The sheriff of Knox County, Ohio says 13-year-old Sarah Maynard was found safe, but her brother, mother, and a family friend remain missing. One man is under arrest. (Nov. 14)
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Who says you can’t mix politics and pleasure? The former chairman of Barcelona’s football (soccer) team has created a new Catalonian separatist party. His strategy is to use the Barcelona team’s fame and the support of the area’s most popular porn star to win an upcoming regional election. The ex-chairman, Joan Laporta, is not the only football figure to vie for political power. Mauricio Macri, former head of the Buenos Aires soccer legends Boca Juniors, is head of government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Despite Macri’s right-wing agenda, many poorer Boca fans voted for him based on his club affiliation. —JCL The Guardian: A former chairman of Barcelona football club has launched himself on a political career as a populist Catalan separatist, whose backers include the region’s most famous porn star. Former club chairman Joan Laporta hopes the popularity garnered by two Champions League wins and four Spanish league titles can be turned into votes when Catalans choose a new regional government on 28 November. His aim is to break Catalonia away from the rest of Spain and create a newly independent state. “It is time to win our independence and administer our own resources,” the 48-year-old lawyer said as campaigning for the elections started last week. Read more Related Entries November 12, 2010 Court Allows ‘DADT’ Policy for Now November 11, 2010 Dishonoring Pat Tillman
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Residents of a central Ohio town held out hope Sunday that a mother who disappeared last week along with her two children and a friend would turn up after authorities found an “unusual amount of blood” found in her home. (Nov. 14)
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While never a neutral arbiter in the Middle East, it still is surprising that the U.S. has promised something like a long-term security agreement—including 20 F-35 fighter jets and a promise to veto any “damaging” UN security council resolution—in exchange for an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank. The agreement is currently a divisive issue for the Israeli cabinet, as four members of the Likud party opposed the U.S.‘s move to resume peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. One can only surmise the collective uproar that result after the same deal with the Palestinian Authority. Just sayin’. —JCL The Guardian: A US proposal offering security and diplomatic incentives to Israel in exchange for a renewal of a freeze on the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank drew an angry response from several senior Israeli ministers at a cabinet meeting today. Four cabinet members from the rightwing Likud party opposed Washington’s initiative to resume peace talks, in what Israeli media described as heated discussions. The Palestinian authority also said today that it had not been informed . “We haven’t heard anything official from the Americans,” said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. “We are waiting for them to contact us.” The US has reportedly offered Israel a long-term security agreement, which includes the delivery of 20 F-35 fighter jets worth $3bn (£1.9bn). Washington also vowed to veto any UN security council resolution that could be damaging for Israel. Read more Related Entries November 9, 2010 Obama Reaches Out to Muslims on Indonesian Trip November 9, 2010 Noam Chomsky on Misguided Outrage
Continue reading …Obamacare is So Great Companies Are Clamoring for Waivers to Get Out of It
November 14, 2010 No CommentAnd if your company is big enough and has enough political clout it might get one too: The Obama Administration recently handed out 111 Obamacare waivers to special US companies… And, they’re hiding this from the American public. It takes 6 clicks to find out this information on the government’s health care website. Unfortunately, if you’re a small business or you don’t have the right connections you can’t get a waiver for your company. That’s the new reality under the Obama-Pelosi regime. Time to repeal it and start over with something that makes sense.
Continue reading …Although he was likely taking a swipe at former governor Sarah Palin with the reference, Paul Krugman on Sunday recommended “death panels” as a means of helping to balance the federal budget. In a Roundtable discussion on ABC's “This Week,” the New York Times columnist said of what recently came out of the President's deficit commission, “Some years down the pike, we're going to get the real solution, which is going to be a combination of death panels and sales taxes” (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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Prince William joined British troops at a memorial service in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province to mark Remembrance Sunday. British forces have suffered heavy losses there. (Nov. 14)
Continue reading …In Denial: AP Report Dodges Obvious Potential Reasons For Friday Dive in U.S. Bond Prices
November 14, 2010 No Comment
When you increase demand for something, its price should go up. In the case of bonds, if the demand for them increases, their price should go up, and their effective interest-rate yield should go down. That didn't happen on Friday when the Federal Reserve began executing its second round of “money from nothing” quantitative easing. Even though the Fed increased demand, bond prices went down and yields went up. Why? If you read a late Friday afternoon report by the Associated Press's Matthew Craft you essentially get a bunch of blubbering “I don't know” statements (bolds after headline are mine): Treasury prices take a dive; Interest rates jump read more
Continue reading …TiVo Premiere now free on contract for $20 monthly, as TiVo introduces (and enforces) tiered subsidies
November 14, 2010 No Comment
Well, it seems we finally know why TiVo was waxing poetic about software in recent months — it’s the way the company primarily plans to charge for its DVR hardware from now on. Following a week-long experiment of free-on-contract DVRs conducted last month, TiVo’s opening up subsidized and partially subsidized pricing tiers to the entire US for those willing to chain themselves to a pricier $20 monthly fee. You can now get a TiVo Premiere for $0 on a two-year contract or $100 with a one-year arrangement, or pick up a TiVo Premiere XL for $300 on a one-year deal — the same price the regular old 45-hour TiVo Premiere cost originally. TiVo’s also kept the original $12.95-a-month plans around in case you want to pay full price for your hardware, which would normally make better financial sense after about three years, if not for the fact that there are still lifetime subscriptions available for $400 if you’re truly in it for the long haul. We’re all for expanding our buying power in this arena, but there’s one group of customers who are liable to get mighty pissed at the new arrangement — the regular Joes and Janes headed to Best Buy right now to pick up a $99 TiVo Premiere “on sale.” You see, retailers apparently didn’t get the memo about the new tiered pricing and are advertising the arrangement as a $200 discount instead, which leaves TiVo’s fine print the unenviable role of explaining that they’re going to pony up $20 a month from now on. 2.1.2 When purchasing a TiVo Premiere box from a third party retailer at $99.99 (includes an instant $200 savings off MSRP) for the TiVo Premiere box or $299.99 (includes an instant $200 savings off MSRP) for the TiVo Premiere XL box, you may only subscribe to the TiVo Service on a monthly basis for $19.99 a month with a one (1) year commitment (renews monthly after one year). Choices, choices. [Thanks, Daniel and Chris R.] TiVo Premiere now free on contract for $20 monthly, as TiVo introduces (and enforces) tiered subsidies originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NYT’s Chan Pens Two Puff Pieces to Offset Thursday’s ‘Obama Rejected at G-20′ Faux Pas
November 14, 2010 No Comment
Don't go overboard with it, but have some pity on Sewell Chan at the New York Times. On Thursday evening online and in Friday's print edition, Chan was among three Times reporters who composed a report ripping President Obama's lack of results at the G-20 summit. The piece's original title — “Obama's Economic View is Rejected on World Stage” — originally appeared online and actually made its way into the print edition . The headline apparently didn't sit well with someone at the Times. As I noted in a previous post (at NewsBusters ; at BizzyBlog ), it was changed to “Obama Trade Strategy Runs Into Stiff Resistance” sometime on Friday. That was apparently not enough to satisfy whoever is charge of politically correct revisionism at the Times. Chan seems to have been assigned the thankless task of composing not one, but two, kiss-and-make-up pieces to smooth things over. read more
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