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25 Feb 2012 12:55

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Offbeat: Slovakia prepares to name bridge after laundry-detergent salesman

  • With a lead fit for his legend, martial artist Chuck Norris is five weeks away from having a bridge named after him. Online voting doesn’t end until February but, with 74% of votes cast for Norris (who currently hawks Era laundry detergent in the U.S.), it’s hard to imagine another challenger taking the lead. While the final decision will be left to a regional committee, regional governor Pavol Freso said the committee will honor the wishes of the people represented in the poll. “The same way as we have so far been building it in full sight of the public, we will seek that the name is accepted by the public as well,” he said, all but dashing the hopes of second-place “Maria Theresa Bridge”. Then again, five weeks is more than enough time for someone like Stephen Colbert to jump in the race. (Or why stop there? The ShortFormBlog Bridge has a good ring to it! Get to it, internet! Make us structurally sound! — Ed.) source
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25 Feb 2012 12:32

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World: Afghanistan protests: NATO recalls personnel at Kabul-based ministries

Police March Towards Protesters In Kabul

  • After five days of intense protesting across Afghanistan, NATO has recalled all personnel working in its Kabul ministries. The move comes on the heels of reports that two U.S. officials — allegedly one colonel and one major — were shot and killed at the Afghan Interior Ministry building this morning. A NATO spokeswoman would not confirm the rankings of the two servicemen, but did confirm that they were killed by someone who turned a weapon on them. She declined to comment when asked if the killer was a member of the Afghan military or police force. In an emailed statement to the press, the Afghan Taliban claimed credit for the killings, saying they were in retaliation for the burning of Korans at Bagram Air Base earlier this week. (image courtesy of Reuters/Ahmad Masood) source
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25 Feb 2012 11:13

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U.S.: Vermont same-sex couple vows to fight DOMA, deportation

  • How can our country, with a President who knows discrimination in his core, how can they continue to uphold DOMA?
  • Vermont resident Frances Herbert • Discussing the issues her wife, Takaka Ueda, is facing. Herbert is legally married to Ueda — a native of Japan and her partner of 13 years — and in shock, after the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter denying Ueda’s request to stay in the country. Ueda moved to the US from Japan in 1999, but is now living in the country illegally and faces deportation. Vermont’s congressional delegation has even stepped in, submitting a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, asking them to reconsider. Now the couple plans to fight the ruling, and the Defense of Marriage Act in general, in hopes of preventing this from happening to anyone else. Think they’ll succeed? source
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25 Feb 2012 09:43

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U.S.: New study links medical marijuana laws to lower suicide rates

  • 11% reduction in the suicide rate of men ages 20-29
  • 9% reduction in the suicide rate of men ages 30-39 source
  • » Who would have guessed that getting high reduces stress? While the study stopped short of conclusively saying that medical marijuana was the direct cause of the lower rates, the authors did note that, when used in moderation, cannabis acts as an anti-depressant. The authors also found that states with medical marijuana programs saw a reduction in alcohol consumption by young men, and note that alcohol is a known depressant. Read the full results of the study here.
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23 Feb 2012 19:27

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Culture: Scifi author shares his series’ ending with terminally-ill fan

  • “You’re going to put him in a coma”: See what happens when one Reddit user surprises his terminally-ill friend with an item that he might not have otherwise lived to see. Prepare to have your faith in humanity restored….and to finish off a box of Kleenex. (h/t 14kgoldnyc) source
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22 Feb 2012 22:45

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Tech: Open-source fans, here you go: Ubuntu for Android ahoy!

  • After months of rumors, Canonical has unveiled Ubuntu for Android, a version of the ultra-popular Ubuntu Linux kernel that boots from Android mobile devices. We’ll let the video do the rest of the talking. source
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22 Feb 2012 21:16

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Tech: Crazy but true: Google wants to be your cable TV provider in Kansas City

  • then In May 2011, Google made Kansas City, Missouri the second location of their highly-sought-after Fiber Project. The deal? A reasonably-priced one gigabyte-per-second fiber optic internet connection for roughly 50,000 to 500,000 people. Google: Your internet company.
  • now Google just filed for a video franchise license with the Missouri Public Service Commission. Reports claim Google will do something similar in Kansas next week — suggesting Google’s ready to tackle Time Warner Cable on the television front, too. source
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22 Feb 2012 16:17

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Tech: Storify comes to the iPad: Full story curation, at your fingertips

  • “Whether you’re at a conference or at home … you now have storytelling at your fingertips.” Storify co-founder & CEO Xavier Damman’s totally psyched about bringing his popular online story-telling tool to the iPad. While Storify, which pulls content from a variety of social networks, does not contain all the functionality of it’s Internet-based counterpart, the team at Storify is confident that they’ve successfully migrated the core Storify experience to iOS. The team also added an additional function not found on the Storify website: The ability to tweet, inside the app, while creating a story. Have you tried it yet? source
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22 Feb 2012 15:48

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Politics: Meet the billionaires funding the 2012 Republican primary season

  • five donors find themselves in the spotlight: Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, casino moguls Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Paypal co-founder (and Facebook investor) Peter Thiel, and Houston home-builder Bob Perry
  • $30.4 million donated by the five people, the largest donations going to the Super PACs Winning Our Future and Endorse Liberty; however, American Crossroads leads the pack with $15 million collected source
  • » A massive financial mind share: That’s almost $1 out of every $4 collected by all super PACs this election cycle, and certainly seems to explain exactly how we ended up with the remaining crop of Republican candidates that we have. Bob Perry is a former Tim Pawlenty supporter who switched to Team Romney with a $1 million dollar donation, while the Adelsons — who are ready to boost their support for Winning The Future from $10 million to $20 million — have provided the lifeblood of the Gingrich campaign. Of the remaining four candidates, only Rick Santorum finds himself without support, via Super PAC donations, from one of these five wealthy conservatives.
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22 Feb 2012 14:06

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Politics: Congressman wants to take away TSA’s spare change … literally

  • $409,085 in change left in 2010 source
  • » But where does it all go? Since 2005, Congress has allowed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to use forgotten money left behind by passengers as part of their operating budget, although the agency says it works hard to return the money left by passengers. But a new proposal in the House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), would change that. Miller’s proposal would send all forgotten monies, collected by the TSA, to the USO instead, and may expand the bill to include higher value items like sunglasses, cameras, and computers. He’s convinced that taxpayers and travelers alike would both prefer it this way. But we’re wondering, what do YOU think of this new plan?
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