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11 May 2011 15:04

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Politics: Mitt Romney believed in that individual mandate back in 2007

  • I’d think it’s a terrific idea. I think you’re going to find when it’s all said and done, after all these states that are the laboratories of democracy, get their chance to try their own plans, but those who follow the path that we pursued will find it’s the best path, and we’ll end up with a nation that’s taken a mandate approach.
  • Mitt Romney • Expressing his experience-based belief that health care (and insurance) reform would be helped by an individual mandate, on a 2007 episode of Meet The Press. In other words, one of the quotes Romney is hoping beyond feverish hope not too many Republicans read heading into 2012. The thing is, this does conform with what he’s been insisting, that he supports what he did on health care because it was at the state level (the laboratories of democracy), not the federal level. However, he clearly says here that the mandate would, in fact, be the best plan nationwide. This is a problem — the GOP’s talking points haven’t just been saying that the mandate is bad because it’s federal, they’ve also been saying it’s wrong for the government to force you to buy something. Whether it’s Barack’s federal government, or Mitt’s Massachusetts, that argument ought to stay the same, right? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 12:46

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About: Tumblr blog moves closer towards legitimacy with new intern

  • Yep, that’s us. We’re cool like that. Hello all! I’m Justin Jones, and I’m going into my sophomore year as a journalism major at the University of Florida. I’m interning with ShortFormBlog this summer, and I’m excited to learn a thing or two along the way. In my free time, I like to read news, argue politics and drink too much coffee with my friends at IHOP.  If you’re interested you can check out my personal tumblr and drop me a line.  source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 11:22

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Politics: Lame: Rapper Common now in the same boat as William Ayers

  • If this was somebody who used the same type of rhetoric about violence against President Obama I would be against it. . . . This is inappropriate for a President and he goes back to his radical roots again and again and again. Ayers, Wright, Pfleger.
  • Sean Hannity • Saying a bunch of stupid crap about how Common (a pro-Obama rapper) is a bad influence and shouldn’t visit the White House and stuff. We don’t have much to add to this, other than this: SHUT UP YOU AREN’T A RAP FAN AND YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW WHO THIS GUY WAS UNTIL YOU WERE HANDED A CUE CARD WITH HIS NAME ON IT BEFORE THE SEGMENT. Also, you can’t criticize Common’s poetic license until you take back this approval of Ted Nugent’s non-poetic license, brah. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 10:48

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Tech: When Google uses lobbyists, they use them for awesome reasons

While the food industry lobbies Arizona politicians to keep Happy Meals happy, Google lobbies Nevada politicians to allow self-driving cars. Awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 10:31

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World: Osama bin Laden’s family wants an investigation into his death

  • Without agreeing to the ways of OBL as to how he professed, believed and operated, We Omar Ossama Binladin, and my brothers, the lawful children of the Ossama Binladin (OBL) herewith demand an inquiry under UNO to reach to the accuracy of the facts as stated by United States into the fundamental question as to why our father was not arrested and tried but summarily executed without a court of law.
  • A statement from Osama Bin Laden’s family • Expressing anger with the decision to kill the al-Qaeda leader without giving him the respect of a court of law. The family also is greatly upset about his burial (“His sudden and un witnessed burial at sea has deprived the family of performing religious rights of a Muslim man,” they write.) and claim not to believe that he was actually killed. “We are not convinced on the available evidence in the absence of dead body, photographs, and video evidence that our natural father is dead,” they say, while appealing for a wider investigation of what happened. No matter the nature of the man, we think the family deserves the U.S. government to respect these wishes. (via newsflick) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 10:16

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U.S., World: Navy’s forward-thinking gay marriage stance folds amid pressure

  • forward … Earlier this week, the Navy (the most progressive of the military branches, apparently) announced they would let their chaplains perform gay marriages if the Pentagon gives the all-clear for openly gay service members. Gay rights advocates cheered.
  • … and back Unfortunately, Congress did not cheer. More than 60 House members pressured the Navy to reverse course, saying it violated the Defense of Marriage Act. The Navy backed down. Boo. One step forward for gay rights, then two big steps back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2011 01:42

