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19 Jan 2011 10:37

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Biz, World: Obama’s meeting with China bears airplane-shaped fruit

  • $19 billion deal for China to buy 200 aircraft from Boeing source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jan 2011 15:08

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World: Early struggles for Tunisia’s new government

  • two days since Tunisia’s coalition government took charge following a climactic revolution
  • four coalition ministers who have already quit over lack of personnel change from the old regime
  • one political party threatening to pull out unless there’s a purge of the old regime’s members source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jan 2011 10:12

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World: Iraqi suicide bomber attacks police recruits waiting in line

  • 45+ killed in the attack on a line of police recruits waiting for jobs in Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit
  • 100+ wounded in the attack that’s the worst since Nuri al-Maliki was reappointed Prime Minister source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 16:04

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World: Qaddafi knows what caused the Tunisian collapse

  • question What caused the upheaval of the Tunisian government under President Ben Ali?
  • answer Wikileaks, aided by “lying ambassadors,” according to Libya’s Muammar el-Qaddafi. source
  • Corruption? Unemployment? A restricted press? Not according to Colonel Qaddafi. The Libyan leader, who has held power for over forty years, weighed in on Tunisia’s collapse, blaming “WikiLeaks which publishes information written by lying ambassadors in order to create chaos.” As The New York Times’ Robert Mackey observes, this may be a reiteration of a conspiratorial belief birthed from Iran’s leadership; that Wikileaks is acting as a propaganda arm of the United States, strategically leaking false cables to American benefit. But seriously, Julian Assange as a government shill? You’ve got a long road to hoe, Muammar.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 13:24

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World: Same as the old boss: Marine Le Pen succeeds her father

  • 67% the party vote for Marine Le Pen, who will lead France’s far-right National Front party
  • 38 years that her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has led the party, which he founded in 1972
  • 18% polling support for the NF, a likely headache for President Sarkozy come election time source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 11:31

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World: Julian Assange has the goods on Swiss bank users, kids

  • You’d think, seeing that the guy on the right (former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer) probably risked his hide to give Julian Assange detail on prominent individuals who used Swiss banks to evade taxes, Assange would muster up enough happiness to show a smile. But no. He still looks like an Eeyore-ish version of James Bond. Turn that frown upside down, Julian! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

17 Jan 2011 11:18

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World: China trying to look warmer, fuzzier to skeptical Americans

  • problem One in five Americans claim that China is the biggest threat to the U.S., way above any other country, probably because they stole all the jobs or something like that.
  • solution When President Hu Jintao is in the U.S., China plans to air ads on American TV in an attempt to soften their image. Hey, Yao Ming! Whoa, a Chinese astronaut! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Jan 2011 11:10

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World: Tunisians finally getting full grasp of Ben Ali’s opulence

  • It makes me sad because [Ben Ali and his family] stole all the money to build this house from the people of Tunisia. He lives in luxury and the people do not have money for food.
  • Tunisian citizen Priska Nufar • Expressing anger while looking through the former Tunisian president’s luxurious home recently. The level of wealth and riches that Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali are only becoming fully clear as the country goes completely into turmoil, with images of these riches getting shown on TV and in other mediums. Some of his family’s properties have been destroyed and looted in the wake of the unrest, while many wait for the next step Tunisia takes as a country. Hopefully their next leader will be willing to share. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 23:17

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World: “Baby Doc” returns to Haiti: Mother Jones is on the scene

  • “It sounded like a wild rumor …” Mother Jones was on the scene as Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti after a quarter-century of exile. And despite his unpopularity, he had his supporters today. “Things have never been as good as when he was here,” one translator told reporter Mac McClelland. “The only thing that was worse was we couldn’t talk about politics because he was a dictator, but everything else is much worse now.” (thanks idroolinmysleep for pointing it out to us immediately we found it) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 22:56

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World: Quick facts: How bad was Haiti leader “Baby Doc” Duvalier?

  • 19 the age that Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier took over Haiti
  • 28 number of years he and his dad, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, ruled over the country
  • 15 number of years “Baby Doc” was “president-for-life” before he was booted from power
  • 100k people left the country while “Baby Doc” was ruler; many sought asylum on rafts source
  • » With an iron fist: The regime of father and son – especially son – was noted for its disparities. The leaders, who had near-absolute rule (with the help of a secret police force called the Tonton Macoutes), lavished themselves while doing little to help Haiti’s population deal with the overwhelming poverty. It got so bad that Pope John Paul II publicly called out elites for their lack of interest in and care for the plight of the poor. To emphasize … this guy’s return is not good by any stretch of the imagination. He needs to go back to France.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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