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21 Jun 2011 11:02

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Tech: Media suggests LulzSec’s main dude arrested, but LulzSec says no

  • So, did LulzSec’s main dude get taken down? Widespread reports this morning suggest that a hacker named Ryan Cleary got arrested in the UK after a hack of the country’s Census systems. Media reports tied him to LulzSec (some even calling him the ringleader), but authorities would not confirm the fact. And lo and behold, not long after those reports came out, this tweet went up. Our guess: We bet they actually nailed someone, but the group is bluffing so that it doesn’t look so obvious. The group, by the way, has scored blows against multiple governmental agencies, multiple corporations, and has hit the hapless school bully, Sony, numerous times. In pursuit of the lulz (and the Twitter followers … they’re up to 230,000). source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jun 2011 10:29

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Politics: Jon Huntsman enters the ring with a refreshing level of respect

  • I respect the President. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better President; not who’s the better American.
  • 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman • During his announcement this morning. Huntsman represents a bit of a breath of fresh air in this campaign — one obvious from this speech. He disagrees with the president ideologically, but won’t stoop to the level of some of his GOP opponents and call him a jerk. And you know what? In this era of 24-hour news turning every piece of a debate into its own little mini-spat, that’s refreshing. While Huntsman’s name recognition is currently low, we expect it to go up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 22:38

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Offbeat: Scientists make beef substitute out of human feces

  • Every once in a while, we catch wind of a story so self-evidently absurd that it completely immunizes itself to satire. While we’d love to make a joke about the fact that scientists have now found a way to turn human feces into meat, there’s really no point. It’d be like doing an impression of Charlie Sheen and expecting it to be funnier than just watching an interview of Charlie Sheen. We will, however, note that the synthetic meat, which they tastefully refer to as a “turdburger,” is lower in fat than real beef. [hat-tip: io9] source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 22:00

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U.S.: Why would you steal a buck from the bank?

  • On June 9th, 2011, a 59-year-old man with no criminal history robbed a bank of one dollar. The man, who was unarmed, made it clear that he only wanted a single dollar, and calmly waited for the police to arrive after collecting it from the teller. James Verone had been laid off from his delivery job three years earlier, and was subsequently forced to take a position as a convenience store clerk. But this job slowly ate away at his body, and resulted in serious health problems. He couldn’t afford health insurance, and was denied disability. So, Verone intentionally landed himself in prison in order to take advantage of the free health care. The most amazing part? He says now that he doesn’t regret it. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 17:50

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Politics: NRSC’s Twitter retweets fake @BarackObama posts

  • action President Obama recently made it known that he’d be writing some of his own tweets on his popular Twitter account. This is really an inevitable intersection of social media and politics, and we’ll admit, it’s sort of cool to read a tweet sent by a sitting U.S. President.
  • reaction The National Republican Senatorial Committee, conversely, has been tweeting for a while. When Obama started tweeting, the NRSC began retweeting faked posts designed to look like Obama wrote them; they’ve done the same to Harry Reid and Tim Kaine. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 17:07

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Politics: McCain worried about “isolationism” in GOP circles

  • Old school vs. new school: “He [Reagan] would be saying: That’s not the Republican Party of the 20th century, and now the 21st century. That is not the Republican Party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people for all over the world.” Senator John McCain is right to warn of an “isolationist” streak growing within the GOP, as the default political positioning of the party is now simply the opposite of whatever President Obama supports. Therefore, as Obama continues to wage war (and enter a new foreign conflict in Libya), suddenly the “war party” of the last decade is tilting towards giving peace a chance. This strikes a violent discord with old hands in the GOP, McCain predictably among them — and will continue to cause internal strife for Republicans. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 16:29

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Politics: Ron Paul spokesman criticizes Romney on abortion

  • Given Governor Romney’s past flip-flops on the Right to Life issue and his support for Obamacare-like individual mandates, this stance is very troubling. Right to Life conservatives must question Gov. Romney’s commitment to our cause.
  • Jesse Benton, Ron Paul’s campaign manager • Voicing doubts about Mitt Romney’s commitment to the conservative anti-abortion movement. This line of attack on Romney from the right isn’t unusual, as the former Massachusetts governor was at one time avowedly pro-choice, but now says he’s changed his mind. This highlights an interesting contradiction between professed political ideology and reality, though — there’s a certain inescapable strangeness about a Ron Paul adviser, of all the possible campaigns, being the one to voice this charge. Making abortion illegal (and defunding institutions that provide) is, regardless of one’s feelings on the issue, an enormously “big government” solution. And if there’s one thing Ron Paul opposes in nearly every other circumstance, it’s big government. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 15:17

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World: Report: Mubarak is having major health problems

  • Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak might have stomach cancer. It’s not set in stone, but his defense lawyer says that there’s significant evidence that Mubarak, 83, might have the disease. He’s already been in the hospital for heart troubles, as well as surgery to have his gallbladder and part of his pancreas removed. He’s supposed to go on trial August 3 for killing the protesters who forced him to leave office — but his compounding health issues could put a major crimp in that. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 14:41

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Tech: Google’s back on the library-digitization tip — in a big way

  • 250,000 books going digital source
  • » These books predate you by centuries: Google is cooperating with the British Library in London to convert their 40 million pages worth of books from 1700-1870 into digital form. These ancient books are out of copyright, so Google won’t have the same issues they’ve had with earlier digitization efforts. This is all on Google’s dime, by the way: They’ve made similar deals with many other outlets — including Stanford and Harvard.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 14:23

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U.S.: NY gay marriage bill to set a precedent about the issue

  • This is not about religion, this is about civil rights.
  • Sharon Baum, a protester for gay marriage in New York • Describing her take on the gay marriage situation. (Another take, from 80-year-old Ginny Winn: “If this passes, we will become Sodom and Gomorrah.”)Tension is growing as the bill to legalize gay marriage hits in a critical stage — one that requires at least some Republican support to make it happen. It’s a key battleground state for the gay rights movement: If gay marriage passes in New York, there’s a good chance it will set a precedent that other states will follow the Empire State’s lead. A large number of people on both sides of this bill have come forward to protest a decision that could go either way at this point. Keep an eye on this today, guys. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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