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The Nightshift: 20 April 2017

Good Morning, It’s Thursday, 20 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
It’s over at Fox News. Bill O’Reilly, cables top news personality, is out and will not “be returning to the show”. No way to spin the problems in the “No Spin Zone”. O’Reilly was brought very publicly down by a massive onslaught of sexual harassment charges–the same type of problem that forced his boss and the founder of Fox News, Roger Ailes, out last year. O’Reilly’s problems had already forced Fox to make $13 million in payouts. O’Reilly has said the allegations are part of a vast plot to undermine him by liberal media. Right. Spin it. From the reports leaking out about the case, it appears that O’Reilly undermined himself. His loss to the business of Fox News will be massive. because O’Reilly’s show contributed 10% of the revenues and 25% of the operating income for the company. Despite the allegations–which Bill O’Reilly calls “unfounded”–his audience remained loyal and was continuing to grow. Anyway it’s parsed, this is a major change in the media landscape and it deprives the conservative right with perhaps their most effective on-air spokesperson. What type of change will that bring about in the American political landscape?
China is ramping up pressure on North Korea to stop all the trash talk and bellicose actions; this is coming at the same time that the U.S. is moving a naval contingent into the area (it’s there somewhere) doing some trash talking of its own. From China’s viewpoint, maybe North Korea has outlived their usefulness. China is North Korea’s major trading partner–what little North Korea has to trade–and has been backing increasingly erratic North Korean regimes for decades. But the reality of the situation is that China is not going to risk their economic growth and world influence for a country that doesn’t have anything to offer anyone but trouble.
And, as if North Korea and Syria weren’t enough of a problem, the administration is now talking tough (again) about the Iran Nuclear Deal. Might want to set that one aside for a while, because there are plenty of other simmering hotspots that require attention.
Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, convicted of one murder and acquitted in two others, committed suicide in prison in Massachusetts, less than 10 days after winning a legal victory in the double murder charges. There were the inevitable questions from family and friends about the circumstances of his death. He was serving life in prison without parole on the murder conviction.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st century on file. They remain the internet’s go-to source for photos. This visual has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing. The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1075 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

The Nightshift: 18 April 2017

The Nightshift: 17 April 2017

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Good Morning, It’s Monday, 17 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
Vice President Mike Pence is in South Korea on a visit. He is there at precisely the time when everything in the region is heating up. Let’s hope calm heads prevail so the world doesn’t add another war zone.
An activist group has a filed an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) seeking President Donald Trump’s tax returns. Good luck with that. The new administration is not so keen on transparency.
Erdogan won the election in Turkey and is moving quickly to consolidate his power. Turkey is a key ally in the Middle East region but has become somewhat unpredictable over the last year.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st century on file. They remain the internet’s go-to source for photos. This visual has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing. The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1073 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

NERUDA on Spring

“You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming…”

The Nightshift: 16 April 2017

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Good Morning, It’s Sunday, 16 April 2017, and this is the Easter Sunday Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
North Korea, continuing with their bellicose, trash-talking ways, tried to send a symbol to the U.S. and the world by staging a missile test yesterday. The missile blew up right after launch–a rather major humiliation for the North Korean government. They might want to re-think their strategy of threatening countries that have weapons systems that actually work.
President Trump’s first 100 days are not exactly the stuff of administrative legend. So far, his White House tenure has been marked by in-fighting, palace intrigue, embarrassing leaks, controversy, and lots of golf. In the background, voters are raking Republican Congressional representatives and senators over the coals in fiery town hall meetings that call into question the job the elected reps are doing. And appropriately so. Congress is proving recklessly inept (again). A government that hides the visitor logs for the White House and refuses to require financial transparency for Presidential appointees is not going to end well if history is any indication.
Uber is still growing, still increasing in market valuation, and still losing money ($2.6 billion in most recent published financials). In the new, disruptive economy, money that is not made in operations is recouped in market valuation (i.e. stock). Interesting.
It’s Easter. Reflect on what’s been, and what could be. In turbulent times, a pause for reflection is a very good thing.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st century on file. They remain the internet’s go-to source for photos. This visual has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing. The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1071 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

Transitions: Michael Ballhaus (1936-2017)

Paying Attention:

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Unless you are one of those who pay close attention to the credits that run before and after a film (I am), you might not have ever heard of Michael Ballhaus.

But you have seen his work.

He was a cinematographer, one of the best of all time, and if you seen the films of our times, you have seen his art and craft.

