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12 Dec 2011 21:41

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World: United Nations: Nine months in, Syria death toll reaches new peak

  • 5,000+ number of people the UN estimates have been killed in Syria since the current crisis started
  • 300 number of children that were among the dead, according to UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay source
  • » An accelerating rate: In the first five months of the conflict — between March and August — roughly 2,000 people died fighting the Assad regime. In the four months since, more than 3,000 more have died. Another 18 people died today, as a general strike continued in the country.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 20:52

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Culture: Russell Simmons buys Lowe’s vacated “All-American Muslim” ads

  • Just purchased remaining spots for #allamericanmuslim for next week. The show is now sold out! keep your money @lowes and we will keep ours.
  • Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons • Revealing (via Twitter) that he had purchased the spaces that Lowe’s had vacated when they backed down to pressure over their advertising on the TLC reality program “All-American Muslim.” According to his rep, he bought two spots, but hasn’t decided what to put in them yet. Russell, you’re a badass. Meanwhile, Lowe’s is defending its decision, claiming it was one of “dozens” of companies that had pulled advertising support from the show — a claim difficult to back up, especially considering that TLC is claiming that the show is doing well advertiser-wise. The home improvement chain bent to pressure from an obscure group called the Florida Family Association in removing their ads from the program. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 15:19

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Biz: Rumors fly on possible Verizon/Netflix acquisition

  • If you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em: That would seem to be the principle behind an effort by Verizon to purchase the DVD-shipping and movie streaming giant, though it bears noting that this is reported as little more than rumor at present. It would, however, be fitting with Verizon’s general posture of late; they’ve been open about their desire to enter the streaming movie business, with their CEO last week admitting they’d looked into purchasing Hulu. This would be an advantageous time for somebody to acquire Netflix, as their stock has plummeted in recent months following announced price increases, and the utterly disastrous Qwikster plan; conversely, though, these rumors have sent their stock upwards by 6%. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 14:36

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U.S.: Obama holds press event with Nouri al-Maliki to mark end of Iraq war

  • A war is ending. A new day is upon us. And let us never forget those who gave us this chance: the untold number of Iraqis who’ve given their lives; more than 1 million Americans, military and civilian, who have served in Iraq; nearly 4,500 fallen Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion; tens of thousands of wounded warriors and so many inspiring military families. They are the reason that we can stand here today. And we owe it to every single one of them, we have a moral obligation to all of them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.
  • President Obama • In remarks to the press pool, joined by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Obama has pledged that U.S. forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, saying in October that “our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.” The U.S. presence in Iraq is not, however, going away completely — while some 8,000 active duty military personnel are returning home, along with nearly 5,000 private military contractors, the U.S. embassy in Iraq still boasts a personnel staff of 15,000, making it the largest U.S. embassy in the world. Obama has said he intends to cut that number substantially, but that given Iraq’s situation immediately following the war, the embassy’s security staff will by necessity remain higher than most. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 14:15

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World: Notorious former leader Manuel Noriega returns to Panama

  • An unhappy homecoming: Former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega, as we mentioned yesterday, has returned to his native country, this time as a prisoner. He is expected to stand trial over human rights violations and the murder of his political opponents during his six-year rule; due to Noriega’s advanced age (77), however, he would qualify for house arrest rather than a prison term. This only occurs if he accepts the verdict from a previous trial conducted in absentia, though, which would halt any effort by him to mount a further legal defense. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 10:22

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Offbeat: Michelle Obama: Record-holding jumping jacks expert

  • Back in October, Michelle Obama and 300,265 other people worldwide (including 400 in her direct vicinity) attempted to break a record by doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. The record attempt was successful, Obama said on the “Let’s Move” Web site this morning. We’re totally gonna celebrate by doing some jumping jacks ourselves. Because we’re creative like that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 09:59

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Politics: Romney heavily attacks Newt Gingrich over Palestine comments

  • [Gingrich] shows a level of erratic outspokenness which may be great in a campaign but not great for someone running for president.
  • Mitt Romney • Getting in a solid blow at Newt Gingrich on Fox News this morning, in reaction to the whole Palestine “invented people” thing that became an issue during Saturday’s debate — and which Gingrich defended under heavy pressure. Romney’s trying to lob whatever bombs he has at Gingrich, who is suddenly ahead of him in a number of important polls. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2011 09:45

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World: Billionaire rich guy plans to give Vladimir Putin a run for his money

Mikhail Prokhorov, a gold-mining magnate who owns the New Jersey Nets, is one of two men who just announced plans to run against Vladimir Putin in 2012. He’s been stewing since he got kicked out his party for fighting with the Kremlin. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 21:30

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Tech: Google’s top execs have a surplus of planes hanging around

  • 8 private jets split up between three top executives, or 2.6 per person source
  • » Say whaaaaaaaaaaaa? The news on this one broke in a somewhat sneaky way — the San Jose Mercury News reported that the executives had offered to pay $33 million to finish restoration of a historic air hangar at Moffett Field, which is a stone’s throw from Google’s Mountain View headquarters. It came out, as a result of this news, that the company has eight jets at its disposal between Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt. Google doesn’t own them, mind you; H211, a separate company that has no formal relationship with Google, operates them. Still, though … you gotta wonder why they need eight jets. If they want, they could give one to us.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 21:11

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Culture: Box office has worst weekend in three years — so, what’s to blame?

  • $78 million the amount the entire box office made over the weekend, with the strongest movie being the objectively awful “New Year’s Eve”
  • $68 million the amount the entire box office made on Labor Day weekend 2008, the last time the box office dipped this low source
  • » A bad crop of films, or something else? With a bunch of also-rans in the theater and two weak films — a movie that scored 7 percent on Rotten Tomatoes in the lead and a Jonah Hill vehicle, “The Sitter,” right behind — to hold up the box office, it may not have been the best week for films … but December is a very strange time of year for the box office to struggle like this. One analyst blames a lack of male-oriented films. We blame a lack of exposure for Foozie Bear, who is by far the the best part of “The Muppets.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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