The parties are pleased to announce that a settlement has occurred, and that the terms are confidential. Nothing more will be disclosed regarding the settlement.A joint statement from Keith Olbermann and Current TV • Discussing the settlement the two parties reached in the anchor’s lawsuit against the network. With the network changing hands in recent weeks, it’s possible Olbermann made out like a bandit here, as the lawsuit was for $50 million and the settlement came days after he filed court documents in an effort to receive a summary judgment. But we won’t know for sure unless Olbermann launches his own TV network.
» More than money lost: In addition to the money that the U.S. will claim from PokerStars — with $184 million being used to repay former players — the government will also seize all assets owned by Absolute Poker. “Our hope and expectation is that the proceeds of the forfeiture will be used to repay our players,” said Absolute Poker’s attorney Jerry Bernstein, but he also noted that the decision ultimately rests with authorities. Full Tilt Poker did not escape unscathed either, and plans to sell all of its assets to PokerStars as part of the settlement.
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Politico reports that the cash settlement for one of the women accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment bears the date: September of 1999. No joke.
On a related note, if you missed Michelle Cottle’s Daily Beast piece from a few weeks back about Cain’s obsession with numerology (and one number in particular), it’s definitely worth a read.
Figures.
» The scandal that killed a newspaper: With the News of the World scandal a bit of a low point for the company this year, it’s understandable that they might want to get this dealt with. But the Dowler family has made sure it was to their liking: ”Nothing that has been agreed will ever bring back Milly or undo the traumas of her disappearance and the horrendous murder trial earlier this year,” they said. “The only way that a fitting tribute could be agreed was to ensure that a very substantial donation to charity was made in Milly’s memory. We hope that projects will be undertaken so that some good can come from this.” Meanwhile, News Corp. now has a second scandal under its large journalistic umbrella, though this one (the WSJ’s circulation scandal) is fortunately more business-oriented and less invasive on another person’s life.
the Strauss-Kahn accuser might drop the case for money. However, the woman’s lawyer is denying these claims that follow a report from the Wall Street Journal that sites anonymous sources. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were trying to make a deal — anything close to a conviction in this case would be political suicide for prominent French politician Strauss-Kahn, if his career isn’t over already. It’s evident that he and his team want this case out of the way as soon as possible, and from what’s being said, the woman might just take money instead of going through with the trial. We’ll see. source
» Not every victim is getting helped: Only around $5.9 billion in losses has been recognized by the trustee so far, which much of the rest of the money owed indirectly by hedge funds that need to pay back the money they withdrew first.
That sound you hear is that of the U.S. dragging its tail between its legs. After attempting to making an offer to Israel to give them some fighter jets in exchange for a temporary delay of their building ambitions, the deal fell apart. The hope was that the delay would encourage Israel and Palestine to create firm borders, but in the end, the U.S. wouldn’t offer anything up to Israel in writing, and Palestine wouldn’t rekindle peace talks over a temporary settlement-building halt. The U.S. is playing down the diplomatic failure (which was kind of a bum deal anyway) and instead moving on to diplomatic talks between Israel and Palestine next week in the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, by the way, will be making a speech about the Middle East on Friday. source
Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is the capital of the state of Israel. Israel sees no connection between the diplomatic process and the planning and building policy in Jerusalem.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu • Explaining why Israel will continue to build settlements in disputed areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank despite rebukes from the U.S. for its latest settlement-building schemes. Just hours before, Obama criticized Israel for its actions like so: “This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations, and I’m concerned that we’re not seeing each side make that extra effort involved to get a breakthrough. Each of these incremental steps end up breaking trust.” source (via • follow)
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
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OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
» The lesson of the day, guys? It pays to be a lawyer. Or a whistleblower. One thing that doesn’t pay is selling products on the market that don’t do what they purport to do, or are tainted during the manufacturing process.
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