Ocelopotamus

News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

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Entries Tagged as 'News'

Update: Internet Radio Gets a Reprieve

July 13th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, Internet, Media, Music, News

For those who’ve been following the “Internet Radio Is in Danger of Being Shut Down Forever” story (background here), there’s some good news. According to Wired News, as a result of the massive outcry Congress heard from listeners, SoundExchange is backing away from the draconic royalty rate structure that would have put Internet radio out […]

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NYC Fire Fighters vs. Giuliani

July 12th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, History, Labor, News, Politics, Terrorism, Video

Speaking of unions … here’s what the New York fire fighters’ union has to say about Rudy Giuliani.   It’s a little slow to get going, but if you take a few minutes to watch the whole thing, it’s pretty damning. Rudy really made some incredibly bad decisions. For example, I hadn’t known about him […]

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Liking Norma Rae

July 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on Liking Norma Rae · Activism, Culture, Film, History, Labor, Media, News, Peoria, Politics, The Economy, Stupid

After reading this piece, which originally ran in The Nation, I bumped Norma Rae up on my Netflix queue and was very glad I did. I was really too young for it when it came out in 1979, and had somehow never gotten around to renting it in the years since. And seeing Norma Rae […]

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Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition

July 9th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition · Activism, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Education, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Pets, Politics, Restaurants, Roundup, Science, Tech, Vegetarian & Vegan

John Conyers tells it like it T-I-Is: Conyers says Bush spared Libby from jail to keep him from singing. This is patently obvious to just about everyone, but of course the White House immediately called the charge “ridiculous and baseless.” Which allows it to join the distinguished list of other ideas the administration considers “ridiculous […]

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Notes on Sicko: A Prescription for Change

July 6th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Science

I saw Sicko Tuesday night, and it did not disappoint. The main impact for me is this: Watching this film makes it unavoidably clear that we as a nation have been completely duped, conned, and as the kids say, “pwned,” by those who’ve spent millions to convince us that universal healthcare is too expensive, can’t […]

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Doctor Who: Catherine Tate Signs on for Season Four, and US Season Three Premiere Tonight

July 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on Doctor Who: Catherine Tate Signs on for Season Four, and US Season Three Premiere Tonight · Culture, Doctor Who, Fantasy, LGBT, News, Science Fiction, TV

It was a big week for Doctor Who news in the wake of the Season Three finale on the BBC this past weekend. Some of the major revelations include the Doctor’s most recent companion Martha Jones taking a break from the TARDIS, and Catherine Tate (who appeared in the 2006 Christmas special) signing on as […]

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Roundup: Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Turtle Edition

July 5th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Apple, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, HIV/AIDS, Internet, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech

Nicole at Crooks and Liars puts it well: It’s ironic to be celebrating Independence Day during a time when we have a virtual King who defies the law with impunity, and is not held accountable to the people he governs. Revolution? What revolution? Also at C&L, what a TV newscast looked like on July 4, […]

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Roundup: Still Life with Salmon Edition

June 28th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Apple, Comics, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, iTunes, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech

POLITICS: The Washington Post brings us the fascinating story of how Cheney’s quest to undermine environmental science for political purposes led to a humongous pile of rotting dead fish. “… Because of Cheney’s intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was […]

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The Cheney Presidency

June 28th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Energy, News, Politics

Via Tom Tomorrow, Digby once again displays her talent for perfectly articulating what the rest of us are thinking: I know that I sound like a character in an Oliver Stone movie, (”one pristine bullet? That dog don’t hunt!” ) but I have never been sanguine about the fact that all the big money boyz […]

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Save Internet Radio Campaign Update — Day of Silence Tuesday, June 26

June 25th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Business, Culture, Internet, iTunes, Media, News, Politics, Tech

July 15 is “the day the music dies” — the date that Internet radio will be essentially destroyed by new draconic royalty fees approved by the Copyright Royalties Board if Congress doesn’t take action to fix the situation. The exorbitant new rates force stations to pay a fixed fee for every song they play, regardless […]

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Quote of the Week

June 24th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Culture, Essays, Foreign Policy, History, News, Peace, Politics, Terrorism

From an essay entitled “The Middle of Nowhere,” by Edward N. Luttwak, which appears in the July 2007 issue of Harper’s, reprinted there from the May issue of Prospect: Hardliners keep suggesting that with a bit of well-aimed violence (“the Arabs only understand force”) compliance will be obtained. Yet what happens every time is an […]

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A Cat Like Fine Wine

June 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on A Cat Like Fine Wine · Books, Cats, Culture, Media, Nature, News, Pets, Science

Oh, my heavens. How old do you think the world’s oldest cat might be? Try thirty-seven years. That’s right, a black cat named (ironically) Baby was born in 1970, according to his owners, and he will be recognized by Cat Fancy magazine in its August issue. You heard me. For those feeling as skeptical as […]

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Roundup: Irish Sea Eagle Edition

June 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Climate Change, Culture, Feminism, Film, Internet, Law, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV

POLITICS: The Senate Judiciary committee has voted 13-3 to authorize subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. That includes three Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the subpeonas: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Poland “stuns” other members of the European Union by demanding that […]

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Doctor Who: Season Three on Sci-Fi Channel, Captain Jack, Derek Jacobi, and Whovian Pride

June 20th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Culture, Doctor Who, Fantasy, LGBT, News, Science Fiction, TV

According to Outpost Gallifrey, The Sci-Fi channel has announced that Season Three of Doctor Who will begin its US premiere run on July 6th. The Runaway Bride debuts at 8pm and is immediately followed by Smith and Jones at 9.30pm. Both programmes are repeated starting at 11.30pm. The premieres come after a day of Doctor […]

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