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18 May 2011 10:43

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World: Slate’s French site names victim in Dominique Strauss-Kahn case

  • Did you guys know there was a French version of Slate? It’s true. And while it shares the same hue of purple as the mothership, it’s editorially independent and the Slate company owns a tiny 15 percent share of the product. Anyway, the site yesterday published an article noting the reported victim’s name in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal (which we will not link directly here; if you’re interested, you can dig yourself) — a usual no-no in the world of journalism. And one that a few other outlets have also broken. But why Slate.fr, which carries the rep of a highly-regarded site that would never do something like that? According to an interview by The Atlantic Wire, the site’s founder, Eric Leser, says they did it to fight buck against the conspiracy theories that have grown around the story in France. “The story that we have published is proving that all of [these] theories are false,” he said. “That’s our main reason.” Do you guys agree with this stance? Do you think Slate.fr is making a mistake by publishing this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 20:31

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Politics: Could Wikileaks’ collateral damage be Hillary Clinton?

  • She’s become the issue. She’ll never be an effective negotiator with diplomats who refuse to forgive her exuberances, and even foreign diplomats who do forgive her will still regard her as the symbol of an overreaching United States. Diplomacy is about face, and the only way for other nations to save face will be to give them Clinton’s scalp.
  • Slate’s Jack Shafer • Arguing that the Wikileaks report on the diplomatic cables may be enough to do her in as Secretary of State. Why? Because, according to Wikileaks documents, she ordered her diplomats to spy on the people they were talking to. Even if she did nothing illegal, it’s going to be tough for other countries to trust someone they think is spying on them. If it does kill her career as Secretary of State, though, we don’t think it kills her political career. She’s too good to go away that quickly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Nov 2010 20:13

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Politics: NPR cuts the crap, translates what the Federal Reserve wrote

  • So to give the economy a kick in the ass—and to pump up inflation a little bit—we decided to go on a shopping spree.
  • A reworded translation of a Federal Reserve statement • Trying to explain what the Federal Reserve really meant when it wrote the phrase “To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to expand its holdings of securities.” See? This is much easier to read. NPR’s Planet Money used a storytelling tool called “Plain English,” created by Slate, to explain what the Federal Reserve really meant when it announced it was shoving $600 billion into the economy. Ah, jargon. What would we do without you? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Sep 2010 23:10

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Politics: Dear Dave Weigel: Nice recovery from that Journolist saga

  • He’s quickly become one of the best parts of Slate. Sometimes a little scandal is all you need to ensure your long-term place in the conversation. And that’s what Weigel, late of the Washington Post and currently of Slate, has been up to lately – ensuring his place in the conversation. With an entertaining blog, insightful articles and a generally compelling persona, Weigel is a guy that needs to stick around for a good long time, no matter how many conservatives he privately suggests set themselves on fire. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2010 10:39

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Politics: Slate breaks Sarah Palin’s Facbook Page comment deletion system

  • please dont let your daughter do a reality show : ( but i love your family and you ..hope thats just a rumor from the liberals.
  • A comment on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page • Which was subsequently deleted. Palin does this a lot – her Facebook page is immaculately vetted, something that seemed very likely to us when we noticed basically everyone on Palin’s Facebook page was pro-Sarah a couple of months ago. Palin’s staff deletes a lot of comments – good, bad, not really that bad at all – but fortunately for us, Slate devised a script that grabbed those comments so we could read them before they got deleted. Good show, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2010 11:48

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Politics: Mickey Kaus: WTF is a Slate columnist doing running for Senate?

You’d think a California Senate candidate who wrote a political blog for Slate for over a decade would have nothing to say. But you’d be surprised. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 May 2010 21:39

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Tech: One Laptop Per Child should change “laptop” to “tablet”

Aspirations for this device: $75 a piece, encased in plastic, outdoor reading mode, out by December. Likely realities: $200 a piece, uses glass, out in three years. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Feb 2010 10:14

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U.S.: If Amy Bishop dropped a “herpes bomb” on campus, would it work?

  • NO now stop thinking otherwise and click this link source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jan 2010 09:49

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Politics: A watered-down health care bill might actually be a good thing

  • To those who argue that piecemeal health care reform is worse than no health care reform, I have five words: the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
  • Slate columnist Fred Kaplan • Regarding another piece of legislation that was watered down to nothingness. It’s forgotten about now, but the legislation was the small push that led to much larger gains for the Civil Rights movement, and later much tougher legislation. It was testy at the time, too – Strom Thurmond filibustered the bill for an entire day, by himself – but the legislation led to big gains in the end. “The 1957 Civil Rights Act was a preposterously small hinge that helped swing open a very wide gate,” Kaplan notes. “It’s not out of the question that a pared-down health care bill might do the same.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 11:03

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Politics: Newsweek columnist: Scott Brown, another guy with no new ideas

  • Brown offers nothing constructive, nothing coherent, nothing concrete, and no support for anything President Obama has done or plans to do. He’ll fit right in.
  • Newsweek columnist Daniel Gross • Regarding Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown, who he feels has no firm fiscal policy, just like many other Republicans. Gross argues that it seems like the current agenda for many Republicans is something along the line of party pooper for any sort of economic recovery. He’s argued this before in Slate, referring to the party as the “Failure Caucus.” Ouch. He goes further: “In fact, it’s virtually impossible to find an elected Republican official who can speak intelligently and accurately about budget issues.” Painful. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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