Opinions are like...

Lately, I have noticed Pat editorializing a couple of times outside of "In the Papers," to rather amusing effect. This morning, when reporting on McDonald's decision to include apples in its Happy Meals, he noted that the company is "dropping that ridiculous caramel dipping sauce" that added additional fat and calories. Ha. Yesterday, when reporting on the NY Daily News' findings that fare jumpers can actually pay less than paying riders (since the fines are so low and not all that frequently enforced), he added that viewers should not be encouraged to take this approach "since we live in a civilized society." Amen to anyone who encourages civility in this crazy city!

Of course, these opinions are not remotely tied to anything controversial, like politics, city budget proposals or any other hard news stories, which

Interestingly, I have noticed that some of the reporters I follow on Twitter have openly expressed support for gay marriage. That's a little more of a gray area. I personally don't consider it controversial--it's a civil rights issue in my book, and the station has reported on the (ridiculous) opposition to the bill from anti same-sex marriage groups, making sure to get both sides of the story. But it was a little surprising to see, nonetheless.

Speaking of same-sex marriage, I was sadly out of town this Sunday and missed Roger Clark sitting behind the anchor desk (this was the first day same-sex marriages could take place in New York). Hopefully I won't miss it next time!

Come on, NY Post!

Kudos to Pat for his takedown of the New York Post's pathetic coverage of the Rupert & James Murdoch testimony/News Corp. scandal in today's paper. As Pat noted, it was the biggest news story on two continents yesterday, and even the Wall Street Journal (another Murdoch-owned paper) put it on the front page!

Here's the video clip of Pat opening a can of whup-ass on the Post, if you missed it this morning:

http://www.ny1.com/content/features/in_the_papers/143276/in-the-papers-7-20-11

How Bloomie annoyed me today

I just got back from a week in sunny—make that oven-like—Florida. I did miss NY1.

My vacation coincided with one of the biggest New York stories of the year, the horrific child murder in Brooklyn. NY1 reported this morning that Mayor Bloomberg sat shiva with the boy’s grieving family. It was a nice gesture, but something he said to the media about it really irritated me.

I can’t remember the full quote, but it was something along the lines of, sometimes God does things that are not so great, blah blah blah, and then he punctuated it with “It is what it is.”

I would like to call a global moratorium on that hackneyed, meaningless, UTTERLY idiotic phrase. I know it’s not how he meant to sound, but it just struck me as an extremely thoughtless and trivial thing to say about a child’s murder. Also, I just hate that turn of phrase.

I also enjoyed In the Papers this morning. Kudos to Pat for ribbing the Journal about its under-coverage of the News Corp. scandal. I also enjoyed ITP yesterday, when he pointed out that a new film that’s being adapted from a crime novel featuring a 6’5” hero will star—Tom Cruise, at 5 ‘7”. Hilar.

Hope y’all are having a good summer. Stay cool (and classy) New York!