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30 Mar 2009 21:29

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Biz, U.S.: Now that Rick Wagoner’s resigning, he’s retiring like a bandit

  • $20 million size of the bailout, a.k.a. retirement, that Rick Wagoner’s getting source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 10:56

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Biz, U.S.: To the Detroit papers: Fingers crossed today

  • The papers – The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News – will stop delivering to homes most days of the week and will become a product that focuses mainly on box sales and online content. source
  • They’re two of many papers to make a change like this lately, but this one at least seems to be an effort to keep the products alive – the entire editorial staff for both papers is staying put for now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 10:43

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Biz, U.S.: Stocks are down! Time for a photo of a fretting investor!

As you might imagine, they really didn’t like the GM/Chrysler auto bailout news. So, now they’re fretting. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 10:21

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U.S.: The Manson “family” – are they really a danger anymore?

  • Model prisoners Charles Manson’s followers in the late 1960s – the ones who killed Sharon Tate and numerous others – appear to no longer be a danger to society. They all have spotless prison records; they all seem to show remorse and personal responsibility for their crimes. Yet, Susan Atkins (who’s terminally ill), Charles “Tex” Watson (who’s a minister), Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten probably will never be let out of prison. source
  • Model prisoners Charles Manson’s followers in the late 1960s – the ones who killed Sharon Tate and numerous others – appear to no longer be a danger to society. They all have spotless prison records; they all seem to show remorse and personal responsibility for their crimes. Yet, Susan Atkins (who’s terminally ill), Charles “Tex” Watson (who’s a minister), Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten probably will never be let out of prison.
  • No shot at parole? Despite the records, what’s working against them is the sensationalism of their crimes. They keep going up to parole boards, only to get shunned. There are reasons it makes sense to let them go: Prisons are expensive. California’s broke. But it may not be enough. For the record, Tate’s sister doesn’t want them paroled, saying the slayings were “so vicious, so inhumane, so depraved, that there is no turning back.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 00:34

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Biz, U.S.: Auto bailout: Why Obama’s finally trading the carrot for the stick

  • We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry.
    But it’s got to be one that’s realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge — at the other end — much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is.
  • President Barack Obama • On Face the Nation yesterday morning; the president and his administration feel that the automakers (particularly Chrysler, who seems to have given up hope for anything but a merger) are not doing enough to aggressively restructure their companies in the face of impending doom. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2009 00:30

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Biz, U.S.: The bailed-out auto companies are pretty much screwed

  • 60 days for General Motors to restructure in a way that doesn’t suck; if it doesn’t, the bailout funds go dry. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2009 20:29

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Biz, U.S.: GM’s head guy, Rick Wagoner, is apparently gonna step down.

  • Why now? GM wants help General Motors’ top man is leaving now in part because the White House made strong hints that they wanted new leadership if the automaker wanted more bailout money. Wagoner has been with the company for over three decades and has been CEO for almost a decade. There’s no word yet as to who the new CEO’s going to be, but we’ll probably learn more later this week. source
  • Why now? GM wants help General Motors’ top man is leaving now in part because the White House made strong hints that they wanted new leadership if the automaker wanted more bailout money. Wagoner has been with the company for over three decades and has been CEO for almost a decade. There’s no word yet as to who the new CEO’s going to be, but we’ll probably learn more later this week.
  • A cruddy legacy Wagoner has led GM through some of the more questionable periods of the company’s history – between the fumbled response to Japanese carmakers, the legacy payments to union employees, the over-leaning on SUV’s to save the company’s fortunes and the utter lack of creativity in the company’s vehicles, it’s kind of tough to say what was the one thing that made GM fall so far. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Mar 2009 20:13

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U.S.: A lone gunman shoots up a nursing home in N.C.

  • 8 people died, 7 residents and a nurse. Three were wounded. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2009 11:43

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U.S.: Live in New York? Make a lot of money? Hope you like taxes.

  • $300,000 or more income bracket that will be getting a big fat tax increase from New York state source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2009 11:10

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U.S.: Repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” not on the top burner right now

  • Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it’s further down the list. Gates says that while he and President Obama have started talking about it, they have “a lot on our plates right now” and are early in the discussion phase. The policy against gays in the military has been in place since 1993 and has long been controversial. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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