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26 Nov 2010 10:06

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U.S., World: The U.S. really freaking angry with Wikileaks right now (again)

  • WikiLeaks are an absolutely awful impediment to my business, which is to be able to have discussions in confidence with people. I do not understand the motivation for releasing these documents. They will not help; they will simply hurt our ability to do our work here.
  • U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey • Loudly voicing his frustration with Wikileaks, which plans to release thousands of diplomatic cables in the next few days. Let’s just say that the U.S. is gearing up for the worst-case scenario, which involves them having to explain to its allies why it’s privately talking crap about them and revealing things that were told to them in confidence. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Nov 2010 09:32

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U.S.: It’s Thanksgiving! Why are you jerks still on the Internet?

  • OK, guys … we’re going to take some time away from the never ending grind of finding short stuff to post about, and appreciate Thanksgiving the way it was meant to be enjoyed – with a giant lump of tofu in place of a bird that we singlehandedly killed with our bare hands. We suggest you do the same. The internet will be here tomorrow, friends. (Photo by JacobMetcalf) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 16:48

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U.S.: Turkeys more worthy of Obama’s mercy than humans

  • four number of turkeys Obama has pardoned since becoming president
  • zero number of people the president has pardoned so far source
  • » A fairly recent phenomenon: Although the pardoning of turkeys seems like a longstanding presidential phenomenon, it’s not. The first pardoning took place in 1989 under George H.W. Bush’s watch. And the shipping of turkeys to the White House only started in the 1940s, on Harry Truman’s watch. We’re guessing Truman killed the turkey himself.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 14:28

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U.S.: College suspends Iraq vet for frank paper about killing urges

  • lesson An Iraq War vet in college writes an English paper, frankly saying that how war gave him an addiction to killing and violent urges. He had previously only written privately about the war.
  • grade The teacher, who encouraged him to write about the subject, gave him an A and told him that he should get it printed in the school paper. It was printed a couple of weeks ago.
  • reaction Weeks after the paper was written, at the urging of other veterans on campus concerned about what he wrote, he was kicked out of school until he got a psychological evaluation. source
  • » Two conflicting cultural problems: What’s going on here is a bit of culture conflict. First, Charles Whittington takes medication and has received counseling on his issues. While in the paper he said that killing “is something that I do not just want but something I really need so I can feel like myself,” it’s clear that he’s trying to make an effort to move on. Meanwhile, his school, the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, Md., is trying to prevent another Virginia Tech-style shooting. We feel that Whittington’s frankness is a clear signifier that those days are behind him – or at least he’s willing to try. (Thanks to pitusimz for the suggestion)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 10:41

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U.S.: Thanksgiving’s cost rises, hitting the poor the worst

  • $43.47 the cost of making a Thanksgiving dinner for ten people
  • 1% the increase in cost from last year, around 4 cents per person
  • 15% the percentage of families that can’t afford sufficient food source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 07:53

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U.S.: About time: Color-coded threat level system may disappear

  • Anyone else feel safer because of these colors? Didn’t think so. So the Obama administration, smarting from that whole TSA backlash thing, is actually talking about replacing this overly-basic scare system with something that actually tells people what’s going on. Great. About freaking time we got out of the color business. The only people this benefited were those working in print shops who got to charge more for the extra use of color. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 00:13

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U.S.: FCC chairman agrees with texters: “911 IS A JOKE LOL WTF”

  • The Virginia Tech campus shootings in 2007 are a tragic, real-life reminder of the technological limitations that 911 is now saddled with. Some students and witnesses tried to text 911 during that emergency and as we know, those messages never went through and were never received by local 911 dispatchers.
  • Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski • Evoking the 2007 Virginia Tech school shooting to explain why 911 needs a texting function. 911, a system around in its current form since 1968. And it’s one that hasn’t kept up with the fast pace of technology, either with mobile phones (which are now the primary source of 911 calls) or broadband technology: “Many 911 call centers don’t even have broadband, and some are in communities where broadband isn’t even available,” Genachowski said. “That is unacceptable.” All this stuff is on the list for things to improve thanks to the stimulus plan, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Nov 2010 21:43

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U.S.: Don’t let suspect’s acting role overshadow grisly Brooklyn murder

  • He was a very nice kid, a gentle kid. I can’t believe this, man. This is my Thanksgiving.
  • Brooklyn resident Serge Marcel • On the grisly murder of his sister, Yannick Brea. The main suspect in the murder, Michael Brea, is getting a lot of attention because he was in a couple of minor acting roles, including  an episode of “Ugly Betty.” But the murder itself is why this murder case should be getting lots of attention. Brea reportedly asked his mother if she believed in God, then killed her with a machete. She was found decapitated.  He’s being given a psychiatric evaluation and has been charged with second-degree murder. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 21:27

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U.S.: TSA topic du jour: How much we pay the terror-stopping workers

  • $14/hour the amount newly hired TSA employees make to do their high-pressure front-line jobs that involve feeling up people’s junk and ensuring that no bombs get on planes
  • 37% the percentage of TSA workers that work part-time at Chicago O’Hare Airport; the job would pay the equivalent of $29,000 a year if they worked full-time source
  • » Let’s give them raises! You know what’s really sad? These TSA jobs are treated like working at retail (complete with turnover), even at a time when government workers are getting paid more than they’ve ever been. And that’s even considering that they arguably have a more important job than many bureaucrats. Fun fact: If you took the $168 million that the government has planned to, or used for, these full-body scanners and divided it amongst the 56,000 workers on staff as of 2009, it would be the same as giving each worker $2,988 of extra income, or $28 more each week over the next two years. That’s money which we’re sure they’d appreciate, considering they’re attempting to stop bombs and terrorists from getting on planes.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 21:01

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U.S.: TSA topic du jour: How much we pay for the body scanners

  • $130k+ the cost of buying a new TSA scanner – they sell for as much as $170,000
  • 500 number of new scanners that Obama wants to buy next year alone
  • $88M the amount set aside in his budget for such invasive things source
  • » A big business: A lot of money is going towards these devices – $80 million has been paid already for the ones already in use, most of that coming out of the stimulus. The effect has been that many firms are trying to get on what’s proving to be very fruitful business.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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