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19 Oct 2009 10:37

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U.S.: Daily Poll: Toking on Obama’s lax medical marijuana policy

  • The Obama administration does not plan to go after medical marijuana users not breaking state laws. This is a big deal for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Tommy Chong could probably restart his mail-order bong business. It’s a big reversal from the Bush administration. But is it what the country needed? Vote above. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2009 21:09

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Offbeat: Cub Scout Zachary Christie not getting zero-toleranced after all

  • Funny what huge amounts of media coverage can do. Tonight, a Delaware school board decided that perhaps the rule that gave Zachary Christie 45 days in an alternative school was a little too hardcore. They changed the punishment for Christie, 6, who brought a Cub Scout multi-function utensil to school, to 3-to-5 days of out-of-school suspension. Which is still too harsh for the crime, especially since the rule change only applies to kindergartners and first-graders. Christie had 150 people in his corner tonight. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2009 09:30

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World: Osama bin Laden released a new message. Really? He’s still alive?

  • The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neoconservatives and the Israeli lobby. The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine.
  • “Osama bin Laden” • In a new message from “the leader.” The message had “him” saying that Israel was the crux of the conflict between al-Qaeda and the U.S. “He” went further, saying that there was no real policy shift under Obama due to lobbyists. We hope “he” gets to see the outside of a cave every once in a while. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Sep 2009 20:55

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Sports: The NBA doesn’t want to be seen as the heavy on Twitter

  • David Stern sounds willing to find common ground. The NBA commissioner mentioned that the league was considering a Twitter policy akin to the NFL’s, but that it would be considerate of the players’ rights. The league has done a fairly good job of using the service so far, as they have over one million followers, and boast one of its most famous (and arguably best) users in Shaq. Don’t screw it up, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2009 11:08

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U.S.: Polls: Obama’s health care support numbers are dwindling

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 17:29

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Biz, Tech: Reuters exec: Please link to us and let us steal AP’s thunder!

  • I believe in the link economy. Please feel free to link to our stories — it adds value to all producers of content. I believe you should play fair and encourage your readers to read-around to what others are producing if you use it and find it interesting.
  • Thomson Reuters President of Media Chris Ahearn • Providing a breath of fresh air in the whole journalism-linking debate, which AP stoked the fires of over the last few weeks and Rupert Murdoch may continue to light up down the road. Ahern’s attitude towards the situation is a total breath of fresh air and makes us optimistic that some wire services totally get this new media thing. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2009 10:44

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Biz, Tech: AP: Charging for quotes it doesn’t own, going into PR spin mode

  • If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea.
  • Thomas Jefferson • Quoted by blogger James Grimmelmann, who used that handy-dandy quote-charging system to see if Associated Press would charge him to pay for a quote they didn’t even use in a story. Not only did they do it (for $12), they returned his money, then made a statement about it. (He smartly responded back.) Sure, they’re not attacking bloggers. That’s what they say. But we can see the precedent and the crosshairs. It’s just not good for the Internet, guys. Our ban on their content stands. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

26 Jul 2009 11:58

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Politics, Tech: Regarding Facebook’s privacy standards: Give ’em a break, OK?

  • As underhanded as this may seem, this should be a lesson to actually read the terms of service, vague as they may be, before signing up for a social networking service that wants to use your pictures in ads.
  • An editorial in the Los Angeles Times • Discussing Facebook’s privacy policy regarding advertising, which has its users taking this particular drama and running with it. We’re of the opinion that Facebook tends to go a little far sometimes, but in this case, users may in fact be overreacting. OK, this ad shows that Facebook needs to be a bit more careful, but their privacy policy does easily allow this to be turned off – and on top of that, this information isn’t supposed to be cached, anyway. Ah Facebook, it doesn’t matter what you do: You just end up pissing off your users. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2009 14:40

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Politics, U.S.: Gee, House Republicans, when you explain health care like this …

healthcare0716
  • Wow. Where to start, where to start … We are not going to blame the Democrats for coming up with a complex, bureaucracy-filled health care plan. NO. We’re going to blame the Republicans for coming up with the most complicated, noise filled graphic possible to explain their point. You can make anything seem like the scariest thing ever when you make it look like this. Gray background? Not necessary. Loud, garish colors? Even less so. This is politics through bad design. (Grab the full PDF to get an idea.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 20 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2009 19:10

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Biz: General Motors is between a rock and a bankrupt place

  • $27 billion Amount of debt the company, heading towards bankruptcy, owes its bondholders
  • 10% stake Amount of the company GM is offering the bondholders; they say no way, Chev-ay source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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