| Economic slowdown beginning to look like deja vu, group says
The figures, in conjunction with downbeat news about manufacturing and a murky employment picture, sent the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 140 points Thursday as investors feared the onset of a recession. Broader indexes also closed lower.Markets had been hoping for economic data to show the economy wasn't shrinking, but signaling enough weakness to spur the Federal Reserve to again slash interest rates in March.Some dour news came from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, which reported a much lower-than-expected manufacturing index for February.While the Labor Department reported a drop in the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits, it was seen as only a temporary improvement. Analysts noted that claims offices in California were closed for a day last week for a state holiday, giving laid-off workers less time to file claims.The four-week average for claims, which gives a better picture of labor market trends, rose to 360,500 - the highest level since claims spiked in October 2005.The Conference Board report came a day after the Federal Reserve released its updated forecast for slower economic growth, higher unemployment and higher inflation.
DeepLinks Archives, January 2008
This week, along with our co-counsel, EFF filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings asking a U.S. District Court judge to throw out a copyright infringement suit brought by talk show host Michael Savage against the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Savage sued CAIR in December, alleging that CAIR infringed the copyright in his show when it posted on its web site brief excerpts from Savage's radio program in order to criticize Savage's remarks. Savage also added a federal racketeering claim stemming from that alleged copyright infringement. CAIR's use of the radio program excerpts is, of course, protected under the fair use doctrine. The Copyright Act specifically makes clear that third parties may utilize copyrighted works for purposes of commentary or criticism, as CAIR did in this case.
Henderson talks about coming to Norman, OU
In 1967, George Henderson's faculty mentor at Wayne State University in Detroit told him not to pull up stakes and take a teaching position complete with $5,000 pay cut at the University of Oklahoma. The state is full of rednecks and was a "second class place," the mentor told him. "You can do better," he advised. Besides, Norman was a known "sundown" town where African Americans were expected to be out of town by sundown or suffer the consequences. George and Barbara Henderson's children voted the move down. Henderson didn't listen to the mentor or his children. On a plane, flying over the red-dirt Midwest headed to an Oklahoma interview, an inner voice took hold and Henderson made the decision to come to OU as one of the university's first African American faculty members.
Hot chocolate rapist in court
In the first set of charges he faces, Barkas is accused of drugging women to "date rape" them. In the second brief of evidence, which has led to his notorious nickname, he is alleged to have bought the women a hot chocolate spiked with a disabling drug. His lawyer, Theo Magazis, told Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning that the case should be adjourned until next month so that both sets of police briefs can be dealt with at the same time. Magistrate Felicity Broughton remanded Barkas in custody until January 25 and noted that he did not apply for bail. Barkas, of South Yarra, was arrested in August and charged with attacking 24 women between 1990 and 2005. In October, he was charged with attacking a further six women after police applied to take DNA from him to check against that found on a dress and bed sheets provided by two new alleged victims.
Italian pay-TV revenues grow to E2bn
UK telco BT has pulled further ahead in the broadband market as it met forecasts with a 3 per cent increase in first-quarter core earnings and revenues. The company said its BT Retail unit accounted for 38 per cent of net DSL broadband additions during the quarter with 459,000 new broadband customers. Meanwhile BT confirmed it was considering a Fibre to the curb network that cold deliver 50Mb/s. This compares with the existing upper limit of 8mbps that is available from most telecoms companies and the 24Mb/s that will be available from BTs new ADSL2+ network. A faster network is unlikely to be available beyond business centres, given the high capital cost.
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Eutelsat net quadruples Satellite operator Eutelsat Communications has reported net profit quadrupled to E170m in its year to June from E40.2m previously, lifted by the non-recurrence of restructuring charges and lower financial costs.
Beyond the Arc: Is Matta worth the money?
And how can anyone be worth more than that? After all, Matta isn't even the game's highest paid coach. (Or in the Big Ten. Michigan State's Tom Izzo makes more, and Matta's package was prompted by Tubby Smith's superior compensation package from Minnesota. Tubby, in should be noted, made nearly as much as Matta — in 2003 at Kentucky.) Since the Ohio State Board of Trustees must think Matta's worth it, it doesn't really matter if I think it's too much money to pay a coach. I can still wonder, though. Ohio State has the money to spend on top-flight coaches (in 2006, it was the only school with an athletic budget over $100 million), but that doesn't mean you'd have to pay that much up-front money to a coach. Why not spread it out? USA Today does a great package on coaches' salaries every year.
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