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29 Jan 2009 16:55

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Biz, U.S.: Obama to Wall Street: Massive bonuses are “shameful”

  • I saw an article today that indicated Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses. That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful.
  • Barack Obama • in a stern warning to Wall Street telling executives to stop giving themselves big bonuses. The president’s number was a little off; it was actually $18.4 billion, which is still, like, a lot of money. • source

29 Jan 2009 16:49

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Tech: Reading the newspaper online in 1981 was possible. Really.

People actually waited two hours (at $5 an hour) to download the news on Compuserve. LOL. source

29 Jan 2009 16:42

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U.S.: The U.S. Postal Service wants to take a day off each week

  • five days a week, the proposed cut in service the service is suggesting
  • $2-$4 billion a year, the possible cost savings from cutting a day of mail service source

29 Jan 2009 15:10

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U.S.: Today’s big scary number (it’s about jobs and unemployment)

  • 4.78 million people are on state jobless benefits rolls source

29 Jan 2009 10:10

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Music: Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell, 1952-2009

Powell (second from left) survived a devestating plane crash and kept Skynyrd alive. source

29 Jan 2009 09:58

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Biz: Automaker Ford: Sure we lost a buncha money, but really, we’re OK!

  • $5.5 billion amount that Ford blew through in the fourth quarter; they’re the only Detroit automaker not to take a bailout, and they had a huge loss last quarter
  • $10.1 billion amount in available credit Ford has lying around; they swear they can make it through next year, even without the help of Uncle Sam’s deep pockets source

29 Jan 2009 09:49

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U.S.: Rod Blagojevich keeps ’em on edge in Illinois

  • Like so many others, I’m going to be on pins and needles just waiting to see what he’s going to be delivering us. It could be anything.
  • Susan Garrett • Illinois State Sen., D-Lake Forest, on Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who chose to reverse course at his impeachment trial and deliver a closing statement. He spent most of the week out of the courtroom and made numerous television appearances instead. • source
 

28 Jan 2009 20:28

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Music: Indie rock invades the Billboard 200 charts in a big way

  • Forget that Taylor Swift’s at No. 1 again. The real story is Andrew Bird (with Noble Beast) at No. 12. And Animal Collective (with Merriweather Post Pavilion) at No. 13. And Bon Iver (with the Blood Bank EP) at No. 16. All three are career bests. And all three albums are pretty well-reviewed, too. Some music blog jerk somewhere is thinking that this is a sign of the commercialization of indie. We want to tell that guy to shut up and just enjoy the moment for what it is, OK? source

28 Jan 2009 18:49

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Biz, Music: The Smashing Pumpkins’ newest song gets a Super Bowl ride

  • The combination of Hyundai’s exciting new Genesis Coupe matched with music performed by Smashing Pumpkins offers the perfect ‘kick-off’ to Super Bowl advertising.
  • Joel Ewanick • Hyundai Motor America’s vice president for marketing, who we imagine was gritting his teeth when he said this phrase regarding the placement of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “FOL” in one of their Super Bowl commercials. Yo-Yo Ma also gets the placement treatment from Hyundai; Yo-Yo Ma may actually be cooler than Billy Corgan at this point. • source

28 Jan 2009 17:55

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Biz: Massive job cuts, store closings brewing for Starbucks

  • at least 300 more Starbucks locations will close. It’s unknown how many are across the street from one another.
  • up to 6,700 jobs will be lost. 300-350 positions based at their corporate offices in Seattle will be cut. source