by Meenal Vamburkar
The deadline to submit preliminary bids for Newsweek magazine was yesterday at 5pmET. Let’s take a look at who’s willing to take the plunge!
Newsmax Media: Its two conservative owners publish an eponymous right-wing magazine and website. Notice a slight difference in political views? The owners have assured that they would not meddle in Newsweek’s politics.
OpenGate Capital: This is the private equity fund that already owns TV Guide. Could such a deal lead to possible TV-magazine meshing?
Thane Ritchie, CEO of Ritchie Capital Management: This hedge fund manager failed to buy the Sun Times Media Group last year. He is bidding on his own, not on his company’s behalf. According to the New York Times, Ritchie “has developed a reputation as something of a political provocateur in Illinois, most recently for his efforts to explore creating a third political party with supporters of Ross Perot.”
Sidney Harman: The 91-year-old founder of stereo equipment company Harman Kardon said he is “interested in exploring a potential bid.”
Friday, June 4, 2010
Grim Milestone: National Debt Moves Past $13 Trillion
The National Debt topped $13-trillion for the first time in U.S. history – reflecting the surge in government spending that will push the Debt to increasing highs through the rest of the decade.
Posted on the Treasury Department website this afternoon, the National Debt hit $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of June 1st.
Tallied against the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the latest Debt number amounts to nearly 89.4 percent of the total economy.
Here’s a fun fact: Since the beginning of the 2000′s, the national debt has increased by $7,274,735,146,661.64, more in a period of ten years than in the previous 211 year history of the Republic.
Obama’s share of that? So far, $2,423,949,411,973.89 in 499 days. Or over $4.8 billion in debt growth per day.
Under President Bush? Debt growth was at over $1.6 billion per day. Now, that $1.6 billion isn’t a good number, but it’s better than the $4.8 billion per day under Obama.
Now ask yourself this: Does the government have a revenue problem, meaning that we’re not taxed enough? Or does the government have a spending problem?
Posted on the Treasury Department website this afternoon, the National Debt hit $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of June 1st.
Tallied against the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the latest Debt number amounts to nearly 89.4 percent of the total economy.
Here’s a fun fact: Since the beginning of the 2000′s, the national debt has increased by $7,274,735,146,661.64, more in a period of ten years than in the previous 211 year history of the Republic.
Obama’s share of that? So far, $2,423,949,411,973.89 in 499 days. Or over $4.8 billion in debt growth per day.
Under President Bush? Debt growth was at over $1.6 billion per day. Now, that $1.6 billion isn’t a good number, but it’s better than the $4.8 billion per day under Obama.
Now ask yourself this: Does the government have a revenue problem, meaning that we’re not taxed enough? Or does the government have a spending problem?
Celtics vs Lakers Final Score Game 1 NBA Finals!
LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in tonight’s Celtics vs Lakers Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Final score of the Celtics vs Lakers game 1 tonight was 89-102.
Top performers tonight were Boston’s Pierce with 21 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Blk and Los Angeles’ Gasol with 23 Pts, 12 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk.
The Lakers were ahead on scoring all four quarters tonight. Top numbers for Boston were Pierce with 21, Garnett with 14, Rondo with 13, and Allen 12. Top numbers for Los Angles were Bryant with 27, Gasol with 23, and Artest with 12.
Celtics were 42% on shooting, 10% on 3 points, and 83% from the foul line. Lakers on the other hand were 47% on shooting, 29% on 3 pointers and 77% at the foul line.
Kobe Bryant told press after tonight’s the following “Our intent was to get the ball, rebound the ball, and keep offensive on.” When asked about potential distractions like Chris Rock tonight, Kobe said “Nothing else matters. Our attention is critical.”
Game 2 is Sunday night back at Staples Center, tipoff shortly after 8 pm EST 5 pm PST.
Top performers tonight were Boston’s Pierce with 21 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Blk and Los Angeles’ Gasol with 23 Pts, 12 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk.
The Lakers were ahead on scoring all four quarters tonight. Top numbers for Boston were Pierce with 21, Garnett with 14, Rondo with 13, and Allen 12. Top numbers for Los Angles were Bryant with 27, Gasol with 23, and Artest with 12.
Celtics were 42% on shooting, 10% on 3 points, and 83% from the foul line. Lakers on the other hand were 47% on shooting, 29% on 3 pointers and 77% at the foul line.
