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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Have White People Lost Their Minds? - The Daily Beast

Steven Thrasher at The Village Voice has a theory on the current political deadlock, on Arizona's immigration bill, the ground zero mosque, Glenn Beck, Christine O'Donnell, and Carl Paladino: White people have gone stark raving mad. The lunacy infecting white America, Thrasher argues, is the result of large-scale demographic shifts.

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Colbert teaches sunday school like samuel l jackson - Brought to you by Dumpalink.com

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Monday, September 27, 2010

Portugal's Drug Legalization Works - The Daily Beast

In 2001, Portugal legalized all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs—including cocaine, heroin, and meth—and replaced drug sentences with offers of therapy. If that sounds a bit bleeding heart, well, it worked: In the five years following decriminalization, drug use among teenagers has dropped, as have HIV infections caused by dirty needles. More Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana. Portugal has the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over age 15, at 10 percent; 39.8 percent of Americans over the age of 12 have used marijuana.

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Krugman Rejects Structural Unemployment - The Daily Beast

We aren't suffering from a shortage of needed skills; we're suffering from a lack of policy resolve. As I said, structural unemployment isn't a real problem, it's an excuse—a reason not to act on America's problems at a time when action is desperately needed.

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The GOP's Fiscal Fraudulence, Ctd - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

If you care about the debt, whatever you do, don't vote Republican. They and the recession created it. They will make it far far worse if they get back to power again.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Project Runway 9/23/10

Spoilers ahead: So Ivy and Valerie were in the bottom. Glad Valerie stayed. I think she's so funny, especially when she makes those faces. Mondo wins again. At this point I think he may win this season. Although I'd be just as happy with anyone else winning as long as it isn't Gretchen. Next episode is going to be the HP fabric challenge, with a secret twist as usual. Judging by the designers' I think it'll be the mom challenge as well. Looking forward to next week regardless.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

TouchSmart 300z Giveaway Courtesy of SpanglishBaby and HP

Help find Carole Day

A foreign national visiting Manila on a business trip has been missing since September 12, 2010.
Carole Day arrived from Hong Kong on September 10 and was staying at The Corporate Inn on 1005 Ma. Orosa St. corner TM Kalaw, Ermita, Manila.

carole day

She was supposed to fly to Thailand (Phuket) on the 11th/12th from Cebu, however she did not arrive at her destination and has been completely out of contact since the September 12.
She was also due to arrive back in Hong Kong on September 15th for a number of important events including a close friend's funeral.

carole day

Her son believes she is still in the Philippines (Manila or Cebu).
Any details no matter how seemingly trivial will be greatly appreciated.
Please contact her son, Jai Day, at any time:
+(852) 9633 3071
+(852) 2849 4877
jaicool@hotmail.com

carole day

Carole Day
Height: 5'4"
Build: Skinny
Hair: Strawberry Blond
Eyes: Brown

Please feel free to blog or retweet this.

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Reading 'Galactic Pot-healer'

Glee Season Premiere

Saw the season premiere, thought it was just okay. I expected a shakeup, pity an hour isn't enough to get a feel for the new additions. Looking forward to next week's episode more--Britney (Spears's songs) + Brittany (Heather Morris). 

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Monday, September 20, 2010

House, Lonestar Premieres

Saw House, watching Lonestar. I felt kinda letdown by the House premiere, the preview clip after looked good though, so I'll probably keep watching. Lonestar, on the other hand, I wasn't planning on watching. Liking what I'm seeing. I just might add it to recording schedule.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The New McCarthyism - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

They have found the new communism. It's called Islam.

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Accountability For Torture - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Even chaotic Iraq now holds government torturers more accountable to their foreign victims than the United States does to its. Seriously.

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Monday, September 13, 2010

Al Qaeda Represents Islam as Much as the Ku Klux Klan Represents Christianity | Immigrant Rights | Change.org

Muslims don’t feel responsible for 9/11 because they are not – not anymore than Christians feel responsible for the terroristic acts of the Ku Klux Klan.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Judge Blocks 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' - The Daily Beast

Citing its "direct and deleterious effects" on the armed services, a federal judge in Riverside, California, has declared the military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional.

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Report: Abu Ghraib photos Obama is censoring "show rape" and sexual torture of men, women, and children - Boing Boing

Maj Gen Taguba retired in January 2007, and supports the President's decision to ban the images:

These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency. I am not sure what purpose their release would serve other than a legal one and the consequence would be to imperil our troops, the only protectors of our foreign policy, when we most need them, and British troops who are trying to build security in Afghanistan. The mere description of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

UN Creates Trust Fund for Human Trafficking Survivors | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

The money will help governments and NGOs provide resources to trafficked persons to reduce re-trafficking and help them heal from slavery. But will the UN raise enough dough to truly make a difference?

