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08 Oct 2011 22:23

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U.S.: DC antiwar protest at National Air & Space Museum gets out of hand

  • They were protesting a drone exhibit. The antiwar movement got a real kick in the pants today after a high-profile protest tied to Occupy DC and the similar Stop the Machine demonstration led to the shutdown of a well-known Smithsonian museum. One protester was arrested and another was pepper-sprayed during the protest. Honestly, we’re not sure how we feel about this one. We’ve been here before (there’s an IMAX theater here) and the museum is fairly innocuous and family-oriented. A lot of kids go there, a cred point underscored by the fact that the second “Night at the Museum” movie was partly set there. And based on a lot of the comments on the YouTube video, that seems to be what’s angering people — not the protest itself. What do you all think? Was this the right venue for this protest? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2011 10:43

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U.S.: Occupy movement: Quickly growing and gaining huge diversity

  • This could be the tipping point. I marched against the Vietnam war before I was drafted into the army and this movement is now getting towards that critical mass.
  • Former Silicon Valley executive Dick Steinkamp • Explaining why he’s chosen to take part in the Occupy Seattle protests. Folks like Steincamp, a 63-year-old firmly in the “Baby Boomer” camp, have added themselves to the Occupy movement in recent days, giving the movement significant age diversity and making it something that’s becoming much larger than its original starting point. Roughly 70 major cities now have their own Occupy movement, as well as 600 smaller communities. Last week’s Brooklyn Bridge arrests really gave the movement a spark — now it’s spreading at full speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2011 10:20

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U.S.: Leaked e-mails: White House staffer was heavy Solyndra cheerleader

  • who Former White House official Steven Spinner, an Obama fundraiser and Silicon Valley investor who advised the Energy Department on alternative energy loan programs.
  • what E-mails showed that Spinner heavily pushed the Solyndra loans, despite the fact that he was supposed to be recused from the case. The company later failed.
  • why His wife’s law firm represented the company, and while she didn’t closely work on the company’s case, the firm benefited from the government loan. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Oct 2011 13:46

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Politics: Why the U.S. Postal Service’s massive deficit is really sort of an illusion

  • illusion The U.S. postal service has had to pre-pay large amounts of their health care costs for a number of years — roughly $5.5 billion this year, which they nearly defaulted on and only survived thanks to U.S. government help.
  • reality In reality, they’re pre-paying health benefits over the next 75 years — a point which likely includes many employees yet to be hired or born — as a way to make the federal deficit look a little less depressing. Wait a second … source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Oct 2011 12:46

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World: Is the Nobel Peace Prize’s approach to the Arab Spring the right one?

  • We have included the Arab Spring in this prize, but we have put it in a particular context. Namely, if one fails to include the women in the revolution and the new democracies, there will be no democracy.
  • Nobel Prize Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland • Explaining how the committee worked the Arab Spring into the Nobel Peace Prize while giving it a broader context — the repression of women. One of the three winners, Yemen’s Tawakkul Karman, has been a leader the anti-government protests in that country. The other two, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee represent different parts of the issue — Sirleaf is Africa’s first freely elected female leader, while Gbowee led a successful campaign against the usage of rape as a weapon during Liberia’s civil war. As the Arab Spring has plenty of moments which might be considered problematic for giving out a Nobel Peace Prize (such as war and violence), this is a compromise that de-emphasizes all that, while focusing on a quite-important issue. Think it’s the right approach? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 17:19

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Politics: Herman Cain is no friend of Occupy Wall Street

  • “I don’t have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe…”: Herman Cain is downright unimpressed with Occupy Wall Street, and he’s not afraid to let us know it. We suspect those of you who are sympathetic to (or participating in) this movement probably weren’t likely Cain voters anyways, but his strident denunciation here probably won’t win him any converts: “It is not a person’s fault if they succeeded, it is a person’s fault if they failed.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 16:50

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Politics: Obama pressures Congress to take more action

  • If Congress does something, then I can’t run against a do-nothing Congress. [If they do nothing] then I think the American people will run them out of town.
  • President Barack Obama • Answering a reporter’s question whether he was pursuing a similar reelection strategy to that of Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign against a “do-nothing Congress.” Obama has used a tougher, more confrontational rhetorical style against Congress lately, and while this does have much to do with his push on his proposed jobs bill, you needn’t be a cynic to see this as a desirable campaign strategy. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 16:37

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U.S.: Suspect in lethal Cupertino shooting believed to be dead

  • Three dead, six injured: Shareef Allman, the man chiefly suspected to have committed a deadly shooting at a quarry in Cupertino, California, may have been shot dead by Santa Clara Sheriff’s deputies earlier today. According to one of the men injured in the attack, Allman had clocked in and poured himself a cup of coffee before drawing a gun and opening fire on those around him; what (if any) motive he might have had to commit the crime is unclear. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 09:56

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Tech: Tuesday’s Apple keynote, in retrospect, post-Steve Jobs

  • The fact that you, and your team, went on stage, knowing that Steve Jobs was close to death, is a testament to your professionalism. I felt that you had called it in a bit, but now I know the truth. You weren’t calling it in at all. You were doing an amazing job while knowing what was coming.
  • Robert Scoble • In a Google+ post late last night, getting the point across that Apple released a new iPhone the day before Steve Jobs died. Tim Cook went on DESPITE the fact that he knew the guy who invented the device was about to die. But … in a way, it makes the modestness of the event seem all the more obvious. “Today I feel guilty because I gave you a tough time about your first press conference,” Scoble said. “Now that I know what was going on behind the scenes I owe you an apology. I’m sorry, I owe you and your team one.” We think the internet does, honestly, because that keynote was much-derided. Now it all makes sense. Ultimately, what Apple sells — they’re just phones. In a week, the weak keynote will be forgotten. Jobs, however, won’t. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 01:17

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U.S.: Occupy Wall Street: The crowds get bigger, the police more violent?

  • Switching gears a little bit, tonight’s Occupy Wall Street rallies hit a new peak, in part thanks to fresh support from unions such as AFL-CIO, the United Federation of Teachers, the Communications Workers of America and District Council 37. (According to one estimate, the crowd hit 20,000, but an exact number couldn’t be narrowed down — either way, it was large.) But the new peak in attendance came with a price — police brutality, some of which hit journalists covering the march. “I don’t know what sparked it, but people started tossed about, and I did see people getting beaten with clubs, and I personally was pepper sprayed,” said Flux Rostrum, a journalist and videographer for Mobile Broadcast News. Above is a clip of one of the more violent scenes tonight — the way that they’re throwing around those batons is nothing short of frightening. In all, at least 28 people were arrested. (thanks usualchatter for the kick in the pants; this take on the evening’s events is also worth a read) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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