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28 Dec 2011 11:09

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Music: 2011 in music: Adele’s “21” scores biggest album sales since 2004

  • 3% increase in U.S. music sales in 2011 — some welcome news
  • 5.6M number of copies Adele sold of her mega-popular second album, “21,” in the U.S. alone in 2011 — and the second-place album isn’t even close to her
  • 7.9M number of copies R&B crooner Usher sold of his 2004 mega-hit “Confessions” — the last time an album sold more than 5 million copies in a single year
  • 11M number of copies N’Sync sold of its 2000 album “No Strings Attached” — just to give you an idea of how much the industry’s changed in the MP3 era source
  • » A major mark in a new era: What makes Adele’s album sales all the more impressive is that so much has happened since 2004 throughout the music industry. In 2004, CDs were very much the dominant medium, and iTunes was still fairly new, with its mix-and-match nature only starting to make its mark. Now, we have Spotify, Rdio and Mog — services which threaten to get us out of the habit of buying albums altogether. Is it possible that Adele’s mark is a once-in-a-decade thing, or has the industry begun to recover from a decade of bad decisions and splintering at the hands of technology — by focusing on nurturing good artists?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2011 10:27

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World: In case you missed it: Kim Jong-Il’s highly-choreographed funeral

  • Last night was just strange: Euronews’ “No Comment” YouTube channel did us a favor and edited down this meandering feed, where (in one scene) the camera focused on a building for ten minutes, down to two minutes that really give you the gist. We’ll choose not to debate on whether the tears were real. Instead, let’s discuss what this shows about North Korean culture. The Telegraph argues that it shows that North Korea is really a monarchy or royal dynasty, despite its reputation as a communist nation — and that Kim Jong-Un is without a doubt the country’s leader. And the Christian Science Monitor disputes (in a slideshow) that the country is really as isolated as the West has come to believe. And MSNBC parses the funeral through the eyes of South Korea — and what they find is a giant bout of disinterest. What did you get out of this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 23:54

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World: “Horrible things were happening before my eyes”

  • Police brutality that’s not “Occupy”-related: It’s been ignored by most Western media, but a police crackdown on a labor strike in Kazakhstan earlier this month resulted in 16 deaths (officially reported; protesters say the number is much higher), one truly disturbing video of protesters getting shot and beaten as they run away, and now, charges of a torture basement beneath a Kazakh police station. Here’s what’s being reported.
  • DETAINED FOR NO REASON Asem Kenzhebaeva says that on the day of the protests, police detained her, for no reason, while she was searching the streets of Zhanaozen for her father, who had gone missing earlier that day. “That day, police were arresting anyone they saw in the street,” Kenzhebaeva said.
  • TORTURE BASEMENTPolice brought her to a dark, dirty basement under the station, filled with other detainees. According to Kenzhebaeva, women were being stripped naked, dragged by the hair, and beaten by “people in masks.” Kenzhabaeva was beaten and strangled–but ultimately released by the police.
  • WHAT TORTURE? When she returned to the scene with government officials later that week, the basement had been completely cleaned up, and looked “white like a hospital.” Her father, meanwhile, turned up two days later, having been severely beaten by police. He died of his wounds the day before Christmas (Photo: AFP). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 23:14

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Politics: Montana libertarian activists want to recall politicians over NDAA

  • These politicians from both parties betrayed our trust, and violated the oath they took to defend the Constitution. It’s not about the left or right, it’s about our Bill of Rights. Without the Bill of Rights, there is no America. It is the Crown Jewel of our Constitution, and the high-water mark of Western Civilization.
  • Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes • Discussing his plan to force a recall of elected Montana officials who supported the National Defense Authorization Act, an act which has proven quite controversial among some parts of the population — leading even to extreme interpretations of the law (think “FEMA death camps,” the dumbest internet rumor since the last time the comedian Sinbad “died” at the hands of Wikipedia). Rhodes, who leads the somewhat hard-line libertarian group, is certainly not afraid of the Alex Jones crowd. But that said, this whole thing is certainly worth keeping an eye on: Rhodes plans to use an interpretation of Montana law that allows for recalls “on the grounds of physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of oath of office, official misconduct, or conviction of certain felony offenses.” Just nine states allow for that type of recall. (Thanks to Michael Cote for the tip-off on this one)  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 22:28

