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26 Jan 2010 20:41

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Politics: James O’Keefe: Do conservative news sites have credibility issues?

  • Too often, conservative sites have failed to distinguish between solid scoops and feverish conspiracy theories, between methodical reporting and harassment, thereby damaging their credibility.
  • Daily Beast columnist Benjamin Sarlin • Regarding the James O’Keefe arrest in the grander scheme of things. Which is to say that many conservative Web sites excel at opinion but completely fail at credible reporting. O’Keefe’s take on gonzo journalism is interesting, but definitely not ethical. And other conservative Web icons – including Powerline (which broke the Rathergate saga) and Michelle Malkin – have had shining moments but inconsistent results. BigGovernment.com, which paid O’Keefe, may now be headed down that road. Sarlin gives credit to Tucker Carlson of the just-launched Daily Caller for trying to raise the standards to the likes of The Huffington Post. Will it work? We’ll see. source

26 Jan 2010 20:25

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26 Jan 2010 20:21

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U.S.: ACORN pest James O’Keefe flies too close to the sun, gets burned

  • He can now be mentioned in the same sentence as Watergate! James O’Keefe, the conservative activist previously best-known for destroying ACORN’s dignity (and working for BigGovernment.com), was arrested for trying to break into Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office, along with three others. They were pretending to work with the phone company, which is some serious LOLz and a lot less creative than the pimp/ho getup they used with ACORN. A lot of people have felt schadenfreude in reaction to all this, not the least of which ACORN itself. We just think it’s proof that Tom Green-style tactics like this don’t work in politics. source

26 Jan 2010 10:43

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Offbeat: In Japan, cats attack giant bears and win. Awesome!

  • We know that we post a lot of cat videos, but most of them don’t offer the awesome sight of a bear getting shamed by a freaking cat. See that? That’s bear shame. In Japanese. With Japanese captions which we won’t bother translating.

26 Jan 2010 10:34

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Music: Pitchfork throws out a make-them-famous rating for Beach House

26 Jan 2010 10:28

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Culture: Tilda Swinton to Conan O’Brien: Come act with me, doppelganger!

  • What I really would love to do is get him to do some of the things I get to do. It would be nice if he were here at Sundance maybe, wearing this coat, talking about I Am Love. And why not? Every girl should have a doppelganger.
  • Tilda Swinton • Regarding the possibility of playing Conan O’Brien in a late-night-related movie. This is freaking awesome for a lot of reasons. Swinton looks just like a female Conan and she’s an Oscar-winning actress. And on his last episode, Conan suggested – jokingly – that Swinton would be the perfect actress to play him. Let this actually happen, gods of awesome. And could Bob Hoskins play Jay Leno please? source

26 Jan 2010 10:18

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Music: Wu-Tang + The Beatles = Surprisingly palatable, awesome

  • Five years after “The Grey Album” put Danger Mouse on the map, a gimmick like The Beatles mashed with the Wu-Tang Clan should seem old hat, but somehow it doesn’t. “Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers” benefits from a clever mix and a great title. source
 

26 Jan 2010 10:07

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Biz: 100-calorie packs: Way too overloaded with packaging?

In an effort to encourage healthier eating, food packaging has gotten increasingly complex. This stuff doesn’t go away on its own, guys. source

26 Jan 2010 09:56

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U.S.: The ’10 federal deficit: Still huge, but at least it’s sloping downward

  • $1.4T the size of the deficit in 2009; that’s a record
  • $1.3T the estimated size of the deficit in 2010
  • $687B the size of the deficit by year 2020 source

26 Jan 2010 09:47

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Culture: Tim Tebow: Nearly aborted, now famous. We just saved you $2.5M

  • By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers.
  • A statement by the Women’s Media Center • Regarding a planned Focus on the Family Super Bowl commercial featuring former University of Florida (and future NFL) star Tim Tebow. The commercial notes that Tebow was nearly aborted for medical reasons (his mom, Pam, refused), and since he was born, ta-dah!, now he’s one of the biggest college football stars in history. The commercial, obviously expensive, has the potential of being seen by a huge audience. It’s already hugely controversial. source