Bond Rush as Treasury Prices Fall

The extension of the Bush Tax Cuts ignited a sell-off that dropped the prices on Treasury bonds sharply on Wednesday

Financial markets have interpreted the tax cut deal, which was announced on Monday and must be approved by Congress, as contributing to economic growth over the next couple of years but also increasing the federal deficit and raising borrowing costs.

If all the nations of world are in debt... Where did all the money go?

EA vs Activision

Playing Medal of Honor, the new military combat game from Electronic Arts, I couldn’t stop thinking two things. First, E.A. is supposed to be better than this. And second, Activision and Call of Duty don’t have much to worry about.

Iran and Obama discuss Nukes.

A conversation between President Obama and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei discussed the Nuclear program in Iran.

 The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing a new offer for negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program, senior administration officials say, but the conditions on Tehran would be even more onerous than a deal that the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected last year. Iran’s reaction, officials say, will be the first test of whether a new and surprisingly broad set of economic sanctions is changing Iran’s nuclear calculus. As recently as last summer, senior officials, ranging from the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm.Mike Mullen, predicted that while the sanctions would hurt Iran, it was unlikely they would prove sufficient to force it to give up the major elements of its nuclear program.

Greece in Economic Trouble.

Greece, along with multiple other European nations are in a real economic pickle.

Greece, for one, looks as if it will run a budget deficit for 2010 greater than the 8.1 percent of gross domestic product it agreed to as part of a rescue package from theInternational Monetary Fund and the European Unionthat amounted to more than $150 billion, according to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak about it.

 It seems that the whole world is being sent into an economic down spiral.

Women choose Republican?

The votes of women may change the advantage in the house from Democrat to republican.

If women choose Republicans over Democrats in House races on Tuesday, it will be the first time they have done so since exit polls began tracking the breakdown in 1982.

The poll provides a pre-Election Day glimpse of a nation so politically disquieted and disappointed in its current trajectory that 57 percent of the registered voters surveyed said they were more willing to take a chance this year on a candidate with little previous political experience. More than a quarter of them said they were even willing to back a candidate who holds some views that “seem extreme.”

The Democrats had a significant advantage over the Republicans when Obama was elected President.

What's what 365's Author Democrat or Republican

 The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 8
You are a social moderate. You think the progressive movement is overall well meaning, but sometimes it goes too far. On issues like abortion and affirmative action, you see the negatives of both extremes on the issue. You probably value religion, but at the same time you think it should still stay separate from the government

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 10
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 6
You're a Moderate. You think that we all have certain inalienable rights that must be protected, but that sometimes laws need to be made to protect the majority's lives or quality of lives. You might think that the 2nd amendment isn't necessary anymore because letting everyone a gun is extremely dangerous to the community. You might also be against illegal drug use or public pornography because of its possible harmful effects to society.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 2
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Overall, you would most likely fit into the category of Democrat

Mental Health Break (Sony competes with Wii)

Sony has begun trying to compete with the Wii by creating the Play Station Move.

Sony’s PlayStation Move, which costs $400 for the base system (compared with $200 for the Wii), arrives in stores at the end of September;in two months, Microsoft’s Kinect, at $300 for a base system, will appear. Consumers will soon have many more video game options.

All the video game systems are competing for the family vote by creating systems that involve movement and games that are more family oriented, however on a more personal note I think that the PlayStation move is just a sad attempt at stealing younger gamers away from the Wii and the remote itself looks stupid.

E.P.A. rates two electric cars' fuel economy

Two new Plug-in cars came on the market two months after the E.P.A. started to struggle with the rating of mass-market plug-in vehicles.

How the Environmental Protection Agency rates the two cars, theChevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, could have a big influence on consumers’ perceptions of vehicles that run on electricity. General Motors, which makes the Volt, and Nissan are anxiously awaiting the agency’s decision as they start production of the cars and complete marketing plans for rollouts in December.

If the E.P.A. rates these cars poorly than the population might not like the cars and if they don't like the cars then the possibility of a fuel efficient car is still very far off and so is a "green" car.

Employment rattles Greece and economy

Due to steep regulations on the creation of new pharmacies, the Greek economy may be having problems keeping itself going.

 Greek law ensures that pharmacists get a 35 percent profit on all drugs sold, even over-the-counter medications. But Greek law also limits just about everything else about pharmacies. They must be at least 820 feet apart and have a likely market of no fewer than 1,500 residents. To break into the business, an aspiring pharmacist generally has to buy a license from a retiring one. That often costs upward of $400,000.

This may not be a problem any more because Prime Minister George Papandreou is trying to pass a law that allows pharmacies to be where ever they want and they don't have to buy their permits from old retiring pharmacists.

Ethanol Cars

The new vehicular sensation that's sweeping the nation...IT'S the Ethanol Cars! As of Wednesday the EPA created a new blend of Gasoline and Ethanol (e15) that is compatible with all 2007 and newer models.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it would permit blends of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline for some ordinary cars, because it would not damage the engines or cause unacceptable increases in their emissions. But numerous other changes would have to occur before drivers will see fuel pumps offering the blend, known as e15, and the agency could not say whether the approval would lead to any additional sales of ethanol.

