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06 Sep 2010 20:31

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World: WikiLeaks leaders to Julian Assange: Step down, brah

  • I am not angry with Julian, but this is a situation that has clearly gotten out of hand. These personal matters should have nothing to do with WikiLeaks. I have strongly urged him to focus on the legalities that he’s dealing with and let some other people carry the torch.
  • Wikileaks organizer Birgitta Jonsdottir • Offering some insight into the Wikieaks organization’s stance on their leader. Short answer: They want him out, and have been pushing him to quit for two weeks. Jonsdottir, who also serves in Iceland’s parliament, has a pretty solid sum-up of the public face of Wikileaks at the end of this Daily Beast article: “Julian is brilliant in many ways, but he doesn’t have very good social skills. And he’s a classic Aussie in the sense that he’s a bit of a male chauvinist.” Ahahahaha, oh boy. TechCrunch suggests that Assange’s personal problems don’t make him a good leader. Hm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 20:35

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U.S.: Craigslist’s “Adult Services” ads hiding in “Casual Encounters”

  • cause After years of pressure which recently hit a head, Craigslist finally got rid of its monitored, for-pay “Adult Services” section. They put a “censored” bar in its place.
  • reactionWith “Adult Services” out of service, users just moved over to the loosely-monitored “Casual Encounters” section. Great job, watchdogs. source
  • » To emphasize: Craigslist had to take down a service which provided tracking and monitoring of all purchases because regulators were concerned about what was on the site. Now, those users are going to go to other places, such as Backpage.com, which DO NOT provide the kind of tracking and paperwork that Craigslist did. Why is Craigslist getting crap here? Simple: Because they’re an easy target. This kind of stuff is going to happen anyway. Deal with the root problem, authorities.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 12:56

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World: Good idea: Pope may get involved in Iranian stoning case

  • The Holy See is following the case with attention and participation. The position of the church, which is opposed to the death penalty, is that stoning is a particularly brutal form.
  • Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi • Informing the world that Pope Benedict XVI is willing to get diplomatically involved in the Iran stoning case if it escalates any further. The case, if you’re not aware, involves Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery in a case that involved the death of her husband. She was sentenced to stoning, which involves groups of people throwing stones at the person convicted – not exactly a fun way to die. (She was also sentenced to 99 lashes because of a newspaper photo that was reportedly not even of her.) The fact that this has the Pope’s attention raises hope that there might be a diplomatic solution to the humanitarian crisis. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Sep 2010 11:30

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World: Tony Blair + anti-war protesters + eggs = A protest omelet

So yeah, apparently some people in Ireland aren’t willing to let bygones be bygones. Blair’s been gone; then he had to write that stupid memoir. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2010 20:31

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U.S.: Obama: The (combat end of the) Iraq war is officially over and stuff

  • Mission accomplished? Obama’s presidential address tonight marked the end of a long war (as far as combat operations go), and the next step will be to move forward and deal with more pressing concerns – Afghanistan and the economy. Now, there were certain things that might cause great disagreement – the somewhat firm emphasis that we’ll be getting out entirely next year is kind of a biggie – but ultimately, average people aren’t in this mode anymore. They want to see a stronger economy, not a never-ending, ultra-contentious war. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2010 09:29

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Tech: Remember the CrunchPad/Joojoo? Some lawsuit stuff just happened

  • Remember the CrunchPad? That thing that became the JooJoo without the branding of TechCrunch’s main dude? Of course you do. Anyway, some court stuff recently happened in the case, tossing away most of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington’s claims, but keeping a big, important one: The companies were business partners and had responsibilities to one another. Fusion Garage, the guys behind the JooJoo, are idiots that totally cost themselves good press and overcharged for a device now forgotten in the iPad’s wake, but that’s besides the point. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 11:14

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Politics: Did Shirley Sherrod take that new job with the USDA, guys?

  • NO next time Andrew Breitbart fakes a story, ignore him source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 

23 Aug 2010 10:04

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Tech: Apple decides to play Big Brother with new anti-jailbreak patent

  • good Apple has created and applied to patent a new technology to allow them to detect unauthorized iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad uses.
  • badThose unauthorized uses include jailbreaking, unlocking and removing a SIM card. Because Apple doesn’t like these (still legal) things.
  • worseThe methods of detecting an unauthorized user include creepy voice and heartbeat detection. It’s like 1984 all over again. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2010 00:14

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Politics: Max Headroom: A fact check is not a second opinion, just an FYI

  • A rip from Howard DeanJust remember, Obama staffers: He says this out of love, not hate. Howard Dean, still an icon of progressivism, ripped into Obama’s staff today, saying that they didn’t understand the concerns of regular people in their own party. Ouch.
  • Blago explains himselfOn “Fox News Sunday,” the man, the myth and the hair did a pretty terrible job evading Chris Wallace’s questions about how his case could hurt Democrats nationally. We think he should probably stick to awful reality TV instead.
  • Fact check? Not reallyWhile the guy they have on here certainly makes some good points about Franklin Graham’s rant on CNN the other day, the fact of the matter is that Boston University professor Stephen Prothero is analyzing, not “fact-checking.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Aug 2010 21:18

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World: Wyclef decides that he’d rather be the obstacle than the roadbump

  • So, apparently, he isn’t going so quietly. And why the heck not? He put weeks of work into grabbing the zeitgeist’s attention, and he isn’t going to let a little thing like residency get in the way of that! “Tomorrow our lawyers are appealing the decision of the CEP,” Clef wrote on Twitter. “We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be respected.” Good luck, bro. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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