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19 Apr 2011 15:23

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World: Syrian protests cleared out by live fire, teargas

  • The dangers of nightfall in Syria: A sit-in was held in Clock Square, in the city of Homs, but come nightfall the Assad government decided it was time to clear the square. The methods employed seem to be teargas and live gunfire. Be forewarned — while the video is a bit jumpy and hard to see clearly, it’s nonetheless very unpleasant and disturbing. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jul 2010 21:00

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Tech: Space tourist payback: “Lord British” wins a major lawsuit

Richard “Lord British” Garriott, he of the legendary “Ultima” game franchise, was laid off just after returning to earth. Fortunately, a court agreed NCSoft screwed him. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 17:48

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U.S.: D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee drops hammer on teachers

  • 261 teachers were fired just before the new school year
  • 165 were cited for having poor classroom performance
  • 737 more educators are on thin ice for the next year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2010 09:32

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Politics: The lastest on the Shirley Sherrod case: Who’s the victim here?

  • That’s good Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack is doing an investigation into the video that cost Shirley Sherrod her job. Not the three-minute one that was spliced to make her look bad. The full one.
  • That’s fair Shirley Sherrod, in the wake of all this, doesn’t know if she’d return to her job. Given all the drama, and the clearly low confidence in her work performance shown by Washington, we understand.
  • That’s unfair Andrew Breitbart and his Big Government people still get to roam the streets and do hit pieces. What a bunch of pricks. Making crap up to ruin peoples’ lives. How do you sleep at night? Seriously? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jul 2010 19:23

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Politics: Protip: If you’re a CNN reporter, don’t praise Hezbollah leaders

Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.. #LebanonSun Jul 04 08:24:22 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Octavia Nasr
octavianasrCNN

  • What was Octavia Nasr thinking? The death of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a controversial cleric whose life and views are way more complex than this tweet gives them credit for, require more context than 140 characters. Considering her status as CNN’s Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs, it was perhaps too much of an oversight. And as a result, she was fired. “At this point,” said Parisa Khosravi, CNN’s Vice President of international newsgathering, “we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.” Oops. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2009 20:26

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Biz: Lawsuit: The Washington Times get $40 million a year from Moonies

  • That’s more than half the paper’s operating budget. Ever wonder if a bunch of really weird #&(& was going on at The Washington Post’s more conservative, religion-backed adversary? Based on a lawsuit that editorial page editor Richard Miniter is filing, it sounds like a fun place to work. Among other things, he says that the paper forced him to take part in religious ceremonies he was uncomfortable with. Hmm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Nov 2009 16:40

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Politics: STLToday’s Kurt Greenbaum: First class bad word we can’t repeat here.

  • First rule of journalism: Don’t make yourself part of the story. Guess which rule the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s social media editor broke? As the so-called internet hate machine closes in on a guy who cost another guy his job for a pretty petty reason, we think there are a few things to learn from the whole ordeal.
  • one Don’t make yourself part of the story. The second Greenbaum decided to look up a reader’s IP address and took matters into his own hands, the story stopped being about the comment and started being about the admitted narc. Bad move, buddy.
  • two Don’t violate your readers’ trust. People go to your site with the belief that they won’t get screwed over. In fact, the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s own privacy policy promises this. When you decide to be the morality police, you violate a reader’s trust.
  • three Expect a swift, painful response. Not long after our boy Kurt did this, he felt retribution from all corners of the interweb, including Reddit and Digg. And honestly, he should lose his job. He turned a minor issue into a policy-breaking debacle. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Nov 2009 10:23

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Politics: We’re glad this bigoted, homophobic jerk got fired, Fox News.

  • I found it offensive that she repeatedly brought it up. By the fourth time she mentioned it, I felt God wanted me to express how I felt about the matter, so I did. But my tone was downright apologetic. I said, ‘Regarding your homosexuality, I think that’s bad stuff.’
  • Former Brookstone Second Deputy Manager Peter Vidala • Describing the events that led to his firing. Fox News is attempting to play the Massachusetts man’s story off as if he’s the victim, but he clearly discriminated against a co-worker by telling her she shouldn’t get married to her lesbian partner. We hope he was not only fired, but thrown on his @(^. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2009 19:21

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U.S.: Man who killed his family in murder-suicide “despondent” over job loss

  • You just would never think that something like this would happen. I saw them from time to time and they looked fine, like happy. It’s just sad.
  • Jose Maldonado • A neighbor of a man who killed his wife and five children, and then himself, today in Los Angeles. The man was apparently despondent after losing his job a few days ago after a dispute with an administrator. He sent a suicide letter to a local television station before committing the act. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jan 2009 09:26

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U.S.: Chaos on the New York interstate

  • What happened? Around 11:55 a.m. yesterday, a gunman opened fire at a state trooper in the middle of a section of Interstate 90 in East Greenbush N.Y., just southeast of Albany. The shooting caused an evacuation of the highway, as well as panic, as drivers attempted to get away from the scene.
  • On the scene Witness Carol Winn referred to the scene as “chaos.” “I heard a shot fired,” she said, “and then I thought maybe there was a deer in the road and someone had to shoot it to put it down. But then I heard more shots and saw people ducking down in their cars, and I knew something was wrong.”
  • The end resultThe gunman was shot and is now in custody of the state police. It was unclear whether he shot himself or if a police officer shot him. The section of I-90 where the shooting occurred remained closed for much of Saturday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
 
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