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Sun Valley Media Conference Photos: Mogulmania Day 3!

2009-07-10T23:03:37Z

The Allen & Company retreat in Sun Valley wound down Friday, but not before we were able to catch glimpses of several moguls for the first time this year.

Familiar names like Jeff Zucker, Brad Grey, Jerry Yang, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mike Ovitz, James Murdoch and Charlie Rose were all on display Friday, while wives like Diane von Furstenberg and Wendi Murdoch were snapped for the first time by the AP.

VIEW PHOTOS FROM DAY 1 HERE

VIEW PHOTOS FROM DAY 2 HERE

READ ALL SUN VALLEY 2009 COVERAGE

Below, check out the photos from the last day of the annual moguls' retreat.

David Brooks: A Republican Senator 'Had His Hand On My Inner Thigh' For A 'Whole' Dinner Party (VIDEO)

2009-07-10T22:22:50Z

Think Progress flags David Brooks telling a fantastic anecdote that supports his recent New York Times column lamenting the loss of dignity in America. Apparently, Brooks was at a dinner party and had the misfortune to sit next to a Republican senator who "had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here."

Co-host John Harwood exclaims "what?" while Norah O'Donnell lets loose her trademark guffaw. Sadly, Brooks refuses to identify the touchy-feely senator.

WATCH:

John Ensign Scandal Escalates: "It's Not Good"

2009-07-10T21:03:01Z

For a long while, the inspiring tale of Mark Sanford's Latin American jaunt on or near "the sex line" had gripped America with its romantic melodrama. You can read more about it in the forthcoming Tropic Of Capricorn 2: Buenos Aires Nights, by Henry Miller. But as much as the heart wants more from the Mark Sanford story, like "positions explored" and "quantity of white zinfandel consumed," it's now time for the body to get really interested in this whole John Ensign affair story.

So, the dilly: John Ensign, Nevada Senator, copped to having an affair with Cynthia Hampton, who was for a time on his campaign staff. The television media got all worked up about it, saying things like, "This is bad news for Ensign, one of the GOP's presidential contenders." And people like me replied, "Wait! John Ensign is a presidential contender?" later adding, "Seriously, you can't possibly think this guy was ever going to be a presidential contender." And Ensign was thought to be working out all his difficulties with some group called the "C Street Foundation," which describes itself as a "Bible study group" but is actually some sort of detox facility for Congresspersons who are way into sexcapades.

That's when the even shinier Mark Sanford story hit the news, along with Sarah Palin's "Oration On The Verbal Frappe Currently Coursing Out Of My Mouth In Alaska, Because I Have No Political Advisers Who Are Worth A Good God Damn." And Marion Barry straight up stalked a lady, in DC, because he is crazypants. But now: Ensign!

Driving Ensign back into the news are escalating exchanges between Hampton's husband and Ensign's allies over who got paid how much and for what, why, and when. It's all crazy confusing, the sex-scandal equivalent of the Purple Ticket Inauguration fiasco, but I think we have a handle on it:

-- Yesterday, Hampton's husband said that Hampton was paid $25,000 in severance when she left Ensign's campaign.

-- Ensign's camp disclosed that Ensign's parents had actually paid out $96,000 to the Hamptons. But not because anyone wanted this affair kept a secret! No, no! Ensign's parents "decided to make the gifts out of concern for the well-being of long-time family friends during a difficult time," and these monies were "consistent with a pattern of generosity by the Ensign family to the Hamptons and others." So, TOTALLY NOT some kind of end-run around ethics requirements at all! What grown up senator wouldn't want his mom and dad giving large sums of monies to random friends, anyway?

-- Doug Hampton continued to make claims that he and Ensign were negotiating further payments, in the "millions of dollars." Ensign's camp, all the while, has insisted that Doug Hampton was making "exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits." Doug Hampton also released letter between Ensign and Cindy Hampton, and granted TV interviews that further stirred the pot.

