Paul Krugman and Andrew Ross Sorkin got into it the other day when Sorkin mischaracterized Krugman's views on the need for large insolvent banks (specifically Citi and BoA) to be taken over by the FDIC (a process that happens every week btw with smaller insolvent banks.) The spat drew the attention of NYTimes Public Editor Clark Hoyt:

[A] full and fair reading of the [Krugman] column [. . .] does not support the notion that he favored nationalizing the entire banking system. [. . .] I sent Sorkin a message telling him that I did not think his citations supported his argument that Krugman had called for nationalizing the entire banking system. In a long written message and two phone conversations, he said he regarded his differences with Krugman as “an issue of semantics” over the meaning of nationalization.

(Emphasis supplied.) Sorkin is right --he has adopted the rhetoric of the Tea Partiers and completely changed the understood meaning of the term "nationalization." Once upon a time, we all understood what nationalization meant. Mexico nationalized its oil industry by taking over ownership. Chile nationalized its copper industry by taking ownership of it. Sorkin chooses the Tea Partier way:

DougJ at Balloon Juice, a site I read daily, points us to this bit on what people are reading. For the most part, I no longer read the people they ask "what are you reading?(Brooks, Rich, etc.) I find it all pretty boring.

What do I read? The NYTimes (not the WaPo much at all anymore.) Krugman. Kevin Drum. Yglesias (interestingly not reading Ezra much at all anymore. No particular reason.) Digby. Greenwald every day. Daily Kos every day. A few smaller sites - Docudharma, Corrente, Susie Madrak's site. Booman. Can't remember what else. Not as much reading of political blogs lately.

I do read a lot of sports blogs though (I know, Sports Left is mighty quiet. I've been busy and, well, uninspired.) Among those I like Team Speed Kills (a blog about SEC sports), Alligator Army (about the Mighty Gators sports programs) and especially Podium Cafe, a cycling site. I love Bill Simmons' column at ESPN.

What are you reading these days?

Via CelebStoner,

NORML's famous "Money Tree" ad is currently running 18 times a day in New York's Times Square in the Super Screen located below the CBS eye across the street from Ripley's Believe it or Not. From 9 am to 1 am, the 15-second spot flashes once an hour.

CBS initially banned the ad but changed it's mind in March.

Huffington Post has launched a Twitter edition for 19 of its sections. Here's the politics section. It's not just a twitter feed. It's got articles with photos at the top and then sections of twitterers divided by categories (e.g., reporters in one, pundits in another) and then a section "What's Hot on Twitter" also with graphics. For breaking news, I love it. Fewer clicks than using Twitter itself, and you can really see what's happening right now.

On Twitter itself, there's too many people jut tweeting a headline and unless you click through, you don't know that. This way you can get to the actual news and updates much faster (as well as what people are saying about it, which isn't as interesting to me as the news itself.)

Nice work, Huffpo.

The Rielle Hunter Rehab Tour continues. The next installment: Oprah Winfrey. When? May sweeps, of course. The misunderstood mistress, who no one cares about, who only talks about herself, has chosen Oprah Winfrey over Diane Sawyer and Barbra Walters to share the next tawdry installment. The up side: Oprah's on daytime, none of us with day jobs have to worry about watching.

How many faces does this story have? [More...]

MSNBC is keeping David Shuster off the air for now as a result of him filming a CNN pilot. (More here.) His contract is up this year, but he may get canned early -- as early as today.

So, will Shuster go to CNN? And will it help? I'd rather see them add news hosts than pundits. CNN has the most boring, recycled, predictable stable of pundits. They get lazy and pontificate off the top of their head, without adding any depth to the discussion. A news network show should not be a coffee klatch. CNN should use more knowledgeable guests with a "fit" to the particular story and rely less on paid personalities who long ago had an inside job in some Administration.

Some more Apple news today, via Mashable and Boy Genius Report: Apple is going to announce the 4G version of the iPhone (presumably Verizon will be getting one) on Thursday. It just sent out press invitations for the event. The new phone should be available in June.

And, if you are curious what your favorite website would look like on the iPad, you can check it out here on iPad Peek. TalkLeft looks great.

The thought of doing my taxes today has me re-thinking not going to the Apple store. Even though I'm going to wait for the iPad with 3G and wi-fi that comes out at the end of the month, I think it would be fun to play with the iPad hands-on in the store and see how much of a scene the launch is causing.

Both Time and Newsweek have it on the cover this week. That doesn't happen often. I think it won't be the huge sensation this weekend many are expecting because lots of folks will want the 3G version and be waiting. But I am going to start saving pennies and see how much I can put together by the end of April to get the one I want. (Of course, I'd be delighted if one of our readers would buy it for me.)

It's going to be a slow news weekend because of the Easter holiday, so the iPad is as good a topic to write about as any.

Update: Thank you to the very generous, long time TalkLeft reader and commenter who ordered one for me. What a great surprise to wake up to.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The line has already started at the Apple store in Manhattan for tomorrow's launch of the iPad. Who camps out for an iPad?

The news is filling up with stories about the latest applications -- There were announcements today from Amazon, Google, the Wall St. Journal and more.

I really, really want an iPad. I watched all 11 guided tour videos today. [More...]

Jon Chait on primarying Blanche Lincoln:

I don't quite get why Lincoln is facing a primary challenger at all. I understand the general principle of fielding primary challengers to force Democrats to accept some political risk for the sake of enacting progressive policies. I just don't get why Lincoln is the target.

Jon Chait on primarying Joe Lieberman:

Moulitsas and many of his allies insist that they just want Democrats to win. [. . .] Their technique of victory-via-purge is on display in Connecticut. [. . .] The whole anti-Lieberman blog campaign has a self-fulfilling quality [. . .]

But wait, I was wrong. there was one primarying idea Chait really liked - primarying Kucinich:

To me, the attraction of the Kindle has been the pricing of books. Instead of paying $30 for a new hardcover, you can pay $9.99.

That price is now going to jump to $15.00 as the result of the top three publishers winning a price war with Amazon and Apple being on the publisher's side.

The e-book agreements, with CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster and News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, mirror deals struck this year with Apple for the iPad: Some new best sellers will be priced at $9.99 but most will be priced at $12.99 to $14.99.

[More...]

I can't see how Jesse James will ever get Sandra Bullock back, but checking into an inpatient AZ facility specializing in "drug, alcohol and sex addiction, as well as other disorders" is probably a good start for his new life sans-Sandra.

Was Bullock really that clueless? Like Tiger, it seems James was leading a double life, not just having an occasional fling. Can any amount of "treatment" restore the trust necessary to rebuild these relationships?