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18 May 2011 15:28

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Politics: Lars von Trier dishes up Hitler sympathy at Cannes

  • What can I say? I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely. But I can see him sitting in his bunker in the end. He’s not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him, and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I’m not for the Second World War, and I’m not against Jews. I am very much for Jews. No, not too much, because Israel is a pain in the ass. How can I get out of this sentence? … OK, I’m a Nazi.
  • Lars von Trier • Giving a pretty good impression of verbal self-destruction in just a handful of seconds. Von Trier has already apologized for this dispiriting and horrible speech, on the heels of organizers of the Cannes Film Festival, which von Trier was speaking at when he let this slip, called his performance “disturbing.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 12:43

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Tech: Sony’s PlayStation Network troubles aren’t over yet

  • PSN hacked again…kind of. PlayStation Network was down again today, but not for the familiar reason of widespread hacks. A newly discovered exploit allows people to change account passwords armed with nothing but an email address associated with the account and the owner’s date of birth — both of which hackers obtained in the larger exploit earlier this month. Gaming Nyleveia.com discovered the newest flaw and contacted Sony about the problem. The network then went down again, apparently so Sony could fix it before it got out of hand. It’s important to know that the network wasn’t actually hacked again — hackers stole no new information, but instead discovered a new exploit that’s now being fixed. Sony is going to have a rough time recovering from all of this. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 11:19

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World: Poll: Many French people think Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set up

  • 57% of French voters think Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set up in the IMF leader’s sexual assault case
  • 70% of French voters in the Socialist Party (the politician’s own party) think the same thing source
  • » Another conspiracy theory flourishes: French society is one where conspiracy theories like this can flourish — in part due to mistrust of business and political elites. But the fall of a man expected to run for president has many in absolute disbelief. “It highlights France’s denial . . . People do not want to believe it and it is interesting from the collective psychology point of view,” said Jérome Sainte-Marie of the polling group CSA. If it makes you feel better, French people, the U.S. loves its conspiracy theories too.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 10:43

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World: Slate’s French site names victim in Dominique Strauss-Kahn case

  • Did you guys know there was a French version of Slate? It’s true. And while it shares the same hue of purple as the mothership, it’s editorially independent and the Slate company owns a tiny 15 percent share of the product. Anyway, the site yesterday published an article noting the reported victim’s name in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal (which we will not link directly here; if you’re interested, you can dig yourself) — a usual no-no in the world of journalism. And one that a few other outlets have also broken. But why Slate.fr, which carries the rep of a highly-regarded site that would never do something like that? According to an interview by The Atlantic Wire, the site’s founder, Eric Leser, says they did it to fight buck against the conspiracy theories that have grown around the story in France. “The story that we have published is proving that all of [these] theories are false,” he said. “That’s our main reason.” Do you guys agree with this stance? Do you think Slate.fr is making a mistake by publishing this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 10:17

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World: Reported al-Qaeda leadership change suggests a major rift

  • appointment According to many independent but unconfirmed reports, al-Qaeda’s new interim leader is Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian militant wanted in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in 1998 — al-Qaeda’s best-known attacks before 9/11.
  • slight If this is the case, it would be a major slight for Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s longtime right-hand man. Both men, however, are longtime senior members of the group, and a permanent change in structure is still forthcoming. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 10:00

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Politics: Newt Gingrich’s day: From apologies to embarrassing bills to glitter

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 00:25

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Politics: Trying too hard: Dan Adler’s unfortunate quest to go viral

  • Wannabe Rep. Dan Adler really wanted to go viral. The Democratic entertainment exec, who is gunning for Jane Harman’s vacated seat in an election whose primary took place Tuesday, has released dozens of clips on his official YouTube channel in an attempt to go viral. Clips featuring his son saying the word “shit.” Clips with Adler sitting on a donkey’s ass. Clips featuring celebrities like Sean Astin and Patty Duke (since this is an L.A.-based district). But the clip above, where he talks to a couple of Korean-Americans about he’s just like them and how they should “stick together” — an ill-advised racial approach which has brought hellfire and brimstone, along with a bizarre endorsement from Glenn Beck of all people — was the one that actually did. (Yeah, he’s probably gonna lose this primary … badly.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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