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

23 May 2009 11:51

tags

Biz, U.S.: Obama thinks GM will come back strong after reorganization

  • Ultimately, I think that GM is going to be a strong company and we are going to be pulling out as soon as the economy recovers and they’ve completed their restructuring.
  • President Barack Obama • Who did not refer to the likely bankruptcy the company faced to complete that restructuring in his comments on the automaker. *Sigh* he wouldn’t care so much if the company hadn’t been so essential to the last 100 years of our country’s growth. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2009 11:41

tags

World: South Korea’s ex-president, fraught with shame, kills self

  • The former clean politician got caught in scandal. Roh Moo-hyun, who served as president from 2003 to 2008, jumped off a cliff today, according to his aides and police. The former president held a rep for being a clean leader, but was linked to a corruption scandal that had taken down some of his aides. He then started saying things such as “You should now discard me,” which should have been giant flying red flags in retrospect. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2009 11:28

tags

Culture: The decline of American Idol, ratings powerhouse

  • Just 28.8 million watched Kris Allen wipe the snot out of Adam Lambert – a major upset. And those ratings are down significantly from last year, when 32 million watched the finale. source
  • All of the main stars in the judging booth, particularly force of nature Simon Cowell, who commutes between the U.S. and the U.K. weekly for his TV hosting jobs, could leave in the next year. source
  • And worse, this season’s big judging experiment – the addition of Kara DioGuardi, who’s proven to be unpopular – appears to have damaged the chemistry between judges. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 19:10

tags

Biz: General Motors is between a rock and a bankrupt place

  • $27 billion Amount of debt the company, heading towards bankruptcy, owes its bondholders source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 15:46

tags

U.S.: Was Prop. 8 legal in California? The state supreme court weighs in

  • The backstory After the California Supreme Court overturned a law that made gay marriage illegal because it was discriminatory, those who opposed the law quickly put a ballot measure in place that would amend the constitution to define gay marriage as between a man and woman. Despite the gay rights movement’s best efforts, the law passed with 52% of the vote. source
  • The backstory After the California Supreme Court overturned a law that made gay marriage illegal because it was discriminatory, those who opposed the law quickly put a ballot measure in place that would amend the constitution to define gay marriage as between a man and woman. Despite the gay rights movement’s best efforts, the law passed with 52% of the vote.
  • A second act? However, all may not be lost for gay marriage supporters. Immediately after Proposition 8 passed, it was challenged in court. The court heard summary judgments from both sides in March, and will decide whether the amendment was legal in the first place. The court will announce its decision Tuesday; rallies are planned no matter what happens. Get your popcorn ready. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 12:56

tags

Culture: Will Ferrell’s coulda-been performance on the “Idol” finale

  • You know when I first read this song I asked ‘Did Dylan, Taupin and Angelou really write this.’ And they said sort of. And I said what does that mean? And then they ran away. But after five bottles of wine I knew who the real writer of this song was….. the big man himself, God Almighty.
  • The spoken part from a rejected draft of a song Will Ferrell would’ve sung at the “Idol” finale • The song would have been suitably epic, and producers initally agreed to do it, but then they apparently read what Ferrell wanted to do with the song. Our favorite chestnut: “THIS SONG COST NINE POINT EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS/BUT WE COULD NOT FIND A WORD THAT/RYHMES WITH MOUTH” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 12:47

tags

Sports: Chauncey BIllups: Off Kobe’s back, into my hands, nothing but net

  • Billups apparently has been practicing his underhanded playground basketball techniques lately. Because Kobe didn’t see this one coming at all.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 May 2009 12:32

tags

Biz, U.S.: Warranty expired: A massive telemarketing scam, uprooted

  • In case you’ve ever gotten an automated call from a telemarketer telling you that your vehicle warranty is about to expire (even when it wasn’t), it’s a scam, one that the Federal Trade Commission shut down last week. source
  • This was a big one. 30,000 complaints were received by the FTC. The Florida companies apparently called tens of millions of people a week. And it was completely an attempt to bilk customers out of money. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 12:09

tags

Music: Pitchfork goes against the critical tide on Green Day

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 11:43

tags

Culture, Politics: Clay Aiken gets the gloves out in “American Idol” criticism

  • The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were ‘real’ people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.
  • “American Idol” Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken • On the slow decline, in his opinion, of the show. Aiken suggests that Kris Allen’s surprise victory wasn’t all that surprising, because Adam Lambert (who he called “contrived”) seemed to already know it all and fans are looking for “real” people to win. More damning for the show: Aiken, one of the shows earliest breakout stars, only watches once a season now, and then just to see how the sets have changed. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>