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16 Mar 2011 11:18

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Biz: Wholesale food costs leap in February, costing us our appetite

  • 3.9% the leap in February’s wholesale food costs source
  • » Why this is a really big deal: Well, see, this is the highest one-month leap in food production costs since, umm … November 1974. So, what caused the increase? We’ll leave that one to the Labor Department: “About seventy percent of the February rise can be traced to higher prices for fresh and dry vegetables, which jumped 48.7 percent,” they write. “Advances in the indexes for meats and dairy products also were major factors in the increase in the finished consumer foods index.” So, umm … yeah. This is not a positive economic trend.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 10:59

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World: Airline security: Could the TSA get a “frequent-flyer” program?

  • cause In an effort to improve our country’s air security after the 9/11 attacks, the Transportation Security Administration came to being. They’ve tightened security repeatedly over the years.
  • effect The most recent major tightening they’ve made forces people to either walk through a metal clap trap, get felt up by people with latex gloves, or play civil disobedience like this guy did.
  • solution? A way to prevent this type of annoyingness for frequent flyers — which would require the exchange of personal info — is on the table. The travel industry wants to see this, stat. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 10:41

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Biz, World: The single most cringe-worthy quote on Japan you’ll see today

  • Japan has some of its industry curtailed, like auto and steel — but that’s not going to last too long. People are starting to realize that there [sic] economy is not going to be shut down for long — and they’re going to have to start to look for alternative fuel sources.
  • INFA Energy Brokers CEO Brad Schaeffer • Suggesting that Japan will have to switch its energy sources to an alternative source. But Schaeffer means “alternative” in the way one might call a band like Nickelback “alternative” — see, he thinks that Japan should move to oil. “Remember, they need to get their nation back on their feet,” he says. “They aren’t worrying about their carbon footprint so much. They’re thinking we need to get oil here now – so we can get our generators up and running.” While there’s some grain of truth here, we wonder how much of what he’s saying is wishful thinking, seeing that he’s the CEO of an energy-brokering company. Quotes like these? They seriously make us cringe. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 10:29

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World: Japan’s Sendai quake could prove insanely expensive

  • $200 billion the potential cost of the direct effects from the earthquake to Japan, one of the world’s largest economies; power outages could make things worse
  • $626 billion the amount of market value Tokyo’s stock market lost on Monday and Tuesday; it recovered somewhat on Wednesday source
  • » If this is true: This makes this the most expensive earthquake in Japan’s history, handily topping the $100 billion cost of the 1995 Kobe earthquake.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 10:17

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World: Raymond Davis: Murder-suspected CIA contractor freed in Pakistan

Davis, a CIA contractor suspected of killing two men in Pakistan, was let go after their families forgave him. The incident strained U.S. relations with Pakistan. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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