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31 Jul 2011 20:07

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Culture: Reasons to beat your girlfriend: None. Next trending topic, please.

  • The next time someone tries to convince you that feminism is no longer necessary because women are totally equal with men, roll your eyes as hard as you can. And then point out that, even in this day and age, ‘ReasonsToBeatYourGirlfriend’ is something that people think is funny. It’s a trending topic on Twitter. Hooray for the whole, entire world!
  • Jezebel writer Erin Gloria Ryan • Offering a spot-on take for the most tasteless trending topic Twitter’s had in a long time. Hey Twitter, do you pay someone to edit your trending topics for potentially offensive topics, and if so, did they take a day off? Your algorithm does not have a way to detect taste. You guys have a big staff and a lot of money — show some responsibility for your product. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Jul 2011 11:59

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World: Somali women, children face constant danger at Kenyan refugee camps

  • bad Many Somali refugees, struggling to stay alive amid a harrowing drought, have tried leaving the country and heading towards refugee camps in Kenya. The camps are growing by the day.
  • worse Many of the women at these sprawling refugee camps face the constant danger of rape — even when they’re merely trying to take their children to use the bathroom or gather firewood. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Jul 2011 11:39

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Politics: Scott Brown’s gay rights record: It gets better … for seals

  • It’s an environmental issue that affects everyone. I mean, who doesn’t love seals?
  • Sen. Scott Brown • Making a passionate plea for the plight of the seal to the Cape Cod Times. Problem for Scott, though, is that he made this in the wake of a faltering economic recovery and high unemployment — things he used as an excuse to get out of taking part in this “It Gets Better” video right over here. While Brown says he supports gay rights and is against discrimination, his absence from the video raised more than a few eyebrows, especially since, unlike this video, he actually was asked to participate. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Jul 2011 00:27

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U.S.: Breakdown: The new new NEW new nü NEW debt ceiling framework

  • So, those Republicans finally got a framework! If anyone feels like you might be on the most boring roller coaster ever, you are, as there have been so many high and low points with this debt ceiling dramarama today that you probably feel so dizzy that people might mistake you for being drunk. Anyway, in the latest developments, Republicans have apparently reached a framework with the White House to make this debt ceiling deal happen. Based on this, which side do you think won the day? Here’s a roundup:
  • ceiling The debt ceiling would rise to $2.8 trillion (though this number is conflicting; AP reports $2.4 trillion). This would be enough to get us past the 2012 elections.
  • cuts Republicans would reportedly agree to roughly $1 trillion in cuts now, and then another $1.8 trillion later. Ignore our earlier version of the post; this is significant.
  • condition Republicans will get one thing out of the mess which in the end won’t mean anything — a vote on a balanced budget amendement. This will not pass. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jul 2011 20:15

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U.S.: Bush, Obama will be amongst first to check out 9/11 Memorial Plaza

  • Family members only will be allowed to walk onto the plaza, look at their loved ones’ names, look down into the voids. The first day it’s reserved for those family members who lost somebody on 9/11.
  • NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg • Describing the city’s plans for launching a 10th anniversary 9/11 memorial plaza at the Ground Zero site, which they’ve been working to get ready for such an event. Presidents Bush and Obama will take part, along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but amongst the general public, the first day will be limited to families of the victims involved in the attacks. After that, you’ll need to reserve a ticket ahead of time if you’d like to check out the memorial. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jul 2011 11:35

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World: Turkey’s top military commander, other leaders resign in protest

  • Our guess: He resigned after seeing this terrible Photoshop job. For decades, Turkey’s military was seen as one of the country’s most powerful political pillars, one that protected the country’s secular roots. However, in recent years, they’ve faced increased opposition from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after a number of military officials faced arrest, many of Turkey’s top military leaders, including commander Gen. Isik Kosaner, above, resigned in protest — which gave Erdogan an opportunity to put the dude he wanted in Kosaner’s place, allowing him to assert more control over the military. Sounds messy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jul 2011 13:29

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U.S.: With one bad incident, Airbnb’s reputation quickly going up in smoke?

  • Whoever these people were, they were living large and having one hell of a time for an entire week inside my home, unwatched, unchecked, free to do whatever destruction they wished. And damn, did they do a lot of it.
  • Airbnb user “EJ” • In a blog post she wrote last month regarding a nightmarish experience she had with the fast-growing vacation rental service, where the tenants using her home (which she knew nothing about until the very last second) appeared to have ransacked every piece of her life — stealing crap, copying vital information like birth certificates and Social Security cards, punching holes in walls, setting things on fire … you get the idea. In recent days, the controversy has gotten out of hand, due in huge part to the fact that Airbnb did not offer to pay for the woman’s financial losses as a result of the incident. Only after TechCrunch wrote an article about the incident did Airbnb appear to relent. But the victim says that, despite words to the contrary, Airbnb hasn’t really been supportive — with a co-founder going so far as to push her to take down her original blog post. All in all, this looks really bad for Airbnb, which previously had a rep as a potential multibillion-dollar startup. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Jul 2011 12:50

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Biz: GDP growth figures: Another crappy quarter of crappy results

  • 1.3% the rate of GDP growth the economy showed in its second quarter — which is pretty lame, by the way
  • 1.8% the projected rate economists projected in the second quarter; yeah, we missed that source
  • » One word — anemic. On top of all this drama, the rates for GDP growth in the first quarter was projected down to an even lower 0.4 percent growth. While this does not bode well for our recovery, it doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily have a double-dip. It just increases the chances of one.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2011 23:23

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Politics: An update on the debt ceiling shenanigans

  • boehner’s bill falls short: After a chaotic day of vote-whipping, vote-delaying, and vote-switching, John Boehner has decided to postpone the vote on his debt ceiling bill. Despite multiple assurances that it would be brought to a vote before tomorrow, at the end of the day, Boehner didn’t have enough votes to ensure the bill’s passage (and he wasn’t going to embarrass himself by introducing a bill that was sure to fail). In an unusual alignment, conservative Tea Partiers and House Democrats all pledged to vote against the bill, albiet for different reasons. While the legislation has virtually no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, Boehner’s ability to shepherd it through the House is seen by many as the first real test of his leadership abilities. If he doesn’t eventually pass it, there’s a good chance he’ll (eventually) be deposed as Speaker. But it’s not over yet–sources say Republicans plan to tweak the bill a bit, and re-introduce it tomorrow.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2011 20:00

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Tech: Patent lawsuit-o-rama: Spotify sued just weeks after going stateside

  • Once again, we see patents being used as a tool to shakedown companies who were actually innovative in how they executed, with a ridiculously broad patent that contributed zippo to the actual state of the art.
  • TechDirt’s Mike Masnick • Offering a spot-on take regarding the patent lawsuit filed against the finally-in-the-U.S. Spotify. The company suing, PacketVideo, specializes in mobile streaming solutions, but did not develop the patent, which dates back to 1994. Instead, they bought it a couple of years ago. Masnick, in his argument about patent law, rightly points out that it’s easy to patent an idea (especially one that was already floating around the ether in 1994, like audio streaming), but it’s very hard to do what Spotify does — which is, corral the cats into a room and get them all working in unison. Fact of matter: PacketVideo didn’t put any of the work into getting the labels on board, creating an innovative distribution model, or making it a cinch to use. Spotify did. And it’s another example of how patent law fails to protect real innovation, but instead punishes success. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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