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28 Jun 2011 22:33

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U.S.: Arlington National Cemetery faces more record-keeping scrutiny

  • bad Arlington National Cemetery, the iconic military cemetery, reported, after an inquiry, that a number of its graves were mishandled. How does that happen?
  • worse The cemetery faced harsh congressional from Sen. Scott Brown, who unfavorably compared their paper-based record-keeping abilities to those of an iPad.
  • worser Now the situation at the cemetery is so bad that  the Justice Department is investigating possible criminal activity — ticking up the case’s severity to a whole new level. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 17:52

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Offbeat: Eguchi Aimi, fledging Japanese pop star, is computer generated

  • Somebody just lost their dream girl: We certainly wouldn’t fault any fans of Japanese pop group AKB48 if they’re feeling a bit sore or a bit duped. As the video above exposed last week, the sixth and newest member, Eguchi Aimi, doesn’t fit the job prerequisites for an “all-girl” band — she’s actually entirely computer generated. Her features were cobbled together from the faces of her flesh-and-blood partners — there’s something both cool and deeply disconcerting about this. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 17:24

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World: Christine Lagarde named new head of IMF

  • The new face of the Fund: The International Monetary Fund’s hunt for a new managing director (in the wake of rape allegations against former leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn) has come to an end, and Christine Lagarde is the winner. Lagarde is currently a French Finance Minister (meaning the European grip on this position will continue), and will begin a five-year term as the IMF head on July 5th. Her first comments of relevance since the announcement, predictably, were about Greece: “If I have one message tonight about Greece, it is to call on the Greek political opposition to support the party that is currently in power in a spirit of national unity.” Translation: I’d really like you all to get going with this unpopular austerity plan, sooner rather than later. (photo via the World Economic Forum’s Flickr page) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 16:33

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U.S.: U.S. is wasting money on unsuccessful dollar coin program

  • 2005 Congress passed a bill to establish coin currency as a bigger force in America’s day-to-day transactions. Their plan was to produce $1 coins featuring, progressively over time, the full run of American Presidents. Republican Rep. Mike Castle sponsored the legislation.
  • 2011 The bill’s language has meant that the coins are still in production despite broad unpopularity — so much so that the Federal Reserve is sitting on an ever-expanding billion dollars worth of unwanted currency. Wanna talk wasteful spending? Here’s exhibit A. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 15:24

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U.S.: Slim margin eliminates one of Wisconsin GOP’s recall efforts

  • 2 signatures short for Wisconsin Rep. John Nygren’s recall candidacy source
  • » GOP pushback comes up a hair short: Following challenges by the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, the state’s Government Accountability Board has ruled that 26 of the Nygren campaign’s recall petition signatures are invalid, and as that left Nygren with just 398 signatures, they kicked him out of the race. Nygren is pursuing legal options, and frankly we don’t expect this to be over — two signatures is such a slim margin, it seems obvious that every last signature is again going to get combed over. The GOP still has a candidate, an activist named David VanderLeest, but given his comparatively lackluster background, we imagine they’re pushing to get Nygren back.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 14:39

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Tech: Google tries to expand its reach with social media

  • Google takes another shot at social networking. Google+ seems more serious than previous attempts, though, and they’re gunning straight at the Facebook market. They’re championing privacy as a way to get users to use their site — you can choose who you share with, rather than sharing what you’re up to with every one of your friends. There’s a few other cool things, too — we’re looking forward to the Hangout feature, which will let you video chat with up to 10 friends at one time — coming and going as they please. Don’t expect to go make your Google+ profile right now, though. They’re testing it right now and it’s invite-only. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 13:50

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U.S.: Cancer drug might not be around much longer

  • Avastin saved my life…The studies are saying, they’re saying that people didn’t live for more than five months, you know. And there has to be other people like me that it works on.
  • Kerry Harrington, a breast cancer survivor • Arguing for the case for Avastin, a drug still being tested that treats breast cancer. The drug received accelerated approval for treating breast cancer, but now the FDA is backing away from allowing the drug for breast cancer treatment. This is mainly because Avastin has some pretty horrible side effects, like heart attacks and kidney damage. Many women are saying that the pros outweigh the cons — they’d rather deal with the side effects and know they’re treating their cancer. The FDA will decide after they hear testimony from patients and review other official data. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Jun 2011 13:44

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U.S.: Loughner’s lawyers: Doctors are forcing medication on him

  • If Jared Lee Loughner takes psychotropic drugs, he could become competent enough to stand trial. A while back, a judge ruled that Loughner can take any medicine he wants voluntarily, but his lawyers must be notified if he’s forced to take any medication to restore him to competency. However, those lawyers say that they weren’t in the room during a June 13th hearing which allowed a mental hospital to force him to take drugs to improve his mental condition — against the wishes of Loughner. Now they’re having a judge decide on the matter for a third time. So, the question is: If his lawyers are trying to prevent him from taking the medicine he needs to get better, how is he supposed to stand trial? Answer: If the decision favors Loughner, he probably won’t. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 10:39

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World: Wildfire gets a little to close to Los Alamos’ nuclear waste

  • These drums are designed to a safety standard that would withstand a wildland fire worse than this one.
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory spokeswoman Lisa Rosendorf • Attempting to reassure people that, even as a large wildfire gets close to the birthplace of the atomic bomb — which has about 30,000 55-gallon drums of Cold War-era nuclear waste on the premises, located less than four miles away from the fire — that things are safe. Rosendorf says that it’s located in a place with few trees nearby, meaning that the fire would be unlikely to spread into that particular area, and if it did, it would not affect the drums. Let’s hope she’s right. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 10:23

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World: Greeks protest austerity vote; police officers are ready for them

  • 5,000 police officers deployed to deal with mayhem source
  • » 48-hour general strike called: With Greece facing a difficult austerity vote today, protesters have shown up by the thousands outside of the country’s parliament. The strike has shut down most public services, including transit. Airports and hospitals have also suffered the deep effects of the strikes. The passage of the measures, however, is key — a large loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund rests on their passage. If they don’t get it, they risk going into default, which would be very bad.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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