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23 Jan 2012 23:31

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Politics: Gabrielle Giffords gives her thanks, and gratitude, to fellow survivors

  • It was very touching. I thanked her for her service, wished her well, and she just looked beautiful.
  • Gabrielle Giffords shooting survivor Pat Maisch • Describing her impression of the resigning Congresswoman at her “Congress On Your Corner” event, which Giffords resumed on Monday, over a year after the shooting that nearly killed her. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords thanked the survivors and heroes from that day. Maisch was the one who wrestled the gun away from the shooter. Although Giffords has made incredible strides in her recovery, the Congresswoman has decided to leave office this week — but not before watching Obama’s State of the Union address tomorrow; she’ll be there in person.  source

13 Jan 2012 09:43

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World: Two years later, Haiti continues its slow march towards recovery

  • Where does haiti stand after the deadly 2010 quake? While about $15 billion of aid money is still missing in Haiti, progress is still being made. “Recovery is here. It is painfully slow, it is agonizing to watch, but it is recovery,” said Harvard professor Paul Farmer. He has spent three decades in Haiti and is opening a new hospital. Big factories could also stimulate the country’s economy, creating 20,000 jobs at just one plant. Progress can also be measured somewhat superficially; HuffPo “Good News” writer Cameron Sinclair finds the silver lining in other ways. He noted the lesser-but-still-positive positives of Haiti, such as its fast WiFi and rich history. (Perhaps that’s looking too hard in the forest to see trees, but y’know.) So, while recovery is still being sought after, it is still coming. And in some ways, it is already here. (Photo by Ken Cedeno / The Washington Post) source

06 Jul 2011 14:26

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Politics: Bill Clinton puts recovery ahead of deficit reduction

  • Almost nobody’s talking about one of the central points that everyone who has analyzed this situation makes – including the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission – which [is] you shouldn’t do any of this until the economy is clearly recovering.
  • Bill Clinton • Discussing the deficit-reduction fight going on in Washington, with dealing over the debt limit functioning as a negotiating tool for the GOP to push for spending cuts. This is an angle that’s been taken by many mainstream economists (though obviously, the world of economics can be as contentious as anywhere else), namely that the ability to put off paying down the deficit for a while, though it may not jive with the popular notion of fiscal responsibility, is a valuable tactic to avoid straining the economic recovery. To use an overly simplistic metaphor, if we were to gain thirty pounds over the course of a year, working out twelve hours every day wouldn’t be a healthful way to slim back down. It takes a while to gain the weight, so it’s only natural and measured that it’ll take a while to safely cast it off again. source

28 Feb 2011 10:11

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Biz, U.S.: Bailouts: Remember TARP? It’s almost entirely recouped, kids.

  • $700B the amount the U.S. spent on the Troubled Asset Relief Program back in 2008
  • $341B the amount it looked like taxpayers were going to lose on the bailout deal back in mid-2009
  • $25B the amount it looks like we’ll lose on TARP; this is because we gave the money to banks source
  • » Not all is rosy in Bailoutville: One of the biggest issues we still face are the dual sinkholes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have reportedly cost taxpayers $150 billion and we like to think of as dual sinkholes. And some legislators feel that the effect has set us up for having to bail out unsuccessful companies in the future.

16 Feb 2011 15:01

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Politics: Lara Logan released from hospital, in “remarkably good spirits”

  • good news on the lara logan front. It’s being reported that Logan has been dismissed from the hospital following her “brutal and sustained sexual assault” in Cairo. While an unnamed source claims that, fortunately, Logan’s assault was “not a rape,” we can hardly imagine of the terror of it, especially in the context of a wild, tumultuous scene in Tahrir Square. Logan is reportedly in surprisingly good spirits, and is home with her family. Best wishes for her, and for her recovery. Relatedly, though, film critic Roger Ebert had this to say: “The attack on Lara Logan brings Middle East attitudes toward women into sad focus.” We’re all for somberly analyzing the broad implications of specific events, but really? Unless you can’t imagine a woman in America being sexually assaulted in a chaotic mob, it seems a little cheap and easy to paint a whole part of the world with the brush of this horrible event. Still, better than Nir Rosen’s analysis was. source

09 Feb 2011 14:20

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U.S.: Gabby Giffords recovering well, beginning to regain speech faculties

Great news: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is regaining the ability to speak. Sources wouldn’t divulge her first words, other than they involved her asking for toast. Good luck, Gabby! source

04 Feb 2011 13:33

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U.S.: Gabrielle Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly going back to astronaut job

  • January Astronaut Mark Kelly had to stop his preparations for a space flight after finding out his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head by a really crazy kid.
  • Monday With Giffords in full recovery mode in Houston, Kelly will return to his preparations for leading the space shuttle Columbia into orbit in a couple months.
  • April Kelly will leave for space, his fourth trip. His goal is that his crew “can execute this mission safely — and that it’s successful.” This is a good sign, right? source
 

02 Feb 2011 08:39

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World: Egypt’s internet returns: Welcome back, everybody!

  • This is what the return of the Internet looks like. A leap. That leap, of course, looks like a victory. To the Egyptians who now have thousands of e-mails to check and thousands of tweets to pore over – we salute you. source

26 Jan 2011 14:59

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U.S.: Good news on Giffords, as medical condition is upgraded

  • GOOD Giffords’ current condition source

26 Nov 2010 20:28

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U.S.: Did FedEx ever find that radioactive barrel they lost?

  • YES one less thing to be scared #*^@less about source