Walter Cronkite Dead at 92
Walter Cronkite, the longtime CBS News journalist and trusted anchorman, has passed away, his family said. He was 92. Cronkite was an icon of the self-consciously dignified style of journalism that dominated throughout his years in the anchor chair. It is, in a way, appropriate that his departure comes as the school of news delivery he represented — responsible, sonorous, self-important — is on its way out. Cronkite has been rumored to be near death for a month now, after he fell "gravely ill." In late June, his family said he had cerebrovascular disease and was not expected to recover. CBS broke the news of Cronkite's death with a special report tonight. Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, ending each broadcast with his signature sign-off, "And that's the way it is." Following his consistently strong showing in viewer opinion polls, Cronkite became known as "the most trusted man in America." Cronkite was perhaps best remembered for his reporting on the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, which "helped pull together a nation stricken with grief and was a signal event in television's evolution into the national nervous system," in the words of Times columnist Tom Wicker. Cronkite also helped turn the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War when, at the close of a February 1968 broadcast focused on North Vietnam's Tet offensive, he concluded that America probably could not win the war: It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. Cronkite was eventually pushed out of the anchor chair in 1981 by Dan Rather, leading to a long-simmering grudge; when Rather himself was pushed out as CBS Evening News anchor in 2005, Cronkite said he should have been replaced years earlier. Rather "was perennially in third place," Cronkite said at the time. Cronkite grew up in Missouri and Texas. He dropped out of college to pursue a career in journalism; he was discovered by Edward R. Murrow while working in radio and brought by Murrow to CBS. Cronkite leaves behind a journalism school in his name at Arizona State University, with which he became closely involved. He is survived by two daughters, a son and four grandsons. We encourage you to post remembrances, video or otherwise, in the comments below. Elsewhere: CBS News has a video obituary and several photo essays Full New York Times obituary TVNewser collected statements from CBS journalists about Cronkite's death . MORE >>
The Homosexual Undertones of the Half-Blood Prince
A major challenge in Harry Potter 6 is that the teenage wizard had the ability to get a boner. So how did the kid-friendly franchise deal with the prickly issue of teenage sexuality? Splendidly! But perhaps in an unintended direction. Hogwarts is a hormonal hothouse! Wizards are snogging in the halls, winking at each other during Potions class, and they're even abusing their powers to seduce other supple wizards. Director David Yates did a fantastic job capturing the sexual tension that must throb through any kind of co-ed castle. But because the most troublesome part of teen sexuality is the idea of a loose lady wizard most of the innuendos and flirtation stayed between the boys. And so in the tradition of British boarding schools things got a little gay. Here's a breakdown (spoiler free): Ron adores Harry, naturally. Ron's always been uneasy around girls and it was chalked up to the fact that he's clumsy goof. But in the sixth installment, Ron has become a bit of a strapping butch boy and he starts to get noticed by the girls. He plays along but really only lights up when he is around Harry. His supposed crush on Hermione is as lustful as nursing home bingo game. But when Harry's in the room, Rupert Grint, who plays Ron, blushes, grins, his shoulders roll back and hips sway forward when he talks to Harry. Daniel Radcliffe who has always played Harry a little fey, undulates and titters around Ron. At a quidditch tryout Ron needs to impress Harry in order to make the team. Harry's eyes stayed locked on Ron as he straddles a broom. When Ron succeeds in blocking a score from the opposing team, Ron leans back on his broom, clutches the broom at its base and points it in Harry's direction. Harry beams. It is a giant phallic broomstick in between his legs! C'mon people! Also, there is a lot of touching and affection between the male teachers of Hogwartz and the boys. Whether it's Snape, (Alan Rickman looks like a New Wave lesbian in a cape) who continually pushes his chest into Harry's face. Or Professor Slughorn who longs for Harry's attention and who Harry essentially seduces for information. Or Dumbledore, with his feminine affectation is such an obvious old queen. There's a whole closed cabinet/closed motiff too! At one point, Dumbledore confronts a young Voldemort about a literal flaming box of secrets in his closet! And even though Rowling has revealed that Dumbledore was in fact a gay, the homoeroticism that was on the screen is absent in the books. Hell, I don't even think it was in the script. The young male actors are bubbling over with sexual energy and had nowhere to point it so they pointed it at each other. P.S. I also think Radcliffe is gay as all get out! There, I said it. (Top pic via TheGreatGeekManual, Time cover mash-up by our pals at Vulture) MORE >>
Jon's Kate-Free Upper West Side Sex Pavilion
Jon Gosselin has finally settled on a place in New York! After considering a Trump building, the divorcing reality star has opted for The Alexandria, on 72nd between Broadway and West End. Two bedroom place = twice the ladies! People heard the word that Gosselin had Alexandria staff move all his shit (pinball machine, nudie calendars, several 30 racks of Busch Lite, a small framed photo of his kids, a bunch of Ed Hardy shirts, a box ominously marked "Ray-Bans", and a Goodfellas DVD) into the unit, while he was gallivanting in France with his new girlfriend, his soon-to-be ex-wife's plastic surgeon's daughter (or something.) The HuffPo got some deets on pricing and square footage. Looks like he'll likely pay between 4 and 5 grand per lunar cycle for a place that's about 1100 square feet. Could be worse, could be better. Major thing to note: No room for his kids! What's he got now, like six or seven or nine or something of those little bastards? Yeah, they're not coming to stay in New York. He'll come to them. The Manhattan pad is off limits, except for the ladies. And, hold on a second, hey you, Paco! Watch it with that bong man. C'mon. MORE >>
