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06 Nov 2010 15:18

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Culture: USA Today used Comic Sans on its front page Friday. NOOOOO

  • NO. NO. NO. NO. No. No. No. This is wrong. No. USA Today needs to stop doing this. Not even Conan can make this usage desirable. (Thanks to Danny Unruh, @kstateunruh for the image)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 14:13

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Politics: Defend Olbermann, go viral: How @ericfadden got 2,500 retweets

  • Before you know it my iPhone can’t turn it’s screen off because I’m getting near constant push notifications of retweets.
  • Twitter user (and SFB reader) Eric Fadden • Explaining how he became something of a Twitter celebrity yesterday after a key point that he made in the Keith Olbermann saga received 2,500 retweets. The tweet? “Gotta love the new campaign contribution rules. Keith Olbermann donates as a citizen and gets suspended. A corp can give & remain nameless.” Fadden says that around 90 percent of the tweeters agreed him, but the other ten percent were very critical. To that, he says: “Has the polarization gotten that bad where we would mock one of our own as their rights are trampled by their employer…nay, even worse, when that employer enjoys more protection than those it employs?” Good point, Eric. It’s good to point out that the game is a little different for journalists, but Olbermann is biased and should not be held to the standard of a reporter. Meanwhile, General Electric can anonymously influence the electoral process as they choose. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 13:44

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U.S.: Four Loko banned in Michigan: Get your blackouts somewhere else

  • “Blackout in a Can” is losing the PR battle. So, it appears that Four Loko is about to become persona non grata in convenience stores across Michigan, as the state has banned the drink altogether (along with 55 other alcohol-plus-energy-drink concoctions) in the wake of a sexual assault case involving Four Loko. “Until further research is done by the FDA, they should no longer be on Michigan shelves,” said Michigan Liquor Control Commission Chairwoman Nida Samona. The makers of Four Loko are protesting the decision. (photo via ghostdad) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 13:21

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World: Yemeni Judge orders terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki’s arrest

If you happen to be this guy, Yemen’s police are on their way to arrest you for alleged terror ties to al-Qaeda. By. Any. Means. Possible. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 13:00

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Politics: George W. Bush on waterboarding: “Damn right.” Damn right.

  • I thought about my meeting with Danny Pearl’s widow, who was pregnant with his son when he was murdered. I thought about the 2,971 people stolen from their families by al Qaeda on 9/11. And I thought about my duty to protect my country from another act of terror. ‘Damn right,’ I said.
  • George W. Bush • Explaining in his coming memoir, “Decision Points,” why he allowed the CIA to waterboard suspects being interrogated, specifically Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. While it’s clear from the quote that he thought the decision through, the off-the-cuffness of his response strikes us as a little, you know, stark. We appreciate Bush caring so much about the lives of Americans that he’s willing to waterboard a 9/11 suspect, but waterboarding is about half a step away from torture. In fact, depending on who you ask, lots of people consider it torture. Also in the book, Bush (who claims to be through with politics) compliments Obama’s political skills while criticizing those of John McCain. He is also keeping his nose out of the whole 2012 race out of respect for Obama. This is impressive restraint that he at times didn’t show in office, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 12:30

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Culture: Fark’s brilliant “Scott Pilgrim” ad: You need the Konami Code

  • Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A: Put this key combination into the Fark homepage and you’ll be dragged into a Scott Pilgrim mini-game that makes us all of a sudden want to forgive Drew Curtis for being so rash the other day. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 12:17

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World: Pope Benedict to Spain: Your secularism is bad news, guys

  • The clash between faith and modernity is happening again, and it is very strong today. … Spain saw in the 1930s the birth of a strong and aggressive anti-clericalism.
  • Pope Benedict XVI • Seeming to suggest that Spain’s growing secularism will bring rise to the kind of fascism that led to the Spanish Civil War. See, Spain (currently ruled by Socialists) has done a few things that the Catholic Church doesn’t like, including getting rid of religious education in schools and legalizing abortion. The pope suggests a “meeting between faith and secularism and not a confrontation.” Perhaps we’re cynical, but does anyone see this as the Pope’s attempt to scare people back towards religion in Spain? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Nov 2010 12:00

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U.S.: Oscar Grant death: Oakland gets unruly after yesterday’s sentencing

  • 1,000+ number of letters the judge received recommending a harsh sentence for BART officer Johannes Mehserle
  • 152 people arrested in Oakland last night in the wake of the light sentence for Mehserle source
  • » Why was the sentence so light? Well, a few things. First, Superior Court Judge Robert Perry felt that the cop had “tons of remorse” for his actions, and that lots of evidence suggested Oscar Grant’s killing was accidental. “I did the best I could with this case,” Perry said yesterday. “My decisions today will not be well-received by many people. I’m sorry for that.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 11:38

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U.S.: Waste of time: The TSA’s coming ban on printer ink cartridges

  • Let’s admit a basic fact here: If you’re a passenger carrying a printer ink or toner cartridge on a plane, you’re probably a terrorist. It’s such a weird thing to be carrying on a plane in the first place that we can feel safe in saying this. This will inconvenience nobody except printer and printer ink manufacturers. Even so, when the TSA bans this device, it’s going to be a huge waste of time, because now that al-Qaeda knows that the TSA knows about it, they’ll never use it again. This, friends, is called security theater and won’t actually keep anyone safe. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2010 11:08

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World: Beyond package bombs, al-Qaeda takes credit for random Dubai crash

  • claim On top of taking credit for the package bombs last week, al-Qaeda claims they were behind a UPS plane bombing in Dubai back in September.
  • denial United Arab Emirates officials claim that there was no explosion in that crash, which killed two pilots and probably destroyed quite a few care packages. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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