Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 1041

Look Out: Apple's Streaming Music Service Is Coming Very Soon

The day of reckoning for streaming music is almost here. According to the New York Times' Ben Sisario, Apple is frantically working to finalize deals with record companies so they can launch their streaming service at their annual developers conference next week.

Yep, it's finally here. Sisario reports Apple has a deal in place with Warner Music Group for music and publishing rights. They're still trying to finalize complete deals with Universal and Sony ahead of the WWDC conference on June 10. Labels are apparently asking for a big price increase from what Apple currently pays for songs purchased on iTunes: 

For recording rights, the labels have asked Apple to pay at least as much as Pandora’s “penny rate” — a fixed fee for every song played, currently 12 cents per 100 streams — as well as a fee whenever a user skips from one song to another.

As our Philip Bump explained, disputes with record companies over how much would be paid per song have delayed the service's launch before now. Apple wanted to pay six cents per song played, but the record companies scoffed at the low offer. Whether or not Apple relented to the 12 cent fee is unclear. It's possible the record companies bent to Apple's will. It is unlikely, though. Apple needs all the songs it can get to compete with the crowded world of streaming music. There have been rumors of Apple's impending entrance to the streaming music world since last year. Now they're poised to enter a streaming world with Pandora, Spotify and Google fighting for supremacy.

       

'After Earth' Is Will Smith's Biggest Summer Bust

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where dinosaurs are always welcome in our summer movies, but Jaden Smith is not. 

1. Fast & Furious 6 (Universal): $34.5 million in 3,686 theaters [Week 2]

Another week of dominance for Vin Diesel's Dom and co. Are you surprised? No, good. If you were, Dom would punch you in your lilly-livered face. One of the most fascinating things about Fast 6 is how it manages to keep Paul Walker somewhat relevant. And, as someone who recently watched She's All That and The Skulls, that's something that probably should not have happened. 

2. Now You See Me (Lionsgate): $28 million in 2,925 theaters

3. After Earth (Sony): $27 millions in 3,401 theaters

This was the weekend's biggest box office news. Now You See Me beating After Earth is being labeled "one of the most surprising box office upsets in recent memory," by The Hollywood Reporter. And they're probably right! Will Smith has been one of the most successful and consistent box office performers over the last two decade. As THR points out, the last Smith movie to miss the number 1 box office spot was Made in America in 1992. But After Earth was such a huge departure from Smith's usual offerings that, hm, maybe we shouldn't be surprised by this. Smith has done sci-fi (Men In Black) before, and movies with his son and co-star Jaden Smith before (The Pursuit of Happiness) too. But After Earth lacked the wit and lightness that usually draws people towards Smith. It was a serious, sci-fi flick with only two real stars. And neither are known for their serious, sci-fi roles. Add the questionable M. Night Shyamalan as director, his annoying Justin Bieber-pal son Jaden as the co-star, some sub-Avatar looking CGI in the trailers, and it's not hard to see why people avoided After Earth. Oh, and that it was almost universally derided by critics didn't help.

Meanwhile, Now You See Me is a slick-looking heist movie with a cast so pedigreed it boggles the mind. Consider: Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Morgan Freeman are all in this movie. How someone convinced all of these people to be in the same summer movie deserves its own oral history. 

4. Star Trek: Into Darkness (Paramount): $16.4 million in 3,585 theaters [Week 3]

5. Epic (Fox): $16.4 million in 3,894 theaters [Week 2]

Captain Kirk and co. continue to chug forward as the popular but not world-beating early summer blockbuster. The only reason we gave it the nod over Epic, which earned just as much, is because Trek is playing in fewer theaters. 

