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

13 Jan 2012 10:33

tags

Politics: Why Obama wants Congress to allow him to merge federal agencies

  • what President Obama plans to ask Congress for the right to merge together a number of sprawling trade and commerce agencies with somewhat similar purposes.
  • why It’s an effort to cut resources and minimize overlap, and the move would save $3 billion over 10 years. The election-year timing is also a consideration for Obama. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jan 2012 09:43

tags

World: Two years later, Haiti continues its slow march towards recovery

  • Where does haiti stand after the deadly 2010 quake? While about $15 billion of aid money is still missing in Haiti, progress is still being made. “Recovery is here. It is painfully slow, it is agonizing to watch, but it is recovery,” said Harvard professor Paul Farmer. He has spent three decades in Haiti and is opening a new hospital. Big factories could also stimulate the country’s economy, creating 20,000 jobs at just one plant. Progress can also be measured somewhat superficially; HuffPo “Good News” writer Cameron Sinclair finds the silver lining in other ways. He noted the lesser-but-still-positive positives of Haiti, such as its fast WiFi and rich history. (Perhaps that’s looking too hard in the forest to see trees, but y’know.) So, while recovery is still being sought after, it is still coming. And in some ways, it is already here. (Photo by Ken Cedeno / The Washington Post) source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jan 2012 00:52

tags

Tech: Reddit, Wikipedia want the Internet to imagine a life with SOPA

  • downtime To demonstrate what Internet life might be like with SOPA/PIPA in the mix, Reddit will be shut down on Jan. 18. Instead, users can watch a livestream of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting on DNS and search engine blocking, where the site’s co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, will offer remarks to Congress.
  • backup Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales, has expressed his support of Reddit’s move, and may even work with the site, potentially creating a similar shutdown of Wikipedia. With big websites explicitly showing users what a life with SOPA/PIPA is like, could public outrage crop up? And will Google or Facebook join in? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 23:58

tags

Culture: A Beautiful, Bald Barbie? One four-year-old’s doll could inspire line

  • A new inspiring look for Barbie? Genesis Reyes, a four-year-old who lost her hair after receiving treatment for cancer, is getting a one-of-a-kind Barbie: a bald Barbie. “We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia or trichotillomania,” said Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin, who, after they were inspired by Genesis, built a Facebook page. This kind of Barbie could do quite a bit of emotional therapy for girls going through similar situations. Mattel, however, “doesn’t accept ideas from outside sources,” so we’re not sure yet if this movement will come to fruition. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 15:41

tags

World: Kim Jong-Il’s oldest son doesn’t buy his brother’s new rule

  • I expect the existing ruling elite to follow in the footsteps of my father while keeping the young successor as a symbolic figure. It is difficult to accept a third-generation succession under a normal reasoning.
  • Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of Kim Jong-Il • Remarks made in an email to the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, on the subject of his young brother Kim Jong-Un’s ascendancy to power in North Korea. It’s worth noting a couple things in his analysis — for one, he was shirked in the Kim line of succession for, of all things, traveling to Japan on a fake passport in an effort to visit Disneyland. As a result, he no longer lives in North Korea, which means he probably can’t be as informed as he once was; North Korea is one of the most opaque nations on earth. However, when a family this bizarre, powerful, and hugely important gets to feuding, it merits attention. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 15:25

tags

U.S.: Army investigator recommends court martial for Bradley Manning

  • “Aiding the enemy”: That’s one of the crimes that Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, who was tasked with an investigation of Manning’s case, says there is evidence he committed. Almanza has advised the Army to submit Manning to a court martial, relating to the massive, classified document dump to Wikileaks, with which he’s been accused. Manning’s defense attorney, David Coombs, has voiced complaint that Almanza works in the Justice department as a civilian. Justice is currently building a case against Wikileaks head Julian Assange, which opens up risk of conflict of interest. If Manning is convicted through a court martial, he could face life imprisonment. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 14:54

tags

World: Foxconn workers threaten mass suicide over severance pay

  • Taking “strike” to a whole new level: It’s been reported that workers at Foxconn’s factory in Wuhan, China (where they make those XBOX 360s we’re all so fond of) were so incensed over an alleged reneging by the company on severance pay, as well as a factory closure, that they issued a dire ultimatum: meet our demands, or face a mass suicide. The workers (estimates vary from 80 to 200) didn’t go through with the threat, mercifully, as Foxconn apparently placated their demands. Foxconn’s factories and dormitories have seen suicides before, infamously forcing the installation of safety nets around windows. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Jan 2012 14:17

tags

U.S.: Michigan billionaire ordered to jail over bridge construction battle

  • the crimeThe Detroit International Bridge Co., which signed with Michigan to build additions to the Ambassador Bridge, failed to do so according to the agreed upon design, instead building roads that took drivers past their own fuel station and duty-free shop while leaving trucks to use smaller surface streets.
  • the time A Michigan judge has ruled that Matty Mouron, the 84-year-old billionaire owner of the company, was in contempt of a 2010 court order to complete the project as agreed upon. Which means, Mouron is headed to jail until he complies with the order, and starts up the new bridge work. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 11:09

tags

Politics: Not bad brah: Obama’s campaign war chest gets even bigger

  • $68 million (!!!) raised in the fourth quarter of 2011 by Obama source
  • » His opponents: Not even close. While the Obama campaign denies trying to raise a bold-sounding $1 billion for his campaign, he is doing quite well on the fundraising front, especially in comparison to next-best Mitt Romney. Mitt scored $24 million in donations in the same period. But not all that money will go straight into the Obama campaign: Roughly $24 million will go to the Democratic National Campaign’s efforts reelect members of Congress and the Senate.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2012 10:37

tags

U.S.: Why the heck did the FDA ban orange juice imports, anyway?

  • what Acting upon concerns first noted by the Coca-Cola company, the Food and Drug Administration banned imports of orange juice until further notice, which on its face sounds pretty dramatic.
  • why The beverage maker noted to the FDA their concerns that illegal fungicide might’ve gotten into the supply. High levels are unlikely, but the measure is precautionary. Sorry juice fans. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>