Daily Intel

Spike Lee Knows a Different New York Now

Jada Yuan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:05:16 -0500

Spike Lee.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the film Do the Right Thing. When we caught up with director Spike Lee at the movie's DVD-release party this week, we wondered if he missed anything about New York back then. "In 1989, you still had affordable housing in New York City," he told us. Then his outlook became more positive. "The racial polarization you had, when this film was made, is not in the New York City I know today." View our Party Lines slideshow for more. In the meantime, have a happy Independence Day weekend! We'll be back on Monday.

Jet Calvin Pace Suspended for Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Joe DeLessio — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:44:02 -0500

Here’s something new coach Rex Ryan didn’t need: Linebacker Calvin Pace has been suspended for four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing-substance policy. In a statement, Pace said the failed test was the result of an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained a substance he didn’t know violated the league’s policy. He’s eligible to return October 12 against Miami. [NYDN]

Gitmo Detainee to Hang Around NYC for More Than a Year

Chris Rovzar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:32:36 -0500

Judge Lewis Kaplan, the U.S. District judge in Manhattan who has been dealing with the trial of Guantánamo detainee and accused terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, set a September 2010 trial date for the man this morning. Ghailani is accused of membership in Al Qaeda and involvement in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. He allegedly served as a bomb-maker, forger of documents, and envoy of Osama bin Laden. The attacks in which he is accused to have participated left 224 people dead, including 12 Americans.

Ghailani is the first of the Guantánamo detainees to be tried on American soil, following President Obama's resolution to close the offshore prison and try all of its remaining accused terrorists in civilian courts when possible. There has been much fuss from opponents of this plan, and from governors over the fact that this will mean terrorists will be shipped to their states.

You'll note that there has been little uproar over Ghailani's presence right here in New York — and the news that he might remain in the area for over a year before his trial even begins. To which we say: Sack up, rest of the country. Ghailani may not be one of the 9/11 masterminds, but for a while, he was reportedly housed here in the city at the Metropolitan Correctional Center — not even a supermax facility. It is, in fact, where they put wimps like Bernard Madoff until sentencing.

Side note: bet that was a fun cafeteria line.

JUDGE SETS GITMO DEFENDANT'S TRIAL FOR 2010 [NYP]
Earlier: First Guantánamo Detainee to Be Tried in New York, Pleads Not Guilty

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Filed Under: ahmed khalfan ghailani, guantanamo, terrorism trials

Mark Sanford’s Love Story Needs Its Hollywood Ending

Jessica Pressler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:02:41 -0500

The story of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's affair has not, obviously, unfolded like other political sex scandals. From his first epic, tearful press conference to the touchingly goofy e-mails between him and Maria Chapur to his recent declaration that "I will be able to die knowing that I had met my soul mate," the whole thing has just been so freaking romantic. It's like a chick flick, and despite the fact that our hero is not someone we can personally ever imagine having sex with (ever), we can't help it: We want our Hollywood ending.

And we're not the only ones.

"Just go be with her!" Josh Marshall, whom we frankly wouldn't have pegged as a romantic, wrote yesterday. Dana Goldstein points out in the American Prospect that everything Sanford has said and done suggests "he's still passionately in love with Belen Chapur and perhaps just one step away from riding off into the sunset," and that "trying" to "fall back in love" with his wife isn't going to work since "a continued Sanford marriage will look, to most of the world, like a total sham." Plus, the kids! At this point, divorce would probably be a relief. "After all, kids often know, better than anyone else, when there's something hopelessly wrong in their parents' marriage."

And in Argentina, Vindication of Love author Cristina Nehring wrote in the New Republic last week:

Governor Sanford of South Carolina had what would, under ordinary circumstances, be considered an ideal romantic relationship in the 21st century. Slow to evolve and based on proven mutual friendship and respect, it was eight years in the making.

And look, Jenny? We all know she'll be fine, and in fact better off. She'll probably end up renovating her house in Tuscany, or who knows, starting a romantic-comedy empire of her own. So just do it, Mark. Dry your tears. Say, Fuck being the governor, I'm going to be a man. Get on that plane and head back to Buenos Aires. Find Maria at the top of the Palacio Barolo building and say those words every woman wants to hear: "I always believed in you. I just didn't believe in me."

Read more posts by Jessica Pressler

Filed Under: dana goldstein, josh marshall, mark sanford, romance, the real love gov

This Summer, You Are Much Less Likely to Get Murdered

Chris Rovzar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:33:22 -0500

This girl is happy for all the wrong reasons.