       

Issa Says IRS Scrutiny Was Directed By Washington

Rep. Darrell Issa made some bold accusations during his exclusive appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning. Namely, Issa said an IRS employee testified under oath the Cincinnati office at the center of the Tea Party scrutiny scandal received that direction from Washington. He also called White House press secretary Jay Carney a lair. "Their paid liar, their spokesperson, the picture behind, he’s still making up things about what happened and calling this a local rogue," said Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. (Carney was pictured behind Issa on set.) "The reason the Lois Lerner tried to take the fifth is not because there is a rogue in Cincinnati, it's because this is a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we're getting to proving it," he added. Issa was trumpeting a big get, in his mind, when one IRS agent apparently said they were receiving direction from Washington during the IRS investigation. Issa provided the transcript to CNN ahead of his interview, but host Candy Crowley wasn't as convinced as Issa. Her reading of the transcript:

The investigator said, "so is it your perspective that ultimately the responsible parties for the decisions that were reported by the IG," that is the decision that target tea party and Patriot applications, "are not in the Cincinnati office?"

The employee says, "I don't know how to answer that question.  I mean, from an agent standpoint, we didn't do anything wrong.  We followed directions based on other people telling us what to do."

Investigator, "and you ultimately followed directions from Washington, is that correct?"

The employee, "if direction had come down from Washington, yes."

The investigator, "but with respect to the particular scrutiny that was given to Tea Party applications, those directions emanated from Washington, is that right?"

The employee answers, "I believe so."

It's totally not definitive.

But Issa is determined that his committee will prove the White House is lying and that they demanded the Tea Party groups get extra attention."This is a problem that was in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters," Issa said. "We’re getting to proving it." Then he unloaded some Detective Mulder level truth-seeking rhetoric: "What we have is people who have to come in and transcribe interviews. They’re saying under penalty of crimes that certain things are true. We have subpoenaed documents that would support that that they say emails went back and forth," Issa said. "We will learn the whole truth." It's probably out there. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer supported Attorney General Eric Holder's continued employment during his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. "There have been all kinds of accusations, but I haven’t seen anything that would prevent him from continuing to do his job," Schumer said. The New York Democrat reminded everyone this isn't the first scandal Holder's lived through as AG. "Let’s not forget for two years, many of our hard right colleagues spent a lot of their time on Fast and Furious and I’m sure there were calls for Holder to step down," said Schumer. "He continued to do his job well. And then the IG exonerated him on Fast and Furious... The president has confidence in Holder and I believe he’s going to stay," he added. But, perhaps even more importantly, Schumer predicted immigration reform will pass the Senate before Independence Day. (Because of course it will.) "We’re going to put immigration on the (Senate) floor starting on June 10. I predict it will pass the Senate by July 4," Schumer said. "We are hoping to get 70 votes, up to 70 votes, which means a lot of Republicans. And we’re willing to entertain amendments that don’t damage the core principles of the bill, but improve the bill – just as we did in (the Judiciary) committee." Schumer thinks the bill will pass the House easily if they can msuter overwhelming support in the Senate. "If we can come out of the Senate with close to a majority of the Republican senators and almost every Democrat, that may change the equation in the House and the thinking in the House among mainstream Republicans, and they may want to go for our bill."

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus thinks Obama developed a "culture" of targeting Tea Party groups, and that's why he wants to investigate every nook and cranny of this story, he said on Fox News Sunday. "The culture of the president calling tea party groups terrorists and tea-baggers, and that entire culture has been cultivated by the president and his people, and everyone has been following," Priebus said. The chariman doesn't believe the President's explanation that low level IRS agents scrutinized Tea Party groups on their own direction. It had to come from Washington, he says. "That’s why it doesn’t make any sense," Priebus said. "That’s why we need to keep digging, because the idea that two or three people in lower offices in Cincinnati just suddenly out of thin air just decided, ‘You know what, why don’t we launch this massive effort to derail conservative groups, and actually go after individuals that give to conservative groups,’ that that just suddenly happened." Priebus also thinks the President should know about everything -- every single, small thing -- happening in the federal government at all times. "Government under Barack Obama has gotten so big that his main defense is, 'Look, I don’t know anything about these scandals, because everything under me is so big and unwieldy that I can’t possibly know about it,'" Priebus said. "Well that’s a world and that’s an America that the founding fathers didn’t fight for."

