Friday, February 8, 2008

Your Morning News 2.8.08

Posted by Jeff in john mccain, mafia, Microsoft, mike the electrician, Mitt Romney, nasa, shooting, Yahoo

It turned out that $86 million spent (and $35 million of debt) simply isn’t enough to buy yourself a nomination anymore as Mitt Romney officially withdrew from the Republican race yesterday following a disappointing Super Tuesday showing. The announcement came at the Conservative Political Action Conference where the crowd gave the Mittster a fond farewell, then despite party pleas to the contrary, serenaded the presumptive nominee with a hearty round of boos. No boos coming from the President, however, who has deemed the time correct to step in and start stumping. Look out, Barry and Hillary, the GOP now gets nine months of unified campaigning.

One more reason to stay uninvolved in local politics: A man opened fire at a city council meeting in Kirkwood, Missouri, killing five and wounding the city’s mayor, among others. Charles Thornton had a history of hostility with the Kirkwood’s council zoning commission, and had been barred from attending any meetings. He was shot to death as he tried to escape.

Nearly 60 members of the Gambino organized crime family were arrested in a round of federal stings on charges ranging from murder to drug dealing and gambling. Mob boss John “Jackie the Nose” D’Amico was among those captured, though powerful capo Nicky “Little Nick” Corrozo managed to escape and is now being hunted. The mobsters apparently went without a fight, saying that their hearts simply hadn’t been in it since the Sopranos ended. The Smoking Gun provides us with a roundup of some of the best nicknames of the bunch, including “The Greaseball,” “Bobby the Jew,” “Tommy Sneakers,” and “Mike the Electrician.”

After a fruitless week of hoping for another company to bid up the original proposal of $31 a share, the Yahoo board of directors is reportedly meeting today to decide whether or not to accept Microsoft’s offer. Their other primary option remaining involves gutting their own search service and striking up a deal with Google, but as TechCrunch reports, that would likely force a one-third reduction in an already recently reduced workforce. All signs are pointing towards the board accepting the Microsoft bid, though the combined behemoth will now likely face a regulatory battle.

Finally, the space shuttle Atlantis successfully launched into orbit yesterday, and will be undergoing the standard hull inspection for launch debris damage before delivering the $2 billion European scientific lab to the International Space Station. The poor bastards on board were woken up by the strains of Peter Gabriel today – makes “Daisy” seem tame, doesn’t it?

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