Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Wait... we're not occupying Nigeria!

Ron Paul on the airline plot: “They’re terrorists because we’re occupiers!”
clipped from hotair.com
Ron Paul on the airline plot: “They’re terrorists because we’re occupiers!”
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And water is wet...

Now tell us something we don't know Mr. Obama.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com
President Obama dramatically changed the tone of his administration's response to the Chirstmas Day attack on Northwest Flight 253, saying Tuesday that information about the alleged bomber 'was not effectively distributed.'
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The rise of machine-written journalism

The rise of machine-written journalism

Monday, December 28, 2009

Government is the problem not the solution...

...this is a good read. Click through to read the whole thing.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com

Economists call these political entrepreneurs “rent-seekers.” Rent-seekers gain wealth, not by creating it, but by channeling it through political favors. Examples include government-sponsored monopolies, “targeted” tax breaks for special industries, and legislative loopholes inserted by lobbyists. 

Rent-seekers aren’t partisan. They used President Bush’s push for an ownership society to promote sketchy mortgage products. Before that, they used President Clinton’s push for a fairer economy to compel banks to make loans to poorer neighborhoods. In both cases, rent-seekers turned political slogans into profit, but at a steep cost to society when the boom ended.

Markets fail; but they learn from their failures. That’s why we need markets. Government can promise to guarantee our prosperity; but only markets can really deliver.

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Lights, Camera, Paparazzi!

Lights, Camera, Paparazzi!: "


Photo by Mr. Nunez/BuzzFoto.com

The 370 Dumbest Passwords, as Compiled by Twitter [Shut Up, Twitter]

The 370 Dumbest Passwords, as Compiled by Twitter [Shut Up, Twitter]: "

Here's the full list of banned Twitter passwords, via TechCrunch:


Sunday, December 27, 2009

LiveLeak.com - Iran -- Multiple police bikes on fire


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Let's never speak of 2009 again | Free New Year's Ecards, New Year's Cards, New Year's Greeting Cards, Funny New Year's Ecards at someecards.com

Let's never speak of 2009 again | Free New Year's Ecards, New Year's Cards, New Year's Greeting Cards, Funny New Year's Ecards at someecards.com

Posted using ShareThis

Democrats revive 'Party of No' attack - - POLITICO.com

Democrats revive 'Party of No' attack - - POLITICO.com

Breaking: Second Nigerian on Detroit-bound flight arrested; Update: “Stomach problems”

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/12/27/second-nigerian-on-detroit-bound-flight-arrested/

Roey Rosenblith: Over Detroit Skies

Roey Rosenblith: Over Detroit Skies

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Superficial - Yeesh.

The Superficial - Yeesh.

They might want to take down Brittany's movie poster from deadline.... Click the link to see the poster.

Don't they have better things to be working on?

Why does it always have to be some stupid acronym?

Secondly, is this the most pressing issue they can be working on right now? Lets get some real work done people.
clipped from www.cnn.com

In her crusade to eliminate the nuisance, Rep. Anna Eshoo wrote the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM, which mandates that TV commercials be no louder than the programs in which they appear.

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The 10 Most Bizarrely Sexual Ads Of 2009

The 10 Most Bizarrely Sexual Ads Of 2009:

You know what those advertising people say: Sex sells. And sex plus weirdness confuses people, giving them a combination of weird boners and actual boners and weirdness about having the actual boners and generally making everyone feel a way they may or not want to ever be feeling. Maybe it sells, who knows. They say a couple long sentences.



BKsevenincher


Clink the link to see all 10.... this was my favorite.



Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Build-A-Bearville Under the North Star 3/3 - Man Made Global Warming

The Mediaite 50: Innovators And Influencers Who Shook Up 2009 | Online | Mediaite

The Mediaite 50: Innovators And Influencers Who Shook Up 2009 | Online | Mediaite

50. Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo

49. Richard Rosenblatt and Shawn Colo, Demand Media

48. Kevin Rose, Digg

47. The Cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore, Seaside Heights, NJ

46. David Ko, Yahoo

45. Soledad O’Brien, CNN

44. Scott Moore, MSN

43. Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

42. Christiane Amanpour, CNN

41. Wanda Sykes, Fox

40. Martha Nelson, Time Inc.

39. Jay Penske, Mail.com Media Corp

38. Mark Knoller, CBS News Radio

37. Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times

36. Nick Denton, Gawker Media

35. Steve Lacy, Meredith Corp

34. Tim Armstrong, Aol.

33. Andrew Lack, Bloomberg

32. George Lopez, TBS

31. Joy Behar, HLN

30. Eliot Spitzer, MSNBC

29. Johnathan Rodgers, TV One

28. Jake Tapper, ABC News

27. Lauren Zalaznick, NBC Universal

26. Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central

25. Michelle Malkin, HotAir, MichelleMalkin.com

24. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC

23. Erin Andrews, ESPN

22. Joe Scarborough, MSNBC

21. Katie Couric, CBS News

20. Bill O’Reilly, Fox News

19. Jon Meacham, Newsweek

18. George Stephanopoulos, ABC News

17. David Letterman, CBS

16. John Harris and Jim VandeHei, Politico

15. Tina Brown, The Daily Beast

14. Andrew Breitbart, Breitbart.com

13. Diane Sawyer, ABC News

12. Lorne Michaels, Saturday Night Live

11. Jon Stewart, Comedy Central

10. Oprah Winfrey, Harpo Productions

09. Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.

