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06 Jan 2011 22:28

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Politics: What would be the effect of repealing health care reform?

  • $250billionincrease in deficit over the next ten years if the GOP succeeds in repealing health care reform
  • 32million more people would be uninsured, too. Three cheers for repeal! source
  • » This isn’t according to Congressional Democrats. It’s not according to the White House. No, these numbers come from the third party, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Republicans have cited CBO numbers in the past, too, so this isn’t an example of a biased report coming from a politically-motivated source. It’s just the facts, ma’am.

06 Jan 2011 22:26

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Politics: Santorum puts an end to questions of Palin’s qualifications

  • What does it mean to be qualified to be president? She is born in this country and she’s the right age. Those are the qualifications.
  • Rick Santorum • When asked if Sarah Palin is qualified to be President. The former Senator brings up a valid point, and yeah, it’s silly for us to keep asking if she’s qualified. However, keep in mind his motivations: Santorum is widely seen to be considering a run for President himself in 2012. Were he and Palin to both enter the race, they’d be directly competing for the social conservative vote, so it makes sense that he’d start subtly deriding her now. source

06 Jan 2011 19:52

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Politics: The Juan Williams after-effect: NPR shakes up its leadership

  • cause NPR decided to quickly fire news analyst Juan Williams for saying that Muslims made him feel uncomfortable, which drew a lot of controversy and led Fox News to hire him full-time.
  • effect After an investigation into what happened, NPR’s Senior VP for News, Ellen Weiss, resigned, and CEO Vivian Schiller won’t be getting a bonus this year. Them’s the breaks. source

06 Jan 2011 19:44

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Politics: Boehner not a birther, won’t clamp down on GOPers who are

  • The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there. That’s good enough for me.
  • House Speaker John Boehner • Speaking on the topic of birthers, a topic that found itself in the news today thanks to someone who really likes shouting during a formal recitation of the U.S. Constitution. Despite his own personal feelings on Tea Partiers, don’t expect Boehner to stomp on the political beliefs of his fellow members of Congress, no matter the party: “People come, regardless of party labels, they come with all kinds of beliefs and ideas. It’s the melting pot of America. It’s not up to me to tell them what to think.” Ultimately, we pretty much agree with that sentiment, even if it means a couple of weirdos get in there. source

06 Jan 2011 17:03

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Offbeat: Happiness is a dancer: Crazy dancer turns seizure into dance

  • Does Susan Boyle have a sister? And does she like to dance? Because this woman … her moves are something else. Best part? Her name is Happiness. (Thanks Adam Griffiths) source

06 Jan 2011 13:14

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Politics: “Help Us Jesus!” Birther interrupts House’s Constitution-reading

  • Look, it’s great that Congress is doing this, seeing as it’s never ever been done, but please, don’t shout any imagined amendments to the Constitution while it’s being read. It’s just kind of lame. (thanks joshsternberg for the tip) source

06 Jan 2011 11:14

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Tech: Apple’s Mac App Store: A cool concept, with caveats

  • So, look, the idea sounds cool. And we admit to be looking forward to checking it out. But at the same time, we totally understand why some developers might be freaking out. If the app store is successful at changing the behavior of Apple’s biggest die-hards, it could turn consumers used to spending $20-30 on a program into people who routinely complain that an app costs more than $2. But if this thing is a hit, just think of the scale it could have! So, as you browse through the 1,000+ apps on the store today, keep that in mind before you go too crazy. source
 

06 Jan 2011 10:59

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Tech: Sign of nervousness: AT&T cuts iPhone 3GS price by half

  • $49 somebody must be losing iPhone exclusivity soon source

06 Jan 2011 10:48

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Culture: So, how far did the homeless radio man Ted Williams fall?

  • Of all the people I’ve worked with in radio in 25 years, he would have been the last one I would guess would be famous. To be honest, I’m shocked he’s still alive, considering all the stuff he was into.
  • A former co-worker of golden-voiced homeless man Ted Williams • Explaining their experience working in radio with the man who’s dramatically been given multiple second chances this week. Williams, who has spent about five months in jail over the last twenty years and has a long-ranging list of misdemeanors, reportedly had a reputation of theft, according to the co-worker. Williams, who has six children (and myriad grandchildren and great-grandchildren), ended his marriage in 1998 because of his infidelity and crack-cocaine habit. He’s been clean for the last two years, and showed up on the “Today Show” this morning. Talk about comeback stories. Let’s hope that this time, he doesn’t get sucked into a world of drugs and alcohol. source

06 Jan 2011 10:28

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Politics: He deserved it: Elizabeth Edwards took John out of will

  • six days before Elizabeth Edwards died, she took her estranged husband John out of the will
  • no he is not listed as guardian of the youngest children, either – that job went to oldest sister Catharine source