The rainclouds that have been systematically dampening your hair and your spirits so far this summer have a silver lining after all: It turns out that you're much less likely to get murdered in the city during the summer if it's raining! According to the Times, when there is an inch or more of rain in the city in the summertime, an average of three fewer people are murdered every ten days. Saturdays, traditionally the most murderous days in this town, see a decline of 25 percent in killings if it's raining. And so far this summer has been the second wettest on record.

So, hooray! Though we realize now we've given you an entirely new set of worries for when it's actually sunny — not to mention hot — this year.

In New York City, Fewer Murders on Rainy Days [NYT]

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Filed Under: don't blame it on the rain, silver linings, this doesn't mean you should go running around the ramble late at night

Joe Biden Is in Iraq

Chris Rovzar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:15:27 -0500

How long do you think before he makes the following joke at a press conference? "Hey guys, put down the shoes — I can put a foot in my own mouth, thank you very much." [WP]

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Filed Under: early and often, iraq, joe biden, politics

In Argentina, Laid-Off Bankers Can Be Superheroes Again

Jessica Pressler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:05:03 -0500

After the indignity of of being laid off from their high-paying jobs as masters of the universe, many bankers are flocking to Argentina, where a favorable exchange rate and low-cost recreational drugs set the bar for superhero status relatively low. However, some of these underemployed gents seem to be taking their identities a little too seriously:

Mat and his crew — which included two Aussie i-bankers, Duncan and Dan — took the games to a new level with the "Olympics," which involved various Herculean feats with girls at bars: remove an item of her clothing in a bar; make out with a girl without uttering a word, in a bar. Others, who shall remain nameless, assumed superhero identities: Batman would point a flashlight at a lucky lady, illuminating her shadow against the wall before the romance ensued; Spider-Man would jerk off in his hand and cast out his progeny in a fashion similar to the way his namesake unleashes his web.

We'd say they sound like they're regressing, but that would imply there was a bit previously where they'd grown up.

Raging Bulls [Playboy]

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Filed Under: argentina, bankers, buenos aires, business, finance, the greatest depression

SEC Lawyer Raised Questions About Madoff Back in 2004

Jessica Pressler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:30:00 -0500

Shana Madoff.

Back in 2004, an SEC lawyer with the whimsical name of Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot raised questions to her boss, Mark Donohue, and his supervisor, Eric Swanson, about the unusual trading patterns and strategies of one Bernie Madoff. "Concentrate on mutual funds for the time being," they told her, and requested she turn over her research, which they packed up and put in cold storage. In 2007, Eric Swanson married Shana Madoff, Bernie's niece. Probably just a coincidence.

Staffer at SEC Had Warned Of Madoff [WP]

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Filed Under: bernie madoff, eric swanson, made-off, shana madoff

Watching Concrete Dry Was Never So Interesting

Dan Amira — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:10:23 -0500

Earlier this week, construction workers poured concrete for fourteen consecutive hours at the future site of a fountain and entrance to one of the World Trade Center towers. The Port Authority released a time-lapse video of the process, which we enjoy not only because it's fun watching people move around at light speed, but because it does make you appreciate all the effort and activity that goes into just a single day of work on the project. Especially if, like all the Intel editors, you have no idea how people are even capable of figuring out how to build a structure like this from scratch. [Port Authority]

Congress Takes a Lot of Working Vacations

Chris Rovzar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:01:10 -0500

Nancy Pelosi, enjoying Afghanistan Italy.

Turns out, after Congress banned lobbyist-sponsored trips abroad in 2005, excursions on the public dime ballooned nearly 70 percent. Since Democrats took over Congress, the amount increased 50 percent in two years, costing taxpayers about $13 million last year. Now, granted, that's pennies in a congressional budget, but there are still some trips that raised The Wall Street Journal's eyebrows:

Often, lawmakers combine trips to war zones with visits to more tranquil spots. In February, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of Democratic lawmakers to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan for a day. Before landing in Kabul, the eight lawmakers and their entourage of spouses and aides spent eight days in Italy, spending $57,697 on hotels and meals.

To be fair, a lot of the trips are to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, war-torn locales where our leaders probably should be sticking their heads now and again. "In mid-February, for example, six House lawmakers traveled to Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Afghanistan," the Journal reports. "Each lawmaker reported spending $1,500 on hotels and meals in Kuwait, $400 in Bahrain, and $25 in Afghanistan. They reported no expenses in Iraq." Of all the places not to drop a dime! Because Italian tourist traps really need your cash more than the shawarma place just outside the Green Zone.

