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17 Feb 2011 19:55

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Politics: Wisconsin Dems: “We were left with no choice” but to leave state

  • We were left with no choice … The question is when are the Republicans going to sit down seriously with the other side on this issue and try to work something out.
  • Democrat Wisconsin state Sen. Jon Erpenbach • Explaining why he chose to leave the state, and what it will take to get him back. He and every other Democratic state senator in Wisconsin left in protest of a GOP-backed plan to limit public employees’ abilities to collectively bargain for better wages, in a push to stop a deficit crisis. As a result, the GOP doesn’t have quorum – because 20 state senators need to be there, and there are 19 Republicans. This is the first such incident were an entire party left a state to avoid a vote since Democratic members of the Texas state senate and state house left the state to avoid a vote on redistricting – the same vote, mind you, that led to Tom DeLay’s corruption conviction. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 19:27

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Tech: Huffington Post uses word “Google” 103 times in single article

  • The article of the moment on HuffPo: Personally, we prefer to Bing Google on Bing. What an obvious grab for SEO! The article says Google 103 times (by our count)! But seriously, folks, we Lycos this article and think it’s pretty Cuil. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 15:31

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U.S.: Justice Department nabs Medicare fraud suspects in sweep

  • 111 people were charged with defrauding Medicare, a record bust
  • $225 million the amount defendants reportedly attempted to defraud source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 15:16

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World: And now in Libya, the beat goes on…

  • Today the Libyans broke the barrier of fear, it is a new dawn.
  • Faiz Jibril, exiled Libyan opposition figure • Commenting on the raucous protests which have recently turned violent, with reports of unarmed protesters being shot (at times shot dead) by the police. Reports are that hospitals are swamped, as well, with people needing treatment for critical gunshot wounds. A lot of ink was devoted after the Tunisian revolt, as to whether it would serve as a catalyst for other uprisings, whether the factors that existed in Tunisia could be sensibly said to exist in other dictatorial states in the region. Those factors, it seems, are no longer relevant. The uprisings themselves are the reason for more uprisings. What we’re witnessing is a geopolitical domino effect unlike anything we’ve seen before. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 14:09

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Culture: Science Channel nets rights to sci-fi cult classic “Firefly”

  • Firefly fans rejoice: The wonderful sci-fi series that lived far too short a life will be airing on the Science Channel, as they’ve acquired the rights for the show’s full run. They will be airing them in intended order (something Fox couldn’t manage), in high definition, and with supplemental scientific commentary from phyisicist Dr. Michio Kaku. Moreover, Nathan Fillion has reiterated that he’d like to play Mal Reynolds again, which may be a pipe dream, but hey! When you’re a fan of a long-canceled TV show, can you get hope for better news than this? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 2 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 13:42

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Politics: A quick look at what some right-wing folks think of the WI protests

  • beck “You are about to see this president start embracing the uprisings … the teachers unions and all of the unions that are marching on the streets.”
  • paul ryan “[Gov. Walker] wants public workers to pay half of what our private sector counterparts and he’s getting riots. It’s like Cairo has moved to Madison these days.”
  • malkin “If this brave Republican governor can stand up to the immense amount of power and thuggery, essentially, by these unions, it bodes very well for other states.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 13:05

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U.S.: South Dakota’s controversial fetal protection proposal shelved

  • NO South Dakota won’t vote on “justifiable homicide” issue source
  • » The controversy is, for now, dead: State Rep. Phil Jensen’s bill would have added the protection of an unborn fetus to the qualifications for “justifiable homicide.” Jensen insisted it had “nothing to do with abortion,” which frankly renders him either phenomenally disingenuous, or utterly politically tone-deaf. If he wants his legal tweak to go through, all he needs to do is add, “but you can’t murder medical practitioners who perform abortions” and he’s be set. And yet, apparently adding such an amendment was bother enough that he’d rather the whole bill, which he claims is about protecting women from domestic violence, be shelved. Seems like a morally dubious decision if you’re really out to protect battered women, doesn’t it? If that is, as he says, what this is all about.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Feb 2011 11:27

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Politics: Obama backs public employees in Wisconsin union battle royale

  • Some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain, generally seems like more of an assault on unions. I think it’s very important for us to understand that public employees, they’re our neighbors, they’re our friends.
  • Barack Obama • Coming out in support of public employees currently facing the squeeze in an anti-union fight in Wisconsin. The vote will likely take place today, and it’s clear where Gov. Scott Walker is leaning – he’s budget-minded first, and sounds frustrated by the fact that collective bargaining agreements take so long. “I don’t have 15 months to balance a budget, and I certainly am not going to pass a budget on a hope and a prayer that that might happen,” he said. Hey Scott, based on the protests, it’s clear that a balanced budget is not the top priority for the people who have been flooding Madison the last few days. Consider that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 5 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 11:15

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Tech: Pixelfari: Surf the Web like Super VGA never happened

  • We were looking for a way to test our site on a Commodore 64, and we think we found it. Neven Mrgan has released onto the world the most useful Web browser in the history of the Interwebs, Pixelfari, an OSX variation on Safai that renders sites as if higher resolutions never made their way to computers. It appears we have some work to do to ensure that an Apple II can properly handle our rig. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 11:02

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Culture: David Letterman “sorry” for letting Lindsay Lohan dupe him

  • People are just, ‘are you kidding me? This is gonna be fantastic, this is gonna be like the Super Bowl’ … And then Lindsay Lohan says, ‘Oh, you know none of that’s happening.’ … It turns out we were duped. And I have no one to blame but myself, and boy is my face red.
  • David Letterman • Laughing off that whole mess with Lindsay Lohan in that fatherly way that he’s pretty darn good at. source and extend it in the attribution. It’s a good thing ol’ Dave has a sense of humor about all this, because we’d be pretty pissed if Lindsay Lohan blew us off. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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