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09 Feb 2011 11:31

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Biz: It’s official: Coca-Cola has broken through the Soviet wall

  • 3% the increase in sales volume the company has had in North America in its most recent quarter
  • 5% the sales volume increase the brand has had worldwide in its just-ended fourth quarter
  • 31% the increase in sales volume in Russia; insert hilarious communism joke here source

09 Feb 2011 11:19

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Politics: Hey, everyone excited for CPAC yet?! WHOO!!! FAMILY VALUES!

  • 10,000 righties descend upon DC Thursday
  • coming Most of the GOPerazi, including Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and John Thune. Oh yeah, gay-rights-pushing GOProud will be there, too.
  • skipping Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. Oh, and some groups –the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation – are boycotting because GOProud will be there. Will Ryan Sorba make it? source

09 Feb 2011 11:05

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Biz: Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke not happy about slow hiring pace

  • The job market has improved only slowly. … This gain was barely sufficient to accommodate the inflow of recent graduates and other new entrants into the labor force and, therefore, not enough to significantly erode the wide margin of slack that remains in our labor market.
  • Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke • Explaining, in front of the House Budget Committee, the issues he and others are having with the slow pace of the economic recovery. While things are recovering, job growth is way too slow for his comfort. In other news, Bernanke says that inflation is likely to stay low for the foreseeable future, and that the government needs to get the budget situation dealt with. “Creditors would never be willing to lend to a government with debt, relative to national income, that is rising without limit,” he says, suggesting that we could face an actual fiscal crisis if we don’t take heed. Great. source

09 Feb 2011 10:50

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World: Rough budget conditions behind Pakistan’s dissolving cabinet

  • 60 the number of ministers and junior ministers that just stepped down from the Pakistani cabinet
  • under 40 the number of folks that will likely replace those 60 people, according to reports source
  • » Why did they dip out? Budget issues. The International Monetary Fund gave the country a stern warning back in December to avoid slippage in their financial situation. Their budget deficit is forecasted to be 4.7 percent of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year. To convince Pakistan to fix their situation, they withheld part of its loan to the country.

09 Feb 2011 10:31

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World: Ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor plays hooky from war crimes trial

YOU SAY I MISSED THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT MY CASE SUMMARY BY THREE WEEKS? Well, I’m just not going to go to the trial today. How about them apples, United Nations? source

09 Feb 2011 10:16

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U.S., World: Problem: The U.S. can’t figure out how to nail Julian Assange

  • yeah … The United States wants to nail Julian Assange for convincing Bradley Manning to leak a bunch of confidential documents, so they can arrest him for espionage.
  • … but Problem is, the evidence they have does not suggest that Assange convinced Manning to do anything of the sort, though some Wikileaks officials have closer ties. source