Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

26 May 2009 12:30

tags

Culture, Tech: Teens text too much, and it isn’t healthy, say old jerks

  • 2,272 Average number of texts teens send in an average month source

26 May 2009 11:13

tags

U.S.: Five fast facts about SCOTUS justice pick Sonia Sotomayor

  • She’s a New Yawker of Puerto Rican descent and a huge Yankees fan. source
  • Her pedigree’s pretty sweet: She went to Princeton and Yale Law School. source
  • She was appointed as a trial judge in 1991 and upgraded to appeals in 1998. source
  • In 1995, she effectively ended the MLB baseball strike by blocking replacements. source
  • If she gets on the court, she’ll likely be a solid liberal vote. Well, duhhhh. source

26 May 2009 11:11

tags

U.S.: Why you’ll like Sonia Sotomayor: She’s one of us.

  • I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
  • Obama’s Supreme Court justice pick Sonia Sotomayor • On what she describes as “the most humbling honor of my life.” The biggest hurdle she’ll likely face to becoming a justice is that she hasn’t had to make any major decisions on abortion cases, BTW. • source

26 May 2009 10:55

tags

Biz, U.S.: Consumer confidence way up. No, actually WAAAYYYYYY up.

  • 54.9% in May; it was just 40% in April. Whoa. source

26 May 2009 09:28

tags

Music: You need a little more Flaming Lips + Madonna in your life

  • The Lips joined up with fellow band Stardeath and White Dwarfs, which features Wayne Coyne’s nephew, to do a killer cover of Madonna’s “Borderline.” Sweet. (And the video’s cool too.)source

26 May 2009 09:13

tags

U.S., World: North Korea’s in a testing-stuff kinda mood

  • A day after the nukes, out come the missiles. The two short-range missiles were all blowed up on the country’s east coast. North Korea’s latest test appears to be another attempt to rock the boat, and they’re certainly doing a good job of rocking it. “If they want to continue to test and provoke the international community, they’re going to find that they will pay a price,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. source

26 May 2009 09:05

tags

Politics, Tech: Here’s a random argument in favor of taxing e-mail

  • The tax will not stop unsolicited communications, just as post charges limit, but do not kill, junk mail. An email tax would force senders to apply a simple test: is this message worth a penny to send?
  • Prospect Magazine contributor Edward Gottesman • On the idea of taxing e-mail as a way to stop spam. Gottesman, chairman of an international investment company and a lawyer, says the minimal charge – just like sending a letter – would help deter spammers without limiting e-mail communications. One problem, dude: E-mail’s already so last century. Everyone’s just going to use Facebook or Twitter instead and e-mail would become irrelevant. • source
 

26 May 2009 08:57

tags

U.S.: Texas admissions policies puts schools in tough spots

  • 10% The cutoff point, set by a popular piece of legislation, for top-performing high school students to be guaranteed admission to Texas universities source

26 May 2009 08:54

tags

Offbeat: Today’s clown DUI story comes from Wheeling, West Virginia

  • I’m not allowed to drink in costume and I should have never went, because I was too upset.
  • Patricia Ingalls • Who was arrested Friday night for drunken driving while in her clown getup. Ahahahahahahahaha. LOL. Ingalls has been a clown for 17 years and was told never to drink while in costume. And of course, there were kids around. “They were all hanging on me and saying, ‘Don’t take the clown,'” Ingalls recalled. Oh boy. • source

26 May 2009 08:35

tags

Politics, U.S.: YAY POLITICS! Obama announces his SCOTUS pick today

  • That sound you hear is of D.C. politicians freaking izzout. It’s been hyped bigger than any summer blockbuster, and Obama’s ready to talk. He plans to announce it at 10:15 a.m., according to MSNBC. We hope it lives up to the hype. MSNBC says it’ll likely be Sonia Sotomayor, making for the court’s first Hispanic justice. Stay tuned for more blockbuster District of Columbia action! source