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Will buying a hybrid save you money?
By Blaze Bullock,
Deseret News
March 21 2012
The price of gasoline just hit an all-time high for the month of March, and it's expected to continue to climb. But will buying a hybrid car help consumers save money? Here's the Deseret News analysis on the subject.
People should consider a few things before they decide to purchase a hybrid vehicle with the hopes that it will save them money. The Toyota Prius [....]
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865552579/Will-buying-a-hybrid-save-you-money.html
Tactical Realities of the Toulouse Shootings
by Scott Stewart,
STRATfor.com
April 5, 2012
Mohammed Merah, the suspect in a string of violent attacks culminating with the March 19 shooting deaths of three children and a rabbi at the Ozar Hatorah School in Toulouse, France, committed suicide by cop March 22 after a prolonged standoff at his Toulouse apartment. Authorities believed Merah also to have shot and killed a paratrooper March 11 in Toulouse and two other paratroopers March 15 in Montauban.
While Merah's death ended his attacks, it also began the inevitable inquiry process as French officials consider how the attacks could have been prevented. The commissions or committees appointed to investigate such attacks normally take months to complete their inquiries, so the findings of the panel looking into the Merah case will not be released in time to have any impact on the French presidential election set to begin April 22. However, such findings are routinely used for political purposes and as ammunition for bureaucratic infighting.
Like the suspects in many recent terrorist attacks in other countries, Merah had previously come to the attention of French authorities. He reportedly traveled at least twice to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region and was interviewed by authorities upon his return to France in November 2011. Some media reports have even suggested that Merah had worked as an informant for French authorities. Merah's older brother, Abdulkader Merah, also reportedly was investigated in 2007 for helping French Muslim men travel to Iraq to fight. These facets of the case will certainly be examined in detail. While it will be many months before the official reports are published, already we can draw several conclusions from this case. This is because the same essential problems occur whenever a Western government attempts to pre-empt vague, potential threats posed by an amorphous enemy. Indeed, these issues surfaced several times [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/tactical-realities-toulouse-shootings?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120405&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=586d99669b264200bfa09214f984af55
The Six States Where Taxes Are Soaring
by Tracy Gordon,
247wallst.com
March 19, 2012
As the economy struggles to recover, state and federal budget deficits continue to be the subject of increased attention. Just last week, the congressional budget office said that President Obama’s budget will produce a $1.3 trillion deficit in 2012 if enacted. It would be the fourth straight year of $1 trillion-plus deficits.
Many states have not been faring much better in their attempts to balance the budget. The recent recession resulted in some of the worst declines in state revenue since World War II, according to a recent report on state budgets by the Brookings Institution. In fiscal year 2010, a record 43 states faced budget deficits. In their fight to shrink their deficits, states have cut spending by slashing programs and lowering costs, while increasing revenue mostly by raising taxes. According to the Brookings report, a whopping 40 states raised taxes between fiscal year 2009 and 2011. Only eight cut taxes. Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. examined the six states that increased revenue from taxes by 9% or more during the period. While these states increased revenue the most, spending cuts appear to be critical to managing deficits for nearly all of the states.
The media has focused on taxes, pointing out that revenue from all state taxes increased by nearly $24 billion in 2010, the largest nominal increase on record. However, the $24 billion, which reflects a 3.5% increase over the previous year’s revenue, “was actually less in percentage terms than during prior recessions in the 1980s and 1990s,” Tracy Gordon, author of the report, said in [....]
http://247wallst.com/2012/03/19/the-six-states-where-tax-revenues-are-soaring/
Huckabee Stars in RINO Radio
by Jeffrey Lord
American Spectator
April 3, 2012
Who are the Dickey brothers and why do they hate the conservative movement?
RINO Radio?
Republican In Name Only Radio?
Taking on… Rush Limbaugh????????
And demeaning the audience of one's would-be customers… this is a business proposition? Seriously?
