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16 Sep 2011 15:48

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U.S.: Tucson Air Force base: No shooting, but unconfirmed gunman reports

  • first Reports of gunfire at Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force riled up Twitter users nine months after the Gabrielle Giffords shooting.
  • then Details were scarce from the beginning, with word of gunfire, ambulances on the scene — but ultimate news coming in drips rather than buckets.
  • now The reports now suggest suspicious activity, not a shooting. “No shots have been fired and no one has been hurt,” the Air Force base says. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Sep 2011 12:10

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World: Helle Thorning-Schmidt: Meet Denmark’s first female Prime Minister

  • She’s got a lot of work ahead of her: Thanks in part to a “Red bloc” coalition between the Social Democrats and a handful of other parties (and in part due to economic issues), the center-left was able to topple the decade-long rule of the center-right. Many don’t think this will last, however, due to the many differences between the coalition parties. Part of Thorning-Schmidt’s successful pitch, by the way? A bizarre productivity-raising idea that involves increasing the work day by 12 minutes each day, or an hour each week. If you were to pitch this idea in the U.S., there would be cries of socialism so loud that you wouldn’t be able to hear yourself work. Spend 12 minutes surfing the Web and get over it, right? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Sep 2011 11:12

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U.S.: What death row inmate Duane Edward Buck said after learning of his stay

  • He said, ‘God is worthy to be praised. God’s mercy triumphs over judgment, and I feel good.’
  • Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark • Discussing the reaction by Duane Edward Buck, the death row inmate whose sentence was stayed by the Supreme Court last night. He already had his last meal and was praying at the time. While the reprieve is only temporary pending the Supreme Court’s evaluation of the claims his equal protection rights have been violated, it nonetheless ensured that his last meal — a dish of fried chicken, fried fish, french fries, salad, jalapeno peppers and apples — might not be so final. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Sep 2011 00:19

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World: There’s something world leaders don’t say every day

  • Berlusconi’s back: In a move that probably won’t help German-Italian relations, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was caught on tape referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an “unf@#kable lard-ass.” These are harsh words from the lothario Berlusconi; while he’s admitted to being “a bit mischievous” with his sexual exploits, he’s also insisted that he treats women with the utmost respect. Hopefully this won’t spark an international crisis (Reuters photo). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 23:03

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Politics: Kucinich will run for re-election in newly-drawn district

  • Why’s Dennis Kucinich so happy? Because he’s found a new congressional district! His old Ohio seat was recently redistricted out of existence, but he’s found a potential new home in a redrawn district that includes his home city of Cleveland. There’s just one catch: Rep. Mary Kaptur, who also got the short end of the redistricting stick, wants to run in the same district (that’s the last time we’ll use the word “district” in this post). Kaptur, the longest-serving female Democrat in the house, isn’t looking forward to the primary. “We’re friends,” Kaptur said. “This is hard for us.”  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 22:33

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U.S.: US Supreme Court issues stay in execution of Texas inmate

  • NO Duane Buck won’t be executed tonight source
  • » What happened: In 1995, Buck was convicted of double-murder in Houston, Texas, and sentenced to death. Buck’s guilt is not being disputed; however, during the sentencing phase, a psychologist testified that black criminals are more likely than other races to pose a threat to the public if released. Buck’s lawyers contest that this testimony–which was denounced in 2000 by then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn–played a role in Buck’s sentence, and asked Governor Rick Perry and the district attorney to grant Buck a retrial. Perry and the DA refused the request, but the US Supreme Court intervened today, issuing a stay in his execution just four hours before his execution was set to take place. The court has yet to rule on a request for a resentencing.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 20:35

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Biz: Rogue UBS investor showed signs of nervousness prior to arrest

  • last week UBS trader Kweku Adoboli had a weird plea on his Facebook page: “Need a miracle.” The plea came on the same day as Switzerland’s central bank put a limit on how quickly the Swiss franc can grow against the Euro. Wonder if they’re connected … yeah, we’re gonna assume probably.
  • this week After the bank realized it lost $2 billion on a series of unauthorized trades, Adoboli was arrested today. As one analyst, Fred Ponzo of Greyspark partners, put it: “The only way to dig a hole this big is by design.” In other words, UBS looks like it’s got some serious risk assessment problems. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Sep 2011 15:58

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World: NASA’s animation of newly-discovered “Star Wars” planet

  • Meet Kepler-16b: We’ll admit, the selling of this story as the discovery of a “Star Wars” planet (so said in reference to Luke Skywalker’s desert home of Tatooine) seems a little silly. That said, dual suns are cool, and people generally don’t seem as interested in astronomy as we’d like, so we’ll forgive the attempt at pop-cultural publicity. As the animation illustrates, both of Kepler-16b’s suns would set on the same horizon. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 15:25

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Politics: Postmaster General will seek to close 252 mail processing plants

  • 32,000 postal service jobs may be lost source
  • » Cost-cutting galore: Facing down a U.S. postal service that lost about $8.5 billion lat year, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has proposed some major closures, which will come at the price of the mail efficiency. With a plan to close 252 offices nationwide, the downsizing could mean that first-class mail could take up to a day longer. The postal service is, as a business model, deeply unusual — it’s also not a matter of argument, as it’s the rare government agency explicitly demanded by the Constitution. The hope that the postal service has the resiliency to both lower its size and speed of delivery, yet still compete with the private carriers strikes us as an unlikely premise.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2011 10:47

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Politics: Gauntlet, thrown: Bioethicist jumps on Bachmann’s HPV claims

  • If she can produce a case in one week starting today verified by three medical experts that she and i pick of a woman who became ‘retarded’ (her words) due to HPV vaccine i will donate that to a charity of her choice. She must donate 10k to a charity I pick if she fails to do so.
  • University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan • E-mailing reporters with an offer of a challenge for Michele Bachmann, in response to her claims that the HPV vaccine can cause mental health issues. Here’s what we think is going to happen here — Bachmann is going to ignore Caplan because, if she doesn’t, she’s going to be proven wrong. That’s pretty much her only option for not looking stupid here. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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