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28 Oct 2009 22:25

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Politics: Visual aid: The end effect of Reality TV and the hunt for fame

wemadeitbabay It's all a fight to get on TV. Even Kate Gosselin, who looks like the saint in the Jon & Kate situation, is trying to extend her fifteen seconds to half an hour. But considering the end effect, is it really worth it? (Illustration by Shawn Vulliez)
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28 Oct 2009 22:02

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U.S.: Good job not fixing that San Francisco Bay Bridge right, guys

  • 270,000 commuters were screwed over source
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28 Oct 2009 21:51

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Politics: Calling the Fox News black: Shepard Smith chides lack of balance

  • Wow, Fox News reporter Shannon Bream comes off like an uber-snippy something-or-other in this clip, where Shepard Smith notes that Bream made no effort to cover the Democratic side of the New Jersey governor race. Smith – again – comes off like the voice of reason. source
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28 Oct 2009 21:24

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U.S.: Obama signs a hate-crimes bill eleven years in the making

  • Through this law, we will strengthen the protections against crimes based on the color of your skin, the faith in your heart, or the place of your birth. We will finally add federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.
  • President Barack Obama • On signing a hate-crimes bill that, for the first time, protects people based on their sexual orientation. The bill is something that’s been fought for since the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. (who was black) and beating death of Matthew Shepard (who was gay) shined light on the issue in 1998. Critics of the bill say it just adds further regulations to a highly-regulated process. • source
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28 Oct 2009 20:31

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Tech: Google’s on a tear today thanks to Android and the Motorola Droid

  • $199 the cost of Motorola’s new Droid phone, which uses the Android 2.0 software officially launched today
  • -20% the drop in stock price for TomTom, whose GPS navigation software was just made obsolete by Android 2.0 source
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28 Oct 2009 20:20

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Tech: Thanks to Google, Lala’s founders probably have this song on repeat

Celebrate good times, come on! Google just decentralized the whole music industry, and Lala is going to be the big winner. We heard rumblings of a Google-search-based music service last week, but now it's official, and boy, does it make walled gardens look silly. Other services (like MySpace's iLike) will get the nod too, but Lala will be the biggest beneficiary of the service, which will allow full-song samples to play from doing a search for either a song or (this is pretty cool) a lyric. Watch out, Apple and Amazon. source
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28 Oct 2009 20:05

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World: The UN’s Secretary General condemns “shameless” Taliban killings

  • We stand by the people of Afghanistan today, and we will do so tomorrow.
  • United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon • Reassuring the people of Afghanistan that the UN will be there even after an attack on UN personnel by the Taliban today. The attack, which killed five and injured nine, was the deadliest attack on UN workers since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. • source
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28 Oct 2009 19:55

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U.S., World: Pakistan has lots of American help to topple the Taliban

  • 150 people the number of American Special Forces soldiers and support personnel are helping Pakistan – a number that’s doubled in the last eight months
  • $1.5 billion has been given to Pakisan by the U.S. this year – a number the country is trying to keep under wraps due to strong anti-American sentiment in the region source
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28 Oct 2009 11:24

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U.S.: Daily poll: Is the public option ultimately a dead end?

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28 Oct 2009 11:17

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World: The UN’s trying to look into Zimbabwe torture allegations. It can’t.

  • Recent allegations that MDC supporters and human rights defenders have been arrested, harassed and intimidated during the past few days, highlight the urgency of objective fact-finding by an independent UN expert.
  • The United Nations • In a statement on the inability of its investigator on torture, Manfred Nowak, to enter the country. This is bad for multiple reasons, but worst of all is that the power-sharing government that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party was to have with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party has failed. Word on the street is that Mugabe’s party may be engaged in violence. If this is true, it’s sad for Tsvangirai, who has fought tooth and nail for Zimbabwe’s people despite Mugabe’s resistance. • source
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