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Politics: Rick Perry sues Virginia GOP over ballot exclusion

  • SUE ’em if they don’t let you on the ballot! source
  • » That’s Rick Perry’s calculus: A total of five Republicans won’t appear (also including Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman) on the ballot in Virginia’s presidential primary, having failed to collect the 10,000 signatures required by state law, but Rick Perry is the only one to react with a lawsuit (so far). He’s suing the Virginia Republican Party, and the state board of elections, claiming that the state’s signature requirements — in particular, the provision that bans out-of-state circulators from gathering signatures — are unconstitutionally restrictive. Of course, he’s seeking retroactive change in the law, one that would allow him to appear on Virginia’s March 6th ballot after all. We agree with Talking Points Memo that suing one’s own party, even at a statewide level, isn’t normally the best move for a presidential candidate, but then again, what does he have to lose?
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 21:36

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World: Prince Philip leaves hospital, immediately heads to gun-shooting party

  • Some people had expected him to grab his gun and race off to start shooting again as soon as he got back to Sandringham – but he is being sensible.
  • A Norfolk, England villager • Discussing the recent release of Prince Philip from the hospital. The Duke of Edinburgh, who is married to Queen Elizabeth, began his hospital stay Friday night after complaining of chest pains. He had to miss out on the family’s Christmas and Boxing Day traditions — but left the hospital in good spirits. The 90-year-old royal figure received a minimally-invasive coronary stenting procedure, and was released Tuesday; he’s been ordered to rest, however. Over the past year he has attended over 300 public and formal engagements, so resting might be harder than it sounds for him. In fact, as soon as he left, he went to a shooting party at the Sandringham Estate, where he was said to be in a “cheerful” mood. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 21:23

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U.S.: Deadly helicopter crash kills surgeon, others picking up heart transplant

  • heroics On Monday morning, a Mayo Clinic surgeon and two others traveled by helicopter from Jacksonville to Gainesville, Fla. to pick up a heart transplant needed for surgery.
  • tragedy The helicopter crashed before reaching its destination; the aircraft’s three passengers — a surgeon, a procurement technician, and the pilot — all died. source
  • » View this as a call to action. No one is entirely sure why the helicopter went down, though it was overcast as the helicopter left Jacksonville. The crash itself is still being investigated for any outlying conditions, but the engine of the helicopter might have been the cause. “We’ve seen a number of instances where that engine simply failed,” said Kansas City aviation attorney Gary Robb. The heart readied for transplant is now no longer viable. In a country where 100,000 people are on transplant lists and only 35% of the population counts themselves as potential donors, one has to wonder if more potential donors could prevent traveling such long distances in the future.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 20:35

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Tech: Would Obama veto SOPA? An online debate builds among techies

  • claim AllThingsD’s Arik Hesseldahl claimed in an article Monday that Obama would be likely to veto the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act because the president “likes the internet” and that a decision in favor of SOPA would strongly go against the president’s longstanding net neutrality policy.
  • rebuttal However, TechDirt blogger Mike Masnick, who knows a thing or two about online copyright issues, says that Obama would likely sign it due to his need for election-year money from Hollywood — unless the bill becomes toxic to the touch, which Masnick says hasn’t happened yet. So, who’s right?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 15:53

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U.S.: Zohydro, a super-powered (and addictive) painkiller?

  • High-strength painkiller sparks addiction concerns: A new prescription painkiller currently in development has stoked fears among addiction experts, due to its high concentration of a substance already known to be hyper-addictive. Zohydro, a new medication for which pharmaceutical company Zogenix plans to apply for FDA approval to sell sometime early next year, contains ten times the amount of hydrocodone as Vicodin does — one of the most abused drugs in the United States. Said April Rovero, of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse: “I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin. We just don’t need this on the market.” (photo by The Javorac on Flickr) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 15:30

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U.S.: This year, Santa taught one Arizona family to never give up hope.

  • an honest-to-goodness christmas miracle. Nobody thought Sam Schmid, a business major at Arizona State University, was going to recover from a traumatic car crash in October; his family was ready to take him off life support. His doctor ran just one more brain scan and advised them to wait a week before making any decisions. That same day, Schmid became responsive and even opened his eyes. He was allowed one day to be at home with his family for Christmas. With intense therapy, he hopes to be back at school next year. “There is no better gift,” his mother said. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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