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14 Nov 2010 11:44

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Offbeat: Bad news: Kobayashi can’t beat Guinness pizza-eating record

  • Is the mighty one falling?: A few months after Kobayashi created a depressing scene at Nathan’s Fourth of July hot-dog-eating contest – a contest he routinely owned for years – competitive eating’s greatest, uh, “athlete” had another embarrassing incident last night, after he failed at a pizza-eating record attempt in New York City. In his defense, the Guinness rules he was working against were kinda strict (pizza is made to be eaten with hands in most cases, not knife and fork), but the result left a champion looking a little like a loser. Poor guy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 11:25

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Politics: Heath Shuler: I have no real shot against Nancy Pelosi

  • If she doesn’t step aside, I will challenge her … [but] I can add and subtract pretty well.
  • Rep. Heath Shuler • Admitting that while he plans to take on Nancy Pelosi for the House Minority Leader position, he realizes she’s pretty powerful and it will be hard for him to win. Which is too bad for him, because he feels he “entire House was pushed farther and farther away from moderate viewpoints” and that the Democrats are “too far left” on key bills. Maybe he can fight James Clyburn for that Assistant to the Regional Manager job. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 11:11

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Biz, World: Ireland getting peer pressure to take bailouts to ease debt

  • Anyone know where Ireland can find 15 billion euros by Tuesday? The country of potato bread and U2 (to grossly oversimplify) needs some extra money to allay fears of other, fiscally stronger European countries, such as Germany, as well as to calm local markets, which went haywire on Friday on debt concerns. Ireland denies the need for an immediate bailout (despite a banking system in tatters), but outside sources, such as Barclay’s Capital, suggest that the country could need €80 billion (or $110 billion) in bailouts between 2011 and 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that political needs (including her own) may be in play. “There may be a conflict here between the interests of the financial world and the interests of politicians,” she said. One source suggests the possibility of an Irish default could hurt her crisis-resolution plans. Meanwhile, Ireland plans to release a budget next month it hopes will ease debt concerns. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 10:40

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Politics: David Axelrod leaving White House to pump up Obama’s 2012 hopes

Rahm’s gone, off pretending to be mayor, and now Davey Boy Axelrod is leaving the White House to run Obama’s 2012 campaign. Why do things change? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 10:33

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World: Rachel & Paul Chandler: Huge ransom needed to set them free

  • 387 days pirates held Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage source
  • » It wasn’t cheap to set them free: Why did it take so long to get them free? Well, there were some ransom issues. First the pirates asked for £4 million in ransom, around $6.45 million dollars. The amount was too much, but they still wanted something. A later ransom, for around £350,000 ($565,000) was intercepted by intermediaries who wanted a cut of the action. Finally, a third ransom, also in the hundreds of thousands range, was accepted, and the Chandlers were let go – but not after being separated and physically abused by their captors.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2010 01:18

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Biz: Auction of Bernard Madoff’s personal effects = $2 million

  • Three words: Bernard Madoff’s undies, last in the public eye when he crapped his pants after finally getting caught about two years ago. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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