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17 May 2010 22:43

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Tech: Nice knowing you, landlines: Cell phones popular with the kids

  • 25% of all homes no longer have a landline, because they have cell phones
  • 50% of 25-year-olds are mobile-phone-only, an under-40 phenomenon
  • 15% of homes with landlines mostly use cell phones for everything source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 22:32

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Politics: Israel treats political scholar Noam Chomsky like a new iPad

  • The funny part is that he totally seems good natured about the whole thing. Chomsky, a lefty through and through who’s also Jewish, was blocked from entering the country with his daughter. He was supposed to give a speech at Bir Zeit University in the occupied West Bank. This guy has a lot of controversial opinions, sure, but we’re guessing Israel’s miffed that he’s not going to speak at one of their universities. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 22:16

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Culture: If nothing else, “Iron Man 2” as cool costumes. How were they made?

Both Iron Man and Whiplash are wearing armor suits created using top-of-the-line 3D printing technology. It’s not CGI, but it’s damn awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 22:07

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U.S.: Times Square suspect had radical tendencies as far back as 2006

  • Can you tell me a way to save the oppressed? And a way to fight back when rockets are fired at us and Muslim blood flows? In Palestine, Afghan, Iraq, Chechnya and elsewhere.
  • Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad • In a couple of e-mails that CNN acquired. The first e-mail, from 2006, suggests that he had radical tendencies long before he plotted his failed attack. He was frustrated with the way the West treated the Muslim world and as a result was looking for a way to fight back. In 2009, his radicalism was more pronounced. “If you don’t have the right teacher, then Satan should become your sheikh,” he wrote then. A bank soon foreclosed on his home. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 21:50

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U.S.: Arizona asks illegal immigrants for ID. Trenton, NJ gives them IDs

If illegal immigrants can make it all the way from Mexico to Trenton, N.J. and back to Arizona, there’s a good chance this ID won’t do anything for them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 21:49

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Culture: TNT can’t get enough “Law & Order,” so they might gank it from NBC

  • 32 number of hours of “Law and Order” reruns TNT shows each week
  • maybe the chance that TNT could pick up the show for season 21 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 21:14

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Culture: That was quick: The Internet vets the new Miss USA, finds stuff

  • stripping Rima Fakih took part in a “Stripper
    101” contest for a local radio
    station. She didn’t strip, just danced
    sexy (and stuffed bills in her bra).
  • movies Fakih was an actress in the
    raunchy 2008 short film “Throbbing
    Justice,” by Mantastic Films. No
    nudity, just schlock. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 May 2010 11:18

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Offbeat: Local news hits the spot when it comes to unfortunate dirty jokes

  • First question: Why were they even covering this particular topic on the local news in the first place? Second question: Is this funnier than “Keep ducking that chicken” or not? (Note: The above clip features kind of “adult” humor. Don’t show it to kids.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 11:09

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U.S.: Key Supreme Court decision No. 2: Limiting life sentences for juveniles

  • 5-4 the Supreme Court’s decision, which says that juveniles can’t be sentenced to life in prison for non-murder crimes
  • 111 number of juvenile prisoners with sentences of this nature nationwide; 77 of them are in Florida alone source
  • » Quick analysis: Despite the fairly tight vote breakdown, this may be the less controversial of the two decisions announced today. (It was nearly 6-3, but Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed with the categorical ban of the sentences.) Most of the sentences of this nature were happening in one part of the country, and the prisoner at the center of the case, Terrance Jamar Graham, was sentenced to life in prison on a 2005 parole violation after he took part in an armed robbery – a harsh sentence for a case of that nature.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 10:53

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U.S.: Key Supreme Court decision No. 1: Holding sex offenders indefinitely

  • The federal government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose.
  • Justice Stephen Breyer • Writing the majority opinion on the case, which the court decided 7-2. This does not affect all sex offenders, but ones who could remain “sexually dangerous” to the community after their release. Which means that sex offenders, who already have been zoned out of many jurisdictions in areas throughout the country, will likely lose even more rights thanks to this decision. (Good, the commenters on the CNN article we linked to say.) There are some heavy issues with this decision and are curious how controversial it will prove. Will it overcrowd the prison system further? Will it encourage more rehabilitation of sex offenders within prison? Either way, this is a heady case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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