Spitzer madam Kristin Davis busts into New York governor’s race

Eliot Spitzer, image via Wikipedia

By Mike Colapietro
The Daily Caller
03/09/10

Not since porn star Cicciolina was elected to the Italian parliament has there been a sexier political candidate. The first thing you notice is her bust. Round, full, in the Dolly Parton/Jayne Mansfield sense, they are just too “perfect.” Then you notice her eyes: blue, piercing, determined.

Kristin Davis graduated from high school in central California at age 15. She earned a B.A. in business from St. Mary’s College while working in finance. The first hedge fund she worked for was bought by Fidelity, and she worked at hedge funds successfully for another 10 years. Then she became obsessed with the financial possibilities of sex.

Davis built the most successful escort service in world history. She had more than 100 girls and operated in five countries, with a call center in Uruguay. She could dispatch a $1,000-plus-an-hour call girl to a hotel or residence in Paris, Berlin, Gstaad, Rome, New York, L.A., Miami, Dubai, Montreal or elsewhere within minutes. She personally recruited her girls at bars, clubs, resorts and restaurants.

Davis handled a clientele who wanted and got discretion. Spitzer was a frequent patron and sent payments from a corporation New York records show he co-owned. She barred him for getting too rough with the girls and he tried to book girls under an alias.

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Dumb Like a Fox (Columbia Journalism Review)

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By Terry McDermott
March/April issue

Last December 10 was a big news day. U.S. Senate negotiators announced they had agreed to a compromise on health care reform, final preparations were being made for a global conference on climate change, President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, and new details emerged on five young American men who had been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of plotting terror attacks. Not to mention that America was involved in two wars and was still in the throes of the worst recession in eighty years.

That night, the main news programs on the three cable news networks—CNN Tonight on CNN, Fox Report on Fox, and The Big Picture on MSNBC—all led with approximately five minutes of coverage of Obama, cutting between video of his acceptance speech and reports from on-the-ground reporters in Oslo. CNN and MSNBC also included on-air analysis of the speech by a variety of commentators. Fox had no such commentary on its news show, just a more-or-less straightforward report on the speech.
This might seem surprising, given the charges of bias leveled against Fox by members of the Obama administration. Charges, for example, like this from Anita Dunn, then the administration’s director of communications, speaking last October on Howard Kurtz’s CNN program, Reliable Sources:

The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it is not ideological. . . . What I think is fair to say about Fox, and the way we view it, is that it is more of a wing of the Republican Party. . . . They’re widely viewed as a part of the Republican Party: take their talking points and put them on the air, take their opposition research and put it on the air. And that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news organization like CNN is.

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Florida Lawmaker Attempts To Deny Tax Credit To Movies Filmed With Gay Characters (ThinkProgress.org)

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By Igor Volsky

 Lawmakers in Florida are hoping to pass a $75 million incentive package to attract movie studios to film in Florida, but a little noticed provision could deny tax credits to movies that feature gay or other “nontraditional family values.” Florida’s Entertainment Industry Economic Development Act would revise the current incentive program — which already offers a tax credit worth 2% of a movie’s production costs if it is “family friendly” — to specifically exclude movies that depict “nontraditional family values” from receiving the additional credit. Here is the relevant provision:

A certified production determined by the Commissioner of Film and Entertainment, with the advice of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council, to be family-friendly…Family-friendly productions are those that have cross-generational appeal; would be considered suitable for viewing by children age 5 or older…and do not exhibit or imply any act of smoking, sex, nudity, nontraditional family values, gratuitous violence, or vulgar or profane language. Under the current incentive program, review of the final release version is not required and nontraditional family values, gratuitous violence, and implied acts do not exclude a film from receiving this additional credit.

State representative Stephen Precourt, whose district includes Disney World, says the purpose of the credit is to encourage movies to depict cinematic life from the 1960s. “Think of it as like Mayberry,” Precourt told the Palm Beach Post News. “That’s when I grew up — the ’60s. That’s what life was like. I want Florida to be known for making those kinds of movies: Disney movies for kids and all that stuff. Like it used to be, you know?”

