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05 Feb 2010 11:15

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Culture: Charlie Sheen’s SUV driven off steep cliff – without Charlie Sheen

  • The quote in this article from Sheen is hilarious. This morning, Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes SUV was found driven off a cliff after it was stolen last night. Nobody was found inside. This morning, Sheen made perhaps the best one-liner in his entire career: “It was nice to have police come to my house and for once and I didn’t have to leave with them.” LOL. Pitch perfect. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2010 11:09

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Biz: Toyota’s president: I take personal blame for all these problems

  • I deeply regret that I caused concern among so many people. We will do our utmost to regain the trust of our customers.
  • Toyota Motor Company President Akio Toyoda • Regarding the recent recall crisis. Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, has a bit of a mess on his hands thanks to the recalls. He’s been absent in recent weeks, which hasn’t helped the company’s cause. Asked about whether they’d been underestimating the problem, he said, “I believe what is happening now is a very big problem. We are in a crisis.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2010 10:57

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Tech: Amazon’s got a full-on Kindle publisher revolt on its hands

  • 3 major publishers are opting out of Kindle’s $9.99 pricing scheme source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2010 10:48

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U.S.: The East Coast, D.C. in particular, is freaking out about snow


  • We’re trying something new with our Twitter tags, and switching to embeds from HootSuite. Like it? Don’t like? Let us know.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2010 10:34

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Politics: “Demon Sheep” still a heavy source of debate among wonks

  • It just oozes that special brand of ludicrous hilarity that the Internet loves. The thing’s going viral, but not necessarily in a way that will help Carly Fiorina’s campaign.
  • WeeklyStandard.com conservative commentator Mary Katharine Ham • Regarding Carly Fiorina’s “Demon Sheep” ad, which has continued its viral rush to insane popularity (and many parodies). The clip, built largely from stock photos and spare footage (hence the heavy use of the Ken Burns effect), cost $15,000 to make, which is about $14,500 more than we expected. The Fiorina campaign is very much in the “any publicity is good publicity” mode (as they should), while the target of the ad, State Rep. Tom “Demon Sheep” Campbell, is using it in favor of his political campaign (as he should). If this works, Carly Fiorina is a genius. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2010 10:19

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Biz, U.S.: Why the drop in unemployment is less impressive than it seems

  • 9.7% the current jobless rate, a five-month low source
  • Why this seems good After months of hovering over the 10% mark, it seems like (on the surface) we’re finally cutting into the economy’s debilitating factor. Obama has been feeling pressure on this for months now.
  • Why it really isn’t Payrolls still cut by 20,000 despite unemployment, which suggests that some people have stopped looking and are no longer counted. Also, some major industries are struggling, including construction.
  • Some promising signs Despite the job market’s mixed signals, there are signs the worst is over. Workweeks are longer, overtime is going up, more temps are getting work, and average earnings are up too.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 23:47

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U.S.: Blago has a few more charges to answer to over that Senate thing

  • 16 number of charges Rod Blagojevich was indicted for last April
  • 24 number of charges Blago faces in an expanded inquiry
  • Why the change? Blago’s former charges had a lot to do with what’s referred to as “honest services fraud,” a statute that allows lawyers to nail corrupt politicians who get a few too many perks for white collar crimes. This law, passed by Congress in the ’80s and responsible for nailing Conrad Black, Jack Abramoff and fellow former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, is likely to get struck down by the Supreme Court in a few months, so they needed something else to nail him on. The eight new charges don’t rely on the law. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Feb 2010 23:34

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Tech: Jesus hell, Facebook, another goddamn redesign? Aargh.

  • Happy sixth birthday dudes, but for the love of God, stop it. In the past, we’ve been for Facebook’s constant push to innovate, but it seems like they’re redesigning again just because. We’re sure it’s powerful and does a lot of cool stuff, but your last redesign was plenty useful. There seems to be no reason to screw with it again so soon. This hits 80 million users tonight, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 23:27

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Biz: Toyota could call for a recall of their Japanese Priuses

  • 200,000 hybrids to be recalled? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 21:48

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Biz: The stock market went through a pretty hellish day today

  • 268 the number of points the Dow lost today alone, due to debt fears; it’s the biggest fall in 2010 so far
  • 10,002 the closing number for the Dow today; it dipped below 10,000 for a short while today source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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