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24 May 2010 20:28

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Politics: Sarah Palin misses key fact in Nikki Haley scandal criticism

  • The blogger she lumped in with the liberal media? Conservative. And on Haley’s payroll. Look, we’re pretty skeptical of the claims of Will Folks due to the apparent traffic-courting nature of the admission, but let’s get something clear. FITSnews, the blog in question, isn’t a “liberal rag,” as Palin put it. The blog is listed as a conservative blog on the Washington Post Political Blog Network. In fact, in his admission of the scandal, he notes that he thinks Haley is the best candidate. Seems like Palin’s people either shot before steadying their aim or were trying to mis-represent the facts completely. source

24 May 2010 10:56

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Tech: Mark Zuckerberg writes inevitable “we screwed up” op-ed piece

  • Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark.
  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg • Admitting the privacy options on Facebook kind of suck for many users, and that they plan to change them. He wrote a lengthy op-ed piece for The Washington Post noting just that. One thing he says might be a bone of contention, though: Zuckerberg flatly denies that the company has shared personal information with advertisers. (Note the word “personal” in that statement – your more basic demographic data is fair game.) Oh, and Facebook will always stay free. source

24 May 2010 10:43

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Biz, U.S.: Oil spill: Is Obama’s oil-drilling ban actually getting followed?

  • seven new offshore drilling projects have been given the go-ahead since Obama banned new drilling projects
  • five projects have gotten environmental waivers like the controversial one that leaky oil rig got source
  • » Oh, and also: There were even more approvals and waivers approved in the period between the April 20th blast that caused the spill and when the Obama administration announced the changes. Oh boy. That doesn’t look good.

23 May 2010 22:12

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World: Party leader on Ethiopia’s election: “The whole thing is a farce”

Apparently the government threatened to withhold food aid from those who voted for the opposition. (Oh yeah, the guy in the center is wearing a John Deere hat.) source

23 May 2010 20:53

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World: Also not “Lost”: Using captured hikers, Iran wants to barter with U.S.

  • Iran wants their diplomats back! The fate of hikers Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal has been under question for months, after they were detained last summer for crossing into the country. While they got to meet with their collective mothers last week, they’re still in custody and have been denied access to their lawyer repeatedly. Hillary Clinton has been calling for their release, too, and Iran may be willing to do a prisoner swap to get back some Iranian diplomats held in Iraq. We’ll believe it when we see it. source

23 May 2010 11:19

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World: Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama sides with U.S. military, feels the pain

  • It is true that I said I wanted to relocate the facility outside of Okinawa. However, I’d like to apologize that the conclusion is not what the Okinawans wanted.
  • Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama • Regarding his decision to allow the American military to keep its main Japanese base, over the concerns and protests of many local residents. The U.S. takes up 10 to 20 percent of the island of Okinawa, and in recent months became a charged political issue. “I must say the situation is extremely disappointing and severe,” said Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima. source

21 May 2010 20:25

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Tech: Did the “Fake Steve Jobs” guy choose to ditch the iPhone?

  • YEP and his comments kind of say it all; ouch source
 

21 May 2010 20:19

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Politics: In case you need clarification of Rand Paul’s crazy, here you go

  • Rand Paul was simply making a point that every time an issue arises, the automatic response from the Democrats is not to find out what went wrong and why, but to propose more government, more regulation and more taxes.
  • Republican National Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh • Regarding what Rand Paul was trying to say when he criticized Obama for being “un-American in his criticism of business,” specifically with the Gulf oil spill. (Oh, and trying to save Paul’s butt.) We actually understood this the first time. We just think it’s wrong and shows a deep misunderstanding of why regulation is important, especially in the wake of this oil spill, where it’s seemingly clear that the government regulatory machine was asleep on the job. Surprising thing we just noticed: Reason Magazine’s site hasn’t even mentioned the new Rand Paul controversy, even though they’ve brought up the Civil Rights Act thing today. Dudes, the silence says more than you think. source

21 May 2010 13:33

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Politics: Obama’s not taking questions regarding Joe Sestak right now

  • 13deflected questions in a row by Obama’s @PressSec source

21 May 2010 07:20

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World: In Malawi, gay rights isn’t exactly a “thing” they promote

If nothing else, the country, which just jailed two gay men for indecent acts, has pretty clever signs. Oh, and apparently a very conservative culture. source