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Daily Reads

US Govt Considering Taking up to 40 Percent of Citigroup’s Stock

Market
February 23, 2009 – 12:24 am

Bank execs hope it’ll be closer to 25%, but few have illusions at this point. A fed takeover of Citi’s common stock has been proposed to regulators, but it’s unknown if the White House has a position or if the feds would exercise greater authority over the day-to-day operations. How’d the Expos do under Selig?

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GOP Gov. Rift Over StimPack on Full Display

Politics
February 23, 2009 – 12:18 am

Govs Schwarzenegger and Crist, with state budgets desperate for cash, urge moving “beyond just the principles.” Govs Jindal and Sanford say this is shortsighted approach, and plan to turn down temporary stimulus funds requiring changes in state law that will morph into unfunded mandates. Schwarzenegger responds by saying he’ll take any money they turn down.

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Cairo Blast Targets French Tourists, Kills 1 Wounds 20

News
February 23, 2009 – 12:10 am

Crowded square of a popular bazaar in Cairo is hit by explosion as tourists gather to watch a soccer match, killing a 17 year old French girl on holiday. It marks the first fatal attack in three years, and is almost certainly retribution against Egypt for helping Israel enforce a blockade of the Gaza Strip.

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EU Leaders Turn to IMF, Propose Sweeping Regs

Market
February 22, 2009 – 11:59 pm

Sunday was sweeping proposal day for the EU, as heads of government and finance ministers of Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Luxembourg rolled out regs for financial markets, crackdown on tax havens, and call to double the size of the IMF, forming a common Euro position ahead of April’s G20 summit.

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350k Refugees in East, Central Africa Just Since October

News
February 22, 2009 – 11:51 pm

UN agency in Kenya reports 350,000 new refugees in Congo, Somalia as multiple conflicts cause massive relocation. Islamic insurgents are the cause in Somalia, Uganda LRA and Tutsi forces the cause in the Congo. 150k Congolese from one province have fled to Sudan and Uganda just since December. The words “humanitarian catastrophe” are back.

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Army Charity Criticized for Hoarding Donations

News
February 22, 2009 – 11:40 pm

Tens of millions in donations to Army Emergency Relief charity unspent, including $117 million in reserves. The charity, funded primarily by soldiers, is intended to provide emergency help to active duty families in need. Instead, it’s been giving out questionable loans. AER insists the reserves are needed for future catastrophes and troops returning home.

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Oscars, Meh

Edge
February 22, 2009 – 11:26 pm

Nikki Finke watches Oscar night: after 08’s lowest rated broadcast ever, not even Hollywood wants in. Ledger’s foregone win rare good moment; biggest movie stars turned down presentation opportunities; and as for host Hugh Jackman: “Maybe he’ll just keep the Wolverine suit on for the rest of the year so no one will recognize him.”

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Audacity of Hope? Obama Promises to Cut Deficit “At Least” in Half

Politics
February 22, 2009 – 1:53 am

Obama to announce budget, promise to cut annual deficit to $533 billion by 2013. Says budget will anticipate disasters, attacks. Decides not to keep campaign promise on Bush tax cuts, letting them expire in 2010 instead of eliminating earlier, as “Officials determined seeking to raise taxes earlier during a recession was a bad idea.”

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Foreign Policy Experts Generally Agree: Obama Is Awesome

Politics
February 22, 2009 – 1:42 am

A survey of left-of-center wonks (with a token American Enterprise Institute fellow for seasoning) asks: Is Obama’s initial foreign policy showing awesomeriffic, or merely great? The consensus is tentatively awesomeriffic. (The AEI guy gives the mandatory dissent.) As most of these folks explicitly prefer process to progress, listening tours hit them in the right spot.

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Shoring Up The Invisible Walls

Politics
February 22, 2009 – 1:42 am

Kudos to the Obama Administration for identifying a weakness in America’s defense posture and beginning the repair process: The sprawling networks that tie America’s information infrastructure together are susceptible to, and tested daily by, (Chinese) hackers. From the look of it, the Administration is in Dutch Boy mode. Let’s hope they beat the flood.

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Britain Discovers the Limits of Hope and Change As Obama Uses Court of St. James to Park Fundraiser

Politics
February 22, 2009 – 1:41 am

Remarkably, the Brits appear stunned that yet another American President placed yet another apparently qualification-free donor/crony in the sweetest foreign policy post available. Impressively, they held this belief even when it appeared that Caroline Kennedy, another qualification-free political ally, looked to be slated for the spot. Hopefully, they’re not waiting on the seas to recede.

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Chandra Levy Case To Be Solved, Maybe

News
February 22, 2009 – 1:41 am

Ten years, thousands of man-hours, one wrecked Congressional career, and one in-depth newspaper story that basically laid out who the murderer likely is step-by-step for the D.C. Police later, Chandra Levy’s murder may be solved. Or not. It’s the D.C. Police. Taking the police at their word, we should know in the next few days.

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- March 22, 2010 -

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