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16 Apr 2010 17:51

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U.S.: Eric Massa’s chief of staff got a pretty nice parachute fund

  • $40,000 check just as Massa quit source

13 Apr 2010 20:29

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World: Microfinance: Once a charitable goal, now a big business

  • $60B the size of the microfinance industry, which offers small, easy-to-pay, loans to the third-world poor
  • 60% the percentage of the industry run by the banking industry, not non-profit charities (which run 35 percent)
  • $74M the amount CARE USA,
    an American charity, made when it sold its microfinance business to a bank source

13 Apr 2010 11:17

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U.S.: Rich folks in Texas, Virginia got a little lovin’ from Obama’s tax cuts

  • $1,595 amount the richest
    1 percent of Virginians got refunded from Obama’s tax cuts in 2009
  • $1,534 amount the richest
    1 percent in Texas got due to the economic stimulus plan
  • $1,158 amount the richest
    1 percent got on average across the country
    (that’s rich) source

13 Apr 2010 10:30

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Politics: Cha-ching! Sarah Palin makes a lot of money as a free agent

  • $125,000
    yearly
    amount Sarah Palin made from her gig as Alaska governor
  • $12
    million
    amount Palin’s made since she quit that job last year source

13 Apr 2010 10:21

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U.S.: This year’s federal deficit could be less than expected

  • 8% decrease in the federal deficit
    so far this year source

12 Apr 2010 09:29

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Biz: Is unemployment higher because unemployment’s easier?

  • 44% of unemployed Americans have been jobless for six months or longer
  • 26% of those unemployed in the early ’80s recession could say the same source
  • » What’s the difference?: According to The Daily Beast, the reason for this has a lot to do with the changing nature of unemployment. Among other things, there are more two-income homes than in the early ’80s. On top of that, it’s easier to get unemployment now than it was 30 years ago – per-capita spending for the jobless has increased 77 percent. While it’s no walk in the park, obviously, it’s clearly not the same situation as it used to be.

08 Apr 2010 22:39

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Politics: Glenn Beck isn’t just a blabbermouth. He’s a business.

  • $32M the amount Beck made last year alone
  • $13Mthe amount Beck makes from publishing, including books and his own magazine
  • $10Mthe amount Beck makes from his radio show, one of the most popular on the air
  • $9Mthe amount Beck makes elsewhere, including the Web, speaking and TV source
 

01 Apr 2010 23:20

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Biz, Culture: With the end of “Lost,” ABC wins big time on the ad front

  • $900,000 the current average rate for ads for the “Lost” finale; that’s really high
  • 400% the amount ABC gets to mark up the ad slots that night source

27 Mar 2010 16:49

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Biz: In case you were wondering, illicit money is really, really heavy

  • 100 lbs. the weight of a million dollars
    in mixed bills – something that a dog would notice immediately
  • twenty number of prepaid debit cards you’d need to carry a similar amount; drug runners win source

26 Mar 2010 23:35

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Biz: The U.S. could make bank by selling their Citibank bailout stake

  • 27%
    stake
    the share of bailed-out Citibank the government currently owns
  • $8
    billion
    amount they’d make on their investment if they sold today source