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Yesterday we wrote about the redemption of Scott Beauchamp, The New Republic's discredited "Baghdad Diarist" whose missives about running over dogs and mocking mutilated women were semi-retracted by the magazine after a right wing shitshow. Today we are back with two clarifications courtesy Beauchamp belle Elspeth Reeve, who you'll recall is not only the wife of the young soldier, but also his fact-checker. The first is that a lot of Beauchamp's details about his fellow soldiers' coarse behavior might seem more credible in light of the fact that as our buddy Leon pointed out a few weeks ago it is Beauchamp's army company that produced those four soldiers charged with conspiracy to commit murder. And clarification #2 has to do with my suggestion that TNR editor Frank Foer retracted the columns because he was "fundamentally a pussy." Reeve pointed out that some TNR editors are actually somewhat badass!
While Reeve pointed out that there was "indeed a disconnect" between Scott and his editors at the magazine — when Scott would be two hours late for a scheduled conference call because, say, his friend had driven his Bradley into a canal and he had to pull him out, Foer would panic and be "like, 'OH MY GOD WHERE WERE YOU?!?!'" — she says that the editors did their very best to communicate with her broad-shouldered beau "on his level." How'd they accomplish this?
In emails and IMs with their soldier correspondent, she explains, they littered their exchanges with phrases like "yeah man" and "fuck that d-bag" and also "we're gonna nail that guy's balls to the wall."
In addition, says Reeve, one editor revealed to her husband — and also, the TNR office — that he had come "thisclose" to joining the Marines 10 years earlier. (Another ex-TNR staffer, corroborating this story, added that this particular editor, is also "given to wearing" motorcycle boots along with jeans and french-cuffed shirts to work.)
Another editor told Reeve he "very seriously considered joining the IDF" right after high school, but didn't because he "knew someone like Ariel Sharon could be elected." (Hey guy: Marty Peretz resembles that remark!)
Reeve added that she is considering pursuing a graduate degree for which she will write a thesis about "manliness and how it ruins everything."
How Soccer Explains The World: An Unlikely Theory Of Globalization [Amazon]
Yesterday was the big Italian premiere of “Get Smart” in Rome. And while Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell were all smiles, it seems there was a little bit of drama going on.
Given her recent breakup with incarcerated longtime ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, the “Princess Bride” hottie was understandably apprehensive when it came to facing the Italian press.
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: We know the Hogans are being ripped apart after Nick crashed his Supra last year -- and there's no end to the chaos in sight, or so they say.Brooke tells Life & Style in its new issue, for instance, that she doesn't "agree with what's going on... Read more
Recently, we met the Media Bloggers Association, supposedly a group that provides legal aid to bloggers and one that is currently negotiating with the Associated Press to establish guidlines for reposting tiny snippets of their copy. Our night editor asked who died and made them Internet Kings, and they responded with a bitchy email that said we didn't even email them or anything. Then a couple enterprising commenters did some more research (and not the "email them for comment" kind either—what is up with the internet?). And now we have reason to be suspicious of everything the MBA and their head troll Roger Cox have to say. They might just be a money-making scam!
David Seamon, expert in self-publicity and former Gawker Media intern, found Cox's blog itself to be suspect.
Fishy: So some of this guy's posts receive 0 comments, while others get 81,406 user comments — but you can't view any of them unless you log in. I honestly have trouble believing his blog gets that much traffic, especially considering there are no pics and the whole thing reads like the starter text included with a blog template. (For comparison's sake, the most popular story on PerezHilton.com at the moment has 142 comments...)
3. What's totally even weirder: when you try to create a login so you can view his 81,000+ comments, it doesn't let you...
"Thanks for signing up for our email list. We'll contact you once registration is open. We hope that will be sometime in August and hopefully no later than 9/1/08."
Seaman suggests the entire MBA is just an excuse to sell scared bloggers useless liability insurance. Commenter Triborough agrees!
They do not list any physical location (i.e. street address), the whois info for their domain appears to be a private registration, in the e-mail the phone number is Westchester, but the fax is Arizona (big red flag). Part of me thinks it could be a front group for AP to get money.
This is the group that the blogger behind Drudge Retort turned to when faced with legal threats from the Associated Press. AP backed down, but who knows what Cox and his MBA got from the blogger. And now this group is supposedly in negotiations with the AP to issue blogging guidelines that most likely will be stricter than copyright law even calls for.
