US credit downgraded to AA+

S&P downgraded the US credit rating today. For the first time in history.
The three main credit agencies, which also include Moody's Investor Service and Fitch, had warned that the country faced a downgrade if the government didn't sufficiently cut spending.
They didn't.

S&P said that in addition to the downgrade, it is issuing a negative outlook, meaning that there was a chance it will lower the rating further within the next two years. It said such a downgrade to AA would occur if the agency sees smaller reductions in spending than Congress and the administration have agreed to make, higher interest rates or new fiscal pressures during this period.
-Associated Press

And it was just sick the way they trotted out the woman who got shot in the head to cast the last vote on the debt bomb delay deal.

The Fall of Rupert Murdoch

Bloomberg has said that News Corp has said that COO Chase Carey may succeed Rupert Murdoch as CEO, pending the media tycoon's performance before the UK Parliament on Tuesday.

News Corp. executives who watched Murdoch, 80, rehearse for his appearance had concerns about how he handled questions, according to three people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Murdoch and his son James are scheduled to discuss the company’s role in the alleged phone hacking of murder victims, members of the royal family and others by the News of the World, which was closed on July 10.
-Bloomberg

Should that performance not be satisfactory, it could end Murdoch's 6 decade run as a CEO. Then again, he does own the controlling interest in the company, and ultimately could replace the board. However, he is clearly smart enough to do what's best for his company.
This is a great video on Murdoch, courtesy of our friends at Bloomberg.
He's come a long way baby. Apparently too far.
Rupert Murdoch is almost the black male of mainstream media. Shot in the back. Left to bleed on the sidewalk like some grotesque spectacle. It's probably all because he's Australian too.

Also in the news today:
- The original phone hacking scandal whistleblower, former News of the World reporter Sean Hoare, was found dead at home.

- Standard & Poor’s said yesterday it may lower News Corp.’s corporate debt rating because of “business and reputation risks” stemming from the phone-hacking scandal.

- John Yates, the cop who tried to coverup the phone hacking scandal, resigned as Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police over his links to Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World.

- Internet hacktivists LulzSec defaced the sites of Murdoch’s other U.K. tabloid, The Sun, and shut down the website of The Times of London. Visitors to The Sun website were redirected to a page featuring a story saying Murdoch's dead body had been found in his garden.