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New York, 6:23 AM
Sat Dec 5
51 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #tomfriedman more →

    Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully

    When Will The Mainstream Media Pick Up Insane Pipeline Story?

    Going For The Green: A History Of The Green Bandwagon And Where On It Tom Friedman Sits

    'How to Read the Tom Friedman Article in Today's Times Mag': A Post by John

    Media Bubble: DO NOT MAKE IT LIVE!!!

    Observer Lops Off Tom Friedman's Moustache of Understanding

    David Brooks Dumb Enough To Believe Stuff He Reads In His Own Paper

    Remainders: The Lexus And The Motherfucking Olive Tree

    Tom Friedman Still Working On Column About Bears, Woods

    Media Bubble: Are We Six Months Away From Tom Friedman's Livejournal?
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    I second that, dude. Except that the eXile is still being published. . . kind of. It sounds like War Nerd's been kicked out of Russia.


    [exiledonline.com]

     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    01/15/09

    @gawkimo: And it's really not as good as it used to be. So, yeah, R.I.P.
     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    I always thought the world was round.
     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
    Image of Tammany_Fall Tammany_Fall
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    I work in an independent bookstore, and his stuff sells like crazy. We have it right next to Outliers. Sigh. Apparently my looks of contempt when people ask for either are both are not enough to turn the tide of popular opinion.
     Reply
    Tammany_Fall was starred Tammany_Fall was unstarred
    Image of Sproing Sproing
    01/15/09

    @Tammany_Fall: "Excuse me, where's your Simplistic Answers to Complex Questions shelf?"
     Reply
    Sproing was starred Sproing was unstarred
    Image of Tammany_Fall Tammany_Fall
    01/15/09

    @Sproing: "Directly south of the Obama* Industry -- I mean shelf; east of the Cassandra -- I mean Krugman Collection."


    *No offense to the P-elect, but it is a little sickening.

     Reply
    Tammany_Fall was starred Tammany_Fall was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    OH MY GOD. That is the funniest, most scathingly true article I've ever read in my entire life.


    Seriously. if anyone hasn't read it yet, PLEASE do yourself a favour and go read it. It's brutally hilarious.

     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of Baroness Baroness
    01/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: It's truly wicked and right-on.

    Valerie Bertinelli's ass, indeed. Heh.


    Also, Friedman lives in a 114,000 square foot house? Please tell me that's comic exagerration. Plz.

     Reply
    Baroness was starred Baroness was unstarred
    Image of MrInBetween MrInBetween
    01/15/09

    @Baroness: It is that big. He needs a lot of room to store all the copies of his books that he's bought.
     Reply
    MrInBetween was starred MrInBetween was unstarred
    Image of Botswana Meat Commission FC Botswana Meat Commission FC
    01/15/09

    @Baroness:


    I love the chart showing the rise and fall in Valerie Bertinelli's ass. Excellent!

     Reply
    Botswana Meat Commission FC was starred Botswana Meat Commission FC was unstarred
    Image of the supergoddess the supergoddess
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Cue new fantasy: Matt Taibbi, Managing Editor, Gakwer.com. (swoons)
     Reply
    the supergoddess was starred the supergoddess was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    01/15/09

    @the supergoddess: Holy shit, can you imagine just how good this joint would be? Even I want to make out with him, and I don't even have luscious boobs or nothin.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of Tammany_Fall Tammany_Fall
    01/15/09

    @the supergoddess: Sweet Jesus, yes. And Davis Rees as cartoonist! (That's my new threeway fantasy, BTW; Rees looks like a smarter geekier Ben Affleck, and is a doll, if a doll said "fuck" every other word.)
     Reply
    Tammany_Fall was starred Tammany_Fall was unstarred
    Image of MattGaymon MattGaymon
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    With no context for Friedman's quote I am assuming he's illustrating exactly what Taibbi's arguing he's not.
     Reply
    MattGaymon was starred MattGaymon was unstarred
    Image of Sproing Sproing
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    I thought Taibbi would never write for the New York Press again after Popegate!
     Reply
    Sproing was starred Sproing was unstarred
    Image of Clarence Rosario Clarence Rosario
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Ames and Taibbi helped me survive my first visit to Moscow with the eXile.


    So he's aces in my book.

