http://observer.com/2000/06/from-russia-with-lust
cool guy
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 10:59 (11 months ago) Permalink
eXile was the best source of Russian news for years, even if Taibbi and Ames are / were creeps at times.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:03 (11 months ago) Permalink
not likely
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:05 (11 months ago) Permalink
Seriously, it was probably the only source of unbiased, fearless Russia-based journalism in English until they were shut down by the government. Whatever dickishness they got up to (Ames used to review prostitutes in a regular column) their coverage was peerless.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:07 (11 months ago) Permalink
sure and you prob think taibbis writing on american finance is good too
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:07 (11 months ago) Permalink
I rarely read it. Seems ok, if a bit simplistic.
eXile was genuinely great, though.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:08 (11 months ago) Permalink
“We wrote a whole bunch of editorials about the size of Putin’s penis,” said Mr. Taibbi.
o taibbi u so crazy
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:09 (11 months ago) Permalink
“People are afraid of what our paper will write about them, so they give us free shit,” Mr. Taibbi said.
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:10 (11 months ago) Permalink
“That’s the thing about Russia,” Mr. Taibbi said. “It’s a totally unironic place. When I first was a student over there I had this girlfriend who had this mobster boyfriend, so she only saw me between 3 and 6 in the afternoon, but as a going-away present when I left my exchange program, she gave me this picture of herself naked in a bathtub. It was totally serious, like, ‘Here, for you to remember me by.’ An American woman would never do that except as a joke or to be sexy.”
american chix man
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:12 (11 months ago) Permalink
Journalist James Verini, while interviewing Taibbi in a Manhattan restaurant for Vanity Fair, said Taibbi cursed and threw a coffee at him, and accosted him as he tried to get away, all in response to Verini's volunteered opinion that Taibbi's book, The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia, was "redundant and discursive."[18] Taibbi later said the incident was "an aberration from how I've behaved in the last six or seven years."[19]
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
taibbi's financial journalism has occasional issues, but for the most part is pretty good. i'm consistently surprised by how few other journalists have gone his route (in terms of financial reporting), all things considered.
― s.clover, Thursday, 7 June 2012 13:48 (11 months ago) Permalink
b/c it's not as exciting as having Bloody Marys with Cokie and George Will?
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 June 2012 13:56 (11 months ago) Permalink
anyway he uses obscenity in a whee-I'm-at-Rolling-Stone manner but he was the first journalist in 2008 and 2009 to explain credit default swaps and such in a clear manner.
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 June 2012 13:58 (11 months ago) Permalink
legume what is your beef with dude's financial reporting exactly?
― the route is ban (k3vin k.), Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:10 (11 months ago) Permalink
another politics thread of substance and enlightenment
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:24 (11 months ago) Permalink
― the route is ban (k3vin k.),
was just going to ask this myself
― Trey Imaginary Songz (WmC), Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:26 (11 months ago) Permalink
he doesnt know what hes talking abt!
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
i mean 'clear' try wrong
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
also is writing is basically the worst
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, June 7, 2012 10:24 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this guy would appeal to you, because he is so substantial
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
― the route is ban (k3vin k.), Thursday, June 7, 2012 10:10 AM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
kevinclovestofu
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:40 (11 months ago) Permalink
oh, this is gonna be one of these threads
― goole, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
dude is overrated by people who think he is 'cool,' underrated on actual writing performance by people turned off by that perception
― mh, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:42 (11 months ago) Permalink
Malcolm Gladwell S/D C/D
nobody commented on this!
― goole, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:42 (11 months ago) Permalink
errors is a single piece http://prospect.org/article/errors-matt-taibbi
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:43 (11 months ago) Permalink
― mh, Thursday, June 7, 2012 10:42 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
o god stfu
um who are these people who think he's *quote* cool *quote*?
