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09 May 2009 22:11

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Biz, Culture: How the KFC/Oprah free chicken thing blew up in KFC’s face

  • 1st After famously being known as a source of fattening fried chicken, KFC launches a new brand of grilled chicken.
  • 2nd To convince people to give them a chance and rethink the brand, KFC puts a free chicken coupon on their Web site.
  • 3rd KFC then promotes the deal on Oprah’s kingmaking TV show, causing huge visibility and demand for the coupons.
  • 4th The coupons get redeemed en masse, creating huge lines at the restaurants that were way bigger than they anticipated.
  • 5th After being unable to keep up with the demand, KFC canceled the offer, pissing people off. Idiots. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 21:50

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Politics, U.S.: How did New England become a mecca of gay marriage?

  • Clearly, attitudes about gay people have changed in New England. I mean, they must have, right? Or was the region always more accepting in general despite my personal experiences?
  • PlanetOut columnist Carter Todd • Discussing what, to him, is a bizarre evolution of the gay marriage debate. Todd grew up in New England and did not believe the region to be particularly gay-friendly nor particularly open about its sexuality, and in fact found Boston to be not gay-friendly at all. So he raised the question to his readers: Why New England? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 21:31

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U.S.: Justice was totally not served for this guy who skipped jury duty

  • 83 days in jail for skipping jury duty in ’03. WTF, justice system? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 21:20

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Biz, U.S.: The recession reminded people to actually save money

  • -2.7% the savings rate in 2005 – in other words, people were spending more than they earned.
  • 4% the savings rate in the last year – in other words, the recession scared people $^(*less. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 16:26

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U.S.: Someone got the ax for that NYC Air Force One incident

  • Louis Caldera eats the blame for the incident. The Director of the White House Military Office, who spent much of the last two weeks in PR spin mode after the incident which he OK’d on his watch, turned in his resignation on Friday, saying he couldn’t do the job anymore in the wake of the incident. Obama was furious over the incident, which – let’s face it – was pretty stupid. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 16:17

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U.S.: The fine print in Obama’s budget kills abstinence-only education

It didn’t really work anyway – no matter how many purity rings you hand out, teens are still going to have sex. They’re teens. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

09 May 2009 16:08

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U.S.: Five years of Massachusetts gay marriage, by the numbers

  • 12,167 gay marriages in Massachusetts through September 2008 – 64% of them women
  • 170,209 total marriages in Massachusetts through the same period, including gay marriages source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 May 2009 16:01

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U.S.: Five years later, legalized gay marriage is a success in Mass.

  • I was out of work for eight weeks, spent a week in the hospital. That was the first time I really felt thankful for the sense of the security we had, with Rich there, talking with the physicians, helping make decisions. … It really made a difference.
  • Gary Chalmers • On how, during a bout with pneumonia, being married to his partner, Richard Linnell, significantly helped him. Chalmers and Linnell were amongst the first married gay couples in Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2004 via court decision. Despite continued vocal opposition from conservative and church groups, gay marriage has strong political support and the debate has faded into the background. Now, other states have recently legalized it. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 15:49

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U.S.: Obama hangs with pirate-rescued Captain Richard Phillips

Between him and Captain Sully (the one who saved the plane in the Hudson Bay), it’s turning out to be a good year to be a captain. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 15:25

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Culture, Politics: Comment: Rihanna and the way the human mind works

  • A good number of people have been disappointed by us today. Why? Because they found our site on Google using the phrase “Rihanna nude.” Now, it’s bad enough that the pop star is now all over the Internet in nude poses, but considering the amount of bad buzz following the star this year, it does scream a degree of kicking someone while they’re down. But much like Paris Hilton a few years ago, a bunch of guys (and hey, maybe girls) are looking for purely exploitative kicks. Not to criticize too harshly, but aren’t there other things you could be looking for on the Internet instead? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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