Media Navel Gaze: August 6, 2012

The Week Unpeeled

The US jobs report was mostly positive with non-farm payroll adding a stronger-than-expected 163,000 jobs while the unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent in July from 8.2 percent in June. The news sent US stocks soaring, with the Dow ending up 0.16 percent for the week to 13,096, a three-month high.  As many analysts commented from the rally positive economic data trumps Euro news, at least for least week.

Elsewhere:

• Knight Capital continued to dig itself out from severe trading glitches last week that cost the brokerage firm $440 million and perhaps its financial independence as it searched for capital;
• Hotmail is out as Microsoft is replacing the once-popular email service with guess what? Outlook.
• Jonah Lehrer, a staff writer at notoriously fact-finding accurate The New Yorker, admitted to making up Bob Dylan quotes in his bestselling book on creativity. Beyond ironic.
• Gore Vidal, the American “man of letters,” died (and oddly, The New York Times did not reference its one-page obit on its front page;
• The NASA rover Curiosity was scheduled to land on Mars by Monday;
• Olympic fever took over as the London 2012 games got underway. Top headlines:
  • As public anger grew at the number of empty seats at events The London Olympic Organizing Committee had to draft in solders, teachers and students to fill spaces, tickets still remain largely unavailable to book through the official site;
  • China became embroiled in the first doping controversy of the Olympics after American John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said swimmer Ye Shiwen's gold medal performance in the 400m individual medley was “unbelievable” and “disturbing”;
  • American swimmer Michael Phelps officially became the most decorated Olympian in history after winning his 22h  Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games and went to win at least one more by press time;
  • Eight players from China, Indonesia and South Korea were disqualified from the women's doubles badminton tournament having been accused of trying to lose their group matches to face easier opposition in the next round; and
  • The streets of London were left deserted with as many as 1.5 million people working from home and people staying away from London resulting in a fall in sales for many of the Capital’s retailers.