If we suspected anyone was maybe going to follow those rules, we'd be worried!
Anyway, Roger, if you have any response to all this, just put it on your blog, and then we'll read it and make fun of it again. That's how it works.
Update: We forgot about the AP's friendly history with Cox!
Media Bloggers Association head Robert Cox gets along just swimmingly with the wire service. They worked together in early 2007 to cover the Scooter Libby trial and Cox was thrilled at the opportunity. "This is a great step forward in the relationship between news bloggers and the mainstream media," Cox said the AP's decision to deign to allow bloggers to get press passes.
In return, Cox promised to keep bloggers in line! “This is not the time to write a post titled ‘Dick Cheney is a [expletive deleted].’ We sought to address [the AP’s concerns] by saying we have a vetted membership of bloggers who’ve agreed to ascribe to certain ideals of what they’re trying to do. [The AP] has the kind of accountability that they want. I’m not going to control what the blogger writes, but if they get way out of line and embarrass the AP, they can be pulled from the feed.”
Goddammit Cox this is the time to write a post titled "Dick Cheney is a [expletive deleted]." If we can't do that, then what is the point of blogging?
(Thanks, it takes a train to cry, for reminding us.)
This Friday, one of the summer’s funniest movies is set to hit theaters. And last night, Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell were hamming it up at the big Hollywood premiere of “Get Smart.”
The “Devil Wears Prada” hottie was looking fit and fine in a strapless graphite-colored fuzzy dress along with a pair of teardrop earrings and black peep-toe super-high heels.
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Kenny Chesney was the big winner - yet again - at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Vegas last night, but even he thinks it's kind of a sham, all because the fans are involved in the voting.In a snipe he's going to be regretting for... Read more
Once upon a time Heather Mills had the audacity to marry Paul McCartney and a funny island nation got really, really upset about it. So upset that they're still coming up with stuff like this: "Heather Mills has been accused of breaking a promise to a disabled mother whose artificial legs she promised to pay for. The 40-year-old ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartney — who herself has an artificial after she was hit by a car in 1993 — met Maria Rybkina, who was left tragically disabled in a train accident, in her Moscow flat four years ago. Heather promised 28-year-old Maria a personal donation of $20,000 to provide her with new artificial legs, but it has now been claimed that the former glamor model never handed over the cash, despite repeated promises to do so."
"Mariah is now able to walk again after she received the help of British couple Robin and Inna Barratt, who launched a fund-raising campaign on her behalf. 'Heather rang us and emailed us repeatedly with promises to pay for Maria’s legs,' Robin tells Britain’s News of The World newspaper. 'But every single promise she made fell flat. In the end, she never did anything at all [...] all her big promises came to nothing. It was shocking behavior.'” [ShowbizSpy]
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Well they must not be paying her by the word: Miley Cyrus just inked a deal to write her *choke, gag* memoirs - for what's being called a "seven-figure" deal.15-year-old Miley will recount the portion of her life for which she has been a... Read more
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Prepare to throw up a little in your mouth: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's wedding may be televised.Speidi will follow in the idiot blonde footsteps of Jess Simpson and Nick Lachey for MTV, reports the New York Post, and may do their own... Read more
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: George Clooney sat down for an interview with Esquire magazine and didn't waste anytime clearing up the rumors that hound him (via People). Despite what you may read on the web, the perpetual bachelor insists he is still only a double gay and hasn't... Read more
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Nicole? Forget it. Britney? So 2007. Sister Nicky? Yeah, whatevs. Paris Hilton is on the hunt for a new best friend, and where better to do that then on national television?So says Usmagazine.com, which reports that Hiltie is coming back to reality... Read more
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Now boarding the express train to Crazytown -- Britney Spears' managerish guy, Sam Lutfi, who's already had three restraining orders taken out against him. That's the assessment of Danny Haines, an ex-friend of Sam who actually got one of those... Read more
Filed under: Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: Who said you can only wear a wedding dress once? That may be the rule, but by now it's clear Brit Brit doesn't pay attention to such silly things. The poptart was seen wearing her wedding dress from her walk down the aisle with Kevin Federline while... Read more
Filed under: Britney Spears, Let's Get This Party Started
TMZ.com: The only member of Britney Spears' immediate family to stay by her side was her dad, Jamie -- and he broke down in tears just after she ditched the hospital on Saturday."Jamie was really upset," a source tells People. "He was in tears. When he got to... Read more