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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Thursday, November 5, 2009

AT&T Sues Verizon Over "Map" Ads


Verizon has pulled no punches against AT&T and the iPhone of late.
In addition to the "Droid Does" ad which has garnered rave reviews, they've also done the "There's a Map for That" ad which points at the lack of 3G support nationwide on AT&T. However, AT&T feels that ad is misleading, and has sued.

Full Story

For Glenn Beck, SEIU is 'radical, marxist,' except when its nurses treat him for appendicitis

If Beck were true to his convictions, he'd have left the Marxist hospital and prayed at home for a cure. (Yeah like that would ever happen.)

More from Alternet:
Earlier today, a hospitalized Glenn Beck tweeted in praise of the "AMAZING drs/nurses" who have cared for him since the emergency removal of his inflamed appendix yesterday afternoon.

The quality of care he is receiving should not have come as a surprise. When Beck complained of acute abdominal pain during his radio program on Wednesday, he was rushed to a nearby hospital. The security-conscious Beck has not disclosed the name of the facility, but it's a safe bet that it is staffed by proud members of a storied union: New York's Local 1199, aka United Healthcare Workers East, which belongs to the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU has organized all of Manhattan's major hospitals, including every facility to which Beck could have conceivably been sent....

Just hours before his hospitalization, Beck was at work increasing the pitch of his attacks on SEIU and its leaders. On Monday, he warned his Fox News audience that SEIU president Andy Stern is "controlling our country." On Wednesday, he claimed Stern was spouting "communist, Marxist propaganda" by addressing the need for labor to organize globally in a globalized world.
Typical though of the slime he is - Do as I order you to, not as I do ... and tragically those even stupider than he is do!

Know Your Enemy

Green Day

Fort Hood shooting suspect is alive

Fort Hood shooting suspect is alive

Fort Hood shooting massacre suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was not killed as reported earlier.

Hospital confusion
Also:

Best computers for under $500

Best computers for under $500

From hybrid desktops to tablet PCs, there are plenty of amazing systems available for less.

Repugican party chair Michael Steele threatens anyone who supports health care reform

From ABC:
Asked if he’d be comfortable with Republican candidates in 2010 who supported President Obama’s stimulus package, or his push to overhaul health care, Steele said:

“Well I’m gonna tell you honestly, that’s where the line gets a little bit tricky. And you saw in the House and in the Senate that there are ramifications, because that goes against a core principle. And trust me, you’re assuming that people want to have bloated debt, government expenditures and growth into their lives -- they don’t. That’s a talking point out of the DNC.”

“People aren’t buying that. So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” Steele continued.
repugican party: Wholly teabagger owned and operated.

A dozen teabaggers arrested at Pelosi's office

Warning for frequent debit card users

Warning for frequent debit card users

Using a debit card for every purchase increases your liability, and chances you'll be defrauded.

Strange tale of a golden penny

Strange tale of a golden penny

A Brooklyn woman finds a counterfeit coin made of 18-karat gold and tracks down its maker.

Headlines

Today's Headlines

Daily Groaner

A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories.

After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse.

"But why?" they asked, as they moved off.

"Because," he said "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."

Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck

This is great!

Check out the Onion for more news.
Hey, they're more accurate and unbiased then FAUX News.

"Should I Trust Al Gore, or My Rock Hard Nipples?"

From Treehugger:

al gore daily show photo

Al Gore Heads to the Daily Show
That's just one of the questions Jon Stewart asks Gore when the former vice president sits down to talk about his new book about finding solutions to climate change. Consider this a companion piece to my earlier post defending Al Gore from the New York Times--and watch Gore prove himself to be the knowledgeable climate spokesman he is. Video after the jump.

Article continues: "Should I Trust Al Gore, or My Rock Hard Nipples?" (VIDEO)

Mass extinction blamed on fiery fountains of coal

One of Earth's worst-ever mass extinctions may have been caused by carbon dioxide released by exploding mixtures of magma and coal.

Mass extinction blamed on fiery fountains of coal

Secret copyright treaty has leaked and it ain't pretty

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked.

It's bad.

It says:
  • * That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.

  • * That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

  • * That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.

  • * Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)

Meanwhile in Europe ...

You might have seen that the EU's "Telecoms Package" squeaked through with some protection for users' rights intact -- specifically, the proposal to allow "3-strikes" rules (whereby everyone in your house would lose internet access if any member was accused, without trial, of copyright infringement) was killed. But it's not as good as it could be, nor as good as it was before the content industry's lobbyists got their buddies to rewrite it.

Jérémie Zimmemrmann writes,

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU came to an agreement on the "Telecoms Package" negotiations. They laid down legal and procedural guarantees against restrictions of Internet access. The new provision gives[1] "effective judicial protection and due process", guarantees "the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy" and the respect of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

However, the text only speaks of "a prior fair and impartial procedure" instead of a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, guaranteed by the original "amendment 138", and contains loopholes and ambiguities. The invalidation of freedom-killer measures such as "three strikes policies" will now depend on interpretation by the European Court of Justice and national courts. Moreover, the text only relates to measures taken by Member States and thereby fails to bar telecom operators and entertainment industries from knocking down the founding principle of Net neutrality.