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:48 (11 months ago) Permalink
Hunter Thompson aficionados who are into the renegade/substance abuse style of writing? I've run into a few, and count that shit as a guilty pleasure sometimes
― mh, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:55 (11 months ago) Permalink
lag∞n, I get yr point but there's a place for a populist reporter who appeals to those who aren't picking up well-researched political mags on the regular
it'd be nice if dude had a fact checker, though
― mh, Thursday, 7 June 2012 14:56 (11 months ago) Permalink
yeah itd be cool if there was a populist finical reporter who a. knew wtf he was talking abt b. wasnt the worst writer in the world c. wasnt a weird self involved misogynist
this person clearly is not matt taibbi
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:00 (11 months ago) Permalink
what abt someone like felix salmon
― just sayin, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:04 (11 months ago) Permalink
he writes mostly for a p financially literate audience and doesnt generally have taibbis passion for publicly s.h.a.m.i.n.g.i.n.g. the industry
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:11 (11 months ago) Permalink
kinda hard to argue against this
― mh, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:14 (11 months ago) Permalink
― lag∞n, Thursday, June 7, 2012 7:12 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol what a simp
― horseshoe, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:14 (11 months ago) Permalink
in a way taibbi then is perfect -- nobody knows how this shit works but people know in their bones that something is grossly wrong and the great majority are being shafted.
felix salmon is great (great name too) but he wouldn't have come up with "vampire squid" either
but yes the exile crew and their 'aesthetic' are p gross
― goole, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:15 (11 months ago) Permalink
Indisputable that they were gross. 90% of their stuff was gutter-level gonzo / Vice offensiveness but the other 10% was worth more than pretty much every mainstream reporter working for an English-language paper put together.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:31 (11 months ago) Permalink
i will admit to liking "war nerd"
― goole, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:33 (11 months ago) Permalink
Dolan/Brecher stuff was usually p.great. When I first became aware of Vice it seemed like the worst parts of eXile combined with NY/etc advertising dollars.
― etc, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
sharivari srs request for evidence here, also did they do like actual reporting or was it more that they were willing to print opinions that were taboo
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
Both. Can't really offer links atm but will look into it later.
There was a lot of very good reporting / analysis and a definite willingness to print things that other people were too gutless to look at. More importantly, i think they understood Russian politics better than any other news source and were willing to call out all sides, and the press, on their faults.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
Nothing about Taibbi is gonzo/druggy, tho.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:43 (11 months ago) Permalink
his style is kinda gonzo imho
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:44 (11 months ago) Permalink
Taibbi's 2004 campaign journal Spanking the Donkey cemented his status as an incisive, irreverent, zero-bullshit reporter. In one memorable scene, Taibbi dropped acid then interviewed the former chief of the Office of National Drug Policy—while wearing a Viking helmet.
― just sayin, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
hmmmmm
...while wearing a viking helmet
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
i know that in the US today where we're practically flooded with leftist writers tackling economic crimes w/ humor and outrage, Taibbi seems redundant and his flaws are magnified. but imagine an alternate reality where actually every financial writer is either a shill for Wall St. or a blathering pundit on the Sunday morning news programs, and you can see why, even for his flaws, people would embrace Taibbi (who is often very informative - okay, so he sometimes gets confused about how derivatives work, so do I). u know. theoretically.
― Mordy, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
his crimes against reality go way beyond not understanding derivatives
― lag∞n, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
r u on the jp morgan payroll?
― Mordy, Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:51 (11 months ago) Permalink
lagoon, would you recommend Michael Lewis
― that's why ZOG controls the radio (brownie), Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
he's waiting for that one perfect anti-oligarchy journo
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 June 2012 15:54 (11 months ago) Permalink
it's definitely true that monetary expansion will "benefit wall street" but just about any economic improvement would. if your position is that anything that makes bank balance sheets healthier is p much evil at this point, then a looser central bank is going to look like not giving the vampire quids (tm) their punishment.
― goole, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 19:16 (7 months ago) Permalink
its kind of like saying hit records are evil because they prevent the major labels from collapsing
taibbi is pretty irritating and has an awful rhetorical style but i don't think a guy who favors breaking up monopolies and tighter bank regulations can fairly be called a 'libertarian,' no matter how many vague worries about 'fake money' they express.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 19:20 (7 months ago) Permalink
you can’t just print money and get yourself out of economic trouble that way. There is a tremendous inflationary danger here...
