September 2011
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Rick Perry: Totally backed that AT&T merger with...
$500,000 from AT&T to Rick Perry source
» AT&T’s contributions = Rick Perry’s support? Back in May, Rick Perry told the FCC he backed the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. “I believe that this merger will continue to provide for great consumer choice, offer a wide range of service options, and spur continued innovation,” he wrote. He might’ve had a little help from those...
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“The ground is so dry, because of the drought, that one welding spark or a...”
– Jesse Moore, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, Texas • Commenting on how easy it is to start wildfire. Texas is seeing one of the worst fire seasons on record, including the devastating fires earlier this year in April. The fires started on Tuesday; as of Wednesday night, the...
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An iPhone prototype walked into a bar and … poof....
2 iPhone prototypes lost at bars; Apple workers probably shouldn’t drink source
» Has the iPhone 5 been compromised? Last spring, an Apple employee lost the iPhone 4 prototype at a bar, and it seems they’re at it again. The yet-to-be-released iPhone 5 was reportedly lost at a bar in San Francisco this July. Because Apple contacted local police, we suspect that the lost phone is...
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Our writer Chris Tognotti's beefing up his Tumblr... →
And he’s right: He often stretches our “ShortFormBlog” to a “MediumFormBlog.” *minor grumble* But we love him just the same. Give him a follow!
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White House: Obama agrees to Boehner's wishes,... →
They gave in. Come on. You could’ve easily kept this fight going for an entire week, Obama. Now you’re competing with the start of the NFL season. Do people give more of a crap about jobs or the fact that two teams of people who get overpaid for their work will entertain them for a couple of hours?
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Tropical Storm Katia could become Hurricane Katia...
yeah … Meteorologists expect Tropical Storm Katia to strengthen into a hurricane tonight — making it the second Atlantic-based hurricane in a week. (Dunno if you heard, but the last one was a bit of a doozy.) The storm’s current path shows Katia moving west-northwest toward North America.
… but Don’t freak out yet, though — the storm may never actually hit land. See, storms in the...
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August 2011
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Boehner asks Obama to reschedule congressional...
Boehner wants Obama’s jobs address pushed back: It’s being reported that House Speaker John Boehner has asked President Obama to reschedule his jobs address to the Congress, which is set for September 7th, to the following day. Reports offer no specific elaboration on Boehner’s motive beyond his citing a “tight schedule,” which if it’s referring either...
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How is the corporate pay/corporate tax balance...
25 highly paid CEOs earn more than their company’s income taxes source
» The high cost of big loopholes? The angst you may have had or heard the past few years about corporate tax loopholes and decadent executive pay comes home to roost nicely in this study by the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-wing Washington think-tank. As is typical in the strange and sometimes muddy world of...
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Researchers conclude unprecedently old origin date...
1.76million-year-old tools oldest known of Homo erectus source
» Spanning the depths of time: American researchers working at Columbia University have determined the age of a collection of stone tools discovered near Lake Turkana, Kenya, dating them st the above figure. They used a paleomagnetic method to achieve this, as the silt and hardened clay on the tools preserved a record of the...
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Solar buisness visited, touted by Obama last year...
then In May 2010, President Obama visited Solyndra, a solar panel business based out of Fremont, CA. Solyndra was a business of great interest and investment by the government — they received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy in 2009.
now Solyndra will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week, a move that Reuters reports was caused by their being undercut by lower-cost...
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Libyan transition deputy chairman says Gaddafi is...
Libyan rebels believe Gaddafi is cornered: The New York Times is reporting that the Libyan rebels believe Muammar Gaddafi has been pinned down in Bani Walid, a desert town that sits about 150 miles from Tripoli. Said Abdul Hafith Ghoga, the deputy chairman of Libya’s transition council: “Since today we have learned that he is staying in Bani Walid, we are waiting to give him a chance to...
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ProducerMatthew just got nominated for an 2011... →
In case you missed his coverage, be sure to check over here. Congrats!
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Justice Department attempts to block AT&T merger...
then A while back, AT&T announced it would attempt to purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion, in an attempt to shore up deficiencies in its wireless network. Other companies and consumer groups, most notably Sprint, loudly complained.
now Now the Justice Department’s trying to block the merger. “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a...
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“No dignified, honorable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs.”
– Still-around Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim • Denying that his boss would give in to demands that the longstanding Libyan dictator should give in to the rebels. Time’s running out if Gaddafi actually plans to surrender — the rebels plan a major military strike if he doesn’t. source...
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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. →
ben:
This is a company with a revenue of over $100 billion. Their website is made with tables.
Odds that Warren Buffett designed this himself: Even.
Wait. This dude owns Geico. He could buy an army of graphic designers who could bring Dribbble to its knees with all the extra traffic they’d produce. Why not pay for just one? Possibly the guy who did the “Space Jam” site?
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Why to be careful when blocking judicial...
cause Back in May, Goodwin Liu’s nomination to the 9th Circuit Court was blocked by Republicans, due in part to his support for same-sex marriage.
effect Liu is now on track to be seated on the California Supreme Court instead—and will likely be confirmed in time to hear the case to repeal Proposition 8. source
» One note: Goodwin Liu has publicly opposed Proposition 8 in the past, so if...
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“[Dick Cheney]’s developed an angst and almost a protective cover, and now...”
– Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson • He also contends that Cheney “was president for all practical purposes for the first term of the Bush administration,” something critics have long-alleged. source (via • follow)
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“The speed at which it disappeared from inventory has been stunning. We have...”
