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28 Apr 2011 10:29

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U.S.: Death toll from tornadoes, storms in South absolutely insane

  • 213+ people killed by storms throughout the South
  • 131+ were killed by severe storms in Alabama alone
  • 32+ were killed by severe storms in nearby Mississippi
  • 12+ people were killed by storms in Georgia
  • 30+ people were killed by the storms in Tennessee
  • 8+ people were killed as far north as Virginia source
  • » An unprecedented toll: In Alabama in particular, where Tuscaloosa took incredibly strong damage from the storm and many died in Birmingham, officials were still trying to wrap their heads around the disaster. “I would be pretty sure about saying we’ve never had 128 people die in one day,” said Yasamie August, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency’s information manager. (The number’s jumped since she spoke.) “It’s going to be difficult to get an accurate count of damage or injuries at this point. Many people can’t get to a hospital.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 22:32

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Politics: I know nothing of which I speak, yet I speak nonetheless

  • Pro-tip: Don’t preface your argument by proclaiming that you don’t know what you’re talking about. The premise in this RedState piece is that we can “common sense” our way out of any political impasse that comes our way, complexity be damned. This is a dangerous way to go about public policy. “Without a strong position among those on my side of the aisle, and with my limited economic understanding that I mentioned earlier, I must revert to what rarely fails me: My gut.” If you lack enough information to form an opinion, either educate yourself more or recuse yourself from the debate. Comprehending the ramifications of raising the debt ceiling require a basic, if not advanced, level of economic knowledge, and to advocate for a one view or another without this knowledge is both intellectually and journalistically disgraceful. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 20:47

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Tech: Zephoria: A SEO company piggybacking off a researcher’s success?

  • It also looks like [Zephoria] is calling up other social media services to try to take over my account. I’m still investigating all of this but not at all surprised. Apparently, they’re a SEO company. And apparently my social media usage affects their SEO. Le sigh.
  • Danah Boyd • Getting at the key problem here with her whole Tumblr username takeover. While there’s reason for Tumblr to get a little bit of the stinkeye over this issue (although they’re working like crazy to make amends in this case, with Tumblr CEO David Karp himself doing customer service), Zephoria the company appears to be doing really sketchy things in an attempt to usurp Boyd’s longstanding online identity. Because, you know, Boyd has a Twitter account with many users, a YouTube account since 2006, a Flickr account since 2004, a Last.fm account since 2004 … you get the idea. So, instead of  going after Tumblr, we think the Zephoria company itself deserves scrutiny, based on their apparent piggyback on Boyd’s name. While they may have an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, if Boyd’s right, that should probably go down to a B-minus. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 20:46

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U.S.: Barack Obama vs. Unwavering Irrationality

  • President Obama’s decision to release his long-form birth certificate is a reminder of the handicaps under which rational people labor when confronting the irrational.
  • Wendy Kaminer at The Atlantic • Giving us some perspective on this birth certificate madness. Obama has both reason and empirical evidence on his side, but those are useless against an opponent who rejects reason and empiricism. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 17:38

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Politics: Bernanke takes dim view of Congress’ budget deal

  • The cuts that have been made so far don’t seem to us to have very significant consequences for short-term economic activity… so far I’ve not seen any fiscal changes that have really changed our near-term outlook.
  • Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke • Speaking at his press conference today, when asked by a reporter about the package of budget cuts congressional Democrats and Republicans agreed upon. Bernanke’s dim view of the package is very easy to understand, as the size of the cuts were incredibly overstated; taking the long-term value of the package (this year’s savings reportedly only amount to $353 million or so) as $38.5 billion, you’re still talking about chump change as far as the total deficit, estimated over $1.5 trillion, is concerned. Bernanke also said Standard & Poor’s downgrading America’s outlook rating isn’t surprising, because everyone knows the U.S. is on shaky fiscal ground, but that he hopes it will spur more action.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 17:08

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Tech: FDA approves new anti-baldness robot, because why not?

  • Meet the new robot on the block: Big news for bald Americans — the Artas System has been approved by the FDA. It’s a contraption that you position over your scalp, which then uses a robotic arm to harvest your hair follicles. These are stored until they can be methodically re-implanted (using standard hair transplant means, we presume) into your scalp in areas where you’re a little thin. There is a catch, however — the device only works on people with black or brown hair. We think going with the shaved head look still sounds easier, and a hell of a lot cheaper, but hey! Medical science marches on. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 16:29

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Politics: Fed. Chairman Bernanke holds unprecedented press conference

  • Working the crowd: Bernanke told reporters that his decision to hold this first-ever event was part of his effort to increase transparency at the Federal Reserve. On the issues, though, Bernanke was less a revelatory messenger than that of a lot of news we sort of already knew — unemployment is high, inflation is a risk as always (though one he sought to downplay), the deficit is unsustainable, and the Fed will be broadly staying the course with its monetary policies. That said, we want to give him some credit. First, the Federal Reserve has been a very secretive organization throughout its life, and Bernanke’s effort in making himself more available is admirable. Second, that might be the best damn beard in all of central banking. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Apr 2011 15:53

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U.S.: Senate GOP’s feet may be held to the fire on Ryan budget

  • [We’ll] see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as their House colleagues did.
  • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid • Speaking on a conference call to reporters about his plan to force a vote on Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget in the Senate. This is prototypical “hardball” politics, and implies a more aggressive Harry Reid than we’ve typically seen. Basically, the Ryan budget calls for Medicare privatization, an enormously unpopular idea with the American public. Having seen the boisterous reactions GOP House members have weathered since returning to their home districts, Reid now knows he can force the Republican senators either to vote for it and poison their records, or vote against it, abandoning the lockstep unity congressional Republicans showed off so well during the first two years of President Obama’s term. It’s the obvious political move, and a potent one to boot. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 15:27

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World: Hamas, Fatah agree to form interim Palestinian government

  • Hamas, Fatah sign reconciliation deal: The two Palestinian groups (Fatah, of which Palestinian Authority President Abbas is a member, holds power in the West Bank while Hamas, which won the last parliamentary election in 2006, holds power over the Gaza Strip) have struck a deal to form an interim government and set the stage for elections. The two sides truck the deal after secret meetings in Cairo, and comes as a huge geopolitical surprise. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern ultimatum in response: “The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 14:46

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Tech: Sony in hotter water as stolen debits begin to surface

  • breach In a much publicized incident, hackers crippled the Playstation Network and made off with personal info for 77 million gamers; Sony admitted credit card numbers may have been stolen, but said they saw no certain evidence of it.
  • swipe The reports are beginning to flow in about fraudulent charges being racked up; two users have claimed fraudulent debits of a few hundred dollars (that they’re using debit card numbers to draw directly from accounts is significant). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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