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Another former titan of Congress has passed: Former Illinois Rep. Dan Rostenkowski died on Wednesday morning, according to NBC News. Rostenkowski served in the House from 1959 until 1995, and his stint included 11 years as the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. His career ended, however, in ignominy when he pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud in 1996 and spent 15 months in prison. President Clinton pardoned him in 2000.
Wall Street is in panic mode following Tuesday's news that the Fed will use funds from its mortgage-bond portfolio to buy $10 billion a month in long-term Treasury securities. At market's close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 265.42 points, or 2.49 percent, Nasdaq fell 68.54 points, or 3 percent, and Treasury prices continued to rise as yields reached record lows for the year. Many financial analysts see the Fed's action as both insufficient and an indicator of the economy's bleak outlook. "It actually shakes confidence and raises questions about the future," said one market strategist. News out of China that its economy has slowed considerably of late also contributed to the equity markets' sharp fall.
Paging Tommy Lee Jones. John McCluskey, who escaped from an Arizona prison last month, and his alleged accomplice, Casslyn Welch, were reportedly spotted in Gentry, Arkansas, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The two are suspected of robbing a beauty store there and are in disguise, with McCluskey reportedly sporting black hair and a black beard while Welch's hair has been dyed blonde. Border patrol agents—including their air and marine divisions—and federal, state, local, and even Canadian authorities are now on the hunt for the fugitives. In addition, Interpol has issued an "orange notice"—or international alert—for McCluskey and Welch, since the pair are believed to be headed to Canada.
Does the White House see a potential benefit in dragging this out? On Wednesday, press secretary Robert Gibbs stood by comments in which he criticized the “professional left.” “I don’t plan on leaving, and there’s no truth to the rumor that I’ve added an inflatable exit to my office,” he said, joking about the flight attendant who quit his job earlier in the week. While he admitted that he “could have said things slightly differently,” he maintained that “you don’t have to watch long before you get frustrated.” He also predicted that his comments won’t affect the turnout of liberal voters in the fall.
As if one trial isn't enough for disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, he might get another. The judge in Blagojevich's trial announced today that the jury is deadlocked. After 11 days of deliberating, the jury sent a note to U.S. District Judge James Zagel asking what will happen if they cannot come to a unanimous decision on every count. The panel matched up specific acts in the case to individual counts and asked the next logical step, to which Zagel said he would need further clarification before deciding. In their note, the jurors claimed they had made "a reasonable attempt" after debating "without rancor." Zagel said the jury had been "exceptionally disciplined" during deliberations. Blagojevich was charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat.
Does this mean Rand Paul’s threat of legal action against GQ has a sound basis? The woman at the center of the story about Rand Paul’s college indiscretions now says that he did not kidnap her “in a legal sense,” and that he did not force her to do drugs. “The whole thing has been blown out of proportion,” she tells Greg Sargent. “I went along because they were my friends. There was an implicit degree of cooperation in the whole thing. I was being hazed.” She maintains that she was taken to a room while blindfolded and told to smoke marijuana, but that “he did not force me physically in any way.” She also maintains that they “took me out to this creek and made me worship Aqua Buddha,” and she says the whole thing was so “weird” that she cut off relations with Paul and his friends afterwards.
On Tuesday, Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, died in a plane crash. The Associated Press reports on the scene of the accident that took his life. “Former Senator Ted Stevens lay dead in the mangled fuselage of the plane,” according to its report, while nearby 13-year-old William Phillips Jr. watched his father die. The four survivors, including former NASA chief Sean O’Keefe and his son, were forced to endure the Alaskan cold for hours with broken bones. Some rescuers credited their survival to the heavy-duty waders they were wearing (the passengers were embarking on a fishing trip); they helped protect them from the rain and cold as rescuers struggled against bad weather to reach the site. Of the survivors, Sean O’Keefe is the only one currently listed in critical condition. Dana Tindall, a GCI executive, and her 16-year-old son, Corey Tindall, are also among the dead.
Has Jennifer Lopez just squandered her best shot at career redemption? A source tells People magazine that her deal to become a judge on American Idol has fallen apart after “her demands got out of hand.” People says producers are going to reexamine some of their earlier choices. This could be good news for Kara Dioguardi, whose father, Joe DioGuardi says she still hasn’t received a contract to return next season.
A study published Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Group found that about four million children have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant, roughly seven percent of all people under 18 years old, and 79 percent of these children are American citizens because they were born here. The study also said that in 2008, about 340,000 of the 4.3 million babies born—or about eight percent—had least one parent who was an illegal immigrant. About 85 percent of the parents are Hispanic, according to the study. This study, published by a nonpartisan group, could give new life to Sen. Lindsey Graham's recent push to repeal the 14th amendment, which guarantees citizenship to any person born in the U.S., no matter the citizenship status of his or her parents. Graham claimed illegal immigrants come to the U.S. to "drop a child."
