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04 Mar 2010 10:58

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Biz: Road to recovery? Jobless claims drop, productivity way up

  • -29,000 the dip in new jobless claims last week, to 469,000 (this number had been affected by bad weather)
  • 6.9% the rise in productivity in the fourth quarter – more than previously forecast source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 10:48

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U.S.: Charles Rangel lost his ways. Sander Levin found them.

  • action Rep. Charles Rangel, in ethics violation hell due to some travel paid for by the wrong people, temporarily gives up his seat on the Ways and Means Committee.
  • reaction They need somebody to put in his place, so they grab auto industry ally Rep. Sander Levin, best known for being the forgotten brother of Sen. Carl Levin. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 10:41

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U.S.: Fans of open letters and the FDA regulating stuff, read this

  • Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg rips hard on labeling. In case you find food labels a little misleading sometimes, this open letter by Dr. Hamburg should warm your heart. They’re going after companies who didn’t listen to the FDA’s mandate on food labels, and could take food off shelves if companies don’t listen. “To address these concerns,” she wrote, “FDA is notifying a number of manufacturers that their labels are in violation of the law and subject to legal proceedings to remove misbranded products from the marketplace.” Ouch. You feel that? That’s the regulatory hammer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 10:29

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Tech: Google’s ready to stick a fork in the desktop computer

  • In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs.
  • Google Europe sales chief John Herlihy • Forecasting the future of the Internet. Simply put, he doesn’t think desktops or laptops have a long shelf life. He claimed that cloud computing would eventually become powerful enough that it would allow people to do just about anything on their phones. The statement, of course, is pretty controversial. We don’t even agree, and we like Google a lot. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 10:19

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Tech: Rest in peace, old browser: There’s an IE6 funeral today

  • Get to Denver tonight to pay your last respects. A couple of jokesters have decided to make a point about how much IE6 sucks by holding a funeral for it. The browser, which will soon no longer be supported by the likes of YouTube, is still popular despite having a bad reputation. Blame corporate environments that NEVER upgrade their machines. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 10:06

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Politics: Sarah Palin decided “Going Rogue” not enough, writing another book

  • It’ll be “celebration of American virtues and strengths.” In Palin-ese. Months after the release of her 2.2-million-copies-and-counting first book “Going Rogue,” HarperCollins (which is owned by News Corp., which owns Fox News) will release a second book by the former VP candidate. No word on how much they’re paying her, but we hope her “American virtues and strengths” include letting her husband do the heavy lifting. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 09:55

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Politics: The Atlantic: Democrats regained their health-care momentum

  • Then – Jim Bunning’s decision to put a face on Republican obstructionism in the Senate. … Bunning’s gesture of ill-will erased any credibility the GOP Senate had.
  • Atlantic writer Mark Ambinder • Regarding what he calls a “perfect storm” of decisions that have put health care back in the Democrats’ court. He names a number of reasons (WellPoint’s rising insurance rates), but Bunning’s move stands out the most notable in a series of events that have seemingly put the ball back in the Democrats’ court once again, after Scott Brown effectively took it away. However, it’s not a slam-dunk. First they have to please folks like Rep. Bark Stupak, who won’t support the Senate bill unless key abortion provisions are removed. He pushed for a compromise in that regard for the House bill. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Mar 2010 00:01

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World: The BBC’s budget cuts: 6music barely a blip in the financial picture

  • We cropped on the most important part. Information is Beautiful’s graphic really shows that the cuts that the BBC is making are somewhat unfair (especially considering that the money for the company comes out of licenses on owning TVs). The BBC’s Web presence, while significant, is fairly small in comparison to everything else. And 6music, which is getting many words of morning from British musicians, is by far the smallest piece of the broadcasting pie. Lily Allen’s argument for the station is really well-informed and sweet. She calls the move political, and an attempt to appease Conservative politicians. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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