Evacuations began on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas on Wednesday with the East Coast in its sights. (Aug. 24)
Continue reading …Krugman: If I’m Quoted Saying Something Really Stupid and It’s Not in the Times Assume It’s Fake
August 24, 2011 No Comment
“[I]f you see me quoted as saying something really stupid or outrageous, and it didn’t come from the Times or some other verifiable site, you should probably assume it was a fake.” So marvelously wrote Nobel laureate Paul Krugman at his New York Times blog Wednesday: I hear that the not-so-good people at National Review are attacking me over something I said on my Google+ page. Except, I don’t have a Google+ page… Apparently some people can’t find enough things to attack in what I actually say, so they’re busy creating fake quotes…So if you see me quoted as saying something really stupid or outrageous, and it didn’t come from the Times or some other verifiable site, you should probably assume it was a fake. Fair enough. But if you see Krugman quoted as saying something really stupid or outrageous, and it did come from the Times or some other verifiable site, you should probably assume it was real. Just look at the volume of NewsBusters articles about “really stupid” and “outrageous” things this Nobel laureate has said in recent years. It's all the proof you need. For those interested in more details about this sordid affair, please see Hot Air's coverage on the subject. As for Krugman, please keep saying “really stupid” and “outrageous” stuff. It makes our day whenever you do.
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Blow – Le scene più belle del film (Italiano) George Jung Interview 2001, Teil 2/2 George Jung Interview 2001, Teil 1/2 Pamela_Rhodes says: dion-perfectabs: george jung workout http://t.co/Wqgfpme
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As Hurricane Irene swirls through the Atlantic and appears on a beeline path for the Carolinas, Twitter has become the ultimate source for real-time information about her wind speed, location and impending direction. Here are the tweeters you should be following to keep up with where Irene could make landfall.
Continue reading …“Shrimp on a treadmill” has become a byphrase for wasteful government spending. But the scientist behind the study says lawmakers are distorting the facts. The treadmill test—singled out by Sen. Tom Coburn in an attack on National Science Foundation funding —was designed to study shrimp’s reaction to changes in…
Continue reading …India charges four politicians in bribery investigation into parliamentary vote
August 24, 2011 No Comment
Arrests made as Anna Hazare continues fasting campaign that has mobilised thousands to root out political corruption Four Indian MPs have been charged over an alleged cash for votes scandal during a crucial confidence vote faced by the ruling Congress party in 2008, a police official has said. The four men charged were Amar Singh, Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora, the senior official, who declined to be named, said. The Socialist party MP Amar Singh has been accused of bribing three legislators from the opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) to vote in favour of the government. The police official did not give any more details about the charges. Wednesday’s news came as a scandal-plagued government struggled to find a solution to end an eight-day hunger strike by a popular activist demanding strict anti-corruption legislation. Anna Hazare’s fast has drawn tens of thousands of Indians to his protest, in the heart of the capital, and inspired smaller anti-corruption rallies across India. The alleged bribery scandal in parliament first surfaced in March, when a leaked US diplomatic cable, obtained by WikiLeaks, said the Congress party bribed MPs before the vote over a nuclear deal with Washington . The cable, from a US embassy official, said a Congress party functionary showed him two cases full of cash meant to bribe MPs to vote with the party. An Indian newspaper report alleged the MPs were paid $2.5m each to buy their support. Days after the cable’s contents were reported, the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, told parliament no one from the government or the ruling party had bribed MPs during the vote. The government has been hit by a series of corruption scandals in recent months, related to the selling of a mobile phone spectrum and the conduct of last year’s Commonwealth Games. India Anna Hazare guardian.co.uk
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Libyan rebels were still celebrating their takeover of Moammar Gadhafi’s main compound in Tripoli Wednesday. But in a broadcast address the longtime leader urged citizens in the city to fight back. (Aug. 24)
Continue reading …Feingold’s Progressives United To Push Dems To Walk Away From Bad Super Committee Deal
August 24, 2011 No CommentI wonder if this will work. Democrats seem almost congenitally incapable of holding the line on Democratic values, so maybe a big push on this will work: Former Sen. Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United are petitioning the six House and Senate Democrats serving on the joint deficit Super Committee to walk away if Republicans don’t budge on tax increases, and insist on cutting entitlement benefits. “If we don’t get our policy priorities, Democrats need to be ready to walk away from the deal,” Feingold emailed his supporters. “You can guarantee extremists on the other side will continue to push relentlessly to give even more to corporations and put even more of the burden on the middle class. We have to fight harder than they will.” He lists the bright lines: 1. Ensure millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations pay their fair share of debt reduction, 2. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits, 3. No giveaways to corporate interests, 4. Or no deal. His concern — which progressives widely share — is that Republicans will refuse to raise a penny of revenue, particularly from wealthy Americans, and leave the Committee’s Democrats to pick between significant entitlement cuts or the trigger penalty , which would fall most heavily on Medicare providers and national defense.The effort is aimed at Democrats so that they don’t lose their spine at that key moment. “We can have leverage with the Democrats on the super committee, but we need to build it,” Feingold said.
