Trying to follow the amount of money the Federal Reserve has pumped into the economy (and the banks) can be truly mind-boggling, and it’s not getting easier. The Fed announced plans Wednesday to purchase another $600 billion worth of Treasury bonds and to buy more of the Treasury’s debt—up to $900 billion by June. The timing may not be a coincidence. A former Fed governor tells the New York Times that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would prefer more stimulus money from Congress, but the new Republican majority in the House makes that unlikely.
Continue reading …After a suspicious victory of Harry Reid over Sharron Angle with a 5 point margin, the Tea party favorite Angle has lodged a complaint with Nevada’s attorney.
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A female-to-male transgender member of the George Washington University women’s basketball team wants to be identified as a man this season. (Nov. 3)
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House Minority Leader John Boehner is expected to become the next Speaker of the House following Tuesday’s Republican takeover of the US House. While he’s spent years as a part of the GOP leadership, many Americans don’t know much about him. (Nov. 3)
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Hollywood and its showbiz denizens are usually associated with the political left, or at least the Democratic Party, and entertainment industry power players have been known to cozy up to their elected representatives. But what happens when the Dems take a big hit ? Related Entries November 3, 2010 Federal Reserve Finds $600 Billion in the Couch November 3, 2010 And Now for the Next Battle
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It’s not just Facebook for Android that’s getting an update today — Twitter just pushed out a new version of its Android app , and while it doesn’t add a ton of new features, it’s gotten a big speed boost and some polish. The biggest addition is pull-to-refresh, which the iPhone client has had for a while, as an option bar that’s revealed by swiping on a tweet. There’s also new quoting options for retweets and avatar photos are now high-res, which is nice. We just tried it out and it is indeed faster, which is nice, but we noticed that avatars don’t load in right away while you scroll — they’re generic until you stop. Just a minor niggle, and you’ve no reason not to upgrade — it’s free, after all. Hit market or scan the QR code after the break. P.S.- Hmm, a big Twitter app update on the same day as a Facebook event? That timing feels like a little more than a coincidence to us, especially since Facebook is gunning hard for location-based check-ins, which is traditionally Twitter’s domain. Dare we say that this relationship is complicated? Continue reading Twitter for Android updated, adds speed, polish, more options Twitter for Android updated, adds speed, polish, more options originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Food Nazis : San Francisco’s board of supervisors has voted, by a veto-proof margin, to ban most of McDonald’s Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants. The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the country to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat. The ordinance would also require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys. “We’re part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice,” said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. “From San Francisco to New York City, the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country is making our kids sick, particularly kids from low income neighborhoods, at an alarming rate. It’s a survival issue and a day-to-day issue.” “Food justice?” What the hell is “food justice”?
Continue reading …Steal Nevada shellacking giants parade live.
Continue reading …By E.J. Dionne, Jr. President Obama allowed Republicans to define the terms of the nation’s political argument for the past two years and permitted them to draw battle lines the way they wanted. Neither he nor his party can let that happen again. Related Entries November 3, 2010 Federal Reserve Finds $600 Billion in the Couch November 3, 2010 And Now for the Next Battle
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Photo credit: Tormod Sandtorv / Creative Commons This guest post was written by Le Ngoc Thach, president of the Dai Nghia cooperative and one of the first SRI farmers in Ha Noi province, courtesy of Oxfam America . Watching my parents’ rice crop fail was a heartbreak I will never forget. It was 1984, and that growing season, stem borer grubs devoured… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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