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01 Dec 2011 10:54

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U.S.: World AIDS Day: Obama boosts U.S. stake in the battle against AIDS

  • $50 million in new funding to continue to fight AIDS source
  • » How that money would help: The Obama administration has a couple of goals for that money. First, they plan to get antiretroviral drugs to 2 million more people by 2013. Second, they plan to give the drugs to 1.5 million more HIV-positive pregnant women, in an effort to prevent the disease from getting passed on to their children. The president, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush by his side, is announcing the renewed anti-AIDS initiatives (as a part of World AIDS Day) as we write this.

01 Dec 2011 10:32

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Politics: Herman Cain’s lawyer wants Ginger White’s phone records

  • Maintain common sense. Mr. Cain was extremely busy in his campaign. He didn’t have time to send a lot of texts.
  • Herman Cain’s lawyer, Lin Wood • Disputing the phone records that show Ginger White has been in nearly-constant communication with Cain via text message in recent weeks. (70 in a month … just 17 of those from Cain. Is 17 texts over a month “a lot of texts”? We think not.) Wood wants the records from White’s lawyer, so he can “ascertain whether the decision to grant interviews was politically motivated and to determine whether she has received or [been] promised money for participating.” Why do we always have to assume the worst in people, Mr. Wood? Could it be that maybe she’s telling the truth? Let’s focus on that part first. source

01 Dec 2011 10:17

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Biz: McDonald’s, Burger King turn on a dime to beat Happy Meal law

  • problem In San Francisco, it’s now illegal to include free toys in fast-food meals that don’t meet certain standards for nutrition. This is a problem for McDonald’s, which sells a lot of Happy Meals for this reason.
  • workaround So … rather than just get rid of the toys altogether, at least two fast-food outlets — McDonald’s and Burger King — plan to simply charge a tiny nominal fee for the toys. One dime. Boom. source