Archive for October 17th, 2011
Morrissey takes ‘racism’ battle to court | UK news | The Guardian
He once claimed to bear more grudges than lonely high court judges. Now Morrissey wants his date in the high court to rebut years of allegations that he is a racist and a hypocrite.
Lawyers for the former Smiths frontman told the high court on Monday that the singer “continues to suffer” reputational damage from a controversial interview he gave to NME magazine four years ago in which he complained about an “immigration explosion” leading to a loss of British identity.
In a written submission, Morrissey said his comments received “a barrage of press” at the time, and added: “Question marks over my being a racist have never since receded”.
Morrissey is attempting to sue NME’s former editor Conor McNicholas and its publisher, IPC Media, for libel over the interview. Although he was not in court for the hearing, Morrissey could be cross-examined before a jury if a trial goes ahead. Despite being dogged by fresh accusations in recent years, Morrissey has consistently denied being a racist.
via Morrissey takes ‘racism’ battle to court | UK news | The Guardian.
US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Half of all Americans support marijuana legalization
And the other half can’t remember. From Gallup:
A record-high 50% of Americans now say the use of marijuana should be made legal, up from 46% last year. Forty-six percent say marijuana use should remain illegal.
When Gallup first asked about legalizing marijuana, in 1969, 12% of Americans favored it, while 84% were opposed. Support remained in the mid-20s in Gallup measures from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but has crept up since, passing 30% in 2000 and 40% in 2009 before reaching the 50% level in this year’s Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey.
The chart, via the Gallup link above, is really fascinating – just to visually see how sharply views have changed on this issue since the early 70s.
via US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Half of all Americans support marijuana legalization.
Watch The 2011 Web 2.0 Summit Live | TechCrunch
We’re at the Palace Hotel for the 2011 Web 2.0 Summit where the lineup for the next three days consists of almost everyone on the entire Internet. In case you didn’t get to be a part of the in-person action, you folks at home can follow along from the Livestream above, starting at 2pm PST.
Today’s speaker highlights include Supyo’s Sean Parker, Salesforce’s Marc Benioff and About.me’s Tony Conrad.
Full schedule below.
2:00pm Plenary
Room: Grand Ballroom
Opening Welcome John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing Inc.), Tim O’Reilly (O’Reilly Media, Inc.)
2:10pm Plenary
Room: Grand Ballroom
Sean Parker, Co-founder, Supyo Sean Parker (Founders Fund), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing Inc.)
2:35pm Plenary
Room: Grand Ballroom
John Donahoe, President & CEO, eBay John Donahoe (eBay Inc.), John Battelle (Federated Media Publishing Inc.)
Herman Cain: Dial 9-9-9 for nonsense | The Economist
HERMAN CAIN is riding high in the polls. Among other things, his ascent is based upon a charming sense of humour, rousing oratorical skills, a story of moderate achievement in business, zero experience in elected office, which has allowed him to mould a perfectly zeitgest-matching conservative platform untainted by a record of no-longer zeitgest-matching political decisions, and, finally, the bold, clear proposition of the 9-9-9 tax plan. Now that Mr Cain is having a moment in the sun, what had seemed a gimmicky ploy is undergoing serious scrutiny, and we can expect Mr Cain to get hammered on the details of the 9-9-9 plan in tomorrow night’s Republican debate.
HowStuffWorks “5 Tips for Living Comfortably on a Tight Budget”
Sadly, few people on this planet have access to immense stockpiles of gold bullion and vaults full of sparkly diamonds. Most of us have to live within our means and on a limited budget. This is especially true in these recession-ravaged times, in which the idea of luxury living looks less like brick mansions and more like rent-stabilized apartments.
Since the so-called Great Recession began in 2007, the ranks of people living below the poverty line in America have expanded substantially. In the southern part of the United States, around 17 percent are considered impoverished. In Washington D.C., more than 30 percent of children live in poverty .
