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20 Dec 2010 23:33

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U.S.: Man takes loaded gun onto aircraft, TSA doesn’t notice

  • in theory, we like the tsa. Unpleasant as “enhanced” pat downs are, it’s a small price to pay for the assurance of safety. And if that were actually how things worked, we’d have no complaints. But as soon as someone is able to successfully take a loaded gun onto an aircraft, we have to call BS. Because at that point, why even have a TSA? What’s worse, this apparently happens all the time; ABC News reports that some airports have a failure rate of 70% (!). Granted, this time it was an accident. But what about when it’s not? It’s about time to seriously re-think airport security.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 22:43

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World: More horrific capital punishment, this time with a twist

  • terrible A 50-year old Bangladesh was sentenced to 40 lashes for an alleged affair with her stepson. She died of internal injuries following the beating.
  • strange Those responsible for the beating were subsequently arrested. Why? They weren’t supposed to kill her; that’s against the law. What a world. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 22:08

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Politics, U.S.: McConnell explains Republican approach to legislating

  • There’s much for [Democrats] to be angst-ridden about. If they think it’s bad now, wait ’till next year.
  • Senator Mitch McConnell • Salivating at the prospect of continuing to make life unpleasant for Democrats in the next Congress. McConnell stated in November that the “single most important thing” for Senate Republicans to accomplish was defeating Barack Obama in 2012. Not to overstate the obvious, but man, this guy really gets a kick out of antagonizing Democrats. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 22:03

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Politics: Free, with a catch: N.Y.’s David Paterson fined over World Series tix

  • $62,125 in other words, market value source
  • » Why was he nailed? Simple. The five tickets, which were given to him by the Yankees, represented a conflict of interest, due to the fact that the state does business with the Yankees in multiple ways. Oh, also, he lied about intending to pay the Yankees back for the tickets, something which was widely refuted by others, including members of his own staff. Basically, if you’re a politician, you probably shouldn’t take free tickets for anything.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 21:43

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World: International pressure keeps up on Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo

  • He may very well be trying to ignore us and be hoping that we’ll forget and go away or focus on another issue. I can only remind him that this is a unanimous international community. We’re not going away, and we’re not going to forget this.
  • U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs William Fitzgerald • Pointing out that Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo picked the wrong international community to mess with. Fitzgerald’s words should have teeth, and so do American actions (we put strong sanctions on Gbagbo), but considering all of the human rights atrocities that have happened in Africa on the international community’s watch (Rwanda, Darfur, ZImbabwe, so on, so forth), can we really trust this? Seems like these words have a tinge of emptiness. Mind you, we hope things change this time, but where’s the evidence things will? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 21:35

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Politics: Democrats and Republicans strike deal to expedite judicial nominees

  • 19 judicial nominations will be finally confirmed by the Senate GOP after months of hold up, as part of a deal between party leaders
  • four judges’ names will be withdrawn from nomination (including the controversial Goodwin Liu), as a means of placating Republicans source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 20:46

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Tech: Apple lowers barrier of entry for advertisers, but not developers

  • Question of the day: Why is there a slick iAd creation program (the brand-new iAd Producer, above), but not a slick iPhone app creation program? Seems like Apple’s new development environment for advertising should exist in a similar form for iPhone app creators, lowering the barrier of entry for many app designers and getting more people in on the game. This seems like a direct competitor to Flash, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 Dec 2010 20:22

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U.S.: Which states stand to gain (and lose) the most from redistricting?

  • With a fresh Census coming out tomorrow, we all know what you’re worried about. That’s right, where are all the seats in the House gonna move? There’s 435 of them, and people don’t stay stationary their entire lives. So, who benefits this time around? Well, if we could put it into two words: The GOP. People in general are moving into areas that have long been Republican strongholds, while moving away from traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states. “The hands that are on the [computer] mouse will be much more Republican hands, presumably crafting much more Republican seats,” said Election Data Services president Kindall Brace, who put that better than we ever could. Anyway, you want specifics, so here are some specifics:
  • winners Texas is the big winner, and Florida and Arizona should also get multiple seats, too. Nearly every state in the South minus hurricane-ravaged Louisiana wins out. So does the Pacific Northwest.
  • losers States with legacy industrial centers in the Midwest, particularly Ohio (which will likely lose two seats) and Michigan. East-coasters lose out too, particularly New York and Massachusetts. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 19:47

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World: Captured Mexican politician freed, looks like he’s been through hell

  • The good news is that Diego Fernández de Cevallos, a well-known Mexican political figure better known as “El Jefe Diego,” former presidential candidate and top national figure in the country, was freed on Monday after seven months of captivity. The bad news is that he looks like this, has probably been through many horrible things and usually looks like the photo in this CBS article. The worse news is that his family reportedly paid $20 million to get the prominent politician released from captivity. The worst part? His captors released him into the world looking like Santa Claus during Christmas week. Can you get more evil than that? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 11:08

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World: “Europe’s Last Dictator” wins overwhelmingly in Belarus

As contested elections go, the Ivory Coast’s situation is far scarier, but the drama around leader Alexander Lukashenko’s latest election in Belarus is nothing to sneeze at. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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