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03 Jul 2010 14:12

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U.S.: Thomas Jefferson’s eraser no match for modern technology

  • citizens How the Declaration of Independence refers to people who live in the United States of America. A pretty good description.
  • subjects What Jefferson originally wrote – something which he tried to erase but historians figured out earlier this year. Oops. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jul 2010 10:23

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World: Cuban cause celebré Elian Gonzalez: Thanks for the help, America!

  • Thanks to the help of a big part of the American people and of our people, today I’m with my father, and that is everything.
  • Elian Gonzalez • Looking back on that crazy raid that defined U.S./Cuba diplomatic relations about a decade ago. Seriously, it holds a place next to the Terri Schiavo case in terms of complete worse-than-it-needed-to-be theatrics. Gonzalez, now 16, is studying to become a Cuban military officer. Julius was considering a similar career path, except he doesn’t live in a communist regime. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2010 11:49

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Culture: Yo, New York Post, tell us how you really feel about soccer

  • A couple of weeks ago, we debated on a message board with a couple of English soccer fans what the New York Post’s cover about its tie to England really meant. We thought it was brilliant commentary of the fair-weather nature of American soccer fans. This panel, which ran in today’s paper, basically confirms it. The New York Post is making fun of Americans’ anemic love of soccer.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2010 11:44

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Culture: Posted without comment: Today’s New York Post World Cup cover

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jun 2010 13:21

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U.S., World: David Cameron’s folks: Obama’s beef not with Britain, but with BP

  • President Obama said to the Prime Minister that his unequivocal view was that BP was a multinational global company and that frustrations about the oil spill had nothing to do with national identity.
  • A statement from David Cameron’s office • Discussing what Obama and Cameron talked about today. We could have told you this before the president even picked up the phone. “The President made clear that he had no interest in undermining BP’s value,” the note added. As we noted last night, the company is just as much American as it is British at this point. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jun 2010 11:26

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World: Hamid Karzai has zero confidence in pretty much everybody

  • The president has lost his confidence in the capability of either the coalition or his own government to protect this country. President Karzai has never announced that NATO will lose, but the way that he does not proudly own the campaign shows that he doesn’t trust it is working.
  • Former Afghan intelligence director Amrullah Saleh • Explaining his feelings about Hamid Karzai’s take on the war. Essentially, he has no confidence in either his country or his coalition. He reportedly thinks the Americans were behind the attack (on a national peace conference, no less) that led to Saleh’s resignation. He and one other top security official resigned in the wake of the attack. A diplomat hiding behind anonymity agrees: “Karzai told me that he can’t trust the Americans to fix the situation here. He believes they stole his legitimacy during the elections last year. And then they said publicly that they were going to leave.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2010 11:19

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World: Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama sides with U.S. military, feels the pain

  • It is true that I said I wanted to relocate the facility outside of Okinawa. However, I’d like to apologize that the conclusion is not what the Okinawans wanted.
  • Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama • Regarding his decision to allow the American military to keep its main Japanese base, over the concerns and protests of many local residents. The U.S. takes up 10 to 20 percent of the island of Okinawa, and in recent months became a charged political issue. “I must say the situation is extremely disappointing and severe,” said Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Mar 2010 10:55

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World: Amnesty International says China executed a lot of people last year

  • 1000’snumber of people executed in China last year, according to Amnesty International – note the lack of firm number here
  • 714 number of people executed in 17 other nations last year, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Dec 2009 09:16

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U.S.: If they can make a climate change deal, the U.S. will help – big time

  • $100 billion in U.S. help to fight global warming source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2009 11:07

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Biz, U.S.: UBS says its Swiss bank account-holders “wanted to evade” taxes

  • The clients are not just harmless victims. They knew what they wanted to evade. But they trusted the bank that it would work. Now we have to correct that.
  • UBS chairman Kaspar Villiger • Describing the clients that they just had to rat out to the U.S. government for hiding their income in Swiss bank accounts to avoid taxes. While they transferred their information to the U.S., they claim no responsibility to actually make sure those clients actually pay taxes. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 7 Comments • Permalink
 
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