Amber Tamburi, 22, griped to the Post. "And this week, we're making nothing." So what good could God have possibly wanted to come out of this situation? Oh, yeah, for the Post to finally be able to publish the phrase "Massive Mounds Outside Mammary Mecca." Obviously.
Bad news 'bares' [NYP]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: mammary meccas, blizzard of 2010, headquarters, massive mounds, snomg, snow, snowmageddon, strippers
The Post seems to be the only paper really chasing down this "sanitation sabotage" story, in which they claim that some cleanup workers were ordered to do a shoddy job by Sanitation Department bosses in order to "send a message" to the city about budget cutbacks. But yesterday Mayor Bloomberg seized upon the tale and questioned it. "I don't think it took place," he said, ordering an investigation. "It would be an outrage if it took place." (Really, sir? Or would it be awesome for you if it took place and there was another scapegoat for the sanitation debacle earlier this week?) Still, the Post continues with its own probe, today reporting that workers who were doing purposefully poor work focused on specific well-heeled neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens — like Borough Park, Dyker Heights, and Queens' Middle Village — in order to send a message to the powerful pols who represent those areas. But for some reason, the Post reported, the streets on which the officials live themselves were among the first to be cleared.
Sanitation workers targeted specific neighborhoods [NYP]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: snomg, blizzard of 2010, michael bloomberg, politics, snow, snowmageddon, snowstorms
The spoof of year-end letters hedge-fund managers send to their investors that's been making the rounds is so absurd and self-serious, it almost just sounds real. [DealBook/NYT]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: white men with money, business, hedge funds, ken griffin, ray dalio