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27 Sep 2011 10:13

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U.S.: NYT indirectly calls Occupy Wall Street protesters stupid

  • So even as the members of Occupy Wall Street seem unorganized and, at times, uninformed, their continued presence creates a vexing problem for the Police Department.
  • New York Times writer Joseph Goldstein • In an article about the NYPD’s seemingly poor handling of Occupy Wall Street. The article as a whole makes intelligent and understandable points (and goes in-depth about the use of pepper spray on Saturday), but this particular line really bothered us. This comes off as The New York Times ripping the dirty hippies for being dirty hippies, which is just an approach they should not take here. It’s condescending and shows a lack of respect for the protesters. What if they just dropped a line like that into an article about the Tea Party? It’d get savaged by the blogs! Instead of just interviewing your sources at the NYPD, Mr. Goldstein, why don’t you interview the protesters (who, we don’t know if you’ve noticed, have been clamoring for media attention), instead of discretely calling them idiots? You did it before, with this article. This piece feels like you’re writing an article about one side of the story. source

26 Feb 2010 21:48

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Politics: A little more context into Sen. Jim Bunning’s petty moves

  • Savings are depleted, jobs are tough to come by, and families still have expenses to manage. Unemployment benefits are the only thing keeping food on the table for a lot of Minnesotans. One Senator, acting alone, should not be responsible for holding their livelihoods hostage.
  • Sen. Al Franken • In a statement criticizing the move by Sen. Jim Bunning to block unemployment benefits. It’s not the only one he’s made, either. He also just blocked some key highway funds from getting distributed, for all effective purposes shutting down much of the highway system and putting thousands more out of work. Crooks and Liars has a nice explainer explaining why that move is really, really bad for millions of Americans. Despite the importance of agreeing on these moves – we know a lot of out-of-work journalists, for example, depending on that unemployment – some people are still supporting him on Twitter (though most aren’t, fortunately). Unbelievable. source

14 Feb 2010 21:28

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Culture: Southwest Airlines throws off the wrong fat guy: Kevin Smith

  • Hey @SouthwestAir I’ve landed in Burbank. Don’t worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.
  • Director Kevin Smith • Regarding a harrowing experience where he was booted from a flight because he was too fat, according to the pilot. He later got on another flight, but not before he tweeted about it to his 1.6 million followers on Twitter. The director, who helmed the upcoming Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan awesomefest CopOut, says he’s not that fat yet. In case you’re wondering, Southwest responded, claiming they’ve had the “persons of size” policy for 25 years now. Our question: Where’s your private jet, Silent Bob? source

27 Jan 2010 10:04

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Politics: NBA journeyman Paul Shirley: A heartless and cold human being

This former NBA player thinks we shouldn’t help Haiti because they’re victims of their own stupidity. “And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?” source

13 Nov 2009 11:09

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Tech: Verizon nickels-and-dimes its customers even more

  • We cancel these unintended requests as fast as we can hit the End key, but it doesn’t matter; they’ve told me that ANY data–even one kilobyte–is billed as 1MB. The damage is done.
  • A Verizon customer writing to New York Times tech columnist David Pogue • Discussing how the company has price-gouged them at $1.99 a pop. Hit the wrong button, and it goes to a screen that starts downloading data. When you try downloading that data, Verizon rounds up to a full megabyte and charges you. Pogue is livid about these kind of charges – along with the company’s new $350 penalty for switching providers early. These nickel-and-dime schemes make the company millions of dollars each year. And it isn’t right. • source

22 Sep 2009 09:23

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Culture, World: Nigerians say “District 9” makes them look like mongrels

  • I was so angry. They were showing Nigerians as corrupt, eating aliens, saying they have sex with aliens. I could not watch that.
  • Atlanta-based Nigerian native Ken Umeano • Describing his disgust with “District 9,” a sci-fi movie that’s been universally acclaimed for its strong moral center but criticized by some for its depiction of Nigerians. It’s so bad that Nigeria’s banned the movie and wants an apology from Sony Pictures. “‘District 9’ is a work of science fiction, and no offense was intended toward any country or person,” Sony’s PR person shot back, noting that the country initially approved the movie for release. • source

09 May 2009 21:31

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U.S.: Justice was totally not served for this guy who skipped jury duty

  • 83 days in jail for skipping jury duty in ’03. WTF, justice system? source