Medication and Fruit Juice Don’t Mix

August 20, 2008 — “Anyone taking medication should beware of drinking fruit juice, Canadian researchers have found,” reports Nigel Hawkes, health editor of The Times (UK).
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Confederate Widow’s Marriage Was a Reflection of the Times

August 20, 2008 — “Maudie White Hopkins did what she had to do as a young girl living a hard-scrabble life in the Ozarks during the Depression,” writes Associated Press reporter Peggy Harris from Little Rock, Arkansas in the Pine Bluff Commercial.

“In a family of 10 children, she did laundry and cleaned house for an elderly Confederate veteran in Baxter County whose wife had died years earlier. When he offered to leave his land and home to her if she would marry him and care for him in his later years, she said ‘yes.’ She was 19; he was 86. The couple were married only three years before he passed away.”

“For decades, Hopkins didn’t speak about her marriage to William M. Cantrell, concerned that people would think less of her. Four years ago, she came around after a Confederate widow in Alabama died amid claims that she was the last widow from that war.”

“Hopkins died Sunday at age 93, the mother of three children from a second marriage who loved to bake fried peach pies and applesauce cakes. Other Confederate widows are still living, but they don’t want any publicity, Martha Boltz of the United Daughters of the Confederacy said Tuesday.”  Continue reading…

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Zimbabwe’s Parliament to Open Next Week

August 20, 2008 — “Zimbabwe’s parliament will open next week, officials say, despite no deal being reached on power-sharing,” reports BBC News.

“The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which won a majority in March’s parliamentary election, says it is not opposed to the opening of parliament. But it said it would oppose any move by President Robert Mugabe, leader of the Zanu-PF party, to appoint a cabinet.”  Continue reading…

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Russia Dismisses NATO Warning

August 19, 2008 — “Russia has dismissed a warning by NATO that normal relations are impossible while its troops remain inside Georgia,” report BBC News correspondents.
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Fannie and Freddie Living in Comfort . . . Thanks to Your Tax Dollar

August 19, 2008 –
It may be curtains soon for the managements and shareholders of beleaguered housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” writes Jonathan R. Laing, senior editor at Barron’s.
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The Beaches of the Turquoise Coast

August 19, 2008 — Turkey’s beaches offer some of the finest stretches of coastline in the eastern Mediterranean.”

“They don’t call it the Turquoise Coast for nothing,” writes Dan Eldridge in The Daily Telegraph (UK).

“The water here is an uncommonly crisp blue, and because the curved beach is so large, it can accommodate even the biggest of paradise-seeking crowds. There is mountainous scenery, and a famously calm lagoon along the beach’s western stretch.”   Continue reading… 

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Is Medvedev’s “Shattering Blow” a Promise or a Threat

August 19, 2008 — “President Medvedev of Russia yesterday promised a ’shattering blow’ against any
foreign power that moved against Russian citizens,” reports Kevin O’Flynn from Moscow in The Times (UK).
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Ensuring Afghan Women’s Basic Right of Not Having to Endure Abuse

August 19, 2008 — “In the fortified compound of the prison in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, the majority of female prisoners are serving
20-year sentences for being forced to have sex,” reports
Terri Judd of The Independent (UK) who visited them and  heard their extraordinary stories.”

“Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah’s medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.”

“But there are signs of progress. A female shura, or consultative council, was established in Helmand province last week to try to combat the injustice of treating an abused woman as a criminal, and not a victim. British officers and Afghan government officials from the province’s reconstruction team are also overseeing a project to build humane accommodation for the 400 male and female prisoners.”

“The shura, made up of 20 influential women, mostly teachers, hopes to tackle the inequality of the system by first ensuring that women in the province become aware of their basic right: not to have to endure abuse.
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Australian Mayor Suggests “Beauty Disadvantaged” Women Move to His Town

August 19, 2008 — “John Molony, the mayor of the
Australian outback mining town of Mount Isa, is a straight
talking Aussie bloke,” reports Barbara McMahon from
Sydney in The Guardian (UK).