Sen. John McCain called for Eric Holder to resign as Attorney General without really calling for him to resign during CBS's Face the Nation. It's up to Holder in the end, McCain argued. "I’m not having anything to do with these investigations … But I also think that the attorney general has to ask himself the question, is he really able to serve the president of the United States and the American people under the present circumstances?" McCain said. "That’s a decision he’d have to make." McCain was asked directly whether he thinks Holder should resign. His response: "Again, I think that would be up to him. But I think it would be tough for him to answer the question whether he can still effectively serve the president of the United States."

Karl Rove was put on the defensive during a panel discussion about the IRS scandal on ABC's This Week. Co-panelist Arianna Huffington accused Crossroads GPS, a tax-exempt, non-profit Rove helped create, of bending the rules. "If you look at Crossroads GPS, it’s all about politics," Huffington said. Crossroads is a 501(c)4 group, the same designation given to Tea Party groups at the center of the IRS scandal. These organizations aren't supposed to be politically affiliated, though many of them are. (They're technically "social welfare" groups. They argue as long as 50 percent of spending doesn't go to politics then they remain within the law. "Crossroads GPS – an organization I helped create but I don’t run it, I’m not on the board, I’m not an officer. But the leadership knew right from the get-go they were going to be looked at closely," Rove said. (It's amazing he didn't trip with all that back peddling.) "So the laws and rules that the IRS has promulgated for decades were followed very closely by GPS. For exactly that – they knew they’d get extra scrutiny." Rove even tried to turn the discussion's focus towards Democratic tax-exempt groups. "These groups – 501c4 groups have been active for years on the Democratic side, on the liberal side," he said. "And there’s been no criticism. There was no criticism from the left in 2000 when the NAACP voter fund spent $10 million to run an ad accusing George W. Bush of being a bigot. No concern on the left when Americans United for Change ran television ads targeting Republican Senators up for reelection in 2007 and 2008 over the Iraq surge."

One of the President's longest serving lieutenants called for a revision of the laws governing tax-exempt groups on Sunday. Former advisor David Axelrod said the laws should be re-examined on Meet the Press. "I think the whole 501c4 concept has to be looked at – groups applying for tax exemption and also to keep their donors secret. That’s the benefit they get from that," Axelrod said. Axelrod said the question of what is and isn't political needs to be scrutinized. "How do you decide what is political and what is not political?" Axelrod asked. "That ought to be looked at." But ultimately when explaining the IRS scandal, Axelrod said it wasn't a targeted effort on behalf of the IRS. It was a stupid effort. "If there was someone political involved in this, it never would have happened because it was the stupidest thing you can imagine," he said.

       

Hulu Has Billion-Dollar Bidders

After fielding some almost disrespectful low ball bids, the owners of premium video-streaming service Hulu must be pleased as punch now that they're getting bids closer to their expectations. Bloomberg News's Andy Fixmer & Alex Sherman report three bidders have offered at least $1 billion for the streaming service co-owned by NBC Universal, Fox, and ABC-Disney. Direct TV is the only company identified as a billion dollar suitor; the other two are unknown. "Hulu would give DirecTV, with 20 million subscribers, a lower-cost online video offering alongside its more expensive pay-TV packages," Fixmer and Sherman explain. 

This has to be great news for Hulu's cabal of owners, who were prepared to turn down any offer for less than $1 billion, AllThingsD's Kara Swisher reported. And the two bids we know of were considerably lower than that: Yahoo! offered $600-$800 million, depending on certain details, while former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin bid $500 million. Other companies reportedly in the mix for Hulu:  Time Warner Cable, and private equity firms Guggenheim Digital, KKR and Silver Lake Management.

