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26 Sep 2010 21:57

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Culture: Greed good for Oliver Stone: “Wall Street” his best opener ever

  • $19 million for anticipated sequel “Money Never Sleeps” source
  • » A surprising fact: Despite his long film career, filled with iconic zeitgeisty films, he’s only broken the $100 million barrier once – with his second film, “Platoon,” which scored $138 million at the box office. Many of his films – not counting for inflation – tend to plateau around the $70 million mark, including 2004’s similarly ripped-from-the-headlines “World Trade Center.” At 3,500 theaters, it’s his largest opening ever, and is well along to topping the $43 million the original “Wall Street” made way back in 1987.

26 Sep 2010 21:43

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Tech: The iPhone’s grip on China: They can’t keep it stocked

  • 100k number of iPhones Unicom sold in China in a six-week period last year – kinda meh
  • 200k number of iPhone 4 pre-orders the mainland mobile company has taken so far
  • 40k number of iPhones that flew out of Apple’s grasp in China on Saturday –they ran out source

26 Sep 2010 19:53

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U.S.: California leaning towards waving its pot flag high

  • 49% of residents support legalizing pot in the state via Prop. 19
  • 42% don’t think it should be legalized at the ballot
  • 9% were too stoned to know what was going on source

26 Sep 2010 19:44

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Culture: Pitch-perfect comic parodies poke fun at tea party

The Tea Party jokes are good, yeah, but it’s the way that the comics nail their source material that really makes it a great read. (via Jeff Greco) source

26 Sep 2010 11:58

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Offbeat: Elmo attacked by crazy guy, kicks crazy guy’s butt

  • Elmo got the best of the guy. He broke two of his fingers.
  • Winter Park, Fla. police Lt. Wayne Farrell • Regarding an unprovoked attack of a guy dressed like Elmo at a Guitar Center. The man reportedly felt “threatened” by the Sesame Street icon, and we’re guessing he was probably just upset about the whole Katy Perry thing. Elmo wasn’t hurt, by the way. source

26 Sep 2010 11:44

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Politics: House leaders on both sides trash Colbert for hearing

  • majority Steny Hoyer had this to say: “I think his testimony was not appropriate … an embarrassment for Colbert more than for the House.” Translation: “I’m completely out of touch.”
  • minority John Boehner used Colbert’s routine as a way to attack the Democrats: “They have time to bring a comedian to Washington, D.C., but they don’t have time to end the uncertainty.” source
  • For what it’s worth: Colbert may have gotten ripped by House leadership on both sides, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had his back. “He’s an American. He comes before the committee. He has a point of view,” she said. “It can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. I think it’s great.” This was the correct response, Steny.

26 Sep 2010 11:28

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Biz: Free beer giveaway! But there’s a really big catch

  • 500,000 free beers in the U.S. source
  • » But there’s a downside: Before you get too excited about the free beer, we need to inform you that it’s Budweiser beer. If they wanted to give us water, they could’ve saved the trouble by informing us where the nearest drinking fountain was.
 

26 Sep 2010 10:37

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World: Netanyahu to West Bank builders: Show some restraint!

We know how tempting building on this land is, guys, but you might want to hold off while we try to broker a peace deal. AGAIN. source

26 Sep 2010 10:24

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U.S.: Bishop Eddie Long plans to fight sex-abuse allegations

  • On the advice of counsel, I am not going to address the allegations and the attacks. I want this to be dealt with in the court of justice not the court of public opinion. I am going to fight. Fight very vigorously. Things New Birth has stood for … we will continue to do.
  • Bishop Eddie Long • In a press conference in the wake of the allegations against him, which include multiple lawsuits by young men who claim to have been coerced into sexual relationships. Long, a staunch anti-homosexuality pastor who flaunts his wealth, has been under huge amounts of pressure the last few days because of the lawsuits. We wish the kids suing Long and his church – and heck, his parishioners – the best; we have to imagine this must be hard all for you, no matter what happened. source

26 Sep 2010 10:07

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U.S.: The Pentagon gets all book-censory over a memoir

  • Apparently, The Pentagon didn’t want certain details getting out. So they took Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer’s book and reportedly destroyed a bunch of copies. Can’t wait until they hear about the Kindle. Some quick numbers on the incident:
  • 9,500 number of copies of “Operation Dark Heart” the Pentagon bought – and destroyed! Muahahahahah
  • $25.99 the cost of buying all those books at retail – a taxpayer cost of $246,905 according to our count source