“But after suggesting ‘beauty disadvantaged’ women should move to his remote Queensland town, where men outnumber females five to one, he may think twice about being so forthright in future. Under attack from angry residents, he is facing calls to resign.”
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SEC Seeks to Rule Over Indexed Annuities

August 19, 2008 — “New rules could shine more sunlight
on one of the most controversial investments sold to
seniors,” reports Tom Lauricella of The Wall Street Journal.

“They’re called equity indexed annuities and they’ve surged in popularity in recent years, thanks to a simple pitch: Investors benefit from gains in the stock market without any direct risk of losing money when stocks fall.”

“Last year, investors put $25 billion into indexed annuities. And during the bear market in stocks, it’s been an especially seductive notion. But the new popularity of the accounts masks a variety of problems.  The Securities and Exchange Commission says it needs to bring the plans under its rules.”  Continue reading… 

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Politics in Play Around the World

August 18, 2008
>>Breaking Zimbabwe’s Power-Sharing Deadlock
     Stella Mapenzauswa
       from Johannesburg for Reuters Africa
>>Nepal PM - Relief Programmes Immediate Priority
     Nepalnews.com
>>Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf Resigns
     BBC News
>>Russia Still Flexing Its Muscle
     Michael R. Gordon in The New York Times

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Do Mileage Credit Cards Still Have Value

August 16, 2008 — “One after the other in recent weeks, airlines have altered their frequent-flier mile programs, adding fees, taking away bonuses and raising the number of miles you need for some free tickets,” writes Ron Lieber in The New York Times.

“But lost in fliers’ frustration over the changes is this: It may make more sense to change the credit card you use, not the airline you fly.” Here are ”five questions to ask yourself if you’ve still got a mileage credit card at the top of your wallet, and a number of alternatives for different types of cards.”     Continue reading… 

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You Know Those “Cash Alternative” Auction-Rate Securities We Sold You

August 16, 2008 — “State and federal regulators said Friday that Wachovia Corp. has agreed to a preliminary settlement related to the sale of roughly $9 billion in auction-rate securities, the market for which collapsed earlier this year,” reports John Spence of MarketWatch. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Tax-Friendly Locale Can Make for a Money-Saving Lifestyle

August 15, 2008 — Throughout America, “some states
are more tax-friendly for retirees than others. And how
much you pay in taxes — particularly if you are living on
a fixed income — can have a big impact on how much
you have left over to spend,” writes Mary Beth Franklin,
senior editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

“If you’re thinking about relocating permanently or buying
a second home to live in for part of the year (and where
you may be taxed on part of your income), don’t make a
move until you’ve scrutinized the whole financial picture
in your potential new home.”

“Your federal taxes will be the same no matter where
you live, but you may be surprised at how much your
state and local tax burden can vary from one location
to another. ‘You can save thousands of dollars a year
by moving from a tax hell to a tax haven,’ says
Mary Lu Abbott, editor of Where to Retire magazine.

“Don’t assume that a state with no income tax qualifies
as a tax haven. High sales and property taxes can more
than offset the absence of an income tax, says Abbott.”
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UK’s ID Card Proposal Has Wrinkles

August 15, 2008 –  “The national identity card scheme faces fresh problems following a warning from the government’s top scientific advisers that the quality of fingerprints from 4 million people aged over 75 may be too poor to be used to prove their identity,” reports Alan Travis, Home Affairs editor of The Guardian (UK). Read the rest of this entry »

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Scanning - From Photo Prints to Digital Files

August 15, 2008 — “If you, like millions before you,
have a collection of photographic prints somewhere,
it’s probably crossed your mind that they really ought
to be scanned — converted into digital files, both for
protection and for ease of displaying,” writes David Pogue
of The New York Times. Read the rest of this entry »

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European Economy Catches a Chill

August 15, 2008 — “The eurozone’s annual growth rate slipped from 2.1% in the first quarter to 1.5% in the second, with government officials and financial markets expecting a further slowdown in the third quarter after gloomy data for business and falling consumer confidence across the continent,” reports Larry Elliott, economics editor of The Guardian (UK). Read the rest of this entry »

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Will Lower Food Prices Lure UK Customers

August 15, 2008 — “The pint of milk was at the centre of a ferocious supermarket price battle yesterday as Asda and Tesco vowed to cut millions of pounds from customers’ shopping bills this weekend,” reports Steve Hawkes,
retail correspondent for The Times (UK).