I have a hard time believing Taibbi hasn't figured out this whole "printing money" thing, but if this is an accurate quote, then he hasn't learned much from his last four years of interviewing and writing.
In a nutshell: during the boom years before 2008, vast boatloads of money were created out of nothing, and by this I mean many trillions of dollars. Except this money wasn't created out of nothing by the Federal Reserve. Instead, it was banks that did it. This is what banks do, even when they are operating properly -- as they were not during the boom. Creating money out of "nothing" is their business model.
In 2008, when the credit bubble built by the banks collapsed, many, many trillions of dollars of money vanished. They reverted back to thin air. But the economy was still built around the reality that this money once had, and that reality persisted in the form of contracts. Except there wasn't enough money in the whole world to fullfill those contracts. That is why the Fed has printed so much money lately. It isn't dangerously inflationary. It is profoundly necessary.
The worst part of this is that Congress should have been the agent for the Fed's easing. Congress should have authorized the spending and the Fed should have monetized the debt by buying up a few trillions of T-bonds and T-bills. Instead, the Congress went batshit and balked at doing its plain duty to the country and the Fed has been pumping all this largesse directly into the banks instead, where it does much less good.
Taibbi ought to know this. Apparently he doesn't.
― Aimless, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 19:31 (7 months ago) Permalink
he was just labeled a libertarian re monetary policy xp
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:17 (7 months ago) Permalink
confusion about QE is pretty widespread among radical populist types in general. But that said, it is sort of a big juicy target, and the main effect (insofar as it has had any) has been to shove some money to people who don't need it. It's just that inflation doesn't really enter the picture.
― s.clover, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:26 (7 months ago) Permalink
taibbi's written about this more cogently elsewhere actually.
― s.clover, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:27 (7 months ago) Permalink
and the main effect (insofar as it has had any) has been to shove some money to people who don't need it.
― s.clover, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:26 PM (59 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
well that and avoid total economic calamity
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:29 (7 months ago) Permalink
brb writing dystopian novel re mccain presidency
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:31 (7 months ago) Permalink
Chabon or Lethem beating you to it
― taking tiger mountain (up the butt) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:37 (7 months ago) Permalink
curses
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:37 (7 months ago) Permalink
Chapter 1: McCain Dies, Palin becomes President
― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:38 (7 months ago) Permalink
dun dun DUN
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:39 (7 months ago) Permalink
"I can see Williamsburg from my house!"
― taking tiger mountain (up the butt) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:40 (7 months ago) Permalink
― s.clover, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 3:27 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
taibbi admits that his source for knowledge on monetary policy is zerohedge
http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2010/02/19/on-the-bailout-hustle/
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:58 (7 months ago) Permalink
it's not exactly godwin's law but come one, you need to be very leery of anyone who calls himself 'tyler durden' on the internet
― goole, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:00 (7 months ago) Permalink
ha er 'come on'
― goole, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:01 (7 months ago) Permalink
Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi
If you or someone you know has had a very bad experience in jail after being convicted of a relatively minor offense, pls write to meExpand
Reply Retweet Favorite
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:04 (7 months ago) Permalink
― lag∞n, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:29 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I think we did this discussion elsewhere, like a year ago. but yeah, I don't think QE mattered that much. Never saw any research that showed it moved markets more than a smidge. Ironically, ZH and similar types are the ones who have insisted that it's had the most impact. There's so much money in play at such volumes that QE never amounted to much, huge as it seems. And the end of QE didn't matter that much either, which helps bear this out. Lots more money than QE was doled out at the peak of the crisis in much more direct ways too, remember. And rates were hitting zero regardless, so...
― s.clover, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:07 (7 months ago) Permalink
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/07/24/1094601/the-academics-on-qe-for-now/
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:11 (7 months ago) Permalink
my reading of that post tends to support my point, but you know, who cares.
