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07 Sep 2009 11:13

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Politics: Obama could make or break his presidency on health care

  • It goes without saying that a lot is riding now on his ability to re-energize the health care debate and bring it home to a successful conclusion. Nothing will influence the perception of the presidency more than whether he can be successful in getting a health care bill through the Congress.
  • Obama adviser John D. Podesta • On Obama’s need to win the health care debate. There’s a lot riding on it – if he loses this fight, it could irreparably damage his presidency. So, as he gets back to work from his vacation, watch closely – these next few weeks are critical for the president. • source

07 Sep 2009 11:05

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World: Three Islamic extremists convicted of huge terror plot in U.K.

The conviction of three guys for an airline bombing plot means that the slowest news day in history – Labor Day – is now just a little faster. source

07 Sep 2009 10:54

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World: The UN’s nuke watchdog is deflecting criticism over Iran

  • I am dismayed by the allegations of some member states, which have been fed to the media, that information has been withheld from the Board. These allegations are politically motivated and totally baseless.
  • International Atomic Energy Agency leader Mohamed ElBaradei • On allegations that the group is hiding information on Iran’s nuclear prowess. ElBaradei says the situation is something of a “stalemate” between the group and Iran. Israel in particular has been strongly criticizing the IAEA for hiding information. • source

07 Sep 2009 10:16

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Offbeat: 09/09/09: A day without cats on every site except for ShortFormBlog

Find cats here
  • The gauntlet? Thrown. You say you want a day without cats, Urlesque? Well, you aren’t going to find any not cats here. We’re picking up the strays. We’ll post as many cute cat videos between news items as we can. We’ll take submissions. And we’re not going to use stroked Impact. That’s a Bush League move. We’re using stroked Chunk because it’s Impact for classy people.source

07 Sep 2009 09:57

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Biz: I love lamp: Consumers less materialistic based on silly lamp choices

  • 78% of those polled chose Wal-Mart over Tiffany source

07 Sep 2009 09:52

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Offbeat: Sudanese lady fined (not beaten) for wearing apple-bottom jeans

  • They were too tight for the authorities. A Sudanese journalist, Lubna al-Hussein, walked away with approximately 40 fewer lashes than she could’ve gotten after wearing clothing too indecent for their tastes. She was fined instead, but because she chose not to pay the fine, she’ll be spending a month in jail. A fair price to pay for wearing tight pants, if you ask us. source

07 Sep 2009 09:37

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Biz: Cadbury buyout offer: This may be the day’s only piece of news

  • $16.7 billion size of the offer Kraft made; it was swatted away by the chocolate egg giant source