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22 Sep 2010 10:44

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Politics: Andrew Cuomo leads in NY Gov. race; Carl Paladino holding his own

  • 49% support popular New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo
  • 43% support Carl Paladino, who tried winning political points from the “Ground Zero Mosque” issue
  • 8% support hiding in a dark room until election day is over source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2010 10:34

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Politics: Three Obama quotes from Bob Woodward’s new Afghan War book

  • one “I’m not doing 10 years. I’m not doing long-term nation-building. I am not spending a trillion dollars.”
  • two “Everything we’re doing has to be focused on how we’re going to get to the point where we can reduce our footprint.”
  • three “I have to say that.
    I can’t let this be a war without end, and I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2010 10:20

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U.S.: Wright County Egg Founder sorry his eggs made you sick

  • We were horrified to learn that our eggs may have made people sick. We apologize to everyone who may have been sickened by eating our eggs.
  • Wright County Egg founder Austin DeCoster • In prepared remarks for Congress, where he’ll speak today to explain how his company is responsible for so many salmonella-tainted eggs. His company’s barns were infested with all sorts of disgusting things that we won’t repeat here so as not to turn you off of eggs entirely. Partly because of this, there were traces of salmonella in the barns years before there was actually an outbreak. Also, there was another outbreak due to the same company way back in the late ’80s. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2010 02:10

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Politics: The Colbert/Stewart rally: Pseudo-intellectuals call it “high-Broderist”

  • Good God. Have a sense of humor, folks. There seems to be so much second-guessing about the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally online that none of it is worth taking seriously. First, FireDogLake pulled out the phrase “a little too high-Broderist for my taste” to describe the moderate conceit of Stewart’s rally. Uh, what? Now, Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon is concerned that the comics may be “bearing an uncanny resemblance to the things we despise.” Do you pompous progressive types read what you write? Can’t you just let something stand on its own as a source of entertainment? Does anyone even know what the hell “high-Broderist” means? Neither do we. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 23:52

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Tech: Michael Arrington doesn’t need on-the-record sources, thank you

  • This is a difficult post to write, because I call nearly every person in that room a friend. But these actions are so completely inappropriate it has to be called out.
  • Michael “something happened somewhere” Arrington • Describing a situation which potentially sounds very damaging to a number of angel investors in Silicon Valley. The way Arrington describes it, and he was careful not to name names, was that a group of investors were discussing ways to wield their collective influence to prevent venture capitalists from swooping in, or Y Combinator from getting too much power in the startup sphere. If true, these acts are illegal. Arrington reportedly heard about the discussion, showed up, and watched the room go quiet on him. Caught? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 21:20

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Biz: Bedbug conventions: Itchy hysteria has its own Woodstock

Why is this man smiling? Because he knows he’ll have a job tomorrow. Because he helps people hunt bedbugs, a very in-demand industry. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 21:14

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World: Google’s transparency map: The U.S. firmly at the top, China missing

  • We appreciate Google doing this. Letting people know how governments are censoring or looking into content is important for a free society. However, we do find China’s entry very disappointing. Here’s all it says: “Chinese officials consider censorship demands to be state secrets, so we cannot disclose that information at this time.” That said, take a look at how the U.S. compares to every other country. They’re way ahead of everyone else. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Sep 2010 20:53

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U.S.: Obesity is expensive, but it’s way more expensive for women

  • $4,879 the yearly cost of being obese for women
  • $2,646 the yearly cost of being obese for men source
  • » Why the disparity?: Apparently, it’s because overweight women tend to make less than thin women do, but men suffer from no similar weight tax on their income. The really scary thing, by the way, is that once life expectancy is factored in, the numbers become significantly higher – $8,365 for women and $6,518 for men. Yikes.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 18:10

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Politics: Republicans: We’d rather defund the military than let gays serve in it

  • 3 votes short of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the Senate
  • SENATE DEMOCRATS FAILED to overcome a Republican filibuster of the annual Pentagon authorization bill, which contained a repeal of DODT. Since the bill’s passage is required in order fund the US military, it will likely be brought up again at a later date. Two Democrats, Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, voted against the bill, as did the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (for parliamentary reasons). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 1 Comment • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 12:47

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World: Transvestite children in Afghanistan!

  • Some things are happening in Afghanistan that are really not imaginable for you as a Western people.
  • Azita Rafaat • The Afghan mother of three regularly dresses her youngest daughter as a boy when the daughter leaves the house. The practice is common in Afghanistan, where families without male children are of bad repute and gender lines are starkly drawn. It’s not illegal, or even frowned upon, and has possibly been going on for centuries. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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