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29 Nov 2011 11:03

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Biz: American Airlines parent files for bankruptcy: Will keep normal schedule

  • They were the only major airline to avoid bankruptcy in the past decade: In 2003, American Airlines parent AMR, which also operates the American Eagle airline, managed to stave off bankruptcy by scoring an agreement from its unions. The country’s third-largest airline, however, wasn’t able to get past it this time around. With the company’s stocks in freefall (down 45 percent since September) and a recent wave of pilot retirements playing harbinger, it seemed like signs were pointing towards bankruptcy. Here’s what their financials look like, according to their Chapter 11 filing, which they submitted to a New York court today:
  • $24.7B the amount in assets American Airlines parent AMR has on hand
  • $29.6B the amount in liabilities the company owes to creditors
  • $4.1B the amount of cash the company has on hand source
  • » What this means for consumers: The company says it plans to honor its reservations, keep its normal schedules, continue its frequent-flyer program, maintain its Admirals Club lounges and pay employees their normal wages and health benefits. So outwardly, there should be no obvious signs that the company is trying to reorganize itself. (photo by Clara S. on Flickr)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2011 10:33

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World: Iranian protesters, upset over sanctions, storm British Embassy

  • And British officials aren’t happy: On Tuesday, Iranian protesters angry with the British government stormed the country’s embassy in Tehran, forcing diplomats to flee out the back door for their safety. The move came after the British government placed sanctions on Iran, preventing British banks from doing business with Iranian banks out of concern they were helping to facilitate the country’s nuclear program. The British government condemned the actions. “We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2011 00:37

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Tech: Aw, Zucks. We’re hoping this won’t “poke” our portfolios too badly.

  • Want to own a piece of Facebook? You might be able to in the spring of 2012. It looks like, despite founder Mark Zuckerberg’s well-known resistance to the idea over the years, the company is on its way to its “initial public offering” — the sale of stock that a private company makes available to the public. (Groupon just had an IPO, and it hasn’t been going quite so well for them.) The social media trailblazers could raise as much as $10 billion from first-day stock sales; that would put the company’s total value at $100 billion. Not bad for a guy who screwed over most of his friends from Harvard (and a couple of Winklevi) to get there. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2011 00:04

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U.S.: Cyber Monday’s version of Black Friday drama: Counterfeit stuff

  • 150 counterfeit websites taken down on Cyber Monday source
  • » Don’t mess with our passion for shopping. After such a turnout for Black Friday, shoppers were ready for online deals on Monday. So were websites touting fake merchandise — from sports jerseys to DVDs to accessories. This was a part of the investigation called “Operation In Our Sites,” which has seized 350 such counterfeit sites since 2010.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:59

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Biz: Don’t look down: Ratings agency says they could downgrade U.S. too

  • The negative outlook indicates a slightly greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two-year horizon.
  • Credit ratings agency Fitch • Explaining the negative outlook they gave the U.S.’ AAA credit rating. Why the lower outlook? Well, they say there’s “considerable uncertainty surrounding the economy’s potential output.” Well, there won’t be as long as we can figure out a way to turn riots over $2 waffle irons into a sustainable moneymaking endeavor for the U.S. economy at large. We’re sure we can make it happen. Fitch’s downgraded outlook follows S&P’s straight-up downgrade a few months back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:53

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World: New elections, new attitude? Egypt’s elections go smoothly (so far)

  • Egypt headed to the polls today: In this photo via ITV News, you can see a small portion of the crowds that gathered to vote in this week’s elections in Egypt. No protests broke out on the first day — a change of pace from last week’s protests in Tahrir Square. In fact, reports of violence were rare, and voter fraud was rare. Here’s to hoping the events have begun to usher in a new era and a more positive Egypt.  source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:23

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Politics: Barney Frank’s legacy: Three major achievements beyond Dodd-Frank

  • one Barney Frank is one of the most prominent gay U.S. representatives, and as a result, he’s long been a champion of gay rights; he long opposed the recently-repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
  • two Frank was a lead Democrat who helped to build and implement the $700 billion bailout passed in 2008 under George W. Bush; he became a key figure of the financial crisis.
  • three He also worked to end the practice of redlining, a process that banks used to place difficult lending conditions on people and businesses located in low-income neighborhoods. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 20:39

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Politics: Changing tactics: Newt Gingrich begins attacking Mitt Romney

  • It’s wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based on your need of any one election, then people will have to ask themselves, ‘What will you tell me next time?’
  • 2012 GOP candidate Newt Gingrich • Dropping a clear attack at Mitt Romney for his tendency to flip-flop. This is a change for Gingrich: Before this week, he was known for going out of his way to avoid criticizing his fellow candidates and pointing the trigger directly at Obama. Now that he’s suddenly in the thick of the race, it looks like he’s getting braver about going after the perceived frontrunner. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 20:18

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Politics: Speedy Herman Cain denies affair allegations before they’re even public

  • In case you missed it earlier: Here’s Herman Cain denying allegations (to Blitz) that he had a 13-year-long affair — in a rare instance for a scandal of its nature, ahead of the story’s full release. They’re happening so often now that Cain can deny them preemptively. That said, this is a pretty impressive get for a local news station, in this case Fox 5 Atlanta. As for the allegations, Ginger White claims she announced the affair to the public so she could get ahead of the story herself. “It was pretty simple,” White told the station. “It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 13:25

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Politics: Newt Gingrich’s favorite new word is “aggressive”

  • 6 times Gingrich uses the word “aggressive” in this YN interview source
  • » But what should we be aggressive about? Here’s the tally. Twice, Gingrich was describing how we should approach the war on drugs (“We ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy”); once, he was describing how the US went about supporting non-communist trade unions in Poland in the 1980s (“…we when we aggressively supported Solidarity”); and on three occasions, Newt was talking about US-Cuban relations (“I think we need a very aggressive model”). Oddly, he didn’t once utter the words “fundamental” or “profound,” although he did use another Gingrich fallback, “logical,” on two occasions, and busted out “totally” once.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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