Did you see “Goodfellas”? “The Mighty Baker Boys”? “Quiz Show”, “The Marriage of Maria Braun”? “The Departed”? “Broadcast News”?

Michael Ballhaus was the DP (Director of Photography) or lead cinematographer for all of these films and many more.

He worked with the very best directors of our time, including Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, James L. Brooks, Robert Redford, Francis Ford Coppola and Barry Levinson. He was nominated for three Academy Awards and won numerous other film citations during a career that reached legendary status. He didn’t just shoot a film, he enhanced it with his work. That’s why the very best directors enjoyed working with him and sought him out.

Mr. Ballhaus’ career is respectfully and intelligently celebrated in his obituary in The New York Times, written by Margalit Fox.

You are encouraged to read it (it is an appreciatively superb piece of writing and research) and, even more appropriately, to enjoy Ms. Fox’s very beautifully presented analysis (the film clips are embedded in the piece) of the style and shots that made Michael Ballhaus one of the most creative cinematographers of our time.

Michael Ballhaus’ work will be with us for decades and his impact on cinematography (“it’s a movie, the camera has to move”) will influence the medium for generations to come.

Michael Ballhaus. A life well lived, celebrated in print for his work in film.

The Nightshift: 15 April 2017

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Good Morning, It’s Saturday, 15 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed. It is Easter Weekend.
The world’s attention is focused on North Korea and the Korean peninsula this morning. North Korea has vowed to conduct a new nuclear test and the United States is intent that it will not. China is advising both sides to cool it even while American forces are gathering in the region. The U.S. cannot make a strike against North Korea without first consulting with South Korea–the U.S. ally–because South Korea will be in the direct line of fire from North Korea if hostilities erupt. South Korea has a real economy; North Korea does not. The North Koreans would be wise to stop with the trash talking and get on with building their nation’s economy and improving the life of their citizens. Goose stepping soldiers don’t faze the U.S. military; we’ve seen them before.
The wild card is the new administration in Washington. It’s unconventional in its’ approach and unpredictable in its’ response. After Syria, no one knows how the U.S. will handle the standoff.
Word has leaked that Apple is working on a self-driving car. No one has seen a prototype and no one knows for certain if Apple’s interest is seamless software or hardware or the entire vehicle. It’ll be interesting but one key fact to remember: Tesla–not Google and not Uber–has been a major recruiter of Apple engineers and employees. And Tesla’s cars are already in the market (the company now has a market value larger than that of GM). Always bad to bet against Elon.
Turkey will have elections this weekend; it is expected that Erdogan will win and continue on the path of moving Turkey from a Democracy to a dictatorship. Seems to be a trend these days.
This is the last weekend before the U.S. Federal Income Tax returns are due. Something else to take your mind off world affairs.
An alarmingly disrupted and unsettled world on this holy Easter / Passover weekend. Let’s hope everyone comes back to a point of reasonableness and rational thought.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of our friends at Getty Images, who have the photographic history of the 20th and 21st century on file. They remain the internet’s go-to source for photos. This visual has not been altered in any way. We thank them for sharing. The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1069 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

The Nightshift: 14 April 2017

Editor’s Note: The Nightshift will be published in abbreviated form for the next couple of weeks due to outside scheduling commitments. Weekend editions will be full-pack, but weekday commentary will be very streamlined.
Press Clippings:
Good Morning, It’s Friday, 14 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
MOAB. The Mother of All Bombs. The U.S. dropped it on an ISIS Complex in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. It’s a conventional weapon, the largest conventional bomb the U.S. has ever made, and it was used in combat for the first time yesterday. Who actually made the decision to drop t he weapon has not been declared; there is speculation that President Trump gave the American military the authority to proceed as necessary (there are still 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan; it would be very good to shorten their stay and bring them home) and additional speculation that the military wanted to actually test the bomb in combat. Whatever. It created a huge explosion. The most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the American Arsenal. MOAB. It’ll dominate the news cycle for the weekend.
Much is being made in Washington about the reversals on policy by the Trump administration. Maybe good, maybe bad, who knows. But don’t forget–the reversals could be reversed.
North Korea is still a simmering problem. Hopefully, China can talk some sense into the North Koreans and convince them that backing down from their current confrontational position is a very good idea.
Computer and chip maker Toshiba–once one of the gold standards in laptop computing–is on the ropes but there’s hope: Apple is quite interested in Toshiba’s chip making factories and ability. Let’s hope that Toshiba, it’s workers, factories and brand are saved (along with those bulletproof laptops).
There’s PGA golf at Hilton Head this weekend and NBA playoffs.
Dan Rooney, the head of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has died at 84. He is perhaps the most successful NFL owner in modern times; his teams won 6 Super Bowls and Rooney was universally admired for his superb judgement and sense of fairness. He was one of the good ones.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1068 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

