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17 Jan 2011 12:19

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Offbeat: The Washington Post agrees: The DC Metro makes free-jazz music

  • We’ve been saying for months that there is a great found-sounds album to be made from the incidental noises from the DC Metro’s escalators. Some of the escalators sound like they’re performing free-jazz. It appears the Washington Post agrees with us, because they wrote an article about it. Nobody steal our idea, OK guys? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 11:31

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World: Julian Assange has the goods on Swiss bank users, kids

  • You’d think, seeing that the guy on the right (former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer) probably risked his hide to give Julian Assange detail on prominent individuals who used Swiss banks to evade taxes, Assange would muster up enough happiness to show a smile. But no. He still looks like an Eeyore-ish version of James Bond. Turn that frown upside down, Julian! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 11:18

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World: China trying to look warmer, fuzzier to skeptical Americans

  • problem One in five Americans claim that China is the biggest threat to the U.S., way above any other country, probably because they stole all the jobs or something like that.
  • solution When President Hu Jintao is in the U.S., China plans to air ads on American TV in an attempt to soften their image. Hey, Yao Ming! Whoa, a Chinese astronaut! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 11:10

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World: Tunisians finally getting full grasp of Ben Ali’s opulence

  • It makes me sad because [Ben Ali and his family] stole all the money to build this house from the people of Tunisia. He lives in luxury and the people do not have money for food.
  • Tunisian citizen Priska Nufar • Expressing anger while looking through the former Tunisian president’s luxurious home recently. The level of wealth and riches that Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali are only becoming fully clear as the country goes completely into turmoil, with images of these riches getting shown on TV and in other mediums. Some of his family’s properties have been destroyed and looted in the wake of the unrest, while many wait for the next step Tunisia takes as a country. Hopefully their next leader will be willing to share. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 10:58

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Biz, Tech: Stock futures market not liking Steve Jobs being sick again

  • Stock markets don’t have hearts. They’re giant money machines that react to news in callous, cold ways that don’t appreciate the nuances of a person’s achievements. Which is why, when someone like Steve Jobs takes a medical leave of absence – which isn’t the big Apple announcement everyone had been expecting (wait a second, this isn’t shaped like an iPad 2!) – stocks go haywire. Fortunately, they timed the news on MLK day, so the New York stock market gets a bit of a breather. But other markets are still open today, and the futures market isn’t liking the news either. Some quick numbers for you kids:
  • 7.5% Apple’s stock dip on the German stock market today after Jobs’ announcement
  • 0.9%stock futures dip on the NASDAQ – THE ENTIRE THING – this morning after the announcement
  • 0.3% stock futures dip on the S&P 500 – ALSO THE ENTIRE THING – after he dropped the bomb source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 00:34

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Politics: Max Headroom: How 24-hour news cycles numb grave tragedies

  • Look, it’s been a long week. It feels like a lot has happened since the events of last Saturday, and it might feel good to have a palate-cleanser here, but instead, here’s this Lawrence O’Donnell clip. This whole Arizona debate has been about tone – the whole thing. It’s never been about looking for blame, even if that’s what some saw in it. It was a valid argument then and it still is a week later. That’s why this clip makes us uncomfortable. We somehow got from tragedy to Sarah Palin to this story angle, where it feels like everything has come full-circle – the emotion isn’t there. It’s just the acerbic commentary that doesn’t help as much as it thinks it does. There’s a good debate here – about what Palin or other commentators on both sides should or shouldn’t have done. If anything, the circumstances lent themselves to these questions. Now it’s time to let the questions stand on their own, without the shadow of the tragedy. Let’s make them two separate things.
  • Chris Christie: Not arrogant enoughYou know, in the face of all the accolades that GOP darling Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor, is getting for his approach to politics, what’s most refreshing is the way that he brushes them off like they’re not a big deal. Christie – again – says he’s not running for president. Why doesn’t anyone believe him?
  • A welcome Zodiac respiteAs ugly as this news week got, at least we had this story about the zodiac signs to use as a breather. Even as we had our own qualms with a certain angle of this story, we can say that it was the palate cleanser we needed. Rachel Maddow’s excited for the chance to focus on something else for a moment.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 23:17

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World: “Baby Doc” returns to Haiti: Mother Jones is on the scene

  • “It sounded like a wild rumor …” Mother Jones was on the scene as Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti after a quarter-century of exile. And despite his unpopularity, he had his supporters today. “Things have never been as good as when he was here,” one translator told reporter Mac McClelland. “The only thing that was worse was we couldn’t talk about politics because he was a dictator, but everything else is much worse now.” (thanks idroolinmysleep for pointing it out to us immediately we found it) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 Jan 2011 22:56

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World: Quick facts: How bad was Haiti leader “Baby Doc” Duvalier?

  • 19 the age that Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier took over Haiti
  • 28 number of years he and his dad, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, ruled over the country
  • 15 number of years “Baby Doc” was “president-for-life” before he was booted from power
  • 100k people left the country while “Baby Doc” was ruler; many sought asylum on rafts source
  • » With an iron fist: The regime of father and son – especially son – was noted for its disparities. The leaders, who had near-absolute rule (with the help of a secret police force called the Tonton Macoutes), lavished themselves while doing little to help Haiti’s population deal with the overwhelming poverty. It got so bad that Pope John Paul II publicly called out elites for their lack of interest in and care for the plight of the poor. To emphasize … this guy’s return is not good by any stretch of the imagination. He needs to go back to France.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 22:31

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World: Like a clichéd plot device, Jean-Claude Duvalier is back in Haiti


The guy on this sign was forced into exile from Haiti 25 years ago. Now, no longer a baby, “Baby Doc” is back, perhaps looking for forgiveness from the weakened country. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 17:32

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World: Update: Three things you should know about Tunisia’s unrest

  • one Protesters are wary of trusting the police; the situation remains volatile. Two major gun battles took place on Sunday, one of them near the presidential palace.
  • two Tunisia’s prime minister is promising a new government on Monday, and at least one ousted party plans to return to the country after the unrest dies down.
  • three High-profile members of former president Ben Ali’s staff have been arrested, and some of his family members have been attacked and killed by angry citizens. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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