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What scandals? Gov. Paterson says he'll keep governing until the end of year (NYDailyNews.com)

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By Michael J. Feeney and David Saltonstall
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

March 7th 2010, 3:14 PM

A defiant Gov. Paterson praised the Lord - and himself - Sunday, vowing at a Brooklyn church that he will serve out his term as governor.

"My determination is to run this state," Paterson told congregants at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant in his most forceful comments since the scandals erupted.

"I will keep governing till the end of the year," he promised. "I will not be daunted or distracted by any voices."

For the embattled Paterson, who has faced increasing calls that he resign over his role in a bevy of mushrooming scandals, it was a fire-and-brimstone performance on a day that saw his few remaining friends trying to circle the wagons.

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Michigan Representative Bart Stupakhe by cartoonist Pete Von Sholly

Photo illustration by Pete Von Sholly

For more fun with Pete Von Sholly, visit his website!

NBC denies adding laugh track for Sarah Palin (James Hibberd/THR)

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March 5, 2010

NBC is denying a report that "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" boosted apparent audience enthusiasm for Sarah Palin's appearance by using a laugh track.

A report from liberal site Daily Kos is getting plenty of pickup saying the response of the live audience to Palin's jokes was entirely unlike what NBC aired. Written by a member of the audience claiming to be a sound engineer, here's the relevant portion:

They added laughter where there was none during uncomfortable portions. Well, there was some laughter. Mine, of derision. During those pregnant pauses in her performance I was laughing long and loud, couldn't help myself as much of what she was saying was utterly surreal, ridiculous, hypocritical - nonsense, spewed platitudes, pushed buttons. I was seriously thinking of leaving as it was getting hysterically unfunny.

After sitting through the taping of the show in the studio I can recount many portions where there was little or no laughter or response, but at the later broadcast they are smoothed over with applause and laughter that WERE NOT THERE at the taping. Groans, hoots, grumbling, or just dead silence - all missing.

They should bear some responsibilty for hawking a defective product. This is corporate shilling in the worst way, not only to raise Leno's ratings, but to push Palin on a crowd with fake laughter and applause. 

Clearly the Daily Kos poster isn't a Palin fan (and would lose a spelling bee if given the word "responsibility").

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Roger Ailes Admits White House May Have 'Legitimate Complaints' About Fox News (VIDEO)

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Huffington Post  
By Nicholas Graham
03- 4-10 

In an interview with National Review's Peter Robinson, Fox News chief Roger Ailes admitted that the White House may have "legitimate complaints" about the way in which Fox News covers them.

Robinson, referencing President Obama's snub of Fox News last September when he appeared on every major Sunday talk show except for Chris Wallace's "Fox News Sunday," told Ailes that the White House is "whining over nothing." Ailes did not agree:

Well, I don't think they're whining over nothing and I think they have -- look, there's legitimate complaints that they could have. And I've had this dialogue with David Axelrod, who I like very much and, there are legitimate areas.

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Lorne Michaels, Seth Myers on Politics & SNL (FishBowlNY)

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By Kevin Allocca 
Mar 03, 2010

... Eventually, the conversation turned to politics, and Lorne Michaels insisted, "We try very hard not to be partisan. Whoever you are we're against it." Seth Meyers said getting across a point of view is not a priority, "You try so hard to be funny, you just worry about that."

Michaels said that when Sarah Palin was on she was "incredibly gracious," "extremely likeable," and "clearly a star." In regards to those famous political sketches, he said, "We deal in the world of perception. It's not real."

If you're one of those people who thinks SNL's not as funny as it used to be, you're not alone. Michaels says, "[People say,] 'You know what the great period was?' It's almost always when they were in high school." He said that's the time when "people bond with the cast."

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Giving Context To The Daily Show’s Megyn Kelly Takedown: They Have A Point (Mediaite)

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, image by Getty Images via Daylife

by Steve Krakauer
March 4th, 2010

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart set out last night to prove FNC anchor Megyn Kelly was not as “fair and balanced” as she is purported to be, and in fairly convincing 10-minute segment they made the point loud and clear.

But the Daily Show was edited to prove that point – so we watched the full two-hour America Live today, and frankly, Stewart has a point.

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Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion (Video)

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell