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

16 Aug 2009 23:29

tags

Culture: Are you a fan of Sesame Street? You’ll freaking love this.

101 Muppets of Sesame Street
  • There’s a lot of characters here, most of which we’ve never seen before, but all of them incredibly awesome. We’re suckers for deep, interesting Flash infographics like this one, and you should be too. Most unsung popular character here? Grover. Duh. source

16 Aug 2009 23:04

tags

Sports: Stephon Marbury: Eh, I’m not signed. Guess I’ll smoke pot

  • I’m not under contract … I smoke weed occasionally. … I’m not driving … I’m following the rules.
  • Former New York Knick Stephon Marbury • Discussing (on camera because he’s an idiot) how he’s keeping on the straight and narrow now that he’s an unsigned NBA player. Marbury’s reputation took a tumble after he stunk up the room and angered his teammates as a Knick, and other teams are wary of signing him due to this rep. We’re sure the admission, no matter how noble, won’t help his chances. • source

16 Aug 2009 22:39

tags

U.S.: BART decides not to strike; Lisa still holding out for more

  • Bay Area, your commutes are safe once again! After some last-minute wheeling and dealing between negotiators, one of the largest mass-transit systems in the country, BART, has a deal with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, meaning its 865 (or so) workers won’t strike and BART’s 300,000 riders can go another day without riding in a car if they so choose. If the agreement wasn’t made, they would have gone on strike tomorrow. source

16 Aug 2009 22:20

tags

Politics: Max Headroom: Sick of talking about health care yet?

  • Not so public Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary, spent her morning trying to explain to John King how the single-payer public option wasn’t needed to reform health care.

  • AARPing biasedFox News stacked the deck against Obama in this interview with an AARP leader on whether they support his health care plan, prefacing it with a slanted two-minute introduction.

  • Captain obviousUsually-bright journalist David Gregory was on “Meet the Press” this morning analyzing the health care debate, saying it’s gotten away from Obama. No, really bro? Duh. Way to call it, man.

16 Aug 2009 21:45

tags

Offbeat: Here’s the kind of story lede you don’t see everyday

  • A Sprint executive died Friday night when a boulder fell off a Colorado mountain and landed on his car.
  • A report by KMBC • About the death of 45-year-old Thomas Murphy, whose family had a really crappy vacation this weekend. How often do boulders fall onto vehicles, and how often do they kill Sprint executives? Yikes. One of Murphy’s three children was also injured, but the other two (along with Murphy’s wife Jennifer) were unhurt. • source

16 Aug 2009 21:33

tags

Sports: Usain Bolt lives up to his speedy record-breaking name once again

  • 9.58 seconds to run the 100 meters today; not bad, brah source

16 Aug 2009 21:22

tags

Sports: HOLY CRAP! Tiger Woods lost in the final round of a major

  • Y.E. Yang is the first Asian to win a major. The PGA Championship had some pretty impressive final-round fireworks, thanks to the showdown between Woods and Yang, the kind of showdown Woods usually wins by accident. Except he didn’t win this time, breaking his final-round streak. Maybe the media will learn not to be so biased in favor of Woods now that he’s had a year without a major. source
 

16 Aug 2009 20:48

tags

Biz, Tech: Big and evil Comcast wants to be bigger and eviler

  • 2004 Comcast made a $54 billion bid for Disney out of the blue. Everyone laughed at them because it was so unexpected. Their shareholders didn’t like it.
  • 2009 Comcast has spent years saving up massive amounts of cash in their coffers. They’re glancing around. Investors are concerned they may do a repeat. source

16 Aug 2009 20:41

tags

U.S.: Milwaukee proves that pipe beatings are making a comeback

  • That’s what made Milwaukee famous? The mayor of Milwaukee learned last night that doing nice things for people can end up in tears. After chilling at the Wisconsin State Fair, Mayor Tom Barrett heard a woman screaming, and went to help her. Instead, he got beat by a man with a lead pipe. What is this, River City Ransom? Barrett was in stable condition in the hospital, while the 20-year-old who did this to him was arrested. You know, we could use fewer pipe beatings, not more. source

16 Aug 2009 20:25

tags

U.S., World: The quiet hurricane season finally burped this weekend

  • three storms number of tropical storms – Ana, Bill and Claudette – that formed this weekend
  • eleven weeks the amount of time the hurricane season’s been going on so far; it’s running late source