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09 Feb 2012 10:25

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World: Maldives unrest: Ex-president Mohamed Nasheed claims he’ll be arrested soon

  • The home minister has pledged (I will be) the first former president to spend all my life in jail. … the facts on the ground are that tomorrow I will be in jail.
  • Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed • Suggesting that he would be jailed shortly, days after resigning or getting forced from power. Despite word from his political party that Nasheed was beaten by police, he showed no signs of injury when he was interviewed. Despite this, word of his possible arrest certainly isn’t an empty threat — he spent years in jail under long-serving President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and has been arrested 27 times before. The fairly tiny country of 330,000, a span of islands located in the Indian Ocean, gets many tourists, ensuring a high level of interest in the case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 19:57

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U.S.: Mother sues New York City for an amount larger than the city’s budget

  • $900 trillion lawsuit against the city of New York source
  • » The city’s 2012 budget? $65 billion: Despite the big number, there is a strong tinge of sadness to the case. Fausat Ogunbayo, a Staten Island mother of two, had her two children (ages 16 and 13) taken away back in 2008 amid concerns for her mental stability. However, an appellate court ruling last month provided her with some legal ammo, saying that despite Ogunbayo’s history of mental illness, that didn’t immediately equate neglect, as the city claimed. Now she’s suing the city, saying that it violated her civil rights, along with her children’s, and claiming that the separation caused “over three years of terror, horror, grievous harm, time lost, substantial economic hardship and injuries.” She may have a case; she may want to knock down that dollar total, though.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 11:31

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World: Falkland Islands still major sticking point for Britain, Argentina 30 years later

  • 1982 The United Kingdom went to war with Argentina over possession of the Falkland Islands, a land of roughly 3,000 people fairly close to Antartica, claimed to be possessed by each country. The war, which killed hundreds on each side, ended without a resolution of the islands’ ownership, but the two countries later rebuilt their diplomatic relationship.
  • 2012 As the 30th anniversary of the war approaches, the two countries are arguing about the Falklands again, with Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez accusing Britain of “militarizing the South Atlantic” and promising to complain to the United Nations, and British PM David Cameron saying that “The people of the Falklands choose to be British.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 10:28

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Politics: Rick Santorum wants to be “the conservative alternative to Barack Obama”

  • I don’t stand here and claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.
  • Rick Santorum • Offering up a bold line while speaking to supporters in St. Louis, who picked him for the non-binding primary in Missouri last night. He also won caucuses in Minnesota, and somewhat surprisingly, Colorado. Two weeks ago, it looked like Gingrich was the guy going toe-to-toe with Romney. Now, with last night’s wins, that storyline looks old hat. Does Santorum have a shot at going all the way? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 10:01

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Politics: Must-read of the week: The Washington Post’s “Capital Assets” series

  • In case you haven’t seen this, the Post’s coverage of how members of Congress are directing spending to places where it benefits them personally is pretty impressive. Examples: Sen. Richard Shelby helped push more than $100 million in earmarks to help rebuild Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and much of that money went to nicen up an area directly around an office building he owns in the city, which has risen in property value as development has increased. (Watch the video; it syncs up with a map of Tuscaloosa.) He’s not alone. Congressmen around the country directly or indirectly benefited from millions in spending that, at the very least, might give them a nicer view around their property — or in other cases, benefited their family members. The Post did a lot of great work on this piece, and it shows. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2012 20:41

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Politics: Tuesday primaries, caucuses not really all that super. … zzzzzz

  • Currently watching the results from the biggest primary day of the season thus far. That doesn’t mean much, though. In Missouri’s non-binding primary (which means that the results of the primary will have no effect on how delegates will be decided next month, i.e. it means nothing), it’s a fairly close race between Romney and Santorum, and the two caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado are happening tonight, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2012 16:32

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U.S.: Bashar al-Assad knows a thing or two about easy-to-remember passwords

  • 12345 Assad’s password; go check his e-mail source
  • » The second-most-common password online: Anonymous had an easy time hacking the Syrian president’s e-mail Monday, finding that the password was as easy as QWERTY (except one line up on the keyboard). Many of the 78 accounts at the Syrian Ministry of Presidential Affairs had this porous password. Among the finds? An e-mail prepping Assad for his interview with Barbara Walters, where he infamously denied involvement in the killing of his own citizens. Read more about the incident over at Haaretz. (ht Mashable)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Feb 2012 08:20

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Biz: Empire buys Luna: Carpet companies with memorable jingles merge

  • Even if you have wood flooring, you know this song for carpet maker Empire Today — ESPECIALLY if you live in Chicago. “588-2300 EMPIRE today.” You may also be aware of their competitor, Luna, which has a jingle of its own involving its phone number. Now, Empire has acquired Luna, ensuring that a mega corporation with multiple jingles at its disposal will be able to shake some money out of you in exchange for carpet. The brands will continue to advertise separately. Might as well — they have two distinct phone numbers! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2012 01:22

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U.S.: The day the Plains shook: The New Madrid Earthquake, 200 years later

  • Set your watches: At 3:45 a.m. CST, it will have been 200 years since the strongest earthquake Middle America has ever seen. One of four major earthquakes from the 1811-1812 era, the New Madrid Earthquake (which averaged about 7.8 in magnitude) was felt hundreds of miles away and was so powerful that it destroyed the Missouri town that gives it its name. But could it happen again? Experts say it’s likely, and the damage could be far worse. “If another quake of the magnitude of the New Madrid Quake of 1811 should hit the region, it would be the worst natural disaster in American history,” Arkansas state auditor Charlie Daniels wrote in the 1990s. “Almost all of downtown Memphis would fall.” Is that enough to fret over, though? (Photo: 1904 photo of an earthquake fissure filled with intruded sand in Mississippi County, Missouri, originally created during the New Madrid Earthquake. Photo via USGS; see more photos here.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2012 20:03

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U.S.: Amid molestation scandals, parents keep Miramonte Elementary students home

  • 73% of Miramonte students showed up Monday source
  • » And parents were protesting outside: Roughly three dozen parents and supporters protested outside the L.A.-area school Monday, which has been rocked by two shocking but unrelated allegations of sexual molestation. The first case, involving a former teacher accused of doing unspeakable things to his students (note: trigger warning), was shocking enough; the second case, involving a teacher active until last week, only worsened things, as the allegations against him came out only as a result of the first case. The initial allegations did not lead to parents keeping their children home en masse (as the school had over 90 percent attendance throughout last week), but the second case, however, did. Low attendance hurts the school’s funding, so this hurt financially, but the school will also close Tuesday and Wednesday for emergency staff meetings, so the pain could go even deeper for the school. And things might go deeper: A third allegation at a different school in the region led to the arrest of a janitor.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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