Palin interview on CNN, part of the "liberal media"

from cnn:


CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin will sit down for a wide-ranging interview with Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin in Reno, Nev., today. The 15-minute, one-on-one interview will air in all three hours of The Situation Room and will cover a variety of topics.

Earlier this year, Griffin reported the documentary CNN Presents: Sarah Palin Revealed, which included interviews with Palin’s father and sister.

Glenn Beck to Fox News? If the shoe fits

Glenn Beck, the former KC101-FM morning host (with Vinnie Penn) who went on to a lucrative career in talk radio as a conservative commentator and entertainer, may be headed for Fox News Channel.
It's a perfect fit, of course, instead of (CNN)Headline News, where Beck's conservative rants were slightly out of place.
At the Republican news network (Fox), he will blend in seamlessly with the likes of Brit Hume, Chris Wallace, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, strident GOP apologists and cheerleaders.
Word is the show will run from 5-6 p.m. weeknights starting in the spring, but there's been no confirmation yet.
Beck's show draws between 375,000 and 485,000 viewers weeknights on CNN. He also has a nationally syndicated radio show.

CNN goes for the yuks; and we're not talking about Wolf Blitzer

From CNN:
CNN today announced that it will debut an unconventional weekend show hosted by the renowned comedian D.L. Hughley. Set to premiere on Saturday, Oct. 25, D.L. Hughley Breaks The News (working title) will feature Hughley’s comedic take on the week’s events in the news – everything from politics to entertainment, sports and pop culture, as well as one-on-one interviews with a wide range of newsmakers and the reporters who cover them.

The show will emanate from CNN’s New York studios before a live audience, taking full advantage of CNN’s worldwide newsgathering resources. It will air on Saturdays at 10 p.m. and replay on Sundays at 10 p.m. (ET)

Evening changes at WNPR radio in CT.

From WNPR public radio

WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio will change its weeknight schedule beginning Monday, October 13. The new program lineup on Mondays through Fridays from 7 p.m. to midnight is:

7 p.m. Where We Live
8 p.m. Fresh Air
9 p.m. Talk of the Nation
10 p.m. BBC – The World Today
11 p.m. The Faith Middleton Show
12 a.m. BBC World Service

BBC – The World Today at 10 p.m. is a new addition to the WNPR program lineup. It is a BBC World Service program. Hosted by Max Pearson and Roger Hearing, it provides the latest news, interviews and on-the-spot features on a wide range of subjects for audiences around the world. It also covers business and sports, and its broad agenda includes culture, lifestyle and health.

The final broadcast of As It Happens on WNPR will air on Friday, October 10, 2008.

Documentary on TV reporters in Elm City

Karin and Bill Schwanbeck's excellent one-hour documentary, "Deadlines and Dollars: The Challenges Facing Local TV Reporters" will be shown at 6 p.m. in a free public screening in New Haven. The filmmakers will be on hand to screen and discuss their documentary at New Haven Public Library, 133 Elm St., at p.m. (Oct. 9).
There is no charge for this event, and free parking is available.

VP debate reaction

The debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden pretty much came off as as a draw.
Biden did a solid job of keeping his cool and challenging John McCain's weaknesses.
And don't get me wrong, I don't think Gov. Palin has any business being elected to national office at this point, but let's face it: In the view of a large portion of the American public, backed by the spin machine that is talk radio and Fox News, Palin won by not losing Thursday night.
She didn't self-destruct in a blaze of stuttering and ignorance of complicated concepts, so she's the winner.
She didn't look like a total incompetent, creationist, beauty queen, global-warming denier? She wins.
If she had thrown up on the podium, babbled about the liberal media conspiring to get her and stuttered to a standstill? She would have lost.
But because she was folksy and quoted Ronald Reagan and didn't lose, she won. Bam, give McCain-Palin the White House.
You had to chuckle at Fox News assembling a roomful of Republicans (with a beer sponsor's logo shining in the background) and asking them how Gov. Palin did. They swooned, they chirped their support, they praised the Alaskan who wants to "Drill, baby, drill."
Biden was remarkably restrained, and he pointed out how this is not really about Palin, but McCain and George W. Bush, the worst president in memory.
We're in a huge, transforming global financial crisis, caused by American greed and partly caused by the party in charge, and we're going to swoon for a small-town mayor-turned governor whose great accomplishment Thursday night was she was folksy and didn't make a total fool out of herself?
God help us, but it was a hugely important debate because it brought probably a record audience to the TV screens of America to hear political candidates debate some of the issues. That it might inspire a new generation of people to be active in the democratic process? Say it is so, Joe. We salute the under-control Biden and the GOP's rising star Palin.
Forget the spinmeisters who followed the program on TV, including Connecticut's own Joe Lieberman heard on one network praising Palin to the moon.
We're all relieved that Palin is a capable debater and politician, in case the Republicans shake off the stink of eight terrible years and somehow win this thing.
But as far as this catapaulting McCain over Barack "Kill Bin Laden" Obama, a guy with a cleaner slate, we'll have to see about that. As I said, God help us.