This is the second time on the auction block for Hulu, and the sharp increase in the money on the table shows the system will likely sell this time. Three or four bidders will reportedly be chosen over the next several days as finalists in sale process. Hulu's owners have been trying to sell the service for $1 billion ever since the $2 billion valuation the company received about year ago. But high revenues and mountains of debt have made the pursuit of a buyer difficult. 

       

Leaked British Front Pages Reveal The Need for a New 'Dr. Who'

Dr. Who fans were startled when the Sunday front pages of U.K. newspapers started to leak out Saturday evening. There were surprising headlines announcing Matt Smith, the man currently playing Dr. Who on the wildly popular BBC series, was leaving the show.

Usually a major casting change like Smith's departure would be protected under an embargo with the studio. But because Dr. Who is such a wildly popular institution in the U.K. -- the show is approaching its 50th anniversary -- Smith's decision to leave prompted front page coverage. See: 

Providing this hasn't been photoshopped! @jonclack1 Matt Smith leaving #DoctorWho Daily Mail front page reveals this twitter.com/JonClack1/stat…

— Lara (@LovelyLara33) June 1, 2013

Sunday Express front page: Council bullies kill grantwitpic.com/cutr24

— cf (@cfmcfc) June 1, 2013

The Sunday Times was smart enough to tease it a little without leaking the story completely: 

A Dr Who mystery on the front page tomorrow @thesundaytimes

— Sian Griffiths (@SianGriffiths6) June 1, 2013

Imagine all of the judges of The Voice left the show in one swoop and the news leaked in a tweeted newspaper front page. That's the best domestic comparison available, probably. Or if Jeff Probst left Survivor. 

So, sensing that the news was out, the Telegraph became the first to report the need for a new doctor. Smith, the show's 11th doctor, joined the show in 2010. ""Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show," Smith said. The BBC confirmed the casting change in a press release shortly after the Telegraph put their report up. Smith was the youngest doctor ever, and he was well-received by both critics and fans alike. 

It's odd that newspapers reporting something is news, but this is a strange new frontier. No one released the story early for their own gain. The Mail's front page came out and broke the news, but it was the Telegraph that released their story ahead of the end of the embargo. The rest followed suit. So newspapers broke the news, which isn't unusual, but they did it in a convoluted way. 

Dr. Who fans are a notoriously passionate bunch. (Community's "Inspector Spacetime," Abed's favorite British sci-fi show, is a parody of Who.) So it's no surprise they are going through that awful, swirling emotional combination of grief and denial and hope that comes with world-shaking casting changes: 

Aww. Matt Smith was my favorite Doctor. Curious to see Who's next. Fingers crossed for a lady Doctor. Would be perfectly timed for the 50th.

— Infinite Ammo (@infinite_ammo) June 1, 2013

It makes me sad because I do love Matt Smith but on the other hand I want a new doctor, Idek

— DavidJohnMcDonald♥ (@davidrwho13) June 1, 2013

A bit gutted (who am I kidding, COMPLETELY gutted..) that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who.. :'( #MattSmith #DoctorWho :'( :'(

— Kim O'Shea (@kim_lizanne) June 1, 2013

i feel so old now how has matt smith been doctor for 4 years already

— WHY IS THE RUM GONE (@wolCMves) June 1, 2013

Dear BBC. I'm still recovering from the Tenth Doctor regeneration, can you not with the whole Matt Smith leaving thing?

— - (@MoodySpark) June 1, 2013

It'll be OK, everyone. These doctors seems like a replaceable bunch. There are eleven of them, after all. 

       

Meet the Couple Accusing Each Other of Mailing the Latest Ricin Letters

Everyone who writes letters laced with ricin is insane, for more than one reason, but these ones may take the cake. The absurd couple at the heart of the latest ricin investigation are almost as ridiculous as the duelling Elvis impersonator and the taekwondo instructor implicated in the last ricin plot. 