“Asda said that it was slashing the price of a two-pint bottle of milk from 80p to 50p - its lowest price since 2001. Angry farmers said that the battle could force them out of business.”

“Spiralling food prices have been blamed for the steepest rate of inflation in 16 years. The average weekly grocery bill for a family of four has risen by 25 per cent in a year to £127 (Approx. $255). The credit crunch has changed shopping patterns dramatically, with people filling their baskets with cheap value lines and premium ready meals.”     Continue reading… 

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Is Terrorism Returning to Northern Ireland - Omagh Commemorations This Weekend

August 15, 2008 — “A decade has passed since terrorists carried out the worst attack in 35 years of political violence in Northern Ireland, killing 29 people with a car bomb in the town of Omagh. Now they may be back,” reports Colm Heatley in Bloomberg News. Read the rest of this entry »

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Marble Head of Roman Empress Unearthed

August 14, 2008 — “Archaeologists digging in Turkey have found the colossal marble head of a Roman empress,” reports Paul Rincon, science reporter for BBC News. 

“It was discovered in a rubble-filled building where parts of a huge statue of the emperor Hadrian were unearthed last year. The discovery, at the ancient site of Sagalassos, is thought to show Faustina the Elder, wife of Roman emperor Antoninus Pius.

“Faustina was well respected, especially for her charity work. She enjoyed a happy marriage to Antoninus which lasted 31 years until her death in AD 141. In her memory, Antoninus formally deified her as a goddess.”
Continue reading…
Photograph: SAGALASSOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT

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Clinton’s Name to Be Placed in Nomination

August 14, 2008 — “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s name will be placed in nomination along with nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama at the Democratic convention in Denver, an emblematic move intended to unite the party after a divisive primary fight,” reports the Associated Press via CBS News.  Continue reading…

“Clinton had resisted pressure from donors, allies and supporters to accept demands to allow her name placed in nomination, she and aides to Obama seemed to realize independently that doing so would be the best way to incorporate and welcome Clinton’s supporters into Obama’s general election campaign, both symbolically and practically,” writes Marc Ambinder in The Atlantic.  Continue reading…

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Mac and Mae - If They Break, You Buy Them

August 14, 2008 — “Chances are better than even that government money will be used to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey, and a sizeable minority said the institutions should be nationalized,” reports Phil Izzo in The Wall Street Journal.

“When asked how the government should handle the situation with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 68% said the lenders should be pushed to raise capital privately and hope a recovering housing market will keep them from needing government money. However, nearly one in three said the companies should be nationalized now, and then split into smaller companies when the housing market recovers.”

“Many economists agreed with former Fed Chairman
Alan Greenspan who, in an interview with the Journal
this week, criticized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as
fundamentally flawed institutions that privatize profits
and socialize losses.”             Continue reading…  

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Business Is Hot for Heat Pumps

August 14, 2008 — “Like other energy alternatives,
ground-source heat pumps have won new admirers
as energy costs have skyrocketed,” reports Liz Galst
in The New York Times.

“The pumps, also called geothermal heat pumps,
use the relatively constant temperature just below
the earth’s surface — six feet below, in many cases —
to draw warm air into a building in winter and remove
warm air in summer.”

“Advocates say the systems can save building owners
25 percent to 65 percent on energy costs while reducing
carbon dioxide emissions.”          Continue reading…  

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U.S. Inflation Reaches a 17-Year High

August 14, 2008 — “Inflation reached a 17-year high last month, fueled by high gasoline and food prices, all but assuring that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for the time being,” reports Michael M. Grynbaum in The New York Times.

