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09 Jun 2011 15:08

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Politics: Herman Cain believes homosexuality is both a sin and a choice

  • I believe homosexuality is a sin because I’m a Bible-believing Christian, I believe it’s a sin. But I know that some people make that choice. That’s their choice… I believe it is a choice.
  • GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain • Speaking to CBS News reporter Brian Montopoli in an interview yesterday. You know, we’ll admit we expected this sort of stuff out of Rick Santorum, but we’re pretty surprised Herman Cain has made casual bigotry such an element of his campaign (you may also recall that he refused to appoint any Muslims to his hypothetical cabinet). Cain is, despite the utterly absurd things he’s said the past few days, a man of undeniable charisma and energy, and frankly if he focused on promoting himself as a successful self-made man he could be a real player in this election. Of course, that’s the grisly nature of the GOP primary process; you have to swing hard right to get the gig, then hard back to the center to win a general election. In any event, Herman Cain in his own words is very rapidly removing himself from the ranks of politicians with independent or mainstream appeal. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 14:04

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World: Viagra possibly being used for some horrific stuff in Libya

  • Disturbing allegations An International Criminal Court prosecutor has claimed that Gaddafi is buying a “Viagra-like” drug for his troops to help them commit sexual assaults. The prosecutor is trying to prove that the Gaddafi regime is using sexual assault as a weapon of war. The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has been working on this case for some time and is serious about taking Gaddafi down.
  • Denials on both sides Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, says they haven’t shipped any of their drugs to Libya since the sanctions started back in February. The report says “Viagra-like,” but it’s possible Gaddafi’s troops are getting the real thing from the black market. Libyan spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim also denies the charges, calling them the “same old nonsense.” Either way, this whole thing is disgusting. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 13:22

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Tech: HP’s TouchPad: Similar style, similar price to the iPad

  • $499.99 the cost of the new HP TouchPad’s 16GB model
  • $599.99 the cost of the TouchPad’s 32GB model; sound familiar? source
  • » Openly gunning for Apple’s market: The TouchPad, coming out on July 1, doesn’t just share the same cost as the iPad; it’s also the same size, and has many other striking similarities as well. However, what does set it apart is WebOS, which will also make its way to HP laptops eventually. It will be interesting to see how this feature-for-feature cage match pans out.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 11:21

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Tech: Apple backs down on controversial in-app subscription policy

  • Apparently they heard that they lost The Financial Times to this mess. While Apple didn’t back down from the 70/30 split that gave publishers pause, they did change a rule that won’t force companies to offer app subscriptions at the same price as an outside subscription — or if they don’t want to, offer an Apple-sanctioned subscription at all. Apparently, developers’ loud grumbling about the policy (which led the Financial Times to create a HTML5 version of their iPad app, shown above) appears to have gotten through to the company, which updated their App Store Review Guidelines earlier this week ahead of a June 30 deadline. The differences:
  • How it read before “Apps can read or play approved content (magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video) that is sold outside of the app, for which Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues, provided that the same content is also offered in the app using IAP at the same price or less than it is offered outside the app. This applies to both purchased content and subscriptions. “
  • How it reads now“Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 10:58

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Biz: Citigroup: Yeah, a bunch of bank card numbers got hacked

  • 200k number of customers Citi says were affected by a breach of their system
  • 1% share of Citigroup’s overall North American customer base affected by the hack
  • one number of months it took the company to tell consumers about the incident source
  • » So what was affected? The company says that the hack involved names, bank card numbers and contact information such as e-mail addresses. Not affected were cardholders’ social security numbers, card expiration dates or CVV numbers. All this is of course is awesome to wait a month to tell everyone!
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 10:32

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Politics: On Anthony Weiner and the drumbeat for his resignation

  • This is a massive overreaction and I don’t understand it.
  • Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Executive Director Melanie Sloan • Offering one of the few defenses to Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has been told by members of both parties that he should resign. Even close friends of his — including Fox News commentator Kirsten Powers, an ex-girlfriend of Weiner’s — are forcing the issue. In that case, what’s a little surprising is that he went out of his way to help Powers when her parents were stuck in Egypt during the Arab Spring, and she defended Weiner long after many correspondents quit. It took a lot for her to turn on him — though she now claims he used her. But for us, Sloan’s point — that Weiner likely did nothing illegal, considering that all of his affairs were virtual in nature, and a guy who actually paid for prostitutes, Sen. David Vitter, is still in office — isn’t really getting heard. He screwed up, but really? Really? Come on now. People do worse things every day.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 03:06

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Offbeat: Someone had to do it, right?

Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 Jun 2011 00:39

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Politics: Herman Cain’s solution to illegal immigration: Alligators!

  • Put me in charge of the fence and it will be a twenty foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top. And on this side of the fence, I’d have that moat that President Obama talked about. And I would put those alligators in that moat!
  • Herman Cain • Laying out a portion of his proposed immigration policy. Some pundits wonder why Cain, who’s polling better than guys like Pawlenty and Huntsman, isn’t taken seriously by the beltway media. Sentences like “I would put those alligators in that moat” probably have something to do with it. It’s a gimmicky non-solution to a policy issue that deserves to be taken seriously. One can be pro-immigration, anti-immigration, or somewhere in between, but ideology aside, a fence with alligators isn’t going to solve the problem. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 00:18

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Politics: Cory Booker loves Newark: Star Democrat says no to Senate run

  • There was a rumor earlier today that Newark Mayor Cory Booker, famous for his faux-feud with Conan O’Brien a few years back, was considering a run at the US Senate. Booker is, without question, one of the Democrats’ brightest national prospects, and one of our favorite politicians here at SFB. His candidacy would be a major coup for the party. However, Booker quickly swatted down the rumors, insisting that he’ll finish his term as mayor. While this is a disappointment for national Democrats, it says a lot about his commitment to Newark, and by extension, his integrity as a politician (Booker often turns down appealing offers in order to remain Newark mayor). Once his tenure in Newark is up, however, we can’t help but hope he’ll set his sights on higher office. Way higher, if you catch our drift. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 21:40

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World: Americans win “World’s Funniest People” award…but is that a good thing?

  • americans are funny. At least, that was the conclusion drawn from a survey by social networking site Badoo (who?), in which 30,000 people in 15 countries were asked to name the world’s funniest citizens. Americans came out on top, with Spaniards and Italians taking second and third, respectively. But wait–what exactly did they mean by “funny?” Was it in a, “That joke was hilarious!” sort of way, or a “You have toilet paper stuck to your shoe and nobody’s telling you” sort of way? We don’t know, so we’re not sure whether or not Americans should rejoice at this news. Similarly, should Germany be proud or embarrassed that they came in dead last? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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