-- Then, Doug Hampton said that Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn was present, with Doug Hampton, at some sort of "meeting"/intervention to cure Ensign of his sexlexia and give the Hamptons all manner of scrilla for their trouble. In an interview, Hampton said, "These men were the ones that said, 'What we need to do is get Doug Hampton's home paid for, and we need to get Doug Hampton some money. We need to get his family to Colorado.'" Colorado being on the other side of the "sex line."

-- Coburn then said that Hampton was not telling the truth:

"John Ensign hasn't put me in a tough position at all," said Coburn, a housemate of Ensign's at a Capitol Hill home owned by a Christian fellowship. "The person that's deceiving now is Doug. And you all need to go do the investigation now on that side of it and quit asking us and ask what's the motivation here."

-- And Coburn, naturally blamed the media for all of this: "You've got two families that are back together and you guys are going to help tear them apart. What do you think their kids are thinking about what you're writing right now? You're helping tear apart two families that are back together -- you need to quit."

-- But now, Republicans are starting to sour on Ensign, big time:

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of Ensign's situation: "It's not good." Cornyn took over for Ensign after the 2008 elections as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is charged with getting Republicans elected. Cornyn said he has heard no talk of Ensign stepping down.

And, on top of that, there are "raw feelings cited" among Ensign supporters, which underscores the point: LUBE IS IMPORTANT. There: not afraid to be servicey!

-- And, just to cap things off, Ensign is now left to fend off charges that he actually committed a crime in all this mess:

Also today, a Washington ethics group today called for a Department of Justice criminal investigation into whether Ensign gave his mistress considerably more than $25,000 in severance pay that may have gone unreported.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said it has called on Attorney General Eric Holder to order a criminal investigation after Doug Hampton disclosed the severance payment in an interview Wednesday.

"As despicable as Sen. Ensign's conduct has been, it now appears it also may have been criminal," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. "The Department of Justice has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans - even high level political officials - are held accountable for their actions."

So there you have it! Seems like only weeks ago that Mark Sanford had eclipsed Ensign's scandal as the more interesting one. Now, Sanford's coming off looking better, because of the increasing perception that his was something of a heartfelt, romantic struggle. There's poetry and love letters and flowery exhortations and garment-rending. Meanwhile, all the parties in the Ensign case, mucking about over money, are driving the story in a tawdrier and less-relatable direction. That said, as a citizen roaming the streets tonight, the only one you should really worry about encountering is Marion Barry.

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Jay-Z Closes In On Book Deal

2009-07-10T18:46:25Z

Jay-Z is close to finalizing a book deal with the Spiegel & Grau imprint of Random House. The literary agent repping the rapper, Matthew Guma, had no comment, but sources say the book will consist of Jay-Z commenting on and telling the stories behind his lyrics.

Swedish Newspapers Threaten To Boycott Britney Concert Over Photo Restrictions

2009-07-10T18:40:28Z

STOCKHOLM — Four major Swedish newspapers have threatened to boycott a Britney Spears concert in Stockholm because of restrictions imposed on their photographers.

Spears is scheduled to perform in the Swedish capital on July 13.

Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen and Aftonbladet say they won't send photographers to the show unless Spears agrees to scrap certain conditions on how the images can be used.

The contract bars the papers from reselling the pictures and from publishing them more than 30 days after the concert.

Dagens Nyheter photo editor Roger Turesson said Friday "the next step would be to tell critics they can't write anything critical."

Local representatives of Spears' record label Sony BMG did not immediately answer phone calls seeking comment.

Peggy Noonan Goes Off On Sarah Palin In Column: "Horrifying"

2009-07-10T17:48:15Z

One of the most refreshingly honest moments of the 2008 campaign came when Peggy Noonan, a columnist and former Republican speechwriter, was caught on a live mike calling the choice of Sarah Palin to run on the Republican ticket "political bullshit." She smoothed over her harsh remarks in a subsequent column, saying she liked Palin even if she wasn't sure the selection would be successful. But now that Palin has announced her plan to resign as Alaska Governor, Noonan apparently feels free to speak openly.

