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20 Feb 2010 12:40

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Culture: “Our Little Genius” isn’t nearly as smart as he looks

  • Word on the street is that this highly-promoted Fox game show, “Our Little Genius,” never made it to air because of an FCC complaint about the show. Apparently, the kids were getting fed answers to make them seem a lot smarter, which is totally not cool. More than anything, though, we’re sad that Kevin Pollack lost another gig. source

28 Sep 2009 01:25

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Politics: Maybe the pollsters, not the Oklahoma students, are the idiots

  • The methodology’s getting questioned on a recent poll we ran. A week or two ago, we covered this poll about stupid Oklahoma students by Strategic Media, mostly for purposes of making a silly joke. Now we feel we must follow up. Really entertaining poll-obsessed blog FiveThirtyEight has a takedown of both the poll and Strategic Media in general which raises a lot of questions. Thank God Oklahoma students may not be so stupid. We’ll keep an eye on this. source

27 Jun 2009 21:25

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Culture: Jesse Jackson: Michael Jackson’s first autopsy wasn’t good enough

  • Jesse Jackson, speaking for the family, says they want another one. Jesse (no relation) has been in close contact with the family and visited them yesterday. “It’s abnormal,” he said. “We don’t know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed.” Michael, of course, was rumored to be addicted to prescription medications. His body has been released to the family, but there’s no word on whether a second autopsy has taken place yet. source

16 Jun 2009 10:18

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World: A few quick answers to some pressing Iran election questions

  • Where’s the oversight? This is why things are so complicated right now. There’s no independent monitoring of the results – the Guardian Council is in charge of this, and they’re closely tied to the government. Plus, everything’s counted by hand. source
  • Where’s the oversight? This is why things are so complicated right now. There’s no independent monitoring of the results – the Guardian Council is in charge of this, and they’re closely tied to the government. Plus, everything’s counted by hand.
  • Was it rigged? Probably. Current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does have large-scale support in Iran, especially in rural areas, but not to the degree that his 63% vote tally suggested. And they sure counted those votes quickly. source
  • Where’s the oversight? This is why things are so complicated right now. There’s no independent monitoring of the results – the Guardian Council is in charge of this, and they’re closely tied to the government. Plus, everything’s counted by hand.
  • Was it rigged? Probably. Current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does have large-scale support in Iran, especially in rural areas, but not to the degree that his 63% vote tally suggested. And they sure counted those votes quickly.
  • How is the U.S. affected? That’s still up in the air. But in some ways, the results might help them gain footing in Iran. Having Ahmadinejad in power for an election widely perceived stolen could boost their leverage against a nuclear power. source

24 Mar 2009 22:49

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U.S.: Oh yeah, we heard Obama was on TV tonight

  • It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets.
  • President Barack Obama • In a rare prime-time news conference tonight, where he defended his budget, spoke honestly about the challenges the country faces, focused on the economy and those pesky AIG bonuses, discussed a couple of other things (because, remember, the economy is but one problem this country faces), and pre-empted “American Idol.” Sounds like he filled a lot into a single hour. • source

07 Mar 2009 13:00

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U.S., World: Hilary Clinton takes a break from diplomacy to hit a talk show

  • Oh, love! And forgiveness, and friendship, and family. You know, family, faith, friends are the core of my life and I don’t know anybody whose life is smooth sailing.
  • Secretary of State Hilary Clinton • Who took a break from saving the world to talk on a Turkish talk show about her husband, her fashion sense, and carefully avoid talking about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which is what she did here. • source