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01 Feb 2010 21:48

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Culture: “Avatar” singlehandedly brightens IMAX’s profit picture

  • $33
    million     the amount of money IMAX lost in 2008, one of a series of rough years due to its films mostly being nature documentaries
  • $150
    million     the amount of money “Avatar” has made on IMAX screens alone – they’re headed towards a big profit this year as a result source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 21:38

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Offbeat: Three cheetahs and an antelope sign a peace treaty … for now

  • In a world full of death and destruction, it’s nice to see predator and prey getting along. This antelope somehow got on the good side of three deadly cheetahs, and fortunately, they did it in front of someone with cameras. As a result, we have it encased in amber. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 21:26

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Culture: Tim Tebow’s anti-abortion ad just the start of Tim Tebow Ministries

  • It’s not just stopping abortions. Tebow wants to convert people, like his father does in Muslim areas of the Philippines. Until now, he’s been subtle in his outreach.
  • Slate sports columnist Jason Fagone • Regarding the soon-to-be-infamous Super Bowl commercial he’s doing with Focus on the Family, where he talks about his mom not getting an abortion. What one probably doesn’t know from his time with the Florida Gators is that he comes from an ultraconservative background and his dad is a missionary. In the past, he’s referred to himself as a “missionary who plays football.” He wears bible verses on his face, for chrissakes! So, in other words, it’s quite likely that the dude is going to follow his dad’s footsteps, whether he’s a Ryan Leaf or a Peyton Manning in the NFL. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 21:12

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Politics: The James O’Keefe case getting covered two different ways

  • the left The conservative media is sticking behind the gonzo journalist despite the alleged breaking into Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office. Also, sources like Fox News barely covered the story, in comparison to the much-hyped ACORN videos. source
  • the right The U.S. Attorney who was spearheading the criminal case against O’Keefe just stepped down. Also, O’Keefe sat in jail for 28 hours without an lawyer. Andrew Breitbart says it was to spin the case as a “Watergate Junior.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 20:47

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U.S.: Jesus wouldn’t approve: A cardinal deposed in abuse scandal

  • For five hours last month, Cardinal Roger Mahony answered the questions. The L.A.-based leader of the largest Catholic archdiocese in the U.S. was interviewed as part of a civil trial regarding one of his former priests in a child molestation case. Michael Baker, the priest in question, has been defrocked and is serving ten years in prison. Despite the grilling, Mahony isn’t the target of the investigation, authorities say. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 20:40

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Music: Surprisingly, people actually watched the Grammys this year

  • 35% increase from 2008; 26.6 million watched source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 20:35

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Biz: The Adventures of Newsday Customer No. 36: We’ve been counted!

  • In response to a question, Terry said that we had approximately three dozen subscribers who have signed up to pay $5 per week for access to newsday.com.
  • Cablevision President of Local Media Tad Smith • In a memo regarding Newsday’s plan for subscriptions and Cablevision’s overall media strategy. Sure, he’s full of it and then some, but we have to admit we got a kick out of the fact he noted our subscription in the note. We’re No. 36! We’re No. 36! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Feb 2010 20:26

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U.S., World: Could the Baptists in Haiti get tried in the U.S. for child trafficking?

  • problem Haiti wants to try the ten Americans accused of trafficking children into the Dominican Republican. However, with a broken infrastructure, they don’t have a working court system right now.
  • solution The Haitian government may be willing to ship them off to the U.S. to get tried there. Were they acting in good faith when taking away these “orphans” (some of whom actually had parents)? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 19:22

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Culture: “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson is no longer J.D. Salinger

  • I think some of the reason ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ still finds an audience today is because I chose not to run the wheels off it. I’ve never regretted stopping when I did.
  • “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson • In his first interview since ending the strip 15 years ago. While he appreciates the success it gave him, he’s glad he stopped and has been able to recover some semblance of a normal life. “I wrote “Calvin and Hobbes” in my 30s,” he noted, “and I’m many miles from there.” Is it ironic that he came out of the woodwork the week J.D. Salinger died? Yes, yes it is. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 18:52

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Biz, Tech: The Associated Press continues its shakedown of Web giants

  • We’re breaking our longstanding AP boycott for this story. The Associated Press today reached a new deal with our boys at Yahoo News, giving the wire service more money to host the content from the news service we know and love. Details aren’t being disclosed, but let’s just say that no major changes are taking place as of yet. Oh yeah, Google News hasn’t hosted AP stories since their contract expired in December. Didya know that? You probably didn’t notice, because Google News is that good. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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