@tomstandage: Possibly the best Economist correction ever: http://t.co/5ua8WCv0
And the story behind it: http://t.co/IwBtsNNP
andylocal August 15, 2012 at 10:22AM
@andylocal: MetaFest continues: @thisisjendoll @atlanticwire piece on my piece on @USAToday piece on who-knew hipness of Bklyn: http://t.co/Zw2R2f86
Jennifer Aniston engaged over romantic dinner at Blue Hill restaurant
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux got engaged over a romantic birthday dinner at Greenwich Village restaurant Blue Hill, Page Six can reveal. Witnesses said the…
via NY Post: Page Six http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/joy_on_jen_menu_fLtp8k4POucUxUAQDIiZFJ?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Page%20Six
Chelsea Clinton Is Starting to Realize that She Must Fulfill Her Political Destiny [Politics]
Chelsea Clinton may finally be ready to fulfill her political destiny and restore balance to the force, or, you know, at least run for office. In the September issue of Vogue, Clinton tantalizingly suggests that, if the planets aligned just and she had finally achieved the inner peace required to wade through the muck of a political campaign, she would maybe consider running for office.
When asked about her future in politics, Clinton said, “Before my mom’s campaign I would have said no. Not because it was something I had thought a lot about but because people have been asking me that my whole life.” She says that now, however, she’s not so quick to dismiss political ambitions:
I have voted in every election that I have been qualified to vote in since I turned eighteen. I believe that engaging in the political process is part of being a good person. And I certainly believe that part of helping to build a better world is ensuring that we have political leaders who are committed to that premise. So if there were to be a point where it was something I felt called to do and I didn’t think there was someone who was sufficiently committed to building a healthier, more just, more equitable, more productive world? Then that would be a question I’d have to ask and answer.
The big takeaway here is that Chelsea Clinton is a way better participating member of our civic process than even some of the most politically opinionated Americans. Clinton said that she’s been asked by reporters pretty much all her life whether she’d ever consider a future in politics, like in 1984 when, during her dad’s gubernatorial campaign, a reporter asked if she wanted to run for governor when she grew up and she politely answered, “No, I’m four.” That’s got to be quite a burdensome political legacy to live up to, so maybe she should stay away from national politics and instead run for comptroller in a town where she’d be such an overwhelming political juggernaut that she could run it like a mini-empire, the way the villain in Roadhouse runs his town.
Chelsea Clinton open to future career in politics [The Hill]
Free eBook Flowchart
What’s your favorite kind of book? We’ve created a giant flowchart to help you browse the top 50 free eBooks at Project Gutenberg.
Click the image above to see a larger version of the book map. Your choices range from Charles Dickens to Jane Austen, from Sherlock Holmes to needlework. Below, we’ve linked to all 50 free eBooks so you can start downloading right now. The books are available in all major eBook formats.
Follow this link to see an online version of the flowchart, complete with links to the the individual books.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
via GalleyCat http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/free-ebook-flowchart_b56040
Carlyle in Deal to Buy Getty
Private-equity firm Carlyle and Getty Images management have formed a partnership to acquire stock-photo agency Getty Images from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3 billion.
via WSJ.com: What's News US http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444375104577590812532175058.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us
A Critic’s Case for Critics Who Are Actually Critical
Critics are too mean. Except when they’re too nice. They stand in the way of art. Except when they’re irrelevant. A critic makes the case for the critic.
via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/magazine/a-critic-makes-the-case-for-critics.html
Is Ryan Really a Fiscal Hawk?
Back in November of 2003, the White House was worried. So were House Republican leaders.
At issue: President George W. Bush had to use all of his political clout to get enough House Republicans to pass his proposed Medicare prescription-drug benefit. Many House Republicans balked at the cost, and some had to be confronted on the floor to get them to vote for the largest entitlement expansion since the Great Society programs of the 1960s. One House member said she hid out, avoiding making contact with House leaders. At one point, the vote was stopped, and the clock and even the C-SPAN cameras were frozen for three hours so GOP leaders could round up the votes. One of the votes for the package was Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Despite a shaky start, the benefit, also called Medicare Part D, proved immensely popular—and expensive. According to a report by the then-Comptroller General David Walker, the benefit contained $8 trillion in unfunded liabilities. (Current estimates have it more in the $7 trillion range.)
The prescription-drug benefit may be the most pertinent example, because so many Republicans balked at its price tag and its expansion of the federal role in health care. (Many Democrats liked the idea of a drug benefit for seniors but did not like the restrictions on the federal government negotiating prices for pharmaceuticals that might have kept the cost of drugs down, as it has for, say, Veterans Affairs.) Any number of notable Republicans bucked the president, including some who ran for president this year, such as Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Rick Santorum, then the junior senator from Pennsylvania.
via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/is-ryan-really-a-fiscal-hawk–20120815
Romney, Obama Fates Hinge on Shrinking Sliver of Undecideds
They make up only a sliver of the electorate, roughly 4 to 7 percent. We’re talking 1 million to 2 million people at the most, in just a handful of critical states. They tend to be younger, female, and clueless about politics.
They are the undecided. Better yet, they could be the deciders—the voters who pick the winner of the presidential election in an increasingly polarized environment. Some polls suggest there are fewer fence-sitters in 2012 than in recent elections, yet this race will see record-setting spending of at least $2.5 billion by the campaigns, national parties, and other political groups. Â
Much of what the campaigns do is geared toward getting the attention of these indifferent and far-flung individuals. Obama and soon-to-be Republican nominee Mitt Romney will spend nearly all of their time in less than a dozen states that are truly up for grabs. Their television ads are carefully designed to win over the wishy-washy and the disengaged. Watch Obama calmly appealing to undecided voters in one oft-running ad: “Sometimes politics can seem very small. But the choice you face couldn’t be bigger.”
Inside Facebook’s Push to Woo Advertisers
Facebook executive Carolyn Everson has set in motion plans to convince the world’s biggest brands that ads on the social network can indeed work—and to quantify how so.
via WSJ.com: What's News US http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444246904577575351814047494.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us