     Reply
    Clarence Rosario was starred Clarence Rosario was unstarred
    Image of Botswana Meat Commission FC Botswana Meat Commission FC
    01/15/09

    @Clarence Rosario:

    I believe he spent his teenage years there (or maybe grew up there from birth, don't knw).


    I imagine being given somewhat free-reign for teenage troublemaking in Wild West post-Soviet Moscow would have been more than a little crazy.

     Reply
    Botswana Meat Commission FC was starred Botswana Meat Commission FC was unstarred
    Image of Clarence Rosario Clarence Rosario
    01/15/09

    @Botswana Meat Commission FC: He actually moved to Uzbekistan post-college (spent a year abroad in Leningrad during college), and played professional basketball in Mongolia before working for expat-focused newspapers in Moscow.
     Reply
    Clarence Rosario was starred Clarence Rosario was unstarred
    Image of Botswana Meat Commission FC Botswana Meat Commission FC
    01/15/09

    @Clarence Rosario:

    Just looked up on Wikipedia what has to be the most unlikely journalism career ever....


    Early years


    Taibbi spent his childhood in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, attended Concord Academy, and attended Bard College at Annandale on Hudson, New York, spending a year abroad at Leningrad State Technical University. His father is Mike Taibbi, an NBC television reporter.


    Career


    In 1992 Taibbi moved to Uzbekistan, but was forced to leave six months later after writing articles critical of the country's president, Islom Karimov. Afterwards, Taibbi worked for The Moscow Times as a sports editor, before moving on to work in Russia and Mongolia as a professional athlete and as a correspondent for Montsame, the Mongolian National News Agency.

     Reply
    Botswana Meat Commission FC was starred Botswana Meat Commission FC was unstarred
    Image of DennyCrane DennyCrane
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Matt Taibbi is my journalistic hero.

    No, seriously.
     Reply
    DennyCrane was starred DennyCrane was unstarred
    Image of belltolls belltolls
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Metaphor and simile weep when summoned by Friedman.
     Reply
    belltolls was starred belltolls was unstarred
    Image of Nic Fit Nic Fit
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Let's not forget that Friedman wrote in 2003 that he liked Bush's "roll the dice" attitude about invading Iraq.


    Didn't he remember that Rolling Stones lyrics about the "wavering millions who need leaders but get gamblers instead"?

     Reply
    Nic Fit was starred Nic Fit was unstarred
    Image of Iceland Spar Iceland Spar
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    At the risk of instant alienation of everyone who reads this website - I actually like Tom Friedman. And From Beruit to Jerusalem was a pretty good book. I will now flee the interwebs.
     Reply
    Iceland Spar was starred Iceland Spar was unstarred
    Image of Weegee's bored Weegee's bored
    01/15/09

    @Iceland_Spar: I never heard a bad word about Friedman before I got involved with Gawker.
     Reply
    Weegee's bored was starred Weegee's bored was unstarred
    Image of Iceland Spar Iceland Spar
    01/15/09

    @Weegee's bored: I had only heard criticism of him based on his support of the Iraq war.


    @Matt Taibbi: Lions are a herd animal that hunts. Also humans.

     Reply
    Iceland Spar was starred Iceland Spar was unstarred
    Image of OlMuckyTerrahawk OlMuckyTerrahawk
    01/15/09

    @Iceland_Spar: He is a congenitall unoriginal buffoon. Watch and learn: [obama1600.blogspot.com]
     Reply
    OlMuckyTerrahawk was starred OlMuckyTerrahawk was unstarred
    Image of Squirrelwars Squirrelwars
    01/15/09

    @Iceland_Spar: @Weegee's bored: Yeah, I need to do more research about Friedman, because I don't understand why Gawker hates him. He has said some things that make sense. He called out Palin for saying "Drill, baby, drill," and he believes the US should focus on developing a smarter energy policy.


