Day: December 7, 2008

Random Thoughts

This has become a regular feature, that is notes that I have taken that have not yet made it into a post.  I make a lot of notes daily on the news and such and just cannot always find the time or space to make a post.  So I offer them to my readers for their comments.  Have fun!

1–Economic indicators–credit defaults rising; Housing falling

Govt food programs helped 11.9 million in 2007 and in 2008 it has risen to 29.5 million.

2–did you guys know that for every $1 of food stamps that is used, it generates $1.73 in economy activity?

3–Did you know that AIG will use bailout cash to rennovate esec offices and save the exec buffet?

4–Corporate layoffs up 148% over ’07.

5–Splenda–taste like sugar, made from sugar but not sugar—thinking–plastic is made from oil, but it is still a petroleum product….so what is Splenda.

6–GM is worth about $3 billion and they want a loan of $12 billion–not a bad deal—could you get a deal like that on your house?

7–How can the media blame the baby boomers for the economic crisis…why?…they try to blame them for everything that has gone wrong lately.

8–More bad news–Food Stamp program will be up by at least 17% this year.

Where Is The Oversight?

The $700bn bail-out of the US banking system is being carried out without adequate oversight, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The Congressional watchdog says that the US Treasury is failing to monitor whether banks have complied with requirements on executive pay.

At that time, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the $700bn would be used to buy up troubled mortgage assets from the banks.

But shortly afterwards, he decided that the money would be better spent by providing additional capital directly to the banks.

So far, over $150bn has been invested by government in the purchase of preferred shares, including taking a $115bn stake in eight major national banks, and smaller stakes in 44 other banks.

The Treasury’s said its objective was to stabilise the financial system and increase the flow of funds for lending.

But the GAO report says that the Treasury “has no policies or procedures in place for ensuring the institutions… are using the capital investments in a manner that helps meet the purposes of the act.”

So basically, Paulson and the gang can do whatever they want to do with the cash–is this such a good idea?  Once again just goes to illustrate that White collars are more preferable to blue collars.  Congress has got the employers of blue collars jumping through their butts to get some help and yet the white collars just ask and they receive…so you decide who is important to politicians.

India-Russia Nuke Deal

Wait!  Did not the US just soign a nuke deal with India?  Why do they need this much assistance?

President Medvedev signed the accord in the Indian capital, Delhi, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The deal follows the landmark civilian nuclear accord between India and United States earlier this year.

In September, the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a ban that had stopped India from getting access to the global nuclear market.

The Russian agreement is part of a series of deals, including ones on space and defence sales.

But wait there is more.

And India will buy 80 military helicopters from Russia, cementing a relationship that dates back to the Cold War.

President Medvedev also pledged to support India’s fight against terrorism following last week’s Mumbai attacks.

The Russian president is on a three-day visit. On his arrival in Delhi, he was welcomed with a full military salute at the presidential palace.

Later, he visited the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation.

India and Russia have been traditional allies and around 70% of India’s military hardware comes from Russia.

note:  damn I have been busy!  this is my 2500th post since April……wordy old fart, huh?

Obama’s Make Work

In his address, Obama offered the first outline of how he wants to direct the public works spending.

The largest share would go to roads and bridges and could be used to accelerate long-delayed repairs and expansions. Responding to concerns that new transportation money might be caught up in red tape at the state level, Obama said states must quickly invest in road and bridge construction and repair or lose the federal dollars.

Obama would also direct a “massive effort” to make federal buildings energy-efficient by replacing aging heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. Obama said the effort to “green” the government would save taxpayers billions.

Much of the public works program would be aimed at improving technology. The government would pay for new computers in schools, new medical technology in hospitals, and a nationwide push to bring broadband to parts of the country that cannot yet access the Internet at high speeds.

Calling it “unacceptable” that the United States ranks 15th globally in broadband adoption, Obama said in his address that “every child should have the chance to get online.”

How will this play in the new Congress?  Me thinks that the few remaining Repubs are not gonna play ball.

Yet Another Sex Survey

Although teens seem to prefer peer-led sex education classes over teacher-led classes, they may not be any more effective at reducing abortions.

Researchers at the University College London conducted a study called the RIPPLE (Randomized Intervention of Pupil-led Sex Education) to evaluate whether the teaching of sexual health information by people of a similar age was effective in terms of reducing teenage abortion, pregnancy and improving sexual health among teenagers. The RIPPLE study formed because of a government initiative in the United Kingdom, a country with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Western Europe, to reduce pregnancies by half among 18-year-olds by 2010.

Twenty-seven schools and about 9,000 students age 13 to 14 participated. Each school was randomly assigned to either conduct peer-led or teacher-led sex education classes. Early results showed at age 16, girls who received the peer-led classes reported fewer unintended pregnancies, although the results were only marginally significant in comparison to the peer-led group. By age 20 years, there was no difference between the peer-led and teacher-led groups in terms of number of girls who had abortions. There were also no differences for male or female participants in both groups in terms of other aspects of sexual health.

Given that students reported preferring the peer-led classes, a more extended program is needed to establish whether they can have a more positive effect on teenage pregnancy rates.