Waterworld Unlikely Since Antarctic Refuses To Melt, Housing and Durable Goods Figures Improve, Cops Shoot Dog In Front of Young Owner: P.M. Links
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Obama and Romney remain locked in a neck and neck race, with differences in their numbers falling within the statistical margin of error. The incumbent remains slightly stronger in swing states.
- Antarctic ice shelves aren't melting at all, according to new data, which is based on the first ever direct measurement of the ice, and not on computer models. The information was gathered, in part, by attaching sensor packages to elephant seals. Damn. And I was looking forward to waterworld.
- Pending sales of homes were up 5.9 percent in May, exceeding most forecasts and matching a two-year high. Durable goods orders were up 1.1 percent, with a 1.6 percent rise in those goods that indicate business investment. So … the apocalypse may not be, quite, imminent.
- San Bernardino County, in California, plans to use eminent domain powers to seize underwater mortgages with an eye toward restructuring them. Economist Robert Shiller is pushing for a national plan along the same lines. It's a good thing governments are rolling in uncommitted cash. Oh, wait …
- Stockton, California, has become the largest U.S. city to go into bankruptcy. The city ran up massive debt during boom years. Yeah, it's always a good idea to spend more than you bring in even during healthy economic times.
- Spain is pushing to have an anticipated bailout delivered directly to its banks so the money doesn't add to the government's already huge debt load.The country's economy continues to suffer, with unemployment at 24.4 percent.
- On the seventh anniversary of the Kelo decision, Senators John Cornyn and Rand Paul introduced legislation that would prevent the use of federal power or funds to implement eminent domain for economic development.
- The Miami-Dade Police Department is disciplining 44 detectives who drove 90 mph or faster more than 400 times, in violation of both the law and department rules. The move is part of the fallout from a newspaper investigation that used toll records to expose almost 800 cops, most of whom are habitual speeders.
- Cops in Mount Vernon, New York, killed a pit bull they said was attacking a man. But witnesses and the boy's ten-year-old owner, who was there, say the dog was defending itself after the man assaulted it with a 2 x 4. But Elgin, Illinois, may be the dog-shootingest town around. Since 2008, cops have unloaded on 23 dogs, killing 19 — a far larger number than neighboring, bigger, communities.
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