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Raw Video: Cyclone Yasi Strikes Australia

A massive cyclone crashed into northeastern Australia, ripping roofs from buildings and cutting power to thousands of homes but leaving the scale of disaster unknown as officials and residents holed up while the tempest raged. (Feb. 2)

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TouchType debuts Swiftkey Tablet app for Android tablets

We got a taste of what TouchType was doing to tweak its SwiftKey keyboard app for tablets back at CES , and the company has just now gotten official with the final result: its SwiftKey Tablet app. It’s apparently been designed “in partnership” with Google and Motorola to coincide with the launch of the Xoom and, as you can see above, it’s clearly been tailored specifically for Honeycomb — the company describes the skin as “holographic” and thumb-optimized.” Head on past the break for a quick video, and stay tuned for some hands-on impressions. Continue reading TouchType debuts Swiftkey Tablet app for Android tablets TouchType debuts Swiftkey Tablet app for Android tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Mubarak supporters rally in Cairo

Pro-Mubarak supporters storm the streets of Cairo, some on horses and camels shouting slogans of support of Mubarak.

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Watch Kanye West Get His Mouth Stuffed With Dollar Bills

It’s for the cover of the new issue of VMan , shot by Karl Lagerfeld. And yes, those are real dollar bills. [ Vimeo ] Read more posts by Kyle Buchanan Filed Under: clickables , kanye west , karl lagerfeld , music Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Vulture Discovery Date : 02/02/2011 19:12 Number of articles : 5

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Amid Blizzard, Drivers Stranded in Chicago

A massive storm billed as the worst in decades barreled through Chicago, dumping up to 17 inches of snow. Drivers were left stranded for more than 10 hours waiting for help. (Feb. 2)

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Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9

Hard to believe that the infamous ” fragmentation ” term is now being bandied about in the web browser world, but sure enough, it’s Microsoft using the term today to describe the brave new realm we’re living in. If you’ll recall, Google defended its decision to not include H.264 support natively in Chrome, but maintained that WebM plug-ins were coming to Safari and Internet Explorer 9 . Today, Microsoft’s kinda-sorta returning the favor. Following the outfit’s release of a Firefox add-on to bring full H.264 support to Windows machines, the outfit is releasing a plug-in for Chrome (only the Windows version for now) that provides support for H.264. Furthermore, it’s committed to supporting third-party WebM video plug-ins; to quote, users “will be able to play WebM video in IE9.” It’s fairly obvious that Microsoft’s taking this golden opportunity to push its browser as one that supports everything (rather than just its own preferred format), but regardless of the motives, we’re just happy to see differences put aside and compatibility finding priority. Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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The US needs a modern version of old-school home ec classes, writes foodie Mark Bittman. “When people cook their own food, they make better choices,” he writes in the New York Times . Let’s provide food education for kids and cooking classes for any adults who want them, Bittman writes as…

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Intel #1 on National EPA Green Power List With 2.5 Billion kWhs

