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In 1985 Bradlee received a letter from the publisher of The Pueblo Chieftain in which the publisher criticized Bradlee for dismissing a study that claimed that the public viewed the press as arrogant. Bradlee’s response, here in full, stands as a reminder to professional contrarians of all stripes that to be liked is nice, but no measure of success: “Editors do run the risk of appearing arrogant if they choose to disagree with anybody who calls them arrogant,” Bradlee wrote. “You sound like one of those publishers who aims to please his pals in the community and give them what they want. No one will call you arrogant that way. No one will call you newspaperman, either.”
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In the delta of the Mississippi River, where Robert Johnson was born, they said that if an aspiring bluesman waited by the side of a deserted country crossroads in the dark of a moonless night, then Satan himself might come and tune his guitar, sealing a pact for the bluesman’s soul and guaranteeing a lifetime of easy money, women, and fame. They said that Robert Johnson must have waited by the crossroads and gotten his guitar fine-tuned.
When two small-town newspaper reporters in Kentucky began investigating the corrupt local sheriff, they not only got headline stories. They also got death threats. Byron Pitts reports.
See on Scoop.it - Midnight Rambler
A rare look at the pop pioneers on tour, at home, and on top of the world…
See on Scoop.it - Midnight Rambler
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“Many ran photographs of KSM taken from wanted posters. Several of the photos showed him as a handsome, rugged young man. One pictured him in a Western coat and tie. Back at Langley, Martin saw these early press accounts and was distressed at the accompanying photos. “Boss,” he said to Tenet. “This ain’t right. The media are making this bum look like a hero.” He asked Tenet for approval to release a somewhat less flattering photograph. Tenet agreed. A member of the CIA team had taken photos of KSM right after his capture, including one in which he looks into the camera, with his eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. Still, Martin thought, that initial photo did not make KSM look sufficiently unattractive. Martin asked if there were any other photos available. The agent messed up KSM’s hair and then took another photo. The result was the famous image of KSM—thickset, glowering, wild-haired, half dressed in his nightshirt—his first introduction to most of the rest of the world.” —
McDermott, Terry; Meyer, Josh (2012-03-26). The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (p. 248). Hachette Book Group. Kindle Edition.
(Source: amazon.com)
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rakontur is bringing you exactly what you’ve been waiting for all this time, a documentary about the aftermath of all that flossin’ that goes on in the NBA. They’re premiering their latest work ‘Broke’ today at the Tribeca Film Festival. If you’re in NYC these days, you should try to get tickets…I definitely would.
According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. For 78 percent of NFL players, it takes only three years. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, most pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Jamal Mashburn, Bernie Kosar, and Andre Rison, as well as Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it.
(via rakontur)
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The Honorable Jerry Libbin
Miami Beach Vice-Mayor
Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce President
Miami Beach FL 33139
(305) 673-7106
Dear Commissioner Libbin:
Please accept my sincere apology for my social media faux pas earlier today. If you allow me a brief moment to explain, I’m sure you’ll see that I intended no disrespect to you or your esteemed office.
You see, I awoke this morning to Fred Grimm’s outrageous column in the Miami Herald entitled Miami Beach Sinking In a Vast Swamp of Dishonesty. The ogre Grimm had the temerity to question the ethics of Miami Beach’s fine cadre of civil servants.
To be honest, Commissioner Libbin, my head began to spin with revulsion as Grimm ticked off a laundry list of petty transgressions. So what if several code enforcers, needing some extra cash, decided to request that cash from a nightclub owner whose business they happened to be inspecting? And big deal that the Feds claim Miami Beach firefighter Henry Bryant, after shaking down the same club owner, drove ten kilos of cocaine up to the Aventura Mall on two separate occasions. The joke was on the buyer: turns out the FBI undercover agent posing as the drug dealer supplied Ol’ Henry with sham cocaine!
Grimm goes on to criticize Miami Beach for hiring code enforcers with criminal histories of petty larceny, cocaine possession, DUI, battery on a spouse and throwing rocks at policemen. I can’t believe that, in 2012, being the subject of a few restraining orders and possessing a history of “profound credit problems” should disqualify you from a position of power and authority. This guy Grimm apparently doesn’t believe in second (and third) chances.
I know you must be under a lot of stress, Commissioner Libbin, what with the Feds wiretapping Miami Beach City Hall like it’s the Watergate. I’m sorry that my Facebook post on your wall (reprinted below) caused you to unfriend and block me.
Just know that I certainly didn’t mean to imply that you possessed the gonads of a field mouse for failing to join the other four City of Miami Beach commissioners (Gongora, Tobin, Weithorn and Wolfson) in demanding a special meeting to discuss the fact that a racketeering operation appears to have been run out of Miami Beach City Hall. Rabble rousers, all of them!
I know you’ll do what’s best for the City of Miami Beach. I’ve even come around to your way of thinking: it’s best to sweep this extortion/racketeering/drug smuggling scandal under the rug as quickly and quietly as possible, with no public hearing whatsoever.
After all, we need to buckle down because the next storm is approaching: Memorial Day is only five short weeks away.
Your constituent in solidarity,
Alfred Spellman
So, Jerry Libbin, the FBI spends eight months running an undercover sting in Miami Beach, Florida that exposes rampant corruption at City Hall: an extortion racket run by Miami Beach code enforcement officials in cahoots with Miami Beach firefighters to shake down small business owners and a racket organized by a Miami Beach firefighter to protect and transport shipments of cocaine out of Miami Beach. This is after three Miami Beach Building Dept officials were charged in 2008 for soliciting bribes, the Miami Beach city manager was investigated by the State Attorney for extorting free tickets to the New World Symphony, and the Miami Beach Procurement Director resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations. Let’s not even get started on the Miami Beach Police Department. After the Miami Herald exposed the prior criminal records of those accused of running the extortion racket out of Miami Beach City Hall, Fred Grimm writes, “it was as if the city had been running a work-release program for the Department of Corrections.” Citizens are outraged. Four commissioners have called for a special meeting to discuss what appears to be widespread, systemic corruption. You have not. Why?
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“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me…all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” —Jackie Robinson
65 years ago today, Jackie Robinson broke the color line and made his Major League debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