“The Fed has signaled repeatedly that it has no plans to lower interest rates, given the threat inflation poses to the economy. Lowering rates could stimulate more economic activity, but such a move would risk inflating prices further. Thursday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report cements that view, and suggests that a rate increase could come sooner rather than later.”   Continue reading…

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Calendar Girls to Spend the Coming Months on Stage

August 14, 2008 — “The thought of posing naked for
a photo is a nightmare for most women,” writes
Rachel Porter in The Daily Mail (UK).

“But when the ladies of the Rylstone and District WI dared to bare for their famous charity calendar, they raised a fortune, as well as a few eyebrows, and inspired a Hollywood hit. Now their story — Calendar Girls – has been turned into a play, and six of Britain’s best-loved actresses will be stripping for live theatre audiences across the country.”

“So how do they feel about baring all? And what do they think of their own bodies.”     Continue reading…

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When It Comes to Fashion, Thin Is Still In

August 14, 2008 — “Despite the starvation deaths of several models and the fashion industry’s pledge to protect the health of the young people who promote its clothes, skin and bones are still the ideal, as we head
into a round of fashion-week shows next month,” writes Christina Binkley of The Wall Street Journal.

“Parents of aspiring models wind up torn between hopes for their children’s success and concerns for their health.”  Continue reading…

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Cure Being Developed

August 14, 2008 – ”A single injection that could cure rheumatoid arthritis is being developed by British scientists,” reports Rebecca Smith, medical editor
of The Daily Telegraph (UK).

“The treatment works like a vaccine and could be available within five years.”    Continue reading…

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Hilary Swank and French Women

August 14, 2008 — “Hilary Swank and her producing partner Molly Smith have picked up the rights to the best-seller French Women Don’t Get Fat,” reports Borys Kit in the Hollywood Reporter. Swank may star in the film being adapted as a romantic comedy by Heather Hach.

“Women, written by former Veuve Clicquot champagne executive Mireille Guiliano, was a domestic and international sensation when it was first published in 2004. The book sold more than 1 million copies, reached No. 1 on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list and was translated into 40 languages.     Continue reading…

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What Did You Say, Henri

August 13, 2008 –
“Henri Matisse’s portrait of his wife, Amélie Parayre, was first shown at the Salon d’Automne in 1905. The catalogue called it simply La Femme au chapeau (Woman with a hat),” writes art historian T. J. Clark in the London Review of Books.

“Journalists soon decided (or pretended) that Matisse’s painting was scandalous, and the public turned up in droves to make fun of it. So far so predictable: the script was forty years old.”

“But on 15 November something unusual happened. Two paragraphs of real and vehement criticism appeared in the Symbolist journal L’Hermitage, signed by the painter-critic Maurice Denis. Ever since, they have haunted our picture of 20th-century art.”         Continue reading…

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U.K. Inflation Rate Higher Than Interest Rate

Augsut 13, 2008 — “Interest rates have fallen below the cost of living (in the UK) for the first time in 27 years. In a landmark moment for the Bank of England, Britain now has negative real interest rates, news which will heighten calls for the Monetary Policy Committee to raise borrowing costs,” reports Edmund Conway, economics editor of The Daily Telegraph.

“When real interest rates - namely after inflation has been subtracted - are in negative territory, it puts the economy in the unusual position where it becomes ‘more attractive to spend (and borrow) rather than to save,’ according to Philip Shaw of Investec.”  Continue reading…

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Conservation Agriculture - Good and Green

August 13, 2008 — “Every year, 10m hectares
(24.7m acres), an area about the size of Iceland,
are eroded; ploughing is the primary culprit. In
America, an estimated $37.6 billion in productivity
is lost each year. The impact is worse in tropical and
subtropical countries,” report The Economist in its
Green.view column.