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Judge Overturns VA Prison Reading Policy | Criminal Justice | Change.org

In a decision released September 1, 2010, Turk wrote that “the irrationality of OP 803.2 stems from the fact that it encompasses much of the world's finest literature, but does not extend to 'soft core' pornography such as Playboy magazine.” Turk ruled that the regulation was unconstitutional, struck it,  and gave the DOC 60 days to draft new, legally sound regulations.

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Obama Won't Extend Tax Cuts for Wealthy - The Daily Beast

He will announce on Wednesday that there will be no possibility of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, creating an election-year showdown for Congressional Democrats.

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Court OKs Warrantless Cell-Site Tracking | Threat Level | Wired.com

A federal appeals court said Tuesday the government may obtain cell-site information mobile phone carriers retain on their customers without a probable cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment.

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$75,000 Is the "Perfect Salary for Happiness"

The special number is the result of a study conducted by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton. From The Wall Street Journal:

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A gravity-defying coffee cup for math lovers

There's no better way to enjoy your coffee than with this "zero gravity" cup, which stays balanced at a perfect angle when at rest. Plus, it includes a graph that demonstrates the exact trajectory of love.

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Imprisoned War Reporter Tweets Status From Captor's Cellphone

Japanese reporter Kosuke Tsuneoka disappeared on April 1st of this year in Afghanistan, leaving no clues as to his whereabouts. Then, five months later, he tweeted that he was imprisoned but alive—by filching his captor's cellphone.

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AZ GOP Recruits Homeless for Green Party - The Daily Beast

We hope he checked their immigration status, at least: A Republican political operative and candidate for state legislature has signed up homeless people and other drifters to run for statewide office on the Green Party ticket in Arizona—a move that the operative, Steve May, openly admits was to siphon away Democratic votes.

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Monday, September 6, 2010

Petraeus Bashes U.S. Church's Quran-Burning Plan - The Daily Beast

General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is upset-and rightfully so-at Terry Jones, a Florida pastor who plans to burn Qurans with his church on September 11. "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall [Afghanistan war] effort," Petraeus told The Wall Street Journal. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.

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Obama Lashes at GOP in Jobs Speech - The Daily Beast

These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class and drive our economy into a ditch. And now they're asking you for the keys back,” said Obama of the coming midterm elections. “They think it's better to score political points before an election than actually solve problems,” he continued.

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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Gay Marriage Is Now a Threat to Straight Divorce | Gay Rights | Change.org

Gay marriage isn't just a threat to the sanctity of marriage, it's also now a threat to the sanctity of divorce?

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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Ancient Nubians Made Antibiotic Beer | Wired Science | Wired.com

“I’m going to ask Alexander Fleming to hand back his Nobel Prize,” joked chemist Mark Nelson, who works on developing new tetracyclines at Paratek Pharmaceuticals and is lead author of the paper published June in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

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Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Out of Print For Decades, The Dune Encyclopedia Surfaces Online

Fans of Frank Herbert’s Dune series are in for a long, lost treat. A fully illustrated and searchable online version of the long out of print Dune Encyclopedia has surfaced.

(My comment on the Tor.com blogpost) I haven't read the Encyclopedia, but I've read to tatters the original Dune novels and The Eye short story collection. I tried to get immersed in Anderson's and the younger Herbert's take on the Dune Universe, and succeeded for awhile. As I recall, I somewhat liked their collaborations up until Hunters of Dune. Looking back, I think I grudgingly read Sandworms of Dune, just wanting to get the saga finished.

I tried to like Paul of Dune, but I guess Sandworms soured me on the B. Herbert-Anderson continuation of and elaborations on the Dune universe. To begin with, they didn't try to write like Frank, which is probably for the best. But between Hunters and Sandworms, the conclusion just felt completely at odds with the cliffhanger ending of Chapterhouse: Dune and I thought didn't quite mesh with the universe that Frank laid down in the originals.

This is of course a personal opinion, and judging by the ongoing additions to Dune, probably in the minority. Perhaps someday I'll work up the desire to pick up where I left off and see what Brian and Kevin were and are up to since Sandworms. Until then I'll have to revisit every now and then Dune as Frank as envisioned it.

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Flaws in the Meritocracy - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

As the always sharp Megan McArdle put it, "The Ivy League may represent the cream of a very small segment of incredibly affluent Americans. But there's a lot more cream out there, and it's a pity that American institutional structures seem so apt to exclude it from the mix."

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Rig Explodes Off Louisiana Coast - The Daily Beast

Would this have been prevented, had courts upheld President Obama’s offshore-drilling moratorium?

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