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08 Nov 2011 10:14

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World: Tell us how you really feel: Sarkozy, Obama rip Netanyahu on hot mic

  • Sarkozy French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, at the G20 economic conference last week, had what he thought was a candid exchange with Barack Obama when he said this about Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu: “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Damn.
  • Obama In an effort to sympathize with his diplomatic friend, Obama reportedly responded like this: “You’re fed up, but I have to deal with him every day.” While press officials heard the conversation, it seems unlikely that there was a recording of the (amusing) exchange. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Nov 2011 23:22

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Music: Don’t wait to listen to “Camp”. You’ll be out of the cool loop.

  • Childish Gambino’s “Camp” is streaming already: You should have heard about “rap’s stepfather” by now. Childish Gambino, who you might know better as actor and writer Donald Glover, is releasing his latest album this month. Entitled “Camp,” it’s set to drop on November 15 … but if you’re cool, you can listen to it today. Thanks to NPR’s First Listen, you can listen to the entire album for free. It’s not safe for work due to explicit lyrics, but if we had our way, this would be mandatory listening material in every workplace. Take him seriously, though, as “few hip-hop artists have blurred the boundaries of rap and humor more subversively — or for a more serious end — than Childish Gambino.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Nov 2011 15:06

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Politics: “Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone.”

  • Team Cain triples down: “All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false. Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone.” That’s the campaign’s official statement on the latest harassment allegations, and it’s a notably firm denial. There’s very little wriggle room; if, say, some sort of evidence were to come out against Cain, he’d have a hard time coming off as anything but a bold-faced liar. This would seem to imply that Cain is confident no hard evidence will surface–a confidence that, in itself, doesn’t imply innocence or guilt. The statement also inexplicably patted Cain on the back for his “clear foreign policy vision,” perhaps in an attempt to divert media attention to another, less salacious Herman Cain controversy. (Picture credit: Gage Skidmore)  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Nov 2011 14:35

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Politics: Herman Cain’s accuser speaks out

  • He pulled my head towards his crotch… I said, ‘I have a boyfriend.’ He said, ‘You want a job, right?
  • Sharon Bialek, on Herman Cain • Bialek is fourth former Restaurant Association Employee to accuse Cain of sexual harassment–and the first to come forward publicly. For now, we’ll treat these accusations as just that–accusations. Also notable: Bialek is being represented by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who’s previously taken on Tiger Woods and Meg Whitman, amongst many others.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Nov 2011 10:33

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U.S.: Instead of buying them, Minnesota high school makes own textbooks

  • That’s the cool thing about it. The book is kind of a living document.
  • Minnesota high school statistics teacher Michael Engelhaupt • Discussing how his school, Blaine High School, decided to write their own textbooks, rather than pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for textbooks which would be out-of-date and ill-suited to the school’s state testing. Right now, students can pay $5 to buy a printed-out version, or print from the Web, but eventually they’ll be able to access the material with computers everywhere. And, as things change, they can update the textbooks yearly. The difference in cost to the Anoka-Hennepin school district, by the way, was staggering: It would’ve cost $200,000 to buy textbooks; to get Engelhaupt and his fellow teachers to write them (and to pay for offline versions) cost just $25,000. Not a bad deal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 21:21

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World: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, stuck with huge tax bill, gets huge donations

  • $2.4M the size of the fine China gave to firebrand artist Ai Weiwei — to be paid in just 15 days
  • 20k number of people who have offered Weiwei donations to help pay this insane tax bill
  • $550k amount of money these people have given the artist in just five days; impressive source
  • » This on top of a long arrest earlier this year: Ai Weiwei spent 81 days in jail on tax evasion charges, but claims all authorities wanted to talk about was his pro-democracy record. The fine Ai has been forced to pay is more than three times the size of his tax bill — and he needs help paying. The surprising part is that he actually got said help. “It’s surprising; it has really changed my perspective on people,” he said, noting that people traveled long distances to give him financial help — in person. Ai prefers to think of the payments as loans, and turned down a $157,000 payment from a businessman, saying he preferred smaller loans.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 21:00

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U.S.: Some Connecticut homes still without power week after snowstorm

  • 80,000 people still can’t turn on their lights source
  • » A missed deadline: More than a week after an early-season snowstorm crippled the Northeast, some parts of Connecticut — still — don’t have power. While officials for Connecticut Light and Power planned to have 99 percent of all Connecticut residents’ power on by now, the company admitted defeat Sunday night. “We have missed our goal, and for that I apologize to everyone,” said Jeffrey Butler, the company’s president. “We have not met our expectations and those we set for all of you.” Butler blamed two strong storms in a two month period — Hurricane Irene and the snowstorm — for the trouble.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 20:18

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U.S.: Penn State sex abuse case: Joe Paterno responds to allegations

  • I understand that people are upset and angry, but let’s be fair and let the legal process unfold.
  • Penn State coach Joe Paterno • Making a statement on the situation with Jerry Sandusky, his former defensive coordinator who is facing charges over some pretty awful sexual abuse allegations. How much did Paterno know? Here’s what he claims: “I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility,” Paterno noted. “It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the Grand Jury report.” But ultimately, the extent of the allegations was far beyond what Paterno even imagined: “If this is true we were all fooled,” he claimed, “along with scores of professionals trained in such things.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 09:45

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Culture: Penn State sex abuse allegations could damage Joe Paterno’s legacy

  • Sandusky, Curley and Schultz are innocent until proven guilty. Regardless, the last two days are the worst in the history of what was once a proud Penn State football program.
  • (Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News columnist Bob Flounders • Discussing the major scandal revolving around Penn State’s football team this weekend — the arrest of Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator charged with allegedly sexually abusing numerous young boys over the years, and the reported cover-up by the Penn State athletic program. “Perception can be a program killer, whatever the truth turns out to be,” Flounders notes. “And now Penn State football might have a horrific perception problem. It might affect recruiting classes. It might affect [head coach Joe] Paterno’s legacy. We tend to focus on what happens last with legends.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 09:29

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Politics: Ron Paul wins another straw poll; Herman Cain right behind

Despite a scandal that chewed up much press energy this week, Herman Cain was only two points behind Ron Paul in a Republican straw poll in Illinois. But Paul still kicked his butt. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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