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10 Feb 2012 08:04

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World: Start clutching your handkerchiefs; Prince Harry is returning to battle.

  • Killing insurgents is what the machine Prince Harry flies is there for; you cannot put it any other way.
  • A British defense source • Regarding Prince Harry’s return to combat. Prince Harry is returning to duty with the Royal Air Force shortly. No one is sure when his four-month tour begins, but he’ll be working with the unit with the highest “kill rate” while it was in Afghanistan. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2012 11:19

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Politics: After three-state Tuesday sweep, checkbooks open up for Santorum

  • $1million raised in just 24 hours after Santorum’s super Tuesday  source
  • » That’s quite a haul in 24 hours. The Santorum campaign confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that, after the candidate’s sweep of Tuesday’s primary battles, over $1 million in new donations have poured into the campaign’s coffers — roughly $800,000 of which came from online donors alone. Not bad, sweater vest.
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2012 11:12

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Biz: Federal government, states agree to settle with mortgage industry

  • $26 billion “historic” settlement with the mortgage industry
  • $17B of that settlement is expected to help out more than 1 million homeowners — breaking that dow, that’s an average of $17,000 each
  • 50 states could sign on as part of the settlement, making it the largest multistate settlement since the big tobacco deal in 1998
  • $2,000 the amount some homeowners who already lost their homes to foreclosure could get as part of the long-planned settlement source
  • » But is all this enough? While some will say the settlement doesn’t go far enough in addressing the concerns homeowners have dealt with in the years since the housing bubble burst, officials suggest it could provide $40 billion in mortgage relief by reducing loan principals, which would make the dollars go further. Problem is, it’s estimated that homeowners collectively owe $700 billion more on their homes than they’re actually worth. So while the dollar number sounds high, it may only be a drop in the bucket comparatively.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2012 10:25

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World: Maldives unrest: Ex-president Mohamed Nasheed claims he’ll be arrested soon

  • The home minister has pledged (I will be) the first former president to spend all my life in jail. … the facts on the ground are that tomorrow I will be in jail.
  • Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed • Suggesting that he would be jailed shortly, days after resigning or getting forced from power. Despite word from his political party that Nasheed was beaten by police, he showed no signs of injury when he was interviewed. Despite this, word of his possible arrest certainly isn’t an empty threat — he spent years in jail under long-serving President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and has been arrested 27 times before. The fairly tiny country of 330,000, a span of islands located in the Indian Ocean, gets many tourists, ensuring a high level of interest in the case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 21:18

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Politics: South Carolinian adults are not so aware of the Vice President

  • 29.3% of South Carolinians don’t know the VP source
  • » Joe B. Anonymous: According to a recent poll conducted by Winthrop University, the above percentage of adult residents of South Carolina couldn’t name the current Vice President of the United States. In fact, 3% of those polled claimed Dick Cheney was still roaming the halls of the White House. Sounds like Joe Biden has some work to do on his name recognition, no?
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 20:58

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Politics: In case you missed it: Pete Hoekstra’s racist Super Bowl ad

  • “We take your jobs”: We’re a couple days behind on this one (though, admittedly, hannahhorvath did tip us off), but seriously, how about this patently racist ad that aired during the Super Bowl in some markets? It hinges on a particular brand of racial paranoia (the woman in this ad is American, and has absorbed a lot of heat for taking part), itself born from a profound economic paranoia. And it gets worse — apparently the microsite for the video had some perceived-racist source code in it. Reaction to the ad has been strong. What do you think? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 20:23

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Politics: Big successive days for marriage equality movement

  • yesterday A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California’s Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban which voters approved in 2008. As we noted, the ruling didn’t endorse same-sex marriage as a right, but said voters had no rational reason to prohibit it; a step forward regardless.
  • today Washington’s state legislature passed, by a vote of 55-43, a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage. The bill will almost assuredly face a legal challenge by opposing advocacy groups, but Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire will likely sign it into law at some point during the next week. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 20:04

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Politics: CNN suspends Roland Martin for offensive Super Bowl tweets

  • Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.
  • A statement issued by CNN • Explaining their decision to suspend Roland Martin from their network, following a series of Super Bowl tweets that landed Martin in hot water with GLAAD, among other LGBT advocacy groups. He said if you knew a guy who liked David Beckham’s underwear ad, you ought to “smack the ish out of him.” Martin insisted, while apologizing for the offense, that he was attempting to be disparaging of soccer fans, not a man  sexually attracted to Beckham, but these excuses fell in deaf ears when it came to his employer. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 19:57

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U.S.: Mother sues New York City for an amount larger than the city’s budget

  • $900 trillion lawsuit against the city of New York source
  • » The city’s 2012 budget? $65 billion: Despite the big number, there is a strong tinge of sadness to the case. Fausat Ogunbayo, a Staten Island mother of two, had her two children (ages 16 and 13) taken away back in 2008 amid concerns for her mental stability. However, an appellate court ruling last month provided her with some legal ammo, saying that despite Ogunbayo’s history of mental illness, that didn’t immediately equate neglect, as the city claimed. Now she’s suing the city, saying that it violated her civil rights, along with her children’s, and claiming that the separation caused “over three years of terror, horror, grievous harm, time lost, substantial economic hardship and injuries.” She may have a case; she may want to knock down that dollar total, though.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2012 15:43

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U.S.: Another teacher suspected of aiding LA school’s pedophilia scandal

  • She was a teacher who would escort little girls into Berndt’s classroom when he was all alone. Berndt would come over in the middle of day, whisper in her ear, and they would giggle, and then teacher would pick out two girls, escort them through a common door, so that they were stuck with a pedophile in this classroom.
  • Lawyer Bryan Claypool • Speaking on the rash of horrific charges to emerge from the pedophilia case at Miramonte Elementary, in the Los Angeles County School District. Claypool says he notified the Sheriff’s department after becoming aware of a female teacher, who he believes “patently aided and abetted” the alleged pedophilic abuse methods of fellow teacher Mark Berndt, one of two former teachers arrested on such charges. As a consequence of the scandal, and the public outrage directed at the school, the entire staff has been removed pending further decision. Be warned, the full details of this story are quite graphic and disgusting. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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