Perez Hilton: In My Defense, I Don't Actually Write That Crap
It's an open secret that Perez Hilton can't be bothered to blog all day long anymore. But for some reason he's never copped to using ghost writers. Until now. Hilton (né Mario Lavandeira) is being sued for breaching a legal settlement that prevented him from mentioning Jonathan Lewandowski (a/k/a Jonathan Jaxson), the young blogger from whom Hilton allegedly solicited sex tapes in exchange for promoting Lewandowski's blog. When Lewandowski's name cropped up in a post on February 3, he claimed Hilton had violated the agreement. But Hilton was shocked — shocked! — that someone assumed he wrote PerezHilton.com. You see, it was really his sister, Barbara, who wrote the item. A tipster forwarded us the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court and you can find in full here. His lawyer wrote in a letter to Lewandowski's counsel that Hilton's sister wrote the post: Hilton has hinted at his sister's involvement; he told Time that he worked on the site with his "sister, who's my assistant and helps a little bit." But this is the first time he's confirmed that he has a full-on ghost writer. Guanabee, meanwhile, has reported that Hilton has had other ghostwriters going back to 2006. Which wouldn't be a scandal, if Hilton were to only acknowledge the help he gets. Yet he continues to hide the making of his gossip sausage, as though his readers are deeply invested in his oh-so-elegant image as an articulate man of letters and glamorous Hollywood gentleman. Hilarious. [Lavandeira vs. Lewandowski — court filing] MORE >>
Workaholics: A Love Story
Awww, gross again. After getting the simply nauseating news that real estate heirs Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are getting hitched, now we have to hear even more about it. The future Mrs. Kushner went and blabbed to Daily Intel. Basically Ivankz wanted to make sure that Gabriel Sherman, and by extension us, understands one important thing: J-rad and Ivy are just a normal couple, a normal couple with crippling work addictions who use each other to shamelessly network: It's very rare we're featured out at some fancy restaurant on a date. We're very mellow. We go to the park. We go biking together. We go to the 2nd Avenue Deli. We both live in this fancy world. But on a personal level, I don't think I could be with somebody - I know he couldn't be with somebody - who needed to be 'on' all the time. ... I don't think we've ever been to a nightclub together in two years. I'm really thankful for that. I have a lot of stamina, but I don't think I have the stamina to work as hard as I do and play that hard. ... I've learned how to cook. Once a week, we have a night in and I cook for just the two of us. We turn everything off and spend time together and talk about what we're working on. Nice! Also: We're both crazed. The good news is, there's not a tremendous amount of compromise, because we're in the same industry. There are a lot of work-oriented dinners that he may have - and while a normal girlfriend in an unrelated field would find it incredibly boring - it's fascinating to me. ... Another thing that I think is incredible about him, which I think some girlfriends would not like, but I respect, is every night when he goes home, he works for about an hour and a half and return e-mails he hadn't had a chance to return before. He's just very diligent … Even when we first started dating, I'd call him at 6 [a.m.] when I'm getting up, and he'd be awake; he'd definitely be awake when I was going to sleep. And all Sunday he's in the office. Oh that sounds terrific! Working all the time except during family meal, when he's talking about work! But don't worry, everyone: He'll be a great father. He knows how to prioritize what's important. Yes, important things like nannies. Oh, you crazy kids, we don't mean to be harsh. We're just crabby and single and spend our Sundays taking walks and going to movies. What do we know? MORE >>
Yet Another C Street Republican Cheated On His Wife
The C Street townhouse of "The Family," the secretive cult of Christian congressmembers, is a den of sin. John Ensign lived there. Mark Sanford sought counsel there. Now we learn a former congressman carried on an affair while living there! This is an example of good things coming to those who wait. Back in late 2007—many years ago, in the distant and forgotten past!—Representative Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. was supposed to be the next Senator from Mississippi. And then he rather suddenly retired from the House, because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Then he divorced his wife, weirdly! But almost two years had to pass before anyone learned the wonderful details. Now, Pickering's estranged wife Leisha has filed an "alienation of affection" lawsuit against Pickering's mistress, so that we may all learn all about his terrible affair. Pickering, of course, lived at C Street, with the Family, all of whom live their lives according to the teachings of Jesus, and all of whom pay below-market rents, because they live in what is classified by the IRS as a Church. Leisha Pickering alleges that some of the "wrongful conduct" on the part of the woman accused of breaking up the Pickering marriage "occurred and accrued" in Washington, D.C., "at the C Street Complex." A source familiar with the C Street group said it is difficult to envision a resident carrying on relations with a mistress in the townhouse where he lived with other lawmakers. And it turns out that Pickering quit the House to spend more time with his mistress, of course. What is it with C Street? That place is like some sort of Bowery Bawdyhouse. MORE >>
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