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24 Aug 2009 23:33

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Politics, U.S.: Poll: Do you guys care about town hall protests anymore?

  • The video
  • About the videoThis is a great example of a town hall protest: This Marine vet, David William Hedrick, attacks Congressman Brian Baird. During the speech, he compares Nancy Pelosi to a Nazi wearing an S.S. armband. The guy’s very proud of his statement, and says so in the video’s description. We feel like we saw a video like this, with similar arguments, weeks ago.
  • Why the poll?The video got us to thinking. We can’t be alone in thinking that maybe this card has been a bit overplayed. It seems like, instead of pushing forth the Democratic process, so many people are doing this that it’s reached a saturation point. Whether it’s organic or astroturfing, it’s been getting play for weeks. Are we wrong? Are we right? Let us know. Vote.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 22:51

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Tech: Yahoo: Screw it, might as well make our search super-simple

See a trend? Just like the competition, Yahoo’s search page now has almost nothing on it. They revamped lots of other stuff, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 22:43

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Music: Will Ferrell ≠ Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith

  • Don’t tell that to Chad Smith’s unwitting fans, though. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are arguably as famous, if not moreso, than Will Ferrell. But drum-pounder Chad Smith still suffers from mistaken identity. “I’m nice to these people,” Smith says. “(I say) ‘No, I’m not.’ But they’re like, ‘I loved you in Old School. You’re so funny.'” We suggest that Smith get a more distinct persona, like Flea. Now that guy you wouldn’t mistake for a movie star. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 22:35

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Culture: Ryan Jenkins protected by a female friend before his death

The friend helped him get the seedy hotel room where he killed himself but the police don’t consider her a threat. (On a side note; WTF is up with the watermarking, TMZ?) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 22:24

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Politics: A prescription for what ails Obama: A move to the right?

  • For months polls have shown a huge gap between the popularity of the president and the unpopularity of his policies. Sooner or later, one of these had to give.
  • Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn • Discussing Obama’s health care policy in the wake of his declining poll numbers. McGurn says that by letting go of the fight, Obama will strengthen his position as president – just like Bill Clinton did in 1994. Regarding Clinton, McGurn notes: “Though he continues to deny GOP contributions to his success, after his 1994 health-care defeat, Mr. Clinton did what all smart pols do: He appropriated the most appealing parts of his opponents’ agenda.” Our counterpoint: If Obama does that and loses the battle, we all lose health care reform. One would argue that if Obama actually pulls it off. his legacy will be even greater. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 22:00

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U.S.: This swine flu number should scare the bejesus out of you

  • 90,000 swine flu deaths predicted this fall source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 21:21

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Biz: Cricket legend R. Allen Stanford has to stay in jail, guys

Oh, beyond playing cricket in Antigua, he supposedly defrauded investors out of billions in a fraudulent ponzi scheme. That’s why he’s in jail. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Aug 2009 21:09

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Tech: Jakob Nielsen, usability’s stickler, makes the perfect Tweet

  • LAS VEGAS (October) and BERLIN (November): venues for our biggest usability conference ever http://bit.ly/UsabilityWeek
  • The Perfect Tweet • So designed by five rounds of Jakob Nielsen and his usability nerds. With this tweet, Nielsen considered everything: Wording, timing, the capitalization of letters, the number of characters, the visual impact of the line of text, the use of a bit.ly URL, and so on. We think he’s crazy and needs to throw in some hashtags. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 21:01

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Biz, U.S.: Cash for Clunkers deadline extended. Here’s a monster truck video.

  • Car dealers have until noon tomorrow to get all that paperwork in, thanks to server problems on the government’s end. Which is the not-fun part of the Cash for Clunkers program. Above? The fun part. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2009 20:41

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Culture: Does “Inglourious Basterds” play too fast and loose with WWII?

  • The great, sick joke of the film’s grindhouse logic is that even though what it shows us didn’t happen, in a larger, almost abstract sense it did happen. (I mean, it’s not as if the Nazi high command, in the end, wasn’t destroyed.)
  • Entertainment Weekly film reviewer Owen Gleiberman • Discussing the possibility that Quentin Tarantino’s latest film might be the birth of a backlash. He notes that one of his reviewer friends found the end of the movie to be extremely offensive. Glieberman’s unnamed friend “thought Tarantino had stepped over a line of historical veracity, and that audiences, especially younger ones, might be led by Inglourious Basterds to embrace the idea that World War II was just another meaningless pulp fantasy.” Our thought? Tarantino’s only doing what his inspirations did – play fast and loose with history for entertainment’s sake. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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