Alba Gu Brath!

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

The direct link @ youtube

RIDICULOUS: Brad Pitt Flick Costs Louisiana Taxpayers $27 Million!!!!!

FROM PEREZ HILTON:

Looks like you can lump Hollywood into that pile of crappy, greedy people mooching off of the American taxpayer.

On Saturday, the New York Times reported on the millions of dollars from states that have been going straight to the pockets of Hollywood studios to finance movies via tax breaks.

Hollywood is just as bad as those shady Wall Street finance people!

For example, Louisiana taxpayers funded $27 million of Brad Pitt's $167 million dollar movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The paper also notes that this is the state’s biggest movie payout to date!

Hollywood producers and studios claim that the state tax breaks allow them to keep entertainment jobs in the U.S. and create jobs.

But, au contraire!

The report points to the case of a straight-to-DVD Wesley Snipes and Cybil Shepherd-starring picture called Hard Luck filmed in the state of Rhode Island.

The seaside state gave Hard Luck $2.65 million in tax breaks, but Rhode Islander's only netted $1.9 million in return.

Why don't the politically 'active' stars take on their own greedy industry.

Ahem, Brad?

Did that Benjamin Buttons movie generate more than $27 million in revenues for Louisiana?

[Image via Doug Meszler/WENN.]

[From Brad Pitt Flick Costs Louisiana Taxpayers $27 Million!!!!!]

The cable news viewing habits of Democrats and Republicans revealed.

It's probably no big surprise but your political affiliation probably is a decent predictor of which cable news operation you prefer. Overwhelmingly Democrats prefer CNN and MSNBC while Republicans have a taste for Fox News.

wwn

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From Mediabistro

Every two years, the Pew Research Center looks at how people get their news. Throughout the day, we'll take a look at several facets of the latest study, which was released today.

• When it comes to audience breakdown by political lines, CNN and MSNBC showed more Democrat viewers while FNC, more Republican. But the minority party viewership is much stronger at Fox News than its competitors: 33% of Fox viewers are listed as Democrats, while 18% of CNN and MSNBC viewers say they are Republicans.

"Currently 51% of regular CNN viewers are Democrats, up from 45% two years ago. Nearly four-in-ten regular Fox News viewers are Republicans (39%), about the same as in 2006," reports the survey.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

[From Who Watches What: Party Lines & Cable News]

Gas as an economic engine?

What if the Federal and State gasoline taxes were "suspended," for the summer as some politicians had proposed?

Now that prices are falling would the added relief of a temporary tax suspension have acted as an economic stimulus at just the time it is need most?

We'll never know.

wwn

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TechCrunch: How Many Silicon Valley Startup Executives Are Hopped Up On Provigil?

What a world we live in! Who needs energy drinks or Starbucks?

Just a couple decades ago the recreation go-go drug was the stuff of legend and wars. Cocaine's irresistible draw had the jet set racing around like jacked up squirrels. Today's pharmaceuticals make it far easier for people to keep going without the stigma Cocaine eventually had.

wwn

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Is someone you work with taking Provigil to give them an extra competitive edge? I’ve spoken with one executive who says he uses it regularly to work twenty hour days, and the buzz lately is that it’s the “entrepreneur’s drug of choice” around Silicon Valley. Over the last week two separate entrepreneurs have mentioned it casually in conversation, and one said he tried it once and loved it.

Provigil (aka Modafinil) is marketed by Cephalon in the United States and is available by prescription only. It’s only approved use in the U.S. is to treat narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder. But since the main effect of Provigil is to keep you awake and able to concentrate, a lot of people who get their hands on it use it to be able to work longer hours, even though it has not been deemed safe for that kind of use.

Recreational Provigil user testimonials are all over the web. Not only are people able to work with little or no sleep, the drug has the advantage of spurring weight loss and some users report a general mood enhancing side effect. The U.S. military has also reportedly tested it on helicopter and F117 pilots to see if they remain effective for up to 88 hours without sleep.

There are few side effects to Provigil compared to stimulants and it is supposedly not habit forming. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s safe to take it just to be able to stay awake for 20 hours a day.

What’s so funny is that entrepreneurs apparently aren’t interested in typical drugs - instead they find the one that gives them a mental and stamina advantage. Perhaps some enterprising venture capitalist will start requiring founders of their companies to get a prescription in order to close on an investment.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

[From How Many Silicon Valley Startup Executives Are Hopped Up On Provigil?]