*****
Well the internet as we know it is gone if any of this garbage is allowed to go into effect.
And with the news that Facebook accounts for 1 in every 4 page views on the internet and more and more businesses are starting to promote themselves there you'd think these bozos would have a clue ... but nooooooo.
If any of the proposed trash in these 'treaties' and 'policies' are put into place Facebook and any other networking site will cease to exist ... and those profiting from those sites (other than the site owners - they're another story) will not let that come to pass without one hell of a stink being raised.

Social isolation can't be blamed on technology

Technology is often blamed for breeding social isolation and screen zombies, but new data from Pew shows this not to be true.

Full Story

Long-term jobless face frayed safety net

Out of work, out of savings and out of things to sell, Carolyn Johansen is running out of options to keep her home even as her unemployment benefits run out.

Full Story

She's got a Dopey closet

A Troy, Michigan man has turned his 16-year-old daughter in to police after he discovered she was growing marijuana in her bedroom closet.

Man Calls Cops After Finding Pot Plants in Daughter's Closet

Why there isn't enough Tamiflu for kids

Why there isn't enough Tamiflu for kids

Liquid doses of the drug that battles H1N1 are running low, but not just because of high demand.

Monopoly?
Also:

Western Europe's tallest peak shrinks

Western Europe's tallest peak shrinks

Mont Blanc has lost 18 inches in the past two years, a new survey finds.

Plan to help the 'uninsurable' draws fire

Plan to help the 'uninsurable' draws fire

People with high-risk health conditions may find some rude surprises in the Democrats' health plan.

Officials Confirm Iowa Cat Has H1N1 Flu

The H1N1 flu virus has been confirmed in a cat treated at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Full Story

SUV Nearly Slams Into Elephant

I can hear the 911 call now ... 'You Hit A What?'

It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant? An Oklahoma couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday.

Full Story

Hurricane Ida hits Nicaraguan coast

This November 4, 2009 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration handout satellite image shows Tropical Depression 11 formed just off the coast of Costa Rica.

Full Story

Easy ways to ward off disease

Easy ways to ward off disease

Staying healthy depends on simple habits that are usually inexpensive and can be fun.

'Sesame Street' ticks off wingnuts

And this is a bad thing, how?

'Sesame Street' ticks off wingnuts

A rerun's jab at Faux News prompts complaints that the iconic kids' show is sending a political message.

Debate
Also:

Did anyone else notice the word 'rerun' by chance?
Where were the wingnuts the first time it aired, picking lint out of their bellybuttons?

New $6,500 tax break for homebuyers

New $6,500 tax break for homebuyers

Congress expands its popular incentive program to include a whole new crop of buyers.

And I Quote

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

~ Mark Twain

Inmates save deputy's life during attack

Inmates save deputy's life during attack

Deputy Kenneth Moon was at his desk inside a jail when Douglas Burden grabbed him.

Deadly shootings at U.S. Army base

Deadly shootings at U.S. Army base

Twelve people are killed and 31 injured in a pair of shootings at Fort Hood.

Jellyfish Sink 10 Ton Japanese Trawler

The trawler, the Diasan Shinsho-maru, capsized off Chiba`as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura's jellyfish.

Each of the jellyfish can weigh up to 200 kg and waters around Japan have been inundated with the creatures this year ...

Full Story

Opium ravages Afghan families

Afghan opium production is on the rise, helping to fund the Taliban and other terror groups and having a devastating impact across the world, experts say.

Full Story

Have the secrets of the sauce been revealed?

The closely guarded secret of the original Worcestershire Sauce recipe may have been found.

Former Lea & Perrins accountant Brian Keogh allegedly found the recipe in a skip by the firm’s Worcester factory in Midland Road, where he worked throughout the 1970s.

Mr Keogh, who retired in 1991 [and died in 2006] found rough encoded notes about the recipe’s secret ingredients, believed to date back to the mid-1800s.

Why a $90,000-a-year job goes unfilled

Why a $90,000-a-year job goes unfilled

Despite millions of job seekers, many high-paying positions have stayed vacant for months.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today is Pumpkin Chunkin' Day.

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Stevenage, England, United Kingdom
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Perth, Scotland, United Kingdom
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Bamberg, Bayern, Germany
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Kiev, Kyyiv, Ukraine
Osawa, Ontario, Canada
Manchester, England, United Kingdom

as well as Wales, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Instead of being annoyed by the day's eccentric energy, it will inspire you.
Not knowing exactly what's going to happen next will spark your creativity and help you start up a few new social endeavors.
It might be time to join that club, check out that hot nightspot, or explore a new neighborhood.
You have the right attitude and energy to discover something new.

I am eccentric energy.