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19 Oct 2009 23:20

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Politics: Our world is full of godless heathens. Let’s be honest about it.

“A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?” What a question. It begs you to respond. An anonymous donor with a lot of money and an inquisitive spirit has a pretty good question to ask New York subway-dwellers starting next week. And it's one bound to attract (depending on your corner) curiosity, debate, criticism or anger. But we say it's a good time to ask. Here's why:
  • At a turning point We’re closer to being a godless society than at any point in our world’s history. The thing is, though, it’s largely not recognized. Millions of people float around without going to any kind of church or actively thinking of religion. We may as well recognize it and talk about it, the heathens we are.
  • Why should we talk? Simple: It’s happening. And it’s not something that discounts anyone else who is religious or has a strong sense of faith in their lives. But the anonymous donor who wrote this clever ad is way closer to being right than many religious conservatives might like to admit. Let’s be straight-up about it.
  • Is this a good thing?Honestly, we’re not sure if this is even going to last. There’s a lot of reasons why religion is great on a purely practical scale – the building of community, for example. But on the other hand, religon often breeds intolerance and tolerance at equal levels. What do you guys think? We’re wondering. source

19 Oct 2009 22:46

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Biz: The New York Times, the nation’s biggest newsroom, is shrinking

  • 1,250 people work in the New York Times newsroom, including a reporter with a number for her middle name
  • 100 fewer workers will be there by the end of the year, mostly through buyouts, or scary layoffs source

19 Oct 2009 22:36

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Culture: “Jeopardy” fail: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar airballs easy question

  • Kareem is so convinced that he’s the answer to the question that it takes him a few seconds to realize he answered “Who is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?” when the question was really “Who is Bill Walton?” Dude needs to learn his NBA history.

19 Oct 2009 22:26

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World: The White House is cautiously optimistic on an Afghan runoff

  • There are any number of cliches you could choose from, but we’ll wait until the chickens are hatched.
  • A senior administration official • Discussing the White House’s happiness that there’s been a breakthrough in getting Afghan president Hamid Karzai to agree to a runoff, though there’s been no definitive agreement yet. Karzai had been fighting the idea of a runoff despite the fact that the UN found that many of the votes in his favor had been falsified. You still have a minor shot, Abdullah Abdullah! • source

19 Oct 2009 21:15

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Tech: “Oh lord.” Twitter’s gotten through five billion tweets.

  • @robinsloan smelt it, so we’re pretty sure he dealt it. Twitter is like McDonald’s. So many tweets get made nowadays that you’re surprised someone is counting. But someone is counting, and that guy (Robin Sloan, formerly of Current Media) noticed that he managed to get tweet number five billion today. Does he win a prize? If not, he should. source

19 Oct 2009 20:55

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Tech: Now that the PS3 doesn’t cost a month’s rent, people are buying it

  • three years amount of time Sony’s costly PS3 has been on the market; the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii routinely beat its sales numbers
  • $299 (finally) the cost of the PS3 Slim – which allowed Sony to finally win a month in console sales against Nintendo and Microsoft source

19 Oct 2009 20:25

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Culture: All this quote needs is Balloon Boy to cause a world implosion

  • I kind of have a crush on Jon Gosselin. I think he’s hot!
  • Octet Mom Nadya Suleman • Talking about the massive family that replaced her as the tabloid topic du jour this year. She had advice for Kate too, but who cares? We’re just scared of the idea of this woman procreating with that man. Wonder where one buys a house that holds 22 kids. • source
 

19 Oct 2009 20:18

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Biz, Tech: After a killer profit report, Apple’s stock is on a tear

  • Somehow, Apple outdid themselves again. More people than ever are buying Macs, with sales up 17 percent from a year ago. And the stock, as you can see, is reacting positively to the fact that the company has $1.67 billion in profits this quarter. It hit a record high today. The cult of Steve is stronger than ever. source

19 Oct 2009 20:08

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U.S., World: Spies! Israel! Scientists! Moon water! Stings! Arrests! Secrets!

  • We needed a feel-good story to make us forget about Balloon Boy. Thanks to 52-year-old Stewart Nozette, we have it. Nozette, a top U.S. scientist who found that there was a polar icecap on the moon, was arrested today for attempting to sell state secrets to who he thought was the Israelis, but was really the FBI. We hope he got what he wanted out of this – he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. source

19 Oct 2009 10:37

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U.S.: Daily Poll: Toking on Obama’s lax medical marijuana policy

  • The Obama administration does not plan to go after medical marijuana users not breaking state laws. This is a big deal for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Tommy Chong could probably restart his mail-order bong business. It’s a big reversal from the Bush administration. But is it what the country needed? Vote above. source