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22 Oct 2011 18:09

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Culture: Livin’ on a prayer? Jon Bon Jovi’s new restaurant will still take care of you

Inspired by the same model Panera’s been using for some of their restaurants, the ’80s hair-metal dude launched his very own pay-what-you want soul food restaurant. Class act. source

22 Oct 2011 17:55

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Tech: Google may swoop in to save Yahoo — for antitrust reasons

  • what Google is reportedly in talks to help with an acquisition of Yahoo, which is kind of looking like a rudderless ship these days after Carol Bartz’s departure. They have tens of billions of dollars in the bank; they can do this pretty easily.
  • why If Google were to help — it’s not a sure thing — it would effectively allow them to prop up a competitor in the market, which would help them fend off antitrust claims. Think Microsoft swooping in to help Apple back in 1997. source

22 Oct 2011 15:36

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Politics: Nevada backs down on primary, gets better hotel rooms in exchange

  • We just basically want to be the adults in the room here. This is not a matter of New Hampshire being a bully or telling us what to do. It’s a matter of Nevada doing what needs to be done for Nevada.
  • Nevada GOP chairwoman Amy Tarkanian • Discussing why the state decided to move its primary date back to February 4, after facing massive criticism, boycotts and a Jon Huntsman no-show at a recent debate, for setting their primary on January 14. Probably a good idea, Nevada, but one they came to with some perks to sweeten the deal — including prime hotel space at the Republican National Convention next year. Enjoy the minibar, guys! That’s what you get for taking the high road. source

21 Oct 2011 11:05

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World: News Corp. pays off phone-hacking scandal victim’s family

  • $3.2 million the settlement headed to Milly Dowler’s family, via News Corp.
  • $1.6 million the settlement headed to a charity of the Dowler family’s choosing source
  • » The scandal that killed a newspaper: With the News of the World scandal a bit of a low point for the company this year, it’s understandable that they might want to get this dealt with. But the Dowler family has made sure it was to their liking: “Nothing that has been agreed will ever bring back Milly or undo the traumas of her disappearance and the horrendous murder trial earlier this year,” they said. “The only way that a fitting tribute could be agreed was to ensure that a very substantial donation to charity was made in Milly’s memory. We hope that projects will be undertaken so that some good can come from this.” Meanwhile, News Corp. now has a second scandal under its large journalistic umbrella, though this one (the WSJ’s circulation scandal) is fortunately more business-oriented and less invasive on another person’s life.

21 Oct 2011 00:14

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Culture: Bad ideas: Five things parents probably shouldn’t do with their kids

  • We figure some of our readers have to have kids at this point, right? Have a young child that you’re looking to take care of? Making some stupid mistakes along the way, without realizing it? CNN’s got you covered — they threw together this list of ways to ensure your children are safe — a bunch of stuff that most parents normally tend to do without thinking about it. Do you catch yourself doing any of this?
  • one Moving their kid to a bigger car seat too soon. Not so fast, pediatricians say. Fish gotta swim, kids gotta grow.
  • two Letting their baby sleep in a swing. Though the motion lulls them asleep, they may not get enough oxygen in that position.
  • three Making them watch educational videos. Babies under two years old can’t even understand them at all yet.
  • four Putting the babies on their stomachs when sleeping — a SIDS rick. Just give them “tummy time” during the day instead.
  • five Microwaving their babies’ bottles. The bottles may be made with BPA — or could get too hot to handle. Yikes. source

20 Oct 2011 23:47

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World: Meteor shower: An excuse for folks with binoculars to look less weird.

  • Keep your eyes on the skies, folks. It’s time for another Orionid meteor shower, guys! “From tomorrow up to 30 meteors an hour could be seen as they burn up, which can be best viewed in the northern hemisphere, with the optimum viewing times likely to be at around 1am or 5am.” This happens every October as the Earth passes through what’s been left by Haley’s Comet. source

20 Oct 2011 23:31

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Music: The best Scrabble word ever? Coldplay’s Chris Martin on Mylo Xyloto

  • Coldplay’s latest album will be a “love story in a big, dark, scary city.” So, part dream and part nightmare? “So you have a boy and a girl and a group of like-minded people in a sort of George Orwell-type or Kafkaesque world. But it’s hopeful, because it’s about people trying to transcend troubles,” said Chris Martin, regarding Coldplay’s soon-to-be-released album “Mylo Xyloto.” Martin probably hopes it also transcends the pop charts — each of the band’s four albums have sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S., though that number’s been on the decline the past couple of years, matching the music industry at large. Will the fifth buck the trend? source
 

20 Oct 2011 16:57

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U.S.: FBI panel votes to update their definition of “rape”

  • The previous definition the FBI used dated way back to 1929, a bad era for victims’ rights. The Federal Bureau of Investigations has been operating a definition of “rape” from an era which was not especially kind to victims of sexual assault (which is not to say our present times are sterling by any stretch). The definition: “Carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” That’s self-evidently a very broad and vague way to describe it. The new proposed definition: “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” This notably removes the requirement that the event be “forcible” to qualify as rape, as well as the gender-specific expression that only women can be rape victims. source

20 Oct 2011 16:52

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Culture: Harold Camping is again really, pretty sure the world will end tomorrow

  • thenChristian minister Harold Camping, he of the Family Radio network, predicted that the world would come to an end on May 21st when the Rapture occurred. This didn’t happen. He’d also incorrectly predicted this for 1994.
  • now Camping is again claiming that doomsday’s a-comin’: “Oct. 21, that’s coming very shortly, that looks like it will be, at this point, it will be the final end of everything.” We humbly predict this won’t happen. For the third time. source

20 Oct 2011 15:25

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World: NTC says Libyan forces, not NATO, killed Gaddafi

  • Libyan NTC claims credit for Gaddafi killing: It’s been a rather wild day as far as world news is concerned, which you’d probably expect when a notorious dictator of forty years is slain; in the aftermath, Libya’s National Transitional Council has said that Gaddafi’s capture and subsequent death (what happened exactly is yet unknown, as video has surfaced of Gaddafi once being alive under rebel custody, albeit in chaotic circumstances) was the work of Libyans, contrary to speculation NATO may have had a hand in it. Said spokesman Ahmed Bani: “It was our courageous revolutionaries who have killed the tyrant and not NATO.” source