Archive for July 22nd, 2008

Huge math error in Katrina supply giveaway

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

Federal officials vastly overestimated the value of hurricane relief supplies given away earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported Monday.

The General Services Administration, which manages federal property, over-counted cases of toilet paper, plastic sporks and other cutlery, by mistakenly counting a single item as being worth as much as multiple items contained in a package of goods.

The original GSA estimate of $85 million should have been $18.5 million, according to figures released by GSA and FEMA.

[..]

For example, each spork was assigned the value of an entire case, inflating the original estimated value of the supplies a thousandfold to $36 million from $36,000. Packs of toilet paper originally estimated to be worth $1.5 million dropped to about $18,000, and plastic cutlery kits, from $6.3 million to about $25,000.

Gitmo judge excludes coerced evidence

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

The judge in the first American war crimes trial since World War II barred evidence on Monday that interrogators obtained from Osama bin Laden’s driver following his capture in Afghanistan.

[..]

The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said the prosecution cannot use a series of interrogations at the Bagram air base and Panshir, Afghanistan, because of the “highly coercive environments and conditions under which they were made.”

Night before Obama flies abroad, Rice bars embassies from aiding candidates

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

The night before presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) left for Afghanistan, Iraq and Western Europe for a tour of US bases overseas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a cable to US missions forbidding them from holding events for presidential candidates or arrange meetings for them.

Rice issued no such cable prior to foreign excursions by presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

[Quote:]

“It is imperative that, in implementing these various requirements, we treat both major presidential candidates evenhandedly,” Miss Rice said in her cable.

Protected Intolerance

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

Level 2B

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

American Express Profit Falls on Higher Defaults

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

American Express Co., the biggest U.S. credit-card company by purchases, withdrew its 2008 earnings forecast after second-quarter profit fell 37 percent on worse-than-expected consumer defaults. The shares slumped 11 percent in extended trading.

Profit from continuing operations declined to $655 million, or 56 cents a share, from $1.04 billion, or 86 cents a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. The average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 82 cents. American Express said it added $600 million before taxes to reserves for U.S. loan losses.

“By almost any measure, the U.S. economy and business environment are much weaker than the assumptions” the company had in January, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault said today in a conference call.

“attempted suicide”

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

[Quote:]

At Netroots Nation yesterday, we ran into Melody Townsel, who has a horrifying story of her ordeal with her health insurance company that she kindly shared with us. Watch it:

You heard that right. Townsel’s insurance company declined to cover her daughter’s hospital bills because of her daughter’s “attempted suicide.” Her daughter was two years old. Only after five appeals did Townsel force her insurance company to provide the coverage she deserved from the start.

iPhone: Most Apple, AT&T stores sold out

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Seen on “Sprint Connection”:

[Quote:]

The iPhone shortage may be good news for Sprint, which launched the iPhone-challenging Samsung Instinct in June.

In other words, the more customers AT&T gets, the better it is for Sprint…


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