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

02 Mar 2011 12:33

tags

Politics: Fox News kills Newt, Santorum contracts over presidential plans

  • This had been contemplated from the start. This is Fox policy, this is the announcement that is being made today.
  • Fox News’ Brett Baier • Explaining why Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, each of whom are running for president, just had their contracts suspended while they consider presidential runs. Sixty days from now, if they actually plan to run, their contracts get terminated. So … wait. There are a bunch of other folks on Fox News’ payroll in the same boat. Like, you know, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, who have basically used their entire careers on Fox News as one long presidential pre-campaign. And they’re not getting ditched yet, simply because they haven’t done their presidential exploratory committees? Wuuh? Fox News has some very strange policies about what constitutes “considering presidential runs.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 11:09

tags

World: Pakistan’s poisonous, difficult anti-blasphemy environment

  • This kind of attack was expected after the government’s response to governor Taseer’s assassination. Because of the government’s very weak response … it has encouraged the hardliners in society.
  • Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies Amir Rana • Explaining how the response to the assassination of Salman Taseer, who fought a blasphemy law unpopular with Christians in the country, may have led to today’s assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti. Before his death, Taseer fought in favor of a pardon for a Christian mother of four who had been sentenced to death for reportedly saying blasphemous things about Prophet Muhammad. After Taseer’s death, Pakistani officials have stayed away from changing the law. Some feel that the effect of this has encouraged some to take more hardline approach to minority groups. Sigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:43

tags

World: David Cameron steps up British efforts to help out in Libya

  • last week The British government faced criticism over the speed in which it got its own people out of a very volatile situation in Libya. Rescue planes only came to oil fields days after the crisis started.
  • this week As a sign in contrasts, David Cameron is now planning on evacuating 6,000 Egyptians from the border of Libya and Tunisia. The decision caught British officials off guard with its speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:31

tags

U.S.: Free speech wins: Supreme Court favors Westboro in funeral case

  • 8-1 the vote in favor of Westboro’s free speech rights source
  • » Sad, not surprising, but understandable: The fact of the matter is, while we would’ve loved to see Westboro blocked from picketing funerals as a political message, the First Amendment is pretty set in stone and, as much as we dislike the ramifications of this decision, it certainly was the right one. (By the way, the lone dissenter? Samuel Alito.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:16

tags

World: Gaddafi: I’m not actually in any sort of political office

  • Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve … [I hold] no position from which to step down.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Explaining that he can’t step down from office because he’s not currently in any political position. Let your brain chew on that one for a second while we invent an office for him to step down from. How about “Chief Asshole”? Works for us. How about you guys? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:08

tags

Culture: Recap: The people currently living with Charlie Sheen right now

  • one former model, nanny and graphic designer named Natalie Kenly
  • one porn star named Bree Olson (Her real name? Rachel Oberlin)
  • zero kids; they were taken away yesterday by police officials source
  • » What happened? For obvious reasons, Sheen’s estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, filed a restraining order against the Alex Jones devotee and then took the twins from Sheen and his “goddesses” with the help of a sheriff’s deputy. Sheen plans to use legal action to get the kids back. But considering he’s now unemployed and living with a porn star, this oughta be tough.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 09:55

tags

World: Christian Pakistani official Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated

  • Shahbaz Bhatti was targeted because he was Christian. Pakistan’s minister of minorities was ambushed in his car, shot multiple times and killed. He was one of Pakistan’s only Christian political figures and its only Christian political minister. As Bhatti was Catholic, the Vatican has already condemned his murder. “To the prayer for the victim, the condemnations for this dishonorable act of violence, to our closeness to Christian Pakistanis so beset by hatred,” a Vatican spokesperson said about the incident. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Mar 2011 21:49

tags

U.S.: Fuel efficiency, gas prices on buyers’ minds as car sales go way up

  • 46.4% increase in February’s overall car sales source
  • » Give rising gas prices the credit: More people on the market for vehicles were looking for fuel-efficient models in part because gas is getting ever the more expensive. In case you’re looking for a reason to credit the unrest in the middle east on this, this person quoted in the L.A. Times does the job for you: “With everything happening in the world, gas is only going to go up,” said Cynthia Hibbard who recently bought a Ford Fiesta. “I have filled it up just once, on Monday, since the car was purchased. I put just nine gallons of gas in the car but that was still $35.” One other fun fact: Last month was the best-selling month ever for the Toyota Prius.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 21:31

tags

U.S.: Scott Walker’s deficit-cutting plan: Let’s cut everything, stat!

  • » The end result: Walker hopes to reduce the state’s structural deficit 90 percent to around $250 million – a deep, austerity-focused cut that may stop the deficit but could greatly hurt the state in the process, if you think that way. Walker, well, doesn’t. “I have often repeated references to our state’s constitutional lesson, that it is only through frugality and moderation in government that we will see freedom and prosperity for our people,” he said. Or, you could just raise taxes if you’re really that hard up about fixing this budget problem.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 20:54

tags

World: Tyler Clementi’s legacy? Rutgers offers gender-neutral housing

  • Maybe the outcome would have been different if he had been able to choose his own roommate. At least now there’s an option.
  • Rutgers University Student Assembly President Yousef Saleh • Discussing the university’s plan to offer gender-neutral housing to students in the wake of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after an incident in which his roommate taped him having sex with another man, then posted it online. Clementi’s tragic death may have pushed the decision over the edge, but Rutgers isn’t alone – schools all over the country have been creating options like this for students. And student body officials at Rutgers say they’ve been pushing for this option for students for a number of years. Well, here it is. Smart move, Rutgers. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>