Sometimes, covering the news makes me nauseous. It doesn't help that all over the Web, there are hundreds of sycophantic bloggers embracing tech-company spin. Of course, often, the companies might have something legitimate to say. but more often than not it's just propaganda. This week's, slathering, sycophantic barrage came on the Google Apps Marketplace, announced yesterday.

From the Google blog:

“Every day, thousands of businesses choose the cloud. More than 2 million businesses have adopted Google Apps over the last three years, eliminating the hassles associated with purchasing, installing and maintaining hardware and software themselves.”

Ewww. Can I just point out one thing? Google makes almost ZERO money on cloud applications! Despite all the hype over “cloud-based services” and “open, free apps,” Google hasn't made a dime on this. Google should just admit it likes to hand out free stuff to generate more adwords traffic, that's their business model!

Anyway, now that I've got that off my chest, let's move on to other news:

• House bans earmarks for for-profit companies (The Washington Post). Wow! You mean, Congress might actually try to do something logical? But the Repubs might have a point -- why not ban all earmarks?
• Time to ramrod through financial reform, I guess (L.A. Times). That can't be good.
• Google's in talks with China (Los Angeles). Not sure if it wants the Mu Shu pork or Chicken Chow Mein.
• Bing is gaining marketshare from Yahoo (Business Insider). Don't you love a nasty fight for second place?
• Telecom mogul Carlos Slim is now the world's richest man! (BusinessWeek). Bill Gates, now a pathetic number two, seen doing shots of tequila in Redmond.
• The Papandreou Offensive (BusinessWeek). I just thought that was a great headline. I didn't actually read it.
• Florida floreclosures rise again (Bizjournals.com). In other news, Dunkin' Donuts is still making donuts.
• Caterpillar might build excavator facility in the U.S. (Reuters). They should think about putting it in Washington. A lot of stuff to excavate there.
• The IRS has $1.3B in unclaimed taxes (WalletPop). Well, good luck, I know I'm not getting any of it.
• They've discovered an all-black penguin in Antarctica (Yahoo Green). Can you believe there's a site called “Yahoo Green.” That's funny, Yahoo.
• New battery charging method could improve recharge times (Technology Review). Apply an oscillating electric field to the anode of a lithium battery and the recharge time drops dramatically! Why didn't I think of that?
• Apple to support iPhone multitasking (TG Daily). Now your wife will be able to talk on the phone, drive the car, and tell you to take out the garbage at the same time!
• A bunch of Wizard of Oz remakes are bouncing around Hollywood (L.A. Times). No confirmation of whether Alan Greenspan is involved in the financing.