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15 Feb 2012 10:20

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World: Iran says it’s making its own nuclear fuel, doesn’t care what you jerks think

  • cause In a dramatic speech Wednesday, a white-lab-coat-clad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran had figured out a way to produce its own domestically-made nuclear fuel. If true, this would be a big deal on the diplomatic front.
  • reaction For this and other reasons, both the U.S. and Europe are considering slamming the country with some super-strong financial sanctions, which have already led Iran to cut off oil exports to six European nations. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Feb 2012 10:31

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U.S.: Today in bizarre adoptions: A polo club owner adopts his adult girlfriend

  • story A wealthy Florida polo club owner, involved in a car crash that killed a 23-year-old man a year ago, is facing both criminal charges and a wrongful death suit in the case. He could face up to 30 years in prison for vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of the crime; he ran a stop sign and was driving under the influence at the time.
  • twist In a legal maneuver which probably has no prior precedent, back in October, 48-year-old John Goodman legally made his longtime 42-year-old girlfriend … his adopted daughter. Officials believe this is an attempt to shield his wealth from a civil suit. Also, the math doesn’t work out on that father-daughter relationship. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Dec 2011 11:11

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Offbeat: Awesome: Random dude inherits Hollywood star’s old cell phone number

  • A few weeks old, but too good not to post: What happens when you get a new cell phone previously owned by a well-connected Hollywood actor? That’s what happened to a middle-aged dude named Bob Gray (center), who moved to California and got a new cell phone with his girlfriend Liza Foster (right). It was obvious that someone famous owned the number before him — because he kept getting invited to parties, including Paris Hilton’s birthday party. In a fitting end to this Happy Madison-like tale, Adam Sandler himself called the number and told Gray he inherited the cell phone number of Nick Swardson, a regular in Sandler’s movies who most recently starred in “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.” (Too bad it wasn’t like Sean Penn, but not bad either way.) Gray plans to write a screenplay about this, because … um, wouldn’t you? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Dec 2011 11:39

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Offbeat: WWII-era fruitcake sold at auction, begging to be eaten

  • Someone paid $525 for this: A 70-year-old fruitcake, purchased in 1941 (reportedly by a man named E.F. Helbling) and returned to a Kroger store in 1971, recently got sold on an online auction. The Kroger store didn’t want it, so store manager Frank Bates took it. Bates, now 86, kept it until recently, when his son gave it up to an estate company. Although the cake feasibly is still edible (it’s vacuum-packed and contains rum), the real gift is that the cake’s proceeds will help pay for a church outreach program in Cincinnati. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 20:39

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Politics: House passes payroll tax-cut bill … with a Keystone-shaped catch

  • If Sen. Reid wants to hold up the jobs bill, he will go on Santa’s naughty list.
  • Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) • Offering a somewhat … uh, interesting take on the House’s passage of a payroll tax cut, which Republicans pushed through with a fairly large caveat — it would speed up the process of approving the Keystone XL pipeline, which was delayed until 2013 to give some time to examine environmental issues brought up by critics. The bill is expected to die in the Senate, and even if it weren’t, Obama would most likely veto it. The divided Congress is under the gun to pass a payroll tax cut and a spending bill to fund the government beyond Friday. Sounds like a fun week, all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Dec 2011 20:23

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Tech: Electronic Arts attempts to nickel-and-dime die-hard Tetris fans

  • $30 per year to subscribe to a special Tetris club (?!?) source
  • » Wait, what?!? If you’re like us, you’re a huge fan of Tetris, one of the simplest, best video games ever created. However, Electronic Arts couldn’t leave well enough alone with its iOS edition, and rebooted it as a version of Farmville, essentially. Now, just to play the game (which you have to pay 99 cents for, by the way), you have to register for a special social network run by EA. And for the biggest fans, they’ve created a “T-Club” component, in which you pay $2.99 per month — or $30 per year for the die-hards — just for the right to get some extra power-ups. And the final kicker: The original iOS game, which was perfectly fine as-is, no longer exists on the App Store. For shame.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Nov 2011 11:31

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Offbeat: Arizona gun club offers photos with Santa — and a few AK-47s

  • Dear Arizona ShortFormBlog readers: If we were to give you a picture of our mascot, Julius the Laid-Off RSS Robot, could you go visit the Scottsdale Gun Club on December 10 to take a picture with Santa and a few AK-47s? If you want, you can even play target practice with the printout afterward. (We’d expect pictures of that, too.) Julius is a big fan of the Second Amendment and he’d really get a kick out of it. Thanks. (Editor’s note: This is a real offer.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Nov 2011 16:06

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Culture: Pat Robertson gaffe of the month: “Is mac & cheese a black thing?”

  • Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thankful that every couple of months, Pat Robertson drops another whopper on the world. This time? Robertson asks, in response to the fact that Condoleezza Rice plans to have macaroni and cheese at her Thanksgiving table, “Is mac & cheese a black thing?” It’s like he thinks he’s talking in a vacuum, except he’s not. For what it’s worth: We’ve been at Thanksgiving celebrations where the main dish is baked ziti. Your move, Robertson. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Oct 2011 00:28

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Culture: For the man who has it all: Tim Tebow’s lucky pants, for sale on eBay

  • $4,999.99 buy his pants source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Oct 2011 11:07

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U.S.: Owner of Ohio exotic wildlife preserve opens cages, commits suicide

  • It’s always been a fear of mine knowing (the preserve’s owner) had all those animals. I have kids.
  • Neighbor Danielle White • Discussing the bizarre incident involving an Ohio wildlife preserve, where numerous animals — lions, tigers and bears, plus more — had to be taken down in shoot-to-kill fashion after the owner opened up the cages housing numerous animals … then reportedly committed suicide, allowing the animals to run free throughout the area and creating a number of challenges for authorities. The preserve had been the subject of many complaints over the past decade. White, for example, once saw a lion escape. Most of the animals have been put down, but nearby schools had to close as a result of the bizarre incident. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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