Yesterday the FBI were focusing their investigation into the latest round of ricin-laced letters on Nathaniel Richardson, a 37-year-old Army veteran living in New Boston, Texas who still does contract work for the Defense Department. Similarly worded letters laced with ricin were received by the President, New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg and his gun control advocacy group. This was the second time in two months the President was mailed something laced with ricin. Richardon's wife allegedly tipped off police after she found a Tupperware container with ricin in their fridge. But because this is a ricin investigation, things don't go that smoothly. 

[image error]No, there has to be some ridiculous set-up at the heart of a ricin letter scandal. During his interview with FBI investigators Friday, CBS reports Richardson pointed the finger at his actress wife, 36-year-old Shannon Rogers Guess. She's currently pregnant but the two are going through a divorce. Guess has five other children from previous relationships, on top of the one she's currently carrying  with Richardson. She is perhaps best known for her role     

Turkey's Park Protest Proves Problematic for Prime Minister

Police retreated from more violent clashes with protestors in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday as the protest over a public park's fate turned into something bigger: a protest against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

For a minute there, thing were starting to look very ugly. Early Saturday, police used tear gas and water cannons on protestors who were chanting "shoulder to shoulder against fascism" and "government resign" while walking down a busy street towards Taksim Square. What started as a peaceful protest against Erdogan's plan to build an Ottoman-era military barracks, that would eventually hold a shopping mall, on the site of the last public green space in Istanbul, Gezi Park, erupted into violence on Friday. One Turkish newspaper reported over 100 people were arrested, with dozens more injured, as Turkish police faced criticism for being too aggressive with the protestors. But as the clashes continued Saturday, it seems to have evolved into a greater movement against Erdogan's decade-long reign, which many view like an almost-authoritarian regime. When the protestors wouldn't budge, the police eventually pulled back and let people demonstrate. 

But Erdogan is refusing to see this as some kind of late-blossoming Arab Spring style protest that eventually leads to his ouster. "If this is about holding meetings, if this is a social movement, where they gather 20, I will get up and gather 200,000 people. Where they gather 100,000, I will bring together one million from my party," Erdogan said during a televised speech on Saturday. He announced the government would investigate whether the police may have used excessive force when dealing with the anti-government protestors. But otherwise, he would not take these protests as a statement against his government. "Every four years we hold elections and this nation makes its choice ... Those who have a problem with government's policies can express their opinions within the framework of law and democracy," he said. Erdogan announced police would monitor the park every day until the protestors disperse, or they expel them, whichever comes first. Taksim Square "cannot be an area where extremists are running wild," he said. 

       

Dan Harmon Is Officially Returning to 'Community'

This has never happened before: former Community showrunner and executive producer Dan Harmon is officially coming back to the show. We are no longer in the Darkest Timeline, kids. Harmon announced his return over Twitter on Saturday morning. "Yes yes yes! I'm back I'm back I'm back," Harmon said. "You can thank [actor Joel McHale]." Harmon teased the news as recently as Friday, but now he appears comfortable enough to tell the whole world. 

Hitfix's Alan Sepinwell reports the deal isn't done just yet, but "signatures are a formality," so yeah. This thing is happening. What's even crazier? No one Sepinwell spoke with could remember the last time someone fired from a show was invited back: "someone being fired and then invited to return is either without precedent, or at last hasn't happened in the last few decades." 

After Community was renewed for a fifth season, to the surprise of pretty much everyone, rumors started swirling about Harmon's impending return to the show. Sony Pictures Television declined to renew his contract between Community's third and fourth season and was replaced by Moses Port and David Guarascio after the network grew fed up with Harmon's overbearing management style. But the new guys didn't turn Community into the world-beating hit for which NBC hoped. The Harmon-less season was panned. So why would NBC ever bring him back? Sepinwell offers some perspective: 

So why was Harmon asked back? Harmon mentioned in that tweet that we can thank Joel McHale for his return, which squares with what I've heard from people close to the show:  several of the castmembers weren't happy with the season 4 scripts and pushed Sony for Harmon's return. Given that — and given that the ratings actually decreased without Harmon, suggesting that "Community" was never going to resemble a broad-based hit no matter who was in charge — I can see Sony deciding to appease both their stars and the fans, and perhaps enhance the show's afterlife on DVD, streaming, etc.

