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02 Jun 2011 16:27

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U.S.: NH GOPers aren’t all keen on crushing union rights

  • 2 New Hampshire GOP leaders resign over anti-union legislative agenda source
  • » Protest through departure: Two prominent Republican legislators from the state of New Hampshire have decided to call it quits, resignations in protest of the hard-line, anti-union agenda of the state’s House Speaker, Bill O’Brien. They are House Deputy Majority Leader Mike Quandt (whose father, Rep. Marshall Quandt, was removed from a leadership position for failing to support a union-busting amendment), and House Whip Tim Copeland. Said Quandt the younger: “I cannot sit by and participate in a leadership team that is bent on destroying the strong labor force and good benefits that we have in our state. I cannot condone the incredible disrespect that Bill O’Brien has shown to other members of our caucus who are trying to represent their constituents.” (h/t ThinkProgress)
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 15:45

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Biz, U.S.: Moody’s threatens U.S. credit rating downgrade over debt crisis

  • Full faith and credit: Moody’s Investors Service warns that a failure by the U.S. Congress to come to an agreement on raising the debt limit could imperil the country’s AAA credit rating: “The heightened polarization over the debt limit has increased the odds of a short-lived default. If this situation remains unchanged in coming weeks, Moody’s will place the rating under review.” You may remember a similar warning from Standard and Poor’s last April — it’s becoming increasingly clear that the debt limit struggle, in addition to the gaping chasm between what Democrats and Republicans would care to do on spending and deficit issues (such a chasm usually means gridlock), is causing angst for financial agencies. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 14:59

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U.S.: FBI investigating China for hacking job

  • cause Hackers went after Gmail, but didn’t compromise many accounts. However, some of the hacked accounts belong to some pretty high-ranking officials here in the U.S. Google claims that the hack originated in China, and the accounts have since been secured.
  • effect The FBI is investigating the hacking, which the Chinese government is saying that they had nothing to do with. However, Google believes the attack originated from the same city as one that targeted U.S. companies last year, including Google. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 14:25

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U.S.: Romney announces candidacy, promises healthcare repeal

  • Mitt Romney officially announced his candidacy for 2012 today, shooting for his second run at the White House. He promised to repeal “Obamacare” (which he fathered, right?) and to make more jobs for Americans. His focus is to take power from the federal level and give it to the states, like a true Republican, and he talked extensively about his political credentials. But the important question is, does he really stand a chance against T-Paw and those ads? (photo via Gage Skidmore) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 00:30

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U.S.: Latest attempt to defund Planned Parenthood fails

  • plan In preparation for his aborted presidential run, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill blocking Medicaid recipients from using Planned Parenthood’s services.
  • problem The Health and Human Services Department has informed Daniels that the bill he signed is in violation of federal Medicaid law, and thus can’t be implemented. source
  • » What was wrong with the bill? Well, from a moral standpoint, a lot. But from a legislative standpoint, the issue is that Medicaid beneficiaries are legally permitted to use their Medicaid anywhere they want, so long as they do so at a “qualified service provider.” The bill Daniels discriminates against Planned Parenthood for reasons unrelated to its qualifications. Proponents of the bill correctly pointed out that the Hyde Act makes it illegal for federal funds to pay for abortions; however, only 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortive, and for low-income Hoosiers to be blocked from Planned Parenthood’s other services simply because the governor once wanted to run for president is not only wrong–it’s against the law.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 15:56

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U.S.: Budget cuts make fire department helpless in man’s drowning

  • ugh On Memorial Day, a man drowned himself in the waters off Alameda. The fire department wasn’t certified for water rescues, and the coast guard couldn’t retrieve him via boat, as it was too shallow. Waiting for a helicopter, the F.D. and coast guard watched the man drown.
  • fix? Seeking to remedy the situation that lets a man drown in full view of rescue teams, the Alameda Fire Department has changed their policy for land based water rescues — the program they’d had for those certifications ended in 2009 due to budget cuts. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2011 21:19

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U.S.: Company involved in deadly bus crash barred from operating

  • Inside this bus, which crashed in Virginia this morning, were dozens of people — 58 to be exact. Four of those people were killed. Most of the others suffered severe injuries and had to go to local hospitals. This is despite the fact that Sky Express, which operates throughout the Southeast and mostly takes people to New York City, had been cited for numerous safety violations in the past — particularly driver fatigue, which was part of the reason for this morning’s crash. (Vehicle maintenance issues were also an issue.) Now the regulatory body that follows bus companies like Sky Express, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has issued an out-of-service order barring SkyExpress from interstate travel. Bus services like these can be sketchy — but some of them are quite good. It’s good to know that one of the bad ones is off the road until they can get their act together. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 May 2011 16:54

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U.S.: Wisconsin board approves recalls against GOP, but not Dems

  • six Wisconsin GOP Senators will face recall elections, following Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) approving the signatures collected by Democratic activists
  • three Wisconsin Democratic Senators may or may not face recall elections, as the same GAB stated that they’re not ready to approve the signatures collected by GOP activists source
  • » So, what’s going on here? Basically, the GAB’s decision means they believe the signatures collected by Democrats, in the aftermath of Gov. Scott Walker’s nationally spotlighted union-busting effort, are legitimate. The Republican signatures, however, “have raised numerous factual and legal issues which need to be investigated and analyzed,” the board says. This is likely to ignite a firestorm of accusations about political bias, favoritism and so forth — the Democrats likely see this as a major boon, as they’ve argued fraud on the GOP’s petitions. We’re inclined to sit tight and see how this plays out, but today’s events, suffice to say, don’t favor the Wisconsin GOP.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2011 10:20

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U.S.: Another powerful guy in same boat as Dominique Strauss-Kahn

  • Stop us if you think that you’ve heard this one before: A prominent banking official staying at a high-class hotel in New York City. A maid comes into his hotel room. He’s inside. And he reportedly tries doing some pretty sketchy stuff to said maid. She tells authorities, and now the prominent official is in custody, waiting to be charged. If this sounds just like the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, you’re right. If you think we’re talking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, not so much. This, instead, is the story of Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, the former head of Egypt’s Bank of Alexandria, who is accused of doing essentially the same thing two weeks later at Manhattan’s Hotel Pierre. Ugh. We didn’t expect a possible copycat crime here. (photo of said hotel via edenpictures’ Flickr page) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2011 16:13

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U.S.: Courtney Love confirms: Crack cocaine improves one’s math skills

  • While the drugs screwed me up in a lot of ways, they improved me in certain others. I’ve never been good with numbers, but when I was on crack I could do math really, really well. I became a fucking whiz at calculus. But I also became kind of psychotic, unfortunately.
  • Courtney Love • In an interview with TheFix.com [h/t: Andrew Sullivan]. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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