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06 Sep 2010 12:16

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U.S.: Tea is not a popular party, according to this new poll

  • 44% The Democratic Party’s approval rating
  • 45% The Republican Party’s approval rating
  • 36% The Tea Party’s approval rating source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 1 Comment • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 11:28

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Biz: The Washington Times, the victim of a family disagreement?

  • one day, the money stopped flowing. The Washington Times, the once-prominent conservative newspaper funded by the Unification Church, lost a key money flow one week in July 2009, leading to massive layoffs and a precipitous decline of the paper. It turns out that it was caught in the middle of a huge family struggle between its owners, the Moonies. Some numbers:
  • $2billion lost by the Moonie-run paper since it was founded
  • 87,000 the newspaper’s already-declining circulation two years ago
  • 40,000 the newspaper’s circulation now; it’s had major cutbacks of late
  • » The family strife: The Washington Times is at the center of a power struggle between the family of Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who’s 89 years old and isn’t long for this world. Other Moon-run businesses aren’t doing so hot either. Moon’s son, Preston, who isn’t as doggedly conservative as his dad was (he was, for example, against the Iraq War), apparently steered the paper in a direction one of his brothers didn’t like, causing the church’s money to stop flowing to the paper. They couldn’t pay key bills, including those for internet access and staffer health insurance. Now the paper may return to into the senior Moon’s hands in a $1-plus-debt buyback, but the final result isn’t so clear. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:54

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Biz: Housing market: Would a correction help homeowners?

  • Housing needs to go back to reasonable levels. If we keep trying to stimulate the market, that’s the definition of insanity.
  • George Mason University real estate finance professor Anthony B. Sanders • Suggesting we let the housing market go to hell so it can correct itself. It’s a somewhat unique argument, but considering the way that overdevelopment and overbuilding has defined the real estate market of the last decade. So, the debate as it currently stands: Does the Obama administration keep trying to stimulate growth in the housing market, or does it focus less on devlopment and more on ensuring the value of the investments that millions of homeowners have already made? A tough answer, but we think the latter sounds like a good idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:44

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Politics: Tony Blair decides that one tense book-signing is enough

Remember what happened in Dublin the other day, guys? Well, we’re not letting that happen in London! Shut it down! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:36

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U.S.: Al Gore’s luck: There’s always an inconvenient truth, isn’t there?

  • good Al Gore had his own L.A. school named after him – a first for a vice president. He shares the honor with Rachel Carson, another well-known environmentalist.
  • bad Too bad the school was built on toxic soil that a bunch of workers had to spend Labor Day weekend attempting to replace. That’s one way to honor his name. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:27

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Tech: Apple’s iPod Touch press photos are a Photoshop fail

  • Just when you thought Apple survived a product launch mostly unscathed, some jerk had to notice some crappy Photoshop work. Apple wasn’t particularly good at hiding their iPhone tracks on the new iPod Touch this time out, leading to a couple gaffes like the one over to the right. See the arrow? Yeah, we know, right? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:16

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Politics: Louisiana standoff: Bobby Jindal won’t endorse David Vitter

  • Ouch. Someone’s got a big problem. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter is an incumbent and a relative lock for re-election. Too bad that he doesn’t have an endorsement from someone who should be a close ally. “Voters can make up their own minds,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who’s currently very popular in his home state. Why did Jindal pass on endorsing Vitter? Two likely reasons: First, Vitter was involved with a D.C. escort in 2007, and second, Vitter allowed one of his top staffers to stay on the job despite domestic abuse charges, though he later stepped down. Still, that’s kind of harsh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Sep 2010 10:04

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Tech: Jeff Jarvis: Craiglist’s disruptor status makes it an easy target

  • So why are government and media going after Craigslist? The same reason, I think, that media and government in, for example, Germany are demonizing Google (even as the German people give Google its biggest market share anywhere in the world). They’re going after the disruptors, the biggest disruptors in sight.
  • Jeff Jarvis • Explaining his reasoning about the whole Craigslist “Adult Services” thing, which sounds like a fairly original angle on the whole thing. Craigslist has cost the newspaper industry billions in revenue by simply being able to provide a once-expensive service (classified ads) for free. With a decline in classified revenue of $13 billion across the industry, which might make the media more apt to give this controversy a little extra coverage. “I’m not suggesting conspiracy; I rarely do,” Jarvis writes. “But I do see old power structures huddling together against the cold breath of technologists bringing change.” Remember creative destruction? This is how oid dinosaurs can react to it, if it’s necessary. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 22:20

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Politics: Max Headroom: Looking ahead to Obama’s jumpstart plans


  • MCcain’s takeHaving saved himself from the brink of a tough primary, John McCain’s now got the economy and his party’s political future on his mind, both of which he talks about at length with Chris Wallace. He says that people have “lost confidence” in Obama’s economy-fixing skills.
  • Lindsey’s takeIn twelve seconds, Lindsey Graham (a far more moderate Republican than McCain, even) says what it take McCain to say in twelve minutes. Obama’s tone-deaf on a number of issues (including the economy), and that’s why Republicans are going to win big in November.
  • Alex Jones’ takeOh, who are we kidding? This is just a hilarious piece on that insane conspiracy theorist radio host whose videos are always on YouTube. Nightline did a piece on him, and it’s pretty effin’ hilarious. Nightline calls his work “paranoia porn.” That’s pretty spot-on.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 21:52

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Tech: Is the new iPod Nano simply begging to be an iWatch?

9To5Mac came up with this use of the new iPod Nano, and it certainly makes a lot more sense in this context, doesn’t it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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