There's two parts of this discussion: talk radio and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Let's start with talk radio and the basics. All of which are now out there in the Land of Google thanks to the sponsors of this project seeking -- and getting -- their fair share of tons of PR. So that being the case… let's work our way through their pitch and what they're saying. Saying on the record, incredibly enough.
Cumulus Media, says Reuters, recently "sent out an email blast to fellow radio station owners with a photoshopped picture of former U.S. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, promoting him as the conservative talk radio host of the future." Cumulus, you need to know, recently swallowed Citadel, setting it up with about 570 stations across the country, notably including WABC in New York, one of the nation's largest and the flagship station for Rush Limbaugh. On this past Sunday, the Cumulus/Huckabee venture to capture the conservative [....]
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/04/03/huckabee-stars-in-rino-radio/print
[Related Content]
Talk Radio Face-Off Approaches T. Lynne Pixley for The New York Times
by Brian Stelter,
New York TimesApril 1, 2012
“The Mike Huckabee Show,” the radio show featuring the former Arkansas governor and onetime presidential hopeful that starts next Monday, is not merely another shot at liberal media elites. Conceived by Cumulus Media, the program is a shot at Clear Channel, the radio giant that distributes Rush Limbaugh’s show at the same time of day. And it is not the only one. The radio station owner Cumulus is also creating a local traffic service, selling a morning show by Geraldo Rivera and seeking other hosts for other time slots — giving talk radio stations new alternatives to Clear Channel and making for a turbulent time in the radio business.
About six months ago, Cumulus completed a $2.4 billion takeover of Citadel, giving it [....]
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/business/media/with-huckabee-show-a-talk-radio-face-off.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
Americans brace for next foreclosure wave
by Nick Carey
Reuters
April 4, 2012
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (Reuters) - Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low. But a painful part two of the slump looks set to unfold: Many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures.
"We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010," said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio. "Last year was an anomaly, and not in a good way," he said.
In 2011, the "robo-signing" scandal, in which foreclosure documents were signed without properly reviewing individual cases, prompted banks to hold back on new foreclosures pending a settlement. Five major banks eventually struck that settlement with 49 U.S. states in February. Signs are growing the pace of foreclosures is picking up again, something housing experts predict will again weigh on home prices before any sustained recovery can occur. Mortgage servicing provider Lender Processing Services reported in early March that U.S. foreclosure starts jumped 28 percent in January.
More conclusive national data is not yet available. But watchdog group, 4closurefraud.org which helped uncover the "robo-signing" scandal, says it has turned up evidence of a large rise in new [....]
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/americans-brace-next-foreclosure-wave-210253522.html
Timeshare Prices Plummet to $1
by AnnaMaria Andriotis,
SmartMoney
April 4, 2012
Unable to sell his parents’ ocean-front timeshare for the past year, David Suder became so fed up he offered to give it away. They paid $8,000 for the Orange County, Calif. unit a decade ago, but since there are no willing buyers, and his 81-year-old mother, now a widow, can no longer afford the monthly maintenance fees, Suder says he doesn’t have a choice. The San Diego-based real estate investor is offering the unit for free in the hopes that someone will take it before his mother dies. “I don’t want to inherit it,” he says. “I want it to go away.”
While real estate – and even vacation real estate – is starting to show signs of recovery, timeshares remain in freefall. During the first quarter, the number of for-sale-by-owner postings doubled compared to the same period a year ago on RedWeek.com, a popular resale site. Another site, SellMyTimeshareNow.com, says owner sales are up 20% during that period. Experts say even in better times, most sellers never saw a return on their investment. “Very few timeshares increase in value,” says Alisa Stephens, executive producer at RedWeek.com. As values sink and desperation grows, the number of owners giving their timeshares away for $1 – or less — has doubled in the past year, says Brian Rogers, of Timeshare Users Group, an owner advocacy group. “There’s never been a worst time to try to sell a timeshare,” he says.
