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27 Oct 2010 23:21

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Politics: Dear Rand Paul head-stomper: You’re not getting an apology.

  • I am offended and outraged by the words of Tim Profitt. Profitt said the attack was ‘not a big deal,’ that Lauren ‘instigated it’ and that ‘she should apologize’ — words that are eerily familiar to many women who have faced assault and abuse.
  • MoveOn.org spokesperson Ilyse Hogue • Chewing on the piece of meat thrown to her by Rand Paul head-stomper Tim Profitt. Profitt, see, had the gall to say this about the stompee, 23-year-old MoveOn.org volunteer Lauren Valle: “I would like for her to apologize to me to be honest with you.” He also blamed his stomping on, get this, “back problems.” Are you sure you don’t live in San Diego instead of Kentucky, Tim? Because you certainly know how to stay classy. To be clear, guys, we’re not criticizing the Paul campaign: They’ve been pretty smart about dealing with this incident. No. We’re criticizing Tim Profitt. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 22:50

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U.S.: Metro opens doors, sure, but they closed on DC terror suspect

  • dumb You’re a guy who has a crazy idea to blow up parts of the DC Metro system, because that’s a good idea and stuff.
  • dumber You end up working with people you think are members of al-Qaeda, offering up significant details on your plans.
  • dumbestYou find out that they’re members of the FBI. Farooque Ahmed, this is your life. Don’t mess with the DC Metro. source
  • » And yes, we know: This is a serious situation. Lots of people could have died. But here’s our feeling on the matter. We’d rather be brash and fearless-sounding than give into the kind of FUD that these sort of threats encourage. That’s what terror suspects want.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 22:22

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About: Today on ShortFormBlog, we learn about imitation & flattery

  • Since our friend Charles Apple wrote about this, we should probably make a public comment here. We’re sure that the creators of Sigaw Mo meant well when they created a site that was very inspired by our own, down to the same plugins. Filipinos deserve a great source of short news, yes. But our look and feel is our look and feel. And we have to defend it. So, to be clear, we’re flattered by, but do not endorse, Sigaw Mo, which has a link on the bottom of its site to this one. And if you’re the owner of Sigaw Mo, who we’ve e-mailed multiple times already, please contact us so that we can discuss this. Here at ShortFormBlog, we don’t like to crack skulls or stomp on people’s heads like Rand Paul supporters. We prefer conversation. (Update: Alex of Sigaw Mo has graciously offered to take the design down for now. We really appreciate it.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 21:44

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Tech: How many employees does Apple have? We know the answer

  • 46,600 that’s way up from just last year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 21:35

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U.S.: Medical examiner steals dead teen’s brain, ’cause that’s not creepy

  • They saw this jar with a brain in it labeled Jesse Shipley. They knew Jesse and he knew them. They were looking at his brain, and his brain was looking right back at them.
  • Korisha Shipley • Regarding the “holy crap” finding that the medical examiner who took care of her son Jesse after his death in a 2005 accident kept his brain in a jar and was showing it off to his fellow high school students on a field trip a few months later. The Staten Island, New York resident’s family is now suing the city over the bizarre incident, which most assuredly should’ve never happened. Protip: Don’t keep someone’s brain in a jar months after they’ve been killed. That’s just weird. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 21:12

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Tech: Single tear, Flash: HTML5 videos quickly becoming the norm

  • 26% of all Web video was available in HTML5 back in May, a big jump from 10 percent in January
  • 52% of all Web video is available in HTML5 now; in six months HTML5 will take over the world source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 11:18

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U.S.: Death row inmate’s famous last words: “Boomer Sooner”

  • Well, I’d like to say thank you to my family for being here and all my friends, and Boomer Sooner.
  • Arizona death row inmate Jeffrey Landrigan • Making his famous last words before his death by lethal injection. “Boomer Sooner”? Apparently this guy lived in Oklahoma and was a big college football fan before being convicted in the murder of Chester Dean Dyer way back in 1989. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Oct 2010 11:04

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World: New study: Eco-conservation efforts not helping enough

  • 20 the number of years since a bunch of nations offered to step up conservation efforts
  • 1:5 of the world’s vertebrate species are reportedly in danger of extinction today, despite this
  • 18% the magnitude worse that things would be if not for in-place conservation efforts source
  • » Why is this a big deal, anyway? Well, one thing to keep in mind is that having a rich environment has its own economic benefits. So-called “ecosystem services,” which provide such things as clean drinking water and pest control, are worth $33 trillion a year, according to Birdlife International ornithologist Stuart Butchart. He says that ignoring the environment could be the equivalent of losing seven percent of the global GDP. Wow.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 10:46

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World: Was Indonesia’s tsunami-warning system working?

  • NO somebody vandalized it; good job, you freaking moron source
  • » This is really depressing because: Well, let’s see. The system was built in the wake of the ultra-deadly 2004 tsunami. And it’s going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. So yeah, read into that what you will, guys. That said, since the quake was so close to the islands, it may have been tough to react in time, anyway.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 10:36

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Politics: Obama’s headed to “The Daily Show” for totally calculated reasons

  • The President hasn’t been shy about going to the places where people are getting their information and trying to make his case. And I think that’s what he’ll do on the show.
  • White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs • Admitting that Obama’s reasons for going on “The Daily Show” are a last-ditch effort to build some momentum going into the midterms. Which, let’s face it, there are much worse ways to do that. We just wish it wasn’t so calculated. In other Jon Stewart-related news, TBD has a pretty entertaining takedown of all the media pundits who have been freaking out over “The Rally to Restore Sanity” and “The March to Keep Fear Alive,” many of which are along the lines of “omigodhe’sgonetoofarthistime” screeds. Use your heads, guys. It’s no worse than any other rally. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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