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19 Aug 2011 13:13

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Politics: Christine O’Donnell apparently had too much going on Wednesday night

  • I want to apologize for being so late, I know that’s not respectful of your time, so please accept my apology. We started out at about five o’clock in the morning at Fox and Friends and we’ve gone nonstop until the final stop at CNN a few minutes ago.
  • Christine O’Donnell • Talking to the Women’s National Republican Club in NYC on Wednesday night — a meeting she had apparently double-booked with the taping of “Piers Morgan Tonight” — you know, the one she walked out on after being asked a question about gay marriage. Sounds like someone made up a mini-controversy in an effort to get out of something. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 11:11

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Biz, Tech: Hewlett Packard’s stock reflects yesterday’s poor decision-making

  • » Investors were NOT happy with the news: HP fell down to its lowest level in years — a level so low that they last time it was at this nadir, Carly Fiorina had just left the company. We think this should tell HP something — killing off the race horse (WebOS) immediately after it starts the race is terrible business strategy, and investors will not react kindly to this. That was your future, HP, and you blew it because you had no idea how to feasibly make it work.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 10:32

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U.S.: Michael Bloomberg: Don’t put politics into Ground Zero ceremony

  • We’re trying to keep focus on families, and that’s where it belongs. This day is not above any of us, it’s about the families of 3,000-odd people who lost their lives 10 years ago.
  • NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg • Reacting to reports that nearby governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo were angling for bigger roles in the Ground Zero ceremony next month. Bloomberg just ain’t having it. And we support this line of reasoning entirely — leave the memorial for the people who felt it most directly. The governors can have their speeches later. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 01:57

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Biz: Bank of America dropping some assets. By “assets,” we mean people.

  • 10,000+ number of workers expected to lose their jobs in a company restructuring; that’s 3.5 percent of the workforce
  • 3,500 workers could get laid off this quarter alone, which is happening in efforts to stage a company turnaround source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 01:47

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U.S.: West Memphis Three might get out of jail with legal maneuver

  • When these guys went to jail, “the Black Album” was still on the Billboard charts and Henry Rollins was a constant fixture on MTV. Since then, the plight of Jessie Misskelley Jr., Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin — three teens convicted in the murders of three eight-year-old boys — has transfixed many, to the point that both Metallica (who lent a song to a documentary about their plight) and Henry Rollins (who made a tribute album to them) have come to their defense. They call them the West Memphis Three, and the evidence that sent them to jail is apparently shaky enough that they might see release on Friday, seventeen years later. Some highlights of the case:
  • The situation Three young boys —Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers — went missing and were later found murdered in a small Arkansas town. The suspects were arrested and tried on evidence many analysts consider weak, including a recanted confession by Misskelley. Echols received the death penalty; the others got life sentences.
  • The doubters Over the years, allegations of police mismanagement of the case, as well as evidence of other suspects whose stories were investigated poorly by police have led to doubters amongst legal experts, amongst family members of victims, and amongst celebrities like Rollins. For years, many local residents still remained convinced.
  • The unraveling After new DNA evidence came out in 2007, more family members of victims expressed their doubts. On Thursday, things finally came to a head. The three men may see release through a legal maneuver called the Alford plea, in which they claim innocence but admit that the state had enough evidence to convict them. source
  • » Too little, too late? Some remain unconvinced that the state is acting in a way that respects the wishes of either the victims or the three men still sitting in jail this evening. “There’s certainly no justice for the three men that’s been in prison or my son and his two friends,” said John Mark Byers, the adoptive father of one of the victims. “To me, this is just a cop-out from the state for not wanting to admit that they made a mistake.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 00:44

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Politics: Elizabeth Warren vs. Scott Brown – It’s on!

  • YES Elizabeth Warren is running for Senate source
  • » Well, technically, she’s not in the race yet; she’s just formed an exploratory committee. But if Warren gets in, this will be a nice coup for Democrats, as she’s absolutely adored by progressives and could stand a shot at unseating Scott Brown. If “Downtown Scotty Brown” goes down, and Democrats gain a Senate seat they would have probably otherwise lost, Republicans will probably regret preemptively blocking Warren’s appointment to the CFPB.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 22:15

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Politics: Bachmann warns of “the rise of the Soviet Union”

  • What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.
  • Michele Bachmann • In a radio interview. Anyone fearing the rise of the Soviet Union can rest easy, as the country hasn’t existed since its collapse twenty years ago. Bachmann has previously claimed that America’s founding fathers “worked tirelessly” to end slavery, and that the Revolutionary War started in New Hampshire. Are we unfairly picking on a popular candidate for making a few innocent gaffes? Or is Bachmann’s tenuous grasp on history a legitimate concern for a candidate seeking the presidency? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Aug 2011 21:32

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Politics: Don’t get Rick Perry cowboy boots for Christmas

  • 90+ gifts received by Rick Perry during his tenure as Texas Governor
  • 22 of those gifts were pairs of cowboy boots source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 11:52

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Biz: Mortgage rates fall to their lowest level in 50 years

  • 4.15% the current rate for a 30-year fixed loan source
  • » To explain why this is important: Mortgage rates tend to go down when people aren’t buying homes, as an incentive to get them to buy. When the economy was doing well back around 2000, this rate was around 8 percent. Now, the rate is so low that the last time it was this low, 30-year fixed loans weren’t even widely available and the numbers were based on 20 or 25-year fixed loans. This particular statistic has been below 5 percent for the entire year, minus around two weeks.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 11:22

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Biz: S&P facing Justice Department scrutiny over mortgage securities ratings

  • what The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether S&P kept the credit ratings on certain bonds backed by mortgage debt higher in an effort to protect the company’s business concerns.
  • why See: The financial crisis, which happened in part due to toxic mortgage securities that had inflated credit ratings. S&P’s ratings played a huge role in this whole mess, BTW. source
  • » And in case you were wondering: This investigation began before S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating, though there’s a good chance it will now be informed by it. Anyway, if you don’t understand the credit ratings issue, here’s a good way to put it: Companies pay the agencies for high ratings.  Kinda like if Warner Bros. paid Roger Ebert to recommend the latest Harry Potter movie. Now imagine if Ebert recommended “Birdemic” based on his financial interests. This would be extremely unethical behavior for journalists. But did S&P do something like that?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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