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15 Nov 2009 11:47

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Politics: Rudy Giuliani knocks White House “over-concern” for 9/11 terrorists

  • Both in substance and reality, the war on terror in their point of view is over. There seems to be an over-concern with the rights of terrorists and a lack of concern with the rights of the public.
  • Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani • on the White House’s decision to try 9/11 terror suspects in New York City instead of elsewhere. Giuliani, of course, was the mayor during 9/11 and the initial recovery, and his words have a lot more heft in this conversation as a result. • source

15 Nov 2009 11:47

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World: Pakistan’s war with the Taliban has wins, losses on both sides

  • 20+ Taliban militants were killed in South Waziristan, Pakistan says
  • one anti-Taliban tribal leader, Malik Sher Zai was also killed today source

15 Nov 2009 11:31

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Politics: McCain staffer e-mails contradict Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue”

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  • In Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue,” the former Vice Presidential candidate says she strongly supported the idea of going on SNL to refute Tina Fey’s spot-on impression of her. But that’s not what this e-mail, obtained by The Huffington Post from McCain staffers, suggests. There are other examples, but it appears “Going Rogue” is getting fact-checked by the press before it’s even out. source

15 Nov 2009 11:17

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U.S.: Snooty pool club accused of racism falling victim to bankruptcy

  • While many will point towards our legal situation and negative media exposure this summer as the reason [we’re going bankrupt], the truth is that the club has struggled to stay out of the red for at least the last decade.
  • Valley Club president John Duesler • Attempting to explain that his suburban Philly pool club’s fall into bankruptcy had nothing to do with the barrage of negative press they got for blocking minority children from swimming in their pool. The club is in debt over $100,000 this year alone – mostly from expenses and legal fees. Oh, and a lot of pretty awful press comparing them to Jim Crow probably doesn’t help either. • source

15 Nov 2009 11:07

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Biz: Bloomberg has a ton of journalists under its belt already

  • 2,200 journalists work for Bloomberg, which was founded by NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg
  • 1,900 journalists work at the Wall Street Journal; 1,200 work at the New York Times source

15 Nov 2009 11:04

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Biz: In a position of strength, Bloomberg grabs for the brass ring

  • We need a broader audience. The history of this company is you do the counterintuitive, countercyclical thing. It’s part of our DNA.
  • Bloomberg president Daniel L. Doctoroff • On his company’s desire to expand into a more general-interest news source. The company is in a good spot to do so. Largely built on business and financial data rather than newspaper subscriptions, it just bought troubled magazine BusinessWeek for the bargain-basement price of $5 million and has a ton of money to throw around. You know, just like founder Michael Bloomberg did when he spent millions of dollars on his recent mayoral campaign even though he didn’t need to. • source

15 Nov 2009 10:46

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Biz: Mommy bloggers or mommy hawkers? Consumerism critics take note

Frito Lay and Nestle have swooned blogger Andrea Deckard over the last year. She says the trips inform readers. Critics say it’s clever marketing. source
 

15 Nov 2009 02:34

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U.S.: Idiot cop pressed the wrong key, sent racist e-mail to coworkers

  • There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let’s see which of you are proud enough to send it on … BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!
  • An e-mail chain letter that got Tennessee State Trooper Brent Gobbel in trouble • But only after he sent it to 787 fellow coworkers. The e-mail espoused a white-pride stance, specifically in regard to police officers. “You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us,” the e-mail reads. “But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member … you call him a racist.” Gobbel intended to send the message to himself in a classic Michael Scott move. • source

15 Nov 2009 02:09

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About: A quick shout-out to our RSS readers: Hey guys!

  • If you didn’t know … … you can read ShortFormBlog’s posts without ever having to visit the site. We have a full-featured RSS feed with hundreds of readers that offers an experience that matches the bite-sized nature of the site. Numbers, photos, quotes, videos and so on show up on the feed. It looks particularly good in Google Reader.
  • On recent issues Over the last few weeks, we’ve had some significant problems with our feed – both under the hood and above the hood. We admittedly worked really hard to get that feed in good shape, so this is frustrating. Please e-mail us if you find any further problems with that or anything else on the site. We appreciate it greatly. source

15 Nov 2009 01:46

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U.S.: Based on record high temperatures, we’re getting hotter

  • 1.14:1 ratio of record high days to record low days in the U.S. during the 1980s; normal
  • 2.04:1 ratio of record high days to record low days in the U.S. during the 2000s; yikes source