Some of the more interesting and important items for February 21st :
- If Libyan unrest spreads, gas could reach $5 – USATODAY.com – If political unrest in Libya spreads to other oil-rich countries and the ensuing chaos disrupts crude oil production, gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by peak summer driving season, industry analysts say.
- New MacBooks seem imminent, may feature Light Peak tech – MacBook Pro availability has reportedly slipped into the three- to five-day range, suggesting that supplies are dwindling. This, combined with word that some resellers are about to receive sealed shipments from Apple today, seems to indicate that Apple is set to unveil updated MacBook Pro models later this week.
- Blockbuster, video, sale, bankruptcy: Blockbuster home video chain to put itself up for sale – latimes.com – Home video chain Blockbuster Inc. has opted to put itself up for sale after a previous bankruptcy reorganization plan collapsed and its business continued to deteriorate over the holidays.
- Technology is killing some tech jobs John Shinal’s Tech Jobs – MarketWatch – Workers in the computer science and mathematics occupations category, which includes jobs such as systems analysts, computer programmers and network administrators, had an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent in 2010, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data done by the trade magazine Computerworld.
- Alex Trebek and Watson in Las Vegas. | Nitrozac and Snaggy | Voices | AllThingsD – Alex Trebek and Watson in Las Vegas.
- We put the federal budget in perspective Peter Brimelow and Ed Rubenstein’s Charticles – MarketWatch – Well, looking at the graphic it’s still pretty darn startling, actually. The fiscal-year 2011 federal deficit seems likely to be up very dramatically, 10.9% of GDP — far higher than the deficits run in the 1930s, during the Depression, and in the early 1980s, during the much-maligned first Reagan Administration
- The Benefits of Eating Insects – WSJ.com – At the London restaurant Archipelago, diners can order the $11 Baby Bee Brulee: a creamy custard topped with a crunchy little bee. In New York, the Mexican restaurant Toloache offers $11 chapulines tacos: two tacos stuffed with Oaxacan-style dried grasshoppers.
- Searching for Details Online, Lawyers Facebook the Jury – WSJ.com – Facebook is increasingly being used in courts to decide who is—and who isn't—suitable to serve on a jury, the latest way in which the social-networking site is altering the U.S. court system.
- Brent Crude Jumps to Two-Year High Above $108, Gold Rises on Libya Unrest – Bloomberg – Oil rose to the highest since September 2008 and gold rallied for a sixth day surpassing $1,400 an ounce as tension in the Middle East escalated. Stocks fell the most in a month as Eni SpA led companies with operations in Libya lower.
- BMW Names New Sub-Brand to Market Its Battery-Powered Cars – NYTimes.com – FRANKFURT — BMW, the German luxury car builder, said on Monday that it would create a sub-brand known as BMW i to market a line of battery-powered cars starting in 2013, and gave the most complete picture yet of how the vehicles made of carbon fiber and aluminum would look.
- Japan’s Aa2 Outlook Changed to Negative by Moody’s on Debt – Bloomberg – Japan’s credit rating outlook was changed to negative from stable by Moody’s Investors Service on the risk that the government won’t do enough to tackle the nation’s debt burden.