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16 Jun 2009 23:45

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Biz: Six Flags shows how to handle a bankruptcy/PR crisis well

  • Not only for the three plus years that I’ve been here, but really since Premier Parks bought Six Flags from Time Warner, the word ‘debt’ has been associated with the Six Flags name and we’re looking to disconnect that.
  • Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro • Regarding the amusement park company’s decision to go into bankruptcy. Here’s why this quote is notable, guys. After we posted about their bankruptcy, the company got a hold of us and numerous other bloggers offering the opportunity to join in a conference call. (That’s right, specifically for bloggers!) We couldn’t take part ourselves, but many other bloggers did and asked some great questions. Best part? Rather than simply looking to sugarcoat the details, Shapiro was honest, detailed and often blunt. The company will not close any parks and was profitable last year, but hopes to ease out of bankruptcy by the end of the year. More companies need to do this. Seriously. • source

16 Jun 2009 23:25

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Biz, U.S.: What Obama’s doing to fix flaws in financial oversight

  • Cutting back As predicted a couple of weeks ago, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings and loan programs and allowed the AIG fiasco, is going away completely, along with the charter that allows savings and loans to exist.
  • Streamlining In an effort to prevent future financial crises while allowing breathing room for financial firms, the Federal Reserve will have more oversight over wide-scale economic risks that require longer-term planning to avoid.
  • Obama’s take“Whether it’s on the consumer protection side, the investor protection side, the systemic risks … It’s going to be a much more effectively integrated system than previously,” he said. Congress needs to weigh in, BTW. source

16 Jun 2009 22:35

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U.S., World: Currently weaving through Congress: A big war-spending bill

  • $106 billion to fight wars in Iraq & Afghanistan source

16 Jun 2009 20:24

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Politics, World: This quote about the Iran protests pretty much says it all

  • 140 characters is a novel when you’re being shot at.
  • A Twitter user based in Tehran • Responsible for the quote of the day. (By request of the user, we’ve removed credit. Tweeters have requested not to be retweeted with their usernames for fear of being arrested.) • source

16 Jun 2009 18:26

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Culture, Politics: Oh, whatever: Protesters ask for David Letterman’s firing

Whatever guys. It was just a joke he made about an opportunist politician. (Yeah, we said it. Sarah Palin is opportunist.) source

16 Jun 2009 18:12

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Biz, Tech: MySpace’s layoff misery is like a money pit of bad puns for us

  • 30% Percentage of employees who will no longer be friends with Tom
  • 400+ Victims of the FaceTwit juggernaut, as well as irrelevance source

16 Jun 2009 12:54

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Tech: NASA has the craziest, most awesome space missions sometimes

  • 6 mile high explosion in hopes of finding water on the moon. Whoa! source
 

16 Jun 2009 12:22

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Tech: Opera’s world-changing thing, Unite, might actually change the world

Much credit to Opera: Unite actually sounds like a brilliant idea and might get them elusive market share. source

16 Jun 2009 11:10

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Biz: With the Saab sale, Konenigsegg is about to get much bigger

  • 45 number of employees the luxury sports-car maker currently has
  • 3,400 number of employees the Swedish unit of bankrupt GM has source

16 Jun 2009 11:07

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Biz: Full speed ahead: GM sells off Saab to European group

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  • General Motors ditched the Swedish arm the company and handed it off to a group led by sports-car maker Konenigsegg. Sounds vaguely European. source