All-Time Issues

The Tribune company has filed for bankruptcy.  The New York Times has announced that it plans to borrow as much as $225 million against its newly opened building.  Advertising revenues are down 15% this year.  Readers are flocking to the web, and the newspaper companies have not been able to adjust quickly enough.  Bloggers and citizen journalists now deliver the news to people before the mainstream media can piece together a report.

All this seems to point to a decline and eventual death of the newspaper industry.  Are newspapers a thing of the past?

New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress faces a minimum of 3½ years jail time if convicted of criminal handgun possession stemming from an incident in which he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York City nightclub.

Fortunately for the Super Bowl hero, the injury was not serious.  Unfortunately, Burress did not have a permit to carry the weapon, and the city of New York has stringent gun control laws.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg has advocated prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law.

On the brink of collapse, Citigroup this week announced one of the largest layoffs in history, with plans to eliminate 52,000 jobs.  Citi also took a $20 billion bailout from the U.S. government, and taxpayers will be forced to guarantee $306 billion in risky assets.

Barack Obama has introduced his national security team on Monday.  Former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton will be the President-Elect's choice for Secretary of State, while Republican Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be keeping his current post.

Rounding out his Monday announcements, Obama named retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser, Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary and Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations.