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26 Sep 2011 10:23

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World: Wangari Maathai, African sustainable development advocate, dies at 71

  • She will be remembered as a committed champion of the environment, sustainable development, women’s rights, and democracy.
  • Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan • Speaking about Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai, who died Sunday of ovarian cancer at age 71. Maathai, a Kenyan, founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization that encouraged methods of sustainable development. Her work with the Green Belt Movement, which spanned over 30 years, led to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. “We need people who love Africa so much that they want to protect her from destructive processes,” she noted in a 2005 speech. “There are simple actions we can take. Start by planting 10 trees we each need to absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale. Get involved in local initiatives and volunteer your time for services in your community.” This world needs more people like her, not less. Based on the strong response on Twitter today, lots of people agree. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Sep 2010 20:22

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Politics: Coming soon: More Obama stimulus efforts on the way

  • $100 billion in tax credits to encourage R&D source
  • » And that’s not all: Get ready for even more stimulus talk later this week; Obama plans to launch another major effort to kick-start the economy on Wednesday. The big question: Will he be able to pull it off given all the crap he’s had to take from the right lately? (In fact, it’s good to note that these efforts are relatively modest because of that.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Aug 2010 18:34

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Politics: The real sticking point that Park51 is facing? Not controversy, money

  • They could have obviously done a lot better in explaining who they are if they really wanted to get approval. There’s a real question as to whether there’s money behind this.
  • New York publicist Ken Sunshine • Describing the real issue the “Ground Zero Mosque” is facing – and it’s purely logistical. They simply don’t have the money to build a $100 million community center. In fact, the group behind the development only raised $18,255 in 2008, the last statement available for them. The controversy isn’t helping, either, of course. “They are in the process of hiring an architect — but here’s the thing,” said Park51 spokesperson Oz Sultan, “you’re not going to get the architect or the engineer because they don’t want to be involved in this.” Wouldn’t it be funny if this was all over nothing? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

18 Jul 2010 09:38

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World: Hillary Clinton’s in Pakistan, and she has money for them

  • $7.5
    billion     set aside for Pakistan in a development deal approved by Congress last fall
  • $500
    million     amount that Clinton is ready to offer the Afghan War outliers – the first product of the five-year plan source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2010 21:05

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Tech: Twitter app developers starting to get annoyed by the mothership

  • When we launched, Twitter was incomplete, so developers rushed to fill those holes, but eventually we’re going to have to build a lot of features in because they should be there. We want to set those expectations.
  • Twitter co-founder and chief executive Evan Williams • Regarding the company’s push to build out that infrastructure that app developers had previously built out for the company. Now that the company’s large enough to buy or build some of those apps themselves, it’s causing a bit of nervousness amongst developers. Many are excited about/dreading Twitter’s Chirp conference this week as a result. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Mar 2010 10:15

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World: Israel learns building stuff on the West Bank unpopular with the U.S.

  • Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin … profitable negotiations.
  • Vice President Joe Biden (in tandem with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) • Regarding Israel’s decision to begin building Jewish settlements on the West Bank, which was great timing because Joe-boy just happened to be in town. Abbas wants Israel to reverse its decision. This is also bad because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put a halt to all housing starts for ten months back in November. For those playing at home, it hasn’t been ten months. And Netanyahu is pissed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jan 2010 23:54

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Tech: Linux keeps getting bigger, and big business is largely the reason

  • 7,000 lines of code get added to the Linux monster daily, says some nerd who actually studied this
  • 75% of all code was put in by commercial developers like IBM, Red Hat and Intel source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Oct 2009 11:09

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Tech: Ares I-X: A look into the next generation of NASA

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  • 48 years ago today, NASA launched its first Saturn I “space launcher,” an important development in the history of space exploration. In a big way, the Ares I-X test flight, in the midst of launching, has a similar historic impact. It’s the first shot in the space agency’s next generation of spacecraft. Nerds are aflutter for this reason.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Mar 2009 10:31

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Biz, Tech: IBM wants to get some more Sun in their life

  • $7
    billion     size of the proposed merger of the two technology superpowers source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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