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24 Feb 2011 21:34

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Biz: General Motors’ good year: Their first full-year profit since ’04

  • $100 billion the amount GM lost between 2005 and 2009, when they had to be bailed out by the feds
  • $4.7 billion the amount they earned in 2010 – they’re doing the Dougie in the boardroom today source
  • » It’s not all up-and-up, though: At $510 million, the company’s fourth-quarter numbers, while still profitable, paled in comparison to the rest of the year. Still though, the fact that it’s a profit is definitely Dougie-worthy, no matter how you look at it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 20:59

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World: Algeria finally concedes to protesters that there’s no emergency

  • 19 years of emergency rule in Algeria … well, until today source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 20:30

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Politics: 2012 election: Mike Huckabee conflicted about money issues

  • You know, the last few years, I’ve certainly done better than I’ve ever done in my life. You know, if I have the choice of being, let’s say, better off or abjectly poor, I kind of like better off better.
  • Presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee • Pointing out that, were he to walk way from his Fox News and public speaking income and run for president again, it would probably make him broke. The former Arkansas governor has been mulling a presidential run for ages, but seems kinda unsure of whether or not he should. “In order to run for president the last time, I cashed in my life insurance, my annuities,” he noted. “You know, I pretty much went through everything that I ever had as an asset that I thought I might one day live on.” Dude should just run in 2016 and ensure he has so much in the bank that he doesn’t go broke in the process. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 14:26

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U.S.: House Democrats move to repeal Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA)

  • yesterday The Obama Administration advanced on what’s been an agonizingly slow process of hedging and pivoting on gay marriage, as they no longer plan to defend the DOMA in federal court. The announcement was rejoiced by marriage equality activists, as it showed a shift in the President’s publicly stated views.
  • today House Democrats (headed by NY Rep. Jerry Nadler) moved to repeal the DOMA, which will almost assuredly fail in a Republican dominated chamber, but does thrust the issue squarely back into the national consciousness. Barack Obama could be the most pro-gay President in American history if he just steps out on this. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 13:45

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U.S.: Saudi citizen in Lubbock, Texas charged for bomb, terror plans

  • The would-be jihadist? Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi citizen attending community college in Texas, was arrested today on charges of attempting to build a bomb for terrorist purposes. He allegedly purchased bomb components, as well as chemical components, and kept a journal detailing his dedication to jihadist philosophy. He is accused of plotting to kill former President George W. Bush, as well as attack reservoirs and hydroelectric plants in Colorado and California. He’s also said to have collected names and addresses of three U.S. military officers who’d been stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 13:20

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U.S.: A bad day for the Baltimore Police Department

  • Baltimore cops busted for kickbacks: Reports have come out that the Baltimore Police Department is charging seventeen officers, as well as a pair of brother auto mechanics, with running an extortion scheme through a towing company. Basically, the cops took bribes from the mechanics, proprietors of Rosedale’s Majestic Auto Repair shop, to steer accident tows and repair to their business instead of a city-authorized one. This scheme lasted two years, and now stands to cost those involved a maximum of twenty years in prison. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 13:02

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World: A bad time (or rather, several generations) to be North Korean

  • YES Kim Jong-Il parties while his people toil in starvation source
  • » Maybe not the biggest surprise. But still, guy’s an jerk, huh? An especially harsh winter season (most North Korean winters being merely normally harsh) has killed somewhere from 50% to 80% of the wheat and barley crop for the spring season, and high food prices have hamstrung the regime as far as import goes. While this might sound like a humanitarian crisis for most governments, Kim Jong-Il’s regime has always been pretty cozy with the idea of starvation and/or malnutrition – a 2009 Washington Post article mentions a U.S. intelligence study that found brain damage by malnutrition derails nearly 1/4th of prospective North Korean soldiers, to say nothing of the estimated 200,000 North Koreans who are wasting away in concentration camps. But, to be fair, you couldn’t ask the Dear Leader to stop spending on things like this.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Feb 2011 12:36

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World: Media reports from Libya still scarce, but here’s a little footage

  • “Gaddafi Get Out”: The crackdown in Libya has made it part perilous, part impossible to get proper media coverage of the event. That being so, any time there’s a chance to see footage, shouldn’t we take it? These images are, after all, the only visually evocative way to inform our international consciences, which in matters of decades-long strongman rulers likely should be more burdened. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 12:10

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Politics: Ken Cuccinelli pays backhanded compliment to Washington judge

  • Of the three rulings that are wrong, it is the best written of the three.
  • Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli • Speaking to Regent University about a judge’s ruling that the health care reform law is constitutional. An unexpected compliment, if somewhat damning the ruling with the faintest of praise, Cuccinelli apparently has the most passing respect for the argument advanced by Washington Judge Gladys Kessler, who seems to suggest the insurance mandate is legal because hospitals are themselves legally bound to provide emergency care to those who can’t pay, which is a money drain that is abysmally downplayed in these cost-cutting discussions. Cuccinelli, however, had this final say: “I still don’t think the distinction that the judge relies on holds up. I don’t find it compelling.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 11:17

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World: Julian Assange loses extradition case: What happened?

  • today Assange lost his extradition case, which says that he must return to Sweden to deal with that whole sex-by-surprise thingy thang that has long been dogging him. He denounced the decision as “a rubber-stamping process.”
  • next steps Assange has seven days to appeal the case, which his lawyers said he would. For now, he’ll likely have another month in the country. “We have to remember that at this point Julian remains uncharged,” said his lawyer, Mark Stephens. source
  • » In case you were wondering, like us: Assange’s people brought up this witness, Brita Sundberg-Weitman, who had some harsh words about Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny. Those words apparently weren’t enough to sway the judge, who noted that she had no direct knowledge of the case – just commentary on Ny as a person.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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