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18 Oct 2009 23:23

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Politics: Max Headroom: More on the White House’s war against Fox News

  • “Chicago-style”? On Fox News, Bush-era White House strategist Karl Rove suggests that the Obama administration is carrying around an enemies list and is full of Chicago-style politicians. Is that kinda like Chicago-style pizza, Karl? That sounds tasty.

  • Axelrod’s grinding axWhite House strategist David Axelrod continues Anita Dunn’s strategy of trashing on the news value of Fox News. We think that this strategy has a lot of holes in it. And it’s making Rupert Murdoch more money.

  • Insuring criticismRepublican senator John Kyl may regret saying this. When tackling the Afghan war versus the cost of health care on “Meet the Press,” he says that the uninsured won’t die from the lack of insurance. Yeah man, whatever.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 21:29

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Tech: Dear Wolfram Alpha: Nobody’s gonna buy your iPhone app

  • $1.99 the amount we could see ourselves paying for a Wolfram Alpha iPhone app
  • $49.99 the amount Wolfram Alpha is charging for their iPhone app; umm, what? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 21:15

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Culture: Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” killed at the box office

  • $32.5 million in “Wild Things” making hearts sing source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 21:05

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World: Iran and Pakistan have some suicide bomb-related drama going on

  • We were informed that some security agents in Pakistan are co-operating with the main elements of this terrorist incident. We regard it as our right to demand these criminals from them.
  • Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Making a stand against the Pakistani elements that he says played a part in a suicide bombing that killed 35 people. While it’s possible that Ahmadinejad may be right about this, another Iranian leader claimed that the U.S. was involved, too – which, by the way, the U.S. denies. Which makes us think we need to take his claim with a grain of salt. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 20:24

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Politics: A few big lessons to take from the “Balloon Boy” hoax



As media addicts, we've been watching "Balloon Boy" closely. Not because this story is necessarily a particularly important saga in the grand scheme of things. But culturally, it could be a turning point for how we handle trash culture. Gawker deftly touched on this today, and here are some thoughts of our own:
  • Fame is addictive Despite his obvious failures as a human being, Richard Heene started from a common place – he had an interesting life, someone recognized him for it and put him on TV, and he wanted more. He has lots in common with Real World/Road Rules Challenge contestants in that regard. Heene’s problem is that, in his quest for fame, he became too desperate and manipulative. Not cool, dude.
  • Culture hackers winAfter the Heene family is punished for their actions, they’re probably going to get exactly what they wanted out of it. They’ve already been paid once for an interview. Richard might get a book deal. When Falcon’s old and screwed up like the rest of us, you know he’s going on Larry King again (if Larry’s still alive). Don’t believe us? Look at Rod Blagojevich’s recent career. Cheaters win. Kinda.
  • The media eats itselfWhy do stories like this get to stick around? Easy. Our popular culture is a series of loops that lock into each other. Something happens on TV, and it gets blogged about 600 times. Something gets blogged about 600 times, and it ends up on Twitter. And then it might end up on TV. While to some degree we enjoy it, we don’t know how to make it stop. Does anyone feel manipulated? We do.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 12:20

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Politics: Daily Poll: The White House vs. Fox News – is it worth fighting?

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 12:09

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Biz: Protip: Go to CVS with a reusable bag and save some money

  • 25¢ off your purchase every time you reuse a bag at CVS
  • 99¢ to enroll in the program, but it stil sounds like a nice deal source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Oct 2009 12:04

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Offbeat: This guy’s a little too drunk to be getting more beer

  • If we were ever this drunk, one of you would tell us to stop, right? This guy has to hold his drunk self up by the door handle of the cooler where the beer’s at.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 11:29

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World: Kidnapped New York Times reporter David Rohde tells his story

  • I thought of my wife and family and was overcome with shame. An interview that seemed crucial hours earlier now seemed absurd and reckless.
  • New York Times reporter David S. Rohde • Describing the situation that led to his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan last year. Rohde, investigative journalist he is, is writing in-depth about his experience this week for the Times. You might remember the incident as the one Wikipedia hid on purpose to avoid it leaking to the mainstream media. Rohde’s story will be spilling onto the site all week. Block off some time to read it – it’s not often a reporter returns from such circumstances largely unharmed. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2009 11:09

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World: Pakistan’s anti-terrorist battle leads to large Taliban losses

  • 60 Taliban militants were killed in the assault yesterday
  • five Pakistani soldiers were killed; civilians weren’t targeted source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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