In other news, the staff salaries of all White House personnel have been released. As you probably knew, it's not that lucrative to work in there. The highest-paid staff members (like Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, and Robert Gibbs) are mostly salary-capped at $172,000, with the exception of Obama himself, who makes $400,000. Most staffers, especially the younger ones, earn within the $35K to $70K range (and they don't get Italian vacations, even if they are disguised as "trips to Afghanistan").

Still, counting for New York City taxes, absurd rents, and an overall higher cost of living, these kids probably aren't doing too bad compared to how a lot of us up here live. (Discounting those of you who work in finance and the law, of course, who live in a way public servants should never be allowed to understand). And they get to swipe in at the White House every day. We're officially jealous. We bet the coffee in the West Wing is relatively drinkable, and they get to have a puppy at work, every day.

Remind us again why we didn't run for office, or help someone run for office? Is it because no one would take us seriously? Because we can stop declaring wars on animal species, if that's what it takes.

Congress's Travel Tab Swells [WSJ]
Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff [White House]

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Filed Under: barack obama, congress, early and often, jobs that are cushier than ours, nancy pelosi, obama administration, politics, white house

Cheers to Your Nascent Ponzi Scheme!

Jessica Pressler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:25:03 -0500

A photo of Ruth Madoff on the beach in Montauk in 1981, from a collection of Madoff family photos Getty Images is selling on behalf of a "mystery client." We have to admit that Ruth's Jane Fonda look here is kind of hot and oddly timely; we hope to see this image duped in an upcoming Nylon photo spread.

Related: Ruth is officially out of 131 E. 64th Street. [NYP]

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Filed Under: andy madoff, bernard madoff, bernie madoff, business, made-off, photos

Al Franken Kind of Calls Hillary a Horse

Dan Amira — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:05:33 -0500

It's nice that Al Franken wants to emulate Hillary Clinton's transition into the Senate, but maybe he could have employed a better metaphor? "There's something in Hillary as a model for me, because Hillary, well she came in with a different kind of celebrity obviously," he tells Minnesota Public Radio. "But there was a kind of skepticism where she had to prove herself a certain way and also prove not to be a kind of a show horse, but to be a work horse. And so I want to you know put my head down and get to work when I get there." [MPR]

An Ode to New York ‘Street Face’

Jessica Pressler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:45:29 -0500

Painter and filmmaker Jeff Sher has made an animated video of people walking around wearing their New York "street face," which he defines as "a kind of neutral expression with a touch of 'don’t mess with me.'" It's much lovelier than it sounds. [Animated Life/NYT]

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Filed Under: art, jeff sher, neat stuff, neighborhood news, nyt, wonderful things

Washington Post Newsroom Not Too Keen on Whoring Selves Out

Dan Amira — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:33:38 -0500

A bombshell report this morning revealed the existence of flyers announcing a new series of "salons" organized by the Washington Post that would offer lobbyists, for $25,000 a pop, the chance to engage in spirited but nonconfrontational discussions with the "powerful few" capable of "alter[ing] the debate" (presumably in their favor). The bigwigs that lobbyists could expect to meet (at the home of the Post's CEO and publisher) would include Obama administration officials, members of Congress — and, oh, what's this? — even the Post's own reporters. Clearly, the paper is trying to find new ways to make some money, but at what cost? Is it worth damaging the integrity of an illustrious, supposedly unbiased news organization? Some people at the Post certainly think so. The reporters themselves — not so much.

After the story caused an "uproar" in the newsroom, executive editor Marcus Brauchli e-mailed his staff to ensure them that they were still, primarily, journalists:

Colleagues,

A flyer was distributed this week offering an "underwriting opportunity" for a dinner on health-care reform, in which the news department had been asked to participate.

The language in the flyer and the description of the event preclude our participation.

We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable.

There is a long tradition of news organizations hosting conferences and events, and we believe The Post, including the newsroom, can do these things in ways that are consistent with our values.

We like how he leaves the door open to their participation at the end, while singling out the "language" in the flyer. A couple of tweaks to the copy here and there, and this is something they can get behind.

Washington Post sells access, $25,000+ [Politico]

SJP Eyeing Park Slope?

Chris Rovzar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:15:34 -0500

Is Sarah Jessica Parker going to throw her little husband, son, and two new baby twin girls in a knapsack and head to Brooklyn? That's what the Post thinks. They suspect she's the secret owner of Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connolly's former Park Slope mansion (Curbed has pics!) and is planning to move there with her recently enlarged brood. The nine-bedroom manse — which has outdoor space and is much larger than the couple's West Village home — is currently under renovations. Which, taken all together, is so Miranda, not Carrie, eh? [NYP]

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Filed Under: james wilkie, marion loretta elwell, matthew broderick, neighborhood news, park slope, real estate, sarah jessica parker, tabitha hodge, vu.