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29 Jan 2010 10:36

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U.S.: Obama: Maybe having the 9/11 trial in Manhattan a bad idea

  • NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg isn’t on board anymore. Months after planning to have the trial for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (a.k.a. Mr. Bedhead) in Manhattan, local pressure is causing the Obama administration to reconsider its plan. “Conversations have occurred within the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in Lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally,” said one official under an anonymous cloak. Many New York politicians have criticized the idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2010 20:46

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U.S.: Ca. pot legalization pushers get off the couch, get petitions signed

  • 433,971 number of valid signatures supporters of marijuana legalization need to get it on the 2010 ballot
  • 700,000 number of signatures they just dropped off today in California; mind the cloud of Cheeto dust source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2010 20:17

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U.S.: Ben Bernanke reconfirmed because he recovers well after a fall

  • Chairman Bernanke’s performance in addressing the economic crisis and his current efforts to significantly enhance financial regulation to help prevent future crises outweigh his past mistakes.
  • Michigan Sen. Carl Levin • Discussing why Ben Bernanke was worthy of getting reconfirmed as Federal Reserve Chair, despite populist sentiment against a guy seen as one of the main causes for the financial crisis. Ultimately, it was his inventive solutions to tough problems that saved his job. While not always graceful, he did successfully help get the economy back on track. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2010 11:48

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About, U.S.: Our plans for world domination, State of the Union editon

  • Over the last few weeks, we’ve been hanging out with AOL News/Sphere. Cool guys. Anyway, this morning we posted a breakdown of the State of the Union. We’ll be working on more stuff like this in the future – we’ll keep you posted. Thanks for taking a stray kitten in, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2010 11:03

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U.S.: Obama’s post-SOTU plans? Announcing high-speed rail, of course!

  • $8 billion to build an inter-city train system that screams source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2010 01:48

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U.S.: Some quick takes on Obama’s State of the Union speech

  • We have lots more written up about Obama’s SOTU speech, but we’re saving that for later. Simply put: It was a good speech but we have no clue if it’ll change anything. Here are some more thoughts:
  • Biggest shot in the arm His reminder to Senate Democrats not to back down after losing their 60th vote in Scott Brown’s surprise Massachusetts win. After a week and a half of crying in locked rooms and saying “woe is me,” it was exactly what was needed.
  • Biggest disappointment Obama admitted that the three-year partial budget freeze wouldn’t take place until 2011, which drew big boos from many. “It’s the way budgets work,” he claimed. He wasn’t upfront about this in his speech, which was pretty bad form.
  • Most amusing moments There were two – Obama’s bringing up of the Supreme Court decision on campaign finance reform to utter blankness on the part of the Court, and Michelle Obama’s obvious desire to not be there. You could totally read her face! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2010 20:39

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U.S.: iPad: Some Tablet thing got everyone worked up today

  • On the scale of one to awesome, the iPad is pretty cool. The $499 starting price is reasonable, as is the data plan. The high-end of the scale is admittedly pretty high, but it is just a giant iPod Touch. Let’s not kid ourselves. But really, isn’t that what we wanted? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Jan 2010 10:18

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Biz, U.S.: Timothy Geithner: We had to save AIG to save the economy

  • We acted because the consequences of AIG failing at that time, in those circumstances, would have been catastrophic for our economy and for American families and businesses.
  • Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner • In remarks prepared before a meeting in front of a House committee today. The AIG bailout, and the TARP program, have been the subject of a watchdog probe. Today’s hearing, which also features Geithner’s predecessor Henry Paulson, was called after documents from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (led by Geithner when Paulson was Treasury secretary) suggested that information was withheld from the public on the AIG bailout. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2010 09:08

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U.S.: So, Obama’s taking responsibility in his State of the Union tonight

  • But he won’t take blame. Obama’s first year in office hasn’t been perfect, and now the administration’s running with its tail between its legs, trying to figure out the best way to reconcile after the Scott Brown loss. Expect an Obama who takes “responsibility” for the missteps tonight, but not one who shoulders the blame. Should be fun to watch. We’ll be there, blogging about it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2010 08:38

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Biz, U.S.: Poll: Perception says the stimulus is like an inverted Robin Hood

  • 51% think it’s helped bankers and investors
  • 40% think it’s helped the executives
  • 33% think it’s helped the low-income
  • 25% think it’s helped the middle class source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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