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22 Mar 2010 19:34

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Politics: The New York Times admits to getting the ACORN facts wrong

  • Public editor Clark Hoyt set the record straight. With ACORN’s pending closure taking over the news today, it’s perhaps a sad footnote to the scandal that The New York Times admits to misrepresenting the case. Among other things, Hoyt says (and BigGovernment.com founder Andrew Breitbart agrees that) James O’Keefe never dressed as a pimp during his visits to ACORN – just at the beginning and end of videos when he wasn’t actually in their offices. The damage is done, though. ACORN is now dead. (ACORN housing, however, lives on under a different name.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 19:07

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Politics: ACORN closes, James O’Keefe succeeds, Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 17:55

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Culture: Michele Bachmann wastes no time to push for health care repeal

  • It’s future generations, our children and grandchildren, who will pay the price for our government’s arrogance and recklessness, and the American people won’t ever forget the irresponsible actions of this administration and Democratic majority.
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann • In a press release announcing her support of a bill that would repeal the health care bill. You know, the one that passed 20 hours ago. We wonder if the ink dried on the old bill before she submitted this bill. “I’m asking my colleagues to join me in repealing this monstrosity of a bill,” she says. Showy political tactic or not, we’re guessing it’s not going to pass. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 17:43

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Politics: Did GOP Rep. Joseph Cao want to vote for health care last night?

  • YES but not without the 86’ed
    Stupak amendment source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 17:38

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Politics: On “Baby Killer” and Congress’ miserable tonal problems

  • Listen, we’re not giving either side credit here. The Republicans just had some dude (Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer) use the words “baby killer” in reference to Bart Stupak (or the bill, depending on what you believe). However, we get the feeling the Democrats aren’t using the opportunity to look like they’re taking the moral high ground here. Both sides look ugly at the end of all of this, and there aren’t any winners here.
  • Republican blech When Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” at Obama, the Republicans had an opportunity to step away from the tonal problems the health care bill has created. (The chart above is another example.) Instead, they stepped in it deeper, allowing for that tone to totally permeate the party. And now, they own this unhelpful tone to the point that they can’t find the rabbit hole again.
  • Democratic spin As super-journo Matt Taibbi notes on True/Slant, the Democrats are claiming that the bill was “built on a series of principles that Republicans espoused for years.” What? Come on. This isn’t true. While the Democrats are certainly becoming more centrist, it’s certainly not the same thing. This just makes the other side mad. That language gets in the way.
  • Take a step back If Congress wants to really, truly help the needs of the people, it needs to look back at the past year and figure out exactly why this country and its Congress has a tone not seen since the 1960s. It’s not taxes. It’s not racism. It’s not any of that. Can we call it a tempest in a teapot? No. If anything, the tempest shattered the teapot, and voters have to pick up the pieces.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 15:55

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Tech, World: Google gets around China, moves searches to Hong Kong

  • We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk  is a sensible solution to the challenges we’ve faced—it’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China.
  • Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond • Regarding the company’s final decision on handling the China problem. There’s a very good chance that China will censor the search engine on the mainland after this, but you can at least say they tried very hard to have it both ways. This is a win for human rights. Unfortunately, it may not be a win that does Chinese citizens a whole lot of good. Is it better to be unable to give uncensored information, or willfully censor by the rules of a country that is willing to make people drive long distances just to check e-mail? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 13:42

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Offbeat: He didn’t Lego: Dude builds career in high art, brick by brick

Of all the things you can build an art career out of, Legos seem fairly unlikely. But don’t tell that to Nathan Sawaya, who’s finding success with the blocks. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Mar 2010 13:26

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Tech: Palm’s luck may be lacking, but they now have AT&T on their side

  • bad Underdog smartphone maker Palm is still doing rotten with its stock price and, with the Pre’s lacking success, could die eventually.
  • good On the plus side, they just added another carrier. AT&T has the iPhone AND Pre Plus. Is it time to upgrade, iPhone fans? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 12:31

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U.S.: Neat: Everyone in the U.S. could neatly fit into New Hampshire

  • So, if we all lived somewhere with the density of Brooklyn (which is packed, but comfortable), we could all fit into New Hampshire. How cool is that, kids? Kudos to Shane Keaney, who designed this clever graphic as part of a Good Magazine contest. Sadly, some of the graphics are a little messy compared to Shane’s, which does a great job of explaining a very detailed concept in incredibly simple terms. Great job, dude. If we had money, we’d give you a job blogging for us or something. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 12:17

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Politics: Conservative commentator: Is health care the GOP’s Waterloo?

  • So far, I think a lot of conservatives will agree with me. Now comes the hard lesson: A huge part of the blame for [Sunday’s] disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves.
  • Conservative columnist David Frum • Regarding the situation with health care, which he says is a huge failure on the part of the Republican Party to do anything to work with the Democrats and share in the success of the bill. Even with the likely victories in November for the party as a result of its passage, he argues, it may be, as he puts it, an “abject and irreversible defeat.” Ouch. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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