“As a result, farmers have been taking to no-till or low-till
agriculture to try to improve soil fertility. No-till has so far
proved most popular in the Americas, particularly Brazil,
where in 2005 it was around 50%. But interest is growing
in Europe: no-till can reduce the loss of soil, nitrogen,
and phosphorous, while providing cost reductions to
farmers because of lower labour requirements and fuel
consumption (and thus decreasing carbon emissions in
the bargain).”                       Continue reading…

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Widow of Anthrax Victim Speaks Out

August 12, 2008 — Maureen Stevens is the widow of
Bob Stevens, a photo editor who died on Oct. 5, 2001,
after opening a letter laced with anthrax at his place of
employment, the American Media Inc., in Boca Raton,
Florida. On Thursday, August 7, Mrs. Stevens  issued
the following statement.

“I want to thank every man and woman in the FBI who
worked so hard on this case. It has been almost seven
years since my husband was brutally murdered by the
cowardly act of placing this hazardous toxic substance
in the mail.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Enjoying Nature Without Roughing It

August 12, 2008 — “Leave the tent behind and add creature comforts to your list of pleasures while exploring the wilderness this summer.”

 

“Laura Kidder, editorial director of Fodor’s Travel, shares her favorite places from 239 Great Places to Escape to Nature Without Roughing It with Kathy Baruffi of
USA Today.                Continue reading…

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How to Build Your Retirement Savings

August 12, 2008 — “Many studies have shown that women lag behind men in saving for retirement,” writes Ellen Hoffman in Business Week.

“There are plenty of measurables, documented reasons
for women’s lower retirement savings. Women spend
less time in the labor force, often because of care-giving
demands, and/or are more likely to work part-time at
some point. They earn about 80 cents on the dollar
compared with men. And they’re less likely to participate
in some type of pension plan.”

“The fact that, on average, women tend to live three years longer than men and live alone for more years intensifies the effects of the savings gap, making it even more crucial for them to prepare better for their golden years.”

“But there are ways to narrow the gap.”
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FDIC to Raise Bank Insurance Premiums — Or, There Go Funds That Could Have Been Tuition, New Car and Home Repair Loans

August 11, 2008 – ”The failure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and seven other banks this year may erase as much as 17 percent of a government insurance fund and raise premiums for all banks,” reports Alison Vekshin of Bloomberg News.

“The closing of IndyMac in July, the third-biggest U.S. bank failure, may cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s fund $4 billion to $8 billion, in addition to an estimated $1.16 billion for seven closures through Aug. 1. Premiums for insuring deposits will likely rise, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a July 30 interview. A decision is due by the fourth quarter.”

“‘It’s going to be a bloody, expensive mess for the banking industry,” said Bert Ely, president of Ely & Co. Inc., a bank consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. ‘Healthy banks are paying for the mistakes made by failed banks.”’  Continue reading…

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Should Restaurants’ Health Code Ratings Be Public Knowledge

August 11, 2008 — “The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is calling for easy public access to restaurant health-code grades, improved health-inspector training and a nationwide standard for restaurant inspections,” reports Deirdre Van Dyk in Time.

“‘If you can walk by a restaurant and see which credit cards it takes, and whether Zagat recommends them, then you should also be able to see how the local health authority rates them,’ says Sarah Klein, staff attorney with
CSPI, which made its recommendations in an August 7
report, Dirty Dining: Have Reservations? You Will Now.”
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Slovenian-Serb Women Intent on Returning to Ancestral Home

August 11, 2008 — “Their great-grandfather built
Urosevac, the Nikolic daughters — Santipa, Liljana
and Daniela — like to say, so how can they leave it now?”
queries the BBC News, in their Life in Kosovo Today
series.

“The Americans evacuated them from Urosevac –
Ferizaj in Albanian – on 18 March 2004, to save them
from Albanian rioters, who then destroyed the house.”

“But the Nikolic women have refused to join the thousands of other non-Albanians who fled — most of them in June 1999. They argue that K-For failed to defend their property and removed them against their will, so it should take them back.  And that is how they come to be living today inside a Greek army base outside Urosevac.”
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Mortgage Markets Hurting Credit Unions

August 11, 2008 — “Five of the nation’s largest credit unions are reporting big paper losses on mortgage-related securities, a sign that housing-market distress is spreading even to the most risk-averse financial sectors,” reports Mark Maremont in The Wall Street Journal.

