Continue reading the main story Tunisia turmoil ‘Speakers’ corner’ Will returnees re-ignite revolt? Key players now Q&A: Tunisia crisis The Canadian government says a brother-in-law of the ousted Tunisian president has applied for refugee status. Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon had earlier suggested Canada would comply with a request for the extradition of Belhassen Trabelsi….
Continue reading …ABC Pushes for Tax Hike on Capital Gains, Ignores Likelihood of Tax Revenue Loss
January 30, 2011 No Comment
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media Bill Maher had another great New Rules segment tonight with his comparison between the economic models embraced by the NFL and MLB and those of the Democratic and Republican parties. You can say this doesn’t necessarily apply to a lot of conserva-Dems, and I’m sure Bill would agree, but the analogy between liberal and conservative economic ideologies is spot on. MAHER: So it’s no surprise that some 100 million Americans will watch the Super Bowl next week. That’s forty million more than go to church on Christmas. Suck on that Jesus! It’s also 85 million more than watched the last game of the World Series and in that is an economic lesson for America, because football is built on an economic model of fairness and opportunity. And baseball is built on a model with the rich always winning and the poor usually have no chance. The World Series is like the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills; you have to be a rich bitch just to play. Where as the Superbowl is like Tila Tequilla, anyone can get in. Or to put it another way, football is more like the Democratic philosophy. Democrats don’t want to eliminate capitalism or competition, but they would like it if some kids didn’t have to go to a crummy school in a rotten neighborhood, while others get to go to a great school, and their dad gets them into Harvard. Because when that happens, achieving the American dream is easy for some and just a fantasy for others. That’s why the NFL literally shares the wealth. TV is their biggest source of revenue and they put it all in a big Commie pot and split if thirty two ways. Because they don’t want anyone to fall too far behind. That’s why the team that wins the Superbowl in the next draft, picks last, or what the Republicans would call “punishing success.” Baseball… baseball on the other hand is exactly like the Republicans. And I don’t just mean it’s incredibly boring. I mean their economic theory is every man for himself. The small market Pittsburgh Steelers go to the Superbowl more than anybody. But the Pittsburgh Pirates? Levi Johnston has sperm that will not grow up and live long enough to see the Pirates in a World Series. Their payroll is forty million. The Yankees is two hundred and six million. The Pirates have about as much chance of getting to the playoffs as a poor black teenager from Newark has of becoming the CEO of Halliburton. That’s why people stop going to Pirate games in May. Because if you’re not in the game, you become indifferent to the fate of the game and maybe even get bitter. That’s what’s happening to the middle class in America. It’s also how Marie Antoinette lost her head. So you kind of have to laugh that the same angry white males who hate Obama because he’s “redistributing wealth” just love football; a sport that succeeds because it does just that.
Continue reading …
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. One thing that has set Sony apart from its home console rivals has been the extended lifecycles of its hardware. Riding the momentum of a massive install base, both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 each kept selling strong nearly a decade after their debut, and years after their respective successors were introduced. In fact, as late as 2009, Audiovox began offering a PS2 integrated into an aftermarket ovehead car video system with a 10″ screen. Sony could pursue this strategy in home consoles because the PS2 was the runaway unit volume leader of its generation. Not so with the PSP. When Sony introduced the PlayStation Portable , it entered a portable console market with fierce, entrenched competition from the incumbent Nintendo, and the powerful widescreen handheld was outsold by the Nintendo DS and its later derivatives. Sony couldn’t attain the market share it needed to steamroll existing competition. With Sony’s announcements this week, however, the PlayStation purveyors seem to have found a way to take their one-two punch on the road with a strategy that takes the PSP and segments its evolution. Continue reading Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
The victims of a quadruple slaying in North Dakota were a mother, two of her children and her boyfriend, and all four suffered gunshot wounds, police said Saturday. No arrests have been made. (Jan. 29)
Continue reading …New David Brock Funding PAC To Compete With Conservative Special Interest Groups
January 30, 2011 No Comment
enlarge Interesting news from the Plumline’s Greg Sargent last yesterday about a major shift for Media Matters’ David Brock: It looks like David Brock is getting more serious about building a powerful apparatus on the left to go head-to-head with the flood of outside money conservative groups are planning to pump into the 2012 elections. I’m told that Brock has made some major staff shifts within his Media Matters empire in preparation for 2012, shifting key staff over to a new third-party spending vehicle he’s created to spend big money on campaigns this cycle, which is called American Bridge. Brock will move Media Matters’ top communications director, Chris Harris, over to American Bridge, and he’s installing a new president and CEO at Media Matters, Matthew Butler. That will allow Brock to focus more energy on building out the new effort and enlisting major donors to finance it. Also: In another indication that Brock is shifting his empire harder into politics, he has enlisted one of the key architects of MoveOn’s growth over the last few years — operative Ilyse Hogue — to oversee a new Media Matters operation dedicated specifically to taking action against right wing media. Brock outlined these and other staff shifts in a memo for staff this afternoon. Brock is a major Beltway player, and if his effort gains traction, it could have a real impact on the 2012 campaigns, helping to offset the lopsided advantage conservative groups are expected to enjoy. It’s also a sign that Washington’s power liberal types are getting serious about figuring out how to navigate the new, post-Citizens United landscape, which has clearly put them at a disadvantage.
Continue reading …
The United States and other leading European nations have urged Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president,
Continue reading …
Continue reading the main story Related stories German train crashes into truck Germany mourns train crash dead…
Continue reading …Even employed people can still be broke—and if you’re in that camp, allow Steve Roy to help. On Dumb Little Man , the financial planner offers up the “five reasons you will always be broke:” Your spouse is a spender : If one partner is out of touch with your financial…
Continue reading …Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides
January 30, 2011 No Comment
It’s been a long time since we used a laptop that had a monochromatic display — it was a giant white block of a thing that is not missed — but flip around just about every laptop we use today and you find a backside that stubbornly refuses to change color no matter the light that hits it. Is that a problem? Not really, we think it’s quite fine since we’re not often staring at that bit, but for Toshiba such tedium simply won’t do, so it’s introducing the Dynabook Qosmio T750 with a color-shifting lid. Turn it in the light and it shifts and shimmers, just like the chameleon paint tuners have been using on custom rides for decades. Here, though, we’re told it’s done with multiple layers of film, no paint at all. Oh, the inside? A 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M, 4GB of DDR 3 memory, and a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display that’s LED backlit — which is also capable of displaying multiple colors, in case you’re interested. Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …