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14 Feb 2011 13:18

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Politics: Shirley Sherrod makes good on her promise to Andrew Breitbart

  • YES Shirley Sherrod has filed suit against Andrew Breitbart source
  • » Bad day for scurillous-ness: The former USDA official was famously the target of a heavily cut video clip that seemed to present her as a racist who withheld help to a white farmer. The aftermath saw a gross and shocking leap to conclusion by the USDA under Tom Vilsack, which forced her resignation, before some helpful skeptics examined the full video which showed she was making a point AGAINST racism. I’ll admit, this case does have relevant, personal importance for bloggers, as the man charged is in that sense “one of our own,” even ones that wouldn’t be caught dead at a Breitbart event. But notwithstanding, whether the charge of defamation is well-earned or not, some of Mr. Breitbart’s antics have been grossly deceptive and unscrupulous.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 21:49

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Music: Posted without comment: Lady Gaga’s reaction to topping Twitter

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 23:05

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Tech: Jeff Bezos: Screw competing with the iPad, Kindle does it right

  • For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful. It is distracting rather than enhancing. You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets.
  • Amazon founder Jeff Bezos • Explaining why the new version of the Kindle basically looks like a slicker, cheaper version of the last Kindle. That’s right, no color. No display prowess. Just a sleeker version of the wheel. Anyway, $139 for a wi-fi only version? Sounds like someone’s trying to court the very mass market the device wasn’t priced for in its first two iterations. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 16:46

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Music, World: Love Parade tragedy: Here’s a scary video clip from the scene

  • Harrowing stuff. Imagine being stuck in a situation like this – a huge festival basically brought to its knees by a stampede which killed and injured many. There are likely many confused people inside. Best wishes to everyone involved. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2010 02:00

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U.S.: Protip to BP: Don’t upload high-res images of terrible Photoshops

  • Houston, we have a problem. And that problem is exacerbated by the fact that, um, it’s the worst Photoshop job we’ve ever seen. And the photo they uploaded is 4,800 pixels wide, and is probably going to be viewed in a Web browser, where you can see every painstaking detail of this image. Especially the detail over to the right that we pulled out for you guys – the most obvious one. AMERICAblog has many, many more, and they’re all about as blatant as this. The worst one? The meta info says the photo was taken in 2001 (!?!). source
  • » Update: BP couldn’t let a PR disaster last this long, could it? (Oh wait.) So, of course, BP apologized for its actions. Here’s our update, and our buddy Charles Apple has more.
  • » Second update: AMERICAblog has found another jacked photo. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, it seems. Kudos for the great work, guys.
  • » Third update: Charles Apple sent this story along, and we just have to say … BP is really making themselves out to be an evil corporation, aren’t they?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2010 12:36

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Offbeat: “You and Your Johnson”: A video about a guy and his boat

  • Wonder if anyone creating this video would’ve imagined how unintentionally funny it would be 40 years down the line. At one point, in fact, it says “You, your kids and your Johnson.” Which nowadays would get you arrested.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2010 21:07

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U.S.: Seattle police-punching case update: The police back the officer

  • The officer did nothing wrong. We always will review incidents like this, that’s how police officers learn. I am confident that the review will show that the officer was totally justified. He was defending himself.
  • Seattle Police Officer’s Guild president Sgt. Rich O’Neill • Giving some insight into the situation with officer Ian Walsh, who threw a punch after being accosted by two jaywalkers, one of whom was resisting arrest. The incident is under review. If you’ve read online today, you’ll know that the punch is controversial, with some supporting the officer and others supporting the girls arrested. O’Neill makes it clear who he thinks is at fault. “If you watch the entire video, he is trying to de-escalate the situation, first by voice commands, then by taking her by the wrists, and then she reacts by pulling away and swinging,” he notes. He suggests that Walsh could’ve tried other techniques to defuse the situation. Our problem was that he had to throw a punch at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Apr 2010 21:50

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Offbeat: Here’s a 104-year-old video of pre-quake San Francisco

  • Since films were silent back then, we’re guessing you won’t mind the Air soundtrack that comes with and fits the tone of the whole thing pretty well. One think we’ll note about the cityscape here: Nearly all the buildings you see here no longer exist. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake flattened them. Either way, it’s a pretty awesome clip. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2010 12:12

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Offbeat: If an octopus steals your digital camera, pray you get it back

  • Don’t you just hate it when an Octopus tries to steal your video recording gear? One lucky/unlucky guy had his expensive digital camera nabbed by a quick-moving eight-legged underwater creature, only to recover it. Which means that what could’ve been an entirely too depressing story is now an awesome one complete with video. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

04 Apr 2010 20:43

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U.S., World: SoCal quake: Wannabe viral video becomes actual viral video

  • Could the framing of this clip be any less postmodern? Girl with guitar is about to record song for her throngs of YouTube fans, but just happens to catch an insane earthquake instead. Glad it wasn’t worse. HuffPost has a bunch more clips like this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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