Here’s another Muslim building for conservatives to worry about: Saudi Arabia is building a giant clock tower in Mecca, and some Islamic scholars hope that “Mecca time” will replace Greenwich Mean Time as the accepted start of each day. The clock will be at the top of the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, which will be the second tallest building in the world when it’s completed and will include hotels, shopping malls, and conference centers. The clock will begin ticking on Thursday.
Dreams really can come true: “For 20 years, I thought about it,” former flight attendant Steven Slater says about his dramatic exit from an aircraft via its emergency slide. “But you never think you’re going to.” JetBlue, meanwhile, addressed the incident in a statement that said, in part, “Perhaps you heard a little story about one of our flight attendants? While we can’t discuss the details of what is an ongoing investigation, plenty of others have already formed opinions on the matter. Like, the entire Internet.”
Can Foursquare survive a challenge from one of the internet’s giants? Facebook is preparing a rival geolocation “check-in” service. CNET says “It's going to take the form of an application programming interface (API) for third-party companies on the Facebook developer platform.” Facebook is being tight-lipped, but sources give CNET a few hints: For example, Facebook has told one start-up that is already using its developer platform that it should change its thumbs-up feature to “like,” which would be in line with the “like” buttons that appear on Facebook’s other features. Also, Facebook acquired a “check-in” service earlier this summer called Hot Potato that allows people to check into events, and not just locations.
Who will replace Michael Scott on The Office? Now that Steve Carell has grown too big for the shoes of the bumbling Dunder Mifflin branch manager on the NBC hit comedy series, many are wondering who his replacement will be. Entertainment Weekly first reported that Eastbound & Down star Danny McBride or Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby were the leading contenders. But entertainment blog Warming Glow claims that although McBride will appear in the upcoming seventh season of The Office, Carell’s replacement “has already been chosen” and is “an Arrested Development veteran.” Since many of the Arrested Development cast, including Jason Bateman and Michael Cera, are too busy with other commitments, the New York Post has deduced that it could be Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr.), Tony Hale (Buster Bluth), or none other than Ellen DeGeneres’ wife, Portia de Rossi (Lindsay Bluth). Does the newly-named Portia Lee James DeGeneres have the chops to head up the paper sales company?
Just please don’t tell us that Steven Slater was a hoax too: The photographs that circulated the Internet on Monday showing a young woman named “Jenny” quitting her job via dry-erase-board messages are too good to be true. “Jenny,” who complained on the board about her boss’s bad breath, sexism, and videogame addiction, turns out to be an actress named Elyse Porterfield who was hired by the website TheChive.com. Elyse revealed her real identity in a new set of white-board photos, in which she says “the last 24 hours have been surreal” and “I’ve had a blast.” TheChive.com has pulled many hoaxes before, as Peter Kafka pointed out yesterday, such as the Donald Trump $10,000 tip.
Crap. A new “superbug” has been found in British hospitals that is resistant to the most powerful antibiotics available. It’s thought to have been imported by patients who traveled to countries like India and Pakistan for cheaper medical procedures, like cosmetic surgery. The bacteria produces the enzyme NDM-1, which exists inside other bacteria like E. coli and makes it resistant to carbapenems, the powerful antibiotics used in emergencies and infections that are hard to treat due to other resistant bacteria. Scientists worry NDM-1 could jump to other strains of bacteria. So far, just 50 cases have been reported in the U.K., but experts fear it could spread around the world.
Emmy-nominated Glee star Jane Lynch will host Saturday Night Live this October. Show creator Ryan Murphy accidently told Lynch by text message after SNL called to ask if they could borrow the star for a week. “We just don't do that, but for Lorne Michaels, I said yes,” Murphy said. He then texted Lynch, “Lady, you're doing Saturday Night Live,” he said, “And she literally wrote back, 'What are you talking about?'”
Something you oughta’ know: Nineties' angsty pop star Alanis Morissette is pregnant, she announced in Us Weekly. The 36-year-old wed 30-year-old rapper Souleye (birth name: Mario Treadway) in May. In the magazine’s “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me” feature, Morissette listed No. 25 as, “I am pregnant!”
Follow the herd: There are more people to sleep with in it. Culling data from 9,785 30-year-old users, OkCupid found that iPhone users had, on average, the most sexual partners compared with users of other smart-phone brands. Male iPhone users had an average of 10 sexual partners, while female iPhone users had 12.3. Male BlackBerry loyalists had 8.1 partners, and female BlackBerry users had 8.8. Sad male Android users had 6.0 partners, while their female counterparts had 6.1.