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Tech: College students are gonna love this Google ChromeOS news

  • $20 per month for students to get a ChromeOS notebook?!? source
  • » Wow, that would certainly change things: Could you imagine a kit-and-kaboodle deal like that, how it’d tear apart the hardware-centric power structure of the PC industry? This is the kind of method social media companies use to go after a growing demographic — but not generally hardware-makers. If Google’s deal is true, that’s $240 a year for a laptop which essentially works as a loss leader for Google. It’d also be an entryway into the business industry for the company, which could hand out dumbbooks like Google’s for super-cheap.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 May 2011 21:50

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Biz: More thoughts on Newseum, front pages and copyright

  • Newseum provides a great service to the internet at large, and journalism in particular. We’ve used their Today’s Front Pages feature many times in the past to inform people about the day’s news, comment on what’s happening, and to inspire people to look a little bit deeper at the stories that inspire and inform us. Like all journalism should. Newseum runs one of the best parts of the entire internet — having every front page in the world at your fingertips is something most people couldn’t even imagine even 20 years ago. As a journalist, it’s something I bought into as well, and I’ve been an active participant over the years. And with the current situation (which involves the organization watermarking pages and enforcing copyright), I feel that I can’t just ignore it and let this issue get swept under the rug. Some thoughts and suggestions to deal with this:
  • On “best practices” Newseum’s talk of not stealing other people’s content online being a “best practice” is totally missing the point of the Internet. Are they using the same Internet we are? Hint: It’s not “stealing,” it’s sharing. Blocking sharing cuts off the hose. By cutting off the hose, you lose influence and focus. You know what needs our attention more than ever? The printed page. Losing that would be a mortal blow to a medium getting less respect than ever.
  • An alternate history To take this in a different direction, Newseum’s stance on this issue ignores a completely different story of the Internet — the growth of open-source content, the expansion of licenses beyond mere copyright, the story of folk heroes like Richard Stallman — all storylines that would not exist if everyone listened to the best practices put forth by the Newseum. Copyright is great and all, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Not on this issue.
  • A request for newspapers We have a solution to this mess that we hope that newspapers at large heed: Consider making your front pages available in a Creative Commons format — one that nips this problem in the bud for good. (This license would be a great choice, because it would make sure that nobody, not even Newseum, could change the content.) Freely-available front pages don’t take away from bottom lines. They add to them. Think about that.
  • » Ultimately, to be clear: Newspapers are taking a bit of a beating as an information source these days. As we switch over to the Web for more and more of our daily lives and our tastes change, projects like the Newseum become more important reminders of where we came from and why these things remain important. We write this because we love what Newseum does, but also because we need MORE things like Frontpages, not fewer.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2011 20:42

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Tech: Report: Skype held out for their magic number — $7 billion

  • Microsoft really wanted this. Microsoft right now is trying to do things to keep up with other faster-growing technology companies.
  • Bahl & Gaynor Inc. money manager Matt McCormick • Explaining why Microsoft went after Skype — offering a reported $8.5 billion for the company. They offered that much because they had to. Skype reportedly rebuffed any offers that were less than $7 billion. Steve Ballmer, during the announcement of the deal, suggested that the technology would be used for, among other things, its Xbox console, Office technology, Windows Mobile phones (where they could gain a real advantage, by the way) and corporate phone software. Skype is so widely-used that Microsoft could be sitting on the next generation of phone technology — something they need to stay in the game. (Also, a side note: Google was the only other serious bidder, but they didn’t get close to $7 billion.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2011 17:46

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U.S.: Mr. Diplomat: Senator John Kerry heads to Pakistan

  • Tense times call for Kerry: The Massachusetts Senator, also head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be traveling to Pakistan this week, likely to try to smooth things over after what’s been a very rocky stretch for American/Pakistani relations. Kerry has long been a supporter of the aid the U.S. has been providing Pakistan — as we mentioned yesterday, it totals $18 billion over the last nine years — so one might expect a pacifying tact on this visit. Also, in your alternate political history update, we could be halfway through President Kerry’s second term right now.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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