On Tuesday's* edition of the morning show Money for Breakfast, co-host Peter Barnes interviewed astrologer Constance Stellas about the upcoming Federal Reserve Board meeting. Displaying charts she had drawn up for the meeting and for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, she predicted a half-point rate cut.

I see Faux Bidness is upholding the same journalistic standards as Faux News.

Fox Biz Seeks Answers in the Occult - Portfolio.com

Former publisher Judith Regan filed a $100-million defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and other defendants Tuesday, alleging she was asked by company officials to lie to federal investigators in order to protect Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential bid.

Well that wasn't something I expected. Not surprised by it, but didn't see it coming.

Regan says she was told to lie to protect Giuliani - Los Angeles Times

"We absolutely can't afford not to be brilliant on Google News. I think Google is hugely dangerous.

"Its move into DNA is a massive threat. I wonder whether we will all start feeling that they are behaving a little bit too much like big brother," she said.

"The number one topic of conversation at News Corp is Google."

I think the key notation there is "News Corp." That would be Rupert Murdoch and Fox. I also think it juxtaposes nicely with MSNBC's move to the left as a counterpoint to Fox. This promises to be very interesting, and potentially devastating to Murdoch due to his position as a print monster (London Times, NY Post, WSJ, etc.).

Journalism.co.uk :: SoE: Google is hugely dangerous – claims Times Online editor

Not only did Google honor an achievement by a totalitarian regime that was our Cold War enemy, they griped, but it did so without having ever altered its logo to commemorate U.S. military personnel on Memorial Day or Veterans Day.

"It's a kick to your belly," said conservative blogger Giovanni Gallucci, 39, a social media consultant from Dallas. "I understand these guys are scientists and engineers and they have their quirks and want to make sure people are recognized who might not normally be recognized . . . but why not celebrate the struggles that we've come through as a people?"

Conservatives see the Sputnik logo as particularly galling because the search giant's in-house artist has tweaked the Google logo for a variety of obscure events, including World Water Day, Persian New Year, painter Edvard Munch's birthday and China's Dragon Boat Festival.

Oh boo hoo you whining maggots. They want to play with shit, and the stuff they play with is stuff they can have fun with or stuff they consider cool. Maybe they could do the bit like the Mount Suribachi thing with the logo but never thought of it. The Sputnik 50th anniversary is something that screams attention and they figured out a fun way to do it. If conservatives don't like it, they should build their own Google to do crap like this with, and then watch it go right down the tank just like The 1/2 Hour News Hour.

Google logo tweak sends critics into orbit - Los Angeles Times

CHRISTIAN "media watchdog group" The Resistance is all worked up over the ultra-femme anchors of Fox News. The group's leader, Mark Dice, rants in an e-mail, "I see shorter skirts on the women of Fox News than I do on the prostitutes being arrested on cop shows." Fox responded, "We're always flattered to have everyone talking about us in one form or another."

You can skip the link other than to pump up the numbers, that's the entire article. It seems my theme for the day is WTF?

LEG AVERSION

“If anyone ever doubted that there is enmity between Democrats and American talk radio, they need look no further than the personal attacks leveled on Rush Limbaugh on the floor of the Senate,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the sponsor of legislation shielding broadcasters from government interference. “I thought it astonishing that members of the U.S. Senate would engage in repeated and distorted personal attacks on a private citizen. It gives evidence of a level of frustration with conservative talk radio that is very troubling to anyone who cherishes the medium.”

I'd love to know what exactly was distorted. The guy said it.

TheHill.com - Battle lines are drawn over conservative radio

They [the source’s institution] have “instructions” (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don’t think they’ll ever get majority support for this—they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is “plenty.”

Here's something to keep an eye open for.

Interesting Times: Test Marketing - War in Iran

"The Bancroft family has accepted," John Prestbo, editor and executive director of Dow Jones Indexes, told reporters on Tuesday in Chicago. Dow Jones "will be part of News Corp," he said.

This is really unfortunate. While the Journal's editorial page was always in fantasy land, the main section was about as good as they come. With Murdoch running the show, the #1 financial paper just became Financial Times (that funny orange newspaper). The Wall Street Titanic just ran into iceberg Fox.

Bancroft family accepts News deal - DJ executive�|�Technology, Media & Telecommunications�|�Reuters.co.uk

Why Bush Will Be A Winner

By William Kristol
Sunday, July 15, 2007; Page B01

I suppose I'll merely expose myself to harmless ridicule if I make the following assertion: George W. Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one.

I'm not linking to this because I think it's worth reading, except possibly as a study of the writings of someone who is completely delusional. No, this gets a link because of the comments. Over 2000 of them. In a forum that requires a great deal more effort and more propriety to get into than say, Yahoo. Virtually all over them raking Kristol over the coals.

I'm sorely tempted to do a line by line demolition, and probably will elsewhere, but wow are the Post readers pissed about this one.

Why Bush Will Be A Winner - washingtonpost.com

Keith Olbermann gives us the skinny on Fox News host, Bill O’Reilly’s ejection from the New York Mets’ clubhouse last week.

The jabs by Keith keep coming. Wait for the grin at the end of the clip.

Crooks and Liars » Countdown: Keith Clears The Air On The O'Reilly-Mets Affair