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23 Nov 2010 21:27

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U.S.: TSA topic du jour: How much we pay the terror-stopping workers

  • $14/hour the amount newly hired TSA employees make to do their high-pressure front-line jobs that involve feeling up people’s junk and ensuring that no bombs get on planes
  • 37% the percentage of TSA workers that work part-time at Chicago O’Hare Airport; the job would pay the equivalent of $29,000 a year if they worked full-time source
  • » Let’s give them raises! You know what’s really sad? These TSA jobs are treated like working at retail (complete with turnover), even at a time when government workers are getting paid more than they’ve ever been. And that’s even considering that they arguably have a more important job than many bureaucrats. Fun fact: If you took the $168 million that the government has planned to, or used for, these full-body scanners and divided it amongst the 56,000 workers on staff as of 2009, it would be the same as giving each worker $2,988 of extra income, or $28 more each week over the next two years. That’s money which we’re sure they’d appreciate, considering they’re attempting to stop bombs and terrorists from getting on planes.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 21:01

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U.S.: TSA topic du jour: How much we pay for the body scanners

  • $130k+ the cost of buying a new TSA scanner – they sell for as much as $170,000
  • 500 number of new scanners that Obama wants to buy next year alone
  • $88M the amount set aside in his budget for such invasive things source
  • » A big business: A lot of money is going towards these devices – $80 million has been paid already for the ones already in use, most of that coming out of the stimulus. The effect has been that many firms are trying to get on what’s proving to be very fruitful business.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 09:52

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Politics: Sarah Palin, circa 1988: For a newscaster, her accent’s pretty thick

  • OK guys, next time we talk about Sarah Palin’s dislike of journalists or how she’s gonna clean up the field of journalism, or how all Katie Couric is biased against her or something, let’s keep in mind this chestnut from 1988, where Palin, as sportscaster, shows her chops as a journalist. For some reason, we still prefer Katie Couric after all of this. (thanks nbclocal) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 09:44

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U.S.: Study: AIDS drug effective at PREVENTING, not just controlling, disease

  • good Truvada, an anti-AIDS drug already on the market as a antiretroviral, has proven to be effective in preventing the spread of HIV infections among gay men who take the prescription.
  • better A test of the drug showed a 44 percent higher prevention rate in a group randomly given the drug – and better, a 90 percent higher prevention rate among those who took the drug daily. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 09:24

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U.S.: Woman who dissed Obama’s economic record now unemployed

  • I don’t take lightly the fact that I know friends who’ve been looking for jobs for two years. Could it take me two years to find a job? Wow, that’s a scary proposition for me and my family.
  • Unemployed worker Velma Hart • On losing her job. Hart’s situation is painfully ironic, as she gained notoriety a few months ago after Hart, an Obama supporter, grilled the president a few months ago for his record on the economy. In that town hall, Hart said this: “I’m one of your middle-class Americans. And, quite frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. I have been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I’m one of those people. And I’m waiting, sir. I’m waiting.” And now she’ll be waiting while unemployed, sadly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 09:12

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Biz: U.S. economy growing, but not fast enough to spur job growth

  • 2.5% the amount the U.S. economy grew in the third quarter (that’s pretty good, actually)
  • 1.7% the amount the economy grew in the prior quarter (we improved; that’s even better!)
  • 3.5% the rate of growth that’s economists say we need to cut the unemployment rate (that’s bad) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 09:03

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U.S.: With the TSA, huge fines threatened, but not forthcoming

  • $11,000 the fine passengers could face by walking away from the enhanced security checkpoints
  • $0 the amount people have been fined so far for refusing the controversial procedures source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Nov 2010 08:52

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Offbeat: San Jose animal shelter learns to love all of God’s creatures

  • We’re suckers. And there’s always one or two that grab your heart.
  • United Animal Nations emergency services manager Janell Matthies • Expressing her appreciation for the 1,000 bundles of joy recently found in a Los Angeles home. Yes, that’s right, she’s talking about rats – rats found, by the way, during a shoot for the A&E show “Hoarders.” They were recently taken to a San Jose animal shelter largely because they had the room to take them all in. We like Matthies’ ability to see the bright side here, but let’s emphasize that some hoarder dude created an environment disgusting enough to foster that many rats. And yes, since they’re at an animal shelter … they’re up for adoption. No, you first. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Nov 2010 02:34

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World: In border spat, North, South Korea get into a war of shells

  • 2+ reported killed so far in the latest spat between the countries
  • 200+ number of shells North Korea sent South Korea’s way
  • 80+ number of shells South Korea sent back where those came from
  • 15+ number of injuries on the South Korean side after the attack source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Nov 2010 21:06

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Politics, U.S.: Who do bookies think will be the next President?

  • 50:1 odds of a Donald Trump presidency source
  • » Pundits, shmundits. If you want to know how people really think elections will turn out, best turn to the betting markets, where people actually pay a price for bad predictions. Chris Good at The Atlantic scoured three betting sites, and tallied the odds they gave various politicians of becoming the next POTUS. Obama is at the top at all three sites; bettors are split on whether Romney or Palin is the second most likely. Frankly, we’re skeptical of the inclusion of some names (is anybody really expecting Joe the Plumber to run for president?), but hey, it’s fun to see where people put their money.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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