Don’t expect a Michelin star any time soon: Critics are none too fond of the new Pop Tarts Restaurant in Times Square. New York City pastry chef Ashton Warren tries the Pop Tarts sushi—crumbled Pop Tarts wrapped in a fruit rollup—and says, “The texture is all wrong,” while Serious Eats says the sushi was “frankly, vile … I physically could not bring myself to swallow.” Shep Smith at Fox News opines, “I say we bring back the porn stores.”
Let’s get ready to rumble: Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon destroyed her opponents in the Republican U.S. Senate primary Tuesday, winning by a large margin, though still getting less than 50 percent of the vote. With 59 percent of the precincts reporting, the Associated Press said McMahon took 49 percent of the votes, ahead of former Rep. Rob Simmons, with 29 percent, and businessman Peter Schiff, with 22 percent. Simmons had lost the GOP endorsement in May and suspended his campaign, but remained ambivalent about getting out of the race and ran a strange on-again, off-again campaign. McMahon, for her part, dumped $26 million of her own money into the race. She mostly ignored Simmons to focus on her Democratic opponent Richard Blumenthal. Both general election candidates have some major weaknesses, with Blumenthal’s false statements on his military service and McMahon’s controversial business. The former WWE CEO has been gradually chipping away at Blumenthal’s lead, which has shrunk to 10 points.
In a last-ditch effort to jumpstart the stagnant economic recovery, Congress pushed through a $26 billion jobs bill to save 300,000 teachers and other state-government workers from potential layoffs. The bill was spearheaded by House Democratic leaders, who called congressional members back to Washington in the midst of their summer recess to pass the bill before the start of the school year. The bill was signed by President Obama shortly after the House passed it 247 to 161, with the majority of Republicans voting against continued spending. The bill, which brings federal spending on the economy to just over $1 trillion since late 2007, will be paid for by reducing food-stamp benefits by some $14 billion and closing a tax loophole used by multinational corporations.
The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will use the proceeds from its mortgage-backed portfolio to buy back portions of government debt, a sign of the end of the Fed’s optimism that the recession is truly over. In buying $10 billion in Treasury securities a month—a small fraction of the $700 billion Treasury debt—the Fed will not be tackling the $2.3 trillion balance sheet amassed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. “Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months,” the Fed said in a statement. Interest rates will also remain at their current low level—0.25 percent—set in December 2008, at the heart of the financial meltdown.
As the government and BP both rush to claim that the worst of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is over, some scientists are sounding a warning bell by pointing to the plumes buried deep underwater and in the dispersants used to break up the oil. The effects to wildlife are still unknown, and underwater plumes could cause whole species to be wiped out. While BP has used some unconventional methods to clean up the oil, the uneven response and the lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of these methods could be just as dangerous as the spill itself. "Oil is toxic to most life. And Corexit [the dispersants used] is toxic to most life. But the most toxic of all is oil that's been treated with Corexit,” said one conservation expert. Also present in the spill was methane, which can cause dead zones where wildlife cannot survive. Another worry? The “it’s over” attitude taken by most in response to the disaster.
Will Kanye West redeem himself this year? A source says the rapper, 33, will perform at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12th. West infamously interrupted country star Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech last year by declaring R&B artist Beyonce should have won. Since then, West has been called a “jackass” by President Barack Obama and gone on an apology tour. His latest video, “Power,” debuted on MTV last Thursday, and a follow-up single is expected to be released in the next few weeks. His fifth studio album is also expected to hit shelves in the fall.
Desiree Rogers, the ousted White House social secretary, has been hired as CEO of Johnson Publishing, the company said Tuesday. Based out of Chicago, Johnson Publishing produces Ebony and Jet magazines, considered to be premier glossies for culture and news for African Americans. Despite Johnson’s status as the largest African-American publishing house, and recent editorial triumphs such as the last interview with Michael Jackson before his death and timely coverage of President Barack Obama, it has struggled recently due to the pressures facing all traditional media outlets. Rogers will be charged with navigating the brand through the ever-changing media environment. Rogers left her position as White House social secretary after two guests allegedly attended a state dinner without being invited.
Time to spin a web on Broadway. The U2 musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark will open Nov. 14th at the Foxwoods Theatre, producers of the show announced Tuesday. The musical, with music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge, will be the most expensive musical in Broadway history. Set to open six months ago, the show has run into financial trouble, with an estimated cost of $50 million. Other delays included the loss of Evan Rachel Wood and Broadway vet Alan Cummings, leaving rock singer Reeve Carney as the only original cast member. Exclusive tickets for American Express cardholders will go on sale Saturday, and tickets for the general public will be available in September.
