Tsipras Doubles Down, Airline Collusion

Greek Fire: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pulled a double-reverse yesterday, urging Greeks again to vote “no” Sunday to a European bailout deal that he had mostly agreed to 24 hours earlier. “A ‘No’ vote is a decisive step toward a better agreement that we aim to sign right after Sunday’s result,” Tsipras said.

European creditors are puzzled about how to deal with Tsipras. In the meantime all banks are closed and Greeks have formed long lines at ATM machines to withdraw the maximum 60 euros a day allowed by government controls. The banks are running out of euro notes.

Coach Class: The Justice Department is investigating whether the major airlines colluded to limit available seats, keeping ticket prices artificially higher at a time of increasing air travel. Justice suspects that the airlines kept things in check by illegally discussing the addition of new flights, routes, and extra seats.

World: A ferry carrying nearly 200 people capsized shortly after leaving dock in the central Philippines today, killing at least 36 people. Most of the people on board are believed to have survived. The boat was a canoe-style craft with outriggers, commonly used in the Philippines.

The Sports Page: Japan beat England 2-1 yesterday in a heartbreaker for the British in the Women’s World Cup. In the 92nd minute of play England’s Laura Bassett accidentally scored on her own goal, giving the win to Japan. They face the US on Sunday.

>The US has asked Switzerland to extradite 7 officials of the international soccer organization FIFA who were arrested there in May.

Church Burning: Mount Zion AME, a black church in Greeleyville, SC, burned to the ground Tuesday night for the second time in 20 years. The cause has not been determined, but a string of black churches in the south has burned in recent weeks, most of the fires determined to be arson. Mount Zion was torched in 1995 by two members of the Ku Klux Klan who went to prison. President Clinton spoke at the reopening.

The Obit Page: Nicholas Winton, a British man who helped save 669 mostly Jewish children from the Nazis and then said nothing about it for 50 years, has died in England at age 106. In 1938 Winton cancelled a Swiss ski trip and became involved in an operation to transport children from Czechoslovakia to England. By the end of the war, most of the children had no families to return to. Winton put it all behind him until his wife found his papers in the attic in 1988 and he was eventually knighted for what he had done.

Distress Sale: Macy’s joined the parade of businesses severing ties with self-promoter Donald Trump after his presidential announcement speech denouncing Mexican immigrants. A Macy’s statement said, “We have no tolerance for discrimination in any form.” Trump has sold a line of clothing through Macy’s since 2004 and has appeared in company commercials. Meanwhile he’s suing Univision for half a billion dollars for dumping him and his beauty pageants.

Gluten Free!: The General Mills food factory got out in front of the gluten free trend in 2008 with gluten free Rice Chex. Amazingly, the General Mills chemists made a gluten free cereal out of a naturally gluten free grain.

In another invention of gluten free ingenuity, General Mills announced that it will start producing gluten free Lucky Charms cereal. That’s the stuff with the pink, yellow, and orange bits of marshmallow in it. It’s got dried marshmallow in it, but it’s “Gluten Free!.”

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Thursday, November 14, 2024

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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