1st Obama now Olbermann? Say it ain't so! FISA Flip Flops.

TVNewser is reporting on the apparent flip flop on FISA not of presumed Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama but of MSNBC resident left wing apologist/front man Keith Olbermann?

Doesn't a major flip flop on a core issue used to bash the Bush administration for overreaching during the war on terror earn at least an also ran for WORSE PERSON OF THE WEEK?

Several weeks ago TVNewser reported about growing concerns at NBC News by some staffers over Olbermann's antics including overt on air fawning over Barack Obama. Staffers worry that such on air behavior is stripping the Peacock's news department of its image of objectivity. They are concerned that more and more they look to be in the tank for Obama and are acting as an organ of the Democratic National Committee.

What? Wait! I thought that MSNBC is now the lefts answer to Fox?

BTW, in other Olbermann news....15 Fox News Channel programs, including the morning gabber Fox and Friends, beat Countdown in the ratings.

wwn

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Contradicting Comments on Countdown?

Salon's Glenn Greenwald writes in great detail about MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann's apparent reversal on the FISA law.

In January, Olbermann unleashed a Special Comment aimed at Pres. Bush and the law, saying, "Illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass email."

On Wednesday night, as Greenwald writes, Olbermann's, "blind devotion," to Obama led him to describe, "Senator Obama also refusing to cower even to the left on the subject of warrantless wiretapping."

"Are we hoping for a Fox News for Obama, that glorifies everything he says and whitewashes everything he does?" asks Greenwald.

Obama's support of the FISA bill and subsequent blogosphere backlash is detailed here.

Last night, after Countdown aired, Olbermann issued a response, by way of the Daily Kos, to Greenwald and others.

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

[From Contradicting Comments on Countdown?]

Save the Planet. Bring back the CRT!

In an interesting choice for PerezHilton, the gossip guru has posted a link to a story claiming LCD and Plasmas are accelerating global climate change.

Wait, didn’t I see a whole mess of Apple Cinema displays on Al Gore’s desk? 

wwn

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From PerezHilton

 

Headline of the Week Weak

"Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming"

Are they serious???? CLICK HERE to read the article accompanying this headline.

Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming

A gas used in the making of flat screen televisions, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), is being blamed for damaging the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.

Almost half of the televisions sold around the globe so far this year have been plasma or LCD TVs.

But this boom could be coming at a huge environmental cost.

The gas, widely used in the manufacture of flat screen TVs, is estimated to be 17,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.

Ironically, NF3 is not covered by the Kyoto protocol as it was only produced in tiny amounts when the treaty was signed in 1997.

Levels of this gas in the atmosphere have not been measured, but scientists say it is a concern and are calling for it to be included in any future emissions cutting agreement.

Professor Michael Prather from the University of California has highlighted the issue in an article for the magazine New Scientist.

He has told ABC's The World Today program that output of the gas needs to be measured.

"One of my titles for this paper was Going Below Kyoto's Radar. It's the kind of gas that's made in huge amounts," he said.

"Not only is it not in the Kyoto Treaty but you don't even have to report it. That's the part that worries me."

He estimates 4,000 tons of NF3 will be produced in 2008 and that number is likely to double next year.

"We don't know what's emitted, but what they're producing every year dwarfs these giant coal-fired power plants that are like the biggest in the world," he said.

"And it dwarfs two of the Kyoto gases. So the real question we don't know is how much is escaping and getting out."

Dr Paul Fraser is the chief research scientist at the CSIRO's marine and atmospheric research centre, and an IPCC author.

He says without measuring the quantity of NF3 in the atmosphere it is unclear what impact it will have on the climate.

"We haven't observed it in the atmosphere. It's probably there in very low concentrations," he said.

"The key to whether it's a problem or not is how much is released to the atmosphere."

Should donations to wealthy not for profits be tax deductible?

I've had this debate with people on and off. I don't have a firm stance on the issues myself but I'm amazed the institutions with multi-billion dollar endowments don't have a difficult time making the case for need with donors.

When it's all said an done I'd either want donations to all charities tax deductible or none whatsoever. I'd hate to see a system where some bureaucrat decided who qualified or a system where some institutions were favored over others.

wwn

Here's food for thought from The American Prospect.

Regardless of outcome could America be short one Baldwin after November?

From NewsBusters.org

Stephen Baldwin Mocks Alec's 'I'm Leaving if Bush Wins' Pledge

Remember back in 2000 when actor Alec Baldwin allegedly promised to leave the country if George W. Bush was elected president?

Well, his brother Stephen was on Fox News's "Just In with Laura Ingraham" Wednesday evening, and apart from skewering celebrities for supporting Barack Obama "just because quote unquote they want change, whatever, without ever really fully recognizing who the best person for the job is," he also deliciously mocked his brother for still being in America despite his 2000 pledge.

What follows is his full discussion with Ingraham (video embedded right, h/t NBer LilyPearl):

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Barack Obama has star power in Hollywood, of course, and he's also pulling in some serious cash. Democratic officials say he raised nearly $5 million smackaroos at a celebrity-packed fund raiser in L.A. last night. I wish I was there. Tickets were going for more than -- get this - - $30,000 a pop. How is that even possible? My friend -- I have to get it out there, actor Stephen Baldwin is here tonight, and he is a McCain supporter. Stephen, great to see you.

STEPHEN BALDWIN, ACTOR: Hey, Laura, great to see you, too.

INGRAHAM: Stephen, first of all, what is up with these celebrities? I hate to bring you on and have you speak for Susan Sarandon and Halle Berry and George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey and Morgan Freedman, Ben Affleck and all those folks, but it seems like the list, when you look at the celebrities for Obama versus the celebrities for McCain, it is kind of a lopsided situation.

BALDWIN: Well, I think that, you know, anything is possible in Hollywood, so the 30,000 a plate doesn't surprise me. What is mind blowing to me is first of all, you will have celebrities coming out just because quote unquote they want change, whatever, without ever really fully recognizing who the best person for the job is, which is kind of scary to me, but at the same time, what's blowing my mind is you see Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who were hating each other's guts two months ago now they're hugging, kissing. It just seems to me that party will literally do whatever it has to, whether it's authentic or not in order to win this election.

INGRAHAM: Well, I keep thinking of the things bothering Americans, Stephen, and we have talked on the radio about the cultural decline that people are worried about in this country. Let's just say gas prices. Let's talk about national security. Let's talk about the cost and quality of education. Why should we care what Sheryl Crow or Susan Sarandon or Tim Robbins or any of these people think about that? Why should any of that, and we're looking at the change video that was put together some months ago, why should we care about what any of them think about any of these issues?

BALDWIN: Well, I agree with you. I'm from Massapequa, Long Island. My dad was a school teacher. We grew up in a pretty normal, you know, slightly crazy adjust but a pretty blue collar -- Laura be nice, he can still kick my butt.

INGRAHAM: Alec and I are old friends. Didn't he tell you that? He and I love each other? I thought he was going to leave America. He promised to leave and he is still here last time I checked. We love the Baldwin family. Sorry.

BALDWIN: Now that you're saying this, I just want to say right now, Laura, that it's official, if Barack gets nominated, I will be moving out of the country. I just want to say that now. Now watch all the media have fun with that, but getting back to my point, exactly what you are saying is true. Here is what is freaky to me is the media and Hollywood is so convinced that Middle America and mainstream America cares what it thinks. That's what shocks me. You have all these celebrities that are going to come out behind Obama.

Whether he's the best guy for the job doesn't matter. He is the guy that will bring change. I love the questions that are outstanding. How is he going to bring the change? What is his plan? How is he going to do it?

INGRAHAM: Don't get me started.

BALDWIN: Nobody is answering these questions. The other thing that's pissing me off, if I can say it Laura...

INGRAHAM: You can't we're almost out of time.

BALDWIN: Why do they keep saying that four more years of McCain is four more years of Bush is the most stupid thing I have heard. It is totally untrue. I believe John McCain will be the next president of the United States and should be.

INGRAHAM: Stephen Baldwin, it's always great to see you. I know I'll see you on the radio. Thanks for being with us. Take care.

BALDWIN: Take care, God bless.

Despite Baldwin saying "nominated" instead of "elected," isn't it refreshing to hear from a Hollywoodan not drinking the Kool-Aid?

[From Stephen Baldwin Mocks Alec's 'I'm Leaving if Bush Wins' Pledge]

Is Hollywood on the verge of another strike?