The Nightshift: 13 April 2017

Editor’s Note: The Nightshift will be published in abbreviated form for the next couple of weeks due to outside scheduling commitments. Weekend editions will be full-pack, but weekday commentary will be very streamlined.
Press Clippings:
Good Morning, It’s Thursday, 13 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
The US/Russia diplomatic meetings were so-so. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did end up meeting with Soviet leader Putin, but the meeting was rather frosty and perhaps some necessary questions were not asked. North Korea remains a hot mess, Syria is not much better, and internal ops at the White House are still the subject of too much gossip and speculation. As Ted Turner once famously said, “it ain’t as easy as it looks”.
The web of intrigue around the Trump campaign becomes denser each day, as hangers-on and campaign staffers are too often mentioned in the continuing investigation about possible illegal contact/relationships with Russia. Trump’s continuing policy reversals are also making it difficult for him to maintain his electoral support, in the field and in Congress.
On the bright side, it appears that some more thoughtful and less populist ideas are rising to the top at the White House. Still not in time to save the First 100 Days but better late than never.
The NBA regular season is over, the Knicks were terrible, and the playoffs will begin this weekend. The fallout from United Airlines’ forceful removal of a passenger from an “overbooked” flight continues; the company’s stock lost a quarter of a billion dollars in value in one day on the stock market.
Rock lost another legend, as J.Geils of the J.Geils band has died. He was 71. TV Late Show Host David Letterman’s mother, Dorothy Mengering, died at age 95 at her home in Carmel, Indiana. She was a frequent–and very funny–guest on his TV Show and the embodiment of a small town attitude that we don’t see often enough anymore. Both Geils and Mengering made an impact and will be missed.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1067 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.

The Nightshift: 12 April 2017

Press Clippings:
Good Morning, It’s Wednesday, 12 April 2017, and this is the Morning Edition of The Nightshift, the world’s overnight news feed.
The friendly skies aren’t so friendly. United Airlines suffered a major PR disaster after forcibly removing a passenger from a flight that was “overbooked”. The stock dropped and the next victim in the scandal might be the United CEO, who has provided a textbook example of how not to handle a crisis.
Carter Page, sometime Trump election team staffer (his story) and sometime TV pundit, was apparently targeted for a FISA warrant last summer by the FBI, which means that his communications were monitored. Perhaps he had a few calls with people he shouldn’t have talked to, from places like Russia. It won’t end up good for Carter. Who knows where this will lead?
Bill O’Reilly is taking a “vacation” from Fox News as the alleged sexual harassment charges ramp up. Funny what happens when all your advertisers drop off the show. Don’t expect O’Reilly to return. If the founder and architect of Fox News was forced out (Roger Ailes ), then there’s not much long term hope for an on-air talent.
White House advisor Steve Bannon is spiraling down, down, down in terms of power and influence. Will he make it to the end of the month? Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Moscow for talks, although the Russians, who previously game him a Medal when he came with contracts from Exxon, aren’t too enthusiastic to talk with him. Are you getting that Cold War feeling?
Paul O’Neil, founder of Trans Siberian Orchestra, famed for their highly theatrical Christmas concerts, has died at the age of 61. No word on cause of death.
Now more than ever, catch up on the news in the rest of the world by reading the front pages of the World’s Greatest newspapers.
Don’t forget that both Politico.com and Bloomberg.com have been added to our go-to news resources.
The International Headlines are all at your fingertips. Have a great week.
The Times (London
Financial Times (UK)
The Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)
The Wall Street Journal (European edition)
Washington Post (Washington, D.C.)
New York Times (New York)
The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles)
Daily News Egypt (Cairo)
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
The Moscow Times (Moscow)
Le Figaro (Paris)
Bloomberg.com (New York)
The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem)
The Japanese Times (Tokyo)
Sputnik (Moscow)
The Buenas Aires Herald (Buenas Aires)
The Sidney Morning Herald (Sidney)
Deadline Hollywood (Hollywood)
FiveThirtyEight (New York City)
Politico (Washington, DC)
The Fine Print: The Nightshift is a production of Perception Engineering and The Media Bunker. This post is number 1066 for this site. Thanks for reading. Now–catch up on the world.