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

09 Mar 2011 11:08

tags

Politics: Muammar Gaddafi: Libyan no-fly zone all about controlling oil

  • If they take such a decision [to impose a no-fly zone], it will be useful for Libya, because the Libyan people will see the truth, that what they want is to take control of Libya and to steal their oil. Then the Libyan people will take up arms against them.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Offering a wince-worthy explanation of what will happen of a no-fly zone is enforced over Libya soil. Yeah, sure … this no-fly zone thing is all about taking the oil away from the Libyan government. We’ll go for that, right guys? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:54

tags

Tech: HP’s making WebOS an option – for your laptop and desktop (Whoa!)

  • Need any more proof Windows will die someday? Well, here you go. Starting in 2012, HP will start offering WebOS on its PCs, allowing users to choose between Windows and the Web-oriented operating system. This is a huge step, because it means two major companies – Google and HP – are pushing away from the traditional Windows model. But HP’s corner-stoned on the model, so it’s even bigger than Google’s Chrome OS. This is huge. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:41

tags

World: Sectarian violence: Muslims, Coptic Christians fight in Egypt

  • 9+ number of people killed in fighting between Muslims and Coptic Christians near Cairo
  • 90+ more were injured in clashes stemming from the burning of a church last week source
  • » A conflict on the back-burner: The tensions between the minority Copts (who make up 9 percent of Egypt’s population) and Muslims (who make up 90 percent) have already been pretty high this year after an extremely deadly suicide bombing in January. The mess with Mubarak took the attention away for the while, but now it’s back. The Christian Science Monitor has a pretty good explanation of what’s happening right now.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:26

tags

Politics: Trial of the Century: Rod Blagojevich wants to be sentenced (!?!)

  • Uh-oh. Appears Blago’s out of money: Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked a judge to pause the retrial in his corruption case and sentence him now. Why, you ask? Well, he’s out of money. “Should this motion be granted…funds for the second trial would no longer be necessary,” the motion said. Oh yeah, there’s a benefit for taxpayers, too: The decision would be of “no further cost to taxpayers.” Always looking on the bright side, Mr. Haircut. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:16

tags

Politics: NPR’s board discusses CEO Vivian Schiller’s resignation from NPR

  • I recognize the magnitude of this news – and that it comes on top of what has been a traumatic period for NPR and the larger public radio community. The Board is committed to supporting NPR through this interim period and has confidence in NPR’s leadership team.
  • NPR Board of Directors Chairman Dave Edwards • Discussing what happens next, as CEO Vivian Schiller resigns from her job with NPR. Her resignation, caused by a gotcha clip where NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller was caught saying things critical of the Tea Party to a couple dudes pretending to be Muslims. (How do these people get duped?!) “The Board accepted her resignation with understanding, genuine regret, and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years,” Edwards notes. We feel all those things, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 10:02

tags

U.S.: Whoa … NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller, just quit. O’Keefe drew blood.

  • schiller #1 Last night, NPR’s Senior Vice President for Fundraising, Ron Schiller, pushed up his resignation two months. The change was caused  by the release of a gotcha video clip. He’s now resigning “effective immediately.”
  • schiller #2 The CEO of NPR, Vivian Schiller, who’s unrelated to Ron, has resigned herself in the wake of the news. That was fast. Point to James O’Keefe: Your guys went past “finish him!” and scored a fatality on NPR. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 00:56

tags

Offbeat: Man accuses woman of stealing his foot

  • accidental Karl Lambert of Orlando, Florida got into a car crash in 2008. While he managed to survive the accident, his foot was completely severed in the crash.
  • intentional The paramedic didn’t take the foot back to the hospital. Instead, she used it to “train her cadaver dog,” whatever the hell that means. Now she’s being sued. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Mar 2011 23:50

tags

Culture: American Apparel’s Dov Charney accused of sexual abuse

  • He informed her that if she wanted to remain employed and be advanced by the company, she would have to engage in sexual acts with him as soon as she turned 18 years old.
  • A lawsuit filed against American Apparel CEO Dov Charney • Reciting allegations made by former employee Irene Morales. Morales got hired at a New York branch of the clothing store in 2007, quit in 2009, and then worked at a L.A. store in 2010. She alleges that Charney invited her over to his apartment shortly after her 18th birthday, forced her to perform oral sex on him in the doorway, and then…well, yeah, a bunch of other horrible things. This isn’t the first sexual harassment case Charney, whose full name sounds like a brand of liquor, has faced, but none of the earlier suits have gone to trial. If these allegations are true, this scumbag should be in prison, and the $250 million in damages sought don’t seem too far off track, either. One question: why did Morales start working for the company again in 2010? We are not questioning Morales’ story – coming forward can be tough. We’re just curious. (Editor’s note: Reworded to avoid misinterpretation of what was meant.) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 22:55

tags

Politics: Senators running for the hills, not re-election

  • 8 U.S. Senators will retire in 2012 rather than seek re-election source
  • » What’s going on? Well, it’s a mix of this and that. A few of the retirees clearly weren’t going to win re-election, namely John Ensign and “Cowboy Joe” Lieberman. A few could have won but faced uphill battles (Jim Webb, Kent Conrad). Hawaii’s Daniel Akaka is just really old, and Kay Bailey Hutchison had promised that she’d retire if she lost her bid for Texas Governor (which she did). But some of the retirements — Jeff Bingaman and John Kyl in particular — seemingly came out of nowhere. We’ll just have to take ’em at their word when they say what politicians always say when they retire: they want to spend more time with their families.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 22:10

tags

Politics: Campaign to recall Wisconsin Republicans gaining steam

  • $500k raised in one week by progressive groups to support recall of Wisconsin Republicans
  • six the size of the ad buy, in digits, on the part of progressive groups to air pro-recall ads
  • 59% of respondents in a robocall said they’d support recalling the senators source
  • » Turns out that recall campaign wasn’t just an empty threat. As we wrote last week, two leading progressive groups, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America (PCCC/DFA), have teamed up recall in recall efforts against several GOP state senators in Wisconsin. The idea is to recall at least three of them, which would flip control of the chamber to the Democrats and prevent Republican Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting bill from passing. The effort is getting help from the state Democratic party, which is providing “ground forces” to supplement the PCCC/DFA’s behind-the-scenes efforts. A total of eight GOP Senators are eligible for recall at this time; the campaign is targeting three who won by slim margins.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>