Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

30 Oct 2010 22:12

tags

Politics: McDonald’s franchisee regretting telling workers how to vote

  • If the right people are elected, we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels. If others are elected, we will not.
  • A message distributed with paychecks at a Canton, Ohio McDonald’s • Telling employees to vote for the GOP – or else. The dude who sent out the note with the paychecks was called out for it, for good reason, but he gave one of those non-apology apologies which are in vogue nowadays. “Distributing this communication was an error of judgment on my part,” said a statement from franchisee Paul Siegfried. “Please know it was never my intention to offend anyone. For those that I have offended, I sincerely apologize.” Protip: Don’t disenfranchise voters by threatening to cut (or limit) their benefits. It’ll bite you in the ass. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 20:39

tags

Culture: Awesome: Zach Galifianakis turns pot panel into pot party

  • Someone has to start to break the taboo against marijuana, and it might as well be Zach Galifianakis. Strange, we would’ve assumed Lawrence O’Donnell would’ve done it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 20:00

tags

Biz: Cablevision, Fox finally settle whiny baby dispute – after two weeks

  • 14 number of days the cable network stalemate went on
  • 3M number of customers affected by the cable stalemate
  • eight MLB playoff games (and two weeks of football) went off the air source
  • » Why did the stalemate last so long? Well, Cablevision wanted regulatory intervention from the government, who wanted the two companies to decide things for themselves. Usually, these things last two days, tops. And it’s possible that the long stalemate has hurt Fox’s overall ratings, which are down 17 percent from a year ago. To both of these companies: Who benefits from this?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 19:45

tags

Politics: How big was the crowd at the Rally To Restore Sanity, anyway?

Comedy Central estimated 250,000, which would be bigger than many estimates (but not the official estimate) of the Glenn Beck rally. Either way, it was freaking massive. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 19:36

tags

Politics: Stewart/Colbert rally: The highlights of the awesomest event evah!

  • There were many great moments in today’s Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear. But above is probably the best. The way Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert raided their record collections to pull three well-known artists that have nothing in common (other than really famous songs with word “train” in the title) was brilliant. Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam hasn’t exactly been in the spotlight for a good thirty years, partially by choice. And, as certain conservative pundits will remind you, he said something very stupid 21 years ago. So what? If anything, Stewart’s use of Islam only proves the point of the rally. Other key parts of the day:
  • oneThe Mythbuster dudes turned the rally into a giant science experiment, complete with “The Wave.” Awesome use of a crowd.
  • twoStephen Colbert first came out using a contraption not unlike the one used to rescue the Chilean miners. LOL. Freaking brilliant.
  • three Jon Stewart said this: “Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land, it’s just New Jersey, but we do it anyway.” source
  • » Oh, and the signs! We can’t forget the signs. There were many of them. Here are some of the highlights. And here are some more. And to the users of Reddit: Way to come out in force for this one! Digg only wishes it had this kind of influence on current events.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 12:33

tags

World: Afghan war: Military base clash doesn’t end well for insurgents

  • 80+ number of insurgent forces who died in last night’s fighting in Afghanistan
  • zero number of coalition forces (or civilians) who died in fighting source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 12:27

tags

Biz, Tech: Does the U.S. think companies should patent genes?

  • NO they think that genes are part of nature and shouldn’t be source
  • » Why this is a big deal: Well, among other things, this is a change of policy for them, one that could make it harder for the biotechnology and medicine industries to keep innovations unique. We wish that the government would make this distinction on software patents over trivial things. See, that’s where a change in decision is necessary.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Oct 2010 11:50

tags

U.S., World: Terror threat: Suspicious device in UK meant to blow up plane

  • The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down. We do not believe that the perpetrators of the attack would have known the location of the device when it was planned to explode.
  • UK emergency planning committee Theresa May • Explaining the situation with the device found on a plane intercepted at a London airport yesterday. So yeah, the expected the thing to blow up. It didn’t. In other news, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano states the obvious. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 09:30

tags

World: Finally, some good (OK, better) news from the Indonesia quake

  • 135 missing people were found alive so far; whew source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2010 09:26

tags

Politics: “Rally To Restore Sanity”: Faceless bureaucrats plan counter-rally

Just before the “Rally To Restore Sanity” happens this morning, a bunch of faceless bureaucrats hope to prove that they, in fact, have a face. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags