iphone blog buzz 01.30.09

YouTube and the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent agency, are close to signing a deal that would place the company’s clients in made-for-the-Web productions.The deal would underscore the ways that distribution models are evolving on the Internet. Already, some actors and other celebrities are creating their own content for the Web, bypassing the often arduous process of developing a program for a television network. The YouTube deal would give William Morris clients an ownership stake in the videos they create for the Web site.WASHINGTON — President Obama branded Wall Street bankers “shameful” on Thursday for giving themselves nearly $20 billion in bonuses as the economy was deteriorating and the government was spending billions to bail out some of the nation’s most prominent financial institutions.“There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses,” Mr. Obama said during an appearance in the Oval Office with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. “Now’s not that time. And that’s a message that I intend to send directly to them, I expect Secretary Geithner to send to them.”WHAT’S a nice economy like ours doing in a place like this? As the country descends into what is likely to be its worst postwar recession, Americans are distressed, bewildered and asking serious questions: Didn’t we learn how to avoid such catastrophes decades ago? Has American-style capitalism failed us so badly that it needs a radical overhaul? The answers, I believe, are yes and no. Our capitalist system did not condemn us to this fate. Instead, it was largely a series of avoidable — yes, avoidable — human errors. Recognizing and understanding these errors will help us fix the system so that it doesn’t malfunction so badly again. And we can do so without ending capitalism as we know it.My list of errors has six whoppers, in chronologically order. I omit mistakes that became clear only in hindsight, limiting myself to those where prominent voices advocated a different course at the time. Had these six choices been different, I believe the inevitable bursting of the housing bubble would have caused far less harm. Just in case the recent flood of depressing economic indicators hasn't been enough to convey how great this recession really is, the Washington Post leads with more data that came down the pipeline yesterday. Sales of new homes plunged, 13,000 U.S. jobs were slashed, corporate earnings went deep in the red, and unemployment increased. The New York Times leads with President Obama harshly criticizing Wall Street bankers for receiving nearly $20 billion in bonuses last year even as the economy collapsed. "That is the height of irresponsibility," Obama said. "It is shameful."The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with Illinois senators voting unanimously to remove Rod Blagojevich from office. He will now go down in history as the first Illinois governor to be impeached. USA Today leads with news that the Super Bowl will mark the first time that federal behavior-detection officers will be used at a major event. The Transportation Security Administration will be sending dozens of these officers, who normally work in airports, to join forces with local police and watch for suspicious behavior among the fans entering the Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. Civil liberties advocates worry that this sets a dangerous precedent. "If we're going to use this at high-profile sporting events, why not start using it on streets?" an ACLU analyst said. The Los Angeles Times leads with a judge ordering California officials to comply with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order that state employees take two days off a month without pay. The move would represent "the biggest rollback of the state payroll in decades."To continue reading, click here.