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08 Sep 2009 21:11

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Politics: Obama’s speech was good, but public schools need improvement

  • You cannot fool all the people all the time, President Lincoln said. And when it comes to student learning, the public seems beyond deceit.
  • Wall Street Journal columnist Paul Peterson • Discussing the declining quality of public schools in the wake of Obama’s speech today. He says it’s beyond terrible – graduation rates are lower than they were in 1970, when Kevin Arnold from “The Wonder Years” started at McKinley High. Not only are parents unhappy with education, but they don’t want to spend any more money on schools. 46% don’t support spending more. To give you an idea about how anemic that number is, in 1990 (when Zack Morris was a sophomore at Bayside High), the number was 70%, and last year (when the cast of High School Musical was filled with seniors) that number was 61%. Depressing. • source

07 Sep 2009 20:34

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Biz: Ex-Lehman Bros. CEO Dick Fuld tired of getting “dumped on”

  • You know what? The anniversary’s coming up. I’ve been pummeled, I’ve been dumped on, and it’s all going to happen again. I can handle it. You know what, let them line up.
  • Former Lehman Bros. CEO Dick Fuld • Describing the torrent of criticism he’s gotten since the company completely collapsed last year. Fuld has been a bit press-shy since the collapse for understandable reasons. “Nobody wants to hear it,” he says. “The facts are out there. Nobody wants to hear it, especially not from me.” The full article is quite good. If you choose one link to click on tonight, choose this one. -> • source

05 Sep 2009 19:18

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Biz, U.S.: All those jobs lost? They may not be back for a while

  • 2014 when employment could level out again source

03 Sep 2009 21:44

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Offbeat: Cash for Clunkers: Won’t anyone think of the demolition derbies?

They have to bring in cars from other state to demolish! This is such an awful, awful crime against mild entertainment. source

02 Sep 2009 09:35

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Biz, U.S.: The private sector is bleeding jobs slower than before

  • The private sector lost 360,000 jobs in July, mostly through layoffs (of sad people). source
  • In August, 298,000 jobs were lost. The slow economic bounceback begins. source

27 Aug 2009 11:08

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Biz, U.S.: The national GDP is down, but not as bad as experts feared

  • -1% decline in Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter source

27 Aug 2009 10:16

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U.S.: Obama’s honeymoon with independent voters is over

  • 66% Obama’s approval rating in May from independent voters source
 

26 Aug 2009 10:00

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U.S.: The national SAT results sure aren’t making anyone look smarter

  • The average SAT reading score, down a point from a year ago. source
  • The average SAT writing score, also down a point from last year. source
  • The average SAT math score, steady but still down from 2005. source

25 Aug 2009 21:07

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U.S.: The U.S. Postal Service just delivered a bunch of buyout letters

  • 30,000 job cuts are needed by the USPS source

23 Aug 2009 20:58

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U.S.: Inflation to blame for a dip in Social Security benefits next year

  • 1975 the last time grandpa’s benefits didn’t go up source