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11 Jul 2009 17:35

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Politics: More penny math, this time on Obama’s health care plan

  • OK, another interesting animation, but we wonder: Is this guy fiscally conservative? He doesn’t mention a political persuasion in any of his videos but they mostly seem to be anti-Obama. For our curiosity, we just want to know whether they’re pushing an agenda. No matter which way you lean, keep making them. They’re good. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 17:28

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U.S., World: Obama to G8 summit: Help out the hungry! G8 summit: OK!

  • $20 billion to help the hungry, after Obama’s pleas source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 17:00

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Music: Our Saturday Mixtape gives into our mopey strummer addiction

  • 1. Before Paul Simon got countermelodies and drum backing, he was a busker in England who happened to find himself in a recording studio, doing lo-fi versions of songs that everyone now knows by heart, such as this ragged version of “Kathy’s Song.”
    2. Jandek will never be as successful as Jeff Tweedy. He spent three decades hiding from the world, releasing rickety avant-strangeness and getting mentioned in the same sentences as Roky Erickson and The Shaggs, only to finally play in public in the last couple of years. Jeff Tweedy, whose band’s most recent album debuted in the Billboard 200’s top five, does us a favor and makes “Crack a Smile” pretty and palatable.
    3. After posting about Leonard Cohen yesterday, it got us to thinking – which song of his would never get covered on “American Idol”? “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” fits the bill: It’s pretty, but about sordid hotel room encounters with famous singers like Janis Joplin.
    4. You can’t have a list of mopey strummers without Elliott Smith. You just can’t. His early albums use their lo-fi setting to focus directly on the darkness in the words. “Condor Ave.,” off “Roman Candle,” set Smith’s template.
    5. The Tallest Man on Earth pretty much kills this song. The Swede wails at his guitar, putting everything he has into being the best Bob Dylan acolyte he can, and gets closer than most, especially on “This Wind.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 13:07

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Politics, U.S.: Obama sez give the stimulus plan time to do its thing

  • It takes time to get out of the woods, sez the prez. Barack Obama is facing newfound criticism of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan in the wake of higher unemployment. His plan? No reversals. No second stimulus. Stay the course. “We must let it work the way it’s supposed to,” he says, “with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity.” So yeah. No extra $$$, no appeasing the Republicans. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 12:30

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Culture, Tech: Greg Grunberg: “Heroes” star, Yowza iPhone app maven

  • At the beginning it was a tough chicken and egg situation. Where I was calling and saying ‘Hi it’s Greg Grunberg, star of NBC’s Heroes, can I talk to the head of marketing please,’ and I would get them on the phone.
  • Greg Grunberg • On his pretty solid side career producing the Yowza iPhone app, a GPS-aware coupon-referring program that has become a hit. He claims that he’s always been a bit of an entrepreneur and that it’s a solid backup plan just in case he gets killed off on “Heroes” someday. (Not that he should have a problem with that, because his character can read people’s thoughts.) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 11:49

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Tech: Image-uploading web sites like Imageshack are serious business

imageshackhack0711
  • Well … that’s a pretty notable hack. These guys hacked a site that millions of people use to tell the world that security exploits need to not be openly talked about – the hacking equivalent of snitches. Most of us don’t care, but probably should more. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 11:33

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Biz: You should probably refer to some media moguls as “Grandpa”

  • 86 age of Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone
  • 78 age of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Jul 2009 11:16

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Biz: The media mogul: A soon-to-be-extinct species?

  • I don’t think you’re going to have those anymore. Bigness isn’t that great an asset anymore.
  • Tom Freston • A former Viacom Chief Executive, on media moguls who built their bread a generation ago, but could be outshone by companies like Twitter and Facebook. The two groups were major parts of a conference this week in Sun Valley, Idaho. The advantage that Twitter and Facebook have is that they’re relatively small. The disadvantage that media giants have is that they tend to want to consolidate too much – see the messy marriage of AOL Time Warner if you need a specific example.  • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 11:02

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Sports: Jonathan Sanchez got thisclose to a perfect game last night

Unfortunately, Juan Uribe screwed up in the 8th inning, forcing the San Francisco Giant to settle for a mere no-hitter. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2009 10:46

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World: Don’t believe this Xinjiang riots death toll number

  • 184 have reportedly died, but that number may be way off source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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