You might have heard that last month that the famous British street artist Banksy stealthily gave one of his paintings — an image of a Nazi officer enjoying a serene mountain landscape — to a charity in New York City that fights homelessness and AIDS. It was a nice gesture and a celebrated move, and the charity immediately auctioned off the painting to help its cause. The winning bid came in at $615,000.
Well, now there’s been a twist — or two. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say the auction fell apart, and then the situation got even stranger. Check out this exclusive report from TPM’s Catherine Thompson.
Over at the Hive, we’re discussing and speculating whether the Benghazi debacle will lead to the kind of (fairly warranted) blood-letting that happened in the wake of 2004’s epic Bush National Guard segment disaster. What do you think?
As Josh Levy writes, for communities of color, mass surveillance is nothing new.
In what was apparently his final interview, Lou Reed (a notoriously catenkerous, sometimes nasty interview subject) took an opportunity to f*&k with one last interviewer. But not just that, some screwing with the interview. But also some powerful moments. The health decline in the final month is also apparent. Video after the jump …
I just watched the 60 Minutes “correction”/apology tonight and thought was pretty amazing for its brevity, lack of substance and general obfuscation. If you didn’t watch 60 Minutes tonight, it won’t take long. It only lasted 90s or so. And you can see it here.
Great couple sentences (whether straightfaced or unironic) from Brian Stelter’s piece on the 60 Minutes “correction” this evening. On why CBS staff thinks the show will weather the storm …
One reason is the deep reserve of good will the program has built up both with viewers and in journalistic circles. But the staff members also agreed that the program would be helped by that absence of a cause to inflame right-wing media voices, as well as by the belated effort to apologize.
Peter Dreier looks at a host of progressive wins across the country last Tuesday.
If you’re having trouble with your TPMPrime auto-renewal, help after the jump.
A small meeting for the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was disrupted Saturday by the arrival of dozens of armed pro-gun advocates brandishing their weapons, including some with semi-automatic rifles. The meeting was at the Blue Mesa Grill in Dallas and the men had apparently learned of the moms’ group meeting on Facebook.
Sen. Inhofe (R-OK): I hold Christie responsible for Obama’s reelection.
This is one of the many reasons why I believe the Christie thing is just not ever going to happen.