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Archive for November, 2009

Swine Flu Deaths Higher Than Estimated

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Health, In The News, Swine Flu

We’ve reached 4,000:
ATLANTA – Federal health officials now say that 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from swine flu — about four times the estimate they’ve been using.
The new, higher figure was first reported by The New York Times. It includes deaths caused by complications related to swine flu, including pneumonia and bacterial infections.
Until [...]

Facebook Provides Accused Criminal With An Alibi

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Facebook, Internet, Legal, Technology

Sometimes sharing the minutiae of your life with the world, can have unexpected benefits:
The message on Rodney Bradford’s Facebook page, posted at 11:49 a.m. on Oct. 17, asked where his pancakes were. The words were typed from a computer in his father’s apartment in Harlem.
At the time, the sentence, written in street slang, was just [...]

Carrie Prejean Flips Out On Larry King Live

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Celebrities, Dumbasses

I suppose the end isn’t that surprising considering that she started out by saying that her hero was Sarah Palin……

Fox Cancels Dollhouse

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Television

Given the ratings they’ve gotten this season it does not come as a surprise, but still this sucks:
The fall television season is winding down, which means that broadcast networks are beginning to clear out shows that have failed to attract audiences this year and scheduling some that they hope will do better.
Fox notified Joss Whedon, [...]

Balloon Boy’s Parents To Plead Guilty

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Dumbasses, In The News

Tomorrow, apparently:
(CNN) — The Colorado parents in last month’s notorious “balloon boy” case will plead guilty to offenses for creating a hoax that their son had flown away in a large balloon.
Richard and Mayumi Heene are to plead Friday morning in Larimer County Court, according to a statement issued by Richard Heene’s attorney.
Mayumi Heene is [...]

Poll Shows Anti-Incumbent Sentiment At Highest Level Since 1994

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under 2010 Elections, Congress, Democrats, Elections, Political Parties, Politics, Republicans

It’s a bad time to be an incumbent in Washington:
The mood of America is glum. Two-thirds of the public is dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Fully nine-in-ten say that national economic conditions are only fair or poor, and nearly two-thirds describe their own finances that way – the most since [...]

The Army And Major Nidal Hasan: The Left Hand Didn’t Know What The Right Hand Was Doing

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Homeland Security, In The News, War On Terror

The more we learn about Major Nadil Malik Hasan, the signals he gave about his beliefs, and the reactions of law enforcement and the U.S. Army, the clearer it becomes that, through a combination of failure to communicate and political correctness, it’s quite possible that steps that could have avoided tragedy were never taken.
We learn [...]

Obama Sends Aides Back To The Drawing Board On Afghanistan

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, Politics

Despite previous reports, it seems that the future of U.S. policy in Afghanistan is far from set:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the [...]

American Medical Association Backs Drug Law Reform To Permit Medical Marijuana

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Health, Individual Liberty, Politics, War On Drugs

A major boost this week for efforts to reform marijuana laws:
The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 [...]

U.S. Ambassador To Afghanistan Warns Against Sending More Troops To Afghanistan

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, November 12th, 2009. Filed under Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, Politics

Well, this should certainly have an interesting impact on the debate about U.S. policy in Afghanistan:
The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until President Hamid Karzai’s government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and [...]

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