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15 Jan 2011 22:02

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World: New Tunisia leader’s first act: Opening up the Interwebs

As a follow-up to our last Tunisia post, it’s good to note that new leader Fouad Mebazaa has unblocked the Interwebs in the country. Good news for everyone who likes freedom. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 21:06

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World: Tunisians: Ousted leader Ben Ali just as bad as “Big Brother”

  • I saw the RCD and the government and saw that it’s exactly like this book, with the big pictures of Ben Ali everywhere and people listening in to phone calls and informing on each other. Joining them is like selling your soul to the devil.
  • Former Tunisian citizen Ahmad Chebil • Explaining his experience with Zine el Abidine Ben Ali’s government, which wanted him to become a “citizen watcher” – essentially, someone who would spy on others and inform the government. But he never went for it – wanna know why? Well, he read a french translation of “1984” and could see the evil behind the basic idea. Also worth noting: This Ars Technica article explaining how the country ratcheted up its Internet censorship efforts in recent weeks – and how the Internet fought back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 21:02

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Tech: Worst startup angle: Naming your wannabe hip startup “Hipster”

  • 10,000 wannabe hipster signups so far source
  • » A really clichéd calling card: While not giving much away, the use of UseHipster.com appears to be ironic. Some might even say … detached. All that exists is a startup page of an aerial urban image that changes based on your proximity to NYC or San Francisco (or Atlanta or Chicago … The Washington Post lied! – thanks lemonpeelclock) – the two cities where whatever idea they have is going to launch. “I think we might have perfected the viral ‘Coming Soon’ page,” said founder Doug Ludlow, who is wrong.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 20:22

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U.S.: Arizona shooting victims making mark in surprising ways

  • arrests A week after being hit in the leg and back during the shooting, minorly-injured victim Eric Fuller got himself arrested at a taping for ABC’s “This Week” by angrily telling a Tucson Tea Party leader, “You’re dead.”
  • transplants In much more heartwarming news, some of 9-year-old victim Christina Taylor Green’s organs saved an East Coast child’s life, thereby providing a bittersweet antidote to the story on the left. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 19:19

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U.S.: After “don’t ask” repeal, women in combat could be next

  • Service policies that bar women from gaining entry to certain combat-related career fields, specialties, units, and assignments are based on standards of conventional warfare, with well-defined, linear battlefields. However, the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been anything but conventional.
  • A draft report by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission • Arguing that women should be allowed to take part in more combat roles. Currently, the military has “combat exclusion policies” that prevent women from playing full roles in combat – rules that have been in play for decades. The Military Leadership Diversity Commission has only been in play for a couple of years, by the way, so there’s no word on how effective their report will be – there’s been a push for this for nearly two decades. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 18:36

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U.S.: Good news: Gabrielle Giffords now breathing on her own, guys

  • negative A week after the shooting which mortally wounded her, Gabrielle Giffords is still in critical condition at a Tucson-area hospital.
  • positive She’s the only shooting victim still in critical condition – most have improved or gone home at this point.
  • positiver She can now breathe  without a ventilator – a big step. Doctors are very happy with her progress so far. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 13:32

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World: A quick recap of Tunisia’s presidential situation at the moment

  • one Tunisian president in the 23 years before yesterday’s freefall
  • three Tunisian presidents in just 24 hours; sounds fairly stable to us source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Jan 2011 12:58

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Politics: John Boehner keeps declining Obama’s high-profile invitations

  • nope Boehner was invited to ride with Obama on Air Force One to the Tucson memorial on Wednesday. He declined because he had GOP-related plans in D.C.
  • no way The House Speaker was then invited to a state dinner with Chinese President Hu Jintao – a pretty high-profile world leader – but he declined that, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 12:48

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Politics: Obama hoping for bipartisanship in wake of Arizona shooting

  • As business resumes, I look forward to working together in that same spirit of common cause with members of Congress from both parties — because before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans.
  • President Obama • Looking to emphasize bipartisan goodwill in the wake of last week’s Gabrielle Giffords shooting. He made the statement during his weekly address, which was followed by a response from Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, who said that the incident should not force Congress to be afraid of doing its job. “And so it is our duty to uphold our oath, to listen and to represent,” he said. “We will not let this inhumane act cow us into doing otherwise.” In other Arizona news, Obama literally wrote the memorable “Gabby opened her eyes” bit on the way to the basketball arena just before he spoke at the memorial earlier this week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 12:19

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Biz: Johnson & Johnson recalls more drugs over quality issues

  • 47 million more over-the-counter drugs recalled by J&J (wow) source
  • » Why did they recall them? Mainly, there were some quality control issues with the drugs. Johnson & Johnson, which has had to recall a lot of drugs in the last little while due to safety issues, claimed that when researching the prior recalls, they found that manufacturing and safety standards weren’t up to snuff for most of the drugs recalled (Tylenol, Benadryl, Sudafed and Sinutab, which make up about 42.9 million of the 47 million recalled products). The rest of the drugs were insufficiently-labeled packs of Rolaids. J&J has lost hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the recalls, which first began in late 2009 thanks to some metal specks in children’s medicine.
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