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14 Jan 2010 09:58

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World: Putting photos to places: The Haiti Quake, explained in map form

The destruction in Haiti is nothing short of massive. The New York Times put up a map this morning to explain the context of the tragedy. source
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14 Jan 2010 09:48

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Biz: Retail unexpectedly sucked last month; jobs sucked last week

  • -0.3% decline in retail sales in December; a growth of 0.5% was expected during the holidays
  • +11,000 increase in jobess claims last week; it wasn’t supposed to be quite that high source
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14 Jan 2010 09:36

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U.S., World: Today’s a critical day for recovery from the Haiti quake

  • Recovery crews hope to coordinate today and possibly save lives. With the lingering possibility of 100,000 people dead (according to Felix Augustin, the Haitian consul general to the United Nations), aid groups are trying their best to save whoever they can. “Once we can get communications up so we can tell people where to go, what kind of help they can expect, we’ll be able to better manage the crisis,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who cut short a Pacific trip to help deal with the crisis. source
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14 Jan 2010 09:23

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Culture, Music: Teddy Pendergrass dies: ’70s R&B icon dead at 59

  • That night I saw the coming of a superstar. When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn’t even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic and when he started singing, he just blew them away.
  • Producer Leon Huff • Recalling the first stage performance of Teddy Pendergrass, a huge pop star in the ’70s. Beyond his hits – including solo hits “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Close the Door,” “Turn off the Lights” and “Love TKO,” along with “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” and “I Miss You” as lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – he was known for having an unfortunate car crash in 1982 which left him paralyzed. Despite this, he continued his music career until 2007. He was one of the greats. Losing him at the same time as Jay Reatard is really sad. source
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13 Jan 2010 23:33

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World: Awesome people text the Red Cross to help Haiti, hit milestone

  • $1+ million in donations from texts alone (whoa!) source
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13 Jan 2010 23:15

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Offbeat: Legal male prostitute has way too high of an opinion of himself

  • It’s just the same as when Rosa Parks decided to sit at the front instead of the back. She was proclaiming her rights as a disadvantaged, African-American older woman. And I’m doing the same.
  • Shady Lady Ranch employee “Markus” • On his new job as a “gigolo” (since he doesn’t want to be called a prostitute). Yes, because legal prostitution is exactly the same thing as civil disobedience. Remember right before Parks died, she sued Outkast for naming a song after her? Can we bring her back to life so she can do the same thing to this guy? Because he totally deserves it. source
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13 Jan 2010 23:03

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Tech: Google’s Nexus One is starting to look a little like a debacle

  • sales Despite the massive waves of hype around the phone, it sold just 20,000 units in its first week. That hurts.
  • hype The big problem? It doesn’t have hype. There’s no Droid-like marketing push, which has led to weak sales.
  • reviews The phone has also had some iffy reviews, which have led to a perception that it’s evolutionary, not revolutionary. source
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13 Jan 2010 22:10

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U.S.: Prop 8 trial: No cameras in the courtroom. Thanks, Supreme Court!

  • 5-4 the righties beat the lefties again at the High Court source
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13 Jan 2010 20:29

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World: Everyone’s struggling to give Haiti the help they need

  • The problem is not the materials or the staff, but how to get it into place. The challenge is how to get our people and our resources into Port-au-Prince.
  • Doctors Without Borders emergency management expert Paul McPhun • On the logistical nightmare that is the Haiti earthquake. Many countries are trying to get their gear and people into place, including the U.S. and China. But with a death toll possibly in the hundreds of thousands, this could be really tough even for established countries to tackle. Our fingers are crossed for Haiti. Tightly. Oh yeah, the United States’ special envoy to Haiti is Bill Clinton, and he’s on his A game today. source
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13 Jan 2010 17:01

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Music: RIP Jay Reatard. You were one of the good ones. Peace man.

Dear Gods of indie rock, why did you have to take Jay Reatard? That guy had more good songs than most of those other punk guys have come up with combined. source
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