If they're going to bring Community back for the fifth season no one thought would happen, they might as well bring back Harmon, too. It's unclear right now what Harmon's role will be when he returns, whether it's as showrunner, executive producer, writer, or all of the above. We'll update this if more leaks out later today.

Update, 3:54 p.m.: The Hollywood Reporter says Harmon is returning as showrunner, and former writer and executive producer Chris McKenna will also return. 

       

Your Google Glass Facial Recognition Nightmare Won't Come True (for Now)

One of the biggest fears about Google Glass's pending world takeover is creeps using Google's face computer to recognize them, look up their awful prom pictures, or any number of things, all without permission and on the spot. Those people can now rest easy. Google glass won't have facial recognition features for the foreseeable future. 

The Google developers announced that the Glass won't be able to recognize people on the streets in an update late Friday night. "As Google has said for several years, we won’t add facial recognition features to our products without having strong privacy protections in place. With that in mind, we won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time," the company announced. Sorry, creeps. This is all likely a response to an API update from Lambda Labs to come out next week that would have enabled facial recognition. And, yes, private Pauls can celebrate now that they don't have to worry about Glass facial recognition. But they didn't say it's not coming, ever. Google said facial recognition is just not coming... yet.

So, rejoice! Google is still making up its mind about facial recognition, but it might not ever make it to Google Glass's feature list. If they can't reasonably guarantee people their privacy is protected, they'll probably stay away forever. Until that day, though, they have to worry about if Glass users will get beat up, and legislators trying to make Glass illegal. 

       

Oklahoma Recovers After More Destructive, Deadly Tornados

Less than two weeks removed from the terrible tornado that touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, at least nine people died and over 70 were injured Friday night when more severe storms uprooted houses, trees and cars in Oklahoma and other parts of the Midwest. 

Severe storms left thousands of people without power in Indiana, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma as of Saturday morning, and seven adults and two children were killed. The Oklahoma City area felt the brunt of the storm's force, including five tornados in the Oklahoma City area. The storm could be felt from downtown Oklahoma City to the surrounding El Reno and Union City. "There's just no rest," city spokeswoman Kristy Yager told CNN. As of right now, the National Weather Service says there were 17 tornados reported across the Midwest Friday night. But that number is expected to change once they can properly conduct storm surveys. 

NBC News reports five of the storm's victims were killed in cars. It appears as if they were fleeing the oncoming bad weather when they were killed. Two of those victims were a mother and her baby, killed when they were flipped in an SUV while travelling on Interstate 40, where there were reportedly hundreds of cars left behind Saturday morning. morning. One resident said it looked like "a warzone," on the Interstate, with semi trucks turned over and buildings torn apart. There was also the Weather Channel's tornado hunt car that got tossed by an oncoming tornado.

The videos coming out of Oklahoma this morning show just how scary the storms were: 

But now it's the morning after and Oklahoma City has another major problem on its hands: flooding. Much of the city is underwater after the storms dumped nearly 3 inches of rain last night. About 200 roads are closed in certain parts of the city while clean up crews desperately try to deal with the aftermath of the storm. Unfortunately there's no foreseeable end in sight. The National Weather Service says flooding will continue for a few hours. 

Thankfully these tornados weren't nearly as strong as the one that killed 24 people and caused $2 billion in damages to Moore, Oklahoma. That tornado reached the National Weather Service's was a severe EF5 tornado. Friday night's tornados affected a much larger area while never reaching that strength.