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02 Jul 2010 21:55

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U.S.: Chicago’s new gun law: As much like the old one as possible

  • four number of days ago that the Supreme Court struck down the city’s ban on firearms
  • one number of operable guns a new law allows residents to own (inoperable ones are OK)
  • zero number of city council members who voted against the new law, passed today source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 21:28

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Culture: The Muppets – and Swedish Chef – were born for YouTube captions

  • This is a truly innovative use of YouTube. Not only does it take advantage of the medium in a way that understands the element of surprise, it’s funny, and it’s especially funny because of the way it uses captions. Somehow, the Muppets Studio is getting even better at using YouTube.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 21:18

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U.S.: Did an appeals court support Ah-nold’s minimum wage scheme?

  • YES though the California state controller is fighting it source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 21:12

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U.S.: Obama’s eulogy for Robert Byrd was pretty darn touching

  • He said: ‘There are things I regretted in my youth; you may – you may know that.’ And I said: ‘None of us are absent some regrets, senator. That’s why we enjoy and seek the grace of God.’
  • President Barack Obama • Giving the eulogy at Sen. Robert Byrd’s funeral in Charleston, West Virginia on Friday. He further noted that his indiscretions were made up for over time. “As I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent towards justice,” he said. Bill Clinton also spoke a little too, noting his KKK affiliation directly – he was the only speaker that did. But then again, a black president spoke at his funeral. So that’s definitely something to be said about the power of redemption. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 20:58

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Politics: Michael Steele is an idiot, reason 3,149: Trashing the Afghan War

  • “This is a war of Obama’s choosing.” Wait a second, we’re not geniuses here, but we’re pretty sure that the GOP largely supports the Afghan War, too, not just Obama. And here’s Steele suggesting it can’t be won, that a land war in Afghanistan is “the one thing you don’t do.” Whether or not these comments were taken out of context, let’s face it – this guy says incredibly stupid crap from time to time. Both parties are criticizing him for this one. And they should. It totally shows a lack of understanding of his own party’s message. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 12:03

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Politics: L.A. Times’ misleading King Kong ad: Even politicians don’t like it

  • This L.A. Times ad drew a ton of controversy yesterday because it looks very much like a real newspaper. It fooled a lot of people, to the point that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors criticized the paper for the choice, which the editor is defending. We shouldn’t lower our standards to be misleading like this; it’s wrong, plain and simple. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 11:35

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Tech: Apple’s stance on the antenna thing: The signal bars are a lie!

  • We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising. Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong.
  • A press release from Apple • Explaining what they think is causing the real problem with the iPhone’s reception (kinda). It’s not the reception itself that’s bad, they say, but the way it was presented. Engadget explained a little of what was happening yesterday. Basically, the levels at which it displays five bars are much higher than where it displays four bars, but everything else is at a fairly similar level. We’re guessing this doesn’t explain everything, and it’s not going to completely placate iPhone users. Give them all bumpers! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Jul 2010 11:18

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U.S., World: Anna Chapman’s husband: The spy who loved me ditched me

The former husband of Anna Chapman, left, says that she went from carefree to materialistic and met with a lot of Russian dudes. It was weird. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 11:01

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U.S.: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sticks it to state workers

  • Nearly all of them are gonna be making minimum wage until a budget’s set. The governor is basing the move on a 2003 state Supreme Court decision, White v. Davis, which says that employees without a budget that sets aside an allocation for salaries will get minimum wage until said budget is set, at which point they’ll get the back salary covered. At $7.25 an hour – in California – this seems a tad cruel. Look, we know that California politics are tough, but there’s no reason to use state employees as pawns in a political game. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 10:30

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Tech: One way to stimulate the economy: Broadband infrastructure build-out

  • $800 million in loans and grants for broadband jobs source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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