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19 May 2011 11:12

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U.S.: State Department: No immunity for Dominique Strauss-Kahn

  • what The U.S. State Department declined to give diplomatic immunity to now-former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who faces sexual assault charges in New York.
  • why According to the State Department, he wasn’t on official business with the IMF when he was arrested. If he were in another country, he would probably have immunity. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 10:45

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Offbeat: Harold Camping: I’ll be near a TV or radio while the world ends

  • I’ll probably try to be very near a TV or a radio or something. Because I’ll be interested in what’s happening on the other side of the world as this begins.
  • 89-year-old Family Radio owner Harold Camping • Discussing his plans when the end of the world begins on May 21st. This guy’s given the billboard industry a lot of business — his company and his allies have put up 2,200 of them across the country announcing the forthcoming end of the world, which will start with a massive earthquake or some crazy crap that isn’t going to happen. “We know without any shadow of a doubt it is going to happen,” says the guy, who has already been wrong once — back in 1994. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 10:29

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Biz: LinkedIn’s massive IPO: One of the largest tech IPOs since Google’s

  • $45 LinkedIn’s price per share when it launched its IPO this morning
  • $83 the company’s price per share now — that’s right, it nearly doubled in price
  • $352M the amount the company has earned from its IPO today source
  • » A really impressive start for social media: LinkedIn, the first social media company on the stock market, sets the stage for what could be an impressive transition from startup to stock for many social sites. Facebook’s far larger than LinkedIn, meaning that this may be the floor level for what the ubiquitous social site could expect when Mark Zuckerberg finally decides to go IPO.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 00:35

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World: Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns from IMF amid scandal

  • I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially —especially — I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn • In a letter revealing his resignation as the International Monetary Fund’s head. “I think at this time first of my wife—whom I love more than anything—of my children, of my family, of my friends,” he also stated in the note. “I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more.” Strauss-Kahn’s arrest on sexual assault charges has thrown French politics in a tizzy in the past week, due to his prominent status, and this letter will only continue to drive the conspiracy theories around the case in France. (h/t ProducerMatthew, Samuel Rubenfeld) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 22:59

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Tech: Cloud music horse race: Apple’s about to pull ahead quickly

  • Amazon Launched their cloud service first — without any deals with the major record labels. So while you could upload your music, you can’t stream the labels’ tunes.
  • Google Launched their cloud service a little while after Amazon — with an interface that looks nearly the same. They weren’t able to cull deals out of the labels, either.
  • Apple They’ll be late to the game, but they have two of the four majors on board, with the other two close to signing. Apple bought the lamented Lala in late 2009. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 22:53

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Politics: Grassley pokes fun at Daniels’ lack of charisma

  • Maybe I oughta back [Mitch Daniels], because it would be an opportunity to show that people who don’t have charisma could be elected president.
  • Republican Senator Charles Grassley • About…well, Mitch Daniels. Aren’t these guys supposed to be on the same team? He went on to compliment Daniels’ performance as George W. Bush’s budget director (because if there’s anything Bush did well, it was handle the federal budget). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 21:58

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U.S.: Obama’s focus tomorrow: The quickly-changing Middle East

  • Obama’s giving a big speech tomorrow. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading to town to discuss the long-gestating peace deal with Palestine, Obama will give a speech from the State Department intended for both the American public and the Middle East. There’s speculation that he may push for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation … or more surprisingly, endorse pushing back Israel’s borders to pre-1967 levels as a starting point in negotiations between Israel and Palestine. What’s he gonna say? One thing that’s pretty clear at this point is that Egypt’s getting some aid money — roughly $2 billion, to be exact — possibly as an anchor to encourage support of Israel. All in all, fun day ahead. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 May 2011 21:34

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Politics: Dark horse alert: Rick Perry may run for president

  • Late registration: The reporting is a bit muddled and inconclusive, but it looks like Texas Governor Rick Perry may be testing the waters for a presidential run. Jumping into the race this late in the game would require a lot of catch up, and Perry’s past flirtations with secession could pose a problem for him as a presidential candidate. Nevertheless, if he did enter the race, he would have a very solid chance of getting the nomination–and, in our opinion, a reasonable shot at defeating Obama in 2012. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 21:09

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Culture: Arnold Schwarzenegger had two kids by two women in one week

  • 09/27/97 the birthdate of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s youngest son with wife Maria Shriver
  • 10/02/97 the birthdate of Arnold’s son with his former housemaid; her husband left her three weeks later source
  • » This makes things even more awkward: According to birth records released regarding Mildred Patricia Baena’s child with the former governor, he was born less than a week after Maria Shriver had a child of her own. The actor has supported the child since his birth. The superstar actor, who is taking this hard, “is doing everything he can to take full responsibility to take all of the spotlight off his children and wife,” according to a CNN source close to Schwarzenegger. Still though, it’s kinda tough to do so with this kind of scandal. This is pretty weird, right?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 19:05

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Tech: NYT’s Nick Bilton, Bill Keller get into it over Twitter

  • Could Twitter make me stupid? Absolutely. If I only followed funny cats that speak with poor grammar, I’d be on my way to a vapid state of mind in no time. But I don’t. I follow dozens of news outlets and writers; I follow chefs, neuroscientists and the president of the United States; and of course, I follow Mr. Keller.
  • NYT blogger Nick Bilton • Publicly taking his boss, Bill Keller, to task about his Twitter-bashing column earlier today, where he suggested allowing his daughter to use Facebook was like giving her crystal meth. Keller got a chance to respond in an update at the end of Bilton’s piece, where he tried to clarify what he was going for (as well as jokingly threatening to fire his talented blogger). “If Facebook is displacing real friendship, if Twitter is diminishing actual conversation,” he says, “then maybe that’s a good reason to limit how much of your life they consume.” You know, here’s the funny thing about Facebook and Twitter: For the people in your social circle, you can turn the service off and contact many of the people you’re talking to on Facebook and Twitter in the flesh. And the people you can’t, you can reach via the service. These services don’t take away from our knowledge. They expand our reach, as long as they’re not used to excess (a point both Bilton and Keller agree on). Bill just doesn’t explain this point very well at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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