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03 Jan 2010 10:41

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U.S., World: The U.S. and U.K. say “screw it,” close embassies in Yemen

  • There are indications that al-Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy. And what we do is to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad, so the decision was made to close the embassy.
  • Assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism John Brennan • Regarding the government’s decision to close its Yemeni base. (Britain did the same, by the way.) The country, which is becoming a large hub for terrorism, has been the scene of a major battlefront in the war on al-Qaeda in the last few weeks, and the U.S. isn’t taking any chances. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Dec 2009 10:39

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Tech: Broadband customers in the U.K. may have to pay big for piracy

  • Broadband consumers shouldn’t have to bail out the music industry. If they really think it’s worth spending vast sums of money on these measures then they should be footing the bill; not the consumer.
  • Carphone Warehouse CEO Charles Dunstone (which runs the TalkTalk consumer broadband service in the U.K.) • Regarding the reported £500 million British broadband consumers will be forced to pay as part of an online piracy bill. Yes, you read that right – to fight online piracy for movie and music companies, the U.K. is working on a bill that benefits those companies, specifically, at the cost to consumers, with no real benefit to consumers. May we call bull(#$&( on this already? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Dec 2009 10:51

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Music: Rage Against the X-Factor Machine: The U.K. Christmas No. 1 race

  • In case you haven’t heard, Rage Against the Machine is in the midst of an amusing battle for the Christmas No. 1 spot in the U.K., a grassroots attempt to have someone other than an X-Factor contestant win the coveted spot. They’re currently winning, and even better, there’s controversy around Rage, after they performed “Killing in the Name” live on the air, unedited, with swear words and all. Best non-story ever. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Dec 2009 11:06

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World: The U.K. isn’t against taxing massive executive bonuses, either

  • 50% one-time tax on massive banker pay; ouch source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Dec 2009 20:30

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Offbeat: What’s good for enlarged prostates is bad for male breast cancer

  • good A drug exists that helps males deal with enlarged prostates. 100,000 men in the U.K. take it to cause shrinkage.
  • bad This same drug also increases the chance for male breast cancer. There’s been 53 cases so far. Men get it too, remember. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Nov 2009 10:16

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World: British texting-while-driving laws some of the world’s toughest

  • She came across as a lovely young girl, and I’m sure it wasn’t a nice feeling for the judge to send someone like this to prison — but someone is dead because of a text message.
  • Oxford, England police officer Bill Sykes • Describing Phillipa Curtis, who was sentenced to 21 months in prison for a car crash that led to the death of up-and-coming fashion designer Victoria McBryde. What caused the crash? Curtis was texting on her phone. While McBryde’s parents feel the sentence was too lenient, many others feel it wasn’t. The U.K. has some of the strictest texting-while-driving laws in the world. While Curtis was not sending a text message at the time of the crash, she was sending a number of them around the time the crash happened – enough to convict her on. Scary. And sad. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2009 09:11

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World: The Royal Mail is makes a really good argument for e-mail

The postal service in the U.K. has widespread support for a strike. It’s bad enough that Amazon has a backup plan in case they do strike. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Oct 2009 09:52

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World: More on the U.K. Conservative Party’s “pain for everyone”

  • £18,000 the amount public sector workers have to make in the Conservatves’ plan to get their wages frozen in 2011; that’s 80% of workers
  • £50,000 the amount families would have to make to completely lose their tax credits; the 50% on the rich would stay put source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2009 09:40

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World: Conservatives in the U.K. want everyone to “feel the pain”

  • £7 billion in budget cuts by cutting from just about everyone big time source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Sep 2009 09:57

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U.S., World: J’accuse! Obama and his buddies gang up on Iran at G20

This is the most bizarre gang ever. But more power to Obama, Sarkozy and Brown for being willing to take on Iran sharply on that nuclear plant. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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