    [www.nytimes.com]

     Reply
    Squirrelwars was starred Squirrelwars was unstarred
    Image of Iceland Spar Iceland Spar
    01/15/09

    @OlMuckyTerrahawk: Having trouble watching the video from my office, but I love Charlie Rose and will most definitely watch later.
     Reply
    Iceland Spar was starred Iceland Spar was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    01/15/09

    @Squirrelwars: I've been following the anti-friedman thing since before I came to gawker in my first incarnation. I was also a big taibbi fan. I actually wrote a bunch of letters into the NYP in support of taibbi. Friedman is a reductive, tiresome buffoon who simplifies issues not accurately, but only according to how he sees them. His world view is skewed towards whatever silly thing comes out of his mouth, like a child. And the way he sees things is entirely revealed though his horrible prose: ideas are tortured, metaphors are ridiculous, sentences stumble and lurch insanely. He's just a terrible writer who's managed to get a sort of pop-culture sway over people. He's like an evil-universe version of Malcom Gladwell.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of j.blo j.blo
    01/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II:


    Gladwell is guilty of severe oversimplification as well, but at least his books are a little more limited in scope.


    Relatedly, I don't know how many times I said "duh" while reading Freakanomics -- and I ain't too good at arithmetic. But I did enjoy the book because it was interesting and the authors weren't making shit up.

     Reply
    j.blo was starred j.blo was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    01/15/09

    @j.blo: Yah, that's what I mean. His books are simple and silly, but at least accurate in what they say, and said with some thought put into them. Friedman is the opposite - simplified out of idiocy.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    01/15/09

    @Iceland_Spar: That book was written a long time ago -- when Friedman was a decent journalist instead of a snake oil salesman of Neo-Liberal bullshit.
     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
    Image of gawkimo gawkimo
    01/15/09

    @Squirrelwars: Yes, you do need to do more research. In his call for smarter energy policy he fails to address the manufacturing problem we have thanks to the very policies he lauds. You can't have a manufacturing base (to make enough solar panels and windmills to do what he wants to do) in a free market system where China has hundreds of millions of people who can make solar panels more cheaply. This is major "Pie in the Sky" crap. His plan won't work because Americans workers aren't willing to make solar panels for $5 a day like an typical Chinese laborer would.


    It's typical Neo-Liberal nonsense. We'll just end up buying the solar panels from China until our workers have been beaten down enough by pverty and debt that they're willing to work at the same level of wages and benefits as their competitors abroad. You want to let the "invisible hand" do it's magic: how does $2 an hour in a factory sound? Because that's what Friedman's world view means for Americans: competing with countries on a "level playing field" while those countries have millions of dirt poor people more than happy to work harder than you for a lot less money.


    Hope you like being poor, because that's what a "Flat World" means for the richer countries. A level playing field: Indian workers moving from $1 a day to $5 a day while Americans go from $20 an hour with benefits to minimum wage.


    And, of course, Friedman's mall-building billionaire wife can build those shopping malls in Indian for their "new wealth" while we squat in our abandoned box stores.

     Reply
    gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred
    Image of Excited_Utterance Excited_Utterance
    01/15/09

    @gawkimo: That's the ticket to Friedman's consistency. Be it tech bubbles, stupid wars, or "green" revolution, he is on board with a not very pretty side of economic globalization, and neoliberal is the best way to put it.
     Reply
    Excited_Utterance was starred Excited_Utterance was unstarred
    Image of T.S._delegate T.S._delegate
    01/15/09

    @Excited_Utterance: Yep, yep, neoliberalism. Which, although it contains the world "liberal," isn't what we mean when we say "liberal" in this country. I find it strange and disjoint that he wrote a whole book about globalism and then followed it with a book about the green movement. Free market policies aren't about to cut down on pollution.
     Reply
    T.S._delegate was starred T.S._delegate was unstarred
    Image of valet_of_the_dolls valet_of_the_dolls
    01/15/09

    @Iceland_Spar: Technically, lions live in a pride; I think Taibbi was referring to animals that can actually be herded, such as sheep & goats.
     Reply
    valet_of_the_dolls was starred valet_of_the_dolls was unstarred
    Image of Botswana Meat Commission FC Botswana Meat Commission FC
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    I very much approve of Jesus Made Me Puke.
     Reply
    Botswana Meat Commission FC was starred Botswana Meat Commission FC was unstarred
    Image of BookishLookish BookishLookish
    01/15/09

    In reply to Matt Taibbi's Relentless Hounding of Tom Friedman Continues, Thankfully
    Matt is good people.
     Reply
    BookishLookish was starred BookishLookish was unstarred
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