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Neon Tommy's Weekly Roundup 11/08/13

Madison Mills |
November 8, 2013 | 12:44 p.m. PST

Contributing Reporter

(Graham Clark/Neon Tommy)
(Graham Clark/Neon Tommy)
The New York Stock Exchange, the White House and your local Blockbuster all received a lot of media attention this week. For those of you who have no idea why, I’ve provided a summary to explain it all. This week’s cheat sheet will summarize the latest news events for you so you aren’t forced with the daunting task of actually watching the news on a daily basis. I’ve already done that on your behalf!

Let’s get started

1. Twitter (TWTR)

(Twitter/Eli Langer)
(Twitter/Eli Langer)

Twitter spread its wings and flew all the way to the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning. The company plans to make $1.8 billion by selling 70 million shares. After struggling to set a share-price, Twitter settled its initial public offering on $26 a share.  The share-price debate was fueled by Twitter's desire to avoid the issues Facebook faced when they became a publicly-traded company.

Read more here

 

(Twitter/ @ABC7News)
(Twitter/ @ABC7News)
2. Super Typhoon Haiyan

The strongest storm ever recorded hit the Philippines early Friday morning local time, or Thursday night in the U.S. With more than 25 million people in its path, Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall with the strength of a Category five hurricane and wind gusts as high as 235 miles per hour. Officials say it is too soon to know the extent of the damage. The storm comes just weeks after an earthquake hit the country, killing 150 people.

Read more here

(Flickr/Ben Schumin)
(Flickr/Ben Schumin)
3. Bye-Bye Blockbuster

Remember those fun filled Friday nights composed of strolling the aisles of your local Blockbuster to pick up a newly released VHS? Well, those days are officially over. DISH announced the remaining 300 Blockbuster stores will be closed by early January. Competing with companies like Netflix became too much for good old Blockbuster. But have no fear my fellow 90s fans- 50 independently owned franchises are expected to remain open. If that's not fighting on, I don't know what is.

Read more here

(Creative Commons/Shan213)
(Creative Commons/Shan213)
4. Affordable Care Act:

I could easily write an entire article on this topic, but here's the gist. A small group of Americans have received cancellation notices from insurers, as their individual plans do not meet Obamacare requirements. These cancellations only happen with policies issued after 2010, the year Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. President Obama previously promised Americans "if you like your plan, keep your plan." But his message has changed over the past few weeks. Obama apologized to Americans who have received cancellation notices in an interview with NBC on Tuesday. Although the President regrets issues with the current law, he's confident the majority of people will benefit from Obamacare.

Read more here

(Creative Commons/MattyMatt)
(Creative Commons/MattyMatt)
5. Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Legislation that protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees from workplace discrimination was approved by the Senate for the first time on Thursday. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is awaiting House approval, although the Republican-led House will most likely oppose the bill. President Obama made a statement urging Republicans in Congress to approve the bill.

Read more here


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