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14 Nov 2010 12:01

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World: U.S. bribes Israel so they’ll stop building West Bank settlements

  • $3 billion the amount the U.S. will offer Israel – mostly in the form of security incentives and fighter jets
  • 90 days the amount of time Benny Netanyahu will enforce a freeze on most new construction in the West Bank source
  • » Clarification: There is some contingency going on here. The U.S. will dangle this carrot over Israel’s head to get them to stop the settlements for now, but it could still fall through if Israel doesn’t sign a peace agreement. So it’s kind of a raw deal, but it’s not that raw.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

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
 

13 Nov 2010 19:40

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Offbeat: Based on location, Michigan lottery winners frequent sex toy shop

Why does this guy have such a weird look on his face? Well, he, along with a group who chipped in, just won the lottery. Off a ticket he bought at a sex toy shop. Heh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Nov 2010 19:26

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Politics: Democrats could invent leadership post for James Clyburn

  • Because, hey, that’s one way to solve the problem. Out of all of the people in the Nancy Pelosi-still-wants-to-lead drama circling Democrats in the House, nobody’s getting screwed more than James Clyburn. Not that he’s showing it. In a letter today, Clyburn announced that he’ll pushing for House Democrats to create an “assistant leader” position. Why the downgrade/job change? “To me,” he said “the best way to resolve this issue, maintain diversity in the leadership and cohesion in our caucus is to pull up another chair to the leadership table with a substantive, well-defined portfolio that will contribute in a meaningful way to our important work and to regaining the majority.” Is that something like “Assistant to the Regional Manager”? Just saying. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Nov 2010 14:37

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Biz: Newsweek/Daily Beast merger: “like a bad Nora Ephron movie” if it fails

  • Married people disagree all the time. One of them walks out of the room and says, ‘Never talk to me again.’ Then they sleep it off and one sends the other flowers. We realized that there was much more that connected us than separated us.
  • Newsweek owner Sidney Harman  • Explaining the dynamic between the ownership of his Newsweek and that of the Barry Diller-owned Daily Beast. One anonymous source described the potential failure of the collaboration being “like a bad Nora Ephron movie.” Will the collaboration turn out like “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail,” or “Bewitched”? All we know is that we’ll have what they’re having.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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