“The federal regulator overseeing credit unions says the losses are likely to be reversed when mortgage markets stabilize, and that the institutions are sound and adequately capitalized. But some outside observers are concerned that the credit unions are underestimating the depth of their mortgage-market problems.”
Continue reading…

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Anxiety - Complex, Varied and Inherited

August 11, 2008 — “Some people are more prone to extreme anxiety because of a genetic mutation that they have inherited, according to one of the first studies to investigate the genetic basis of personality differences
that can lead to stress disorders,” reports Steve Connor, science editor for The Independent (UK).

“The study is published today in the journal Behavioural Neuroscience.  The mutation is found in about half the population but it exerts its effect on the one in four people who have inherited both copies of it from their parents.”  Continue reading…

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Law and Misorder

August 11, 2008 — Chris Orbach, “the son of beloved Law & Order actor Jerry Orbach, who died of cancer in 2004, has lashed out at his father’s widow, claiming in a vitriolic letter that she manipulated her husband into cutting his children out of his $10 million estate — and had his eyes ’shucked out’ on his deathbed,” reports Michael Riedel in the New York Post. 

“Elaine Cancilla-Orbach, a former Broadway dancer and actress, said she was ‘in shock when I received the letter’.”

“‘Jerry always said he was so proud that at age 69, he didn’t need glasses,’ Cancilla-Orbach said. ‘He said, “If I can give anything back, I want to give my eyes. I can’t give my liver because I drank too much, and I can’t give my lungs because I smoked too much. But I can give my eyes.” So on his deathbed, when they asked if he was an organ donor, I said, “Take his eyes.” Chris knew nothing of this. He knew nothing of what his father and I discussed for 25 years.’”          Continue reading…

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Barenboim and the Healing Power of Music

August 11, 2008 — “Concern for justice has made Daniel Barenboim a hero, both in the Middle East and around the globe,” writes Paul Kendall in The Daily Telegraph (UK). 

“A star since the age of seven, when he gave his first concert performance, the Buenos Aires-born pianist and musical director has become something of a living saint
(if you can describe a Jew that way) thanks to his
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a group of young musicians from both Israel and the Arab world.”

“This year, the orchestra, which performs at the Proms (in London) this Thursday, includes musicians from Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and even Iran. ‘When you consider the political situation at the moment between Israel and Iran, then I think that’s pretty extraordinary,’ Barenboim says with pride.”

“It was his sincere belief in the healing power of music
that inspired Barenboim and his co-founder, the late Palestinian activist and intellectual Edward Said, to
set up the ‘Peace Orchestra’ in 1999.”
Continue reading…

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Sen. Clinton to Speak at Convention on Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage

August 10, 2008 — “Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced yesterday that his wife, Michelle, will be the star attraction on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, August 25 in Denver,” reports
Robert Barnes of The Washington Post.

“Following Michelle Obama, the ‘headline speakers’ for the rest of the convention will be Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, Obama’s vice presidential choice on Wednesday, and Obama himself on Thursday, when the convention moves to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium and Obama officially accepts the party’s nomination before a crowd expected to reach 75,000.”

“Two of the dates will be rich with symbolism:
Clinton, who came closer than any woman in history to winning a major party nomination for president, will speak on the 88th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote, and Obama will give his acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”           Continue reading…

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Women Take Center Stage at Olympics

August 9, 2008 — “Women were not allowed to participate at the 1896 Summer Games in Athens, the first Olympics of the modern era. They were expected to contribute applause, not athletic skill,” reports Jeré Longman from Beijing in The New York Times.

“Not until 1984 were women permitted to run the Olympic marathon, in reefer-madness fear that they might grow old too soon with such exertion, or worse, they might grow a mustache. Or their uterus would fall out, as if it were a transmission.”

