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02 Oct 2010 13:51

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U.S.: Arnold, California legislature finally reach deal on budget

  • 3 months without a budget, but with a lot of tightrope, in California source
  • » Keeping it under wraps: Legislative officials plan to reveal the details of the plan later this week but are currently keeping it hush-hush. You guys have already had to wait since July 1 for a firm budget plan, so what’s a few more days? You bastards are so impatient.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2010 11:52

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U.S.: Three ways the new Supreme Court docket could affect your life

  • goods eBay could be under the gun if Omega watches wins their copyright lawsuit against CostCo regarding the sale of goods from abroad. The issue: Does the first-sale doctrine apply to imported goods?
  • games California’s ban on the sale of violent video games to minors is also under the gun in the current Supreme Court session. The EFF and the MPAA, sworn enemies otherwise, want to see the ban overturned.
  • business AT&T is trying to say that it’s allowed personal privacy in a FOIA case; the FCC disagrees. If SCOTUS sides with the phone company, businesses could get a lot more evil under the guise of privacy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2010 00:10

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Biz, U.S.: TARP’s final cost could be way less than first advertised

  • $700 billion the amount TARP cost taxpayers when it first happened two years ago
  • $50
    billion     the most TARP will cost taxpayers when all is said and done source
  • » Says who?: The White House’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, suggested that the final bill for TARP could be 7 percent of the original cost – or less, depending on how the markets go. But don’t expect anyone to gloat about this. TARP is political poison.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

30 Sep 2010 18:29

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Politics, U.S.: The GOP: Party of fiscal responsibility

  • If Democrats were smart, they’d plaster this graph on billboards in swing districts around the country. This calculation is based on an analysis by the Center for American Progress, which used estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office as their starting point (methodology here). Economics whiz Ezra Klein adds, “the treatment of the GOP’s vague spending cuts is extremely generous.” Any Tea Partiers care to comment? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 4 Comments • Permalink

30 Sep 2010 11:18

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U.S.: Tyler Clementi may have posted cry for help online before suicide

  • People have commented on his profile with things like ‘how did you manage to go back in there? are you okay?’ and the fact that people he was with saw my making out with a guy as the scandal, whereas I mean come on… he was SPYING ON ME…do they see nothing wrong with this?
  • A quote reportedly from Rutgers student Tyler Clementi • Posted on an online forum not long before he committed suicide. The quote was from Cit2mo, and he described a situation very much like the one that Clementi suffered. While there’s no independent confirmation, the situation matches Clementi’s almost exactly. According to a friend of Clementi’s roommate Dharun Ravi, it was merely in good fun. “He’s very, very open-minded,” Michael Zhuang said, “and he, like if it had been a girl in the room it wouldn’t have been any different.” Tell that to Tyler. He seemed not to appreciate the gesture. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

29 Sep 2010 21:55

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U.S.: My work is done here: Prop. 8 judge Vaughn Walker retiring

  • He’s only going to be remembered for that one case. Vaughn Walker had a long career as a judge in California, but it’s a decision he made in August that made him famous. Walker, the chief judge of the Northern District of California, struck down Proposition 8 using a tightly-written decision that law scholars are going to be reading for decades to come. Walker’s second act? He doesn’t have one. He’s retiring at the end of the year. Might as well go out on top. Bravo, dude. Have fun playing golf. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Sep 2010 20:24

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U.S.: Rutgers student caught on webcam, later jumps off bridge

  • Guy on the left asks for some privacy. Guy in the middle leaves his webcam on and goes to visit girl on the right. Guy on left, thinking he has privacy, makes out with his boyfriend. Guy in center tweets about what he found. Three days later, guy on left jumps off of bridge and kills himself. Rutgers student Tyler Clementi’s death is very postmodern and sad. Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei should be totally ashamed, if not more. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Sep 2010 02:53

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U.S.: Bishop Eddie Long accuser: “You Are a Monster.” Whoa

  • That man cannot look me in the eye and tell me we did not live this pain. While you can sit in front of the church and tell them that you categorically deny it, you can’t say that to our face. And you know this. You are not a man. You are a monster.
  • Accuser Jamal Parris • Choosing to go forward to the media in the wake of the lawsuit. A reporter traveled all the way from Georgia to Colorado to talk to Parris, and well, there is A LOT HERE. This 23-year-old sounds like he’s been through the wringer. “I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head,” he said. “I cannot forget the smell of his cologne and I cannot forget the way that he made me cry many nights when I drove in his cars on the way home.” Whether or not he’s telling the truth, this has to make it harder to stick behind Long. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Sep 2010 15:59

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Politics, U.S.: GOP big-wigs pull the plug on Rand Paul’s ads

  • yesterday For the first time, Senate polls in Kentucky found Democrat Jack Conway within striking distance of Tea Party favorite Rand Paul.
  • today The National Republican Senatorial Committee has pulled all advertising from Kentucky airwaves. Surely, just a coincidence. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Sep 2010 11:14

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U.S.: University of Texas on lockdown, warning in wake of shooting

  • It’s still early, but there’s no word of any other victims. The University of Texas at Austin is currently in lockdown because of a gunman who fired eight to ten shots in short bursts. He was reported to be wearing a black ski mask, and police have confirmed that he has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Thoughts and prayers to the University of Texas – every time there’s a school shooting, it doesn’t get any less scary. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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