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

27 Jan 2011 23:52

tags

U.S.: Financial meltdown: Completely avoidable & we’re all to blame

  • The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not of Mother Nature or computer models gone haywire. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault lies not in the stars, but in us.
  • Democrats on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission • Reporting the findings of an investigation into what caused everything to go to hell back in September of ’08. The majority statement was issued by the commission’s six Democrats, and opined that the crisis was avoidable: “The public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings,” it read. The four Republicans on the committee didn’t agree; three said that it was the unavoidable result of global economic forces, while the fourth blamed the crisis on (wait for it) over-regulation of the housing markets. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 23:22

tags

World: Internet, text messaging severed in Egypt, most likely by government

  • NO Internet in Egypt; it’s been shut down source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 22:42

tags

World: China airs clip from Tom Cruise film, claims it’s military training footage

  • claim China Central Television aired footage of fighter jets shooting one another down and exploding spectacularly in mid-air, claiming it was taken from a air force training exercise.
  • reality A closer analysis of the footage reveals that, far from a military training reel, it’s actually just a bunch of clips from “Top Gun,” the beloved 80’s classic. Oh, China, you’re so adorable. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 22:37

tags

Tech: All the flavor, none of the fat: New device lets you inhale food vapors

  • $135 price of tasting…without eating source
  • » How it works: First, take a packet of specially-prepared, pre-liquidized food (yum!). Then, pop it into “Le Whaf,” as the gizmo is called, and watch as it’s magically transformed it into vapor. The vapor collects in an enormous glass bowl, at which point you’re just one straw-suck away from getting all of the food’s delicious flavor without the annoyance of texture, consistency, or a full stomach. It also works with booze, meaning that you can sidestep that awful side-effect of being drunk and just enjoy the scrumptious taste of alcohol. It costs $135, and the inventor admits to having been drunk when he came up with the idea.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 21:48

tags

Politics: It’s decision time: Prospective 2012 candidates start making choices

  • no Rep. Mike Pence has announced that he won’t run for President in 2012, as many had speculated. Instead, he’ll have a run at the Indiana Governorship.
  • maybe Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is close to deciding whether or not to throw his hat in the 2012 ring, telling Politico that he’ll “fish or cut bait soon.”
  • yes?The big shocker is that Jon Huntsman, Obama’s Ambassador to China, is reportedly “leaning” towards a run. We’ll believe it when we see it. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 19:04

tags

U.S.: Does Rahm Emanuel get to stay on the Chicago mayoral ballot?

  • YES so step off Rahm-en Boy’s back, hataz source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 18:46

tags

U.S.: Who’s this Jay Carney dude? A wasted opportunity, that’s who.

  • We have no clue who this Jay Carney loser is. But we don’t like him. He looks like a square whose nose doesn’t completely fit on his face. We had a lot of hopes and dreams about helping the Obama administration on its long road towards triangulation, but now, the dream is dead. This loser, who once worked at some lame-ass publication that nobody’s ever heard of called “Time”, used to be Biden’s press secretary before they moved him over to Obama’s job. Had he kept said job, we would’ve been totally cool with him. But, now, Jay, it’s war. You’re about as suited to this job as Jim Varney would’ve been. You guys have phonetically similar names. That’s not a coincidence. Like Mr. Varney, you will be considered a laughingstock in your industry. And we’ll be sitting over here, waiting for you to fall down, ready to gain what is rightfully ours. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Jan 2011 15:11

tags

U.S.: McConnell, Reid hash out “gentleman’s agreement” over filibuster

  • problem The exploding use of the filibuster rule has stagnated the Senate, with a 60-vote supermajority often needed to pass legislation, one senator being able to secretly block any vote they so please, and the president’s appointments being held up in the confirmation process seemingly endlessly.
  • solution? Today’s “gentleman’s agreement” between Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell, in which for more capacity to add amendments, the GOP will filibuster less, will support ending the secret vote block, and will cut by one-third the number of Obama appointments that need Senate confirmation. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 14:38

tags

U.S.: Terror threat level warnings to get a functional overhaul

  • The alerts will be specific to the threat. They may recommend certain actions, or suggest   looking for specific suspicious behavior. And they will have a specified end date.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano • Speaking on the topic of the oft-maligned terror threat level scale imposed following 9/11 (you know the one, orange=bad, red=really bad), Napolitano claimed that the future system of warning Americans about terrorism risks will be more informative. The old system, which merely stated the risk with no contextual information, was often accused of being vague and unhelpful. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 14:14

tags

U.S.: CDC issues dire estimate of American diabetes

  • 105 million people with diabetes or prediabetes, CDC claims source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>