― s.clover, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:21 (7 months ago) Permalink
otm
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:21 (7 months ago) Permalink
Fact schmacts.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:28 (7 months ago) Permalink
― goole, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 5:00 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
there are multiple posters who call themselves tyler durden on that site lol
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 23:56 (7 months ago) Permalink
they all do, it's their thing
― goole, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:41 (7 months ago) Permalink
what if there are multiple Ezra kleins
― lag∞n, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:43 (7 months ago) Permalink
all this debate abt a RS journalist while Madonna endorsing Obama as a Muslim goes unobserved; you people.
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:45 (7 months ago) Permalink
I didn't know Madonna was a muslim.
― Aimless, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:15 (7 months ago) Permalink
I'm glad Madonna explained herself to the Washington Post today. Otherwise millions of undecided voters who base their views on Madonna's onstage comments would have been confused. I am sure Taibbi will find a way to work this in.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 September 2012 14:50 (7 months ago) Permalink
Madonna in concert:
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Thursday, 27 September 2012 14:51 (7 months ago) Permalink
Otherwise millions of undecided voters who base their views on Madonna's onstage comments would have been confused.
Are you familiar with the Human Rights Campaign?
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 27 September 2012 14:53 (7 months ago) Permalink
^^ I laughed
― taking tiger mountain (up the butt) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 September 2012 14:54 (7 months ago) Permalink
haha
― goole, Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:00 (7 months ago) Permalink
"Undecided" aside, well played.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:03 (7 months ago) Permalink
it's true, bitches who give money to that sinkhole are only undecided about what belt to wear to brunch.
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:07 (7 months ago) Permalink
That and whether they feel comfortable admitting they have a thing for Rep. Aaron Schock.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:09 (7 months ago) Permalink
Morbs, I was kidding, as was Madonna
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:13 (7 months ago) Permalink
"sinkhole"
*hanky panky*
― taking tiger mountain (up the butt) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 September 2012 15:17 (7 months ago) Permalink
idt matt taibbi's sense of humour is that different from like, dan perry's, or whiney's even, i guess a bit more macho but it's got the same basic structure ito, like, these enraged long incongruous expletive laden analogies
― flopson, Thursday, 27 September 2012 16:23 (7 months ago) Permalink
Comments here are comedy gold:http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/rewrite-thomas-friedmans-syria-column-win-a-free-hand-grenade-20121114
― schwantz, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 19:25 (6 months ago) Permalink
this is hilarious http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/no-evidence-he-was-stoned-but-bank-of-america-ceo-brian-moynihan-apparently-doesn-t-remember-much-of-the-last-four-years-20121127
― s.clover, Monday, 3 December 2012 23:38 (5 months ago) Permalink
"a Being There-esque cipher who was placed in charge of a Too-Big-To-Fail global banking giant by some kind of historical accident beyond his control, and appears to know little to nothing at all about the business he is running." <-- A+
― s.clover, Monday, 3 December 2012 23:39 (5 months ago) Permalink
So I guess Matt Taibbi has never read a deposition transcript before?
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 4 December 2012 01:19 (5 months ago) Permalink
Because in my experience, it's generally true that if you remember the financial crisis, you weren't there.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 4 December 2012 01:20 (5 months ago) Permalink
"attorney Peter Calamari"
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 4 December 2012 03:09 (5 months ago) Permalink
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213
― ✧ (am0n), Thursday, 13 December 2012 22:49 (5 months ago) Permalink
for some reason every time this thread gets revived i expect it to be a report that taibbi died, possibly by his own hand or "death by misfortune."
― in excelsis 乒乓 (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 13 December 2012 23:05 (5 months ago) Permalink
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/secret-and-lies-of-the-bailout-20130104#ixzz2HQDiw8gU
Haven't read this yet. Am guessing it's standard Taibbi.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 9 January 2013 20:16 (4 months ago) Permalink
another narrative about how everything has been utterly fucked up by ugly shitbrain poopyheads, yes
― da croupier, Wednesday, 9 January 2013 21:51 (4 months ago) Permalink