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25 Jul 2011 12:34

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U.S.: Jens Breivik, father of Norway terrorist, condemns his son

  • I don’t feel like his father. How could he just stand there and kill so many innocent people and just seem to think that what he did was OK? He should have taken his own life, too. That’s what he should have done.
  • Jens Breivik, father of Norway terrorist Anders Breivik • Opening up with some pretty evocative words on the subject of his son, who’s been transported to a court in Oslo today. What the elder Breivik must be feeling right now is probably beyond our ability to describe adequately; we think his words speak for themselves. Jens hadn’t had any contact with his son for nearly a decade, since Anders was sixteen years old, and gave this reply when asked what he’d say to his son if given the chance: “He must live in another world; I do not think he would understand.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2011 14:10

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U.S.: Space shuttle Atlantis lands, marking end of 30-year program

  • The last shuttle: A sight that may be pretty melancholy for outer space lovers; the Atlantis touches down, marking the end of the space shuttle era. Shuttling has now been left to the U.S.’s former chief adversary in the realm of space exploration, Russia. Despite reports to the contrary from months ago, Russia insists that they won’t raise prices despite their monopoly in the field. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2011 23:20

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U.S.: Federal Reserve slaps Wells Fargo with puny $85 million penalty

  • $85 millionpaid by Wells Fargo for its role in the subprime mortgage fiasco; the penalty was issued by the Federal Reserve
  • $25 billion received by Wells Fargo from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, colloquially known as the bailout source
  • » This is both the largest consumer protection fine ever levied by the Fed and the first time the institution has punished a bank for nudging customers into subprime loans. There’s more to come, too; in addition to the fine, the order also “requires that Wells Fargo compensate affected borrowers,” although it’s unclear how this will work. It’s better than nothing, but $85 million just seems a bit low; as a point of comparison, the bank made $2.5 billion in the first three months of 2010 alone.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jul 2011 20:35

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U.S.: House passes doomed “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill

  • 234-190 on rigid partisan lines; duh source
  • » The odds of this passing the Senate? Zero. The House has been known for their symbolic votes this term — ones which please the base but not won’t do much else. The bill cuts many Democratic investment priorities — but most notably, takes a long-term hatchet to Medicare. Not so much, kids. Not so much.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jul 2011 14:42

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U.S.: Mitch McConnell’s “Plan B” may not be enough to secure U.S. credit rating

  • McConnell plan may not be enough for Moody’s: Some cautionary news on the United States’ triple-A credit rating today — Moody’s has been pretty open in saying the U.S. is risking a downgrade over the expanding debt and deficit. Senator Mitch McConnell’s fail-safe debt limit plan, which amounts to a transfer of power from congress to the President, would only occur if the “grand deal” President Obama yearns for (which would deeply cut spending and increase revenues at about a 3:1 ratio respectively) fails to catch on. Moody’s analyst Steven Hess estimates a whopping $4 trillion in deficit reduction might be needed to secure the triple-A rating. “I’d rather not opine on numbers in between,” he said. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2011 11:25

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U.S.: Drug executive’s mansion home to two separate, bizarre deaths

  • weird A few weeks back, Rebecca Nalepa, the girlfriend of drug company executive Jonah Shacknai was found killed at the man’s 27-room mansion in strange circumstances that authorities suspect may be suicide.
  • weirder Now Shacknai’s son, six-year-old Max, has died from a fall suffered at the mansion two days before Nepala’s death. Officials have not tied the two incidents, but two strange deaths in one mansion is nonetheless bizarre. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2011 10:25

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U.S.: News of the World scandal: Rebekah Brooks reportedly arrested

  • Friday As pressure piled on embattled News Corp. executive Rebekah Brooks for her role in an ongoing phone-hacking scandal at News of the World (a now-shuttered-but-very-popular paper she used to edit, by the way), she resigned with hopes of clearing her name
  • Sunday Now Brooks has no choice but to do just that, as police have reportedly arrested Brooks for her role in the hacking scandal that even has some loose ties to British Prime Minister David Cameron. She’s the highest-profile News Corp. official to get arrested. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Jul 2011 14:52

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U.S.: Obama puts Medicare means-testing on the table for debt limit compromise

  • Medicare Means-testing on the way? President Obama is eying this common Republican policy idea as a means to a big debt limit deal. As the White House was careful to point out, for the benefit of a liberal base dim on imposing costs on low-income recipients, the Affordable Care Act has already resulted in slightly higher premiums for couples earning over $170,000, or singles earning $85,000 — his ideal would be to raise these further, to “modestly higher premiums.” The question is, would it work? The GOP has been abandoning their own policy proposals when Obama gives them a thumbs up since the health care debate; modest as this is, and we don’t see why that would change. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2011 11:23

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U.S.: Carmageddon officials weirded out by bizarre requests

  • In planning for this closure, we gathered the best emergency around. We tried to think of everything but some of these requests are beyond even what we had anticipated.
  • Cmdr. Andy Smith • Expressing bewilderment at some of the ideas thrown in the general direction of officials planning for this weekend’s “Carmageddon” in Southern California —including a block party on the Santa Monica Boulevard ramp leading to Interstate 405, a group of bicyclists who want to ride down a steep incline, and some marketing dudes who wanted to use graffiti to promote the new “Planet of the Apes” movie. All of these incredibly awesome ideas were nixed due to safety concerns. Bummer. Fly jetBlue instead, dudes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 14:38

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U.S.: Presidential fundraising numbers out, Obama trumps competition

  • $47 million Obama raised in the second quarter of 2011 source
  • » That’s a new record – but kind of a specific one. Obama now holds the record for second-quarter financing in the year before an election. He made way more money than any of the GOP presidential hopefuls, getting donations from over 550,000 people. That’s a lot of people. Granted, this doesn’t mean that he’s automatically guaranteed victory, but it’s definitely a strong sign that much of his base is sticking by him in 2012.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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