08. Sarah Palin

07. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

06. Glenn Beck, Fox News

05. Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post

04. Harvey Levin, TMZ

03. Brian Roberts, Comcast

02. Biz Stone, Twitter

01. Roger Ailes, Fox News

Build-A-Bearville Under the North Star 2/3 - No More North Pole

It's Barry from DC on the phone...

Really... I mean really? Go back to running the country please.
clipped from www.mediaite.com

President Obama recently called in to a local D.C. radio program to congratulate Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, who was a guest on the show. Some will note how relaxed, down-to-earth and charming the President was. Others will ask “how does the most powerful man in the world have time for this cheap publicity stunt with so many critical issues on his plate?”

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Build-A-Bearville Under the North Star 1/3 - One Global World

MOBILE BULLETIN - 0035GMT - 23 Dec 09

At the risk of sounding heartless...

If doing his job, the job he was elected to do, is so hard on him. Maybe he should retire. He doesn't represent me, but I would be unsettled if I knew someone who was supposed to be serving to protect my interests was so incapacitated.
clipped from gawker.com

The Washington Post's Ezra Klein describes the GOP's delay tactics, which involve forcing every Democratic senator—even the ones who are only marginally capable of physically performing their duties as U.S. senators—to show up in the chamber as "vicious and cruel":

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Barrasso confirms that Inhofe missed health care vote after Coburn's prayer request

The poor pay the most

No matter what the nature of loss, either natural disaster or acts of terrorism and war, it is always the poor that pay the most. The rich have more insulation in the form of greater resources, often more dispersed in the economy and geographically. A poor person has one house, a rich person may have multiple houses, more likely to be insured against loss. The poor also don't have the same means of escaping danger as the rich do. They can't flee the country, they can't fly away on a plane, or speed away in their cars.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com


On Tuesday, the latest Taliban bomb went off in Peshawar, killing three. The Taliban targets upscale buildings and neighborhoods, but many of the injured – and those hit hardest economically by the bombings in Pakistan – are the poor.

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Giuliani won't run for governor or Senate, reports say

Giuliani won't run for governor or Senate, reports say: "

Giuliani, former New York mayor, is expected Tuesday to endorse Rick Lazio for governor. That takes him out of that race, and now it doesn't appear he'll run for the Senate, either.


I feel like I can sleep a little better at night now.

Every breath you take, they'll be watching you...

This could be a good thing for law enforcement and the public. There are doubtlessly circumstances where police are wrongly accused for taking actions that were reasonable. As the clip below points out, it could serve to keep officer behavior in line, knowing it will be on camera.

However, an important tool that isn't mentioned in the story is a citizen police review board. It is easy for a group of officers to sit around and justify what others might see as abusive behavior. What is needed is a group of citizens, who can review the video, and respond to complaints. Such a body removed from the structure of the department is less likely to overlook abuse, and will give citizens a real feeling police work for them, not to control them.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com

In many cases, the mere presence of the camera can change the interaction between police and the public. “Just the awareness of being recorded [means officers are] a little more careful they are maintaining policy,” Mr. Fergus says.

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Kirsten is Camera Shy

Kirsten is Camera Shy:




Photo by OutOfSightMedia/Henry Flores/BuzzFoto.com

Monday, December 21, 2009

Do you trust Harry Reid?

This section of the bill sounds like it is taking away the power of future congressional leaders to change the healthcare bill. I don't care if there are death panels or not, placing restrictions on future legislative action seems short sighted and scary to me.
clipped from www.redstate.com

Section 3403 of Senator Harry Reid’s amendment requires that “it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.” The good news is that this only applies to one section of the Obamacare legislation. The bad news is that it applies to regulations imposed on doctors and patients by the Independent Medical Advisory Boards a/k/a the Death Panels.

