Show me the Benjamins  

Bloomberg

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Gray and the other reporters were likely trying to win favors to get them the air time, TMZ says [Win favors, or give favors?]

Jay Gray, the NBC News reporter covering the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal in State College, Pennsylvania, was arrested on drunk driving charges after he attended a drunken football-watching party at Sandusky’s lawyer’s house, reports say.

The Pennsylvania State Police arrested Gray just before 2am December 12 during a traffic stop.

He was allegedly at the home of Joe Amendola, the eccentric lawyer defending Sandusky against allegations he molested 10 boys over the course of several years.

Video interview

Analyst: ‘This might be the most government-supported car since the Trabant’

Each Chevy Volt sold thus far may have as much as $250,000 in state and federal dollars in incentives behind it – a total of $3 billion altogether, according to an analysis by James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Hohman looked at total state and federal assistance offered for the development and production of the Chevy Volt, General Motors’ plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Hohman included in his analysis 18 government deals that included loans, rebates, grants and tax credits. The amount of government assistance does not include the fact that General Motors is currently 26 percent owned by the federal government.

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Japan is seeking business outside its borders. Deal expected to close without a hitch by April 2012.

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Fun times for Europe

Honda plans to shift some manufacturing to America because a stronger Yen is making exports not so profitable.

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No real action on the news after the close.

In order to prevent systemic risk the Fed has rolled out new rules that are similar to that of Basel 3.

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CNN Poll: President’s approval nearing 50%

President Barack Obama’s approval rating, a crucial indicator of his reelection chances, is on the rise, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday also indicates that the partisan battle over extending the payroll tax cut may be partially responsible for the jump in the president’s numbers.

Full results (pdf)

According to the survey, 49% of Americans approve of the job Obama’s doing in the White House, up five points from last month, with 48% saying they disapprove, down six points from mid-November. The 49% approval rating is the president’s highest since May, when his number hit 54% thanks to a bounce following the killing of Osama bin Laden. Since then, in CNN polling, Obama’s approval rating has hovered in the mid-40s.

“President Barack Obama’s approval rating appears to be fueled by dramatic gains among middle-income Americans,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “The data suggest that the debate over the payroll tax is helping Obama’s efforts to portray himself as the defender of the middle class.”

Obama’s gains have come at the expense of the Republicans in Congress and the GOP in general. By a 50% to 31% margin, people questioned say they have more confidence in the president than in congressional Republicans to handle the major issues facing the country. Obama held a much narrower 44% to 39% margin in March.

And the GOP’s overall favorable rating has dropped to six points, to 43%, since June, while the Democrats’ positive rating remained steady at 55%.

“The Democrats do particularly well among middle income Americans, while the Republicans win support only from the top end of the income scale,” adds Holland.

Overall, only 16% say they approve of the job Congress is doing, with 83% giving lawmakers from both parties the thumbs down. The Congressional disapproval rating has topped 80% since August in CNN polling.

The survey indicates that Obama remains personally popular, with three-quarters saying they approve of him as a person.

“Overall, it’s not a bad position for an incumbent to be in as the calendar turns to an election year, but there are many months to go,” says Holland.

The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International from Dec. 16 to Dec. 18, with 1,015 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

via 

(via HuffPo)

Researchers in the UK have found that 92 percent of over 100 public baby changing tables carry traces of cocaine. Say what?

The study was conducted by a team of Real Radio journalists from a local station in North West England. While not the most science-y of scientists, they used specialist wipes to test facilities in shopping centers, hospitals, police stations, courts, churches, supermarkets and department stores.

Their efforts were fueled by last month’s announcement that the UK is the cocaine capital of Europe. Changing tables are only the latest germy hotspot being tested.

As Jezebel’s Margaret Hartmann points out:

“Considering that money (and plenty of other things we touch) are coated in traces of the drug too, it seems unlikely that the contamination is solely due to addicts doing lines off of Koala Kare changing stations. Though, you should still be cautious about putting your precious child directly on those tables, because according to our scientific research they’re coated in baby poop.”

So thank you British journalists. We were already icked out about putting our kids down on those stations. Now, we’re thinking a nice quiet corner of a bookstore, a hidden booth at a restaurant, a park bench… really anywhere, may be a better bet.

Via Jezebel

SOURCE

HTC haas been found to infringe on one of Apple’s patents. List is a small victory which creates some future problems for Android.

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Apple will acquire Anobit 

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