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.

In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.

Noonan goes on to refute the most popular conservative arguments in Palin's favor, from her supposed working-class credentials to the idea that she upsets the mainstream media.

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Joe Scarborough, Pelosi Critic, Now Laments Unfair Criticism Of Pelosi

2009-07-10T17:12:54Z

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has made it a regular habit to catch the vapors on air after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized the Central Intelligence Agency. Now he's lamenting that Nancy Pelosi, "a friend of mine from Congress" has "caught a lot of grief" for that criticism. The big takeaway? Starbucks apparently has a Rohypnol Frappuccino.

[WATCH]

From the first word, to the last, I concur with the Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman:

I carry no brief for Pelosi, and Pelosi could indeed be misrepresenting what CIA actually briefed to her, even though the additional questions about its briefing schedule are numerous. But if Scarborough had bothered reading, say, an acclaimed history of the CIA, he would immediately see that it's extremely well documented that the CIA has often misled Congress about sensitive intelligence programs. Basic due diligence, unfortunately, would get in the way of his preferred storyline, so don't expect anything like this latest self-induced humiliation to prompt an on-air reflection of the way "Morning Joe" operates. The unaccountable ability of some cable TV hosts to just pretend to their audiences like they know what they're talking about is really staggering.

In the first place, I remember how inane it was that anyone in the media was shocked to hear someone suggest that the CIA had been less than truthful. There's a long and proud and bipartisan history of that, and yet somehow Pelosi ended up as an unprecedented and shocking agency critic.

But secondly, there's this whole issue of "TV hosts... pretend[ing] to their audiences like they know what they're talking about." Spencer Ackerman, for example, has been to Iraq, he's been to Afghanistan, he's interviewed David Petraeus, he's up on all the current writing, knows all the major players, and attends every picayune foreign policy conference and congressional hearing that comes along. To the best of knowledge, he's never, ever been zinged by Zbigniew Brzezinski. He's precisely the sort of person that Scarborough could bring onto his show to present insight and information from a highly informed perspective. Yet, to Scarborough, Ackerman is just a Cheeto-eating, basement-dwelling blogger, with no credibility. Oh well, Spencer's not the one literally contradicting himself on cable teevee.

MORE:
Anything You'd Like to Apologize For, 'Morning Joe?' [The Washington Independent]

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GM Pulls Gay-Themed Ads From YouTube

2009-07-10T16:33:40Z

Apparently, the powerful General Motors company has the luxury of limiting the demographic groups to which they must appeal, because after posting several gay-themed Camaro advertisements to YouTube, said advertisements have now been pulled. (It seems that these spots might have also been some sort of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen tie-in, which would probably make sense to me if I'd seen the movie, which I haven't because of repeated warnings that it will turn my brain to paste.)

From 365 Gay:

General Motors has ordered all videos created for their Chevrolet "Gay Day at the Movies" promotion be removed from You Tube. The videos, which featured amateur footage of two "go go boys" washing a Camaro, were deemed inappropriate by GM.

"The video was not appropriate and not in good taste," said GM spokesman Dave Barthmuss. The videos were seen as a bad representation for the company by GM executives said Barthmuss.

Also widely seen as giving General Motors a "bad representation": the cars manufactured by General Motors.

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Jeff Zucker: Market Has Reached Bottom

2009-07-10T16:17:31Z

NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker said Thursday that while the overall marketplace is still challenged, he thinks it may have bottomed out.

Rebekah Wade, Murdoch's UK Tabloid Queen, Victim Of News Of The World Phone Hack

2009-07-10T16:07:32Z

The BBC has learned that the News of the World was behind Mulcaire's monitoring of phone messages left for Rebekah Wade, the editor of its sister paper, the Sun.

