March 2012
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Rick Santorum's 'Google Bomb' problem has gone... →
brooklynmutt:
I hope someone does something to rectify this.
No it hasn’t. It’s just another, similar Google problem — which the WSJ doesn’t correctly note. Search Engine Land has a different, more accurate and … uh, frothier take on the matter.
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“I have been told by Clipper management they no longer want me to be Clipper...”
– Darrell Bailey, a.k.a. Clipper Darrell • Stating on his website that the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, a team to which he’s been undyingly loyal (buying Clippers season tickets for a solid decade would be enough to test anybody’s faith, we’re guessing), now wants him to cease...
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“It was a very aggressive attack on Baba Amr today. I don’t think they want to...”
– Mulham al-Jundi, Syrian activist • Describing the state of Baba Amr, a part of the besieged city of Homs in Syria. Homs has been the site of the most sustained, catastrophic violence in recent months, and tanks have reportedly surrounded the Baba Amr neighborhood on four sides, launching mortar fire...
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Woman wants priest removed after refusal of...
then Father Marcel Guarnizo was officiating at a funeral mass for Loetta Johnson. After saying only people in a “state of grace” could receive communion, he refused to allow Loetta’s daughter, Barbara, to drink from the communion chalice. The reason? She’s a lesbian, and lives with her partner — a sin, by the Catholic Church’s standards.
nowBarbara Johnson is...
February 2012
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Autocorrect mishap causes schools to go on...
plan Over in Gainesville, Georgia, someone—unidentified in the report—accidentally sent a text message to the wrong number. The texter intended to write “gunna be at West Hall today.” Perfectly innocuous, right?
failThe phone’s overzealous autocorrect feature changed the text to “gunman be at West Hall today.” The recipient reported the text to police,...
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Nebraska's Bob Kerrey on changing mind: "I feel...
Kerrey changes course towards Senate run: The former Senator had served from 1989 to 2001, before deciding he wouldn’t seek a third term. Rumors had been swirling for the last couple months as to whether he would jump back into the political fray, following the retirement of Ben Nelson, and though he initially shot down such talk he seems to have thought better of it. “It was a...
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“Suffocating sanctions could lead to a grave economic situation in Iran and to a...”
– An unnamed Israeli official • Calling for the U.S. to cripple Iran’s economy with harder sanctions, to cause food shortages for the Iranian public as a means to gain diplomatic leverage. The impetus of this thinking came earlier today, when North Korea agreed to halt production of new nuclear...
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So we just got nominated for a Shorty Award. →
Our nomination: “Perfect for news collection or just a laugh, Short Form Blog is expanding the definitions of what it means to be a microblog.” Click to read the rest. Um. Wow. Thanks, guys.
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In case you're looking to try out a prerelease... →
If this blows up your computer or flashes subliminal images of Clippy, don’t blame us.
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U.S. scores diplomatic breakthrough with North...
the deal The U.S. got North Korea to agree to curb its nuclear testing and enrichment processes and allow outside investigators to monitor its main reactor, which is a fairly major breakthrough for the countries.
the perk In exchange, North Korea will get 240,000 metric tons of food aid. While the U.S. has long considered offering aid for purely humanitarian reasons, North Korea insisted that it...
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“Snowe’s retirement will have many lamenting the endangered moderate and...”
– Ezra Klein • Arguing that the problem with congress isn’t partisanship, or ideological polarization, but rather that the institutions and procedures codified in our political system aren’t well-equipped to handle a polarized congress. Klein’s prime example is the filibuster, which...
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Now that she's not running for reelection to the... →
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Unsurprisingly, female voters like Romney more...
1% margin by which Mitt Romney won the male vote tonight in Michigan
5% margin by which Romney won the female vote source
» Why? Well, these statements in opposition to placing female soldiers on the front lines of battle may have had something to do with it. Or maybe it’s his opposition to abortion, or his opposition to contraception. Santorum may be aware of this deficit he faces: As...
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TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT STAGE, GUYS!... →
Whereas Michigan is usually a hope-to state for Republicans in the general election, Ohio is a must-do. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. Thus, the challenge for the GOP candidates is to win the primary next week without turning off voters who they’ll need to carry the state in the fall.
Next week’s key issue in a nutshell.
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“Romney won Mackinac County by 1 vote. 667 votes to Santorum’s, wait for it, 666...”
– Chuck Todd (via captainrobocop) The mark of the touristy part of the state.
