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

23 Aug 2009 10:47

tags

Sports: Why Steve Nash is listed as executive producer of “Shaq Vs.”

  • Soon after Shaq joins the Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash tells the team his idea for a show – a reality show where he’d take on athletes from other sports. source
  • Early into Shaq’s second season with the team, he announces that he’s going to create a similar show. Steve Nash gets pissed and tensions quickly rise. source
  • Now it’s August. Shaq’s been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The show sucks. But at the end, Steve Nash is listed as executive producer. LOL. source

23 Aug 2009 00:35

tags

U.S.: Many people like President Obama, but think his decisions suck

  • 57% approve of President Obama source

23 Aug 2009 00:00

tags

Biz, U.S.: Get out the violins for the super-rich. They’re suffering badly.

  • 24% decrease in people with $30+ million in net worth source

22 Aug 2009 19:38

tags

Music: Our Saturday Mixtape peers back into some of 2000’s best tunes



A word of warning: This is not a top songs of the year list for us. Rather, these are five good songs from 2000 that are worth your time. And yes, we plan on doing this with every year of the decade over the next few months. Agree with these choices? Disagree? Debate here.

  • 1. Elliott Smith’s later period is one highly debated by fans. He went big around the time of “XO” and went even bigger around the time of 2000’s “Figure 8.” For some fans, this made the album a bit of a wash, but the single, “Son of Sam,” still holds strong nearly a decade later.
    2. It’s easy to forget, but The Mars Volta started from the split of the At the Drive-In, a band which did more to justify Thursday’s existence than it did The Mars Volta. A precursor to screamo, “One-Armed Scissor” is far less embarrassing than that descripiton sounds.
    3. What a shame. Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump” is a great album best known as the answer to a trivia question. The question: “What album was Jason Lee’s son, Pilot Inspektor, named for?” A damn shame for a great album. “Jed the Humanoid” is a definite highlight for sure.
    4. Yo La Tengo will likely never break out of its cult audience, but they make great musical arguments why they should. “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” is one of the band’s peaks, and “You Can Have it All” is a quiet triumph.
    5. For us, hearing Radiohead’s “Nude” on 2007’s “In Rainbows” gave “Motion Picture Soundtrack” context. Many superfans were spoiled by a spare acoustic version of the song that made the “Kid A” version seem overly grand. But in the context of “Nude,” you see exactly what the band was going for. Worth revisiting for sure.source

22 Aug 2009 18:17

tags

Culture: That VH1/Ryan Jenkins mess sounds messier by the day

  • Detectives were unable to use dental records or fingerprints, as her teeth and fingers had been removed. But they tracked the number of her implants.
  • A description from a BBC article • On the death of model Jasmine Fiore, who VH1 reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins is accused of murdering. They had to figure out her identity based on her breast implants! Yuck! The nature of this murder sounds brutal and awful in just about every way. • source

22 Aug 2009 18:01

tags

U.S.: Lutherans split over same-sex leaders in the church

Evangelical Lutherans at a gay rights parade
  • The decision Yesterday, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted in favor of letting gay members of the church in same-sex relationships become leaders – a decision likely to cause division among members. source
  • The decision Yesterday, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted in favor of letting gay members of the church in same-sex relationships become leaders – a decision likely to cause division among members.
  • The reason The decision appears to emphasize a change in the cultural tide. The Rev. Stanley Olson, an ECLA leader, explained that the church is “committed to having the kind of leaders who will serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” source
  • The decision Yesterday, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted in favor of letting gay members of the church in same-sex relationships become leaders – a decision likely to cause division among members.
  • The reason The decision appears to emphasize a change in the cultural tide. The Rev. Stanley Olson, an ECLA leader, explained that the church is “committed to having the kind of leaders who will serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
  • Factions build Not every congregation is happy with this decision, and some of those conservative churches have created an organization called Lutheran CORE, which threatens to take financial support away from the denomination. source

22 Aug 2009 17:25

tags

Biz, U.S.: Clunker owners descend upon auto dealers in a last-minute rush

  • Because waiting until the last second always works out. After the announcement of the end of the Cash for Clunkers program on Monday, this weekend was destined to be a busy weekend for dealers, both from a purchasing and paperwork angle. While the program doesn’t end until Monday, many dealers were ending the program today to deal with the continued paperwork bottleneck the program itself is facing. “It’s the paperwork that’s the biggest pain in the neck,” said Neil Krieger, a Jim Ellis auto salesman based in the Atlanta area. source
 

22 Aug 2009 17:10

tags

U.S., World: FBI Director Robert S. Mueller calls out the Scottish government

  • Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law.
  • FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III • In a letter to Scottish Minister Kenny MacAskill, who allowed the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. In the letter, Mueller mocks the reason given, “compassion,” and notes that many victims were still angry in the wake of the attack. While Megrhai had an appeal going proclaiming his innocence, the appeal was dropped in a desire to let him free. • source

22 Aug 2009 12:18

tags

U.S.: Did Obama’s appeal to nontraditional voters get him into office?

Obama vote infographic
  • Good Magazine crunched up some numbers and compared different states’ voter turnout to see whether the groups Obama appealed to the most – black voters and young voters – really had an effect on voter turnout. From the looks of things, it may have been an election lost by McCain rather than the other way around. The biggest decrease in votes from 2004 to 2008 was in McCain’s home state. Thanks to Good Magazine for the tip.source

22 Aug 2009 12:05

tags

U.S.: Just in time for three weeks ago, Obama takes on health care lies

  • Today, I want to spend a few minutes debunking some of the more outrageous myths circulating on the Internet, on cable TV, and repeated at some town halls across this country.
  • President Barack Obama • In his weekly radio/Interweb address. In the address he tackled whether illegal immigrants would get health care (no way, Jose), whether abortions would be covered (nope) and those so called “death panels” (lies, lies, and more lies). It’s good to see Obama taking these attacks head on, but where was he when the attacks were actually being made? Now he’s just late to the party. • source