Jonathan Taplin
- : Los Angeles
- : 60
- : Liberal
- : Democratic
- : http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/
- : Jonathan Taplin is a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Taplin's areas of specialization are in international communication management and the field of digital media entertainment. Taplin began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese's first feature film, Mean Streets which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1996, Taplin produced 26 hours of television documentaries (including The Prize and Cadillac Desert for PBS) and 12 feature films including The Last Waltz, Until The End of the World, Under Fire and To Die For. Mr. Taplin graduated from Princeton University. He is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and sits on the advisory board of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland and Public Knowledge. Mr. Taplin was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Broadband Task Force in January of 2007.
- : Washington Monthly Juan Cole Talking Points Memo
- : The Rise of American Democracy by Sean Wilentz Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee The Path to Power by Robert Caro
- : Modern institutions “create needs faster than they can create satisfaction, and in the process of trying to meet the needs they generate, they consume the earth.”-Ivan Illich
Maliki's Pushback
The U.S. wants a relatively loose agreement that allows us to keep troops in Iraq. But the prime minister is under intense political pressure to take a hard line against the Americans, even as his government engages in the back-and-forth...more »
Posted on August 26, 2008 9:59 AM
Surge of Betrayal
The rationale of the Surge in American forces in Iraq, according to George Bush and John McCain, was to provide the security conditions to allow Iraqi political reconciliation. It now appears the Maliki government has betrayed both General Petraeus and...more »
Posted on August 22, 2008 12:10 PM
Missing Manufacturing Boom
One of the most read posts I ever wrote was a piece in April called The Hollowed-Out Economy, in which I mocked Treasury Secretary Paulson's contention that Bush's economic stimulus package was going to create 600,000 new jobs in America....more »
Posted on August 18, 2008 12:25 PM
JKG & The Present Moment
James Galbraith's brilliant critique of Thomas Sowell's bad mouthing of his father is well timed. JKG's "The Affluent Society" should be manadatory reading for anyone trying to plumb the confusion of our current economic slump.Galbraith pointed out that there...more »
Posted on August 13, 2008 9:44 PM
Obama on Offense
Obama's new ad is very good and takes McCain's record and uses it against him, unlike McCain's cavalcade of lies. Recent articles in the New Yorker and the New York Times have made it clear that Barack and his team...more »
Posted on August 13, 2008 9:14 PM
Cheney's Forgery Operation
As early as February of 2004, Josh Marshall and TPM were investigating the curious forgery operation around the Niger Uranium documents. Along with other investigators, many clues pointed toward a group of Neo-cons working with doug Feith out of the...more »
Posted on August 8, 2008 4:44 PM
McCain's Bid for the Dittoheads
Over at TPM, Josh Marshall is asking the question of why McCain would risk his reputation as a truth teller for independants by continuing his low road "Obama is just a celebrity" ad campaign. It seems to me these ads...more »
Posted on August 6, 2008 12:39 PM
Anthrax and the Homeland Security Complex
In September of 2001, Bruce Ivins was just an unappreciated bio terror researcher in a lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. He lived just off the base and many days walked to work. Though we now know he was probably suffering...more »
Posted on August 3, 2008 9:21 PM
Ending the Global War on Terror
One of the main themes of The Cost of Empire is that we are usually designing our military to fight the last war. A new report from the Rand Corporation says that the only way we will be able to...more »
Posted on July 29, 2008 9:46 PM
Nowhere Man
Joseph O'Neill poses an important question about the American narrative point of view. When I read Netherland about a month ago, I had the distinctive sense that all of the characters were both desperate for a sense of home...more »
Posted on July 28, 2008 4:39 PM
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Misstype. I meant "we should not stay"
Posted at August 22, 2008 3:53 PM in response to Surge of Betrayal
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We should stay. What we need to do is put pressure on Maliki to bring the Sunnis into the Army and the government in the next 12 months. Part of that pressure is economic. They have been letting us spend our treasury on reconstruction and armaments for their soldiers. This should no0t continue unless there is some political reconciliation
Posted at August 22, 2008 3:51 PM in response to Surge of Betrayal
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Old Grouch- I agree. I wrote about this a few months ago.
http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/rebuilding-america/Posted at August 19, 2008 12:07 AM in response to Missing Manufacturing Boom
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I was rather amazed at the vituperative push back from my post by the commenters, especially around both the "paranoid" analysis and the thought that he had anonomously fingered Hatfill. The FBI confirmed both those contentions yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/washington/07ivins.html#I'd be interested in why there is so much distrust of the FBI here?
Posted at August 7, 2008 11:16 AM in response to Anthrax and the Homeland Security Complex
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I rest my case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/washington/07anthrax.html#Posted at August 6, 2008 11:06 PM in response to Anthrax and the Homeland Security Complex
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Dear Ellen- I was using the "collective we" meaning all the commentators who said this was not going to end well. If I recall, you were one of the people who laughed and said we were "the sky is falling brigade".
Are you still so sure of your position?
Posted at July 15, 2008 9:55 PM in response to George Bush Pep Rally
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Cheney and Bush will ultimately sign off on any bailout of Fannie Mae or Chrysler. Yes they are responsible. They signed off on the Bear Stearns forced sale.
Posted at July 12, 2008 5:19 PM in response to Too Big To Fail
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First off just because some "De regulation" regulator allowed Fannie and Freddie to leverage their relatively meager capital 30-1, that doesn't make it less criminal on the part of the executives. Any fool 16 months ago could tell you interest rates would reverse.
Secondly the two entities once were much closer tied to the Federal Balance Sheet. They were Privatised so the debt could go off the Federal Balance sheet. That mean's they have shareholders who have certainly benefited on the upside and now you are suggesting we all should take over the downside risk for those same shareholders?
Posted at July 12, 2008 4:04 PM in response to Too Big To Fail
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Why should Egypt be importing US Wheat? I doubt the Egyptians will get to the point that they will cost effectively be able to export wheat. But at least the local farmers can make a living off their domestic market
Posted at June 16, 2008 2:46 PM in response to Malthus Redux?
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Lanny Davis is circulating a petition to force Obama to take Hillary as the VP. This will backfire.
http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/obamas-first-test/Posted at June 4, 2008 11:50 AM in response to Hillary Illusory Leverage
