Chile Quake, Fast Food Fight
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Vol. 3, No. 92
Quake: An 8.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck off the north coast Chile last night, resulting in six deaths and street flooding in some areas. Landslides blocked roads, power was knocked out, an airport was damaged, and fire destroyed several businesses. Three hundred inmates escaped from a women’s prison. The quake was so strong, it was felt 290 miles away in Sucre, Bolivia’s capital
Flight 370: While the search for the missing passenger jet goes on, Malaysia is now warning that the jet might never be found, and the mystery of its disappearance never solved.
Politics: On a day when Obamacare hit its goal of 7 million enrollees, conservative Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled a proposed budget that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut deeply into Medicare and food stamps while lightening the tax load for the rich. Ryan would also raise defense spending by billions … all in the name of balancing the federal budget. His cuts total up to $5 trillion. Ryan has said, “This budget stops spending money we don’t have.” Many economists believe that drastic federal spending cuts will send the economy south.
Nation: Sitting down to a Congressional grilling on a fatal ignition switch problem that went unreported for years, GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said, “I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced for this program, but I can tell you that we will find out.”
She said that even though the problem did not happen on her watch, she would be responsible. In response to questions about establishing a fund for victims and their families, Barra said General Motors has hired Kenneth Feinberg, the man who ran the 9/11 victims fund, to study possibilities for GM. Some people have accused GM of not fixing the ignition switches because the company was losing billions at the time. Barra said, “In general we’ve moved from a cost culture after the bankruptcy to a customer culture.”
Mudslide: The official death toll in the Washington State mudslide has risen to 28, with 20 people still listed as missing. The landslide destroyed 30 houses.
World: Three bombs exploded outside Cairo University’s main campus, killing a police general and wounding seven other officers. The bombs targeted the police stationed outside the university for near daily demonstrations by Islamist students. The first two bombs went off within minutes of each other and the third blew two hours later. There’s been an increasing number of attacks against the police enforcing the ban on Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The Obit Page: Charles Keating, a onetime anti-pornography crusader who went to jail n the 1980s savings and loan scandal, has died at age 90. In 1989, federal regulators seized Keating’s Lincoln Savings accusing him of bilking the bank to put money into risky investments and cheating his own company’s investors. He served 50 months in prison.
Hunger Games: McDonalds and Taco Bell have been having a food fight ever since the Mexican-food chain introduced breakfast to compete with Mickey D and his Ugg McMuffin. The two companies have been insulting each other via social media like two angry teenagers. McDonald’s sent out a picture of their clown petting a Chihuahua. Taco Bell hired 25 men named Ronald McDonald to be featured in their ads. The question is, who’s going to eat a waffle taco for breakfast?
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