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31 May 2011 10:46

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Biz: Key economic indicator: Homes see double-dip in prices (uh-oh)

  • bad The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home pricing index, a key economic indicator which compares home prices in the top 20 U.S. markets, fell heavily in March compared to a year earlier.
  • worse The numbers confirm a double-dip in home prices (below April 2009’s previous nadir), which could spell bad news. Does a double-dip in home prices mean a double-dip for the overall economy? source

31 May 2011 10:20

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U.S.: Another powerful guy in same boat as Dominique Strauss-Kahn

  • Stop us if you think that you’ve heard this one before: A prominent banking official staying at a high-class hotel in New York City. A maid comes into his hotel room. He’s inside. And he reportedly tries doing some pretty sketchy stuff to said maid. She tells authorities, and now the prominent official is in custody, waiting to be charged. If this sounds just like the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, you’re right. If you think we’re talking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, not so much. This, instead, is the story of Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, the former head of Egypt’s Bank of Alexandria, who is accused of doing essentially the same thing two weeks later at Manhattan’s Hotel Pierre. Ugh. We didn’t expect a possible copycat crime here. (photo of said hotel via edenpictures’ Flickr page) source

31 May 2011 09:53

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Politics: Michele Bachmann: Sarah Palin and me friends, not opponents

  • We’re friends. And I don’t consider her a competitor … I think there’s enough room for a lot of contenders. And I think there’s no question in 2012, the Republicans will field a wide bench of contenders against President Obama. And I think the comparison will be very favorable.
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann • Trying to offer a retort to the idea that she wouldn’t be able to run for president if Sarah Palin were to run, presumably because the politicians are so similar that they’d hurt one another’s chances in 2012 (though Bachmann, let’s be honest, has a lower profile). “I compare myself to Barack Obama. Not to any of the other Republican candidates,” she claimed. Bachmann, who benefited in her 2010 run from a Palin endorsement, was on various news programs this morning. source