NotesWhich is sooo close to being correct. The court actually prohibited mandatory school prayer. And that one word makes all the difference. (See: Twain, Mark on lightning-bug vs. lightning.)Unfurl
NotesAmerica's position of influence over the Internet economy is a valuable form of "soft power." If the US government uses this power judiciously, it can ensure that the Internet evolves in ways that serve US interests.
Instead, American policymakers are rapidly squandering this soft power by giving US law enforcement agencies—and, under SOPA, even private copyright holders—free rein to exercise this power with minimal judicial oversight. The US is home to many of the world's leading search engines, advertising networks, and credit card payment networks. These firms not only serve the US market, they are also widely used overseas. If the US begins to use them as pawns in its war against file-sharing, foreigners and their governments will become more reluctant to rely on them.Unfurl
NotesDan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all." Unfurl
NotesOn Tuesday, Congress decided that pizza is a vegetable. I have to imagine that this news instilled confusion in many Americans, as many Americans are (a) familiar with pizza, (b) familiar with vegetables and (c) sane. Unfurl
NotesA while back, a memo surfaced that reportedly came from a Fox News executive, in which he directed his staff to always present opposing views on something we can essentially regard as a fact: our planet has been getting warmer. There has been plenty of anecdotal indications that this strategy has been carried out, including a truly bizarre incident in which Bill Nye, on the channel in order to discuss volcanic activity on the Moon, was asked if these volcanoes raised doubts about climate change.Unfurl
NotesThe bottom line: A family with an income level of $40,000 to $50,000 would pay $3,407 more a year in taxes, while families making $500,000 to $1 million a year would pay on average $80,315 less, according to the Tax Policy Center.Unfurl
Notes "I think we know by now that this Congress likes God. Can we move on?" said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.Unfurl
Notes"So my conclusions: The ignorance (willful or otherwise) is deep. The anger (justified or otherwise) is high. Teabagger solutions are silly at best and dangerous at worst. But what bothers me more is that our side has been so woefully inadequate at laying out these facts. These are not sophisticated concepts and the words can be small."Unfurl
Notes"As a candidate for his party's gubernatorial nomination, Cox has every right to pander to the Tea Party adherents many believe will play a decisive role in August's Republican primary. As Michigan's top law enforcement officer, he should know better than to pursue his specious claim that Congress has exceeded its constitutional authority."Unfurl
Notes"@David, it's real. We've determined by looking at our traffic stats that people are doing Google searches for "facebook login" and coming upon RWW. They see the FB Connect button and assume that RWW is the "new Facebook."
Sigh.
The Internet Is Hard."Unfurl
Notes"If you are following your GPS and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of nowhere with snow all around, don't go there. Turn around."Unfurl
NotesIn case it's not clear: These nutters are complaining that government services weren't expansive enough to accommodate their protest of expansive government services. "Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services. Seriously."Unfurl
Notes"The blows were so powerful that McCalium, who had just lunged at Mr Corti with the knife, was left looking like he had been in 'a car accident'."Unfurl
Notes"People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. That only comes from having credibility gained by the correct presentation of facts and analysis and a willingness to be even-handed--criticizing one's own side when it is wrong and not only speaking up when the other party does the same thing."Unfurl
NotesI hope not. Google's not a monopoly - it's got plenty of lesser competitors. They just happen to be really successful. It's easier to live Google free than MSFT free. "Obama's pick to head the Justice Department's antitrust unit, Christine Varney, believes that Google has a monopoly in search and will soon have a monopoly in cloud computing and that the government should act aggressively to prevent monopolies. So will she try to break Google up?"Unfurl
Notes""I'll just get straight to the point. You've been affected by the layoffs." ... I watched as my access to various parts of the guts of Flickr fell away. I noticed how naturally I searched for any and all bits I could think of, just in the hope that it still existed. But no. I was shut out entirely within about 14 hours of the phone call. ... I was beginning to feel humiliated, particularly given what I was up to. You know, being in Taiwan at an international conference to talk about my work."FeedUnfurl
Notes"automatically replacing any use of the word “gay” with the word “homosexual” in any of the AP stories they run … leading to instances in which proper names are reformatted to meet their ridiculous standard"Unfurl
NotesGuy can't read a manual; can't find a Torx driver; can't Google for it; freaks when the Apple Genius Bar charges a $30 stupidity tax; and is amazed that things come from Taiwan. It's somehow Apple's fault, and worth drawing a comic to bitch about it.Unfurl
Notes"would any of these kids respond, even in passing recognition of the tune? And they responded alright. With a water bottle straight to Neil Finn's head!"Unfurl
Notes"Now I am being seen as one of those drug users, perhaps an addict, perhaps a dealer, one can't be sure. In the matter of a second, I became powerless, whatever I said wasn't going to be taken seriously. I was labeled, sorted and disposed of. Dismissed."Unfurl
Notes"In fact, because the school had not reset the clock on the hot line, which continued to show Eastern Standard Time, officials and police failed to spot that the bomb threat had actually come in at 4:17am - more than an hour after Webb's innocent call."Unfurl
Notes"Top House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit President Bush's authority for taking military action against Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war. "Unfurl
Notes"There is no excuse for blaming Turner Networks, Adult Swim, and especially a single 27-year-old, for the overzealousness of Boston's government and the news media."Unfurl
Notes"Even if it was just something random, it sort of shows the folly of our security-obsessed world when a fictional martian can set a major city on high alert."Unfurl
Notes"Turner Broadcasting apologized on Wednesday for a marketing campaign that sparked Boston's biggest security scare since the September 11, 2001, attacks -- closing bridges, shutting major roads and putting hundreds of police on alert. "Unfurl
NotesHa-ha, in the comments: "Seriously, I thought Wired had hip, knowledgeable writers. When did they start an open exchange policy with Reader's Digest?"Unfurl
NotesThis makes me sad: "Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony"Unfurl
Notes"A Republican state lawmaker is criticizing Gov. Brian Schweitzer for comments he made to a newspaper here about the lawmaker‘s belief that the planet is not millions of years old."Unfurl
Notes"the Bush administration sees diplomacy as something to be engaged in with another country as a reward for that country's good behavior. They seem not to see diplomacy as a tool to be used with antagonistic countries or parties"Unfurl
RealClearReligion - Quit Thinking School Prayer Is Banned
Why SOPA endangers America's Internet leadership
Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study
Iowa Poll: Many think Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would help them | Iowa Caucuses
Tossed cart hit philanthropist - NYPOST.com
Officials use ruse at high school to clear halls for drug search
Cantor Cancels Income Inequality Speech After Learning It Will Be Open To The Public. (Alex Seitz-Wald/ThinkProgress)
Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit (Kevin Drum/Mother Jones)
Mass Infringement Lawyer Complains About Too Many People Challenging His Lawsuits
Daily Kos: Bartlett: Teabaggers Totally Ignorant About Taxes
Will Obama Break Up Google? (GOOG)
Schneier on Security: Is Everything a Bomb these Days?