Ms Wade - soon to become chief executive of the papers' parent company News International - was informed at the time but declined to press charges, according to BBC business editor Robert Peston.

Gannett Cuts 125 Jobs At New Jersey Newspapers

2009-07-10T16:05:34Z

TRENTON, N.J. — Gannett Co. has begun eliminating 106 full-time and 19 part-time positions at its six New Jersey newspapers because of the economic recession.

The company said it began notifying the affected employees late Wednesday and continued Thursday.

Thomas M. Donovan, publisher of the Asbury Park Press and vice president of Gannett's East Newspaper Group, said Thursday the company had hoped to avoid further layoffs. But he said advertising revenues have not rebounded sufficiently and forecasts for the second half of the year were not promising.

Gannett eliminated more than 200 positions at its New Jersey newspapers in December.

McLean, Va.-based Gannett publishes 84 daily newspapers, including USA Today.

Russian TV Cuts "South Park" Putin Scene

2009-07-10T15:58:30Z

MOSCOW — A Russian TV channel cut a segment of the ribald U.S. cartoon comedy "South Park" that appeared to mock Vladimir Putin, a spokesman said Friday.

The channel "2X2" cut material from the show that aired Tuesday portraying Putin as a greedy and desperate leader, the network's spokesman said. The decision prompted criticism and furious discussion on Russia blogs.

It was unclear whether the decision, involving an episode that originally aired in the United States in 2005, was made by channel executives or regulators.

Asked about the Putin scene being cut, channel spokesman Andrei Andreyev told The Associated Press by e-mail that: "the given scene in this version was absent."

Andreyev said it was the third time the edited version of the episode had been shown this year. He declined to comment on the reason for the censorship.

A spokesman with Russia's broadcast regulator, Rosskomnadzor, said he knew nothing of the incident.

"We have never interfered with editorial decisions," Yevgeny Strelchik said.

The Soviet collapse loosened the reins on news and information, and open mocking of government officials _ Kremlin or otherwise _ was popular in the 1990s. Under Putin's presidency, however, there's been a noticeable shift away from biting satire.

The channel NTV was forced to pull its satirical puppet show "Kukly" in 2002 after the Kremlin objected to the excessive lampooning of Putin.

Putin, who is now prime minister, has been instrumental in returning economic stability to Russia but critics say that his methods, which leave little room for public dissent, border on authoritarian.

Internet publications and blogs are among the last outlets for unfettered commentary and satire in Russian, and commentators on Russia's most popular blogging service, Live Journal, vented their anger after news of the "South Park" censorship leaked out.

Oleg Kuvaev, a blogger and online animated filmmaker, said on his Web site that the decision would only attract more attention to the channel.

"It's stupid to cut things this way," he wrote, because it attracts more attention to the scene in question.

British Royal Family Joins Twitter

2009-07-10T15:57:37Z

LONDON — Britain's royal family has extended its kingdom further into cyberspace and joined Twitter _ but don't expect Her Majesty to tweet.

Buckingham Palace, which already has a significant online presence, said Friday that it has set up a Twitter account to alert royal watchers to what's happening with the family.

But that won't result in any re-tweets or trending topics from Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles. A palace spokeswoman says the account won't be used to air personal opinions.

The queen launched Buckingham Palace's Web site in 1997. She also has her own YouTube channel.

Shepard Fairey To Plead Guilty To Vandalism Charges

2009-07-10T15:53:49Z

BOSTON — The artist who created the "Hope" poster of President Barack Obama was sentenced to two years of probation Friday after pleading guilty to three vandalism charges. Prosecutors dropped 11 other charges.

Shepard Fairey pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court to one charge of defacing property and two charges of wanton destruction of property under $250, all misdemeanors.

The 39-year-old Los Angeles street artist, who became famous for plastering his posters and stickers throughout cities, must pay $2,000 to a graffiti removal organization and cannot possess tagging materials _ such as stickers or paste _ in Boston except for authorized art installations. He also must tell officials when he plans to visit Suffolk County, where Boston is located.

