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27 Dec 2011 15:06

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Politics: Democratic Senator Ben Nelson to retire in 2012

  • NO Senator Ben Nelson won’t seek re-election in 2012 source
  • » Bye bye, Ben: Bowing out from what was expected to be a heavily-contested race in Nebraska, Democrat Ben Nelson has decided to retire from his seat in 2012, a move likely to disappoint those concerned with the Democratic Party’s ability to maintain control of the Senate. Nelson was one of the most rightward leaning members of the Democratic Senate (perhaps less so than Joe Manchin), having supported the Bush tax cuts and railing against the health care reform law as a “government takeover” before ultimately supporting it, with some big conditions: recall that infamous “cornhusker kickback?” Yeah, that was him.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 14:45

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World: Muqtada al-Sadr calls for dissolution of Iraqi parliament

  • From violence to political turmoil? Such seems the case in Iraq, just weeks after the official end of U.S. military involvement there. That some violence and upheaval would occur upon U.S. withdrawal was perhaps inevitable; there are many forces within Iraq that are aligned against a unity government, the al-Qaeda front “Islamic State of Iraq” chiefly among them (they claimed responsibility for attacks that killed 70 on Thursday). Now comes word that Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Shi’ite political bloc known as the Sadrists (as well as a staunch anti-American cleric) has called for the dissolution of the Iraqi parliament, and for early elections, threatening to deepen the country’s increasing Islamic sectarian crisis. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 11:16

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Politics: Flashback: Newt Gingrich supported Mitt Romney’s health care plan in 2006

  • We agree entirely with Governor Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100 percent insurance coverage for all Americans.
  • Newt Gingrich • Speaking in support of then Gov. Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health insurance plan back in 2006, on a site long hidden in the annals of the Internet — well, until now. Archive.org is your friend, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 10:42

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Biz: Blue light not-so-special: Sears, K-Mart locations closing due to falling sales

  • 120 locations will close amid a longstanding decline source
  • » Sales down across the board: Since K-Mart and Sears merged into one company back in 2005, sales have declined yearly, a trend that continued during this year’s all-important holiday season. (A holiday season, mind you, where things were actually looking positive for most retail chains.) At Sears, sales fell by 6 percent. At K-Mart, they fell by 4.4 percent. Together, that’s a 5 percent decline. The company has long kept underperforming stores open despite declining sales, but they’ve chosen to cut off dead weight this time, which has the potential of buoying the performance of the 2,000-plus U.S. stores and 500 Canadian stores between the two chains.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Dec 2011 10:15

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World: Russia: After protests, Putin suggests opposition opponents disorganized

  • The problem is they lack a consolidated program, as well as clear and comprensible ways of achieving their goals, which aren’t clear either. They also lack people who are capable of doing something concrete.
  • Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin • Dismissing his opponents as disorganized and leaderless in comments made days after large-scale Christmas weekend protests in Moscow. Putin, who is running for president in March (after skipping a term due to term limits), says those elections should be transparent and fair, but outright dismissed protester desires for a recount in the Russian parliamentary elections earlier this month. “As a candidate, I don’t need any vote-rigging,” he said. “I want the election to be maximally transparent. I want to rely on people’s will, on people’s trust, and it makes no sense to work if it’s missing.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Dec 2011 20:49

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World: Japan having a “mancession”: Women bringing home the bacon

  • 5.4% the percentage of men that were unemployed in Japan as of 2010
  • 4.6% the percentage of unemployed women; that’s a role-reversal source
  • » Tough cultural conditions to blame: With a high pay gap between female and male workers (females make less), a switch from traditional manufacturing to service industries, an aging population, a slowing birth rate, and a move among Japanese couples to marry later, Japan is quickly facing a bit of a cultural shift in terms of who has a job and who doesn’t. By 2020, estimates say, the number of unemployed men vs. unemployed women could become even more pronounced.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Dec 2011 20:09

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World: Obama administration: Yemen’s Saleh headed to U.S. for medical treatment

  • In the end, we felt there was enough good to be gained that it was worth managing the criticism that we’d get, including any comparisons to past episodes.
  • A U.S. official • Speaking about the decision to let Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh into the U.S. for medical reasons — which runs counter to what Saleh himself said a couple of days ago. The Yemeni leader claimed over the weekend that he would head to the U.S. just to get away from the region to let electoral officials do their work, but considering the fact that Saleh got burned so severely in his assassination attempt, the alternate story is by no means a surprise. By the way, when the official refers to “past episodes,” he means a 1979 episode where Jimmy Carter let an ailing Iranian shah into the U.S. — which angered officials in Iran. Already, similar concerns are coming up amongst Yemeni activists who worry the U.S. may give Saleh a safe harbor. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Dec 2011 18:57

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Tech: Tweet drama: Company sues former employee over Twitter followers

  • $340k the amount the tech company PhoneDog sued a former employee for after he held onto a Twitter account post-employment
  • 17k the number of followers Noah Kravitz built up; after he left the job, he promised to continue tweeting about the company
  • $2.50 the cost per follower per month the company sued Kravitz for after the fact; they claimed he was holding onto a customer list source
  • » A precedent-setting case? For many startups, Twitter followers are starting to become the lingua franca of customer service. So, it’s fascinating to see how cases like this could set an example as things go forward. “This will establish precedent in the online world, as it relates to ownership of social media accounts,” noted NYC intellectual property lawyer Henry J. Cittone. “We’ve actually been waiting to see such a case as many of our clients are concerned about the ownership of social media accounts vis-á-vis their branding.” Which way should the courts decide in this case, anyway?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Dec 2011 18:23

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Tech: Stratfor hacking: Anonymous leaks private subscriber list, credit card numbers

  • claim According to officials tied to the Anonymous collective, the group released a list of over 100,000 “private clients” of the secretive Stratfor security group, including credit information. Ironically, Anonymous claims the data was not encrypted. Victims who have spoken out about the hacking on Facebook have reportedly gotten targeted a second time.
  • rebuttal However, the company itself disputes Anonymous’ description of the information leaked, stating that “the disclosure was merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications.” The company emphasized they had no further business relationship with the clients on the list. The situation could prove a major embarrassment for the firm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Dec 2011 12:20

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U.S.: Mystery surrounds Christmas Day murder-suicide near Dallas

  • 6 family members killed by a relative dressed as Santa Claus source
  • » A family, aged 18-60, killed: Investigators worked overnight through Monday morning to figure out what happened Sunday, as a home in Grapevine, Texas, turned into a deadly scene. “Seven people in one setting in Grapevine, that’s never happened before. Ever,” said Grapevine Police Lt. Todd Dearing, who noted victims were related, but some may not have lived in the apartment. Many of the buildings are vacant around the apartment, and the only word of the shooting was a 911 call from a line with no answer on the other end.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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