Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

23 Jun 2011 12:48

tags

Culture: “Cars 2” currently has a “Rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes

  • 44% well, that’s not what usually happens with Pixar flicks source
  • » This is not a common occurrence: The last time a Pixar movie scored below 95 percent on the Tomatometer was back in 2006 … with “Cars,” which still had a relatively solid 74 percent. It’s also Pixar’s first “Rotten” movie … ever. Is it because the franchise is more for the kids — and the massive merch sales that come with kids movies — than the adults?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2011 11:03

tags

Biz: Oil crisis: We’re dipping into the reserves due to Libya crisis

  • 60 million number of barrels of oil the International Energy Agency plans to release from the strategic reserves, at the behest of the U.S. and 27 allies
  • 2 million number of barrels that will see release each day for the first 30 days of the strategic release — the third release of its kind in 30 years source
  • » Blame the conflict in Libya: The supply of crude oil has struggled in the wake of the instability in Libya, which cut off a key supply of oil and has had a bit of a ripple effect on gas prices. Other oil-producing countries chose not to boost their output of oil amid prices above $100 a barrel, which led to the current decision to tap into the strategic reserves. As you might guess, the stock market isn’t digging this news at all, and oil futures dipped over 5 percent in reaction to the news — still over $100 a barrel, though.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2011 10:20

tags

U.S.: Pharmacy shooting has all the makings of a recession-era tragedy

  • He was doing it because he lost his job and I was sick. … He did it. He did all of this.
  • Melinda Brady • Explaining what she says may have led her husband, David Laffer, to kill four people in a Long Island pharmacy on Father’s Day. During the shooting, the suspect reportedly tried to steal prescription drugs from the pharmacy he could not afford, in what sounds like an awful recession story in the making. Brady and Laffer, who proposed to his wife at a New York Islanders game a few years ago, were arrested Wednesday after local police received hundreds of tips on the case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 21:48

tags

U.S.: Gingrich: My campaign staff just couldn’t handle my unconventional ways

  • Philosophically, I am very different from normal politicians, and normal consultants found that very hard to deal with.
  • Newt Gingrich • Explaining, with David Brent-esque logic, why his campaign staff keeps quitting on him. We agree that Gingrich is different from normal politicians, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 21:35

tags

World: Afghanistan troop withdrawal won’t bring us back to pre-Obama levels

  • 65k number of US troops in Afghanistan once the withdrawal is complete (September 2012)
  • 33k number of US troops in Afghanistan when Barack Obama took office (January 2009) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 21:19

tags

Tech: 3Dcrease: New glasses take you back to two dimensions

  • If you think 3D movies are gimmicky, ubiquitous, and annoyingly underlit, you’re right. You’re also in luck, as these Rivers Cuomo-esque glasses will eliminate that third dimension from 3D films, making you feel as if you’re back in the pre-Avatar days of moviegoing. They don’t work on most home systems, but really, who would buy a 3DTV and then get glasses to make it a normal TV? For that matter, who would buy a 3DTV at all, for any reason? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 19:11

tags

World: Syrian government runs dorm raids on students at Damascus University

  • Crackdown at a Syrian college: The Syrian government’s security forces launched a series of violent raids into dormitories at Damascus University, where strongman Bashar al-Assad gave a speech earlier this week. Opposition members and witnesses claim that the violence, which reportedly injured 21 and killed 3, was in response to the students at Damascus failing to participate in pro-regime rallies. Also not to be forgotten — 130 students arrested by security forces, now under the harrowing care of Bashar al-Assad’s government. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Jun 2011 19:07

tags

U.S.: Obama plans to speed up Afghan troop withdrawals

  • 10,000 U.S. troops that will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year
  • 20,000 more troops that will be withdrawn by the end of next summer source
  • » Quickening the pace: The above numbers represent a much quicker withdrawal than some of President Obama’s military advisers would like, General David Petraeus among them. This decision is being seen as a victory over Petraeus’ vision by Vice President Biden, who’s been a proponent of a more rapid end to American involvement in Afghanistan. The withdrawal would equal the total of Obama’s Afghanistan surge, to which he committed 30,000 troops back in 2009.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 15:48

tags

World: Prison break in Yemen attributed to crumbling government

  • 57 al-Qaeda militants escaped from prison in Yemen source
  • » Political turmoil in Yemen gave them the green light. The turmoil in Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government gave the prisoners the extra courage to rise up against prison guards. They attacked the guards, stole their guns, and escaped — along with six prisoners without any ties to the terrorist group. As they fought inside, other gunmen outside the prison had a gunfight with guards outside to distract them further. As the situation in the country continues to destabilize, will this become the norm in the country?
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 15:36

tags

Culture: Jose Antonio Vargas’ enthralling account of an undocumented life

  • An undocumented immigrant’s story: The New York Times Magazine has run a lengthy, engrossing piece authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino man who’s been living undocumented in America since being sent by his mother at age 12. Vargas’ story is both emotional and instructional, and hammers home the necessity for citizenship options like (at barest minimum) those proposed in the Dream Act. The idea of a child being whisked into America and thus living in fear and hiding is one that evokes sympathetic feelings for a good reason — our society generally tries to protect children from harsh politics and major strife. source
  • The fear of fakery Vargas describes going to the DMV at 16, and presenting the clerk with the green card given to him by his grandfather. The woman whispered to him that the card was fake, and told him not to come back. When his grandfather painfully confessed he’d bought a fake green card for him, Vargas decided he couldn’t let anyone doubt he was American.
  • Career out of reach With the help of his high school principal and superintendent, Vargas began attending San Francisco State, with an eye on journalism. When he was unable to work an internship due to his immigration status, he decided “if I was to succeed in a profession that is all about truth-telling, I couldn’t tell the truth about myself.”
  • Inspiration for action Vargas says he was moved to write this (we must emphasize, our few points here don’t do this justice, you should really read the whole article) when he learned of four undocumented students who walked from Miami to D.C. to lobby for the Dream Act, at risk of deportation. Many thanks to Vargas for this honest, important story.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>