Russia’s record-breaking heat and massive fires are stoking a new fear—that radioactive smoke could be coming from areas coated by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster. Three heavily radiated sites, and four other areas, have seen several fires, and only the wind will determine how far radioactive traces will spread. What health risks such smoke would cause are unclear. Trees and grass were contaminated in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine after the 1986 disaster, and when those plants burn they can send the contaminants into the air and people’s lungs. Russia’s chief sanitary doctor warned against panic, though officials have admitted radioactive smoke could be released.
Looks like some people aren’t too worried about health-care reform: The heads of the five biggest for-profit health insurance companies made almost $200 million in compensation in 2009 even as their companies planned to stick their customers with rate increases as high as 39 percent. CEOs of Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint all effectively got raises last year, according to a new report from a health-care activist group. The biggest payout went to H. Edward Hanway, who retired from Cigna with a retirement plan valued at $110.9 million. Only one exec, CEO of Aetna Ron Williams, got a pay cut, earning a paltry $18.2 million, down from his $24.4 million paycheck in 2008. Health insurers had a very good year in 2009, and in the first two quarters of this year, profits continued to climb 20 percent. Wellpoint made 51 percent more in the second quarter of 2010 compared with 2009, and Aetna’s net income jumped 40 percent. At the same time, premiums have gotten much more expensive, with Wellpoint increasing California rates as high as 39 percent, UnitedHealth raising them 15.5 percent in Rhode Island, and Humana customers in Utah paying 29 percent more.
Now that wasn’t too hard, was it? Rand Paul has finally explicitly denied that he kidnapped a fellow student in college and forced her to take bong hits and worship something called Aqua Buddha, as was reported in GQ. "I will categorically deny that I ever kidnapped anyone or forced anybody to use drugs," Paul said, a far less vague denial than the one issued by the campaign immediately after the story broke. Previously, Paul’s campaign had said it was considering legal action against GQ.
In Tuesday night's race to watch, Colorado incumbent Democrat Senator Michael Bennet narrowly held onto his seat in the Democratic primary, beating back a challenge from political veteran and former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. President Obama had publicly endorsed Bennet, and the election was seen as an indicator of national sentiment toward the Washington establishment. On the Republican side, Tea-Party favorite Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck beat former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. Meanwhile in Georgia, Secretary of State Karen Handel has conceded to former Rep. Nathan Deal in a race that was originally too close to call. The race had attracted headliners such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who supported Handel, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in support of Deal.
The exit wasn’t quite as dramatic this time, but flight attendant Steven Slater is a free man, at least for now, after pleading not guilty to reckless endangerment and posting his $2,500 bail. Addressing the throng of reporters waiting for him outside the prison, Slater said, "I knew there was a brouhaha about this, but while I was on the inside I didn't realize how much attention it got.” He went on, "I think something about this resonated with people. The outpouring of support is very appreciated. I'm overwhelmed, very thankful.” He then got in a cab, but the cab driver was so distracted by the media that he forced Slater to get out after driving just one block. "It was attention he wasn't prepared to deal with,” Slater said after walking back to the jail, before admitting, "I'm tired. I want a hot bath and a good meal."
Well this doesn’t sound good: In an upcoming article, national correspondent for The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg argues that the odds of a unilateral strike by Israel on Iran are greater than 50-50 in the next year. Goldberg bases his estimate on dozens of conversations with senior members of Israel’s national security team and members of the Obama administration. Goldberg writes, “[O]ne day next spring, the Israeli national-security adviser, Uzi Arad, and the Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, will simultaneously telephone their counterparts at the White House and the Pentagon, to inform them that their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has just ordered roughly 100 F-15es, F-16is, F-16cs, and other aircraft of the Israeli Air Force to fly east toward Iran—possibly by crossing Saudi Arabia, possibly by threading the border between Syria and Turkey, and possibly by traveling directly through Iraq's airspace, though it is crowded with American aircraft.”
Wall Street grew nervous after the Federal Reserve took steps to prop up the U.S. economy this week, and stocks and interest rates fell. Overseas stock markets dropped sharply this morning—Japan’s Nikkei average was hit hard—and the Dow Jones industrial average followed suit, declining 200 points. On Tuesday the Fed said it would start buying government bonds using cash made from the maturing mortgage-backed securities bought during the worst part of the financial crisis. The Fed hopes to boost borrowing by lowering interest rates on corporate loans and mortgages; it said the economic recovery had slowed in recent months. In reaction, the S&P 500 dropped 2 percent, falling below 1100, a key psychological line. On the New York Stock Exchange, a mere 249 stocks gained value, while 2,512 lost value.
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