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08 Nov 2011 23:39

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Culture: Brett Ratner learns you can’t use gay slur and produce the Oscars

  • one Brett Ratner, director of a number of famous popcorn flicks (the “Rush Hour” series and the just-released “Tower Heist”) was quoted during a post-screening interview as saying “rehearsal is for f%@!.” That is not a good move in the largely-progressive Hollywood, and his tawdry Howard Stern interview not long after didn’t help matters.
  • two Ratner will also produce the Oscars early next year. Actually, scratch that. Ratner’s out after that comment, and his hand-picked host, Eddie Murphy, may or may not stay as a result. “He did the right thing for the academy and for himself,” Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 23:17

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U.S.: Air Force officials disciplined over handling of dead soldiers’ remains

  • A missing ankle bone. Some missing tissue. A sawed-off arm. War is an ugly thing, and the death of a soldier is certainly one of the more difficult things to put into a pretty package. But three employees at the Dover, Delaware Air Force base found out that “close enough” isn’t good enough when it’s someone’s life in the package. They got reprimanded (but not fired) for the mishandling of the soldiers’ remains, leading to some shocking and gruesome details getting out to the press. As this is a sensitive issue, the Air Force is working to ensure this won’t happen again. “We and every employee of the Dover Port Mortuary understand the obligations of this work, the sanctity of this work, the necessity, the need for reverence, the need for dignity and respect for our fallen, just as if these were our sons and our daughters,” noted Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, the chief of staff for the Air Force. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 18:29

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Politics: The Lewinsky scandal’s spazzy little brother

  • “It’s not just men who potentially sexually harass women.” Herman Cain just gave a press conference addressing the sexual harassment accusations his ex-employees keep hurling at him, and we can’t say it went very well. He clarified nothing, repeated what he’s been saying all along (“These women are lying and I never harassed anyone”), and made a few unforced errors–such the true but utterly irrelevant reminder above–that can’t do anything but hurt him going forward. Here are some of the best/worst.
  • On his time as CEO“I have seen instances where it could be interpreted as sexual harassment, and if I saw it…I dealt with it immediately, before the other person perceived it as an infringement of their privacy.” In other words, Herman Cain can detect harassment before the victims even know they’re being harassed!
  • On taking a polygraph“Yes. Yes, I absolutely would [take a lie detector test]. But I’m not gonna do that unless I have a good reason to.” This is the kind of thing someone says when they don’t want to take a lie detector test.
  • On who’s behind it all“The Democrat Machine in America has brought forth a troubled woman to make false accusations.” Cain initially claimed that it was Rick Perry’s doing; now, it’s the Democrats. Also, Cain is fooling himself if he thinks Democrats want to prevent him from getting the nomination. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 15:11

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World: SIlvio Berlusconi to resign as Italian Prime Minister

  • The end of an era: Silvio Berlusconi was, if nothing else, a remarkably durable politician. He served as Prime Minister three different times, briefly in the 90s and twice over the last decade, despite both political and sexual scandals (you may recall his broken promise to sell his media assets if elected, his alleged tryst with underage prostitute ‘Ruby The Heart Stealer,’ and his very specific, foul assessment of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fr example). However, following what Reuters reports as a “humiliating” legislative defeat over proposed reforms to meet the fiscal demands of the euro zone debt crisis, Berlusconi will soon be on the way out. Honestly, we never thought this guy’s political life would end with a parliamentary defeat. It somehow seems not salacious or bizarre enough, given the rest of the man’s career. (Photo by Alessio85) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 14:29

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Politics: DC appeals court rules in favor of health care law

  • Affordable Care act ruled constitutional: Not that it hasn’t been ruled unconstitutional before, and not that this is the last you’ll hear of the issue. That said, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act yesterday, a move considered a surprise given the court’s conservative tilt. Said Judge Laurence SIlberman: “That a direct requirement for most Americans to purchase any product or service seems an intrusive exercise of legislative power surely explains why Congress has not used this authority before — but that seems to us a political judgment rather than a recognition of constitutional limitations.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 11:04

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World: Silvio Berlusconi walking on eggshells after botched economic vote

The vote, which went in his favor, showed however that he no longer has an absolute majority of support in the Italian parliament. It increased calls for his resignation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 10:52

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World: So, humans could be going to Mars soon. That would be a truly giant leap.

  • Over a period of 17 months, everything was strictly regimented. Now they are returning to a life where they must deal with family and professional problems.
  • Mars500 project director Boris Morukov • Talking about the crew of “astronauts” after a 520 day simulated mission to Mars. The mission intended to answer the question: ” can people stay healthy and sane during six months rocketing to the Red Planet?” The participants, from countries like Europe, Russia and China, are expected to have problems adjusting to the “noise and activity of ordinary life.” Still, it seemed to go much better than this experiment in 2000, which ended “in drunken disaster when two participants got into a fistfight and a third tried to forcibly kiss a female crew member.” We would be a little frazzled, too, after hundreds of days of isolation and terrible food. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Nov 2011 10:47

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Tech: iPhone sales: Hong Kong really wants to try out Siri, apparently

  • 10 minutes to sell out iPhone 4S pre-orders in Hong Kong source
  • » Want to pre-order the iPhone 4s in Hong Kong? Too late. You’re stuck waiting in line. The phone will be available in stores this Friday and analysts are expecting “long lines and serial stock outs.” It’s a good sign for when the phone hits mainland China — a date for which has not been announced. It’s led to a black-market Apple-smuggling industry between Hong Kong and China, which is likely to only continue with the iPhone 4S
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 10:14

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World: Tell us how you really feel: Sarkozy, Obama rip Netanyahu on hot mic

  • Sarkozy French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, at the G20 economic conference last week, had what he thought was a candid exchange with Barack Obama when he said this about Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu: “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Damn.
  • Obama In an effort to sympathize with his diplomatic friend, Obama reportedly responded like this: “You’re fed up, but I have to deal with him every day.” While press officials heard the conversation, it seems unlikely that there was a recording of the (amusing) exchange. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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