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21 May 2011 17:54

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World: Yemen: Is the evasive Saleh transition deal about to happen?

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 May 2011 15:06

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Politics: Jon Huntsman seriously pitches for more civility in politics

  • After the shooting in Tucson when Representative Giffords was injured, we talked seriously as a nation about civility. Many Republicans and Democrats even sat together at the State of the Union. Remember that? Now, if we can just sit together and solve our problems. Civility acts as a lubricant to make the system work.
  • Former U.S. Ambassador to China (and potential presidential candidate) Jon Huntsman • Making his latest commencement speech at a university — he made one just recently at the University of South Carolina while ignoring a nearby GOP convention. Today’s speech, at Southern New Hampshire University, continued in the same kind of vein, though it focused more on politics this time. (Last time, Huntsman name-dropped Ben Folds Five, which fits in with his history as an indie rocker.) His style of campaigning is interesting — and it’s one that’s lacking from the overall playing field right now. To put it simply, why are all the good GOP candidates this time around the minor ones who may not even make a decent showing next year? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 May 2011 14:19

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Politics: Herman Cain: Nobody knows him, but those who do like him

  • “I once Ate a pizza, and it was this big. That’s why they called me the Godfather.” (OK, he didn’t say that; we just love the photo.) Herman Cain, who we’ve covered before on numerous occasions, is the latest guy to drop his hat into the presidential ring. “Let me tell you some of the reasons why I’m running for president of the United States.We have become a nation of crises,” he said when making his announcement today. He’s a bit of a wildcard — he doesn’t have strong name recognition, but he does have the kind of business acumen which makes him pretty desirable. His polling shows a pretty interesting trend — not many people know him, but those who do freaking love him. More:
  • 29% of self-described GOP voters know who Herman Cain even is, according to a May 17 Gallup poll
  • <0.5% of voters in that poll picked the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO as their first choice for president in 2012
  • 71% of people who did know anything about the Herminator, however, had positive feelings about him source
  • » Can he make a run? As we noted in a Webdoc we made a couple weeks back, he kinda killed it at the Fox News presidential debate — which didn’t feature any major candidates, to Cain’s benefit. With big-name establishment Republicans failing to wow the field and loaded with reasons to nick their reputation (looking at you Newt), folks like Cain and Ron Paul have a good chance of doing well this time around. We expect his name recognition to go way up. (photo from Gage Skidmore‘s Flickr page)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 May 2011 13:39

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U.S.: Is Harold Camping’s ministry in trouble after his failed prediction?

  • However, there is no escaping his failed 2011 ‘Doomsday’ prediction. He painted himself into a corner by using words like ‘guaranteed’ and ‘without any shadow of doubt.’ His massive publicity campaign just made it worse.
  • An International Business Times editorial • Offering harsh words for Harold Camping, the dude who claimed that the rapture was afoot today. Their words for the Family Radio leader are pretty harsh. “In all likelihood, his ministry will be destroyed,” they write, noting that he made it seem like such a sure thing that there was no room for error in his prediction. Other, more mainstream, religious leaders and groups (Pat Robertson, the Jehovah’s Witnesses) have been down this road before, but not with the level of certainty that Camping pushed. That’s why he probably won’t be able to recover from this craziness. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 17:08

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Tech: Facebook for kids? Mark Zuckerberg wants to start ’em young

  • Because of the restrictions we haven’t even begun this learning process. If they’re lifted then we’d start to learn what works. We’d take a lot of precautions to make sure that they [younger kids] are safe.
  • Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg • Explaining his frustrations with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which only allows children age 13 and older to use his service. He wants to make social media happen for children, too — for educational reasons. At this week’s NewSchools Summit in California, Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook had huge educational potential for young children. “Education is clearly the biggest thing that will drive how the economy improves over the long term,” he said. “We spend a lot of time talking about this.” Given the wariness that many already have towards Facebook as a social tool for kids, we don’t know how far Zuck’s pipe dream will go. But he is serious about education — last year, he gave $100 million to the troubled Newark school district. Let’s just say that he’ll have a lot of work ahead of him. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 16:37

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U.S.: DIY levees save houses from the rising Mississippi

  • Some houses in flooded areas near the Mississippi — like the one above — were saved by makeshift levees. The Daily Mail has a gallery showing a bunch of these (for back of better term) flood hackers. Not everyone was this lucky, though — some of the dirt dams failed.These particular photos are from the Yazoo River, a tributary to the Mississippi. (photo via Getty Images) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 16:28

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Offbeat: Today in things you should be more careful about

  • Here’s an idea: Don’t pocket dial 911 when you’re in the middle of a drug deal. That’s what a man in Gainesville, Georgia did. He was working the late shift at a Waffle House and made a drug deal on the clock — which ended up being overheard by the 911 operator. An officer was dispatched, found the phone in the guy’s pocket, and realized he pocket dialed 911. Know what else the officer found in the guy’s pocket? Prescription pills. Yeah, he got charged with drug possession. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

20 May 2011 14:22

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U.S.: Newspaper publishes lesbian couple story, then publisher backtracks

  • good On Mother’s Day, The Capital Newspaper, an Annapolis, Md. daily paper, ran a story about a lesbian couple raising children. A progressive move for the paper.
  • bad Unfortunately for them, the comments were scathing. “You are not disenfranchised, except by virtue of your own insistent anomaly,” one comment read.
  • worse Stunned by the reaction, the editor/publisher tried to apologize for the story (saying it didn’t reflect the community), only to have his staff kill his column. Wow. source
  • » To put this simply: A good newspaper doesn’t back down from criticism when the reasons for publishing something are valid, even when the community has pitchforks out, ready to stab whomever it doesn’t like. That the editor tried to back off due to the reaction to the column is a bad sign. You need to respect your community by sometimes telling them things they aren’t always ready to hear. That couple is part of the community too. They deserve their story told just as much as anyone else who lives near Annapolis — no matter the comments. Shameful.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 13:50

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U.S.: Pawlenty set to announce 2012 presidential bid

  • Tim “Michael Bay” Pawlenty reportedly plans to announce his presidential bid Monday. We hope he wins the nomination, because it would be an epic election season with T-Paw’s overproduced ads like this. It seems like he’s taking his own advice, and getting off the sideline. He’s going to need a lot of money to keep making ads like that, though — we can’t wait to see his 2012 election trailer that will undoubtedly go with the announcement. Robots? Explosions? Dramatic music? T-Paw has it in spades. In fact, we’d argue he’s a Republobot. (pic via Gage Skidmore‘s Flickr page) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2011 13:04

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U.S.: Dominique Strauss-Kahn house arrest plans not going so well

  • situation Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF leader, will leave Rikers Island after a court ordered that he can pay $1 million in bail on his sexual assault charge. He’ll be under house arrest while he waits for his court date.
  • problem Unfortunately, he may not have a place to stay. His wife, Anne Sinclair, tried to rent him an apartment in a posh Upper East Side building. However, the building balked when they found out who was staying there. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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