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Monday, July 13, 2009

Your Morning News 7/13/09

Posted by Josh in , , , , , ,

dick-cheney

Over the weekend it was revealed that the CIA has been running secret anti-terrorism programs that were kept from Congress at the order of Vice President Cheney. This morning, we find out that the program had to do with secretly capturing or killing Al Qaeda operatives. Is anyone in the world surprised that Dick Cheney was running a secret CIA assassination program? Like… anyone? I would be upset if Dick Cheney saw Munich and DIDN’T say, “Well gee, that looks like a good idea.”

Confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor begin today. The Washington Post unwittingly details how Supreme Court confirmation hearings are kabuki theater. No one doubts that she is going to be nominated, but every group involved has their own specific goals and statements to make. Of course, the Post article treats this all as deadly serious. For example, “Conservatives are hoping to use the Sotomayor hearings as a way to motivate their base if they can successfully portray her as an activist judge whose “empathy” for certain groups guides her rulings more than court precedent or the written law.” WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?!?

Have you had enough of Sacha Baron Cohen’s junk? Apparently you are not alone. Bruno was the top movie in the country this weekend with a stellar opening day of $14.4 million. However, Saturday revenue for the film dropped 39%, one of the largest second-day drops ever. This is bad news for the film and indicates that audiences bought tickets  expecting another Borat and instead got another Ali G Indahouse.

Making the case for newspapers as a source of things you didn’t know you wanted to know, the New York Times uses the upcoming British Open to profile the business of golf sponsorships. Specifically, the article focuses on how golfers’ clothes are picked out months, even years, in advance.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Your Morning News 6.30.09

Posted by Josh in , , , , ,

From the Associated Press

From the Associated Press

Rolls over What? Eh? We are doing this now? Reaches forcomputer, sound of empty bottles breaking. OK, let’s see what’s in the news

Bernard Madoff, the mastermind behind the biggest financial swindle in history, was sentenced to 150 years behind bars for what his judge called an “extraordinarily evil” fraud. Madoff’s ponzi scheme cost investors something like $13 billion and shook the nation’s faith in its financial and legal systems. But he is going to jail! The recession is over! Right? The big question is if it is possible that a fraud of that scale was perpitrated by one man or if Madoff is taking the fall for his sons and other employees. Also, have you gotten this far without knowing what a Ponzi scheme is?

Apparently the Supreme Court overturned some decision about Firefighters and Civil Rights. It is a “big deal” because President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a member of the panel that wrote the decision reversed by the justices. Check out the always excellent SCOTUSblog for an analysis of the decision.

Did you know that there was a coup in Honduras? No? You probably haven’t heard about it because they all Twitter in Spanish or something. I don’t really understand what is going on, but there is a good breakdown of the issue in today’s  New York Times op-ed page.

As a side note: Happy Birthday Dad!