A native Easterner's view from the West Coast

Responding to my column on the financial mess (in the 9-26 Register, click on the title of this post to see it), Los Angeles resident Jerry DeCapua (a former schoolmate from Hamden who is a very good writer, editor and voice actor) e-mailed us this week. And let me just say there's something wrong with this country when Rush Limbaugh has a national radio show and DeCapua doesn't. Here's what he said:

"The whole bailout thing turns my stomach. (It's) the last gasp by the robber barons running this place to squeeze the last dime out of the middle class before the new sheriff gets here. In your last column, you wrote you had a hard time following what was going on regarding the imminent collapse of our economy. I'm no expert but, if I don't write this down, I'll go batsh*t.

My quick and ill-informed assessment is we need a bailout but this one wasn't it.

We need a bailout because the collapse of financial institutions and resulting foreclosures impact everyone regardless of their solvency. In other words, your dumbass lie-on-his-application neighbor's foreclosure and his dumbass helped-him-lie lender's collapse affects you, the non-dumbass living within his means (barely).

If enough of your neighbors lose their houses, your property value goes down. The resulting tax revenue loss forces your fine town to either raise the mill rate on your house or reduce the services offered to you. So your house is worth less, your taxes are higher, and the private contractor garbage bill goes up too. Suddenly, the girls softball program at the high school disappears, as well as the marching band. Also, the second mortgage you took out for your kids education gets called back or curtailed since your debt-to-earnings ratio doesn't look so good anymore to the more cautious descendants of the original dumbasses, not to mention the equity it was based upon going bye-bye.

OK, so we need a bailout but why not the last one? Because it doesn't have enough pain associated with it. First of all, the $700 billion was just a figure thrown out there because everyone wanted a figure. There is no scientific basis for the amount. Truth be told, it's probably more like a trillion. Unfortunately, the plan allows the people involved with this whole mess to carry on with no ruffled feathers and no interruptions to their fabulous lifestyles. Both the repubs and the dems talk about limiting golden parachutes. Limiting? Limiting??? How about this? You, the Big Dumbass In Charge, either leave quietly or go to prison. Here's why:

Of the 146 investment banks regulated by the SEC, only six filed up-to-date risk reports. Bear Stearns was one of the six, but filed only after it sold on the verge of collapse to J.P. Morgan. Lax regulation and enforcement allowed these institutions to inflate their ratings by avoiding accurate reporting of their risk levels. So your lender not only skips a federal regulation by omitting the reports, it also commits fraud in an effort to separate investors from their money. That is a major felony, mi amico.

Also, if the American people are expected to make this mess right, we should get a controlling interest in these institutions. Asking America to hope for some interest on their investment is like asking the Titanic passengers to wait until the crew patches the hole. Let's say I own a failing company and ask you for a loan to prop myself up. Let's also say your brother-in-law works for me so you feel obligated to do something. Do you lend me the money hoping I pay you back with interest? Or would you do your homework, insist on a controlling share, and direct the company yourself, thus avoiding a repeat of circumstances creating the mess in the first place? In doing so, you assure the health of the company and your neices and nephews continue eating on a regular basis. As a taxpayer, I want a piece of the action and a vote for the new board members.

Bailing out private institutions without pain and suffering by the people running them sends the wrong message. Such institutions will continue slimy practices knowing Uncle Sam will hand them a crutch when necessary. As we all know, doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. We don't need any more regulation. Let's enforce the ones we have and stiffen the penalties for transgressors. These institutions need to know there is a terrible risk involved with a terrible risk.

Kenny stars in Mayne Street online

From ESPN:

ESPN.com to Stream First Original Web Series Mayne Street

Kenny Mayne Stars; Plays Himself





For the first time, ESPN.com will stream an original scripted series titled Mayne Street starring ESPN personality Kenny Mayne and a cast of characters featuring special guest appearances. Mayne will play himself in a fictionalized version of life at the center of sports television. Mayne Street will launch November 11 and was shot in and around Bristol, Conn., and New York City.



The ESPN veteran known for his dry wit and offbeat sensibilities, maneuvers through each of the 15 three- to five-minute webisodes in the kind of clever and entertaining style that has made him one of ESPN’s most popular personalities. Mayne’s re-occurring foils consist largely of his fictional production crew which includes his producer, Sarah (Alison Becker); cameraman, Video Cowboy (Jon Glaser); production assistant, Jordan (Jordan Carlos); network executive, Mintz (Ben Schwartz); Mintz’s right hand, Robin (Aubrey Plaza); as well as other ESPN personalities including Scott Van Pelt, Neil Everett and others.