News Junkie - Live Wire

Prop 8 Struck Down

California judge strikes down Prop 8 (PDF)…

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Top Secret America

A fountain of information from the Washington Post… 854,000 with top-secret access.

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Drugs Inc. – Meth Episode

A look at the ins-and-outs of meth

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Billion Bug Highway

Fantastic animation/report from NPR to cleanse the palate today… It’s about billions of bugs in the sky.

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Aimee Sword Convicted

Sword gets 30 years for sex with son…

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USA V. Arizona (PDF)

The Justice Department has officially filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona over still yet to be enacted SB1070. Read the filing here (PDF).

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DROPS

The unemployment rate has dropped to 9.7%. That’s down from 10% which seems like good news but the economy still shed 200,000 jobs.


GDP GROWS AT 5.7%

The end-of-year GDP grew at a solid 5.7%


JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE

Wake Up: Jobless claims rise to 482,000.


NO MORE STIMULUS

Survey of economists: No more stimulus needed.


UNEMPLOYMENT TO 10%

The unemployment rate has declined, just a bit


HOLD ON BERNANKE

Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders puts Senate hold on Ben Bernanke’s second term

A tough quote from Sanders after the cut


EXTREME HOME FORECLOSURE

The aftermath of a reality TV whirlwind:

Five years ago, the Wofford family’s home received a new house on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” show. But now the family’s Encinitas home may be weeks away from foreclosure.


STRONG CORE STRENGTHS

President Obama hails the economy’s ‘core strengths‘ on the road.

Gawker compares it to McCain’s ‘fundamentals of the economy’ shtick…


White House Pressers Becoming WWE Events

Allow me to illustrate a point by shining a light on two different worlds.

World One involves the White House and it’s mouth piece, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. In this world everything is worthy of a yuck-yuck moment and it’s perfectly acceptable to turn a press conference into something just short of a skit on Monday Night Raw. Let’s go to the tape…

MR. GIBBS: I will say this — I will say this, I don’t know if you


Freddie Mac Suicide: Acting CFO Found Dead

Around 5AM this morning, Fairfax County, Virginia police received a phone call from family members of David Kellerman, acting CFO of Freddie Mac. “We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide,” Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings said.

Kellerman was responsible for Freddie Mac’s finances and has been under pressure since the government intervened to save the struggling company with taxpayer funds. Though Freddie Mac is a government-controlled company, that hasn’t made the…


Friday Fun: Jim Cramer Freaks Out

Again. I should have said Jim Cramer Freaks Out Again. Because God knows this guy can blow a lid with the best of them. But you know what? I like him. He’s entertaining and, as he’s keeping me watching, I learn a thing or two as well. There’s nothing wrong with that. Check out the verbal explosion (am I overselling it?) in the video below and have yourself a fantastic weekend.

P.S. Cramer doesn’t jump in until about halfway…


Photo: A Sign Of The Times?

Not sure where this photo was snapped but it’s clearly a bright business owner trying to make the best of a tough situation. You’ve seen this kind of thing from coast-to-coast. From unemployed husbands wearing sandwich boards, handing out resumes in the city to downright begging from those who lost their jobs early on in the year.

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It’s nice to see someone keeping their sense of humor ‘in this economy’. Man am I tired of that phrase. Hell, even…


Budget Passes With No GOP Votes

While you were sleeping…:

Acting in quick succession, the House and Senate approved budgets Thursday night drawn to President Barack Obama’s specifications and pointing the way toward major legislation later this year on health care, energy and education.

The House budget drew opposition from 20 Democrats as well as all 176 Republicans who voted.

In the Senate, only two Democrats voted against the plan, along with all 41 Republicans.


Jobless Rate Jumps To 8.5 Percent

It’s the highest unemployment rate since 1983…:

The nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since late 1983, as a wide range of employers eliminated a net total of 663,000 jobs.

The Labor Department’s report is fresh evidence of the toll the recession has inflicted on America’s workers and companies.

The latest tally of job losses, released Friday, was slightly higher than the 654,000 that economists expected. The rise in the unemployment rate matched expectations.


Geithner Talks, The Dollar Tanks

Another massive embarrassment for Tim Geithner:

Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is “open” to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China’s central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar, but which Geithner described as more modest and “evolutionary.”
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Evidently sensing a gaffe, moderator Roger Altman told Geithner that it would be “useful” to return to the question, and