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01 Mar 2011 20:32

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U.S.: Quick hits: John Boehner’s temporary cutting plan passes the House

  • $4 billion to put the government on layway for a couple of weeks
  • 335-91 the vote to pass the temporary extension in the House
  • yes most Democrats went with John Boehner’s plan to buy more time
  • no Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi didn’t vote for or against the bill source
  • » Oh yeah, fun fact: During the shutdown crisis, Congress and Obama may not get paid, thanks to a bill that the Senate unanimously passed today. At least that has bipartisan support.

26 Feb 2011 10:58

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World: Iran’s long-gestating Bushehr nuclear plant delayed AGAIN

  • dreamAn Iranian nuclear power plant, long in the works since before the Islamic Revolution and currently being tag-teamed with Russia, was supposed to finally get up early this year after numerous delays.
  • reality Russia is forcing Iran to unload a bunch of nuclear fuel assemblies to test for numerous safety concerns, according to a nuclear watchdog. Maybe it’ll open after that? 36 years is a long time. source

02 Jan 2011 12:05

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U.S.: Dear early-bird tax filers: The IRS isn’t ready for you guys yet

  • good Obama got the tax compromise through late last month, even if it didn’t have absolutely everything he wanted in it. There’s no more uncertainty, which is good.
  • bad As a side effect of it coming so late in the year, the IRS can’t take as many as 50 million itemized tax forms until late February, due to tax code changes. Sorry, guys. source

28 Dec 2010 22:25

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Offbeat: Annoying kid: “I wanna be in Florida getting a tan on my back!”

  • We sense a meme coming on. The level of annoyance that 8-year-old Alexander Wright has about being forced to use his iPod while being stuck in the airport is epic. We want to let this kid to know that it gets better. You will get to Florida someday. (Thanks Adam Griffiths) source

14 Apr 2010 10:50

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Tech: Sorry, world: Apparently, the iPad’s really popular in the U.S.

  • Faced with this surprisingly strong U.S. demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May.
  • A statement from Apple • Regarding the company’s decision to delay the international release of the tablet which we’re currently using to read tweets while blogging (Twitterrific for the win). The company says that they’ve already shipped half a million iPads but it appeared demand in the U.S. would top expectations for at least the next several weeks. We blame the awesome Reuters app. source

04 Jan 2010 00:37

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U.S.: Newark airport’s collective freak-out finally sorted out (almost)

  • There there, little girl, it’ll be OK soon, we swear. Flights at Newark Airport are finally starting to go out after hours of nightmares caused by some jerk who thought it’d be funny to skip out on security in one of the largest airports in the country. If she thinks waiting in line is bad, she could go outside and visit sunny Newark, where it’s probably freezing, the air is full of fresh-smelling chemicals,  and friendly people can’t wait to rob you. source

28 Dec 2009 21:55

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Culture: In 2010, expect to see lots of reheated leftovers at the box office

  • 16 of the 28 films out in 1Q ’10 were shot years ago source
 

19 Nov 2009 09:40

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U.S.: Here’s a map of the delayed major airports from the FAA

Screen-shot-2009-11-19-at-9.32.28-AM
  • Most of the airports are fine, but the ones that are broken are major fail. Recap: West Coast, fine. Newark (a massive airport outside of NYC), screwed. Dulles (a massive airport outside of D.C.), screwed. Whoever hacked the Gibson, great job screwing everyone! source

19 Nov 2009 09:28

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U.S.: Quick facts on the FAA’s massive nationwide airline delays

  • problem The problem lies not with the planes or the navigation system, but the pilot scheduling system, which now has to be put in manually.
  • safety According to the FAA, the failure is not a safety hazard. You’re just going to be paying six dollars for a muffin while you’re stuck waiting in the terminal. source