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12 Nov 2010 16:26

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U.S.: Protests growing against TSA’s ultra-invasive full-body scans

  • First off: Clever shirts, Despair. Second, are we finally reaching a point where regular people are starting to agree with our stance on the TSA? It appears that on November 24th, there’s going to be a protest against those super-invasive full-body scans. People will skip out on the process or not travel at all. That’s right, a TSA protest called “National Opt Out Day.” On the day before Thanksgiving, the busiest travel day of the entire year. Which is brilliant, but will piss off thousands of travelers in the process by making lines longer. Because the TSA is useless. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 16:03

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Politics: HuffPo: Bush ganked “Decision Points” passages from other books

  • Not to pick on George W. Bush today, what with our whole death penalty thing in the previous post, but The Huffington Post is making some pretty crazy claims that George W. Bush has ripped off quotes and passages from other memoirs from Bush staffers, along with the books Bob Woodward wrote about the Bush presidency. Who knows if that’s true or not, or even if it’s a big deal (we think it’s hard to remember exact quotes with that many years of separation), but some of the quotes are awful close, to the point where it’d be weird for them to be remembered exactly the same way by multiple people. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 15:45

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U.S.: Did George W. Bush allow the execution of an innocent man?

  • I have no doubt that if President Bush had known about the request to do a DNA test of the hair he would have issued a 30-day stay in this case and Jones would not have been executed.
  • Innocence Project founder Barry Scheck • Arguing that George W. Bush, while still governor of Texas, let death row inmate Claude Jones face execution in 2000, despite the existence of DNA evidence which proved he was innocent. The Innocence Project revealed today that Jones’ DNA was not found at the crime scene of the liquor store where the 1989 murder of Allen Hilzendager. While hair at the crime scene was initially linked to Jones after the crime took place, it wasn’t actually his, and even though Jones asked for DNA testing on the strand of hair, it wasn’t enough to force a stay of execution. No other physical evidence linked Jones to the scene.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 15:25

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U.S.: Supreme Court: “Don’t ask” stays put in the military for now

  • sigh … “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was blocked in a lower court, only to be temporarily allowed again by a federal appeals court.
  • … sigh It was appealed to the Supreme Court, where they kept the ban intact while the lower courts duke it out. Wait it out, kids. source
  • » What happens next: The policy will stay in place until at least mid-March, when a federal appeals court decides what happens next. A lot suggests it won’t hold water – for example, a Defense Department panel recently found that the policy could be reversed with little to no negative effect on troops, which goes against most arguments being made by opponents of “don’t ask.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 12:02

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World: Post-elections, Myanmar might set Aung San Suu Kyi (sorta) free

Now that the election’s over and the power is firmly in the military junta’s hands, long-house-arrested Nobel Peace Prize Aung San Suu Kyi may finally get (some) freedom. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 11:09

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Politics: LOL: Media Matters wins lunch with Rupert Murdoch in auction

  • $86,000 to ruin some rich guy’s meal source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 11:00

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Biz: News Corp. dude complains about mobile “cannibalizing” sales

  • The problem with the apps is that they are much more directly cannibalistic of the print products than the website. People interact with it much more like they do with the traditional product.
  • News Corp. Europe and Asia head (and Rupert’s kid) James Murdoch • Explaining why mobile apps are a danger to his company’s business model. Sorry James, but if you don’t like it, deal with it. The two papers that you’ve put behind paywalls so far have lost most of their readership, so clearly you understand your market. Oh, who are we kidding? You have no clue about the online or mobile spaces. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Nov 2010 10:37

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Biz: Newsweek, The Daily Beast become singular corporate beast

  • Nothing more to add to this, really. Good luck guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 10:25

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Politics: Cindy McCain calls out hubby John in latest NOH8 campaign video

  • John McCain may want to delay DADT’s repeal, but his wife doesn’t feel quite the same way. Cindy McCain, who has appeared in photos for the pro-gay-marriage NOH8 Campaign in the past, shows up in this latest anti-gay-bullying clip saying this: “Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future … They can’t serve our country openly … Our government treats the LGBT community like second-class citizens, why shouldn’t [the bullies]?” Her husband led the filibuster against “don’t ask, don’t tell,” so she’s literally calling out her husband in the clip. He also ran on an anti-gay-marriage platform back in 2008. If anyone else thinks that’s incredibly ballsy, raise your hand. *raises hand* source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Nov 2010 23:04

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Culture, U.S.: Worst timing ever: Garfield cartoon appears to mock veterans

  • It was an accident. Jim Davis didn’t intend for this cartoon to be posted on Veterans Day. Unfortunately, it was, giving the unfortunate (and untrue) impression that Davis doesn’t respect (to put it lightly) the brave men and women who’ve fought for this country. He quickly posted an apology; “I had no idea when writing it that it would appear today,” Davis wrote on the Garfield site. Bad timing, but hey, at least it was a mistake. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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