Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

27 Mar 2009 19:45

tags

Culture: “Monsters vs. Aliens”: Just one versus movie of many.

The new animated movie is the latest in a long list of flicks that aim one thing vs. another. Hopefully “Pirates vs. Ninjas” is next. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 19:04

tags

U.S.: An ode to New York’s Rockefeller drug laws. We won’t miss you.

  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing. source
  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
  • Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes. source
  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
  • Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes.
  • Cost savings There’s a lot of reasons the laws are getting peeled back now, but the biggest reason is cost. Keeping prison in prisons isn’t cheap, and repealing this law would cut the prison population by thousands, making more room for inmates like Bernard Madoff. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 18:21

tags

Tech: “Lauren” is no Ellen Feiss, Microsoft. But she’ll do.

Why we like Lauren: Lauren’s not cool. She probably listens to Jason Mraz. We’d date her, then immediately convert her to Apple. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 18:07

tags

Biz: Stocks sucked today. But this week, overall, ruled.

  • 6.8% increase for the Dow this week; not bad duders source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 17:51

tags

U.S.: Cutting it close: Fargo faces its great test from the N.D. floods

  • 40.6 feet the level of the heavily-flooded Red River this morning; it’s been making life hell in North Dakota this week source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 14:19

tags

Culture: Cloris Leachman’s tell-all autobiography tells a little too much

  • One day we made an agreement that I would have sex with him if he lost 32 pounds. He almost did it; he lost 29 pounds. We both got so disoriented at what we were facing that his weight shot back up, and our assignation never happened.
  • Actress Cloris Leachman • Discussing the possibility of having sex with Ed Asner, her co-star on “Mary Tyler Moore.” She also speaks of a random night with Gene Hackman back in the 1970s. Keep in mind that all this stuff happened over 30 years ago and Leachman is like 82 now. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 14:17

tags

Music: Hip-hop mashed up with Sufan Stevens’ “Illinois”? Color us intrigued.

Producer Tor managed to find a way to make the hip-hop remix album interesting again. Good for him! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Mar 2009 11:53

tags

Offbeat: Odd book titles are worthy of awards too, apparently

  • What does the future hold for these items? Well, given that fromage frais normally comes in 60-gram containers, one would assume that the world outlook for 0.06-gram containers of fromage frais is pretty bleak. But I’m not willing to pay £795 to find out.
  • Philip Stone • Charts editor of The Bookseller magazine, on the winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, “The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais.” That book sounds loaded with suspense. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 11:40

tags

Music: T.I. can’t give you whatever you like; he’s going to jail

  • 366 days in jail for the rap superstar, due to weapons charges source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 11:33

tags

Tech: Classy: A Facebook group changes from pro-Jews to pro-Hitler

  • It baited and switched hundreds of people. Almost 2,000 people were shocked to find out that the group had changed its name from “I Heart Jews” to “Hitler: Great Modern Man of History.” (It appears to have been switched back now.) The video links to a local Fox news TV report that’s just a tad overwraught, even considering the sensitive nature of the material. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>