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31 May 2010 21:42

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U.S.: The dude in this photo has his own personal lobbyist

Rodney Anderson is a cool dude. A mortgage broker, he realized that some of his clients weren’t able to buy homes because of old medical bills. His lobbyist is fixing that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2010 11:40

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U.S.: Ever see a nuclear cooling tower destroyed? Well, you’re about to

  • This is freaking awesome. As part of the stimulus plan, the Savannah River Sites decided to knock off one of their massive cooling towers which was no longer in use and would cost money to secure every year otherwise. It’s pretty awesome to watch really freaking thick concrete fall to the ground like this, in a Roland Emmerich/Michael Bay way.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2010 11:26

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Biz, U.S.: Companies trying to “Slapp” out online criticism with lawsuits

  • SLAPP means “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” The whole theory behind it is that people complain in public about a company’s service, and the company sues to get them to shut up. In prior eras, this may have meant speaking out at a city council meeting. Now, it means tweeting about bad service or putting up a Facebook group. Here’s the fate one guy met.

 

  • $118 the amount Justin Kurtz had to pay after a towing company wrongly towed his car from his own apartment complex
  • 12k the number of people who joined “Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing”; 800 joined in the first two days alone
  • $750k the amount the towing company sued the Western Michigan University student for defamation source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2010 13:34

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U.S.: Unemployed people get lost in the Senate shuffle again

  • good The House decided to pass an extension on jobless benefits before the June 2 deadline.
  • bad The Senate didn’t, and they don’t go back to work until June 7, so no benefits next week, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2010 12:19

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Biz, U.S.: BP’s stock is in free-fall right now; we wonder why

  • 25% decline in BP’s stock since the oil saga began source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 May 2010 17:28

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U.S.: BP: Yeah, the top spill is sucking it. Let’s go to oil spill Plan Q.

  • I don’t think the amount of oil coming out has changed. Just by watching it, we don’t believe it’s changed.
  • BP’s Chief Operating Officer, Doug Suttles • Regarding how well the “top spill” process is working. Short answer: It’s not, really, and it sucks to be BP right now. The next step would be removing the pipe and putting a cap on the leak, a process called a lower marine riser package cap. “If we have to go to it, we can do it as quickly as possible,” Shuttles said. BP also has long-term plans to stop the leak in the form of two relief wells, but the first well won’t be finished until July or August, easy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 May 2010 16:16

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U.S.: Census 2010: The ever-evolving “What’s Your Race” question

  • Few questions are as controversial as the race question on the Census box. What’s surprising about it is that it started out as complicated (due to slavery), became simple again and then became complicated again (due to political correctness). Racebox.org has gathered all the census sheets from 1790 on. Great historical documents. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 May 2010 11:53

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U.S.: College kids these days don’t care about your problems

  • 40% less empathy than frat kids from 20-30 years ago source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 May 2010 18:57

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U.S.: Play with this oil spill map, and scare the crap out of yourself

  • What if you could take the oil spill and put it, well, anywhere? Well, you’d completely cover the D.C. metro area, most of Maryland, and part of Delaware. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 May 2010 18:47

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U.S.: Obama on oil spill: It’s not going to be easy, but I have smart people

  • There are going to be a lot of judgment calls here. There are not going to be silver bullets or perfect answers.
  • Barack Obama • Speaking about the oil spill in Louisiana today. What are his plans? A few things. First off, check this site for the latest info on the response to the spill, which combines everything from all the involved parties. Second, he’s tripling the size of the response crews in Louisiana. Third, he’s keeping pressure on BP to pay for damages caused by the spill. Fourth, he’s going to help small business with loans needed due to the spill along with loan deferments for those they needed during Katrina. Finally, and most importantly, he’s approving a barrier island that will help prevent some of the oil from reaching shore. Will it help? Fingers crossed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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