Kobe Bryant told press after tonight’s the following “Our intent was to get the ball, rebound the ball, and keep offensive on.” When asked about potential distractions like Chris Rock tonight, Kobe said “Nothing else matters. Our attention is critical.”
Game 2 is Sunday night back at Staples Center, tipoff shortly after 8 pm EST 5 pm PST.
N.Korea warns of 'tough retaliation' against UN action
SEOUL — North Korea warned Friday of retaliation if it is hauled before the UN Security Council over the sinking of a South Korean warship, as Seoul sought international backing for its campaign to punish its communist neighbour.
Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since a probe concluded last month that a North Korean torpedo sank the warship near the disputed sea border in March, prompting Seoul to announce a series of reprisals against Pyongyang.
The North -- which has warned of all-out war -- accused Washington and its allies of having "an ulterior motive" in wanting to refer the issue to the Security Council, and dismissed the probe results as "sheer fabrication".
"The US and the UNSC will find nothing to say about the toughest retaliation (North Korea) is to take as it did in the past," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official media.
They will "never shrug off the responsibility for having blocked the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and sparked off a conflict," he said.
Read More...
Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since a probe concluded last month that a North Korean torpedo sank the warship near the disputed sea border in March, prompting Seoul to announce a series of reprisals against Pyongyang.
The North -- which has warned of all-out war -- accused Washington and its allies of having "an ulterior motive" in wanting to refer the issue to the Security Council, and dismissed the probe results as "sheer fabrication".
"The US and the UNSC will find nothing to say about the toughest retaliation (North Korea) is to take as it did in the past," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official media.
They will "never shrug off the responsibility for having blocked the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and sparked off a conflict," he said.
Read More...
McDonald's recalls 12 mln Shrek-themed glasses
McDonald's Corp., (NYSE:MCD) the Oak Brook, Ill., burger chain, will recall 12 million US-made collectible drinking glasses themed on the movie character Shrek because the painted design on the glasses contains cadmium.
'79 Gulf oil spill leaves sobering lessons for BP
MEXICO CITY — It started with a burst of gas through the drilling well. Workers scrambled to close the safety valves but within moments, the platform caught fire and collapsed. Tens of millions of gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous attempts to stanch the spill failed.
Three decades later, the 1979 Ixtoc disaster remains the Gulf's — and the world's — worst oil spill.
The parallels between that disaster and the current BP oil spill offer sobering lessons. There were no quick fixes for Ixtoc: It took 10 months to stop the leak, with Mexico's state-owned oil company, Pemex, trying methods similar to those that BP has attempted at its Deepwater Horizon rig.
Pemex managed to slow the spill a little using several methods including forcing metal spheres into the well. But it couldn't stop the leak until two relief wells were drilled — and even that didn't work right away: the oil kept gushing for another three months after the first well was completed.
In the end, Ixtoc spewed a record 140 million gallons of oil. Massive slicks reached the northern Mexican Gulf coast and Texas, where it would eventually coat almost 170 miles (275 kilometers) of U.S. beaches.
By comparison, Deepwater Horizon has spilled an estimated 21 million to 45 million gallons of oil. But if the Pemex disaster serves as a precedent, the BP spill could continue even after the two relief wells are expected to be finished in August.
By then, it could surpass Ixtoc as the worst oil spill in history, said Tad Patzek, chair of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at the University of Texas-Austin.
Read More..
Three decades later, the 1979 Ixtoc disaster remains the Gulf's — and the world's — worst oil spill.
The parallels between that disaster and the current BP oil spill offer sobering lessons. There were no quick fixes for Ixtoc: It took 10 months to stop the leak, with Mexico's state-owned oil company, Pemex, trying methods similar to those that BP has attempted at its Deepwater Horizon rig.
Pemex managed to slow the spill a little using several methods including forcing metal spheres into the well. But it couldn't stop the leak until two relief wells were drilled — and even that didn't work right away: the oil kept gushing for another three months after the first well was completed.
In the end, Ixtoc spewed a record 140 million gallons of oil. Massive slicks reached the northern Mexican Gulf coast and Texas, where it would eventually coat almost 170 miles (275 kilometers) of U.S. beaches.
By comparison, Deepwater Horizon has spilled an estimated 21 million to 45 million gallons of oil. But if the Pemex disaster serves as a precedent, the BP spill could continue even after the two relief wells are expected to be finished in August.
By then, it could surpass Ixtoc as the worst oil spill in history, said Tad Patzek, chair of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at the University of Texas-Austin.
Read More..
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