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07 Aug 2009 16:15

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U.S.: A Kennedy and Shriver family matriarch is on her deathbed

  • She’s Ted’s sister. She’s Ahnold’s mother-in-law. 88-year-old Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics and a woman who’s probably had a more interesting and indirectly influential life that the rest of us, is currently in critical but stable condition in a Cape Cod, Mass. hospital. Her entire family is at her side, including California’s first family (which includes her daughter Maria). More details as we get them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 12:31

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Tech, World: To silence ONE GUY, Russia had to take down Twitter

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  • The lack of logic and high level of selfishness here (on Russia’s part) is atrocious. Russian authorities tried to silence Cyxymu, a.k.a. “George,” for his stance on the Georgia conflict. (The timing was political.) But instead, Russia tried to shut down every major social network, causing the guy they wanted to silence to have an even bigger voice. Genius, Russia. Just genius.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 12:18

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Culture: “Inglorious Basterds” gives a glorious welcome to Eli Roth’s parents

  • So my parents were there with Hitler singing ‘Happy Birthday,’ watching their son do his Nazi propaganda movie.
  • Director/actor Eli Roth (who is Jewish by the way) • On the surreal experience of convincing his parents to visit Berlin – breaking a vow they made to never visit the city – to see him make “Inglorious Basterds.” Director Quentin Tarantino had his 300 characters, dressed as Nazis, sing for Roth’s parents as if it was their birthday (it wasn’t). This actually amused the heck out of them – they spent the day getting charmed by Tarantino. Man, we need to try harder. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 12:08

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Offbeat: Protip from Brazil: Pee in the shower. It saves money.

  • There’s a great PSA for this. We’re going to link it, though. Brazil wants people to save water. What do the suggest? Peeing in the shower! Of course! Why didn’t we think of this before? The animated video, funny but just crossing over that line into wrong, suggests that members of the entire family do it. It also shows all sorts of other people doing it – basketball players, Ghandi, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen Hawking – and if the idea of having dozens of people urinating all over our Web site didn’t disturb us, we’d embed it here. Instead, you need to click the link. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 11:41

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U.S.: Detroit’s worthy of two plays spoofing its political misfortune

  • This is priceless stuff. I wasn’t really planning to do a second one but the material was there.
  • Playwright Marc Warzecha • On creating “Kwame a River 2: The Wrath of Conyers,” the sequel to his spoof of shamed former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The first play was a huge hit, running for seven months when it was originally supposed to run for three. Regarding the subject matter mixed in with the downright atrocious state of the city, he says “I hope that it’s cathartic in a way, that all of us can come together for a while and just laugh at all this stuff.”  • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 11:19

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Music: Expect mumbling: Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album

  • He’s Bob Dylan. He can do whatever he wants. The greatest folksinger that ever lived is currently holed up in Jackson Browne’s recording studio putting together what’s sure to be the most bizarre Christmas album ever. Four songs are already done: “Must Be Santa,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Now … not that we don’t think this news is awesome (we do), but who would’ve expected this from Bob Dylan? Definitely not us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 11:03

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Offbeat: Here’s a wonderful text-based toy for you to play with

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  • Your World Of Text is just a giant text box that anyone can edit. And it’s awesome. You should play with it for a couple of hours.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Aug 2009 10:56

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U.S., World: Laura Ling and Euna Lee barely even crossed into North Korea

  • 30 seconds in North Korea led to a world of hurt for the journos source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 10:30

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Music: Rapper homophobia evolves into “no homo” boasts on records

  • This is still a concession to homophobia, but one that enables a less rigid definition of the hip-hop self than we’ve seen before. It’s far from a coup, but, in a way, it’s progress.
  • Slate columnist Jonah Weiner • Who’s obviously thought way too hard about the role of homophobia in hip-hop. While it’s always been there, the latest mutation, the use of the phrase “no homo,” seems to at least offer a degree of wiggle room. “No homo tweaks this dynamic because it allows, implicitly,” he says, “that rap is a place where gayness can in fact be expressed by the guy on the mic, not just scorned in others.” Cam’ron, Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West (who has made statements denouncing homophobia) have all spouted the phrase on record. Is it really a turning point? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 10:02

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Biz, U.S.: More proof the economy’s improving: Even AIG made a profit

  • $1.8 billion amount the company made last quarter after seeing the light at the end of the tunnel source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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