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President Obama exempts US citizens from...
then On the last day of 2011, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act which, amongst other things, allowed for the indefinite detention of US citizens suspected of terrorism.
now Obama signed a policy directive today that exempts US citizens from that provision in the bill (Section 1022, if you’re keeping track). Here’s the fact sheet released by the White...
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“The most important state for Newt is not Georgia, it’s Nevada.”
– CNN analyst Alex Castellanos • Making a sly (and hilarious) reference to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who’s basically Newt Gingrich’s cash cow right now.
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..And Here We Go: Michigan Results Underway
kopoint:
Polls are closing and numbers are starting to come in, in Michigan and we are officially off to the races. There is a lot at stake and with rumors of low voter turn out and democrats voting against Mitt Romney, this could be anyone’s game.
Check out the results coming in live here at Google Politics.
Google Politics seriously has an awesome map.
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“I do find it frustrating…that an atmosphere of polarization and ‘my...”
– Sen. Olympia Snowe • Discussing why she’s not seeking re-election in 2012. Snowe, a fairly popular figure in her home state of Maine, was considered a shoo-in to win, but now the seat is more likely to go to a Democrat. She found herself in the middle of the polarization wars more than a few...
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UN's estimate of Syrian death toll increases with...
7,500 killed in Syria since last March, UN says source
» “Indiscriminant bombardment by tank and rocket fire”: Those were the words of the UN’s undersecretary general for political affairs, Lynn Pascoe. The killing in Syria has reached something of a fever pitch in past months, with the bombardment of Homs in particular leading to grim headlines, and truly ghastly footage. The...
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Newly discovered fossil sets record for largest...
130 lbs. the weight of a considerably colossal, ancient penguin, as extrapolated from a recently unearthed fossil
5 feet the portly penguin’s height, making it both the tallest and heaviest penguin known to science source
» Move over, Emperor penguin. While you may be the largest penguin left in these modern times, 27 million years ago you would have been dwarfed by science’s latest...
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Some remains of 9/11 victims ended up in landfill,...
review The Defense Department released a review of the mortuary practices at Dover Air Force Base today, where it had been exposed in November that remains of Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers had been incinerated and taken to a landfill.
reveal Dover did the same with some remains of 9/11 victims, from the attack on the Pentagon, and in the downed plane in Shanksville, PA. The landfill-bound...
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“I’m here in 1983, and I’m part of a truth squad… for the...”
– Newt Gingrich • Explaining, when pressed by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Joe Garofoli and Carla Marinucci, what precisely he means when he decries “San Francisco values.” His response, as you can see, is not one that will go over well with LGBT advocates, or people who believe a...
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Early report: CNBC says the iPad 3's getting...
ALERT: Quad-Core iPad 3 with 4G LTE to be unveiled in New York next week. -Sources
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 28, 2012
Waiting for further confirmation, but one thing that’s interesting about this announcement is that it’s pretty rare for them to have a product launch in NYC. It’s kind of a major change for the company if that’s true.
EDIT: Hearing two things; first, the...
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Gabrielle Giffords weighs strong on special...
671 signatures needed for the special election for Giffords’ old seat
7,110 signatures received by Giffords’ former aide, Ron Barber source
» His closest GOP competitor got a fraction of that: Barber, who was encouraged by Giffords to run for the seat, has a major leg up in the April 17 primary for Arizona’s eighth Congressional district. The special election takes place in...
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Ohio school shooting: Second person dies; gunman...
story A second person, 17-year-old Russell King Jr., died late last night of injuries sustained during Monday’s shooting; he was pronounced brain dead. Another person is reportedly in critical condition from the shooting, and two others are hospitalized.
backgroundT.J. Lane, the gunman in the shooting, has been identified by the family’s lawyer. Lane posted a Facebook note back in...
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Is Statfor as big a deal as Wikileaks thinks it... →
The group’s reputation among foreign policy writers, analysts, and practitioners is poor; they are considered a punchline more often than a source of valuable information or insight. As a former recipient of their “INTEL REPORTS” (I assume someone at Stratfor signed me up for a trial subscription, which appeared in my inbox unsolicited), what I found was typically some...
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“Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is necessary,...”
– An AP article suggesting that Israel will keep the U.S. out of the loop if it tries attacking Iran. Well, until now, that is. Good work uncovering this one, Associated Press. Now they just lost deniability. (via @BreakingNews) 