Day: May 27, 2009

What I’ve read so far tells me that Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama‘s nominee to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court, is more of a symbol of political-ethnic I.O.U.-ing than of anyone’s idea of impressive judicial distinction. She seems okay (i.e., generally liberal) as far as it goes but she’s clearly no William O. Douglas.

Sontomayor “has issued no major decisions concerning abortion, the death penalty, gay rights or national security,” N.Y. Times reporter Adam Liptak has written. “In cases involving criminal defendants, employment discrimination and free speech, her rulings are more liberal than not. But they reveal no larger vision, seldom appeal to history and consistently avoid quotable language.

“Judge Sotomayor’s decisions are, instead, almost always technical, incremental and exhaustive, considering all of the relevant precedents and supporting even completely uncontroversial propositions with elaborate footnotes.”

Here are ten significant observations/reportings about her.

HE extends solemn condolences to Mike Tyson following today’s tragic news about his four year-old daughter, Exodus. The chance of something like this happening is every parent’s nightmare. I’ve met the former heavyweight champ a couple of times but don’t know him except through James Toback‘s recently-released documentary. I just have an inkling of what he’s going through.

Give reboots the heave-ho, says Marshall Fine. Well, sure…where do I sign? Except reboots — remakes with fresh blood — will never stop being made. It’s far less terrifying for a decision-maker to greenlight a reboot of a previously sold-and-marketed property than to stick his/her neck out on something even semi-original. Fear rules, cowardice prevails, survival is all and forthcoming films like The Lone Ranger are relishing the opportunity to deaden your soul. It’s an old equation. Pauline Kael explained most of it nearly 29 years ago. Things have changed, of course, but in what ways?

“The end of print isn’t just near — it’s here,” declares ManBitesTinseltown‘s Ray Richmond. “It happened when I downloaded an App onto my iPhone called News Fuse. “For a one-time payment of 99 cents — 99 cents! — it supplies you with content from 18 separate news outlets, including: the L.A. Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Time, Newsweek, CNN, NPR, ESPN, CBS News, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, BBC News, Reuters, Fox News and Yahoo! News.”

We’re all aware how news reading is being re-shaped and re-configured, but stop for a second and consider a simple principle. I read a newspaper maybe once or twice a month but it’s a genuinely pleasant thing when I get around to it. I don’t think anyone really enjoys reading newspapers on their iPhones for too long a period. It’s the way of the world and all that, but it’s not greatly pleasurable — it’s merely fast, convenient and at one with the pace of things. Shouldn’t reading pleasure have something to do with our reading choices?

I’m also reminded that an April 2009 Greystripe report claimed that “people use free apps an average of 20 times before getting bored and looking for something else” and that “the average time they spend using/playing with the apps is 9.6 minutes.” Does this equation change when it comes to paid apps? Somewhat, I’m guessing, but not to a great degree.