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15 Aug 2011 10:39

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U.S., World: Did China get a good look at the downed Bin Laden stealth copter?

The Pentagon thinks Pakistan let the uber-powerful communist nation take a look at this stealth Blackhawk copter, which crashed just before a bunch of Seal Team 6 members killed Osama bin Laden. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Aug 2011 10:19

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U.S.: Mmm, beefy: Hot dog makers fight over false advertising claims

  • beefy In 2009, Sara Lee, the company that makes Ball Park Franks, sued Kraft over false advertising by claiming that an ad which said that Oscar Mayer wieners tasted better than Ball Park Franks was simply untrue. Oh, and that Oscar Mayer wieners aren’t made with 100 percent beef.
  • beefier Meanwhile, Kraft shot back with a lawsuit of its own, in which it claimed Sara Lee ran its own ads with false advertising claims suggesting other hot dogs “aren’t even in the same league.” Can’t we all just get along and claim that the process used to make hot dogs is kinda gross? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Aug 2011 10:04

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Biz, Tech: Google to buy Motorola Mobility: More on the blockbuster deal of the day

  • $12.5 billion to buy a key seller of Android phones
  • 17,000 number of issued patents the mobility side of Motorola owns, which would now be Google’s; Motorola split in half back in January
  • 7,500 number of patent filings made under Motorola Mobility’s name; these patents are almost as valuable to Google as the phones source
  • » Google stocks didn’t react well: While an argument could be made that this is a great move for Google, investors appear to be at least somewhat spooked, with Google’s stock currently down despite the more positive market at large. Is it because the company has never really had any sort of success in the hardware business? And what does this mean for HTC or Samsung or all the other big Android makers?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Aug 2011 00:26

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Politics: Warren Buffett: Tax me, please! Make me pay more money!

  • I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.
  • Warren Buffett • Arguing in an editorial for the New York Times (titled, fittingly, “Stop coddling the super-rich”) that Congress needs to raise his taxes and those of people with incomes topping $1 million. “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,” he writes. “It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” Wait … a super-rich guy offering more money up in taxes? Be still our hearts. And don’t tell the Koch brothers … they might disagree with this stance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Aug 2011 22:20

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U.S.: Anonymous BART hack: Thousands of users hit in retaliatory attack

  • 2,000+ people affected by MyBART hack source
  • » Were the right people affected? While members of the group Anonymous claimed that the hack was intended to draw attention to a recent attempt by BART to quell a planned protest by blocking cell-phone signals, users affected by the hack felt that the attack hit the wrong target. One MyBART user on the list, Owen Rubin, put it like so: “I understand the reason why they’re protesting, but they’re hurting the wrong people. They’re hurting the commuters, and they’re hurting the consumers like me who have nothing to do with BART other than having to ride it as a way to get to and from work.” For what it’s worth, those who leaked the data claim that the site was very insecure — “Any 8 year old with a internet connection could have done what we did to find it,” the note accompanying the data breach says — but the frustration is something that users affected by many recent hacks will understand. These victims suffer indirectly, exploited as something of a third party to the real target in question, be it Sony, BART, or the federal government.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Aug 2011 21:25

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U.S.: Andrew Cuomo sure flies around a lot using taxpayer money

  • bad A little while back, cost-cutting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got a lot of crap over taking a helicopter to his son’s softball game. He ended up repaying the costs of the plane ride, but he didn’t apologize, claiming that it was important for him to be a good father.
  • worse Now, his neighbor directly to the north, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is facing similar scrutiny, but in his case, he used state aircraft to fly 19 times between his girlfriend’s place in Westchester and his job in Albany. Should we judge him for this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Aug 2011 20:25

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Politics: Rock bottom? Gallup poll has Obama approval rating below 40 percent

  • His worst showing ever: President Obama isn’t exactly well-liked these days. With an approval rating hovering below 40 percent according to Gallup, Obama’s feeling the compounding hurt of a debt ceiling crisis that left no politician unscathed, an economy that refuses to let up, and a stock market that looks like it’s gonna hurl any second. But the thing is, he’s still doing better than Congress. According to this RealClearPolitics average of approval ratings for Congress, they’re hovering around 16.8 percent. RCP has Obama averaging 43.4 percent — with the Gallup number by far the lowest. We know who won the Toilet Bowl, guys! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Aug 2011 11:23

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Music, U.S.: Indiana stage collapse follows Flaming Lips, Cheap Trick incidents

  • We are all right. We are praying for our fans, and the people of Indianapolis. We hope you’ll join us. They need your strength.
  • The members of Sugarland • In a tweet sent out soon after last night’s devastating stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, where Sugarland was performing last night. There has been a spate of these lately — just last weekend, The Flaming Lips suffered a bunch of damage to their gear after a similar stage collapse in Oklahoma which took out a massive video screen. And prior to that, Cheap Trick had a stage fall to the ground in Canada, nearly injuring the band and thousands of spectators. The Indiana situation was clearly the worst, however — five lives were lost and 40 people were injured, and those numbers could go up. Devastating. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Aug 2011 11:42

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World: An American captured in Pakistan: How Warren Weinstein was kidnapped

  • Six to eight people broke into his house at around 3:30am local time, when security guards on duty were making preparation for fasting. Two of the assailants came from the front gate while about six others used the back door. They tortured the guards and then took the American with them.
  • Lahore, Pakistan police official Tajamal Hussain • Explaining how an American man, consultant Warren Weinstein, was kidnapped by Pakistani gunman. While Americans are common targets for these sorts of kidnappings, they generally don’t happen while a victim is at home. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2011 22:48

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World: UK study: Cutting salt intake should be a global priority

  • 15% amount of salt the study suggests we should cut source
  • » Are food companies are pulling a fast one on us? According to the study, they’ve been adding extra salt to food to trick us into eating more. “They train your taste buds — the more salt you eat, the less salt you taste, the more salt you want, to get that saltiness,” notes Professor Francisco Cappucio of the University of Warwick, one of the authors of the study. He notes that this extra salt makes us want to eat more, leading to higher food industry profits. By cutting salt intake worldwide, we could save thousands of lives each year in the U.S. alone, the study notes — and 8.5 million lives in the next decade. The study suggests that the UN get involved.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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