Photo: aa7ae , CC Almost Double the Amount from 2008 Intel, the world’s largest chip maker (based on revenue), hasn’t just been focusing on making its chips more energy-efficient. It’s also the biggest buyer of green power in the United States. They were #1 a few years ago , but they’ve since consolidated their lead by increasing the amount of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and small-hydro power that they use to 2.5 billion kilowat… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The John Birch Society almost over took the Conservative movement during the rise of Barry Goldwater, but was beat back by William F. Buckley and the NRO. Robert Welch was obsessed with Communists and started multiple conspiracy theories around his delusions including the one about Eisenhower being a Commie infiltrator. Welch wrote in a widely circulated statement, The Politician, “Could Eisenhower really be simply a smart politician, entirely without principles and hungry for glory, who is only the tool of the Communists? The answer is yes.” He went on. “With regard to … Eisenhower, it is difficult to avoid raising the question of deliberate treason.” [33] The controversial paragraph was removed before final publication of The Politician . [34] The sensationalism of Welch’s charges against Eisenhower prompted several conservatives and Republicans, most prominently Goldwater and the intellectuals of William F. Buckley ‘s circle, to renounce outright or quietly shun the group. Buckley, an early friend and admirer of Welch, regarded his accusations against Eisenhower as “paranoid and idiotic libels” and attempted unsuccessfully to purge Welch from the Birch Society. [35] From then on Buckley, who was editor of National Review , became the leading intellectual spokesman and organizer of the anti-Bircher conservatives. [36] In fact, Buckley’s biographer John B. Judis wrote that “Buckley was beginning to worry that with the John Birch Society growing so rapidly, the right-wing upsurge in the country would take an ugly, even Fascist turn rather than leading toward the kind of conservatism National Review had promoted.” [36] Using the cover of the Tea Party, the Birchers are making a huge comeback and they will find a conspiracy hidden in anything at all. Frank Gaffney gets a gold star of tor this one. Kudos to Think Progress: Amidst the political upheaval in Egypt, conservatives are scare-mongering about the possible Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt. But leading neoconservative Frank Gaffney is taking Muslim Brotherhood fearmongering to new heights. This past weekend, Gaffney was a featured speaker at the Educational Policy Conference in St. Louis, an annual gathering of social conservatives. Gaffney used the opportunity to discuss how the Muslim Brotherhood is not only poised to implement a new theocracy in Egypt, but is also operating in the United States under “front groups” like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties group dedicated to “protecting the rights of all Americans, regardless of faith.” — TP: Do you think [Sharia law] has already infiltrated the federal government? GAFFNEY: There are questionable people who are sympathetic to the program of the stealth jihadists who have influence with the United States government. Some I think are actually working for it, but for sure people who are persuaded that the folks that they need to work with to reach out to the Muslim-American community, for example, who incessantly turn to Muslim Brotherhood organizations for that purpose, are a very real problem. TP: Can you name a few names, for instance in the federal government? GAFFNEY: John Brennan. John Brennan is the Homeland Security Advisor for the President of the United States TP: He’s complicit in this creep of Sharia law? GAFFNEY: He’s absolutely daft on what the nature of the threat and is insistent upon using Brotherhood-front organizations as sources of information and as vehicles for reaching out to the Muslim-American community. Jim Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, has said that these sorts of groups are “sources of wisdom,” as he puts it, to the United States government. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is incessantly meeting with Muslim Brotherhood front organizations and I think has in the past, if not today, employed people who are associated with them. This is sick and twisted, but as Digby noted this morning, according to the Tea Party, the Muslim Brotherhood and Obama are in cahoots. This just in on my wingnut chainmail: Have you ever wondered why President Obama has been relatively quiet and uninvolved in the uprising in Egypt? We dug up a two-year-old article that surprisingly shows a connection between Obama and, you guessed it, the Muslim Brotherhood! Obama was against Hamas during his presidential campaign and pro-Israel to get the Jewish vote. However, since he became president of the United States (POTUS), he has dissed Israel and is now spending billions of American taxpayers’ money to move and set up thousands of Hamas members within the United States homeland. Whose side is Obama on anyway? Read this linked article . It will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This article is supported with a list of credits at the bottom of the article that gives it legitimacy. This topic must be opened up for some serious debate. The man that is said to still rule in Washington, somehow, we keep seeing him and Henry Kissinger in the news quite frequently. Google these two words together “Banna Nazi.” It’s important to to keep up with your history on kooky conspiracy theories. In the 80′s the Birchers came back in the form of Abramoff/Norquist/Reed who went hog wild about Commies infiltrating our government. Then during the 90′s under Clinton, the Alex Jones Black Helicopter squads invaded the fringes of Conservatism and Libertarians. They never go away on rebrand themselves. I wrote this in response to an idiotic piece written by Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post: Barry Goldwater refused to dismiss the Birchers as wackos entirely because they were useful like the teabaggers, but he did attack Welch. Rick Perlstein’s: ‘Beyond The Storm:’ The attendees fell into two camps. Buckley and Kirk said they were ready to write the Birchers out of the conservative movement altogether. Goldwater and others canceled accommodation. He thought there were a lot of ‘nice guys’ in the Society and not just ‘kooks’ and that it wasn’t time to precipitate breaks in the conservatives’ fragile movement. They settled on a compromise. National Review would attack Robert Welch, not the John Birch Society. Goldwater would take the line that Welch was a crazy extremist, but that the Society itself was full of ‘fine, upstanding citizens’ working hard and well for the cause of Americanism. Haven’t we heard the same thing from Newtie and Rove about the teabaggers?

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Supporters of Hosni Mubarak attack foreign journalists in Egypt

Four reporters set upon as hundreds of pro-government supporters launch resistance against protests Supporters of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak beat up several journalists after going on the offensive today. Anderson Cooper from CNN , two Associated Press correspondents and a Belgian reporter were all set upon as hundreds of young pro-government supporters attacked crowds demanding Mubarak’s immediate resignation. Cooper said he and his crew came under attack, but CNN said no one was seriously hurt. Two Associated Press correspondents and several other journalists were roughed up during gatherings of Mubarak supporters. In what appeared to be the most serious incident, a Belgian correspondent who reports for newspapers in Brussels, northern France and Geneva, was beaten, detained and accused of spying. Maurice Sarfatti, who uses the byline Dumont, was covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration in the Cairo district of Shoubra when he said he was hit. “It was rough. I received several blows to the face,” Dumont said . “They claimed I was pro-Baradei [the opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei]. I was then taken by the military to a barrack on the edge of town. “I was given a glass of water – from the Nile so I would get diarrhoea, they said. I was guarded by two soldiers with Kalashnikovs and bayonets. “They said I would be taken to the secret service. They accused me of being a spy.” The strong-arm tactics immediately drew a rebuke from the US. “The United States deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt, and we are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. “We repeat our strong call for restraint.” Egyptian state TV reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-instigated. As the mood turned ugly after the last few days of euphoria, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply concerned” at the “unacceptable” violence. He urged Egypt’s leaders to “accept the will of their people that they should listen more attentively to the genuine and sincere wish of the people”. David Cameron sent the same message to the Egyptian authorities, saying it would be unacceptable for the Egyptian government to be supporting violence in any way. “If it turns out that the regime in any way has sponsored or tolerated this violence, that is completely unacceptable,” he said after meeting Ban Ki-moon in London. The UN High commissioner for human rights urged the authorities to listen to demands for fundamental reforms. “I urge all governments, both in this region and elsewhere to reflect on the fact that, in the long term, genuine and lasting stability does not depend on a ruthless security apparatus, or a ring of military steel, but on the development of human rights and democracy,” said Navi Pillay. “These are the principles on which the United Nations was founded. Stability cannot be approached solely through a security lens. This is a short-sighted method that, in the end, is bound to fail.” Egypt Hosni Mubarak Middle East United Nations Ban Ki-moon CNN TV news Mark Tran guardian.co.uk

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