We are slowly but surely making our way towards the reusable fuel source that we so desperately need. We may even see the replacement for oil in our near future.

Obama presses Chinese leader on currency

Obama's new policy.
Sorry I couldn't get the embed code so i put it up through this link.

Gifts Helping the Economy

Not only does the government work on our national debt but on occasion so do individual contributors.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — In a fifth-floor cubicle in a federal office building here is a wire-frame basket labeled “Gifts.”
Every few days, an envelope arrives, and a Treasury Department employee opens it. Inside, usually, is a check, often with a letter explaining why the sender wants to do his or her part to help reduce the federal debt of the United States.
A very small part, to be sure.
Last year, the Bureau of the Public Debt recorded $3.1 million in gifts, more than has been usual since the government began accepting such donations in 1961. At that rate, it would take millions of years to retire the $13.4 trillion the country owes its creditors, foreign and domestic.

If all the citizens of the united states were able to do this the national debt would be gone in  a matter of months instead of millions of years.

Diabetes gets drugged

FDA decided that the diabetes drug Avandia causes heart problems and they will stop shipping the drug.

WASHINGTON — In a highly unusual coordinated announcement, drug regulators in Europe and the United States said Thursday that Avandia, the controversial diabetes medicine, would no longer be widely available.

The drug’s sales will be suspended entirely in Europe, while patients in the United States will be allowed access to the medicine only if they and their doctors attest that they have tried every other diabetes medicine and that patients have been made aware of the drug’s substantial risks to the heart. Patients now taking Avandia may continue to do so.

I have family members on both sides that are diagnosed with diabetes so when I heard of this diabetes medicine it hit close to home.

China's Clean Energy

In relation to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, & Crowded, this seems like an interesting approach to his idea of "Code Green".

The filing, by the 850,000-member United Steelworkers union, accuses China of violating the World Trade Organization’s free-trade rules by subsidizing exports of clean energy equipment like solar panels and wind turbines. Through its policies, fair or otherwise, China has helped turn its makers of that equipment into the global leaders, while manufacturers in the United States and Europe have struggled financially, cut jobs and in some cases moved operations to China.

I believe that even though China is in violation of the World Trade Organization's rules, this would be a great thing to capitalize on, especially if it can be used to help the energy problems of the world. 

Pastor's Phoney Plans, Falls Flat

In relation to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, & Crowded; this seems like an interesting approach to his idea of the world becoming flat.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The pastor planning a burning of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday he would not go forward with the event, adding he would meet with the imam planning to build an Islamic center near ground zero.But a deal that the pastor, Terry Jones, said that he had reached to move the Islamic center far from ground zero seems to be more vision than reality. The imam planning the center, Feisal Abdul Rauf, said in a statement that he had not spoken to Mr. Jones or Muhammad Musri, the Orlando Imam who has been acting as a mediator between New York and Gainesville.

I believe that this proves the world is indeed  becoming more and more flat due to the fact that the very people whom this pastor was trying to get rid of, were able to build a mosque near ground zero.

In relation to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, & Crowded, This seems like an interesting approach to his version of "Code Green":

Blasting off mountaintops to reach coal in Appalachia or churning out millions of tons of carbon dioxide to extract oil from sand in Alberta are among environmentalists’ biggest industrial irritants. But they are also legal and lucrative.

I believe that the alternate options that were presented, such as wind mill power, would be a more acceptable way of obtaining power instead of mountain top blowing. Not to mention that it would be the greener way of getting power.

Flat as the Rocky Mountains

In relation to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, & Crowded, this seems to be an interesting way of disproving his theory that the twenty-first century world has become flat or equal.

Caroline Hunt, a resident of Manhattan, said she felt locating a new Islamic center close to ground zero would be “insensitive.”

Two-thirds of New York City residents want a planned Muslim community center and mosque to be relocated to a less controversial site farther away from ground zero in Lower Manhattan, including many who say they favor the project, according to a New York Times poll. The poll indicates that support for the 13-story complex, which organizers said would promote moderate Islam and interfaith dialogue, is tepid in its home town.
Nearly a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks ignited a wave of anxiety about Muslims, many in the country’s biggest and arguably most cosmopolitan city still have an uneasy relationship with Islam. One-fifth of New Yorkers acknowledged animosity toward Muslims. Thirty-three percent said that compared with other American citizens, Muslims were more sympathetic to terrorists. And nearly 60 percent said people they now had negative feelings toward Muslims because of 9/11.

 I believe that this shows how little people forget when it comes to the safety of their friends and family. Or that people are so ignorant as to make false connections between the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and every Muslim person in the world.

A HOT Topic

In relation to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, & Crowded, this seem to be a direct interpritation of his theory that world is becoming hot!

Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. On the one hand, warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. On the other, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown.

Although we do need those political issues dealt with, I believe that we should focus on the environment first. I believe this because if we lose the environment we won't have any whereto have political problems, unless we discover a way to live under water, or on other planets.