“Now, women have become must-see TV at the Olympics, as well as the target viewing audience for NBC. Of the 11,427 athletes participating in these Games, 4,845 are women — 500 more than in Athens four years ago, 1,000 more than competed in Atlanta 12 years ago. Who could not be drawn to the swimmer Dara Torres’s attempt to hit the snooze button on the biological alarm clock at age 41?”  Continue reading…

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Is Russia Looking to Build Another Empire

Augsut 8, 2008 — “Given the speed with which
the Russians reacted to Georgia’s incursion into
South Ossetia, Moscow was clearly ready to intervene,”
says Stratfor, online publisher of geopolitical intelligence.

“We suspect the Georgians were set up for this in some way, but at this point the buildup to the conflict no longer matters. What matters is the message that Russia is sending to the West.”   Continue reading…

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UK’s Open Market Option for Annuities — Higher Yield Means More Income

August 8, 2008 — “Tens of thousands of widows, whose husbands saved hard for retirement, could soon find themselves with nothing to live on but State benefits,” writes Ian Cowie of The Daily Telegraph (UK).

“Any woman whose partner works in the private sector - where defined contribution or money purchase pensions are fast becoming the norm - had better have a word with their other half about this, sooner rather than later.”

“The explanation lies buried in statistics behind the Financial Services Authority (FSA) review this week of the annuities business. Stay awake at the back there! What we are talking about, here, are guaranteed incomes bought by 460,000 pensioners last year, in exchange for about £10bn of their life savings.”   Continue reading… 

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Pseudo-Intellectual Upgrade - Poseurs 2.0

August 8, 2008 — “It pains me to see so many people being pseudo-intellectual in the wrong way. It desecrates the memory of the great poseurs of the past. And it is all the more frustrating because your error is so simple and yet so fundamental,” opines David Brooks in The New York Times.

“You have failed to keep pace with
the current code of intellectual one
upsmanship. You have failed to appreciate that over the past few years, there has been a tectonic shift in the basis of good taste.”  Continuing reading…

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Do Foreign Energy Firms “Pick Pockets”

August 8, 2008 — “British households are having their ‘pockets picked’ by foreign energy firms to subsidise customers in their own countries, the Government’s new consumer champion has said,” reports James Kirkup, political correspondent for The Daily Telegraph (UK).

“In his first comments as Gordon Brown’s consumer advocate, Ed Mayo claimed a lack of competition in the European energy markets meant millions of British families were being ripped off.”  Continue reading…

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Life, Death, Love and Freedom - Mellencamp

 
 John Mellencamp
 Life Death Love
   and Freedom
 Hear Music, 2008

 CD and MP3s
 Available from Amazon.com

August 8, 2008 – John Mellencamp continues his
ongoing evolution into something of a modern populist
folk hero on Life Death Love and Freedom, a record
that draws clear inspiration from early-period Bob Dylan
in its plainspokenness and relatively austere folk and
acoustic blues arrangements,” writes Jonathan Keefe
of Slant magazine. 

“The hook to Mellencamp’s biggest hit, 1982’s seemingly immortal Jack and Diane, claims that, ‘Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone,’ and Life often plays like a quarter-century’s worth of reflection on that idea and whether or not it holds true.”        Continue reading…

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Dolce, Gabbana, Balmoral, Babushka

August 7, 2008 — “I’ve embraced some dubious trends in my time, but peering at my own babushka-like reflection, I can’t help but wonder if this might be the most ludicrous of them all,” writes Celia Walden in The Daily Telegraph (UK).

“I blame Dolce & Gabbana who, along with Paul Smith and Jean Paul Gaultier, have decreed that headscarves, tied beneath the chin - à la ‘Queen at Balmoral’ - are back.”   Continue reading…

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Caffeine - Its Health Benefits and Myths

August 7, 2008 — “As with any product used to excess, consumers often wonder about the health consequences. And researchers readily oblige. Hardly a month goes by without a report that hails coffee, tea or caffeine as healthful or damns them as potential killers,” writes
author and personal health columnist Jane E. Brody in
The New York Times.

“Can all these often contradictory reports be right? Yes. Coffee and tea, after all, are complex mixtures of chemicals, several of which may independently affect health.”             Continue reading…