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Following HP’s August 18 bombshell announcement that it would discontinue its poorly selling TouchPad tablet, the company decided to deeply discount the remaining devices. The company issued a note to retailers that said all units would receive a $300 price cut. After factoring in a price drop from earlier in August, the new price for 16GB units would be $99; the 32GB units would cost $149. Ironically, the repriced tablets are now a hot commodity–if you can find one. HP’s website currently sports a sale page for the discounted tablets. Though the tablets were out of stock (online and in stores) in the United States on Sunday, more are apparently on the way, according to a notice on the site, which advises customers to “check back soon.” Users can sign up for an email alert to find out when more devices are available. Retail giant Best Buy began selling the discounted tablets in the United States on Sunday. Though the site said that the TouchPads were “sold out online” on Sunday evening, a post on the site informed early adopters of a return/exchange policy update. “Customers who purchased the 16GB or 32GB TouchPad after June 19 may come into the store to get either a full refund or a refund of the difference between the price they paid and the clearance price,” the post read. “Best Buy will not accept customer returns or exchanges on clearance-priced TouchPads bought through any Best Buy channel.” WebOSroundup explains that users who bought the tablet at full price can obtain their refunds: Folks who bought HP TouchPads from HP’s website just need to call HP’s Home & Office phone service (be ready to be on hold for about a half hour) and tell them you want a full refund or to be credited the difference. HP will honor either request, and in the case of the fire-sale difference, they will give you an additional $10 credit off of your sales tax. BetaNews tweeted a helpful link to deals aggregator SlickDeals.net, which has rounded up many of the websites selling the HP TouchPad at the discounted and off-discounted price. Have you been able to snag your own super-cheap TouchPad since the clearance frenzy began? Where did you find one? Share advice for other deal-seekers in the comments. Read on to see the other gadgets HP just killed off, as well as an explanation of why HP decided to end its line of mobile devices.
Continue reading …Guest hosting for Chris Matthews on Tuesday, MSNBC's Chris Jansing derided Rick Perry, wondering if the Republican presidential candidate is ” too far off even for the GOP ?” Jansing, who normally hosts supposedly straight news coverage for the cable network, attempted to generate controversy over statements Perry made on civil rights. A MSNBC graphic for the segment, mocked, ” I have a scheme .” According to Jansing, Perry's problem answer came in “comparing” the civil rights to cutting corporate tax rates. Here's Perry's full answer: RICK PERRY: America's gone a long way from the standpoint of civil rights and thank God we have. I mean, we've gone from a country that's made great strides in issues of civil rights. I think we all can be proud of that. And as we go forward, America needs to be about freedom. It needs to be about freedom from over taxation, freedom from over-litigation, freedom from over-regulation. And Americans, regardless of social and economic background is, they need to know that they can come to America and you got a chance to have any dream come true, because the economic climate is going to be improved An indignant Jansing huffed, “So, does Perry really believe African-Americans' struggle for civil rights is comparable to the GOP's fight for lower taxes?” Talking to Alex Wagner of the liberal Huffington Post, she slammed, “Is this ignorance?…Is this insensitivity?”
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