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Coroner completes Brittany Murphy autopsy - Yahoo! News


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Misinformer of the Year 2009: Glenn Beck

Yawn.... Time sure played it safe this year.

clipped from crooksandliars.com
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Actress Brittany Murphy Dead at 32

Lieberman Socks

Girl, Interrupted - Ice Cream Outting

Brittany Murphy in Clueless - Rollin' With The Homies after the party

CNN: Sarah Palin's 'Death Panel' Comment Wins 'Lie of the Year'

clipped from newsbusters.org
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The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT

clipped from www.aynrand.org
The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights (ARC) is a public policy and media center in Washington, DC. A division of the Ayn Rand Institute, the Center advocates for individual rights, with an emphasis on the morality of business and capitalism.
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President Bush was right...

As American troops prepare to pull out of Iraq the country might be in the best condition in years. Open to the rest of the world after the removal of Saddam Husein, and settling into a post war peace means concerns about cucumbers and parking are growing and violence shrinking.

However, the threat from Iran remains. It might be noted that Iran and Iraq have long been tense neighbors. While some Iraqis may want a continued American presence in the country, it isn't clearly beneficial or necessary. American power in the region should be enough to prevent Iran from provoking any real trouble, and minor problems can be handled by Iraqis. The presence of American troops on the other hand continues to provide fuel to elements that don't like America and don't want to see democracy in Iraq. This fuel makes the country more unstable than it might be otherwise.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com

During Mullen's walk, Iraqis there were at once wary and friendly, with children and shopkeepers talking to the American soldiers and posing for pictures. One shopkeeper stopped Mullen to complain about parking. Fears of violence just aren’t as much on the minds of Iraqis as they once were, Mullen said later.

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Brown- I'm Tired Of The 'Whining' Of Intellecutally Dishonest Republicans

Man Drinking Fat. NYC Health Anti-Soda Ad. Are You Pouring on the Pounds?

Joe MUST GO!

I don't think history is going to look favorably upon Mr. Lieberman. It is hard to believe he has been driven by anything more than his over-sized ego. I can respect people who have opposed this, and people who support it - but someone who has manipulated the process strictly for his own gain?
clipped from gawker.com

Mr. Lieberman could not be happier. He is right where he wants to be - at the center of the political aisle, the center of the Democrats' efforts to win 60 votes for their sweeping health care legislation. For the moment, he is at the center of everything - and he loves it.

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Monsanto will own all seed

Has the Tiger Woods saga been too well covered?

Has the Tiger Woods saga been too well covered?: "


It's even worse on the cable news networks. The story has been updated and broken over and over for what seems to be every hour on the hour and these are networks that stopped giving time to sports stories when ESPN cornered the market.

Is it just me or is Tiger-gate getting too much coverage?


Does too much coverage even exist in the cable news universe?

Breaking: Lieberman wins, Senate drops Medicare buy-in

Breaking: Lieberman wins, Senate drops Medicare buy-in: "

I have no faith in Washington's ability to get things done for Americans.

Christmas lights + Guitar Hero = Internet sensation / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Christmas lights + Guitar Hero = Internet sensation / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

The Facts About Bottled Water : Dump.com

The Facts About Bottled Water : Dump.com

This is a great collection of information about where the bottled water we drink in the US comes from.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ann Coulter versus Meghan McCain... Round 12

Really Ann has been much funnier than this before, and it was a pretty cheap shot.
clipped from www.mediaite.com

Since then, Coulter has been overshadowed by ever-more-unhinged competitors like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and watched as McCain’s shining star reached cornea-burning levels. Now, she’s reduced to taking extremely cheap shots at Meg at 3 in the morning. Enter Tiger Woods.

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How It All Ends

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Top 10 quirky science tricks for Christmas parties

How fair is fair trade?

To be honest I never felt right about the market manipulation aspect of fair trade. I know that large companies have used market manipulation to exploit poor farmers for years. However the cure for market manipulation isn't different manipulation, it is an attempt to really have a free market system.

We might think of sub-Saharan subsistence economies when we think of
Fairtrade, but the biggest recipient of Fairtrade subsidy is actually
Mexico. Mexico is the biggest producer of Fairtrade coffee with about
23% market share. Indeed, as of 2002, 181 of the 300 Fairtrade coffee producers were located in South America and the Caribbean. As Marc Sidwell points out,
while Mexico has 51 Fairtrade producers, Burundi has none, Ethiopia
four and Rwanda just 10 – meaning that "Fairtrade pays to support
relatively wealthy Mexican coffee farmers at the expense of poorer
nations".

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What's wrong with this picture/vid?

Things haven't changed much with teleprompters

Invented to be used by soap stars, they are still used primarily by speakers trying to portray a false emotion.
clipped from www.csmonitor.com

Teleprompters were invented to help actors struggling to memorize soap opera lines. An operator controls the scrolling of text. Display screens can be placed over a camera, or on clear glass, or pretty much anywhere that gets speakers’ eyes up, so it doesn’t look as if they’re reading from a piece of paper.

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Nicky is HOT!

clipped from www.buzzfoto.com
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