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24 Aug 2010 21:49

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Music: Posted without comment: Lady Gaga’s reaction to topping Twitter

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 21:30

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U.S.: Why did the U.S. decide not to vaccinate hens from salmonella?

  • The U.S. chose not to force hens to get vaccinated for Salmonella. They claimed there wasn’t enough evidence that it did anything. (And it wouldn’t raise costs much; it’d cost less than a penny per dozen eggs.) With the very large egg-tainting problem in the U.S., it’s probably good to look at what happened after Britain mandated hen vaccinations:
  • 14,771the number of cases in England and Wales caused by the most common strain of salmonella in 1997, the year a new hen vaccine was tested by the country’s farmers
  • 581the number of cases in England and Wales last year, a decrease of 96 percent; the hen vaccine, which has been in use since 1998, has helped lead to yearly declines source
  • » So why didn’t they? Well, the FDA, while it claims that it looked at the vaccine seriously, said that there were significant differences between the U.S. version of the vaccine and the British one. The vaccine-maker, however, says that the differences were minor and the drugs were equally effective. Meanwhile, the current recall is at around 550 million eggs.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 20:42

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Politics: Twitter’s all excited about the big primaries tonight (Florida, Arizona)



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24 Aug 2010 20:29

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World: In Colombia, people make Facebook hit lists – and follow through

  • 69 Colombian teens randomly showed up on a Facebook hit list that told them to leave town or face execution
  • three have been killed since the list was first posted August 17; nobody knows why the list was posted
  • 31Colombian teens showed up on a second list on Friday; fear has taken over Puerto Asis source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 11:14

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Politics: Did Shirley Sherrod take that new job with the USDA, guys?

  • NO next time Andrew Breitbart fakes a story, ignore him source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 11:07

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Tech: Loyola University scientists make a HIV research breakthrough

  • great! Loyola University researchers pinpointed the key elements of a protein, TRIM5a, that destroys HIV in monkeys. With a $225,000 microscope. Give them a raise!
  • … but More research needs to be done to figure out how to make the protein do the same thing for humans. Get back to work, you bums! Monkeys aren’t people. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 10:53

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Politics: Facebook won’t let pro-pot political group promote itself with pot

  • They said they decided to reclassify it as similar to tobacco, but we said we weren’t trying to encourage people to smoke marijuana, we were supporting a change in US drug policy.
  • “Just Say Now” spokesperson Jane Hamsher • Regarding Facebook’s decision to decline a series of ads by the group that promoted a change in drug policy. (The group, by the way, has a lot of left-leaning luminaries on its board, including Salon’s Glenn Greenwald.) Why? Because they used a marijuana leaf. And they block cigarettes. Yet they don’t block alcohol. Hmm. It’s kinda like the iPhone App Store, eh? source
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24 Aug 2010 10:43

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World: In Somalia, things are somehow getting even more violent

  • 32+ people died today in a bombing at a hotel near the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu
  • six of the victims were members of Somalia’s parliament, which is funded by the West
  • 40+ people died in a similar attack yesterday, which were blamed on Al Shabaab source
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24 Aug 2010 10:26

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Offbeat: Question of the day: Why are there slices of brains in these jars?

You want to click on the link. You know you do. It’s too tempting. Click it. Click … it. You want to know why these brains are in jars. Click it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 10:18

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Biz: Existing home sales, meet crapper: Sales hit lowest level in 15 years

  • 27.2% decline in existing home sales in July source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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