"I think that people should be responsible about sharing their art, and that's not a transition or an evolution of my philosophy," Fairey said outside court. "Fortunately, I'm at a place in my career where I can get sanctioned spaces, so it's not an issue that I'll ever have to worry about again."

Fairey was arrested in February when he was in Boston for an event kicking off a solo exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art. The arrest came three days after he failed to appear in court on a charge of placing a poster on a Boston electrical box in September 2000.

In the plea deal, Fairey admitted to the 2000 incident and two others this past January: placing a sticker on the back of a traffic sign and affixing a poster to a private condominium building.

He faces no further vandalism charges in Suffolk County. Prosecutors dropped 14 charges last month, saying they could not prove Fairey had placed stickers on properties in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood.

"I share my art and it works virally. People make printouts from the Internet and people buy my stickers online," he said. "There was absolutely no way for the city of Boston to assert that Obama posters put up when I wasn't even in town were done by me, which is ridiculous."

Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall said prosecutors aren't responsible for judging the artistic merits of street artists when they break the law to display their work.

Fairey intends to return to Boston on July 31 to attend a party at the museum for his exhibit, which ends next month.

In a separate case, Fairey and The Associated Press have sued each other over the "Hope" poster, which Fairey's lawyers acknowledge was derived from a photo taken for the AP.

The AP has said his uncredited and uncompensated use of the image violates copyright laws. Fairey says he didn't violate copyright law because he dramatically changed the image.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Plan To Rebrand Failure As Success

2009-07-10T15:53:29Z

I have wonderful news to report to everyone! Apparently I have woken up today in a parallel universe, where the sun is shining and the birds are singing and my coffee tastes like malted orgasm. There's something called a "Dylan Ratigan" on my teevee, asking shouty sports pundit Stephen A. Smith about auto bailouts, so it's not like EVERYTHING makes perfect sense, but here's the real good news! Apparently, the financial collapse in the derivatives market never happened! EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN AND WILL SUCK AGAIN, YAY!

From this bizarro universe's Bloomberg:

Morgan Stanley plans to repackage a downgraded collateralized debt obligation backed by leveraged loans into new securities with AAA ratings in the first transaction of its kind, said two people familiar with the sale.

Morgan Stanley is selling $87.1 million of securities that it expects to receive top AAA ratings and $42.9 million of notes graded Baa2, the second-lowest investment grade by Moody's Investors Service, according to marketing documents obtained by Bloomberg News. The bonds were created from Greywolf CLO I Ltd., a CDO arranged in January 2007 by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and managed by Greywolf Capital Management LP, an investment firm based in Purchase, New York.

Ahh, apparently this parallel universe's version of Choire Sicha is just as critical of these geniuses as he is in the real one. This is blockquoted for maximum sarcasm:

HOW COULD THIS IDEA FAIL? How could anyone not want to put their money in this? This is so dizzying, it's like it is 2003 outside, and everything is new and shiny again.

You know what is going to be neat? Seeing which ratings agency bites first at giving this turd sandwich a AAA rating! All of us in this parallel universe plan on running around the streets with our pants off that day, because there are no consequences for failure, ever, apparently.

UPDATE, from my exasperated father, who writes:

It will be interesting to see who buys this shit but we may never know. Some people never learn. BUT! If you offer it at a price and a rate, somebody can be found to speculate on anything, and if you sell it to somebody connected or to someone who is "too big to fail"...well we have already proven that we can handle the "moral hazard" argument. Here we go again. Look at the names associated with all this. And the one you have to wonder about the most is the rating's agency, Moody's. They must feel like they are invisible and bullet-proof because they certainly have escaped real scrutiny in all of this that has just passed. And! They are paid by the issuers to give them a rating on this shit. Not much independence there!

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