– A statement from Hewlett-Packard • Revealing that the company’s late-round success with the HP TouchPad was enough that they’re going to produce more of them and sell them at fire-sale prices. Which is hilarious, and tells us all that the decision to stop selling them was perhaps a...
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Senator answers the question no one's been asking
NO Jim DeMint won’t run for president in 2016 source
» Thanks for clearing that up for us, Jim. We were on pins and needles.
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Reader memories of 9/11: shortformblog
latimes:
“When those two towers hit, there it was. My first real memory of being on my own.”
Read More
My take on 9/11, and the lessons I’ve gained since. A bit of a personal take on the matter. Check it out. — Ernie @ SFB
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“He’s a compromise candidate. He doesn’t have his own independent...”
– Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple U’s Japanese campus • Giving a not-so-enthralled take on the new Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda. This article states that Noda, a former finance minister, acknowledged during his campaign that “he was no goldfish, but rather...
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Libyan leader issues ultimatum to Gaddafi...
4 day deadline for Gaddafi forces to surrender, Libyan leader says source
» An ultimatum backed by force: Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of Libya’s interim council, issued a deadline to all forces still loyal to the now-hiding Muammar Gaddafi — give up and surrender all remaining control, or else “we will decide this matter militarily.” He emphasized that he doesn’t wish to...
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"Fast and Furious" investigation forces...
cause The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ran a gun trafficking sting in 2009 called “Operation Fast and Furious.” They allowed about 2000 illegal guns into Mexico, trying to build a bigger case against high-level buyers. The 2010 death of a border patrol agent sparked attention, and the plan was ended.
effect The House Oversight Committee has found only about 600 guns have...
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Oh man, is that the sound of the HP TouchPad... →
Gizmodo dropped two bombs on the plebs today — first, the TouchPad will get software updates (and probably crawled its way up to the No. 2 spot in the tablet sales department) … and second, the TouchPad may possibly not be dead after all. See guys, all it took was a fire sale!
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We e-mailed Tumblr staff asking for official... →
Hi Ernie,
Thank you for sharing your concerns about the Missing E browser extension.
We encourage a thriving ecosystem of applications that work with Tumblr. But, we must also ensure those applications don’t compromise the stability of Tumblr, the security of Tumblr data, or the safety and privacy of Tumblr users.
When we have concerns about an application, Tumblr contacts the...
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“Any projects that have not come in for approval, we’re not going to be able to...”
– FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate • Describing the reasons that FEMA is putting their long-term work to repair Joplin, Mo. on hold, and instead putting that money towards Hurricane Irene. Another issue arising in the Hurricane Irene situation? They might run into yet another wall of House Republican...
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Regarding the post we put up earlier on Obama's... →
lifeincommas
I resent that you’re helping to make this news. Regardless of the fact that this man is Obama’s uncle, he’s still pretty much just a random person who happened to get a DUI. DUI coverage makes sense if it’s to make a point about the perils of drunk driving, or if it’s about how stupid it is because of the harm it can cause to the driver or to others.
Point taken. To us, we found the...
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On running photos which may not always be pleasant...
letthetruthlaugh said: hey another chance to post emaciated, sick people. no fresh news from steve jobs or somalia?
» SFB says: First off, we took that Steve Jobs photo down (and BrooklynMutt did the same); either way, his health was relevant to the news. Second of all, I looked back at our coverage of Somalia, and I count one photo that fits your example, taken by NewsFlick, who was in Somalia...
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Oh, Matthew Fox. This weekend was NOT a "Party of...
jack, you have to go back. No, really. Matthew Fox tried tried to join a bachelor party in Cleveland on Sunday morning. (He’s in town shooting a movie.) The party bus driver didn’t recognize him as a celebrity; she did recognize him as the “guy who assaulted me.” “I don’t care that he is a celebrity,” she told a reporter. “Assault is against the...
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Wisconsin patients possibly exposed to blood-borne...
2,345 patients were possibly exposed to HIV source
» One Wisconsin nurse didn’t alternate between insulin pens when giving diabetes test demonstrations. She changed needles, but not the insulin pen; as a result, blood could have remained on the pen between patients. Now a clinic’s trying to clean up a scary mess caused by a nurse who didn’t know proper procedure. Yikes.
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“How many have to be killed for you to assess this as serious enough?”
– Piers Morgan • During a suitably dramatic debate on whether the media overhyped coverage of Hurricane Irene. Morgan and a couple of his fellow guests — New York Times super-reporter Brian Stelter and meteorologist Chad Meyers — ripped into the Washington Times’ Joseph Curl, who claimed that...
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Guess who paid the IMF a visit today? And guess... →
It’s like Dominique Stauss-Kahn never left!
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WikiLeaks criticized for releasing cables with...
redacted In recent months, WikiLeaks made a name for itself by releasing diplomatic cables with the help of media outlets that parsed through the data and helped ensure the data redacted names and other sensitive data from the cables.
unredacted Recently, however, WikiLeaks has gone back to simply releasing the cables on its own, using Twitter as a main mechanism. This time, however, the...
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Missing e {browser extension for tumblr}: The... →
missing-e:
Moments ago, I participated in surprise conference call with Tumblr staff members. They have indicated to me that they continue to take issue with Missing e even with the removal of usage of the Tumblr API.
They interpret the Tumblr API License Agreement in such a way as it continues to apply…
And again. Hey, Tumblr staff, can someone make an official statement on this?...
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A great roundup of the day's Irene-related front... →
The Philadelphia Daily News will be embarrassed to show its face after reading this article.