Even for those who’ve managed to avoid such destitution, the recession has strained family finances. Relatively wealthy families, especially, have become ardent users of coupons; 39 percent of households earning more than $70,000 per year have resorted to coupon clipping .
Quite simply, many people have started learning to live on a budget. Having a budget equals thinking about money in an analytical, logical way to avoid excessive debt. It also means setting realistic goals for spending and saving. In doing so, you can prevent the recurring, hair-graying stress of getting behind on bills while actually getting more fun and enjoyment out of the money you spend.
Before we launch into our tips, it may help to clarify exactly what it means to live comfortably on budget. There’s no black-and-white answer to that question.
via HowStuffWorks “5 Tips for Living Comfortably on a Tight Budget”.
“10 Foods That Should Exist” by CH Staff – CollegeHumor Article
Tacos are a classic masterpiece of compact unhealthiness. It’s essentially a wallet of meat and cheese that we shove in our mouths as fast as we can. So why are we wasting our precious gorging time on all those stupid tortillas when we could be scooping our portable feasts with fluffy, golden waffles? That’s right: there’s no reason. Let’s get it together, America.
via “10 Foods That Should Exist” by CH Staff – CollegeHumor Article.
An age of austerity? « Hot Air
You heard that the Republican-imposed budget austerity is responsible for the continuing economic malaise? All of those budget cuts imposed as part of the FY2011 compromise has supposedly damaged the economic recovery that was just around the corner, or something. Reuters reported on this claim last week:
Obama’s re-election chances next year may hinge on whether he can convince voters he is helping the U.S. economy dig out from the worst recession since the 1930s with unemployment stuck above 9 percent since May.
Democrats also face tough odds as they try to hold on to their Senate majority and win back the House of Representatives from Republicans.
Democrats have spent much of the year playing defense as Republicans aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement have won record spending cuts in a series of budget battles.
With the recovery stalling, Democrats have shifted the focus from austerity back to stimulus, where they believe they hold a winning hand.
Sounds like a great strategy. In fact, it only has one real flaw … it’s just not true. Investors Business Daily’s John Merline points out an inconvenient truth, which is that federal spending is rising, not falling — and faster than the rate of inflation:
In fact, in the first nine months of this year, federal spending was $120 billion higher than in the same period in 2010, the data show. That’s an increase of almost 5%. And deficits during this time were $23.5 billion higher.
These spending hikes haven’t stopped many analysts from claiming that the country is in an age of budget austerity, one that’s hurting economic growth.
A July article in USA Today, for example, claimed that “Already in 2011, softer government spending has sapped growth.”
Jared Bernstein, former chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden, wrote over the summer that “government spending cutbacks have been a large drag on growth in recent quarters and have led to sharp losses in state and local employment.”
Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in September that “the turn toward austerity (is) a major factor in our growth slowdown.”
Zombie Back Scratcher
Zombies, zombies everywhere and now we have body parts to share. That’s right folks, the Zombie invasion of the NeatoShop continues. Behold the new Zombie Back Scratcher. This fantastic handcrafted back scratcher is shaped like a like a creepy zombie hand. Everyone knows that a nice zombie is always willing to lend a hand to someone in need.
‘Criminal’ Penguin Steals Stones From Neighbor’s Nest (VIDEO)
Times are hard, and it turns out Adelie penguins have it rough, too. So rough, it seems, that some have turned “to a life of crime,” stealing stones from their neighbors’ nests.
A BBC documentary crew filming in Antarctica captured the incriminating footage of a male penguin stealing rocks from another penguin’s nest, as the victim made trips back and forth collecting the stones.
The penguins dig up part of the ground to build nests, and then they cover the area with rocks to protect and keep the eggs warm, National Geographic explains.
Stealing stones is fairly common, but the “Frozen Planet” crew had to scope out the penguin colony and capture the “illegal” deed on camera, which proved to be fairly difficult considering the noisy colony and “constant activity of the animals.”
via ‘Criminal’ Penguin Steals Stones From Neighbor’s Nest (VIDEO).
