Ballmer, IBM Surprised by Oracle-Sun Deal

April 21, 2009

Reporters caught up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Moscow to get his take on Oracle’s deal to buy Sun Microsystems for US$7.4 billion. Ballmer was at a loss for words: ‘I need to think about it. I am very surprised.’

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Corruption Follows Spending: About 20 Criminal Probes of Bailout Spending Underway

April 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — A government watchdog has launched “almost 20” criminal investigations related to the $700 billion financial bailout program, according to a report to Congress to be released Tuesday. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the rescue program, says in the report that the probes involve possible public corruption; corporate, stock and tax fraud; […]

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Fist Bumping with Despots

April 21, 2009

There have been three incidents of note in the past week apotheosizing the delicate position President Barack Obama inhabits on the international stage. Taken together, these events depict a young president struggling to find his course in a storm of global crises.

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Billy Bob Thornton is Totally Going Righteous Crazy on Your Canadian Keister

April 21, 2009

There’s insane, there’s hilariously insane, then there’s Billy Bob Thornton going hilariously insane. On a radio interview. In Canada. With subtitles! Author admits interview “officially moved [Billy Bob] from my list of celebrities who I wouldn’t mind seeing eaten by sharks to my list of celebrities I am actively trying to get sharks to eat.”

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Geithner Reconsiders Bank Health Measures, May Complicate Repayment Requests

April 21, 2009

DJIA falls 3.5%, concerns about sustainability rise, and SecTreas Geithner reconsiders path ahead: “We want to make sure that the financial system is not just stable, but also not inducing a deeper contraction in economic activity. We want to have enough capital that it’s going to be able to support a recovery.” More spending, anyone?

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Cheney to Obama: Release All the CIA Memos, Not Just the Ones White House Chose

April 21, 2009

VP Cheney continues his tendency to be more publicly outspoken in the first 100 days of Obama’s presidency than he was in eight years prior, bashing POTUS for withholding classified memos that showed information produced by questionable interrogations, including “information that, Cheney says, those interrogations successfully helped prevent another attack on the homeland since 9/11.”

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Playing to Gay, Racial Politics: Gov. Paterson’s Backroom Plan to Outflank Andrew Cuomo

April 21, 2009

There’s crass politics, then there’s crass New York politics. Embattled Democrat Gov. David Paterson “refuses to go easily,” bets that playing to Al Sharpton, same-sex marriage fans will win through. “While the governor knows a lot of Democrats would rather see Cuomo at the top of the ticket, he’s counting on their fear of bloodshed.”

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Tapper vs. Gibbs: The Showdowns Continue, This Time Over $100M Budget Cuts

April 21, 2009

“$100 million is a lot but $8 billion is small?” Tapper vs. Gibbs continues to make for great TV, as the president’s spokesman struggles to adapt to DC press corps that asks much tougher questions than Esquire did on the campaign trail. Aside: if White House has an antagonist in Jennifer Loven, that’s saying something.

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Juan Williams Ensures He's Never Getting Invited to Any Parties Ever Again

April 21, 2009

Juan Williams, already on the outs with many colleagues on the left merely for taking FOX News’ money, decides to defend the schoolchildren of Washington against the White House, admitting “over the last week I find myself in a fury” over the destruction of DC’s promising school choice program at union leaders’ whims. That’s stones.

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Where in the World is Matt Drudge?

April 21, 2009

“For the past few years, Matt Drudge has gone almost completely underground.” The king of breaking news, still commanding 20 million hits a day, is a man completely removed from the public eye. In the era of Twitter, he’s notably uninterested in sharing his every thought, move with the public. Oddly, this frustrates some people.

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