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01 Jun 2009 10:39

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Biz, U.S.: How did General Motors go from pioneering to bankrupt?

General Motors circa 1906
  • There’s a long, winding story of how GM got from hand-crank to Hummer to handouts. For a company this essential to our country – especially the Midwest, but really everywhere – it’s a sad, bastardized legacy.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2009 10:08

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U.S.: When GM entered – and will leave – the Dow Jones index

  • 1925 The year the historic company perched its sturdy, reliable roost on the Dow Jones industrial average source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2009 08:44

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Biz, U.S.: Big auto news #2: GM files for bankruptcy protection

  • One of the country’s greatest icons of industry is no longer independent. After years of mounting losses and an inevitable couple of weeks, General Motors filed for bankruptcy this morning. source
  • The automaker, which has been eroding market share since the ’80s and lost $30 billion last year alone, will likely be 60% owned by the federal government, which is sarcastically awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2009 08:31

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Biz, U.S.: Big auto news #1: Judge approves Chrysler’s Fiat sale

  • A speedy bankruptcy Chrysler, which has been trying to breeze through its bankruptcy as quickly as possible so it doesn’t lose its value in the meantime, got federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez to approve the sale of most assets to Fiat. source
  • A speedy bankruptcy Chrysler, which has been trying to breeze through its bankruptcy as quickly as possible so it doesn’t lose its value in the meantime, got federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez to approve the sale of most assets to Fiat.
  • A needed merger In case you’re wondering why this sale happened so quickly, it’s because the Obama administration is putting its muscle behind it. They made it the centerpiece of the automotive task force’s recommended reconstruction plan. source
  • A speedy bankruptcy Chrysler, which has been trying to breeze through its bankruptcy as quickly as possible so it doesn’t lose its value in the meantime, got federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez to approve the sale of most assets to Fiat.
  • A needed merger In case you’re wondering why this sale happened so quickly, it’s because the Obama administration is putting its muscle behind it. They made it the centerpiece of the automotive task force’s recommended reconstruction plan.
  • Sticking points Not everyone’s behind this merger – among the scorned lovers include a number of auto dealerships about to lose their franchises, some pension funds in Indiana with a $42.5 million stake, suppliers and ex-employees. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 23:11

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Offbeat, U.S.: “Hello, President Obama’s office. How may I help you?”

Darienne M. Page is the White House Receptionist – she gets paid $36,000 a year to sit at a desk and run Obama’s life. That’s low for D.C. money, BTW. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 11 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 21:07

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U.S.: George Tiller was the wedge in the ultimate wedge issue, abortion

  • Earlier this year, Tiller was acquitted of 19 counts on claims that second opinions given in his late-term abortion cases were not independent. Kansas law requires that prior to a late-term abortion, a patient receive a second opinion completely unrelated to the first.
  • protest
  • trials
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 20:44

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U.S.: Key quote from George Tiller, the abortion doctor murdered today

  • The women in my father’s practice for whom he did abortions educated me and taught me that abortion is about women’s hopes, dreams, potential, the rest of their lives. Abortion is a matter of survival for women.
  • George Tiller • A Wichita, Kansas-based doctor who specialized in late-term abortions. His office is one of just three in the country. Tiller started Women’s Health Care Services in response to the outrage he felt after hearing a tale of an illegal abortion, done after his father declined the procedure, in which the mother died. Tiller died today after being murdered while attending church. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 

31 May 2009 11:23

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U.S., World: Ouch! Robert Gibbs just took a broad swipe at the U.K. press

  • If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I’m not entirely sure it’d be in the first pack of clips I’d pick up. You’re not going to find very many of these newspapers and truth within 25 words of each other.
  • Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs • On British press reports that the blocked Abu Ghraib photos showed graphic scenes of torture and rape. Not to be critical or anything, but the British press – in fact, the very paper you’re criticizing, The Daily Telegraph – did just take down a sitting House of Commons speaker. You should probably give them some credit, Robert. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 10:58

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U.S., World: The U.S. is throwing more Taliban-fighting troops in Afghanistan

  • 4,000 more American troops are coming in July source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 10:36

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Biz, U.S., World: The latest economic status update from one Timothy Geithner

  • We are seeing more durable stability in the economy and the financial system is substantially in better shape. But we have a ways to go, and we need to keep working in the U.S. and with other major economies to restore conditions for a sustainable recovery.
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner • Speaking yesterday as he was traveling to China to do whatever a treasury secretary does. (Seriously, he plans to offer reassurances to the country that the U.S. is on the right track financially and that their financial investments are safe.) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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