Typically found in resorts, timeshares allow multiple buyers to purchase rights [....]
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/timeshare-prices-plummet-to--1.html
American Cities Where Manufacturing Is Booming
Staff Report,
Brookings Institute Study
March 14, 2012
Last Friday, President Obama pointed to the improving labor market as a sign the economy is recovering. According to the jobs report released last week, companies hired more than 200,000 workers for the third consecutive month in February. The president, speaking to workers at a Rolls-Royce aircraft parts plant in Virginia, touted the 31,000 new manufacturing jobs, and suggested that manufacturing was fueling the recovery. Indeed, manufacturing and exports appear to have been driving growth for some time, albeit slowly. According to a new Brookings report, U.S. exports, which represent 10.7% of gross domestic product, grew 11% in 2010, the fastest growth since 1997. The bulk of this growth, 75%, came from manufacturing.
In order to illustrate how export and manufacturing are fueling the economy, Brookings looked at exports in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in 2009 and 2010. Based on the Brookings report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 cities where manufacturing fueled export growth the most. Most of the cities where manufacturing is booming were once major industrial centers. Cities like Cleveland and Milwaukee were manufacturing hubs as early as the mid 1800s. In the late 1970s, however, manufacturing began declining and today represents only a fraction of GDP in these areas. Other industries have since taken larger shares of GDP and employment. For example, in Toledo, which was once a leader in auto manufacturing, the health care industry is now the city’s biggest employer. Today, manufacturing only accounts for 13% of the labor force in the metropolitan region. For this reason, the impact manufacturing has had on [....]
http://247wallst.com/2012/03/14/american-cities-where-manufacturing-is-booming/
1940 US Census now available for free online,
but it's not your only option
The census is a great way to research your family tree, but there are plenty of other free genealogy resources
by Mike Wehner
Tecca.com
April 3, 2012
The internet age has made a wealth of information available to anyone with a working connection, and being able to move backward in time through detailed records offers the chance to see our family trees in a whole knew way. The United States National Archives has just released an excellent tool for researching just this type of information: a website that houses scans of the entire 1940 U.S. census. If you're looking for details about your ancestors, the 1940 census contains a wealth of information you may find useful. The site is filled with high-resolution scans of the handwritten census data, but unfortunately the records aren't searchable by name. You can, however, search by county, city, and even street name, which should help you find what you're looking for. Once you locate a person of interest, each entry is filled with [....]http://www.tecca.com/columns/1940-us-census-online-genealogy-free/
http://1940census.archives.gov/
‘Mrs. Kennedy and Me’:
Jackie Kennedy’s secret service agent writes memoir
by Claudine Zap
The Upshot,
April 5, 2012
The secret service agent assigned to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy has broken his long silence with a memoir of the time, "Mrs. Kennedy and Me." Clint Hill, the former agent who was code named Dazzle, told the "Today" show he was on the scene for major joyful events—like the birth of John F. Kennedy, Jr. Hill said he paced the floor like "an expectant father." Hill was also at the first lady's side for vacations in Hyannisport, Mass., and trips abroad. But the moment that has haunted the agent was the day the president was shot, Nov. 22, 1963. As footage from the day shows, Hill was riding [....]
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/watch-mrs-kennedy-jackie-kennedy-secret-agent-writes-173154711.html
93-year-old Florida woman retires her
’64 Mercury after 576,000 miles on the road
by Eric Pfeiffer
The Sideshow
April 2, 2012
(Photo Credit: Rachel Veitch)
These days, most people consider themselves lucky if a new car lasts 5 to 10 years. Make it to 100,000 miles in your vehicle, and the car company might make a commercial about you. That makes 93-year-old Rachel Veitch a notable exception. Veitch is retiring her 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente after more than 576,000 miles on the road.
"I am legally blind, so I can no longer drive my lovely Chariot," [....]
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/93-old-florida-woman-retires-her-64-mercury-204007316.html
Until Next Sunday....
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