Could you go without a car?

Question:

I’m sure the answer will be “I already do” or simply “Yes” if you live in a big city, but what about the suburbs or even rural areas? Could you go without a car?

Answer:

Ha. This one is pretty funny, after all, there was one point in time when cars didn’t exist. However, I have been without a car at one point in time and it was quite difficult to find a ride from place to place for the months I was without a car. I suppose what was even worse was being able to look at my car and know that I couldn’t use it (in the summer of 2006 my car was in the shop all summer and I wrecked it in September 2007).

Living in the “suburbs” of a small(er) city makes it extremely difficult to go without a car. I live 6 miles from the city and there aren’t any bicycle paths to get to and from the city, just a two lane highway (oh, the joys of living in Mississippi). There is a public transit system, but only within city limits.

It’s looking more and more that if you have discipline and want to save for the future, going to college may be a bad investment. A four year college degree costs too much and proves too little. It has become increasingly unlikely to be able to make up the cost of a college degree, even with the fact that college grads get paid more.

In an example for the New York Post as written by SmartMoney associate editor Jack Hough, if you look at two people from similar backgrounds each of whom save $16,594 for college. One decides to not go to college and invests his savings in a mutual fund that tracks the broad stock market. He ends up making an average pay that peaks at $32,538. He adds to his savings 5% of his after-tax income and it returns 8% a year.

His friend goes to college. He goes to public school and transfers to a private school. He ends up spending $48,286 in tuition and fees. These fees do not include room and board. He ends up spending $34,044 after grants. When he finishes school he owes $17,450 at 5% in student loans. He starts making just over $23,000 a year after taxes and peaks at almost $57K. Like his friend, he sets aside 5%. It will take him 12 years to pay off his loans. When he finally escapes from the debt at age 34, he starts investing in the same fund as his friend. He is able to make bigger monthly contributions. However, when they reach 65, the friend who didn’t go to college will have saved almost $1.3 million while the one with the degree will have less than a third of what his friend saved.

I believe that this all comes back to the fact that many people don’t think about saving rather they want to have a comfortable lifestyle while they can enjoy it. I’m not saying that you can’t enjoy things when you’re 65, but you can enjoy travel and have more ability to do so when you’re younger.

Are we that obsessed with Twitter that we have to update while driving?

What will it say?

“TLI_Twitter is driving to school
less than 5 seconds ago from the car”

I am unsure about that, I know that Twitter is meant to tell everyone what you’re doing all the time, but is it so necessary to tell everyone when your driving or if you see someone on the road that drives you nuts?

“While in your vehicle, you can use OnStar to submit and retrieve tweets (messages) via your Twitter account. Using OnStar’s Voice-Activated Hands-Free Calling system, and having your voice converted into text, you can provide updates which would appear in the “What are you doing?” section of your Twitter homepage. It is also possible to listen to a tweet that was sent to you by someone else after it has been converted into voice. You can send and receive tweets without having to type or read anything.”

Source

It is actually only laying off less than 1% of its entire workforce.

Google’s fortunes are tied to ad spending that’s dwindling as both marketers and consumers squirrel away more cash. Although Google’s revenue has continued to rise during 15-month-old recession, some analysts say they believe the Mountain View-based company may finally be suffering its first quarter-to-quarter decline since it went public in 2004.

Internet advertisers aren’t paying as much for ads as they were a year ago so as the above paragraph says, Google isn’t making the same amount of money it once was.

Google is an internet giant. While it may make its money from ads, the numerous services it offers to customers could bring the company in extra money if they wanted to charge for them or add in features to pay for.

Source

The defeat was a setback for the Obama administration and Hill Democrats, who are concerned that too many Americans are not ready to get digital programming. House Republicans have argued that postponing the date would cause confusion for consumers and cost millions for broadcasters who have planned to make the transition.

The bill that came out of the Senate did not say how costs associated with postponing the date would be covered.

With only about 3 weeks left until the transition, Congress is running out of time if they really want this bill to pass.

The report found roaches, mold and what looked to be a leaky ceiling at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Georgia.That’s not even the worst problem with Peanut Corp’s shady business practice:

The report also documented that the plant’s owner, Peanut Corp. of America, found salmonella in a dozen internal tests of its products during the past two years. But managers at the plant shipped the peanut butter and peanut paste anyway after getting new tests. The FDA said the company did not initially disclose the first tests to investigators trying to solve the current salmonella outbreak.

Peanut products initially found to be contaminated with salmonella were shipped as recently as last September. Health officials started picking up signals of the outbreak a month later.

The peanut industry is shunning Peanut Corp. I don’t blame them because now the entire peanut industry has to put a lot of effort into their own public relations just to cover for Peanut Corp’s mistake.

Source

The first night, we didn’t even leave Mobile until 8, none of the shops opened that night at all, and the casino didn’t open until around midnight. When my husband and I found that nothing was going to be open, we wondered into some of the bars, most of which had no bartenders.

When we arrived at Progreso, I was so disappointed. We weren’t as interested in the cruise itself as we were about spending a day in Cozumel. We took the shuttle into town where we were hounded by people trying to sell their wares. Even when we went into a restaurant on the beach, we weren’t left alone for more than 2 minutes without being asked if we wanted to buy a DVD (all bootlegs of course). I had spent hours and hours prior to sailing to pick out exactly what we should do in Cozumel. I was unprepared for this itinerary change. We were all refunded $5 for the inconvenience.

When we asked about getting some kind of refund at the Purser’s desk, we were told “too bad” because it was on the policy agreement.

However, this is bad public relations to just say “too bad” and not offer some kind of discount on another cruise (at least!!).

After this experience I don’t believe I will ever sail on another Carnival ship again (and I’ll do my best to make sure none of my friends or family do either).

Here is the text of the speech:

“My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers … our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world … that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).”

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.”

Source

The resignation was expected. President Obama nominated Mary Schapiro to lead the SEC and is waiting for her to be confirmed by the Senate. Until then, he is expected to name one of the four remaining commissioners to head the SEC.

This is a hard time to be in any public office. The SEC chairperson will have a lot of weight on his or her shoulders and will be blamed for things that may or may not be his or her fault.

At the same time he was talking about how he had to lower prices on the ridiculously priced cotton pants…he said he created a new “inexpensive” line that fell in the $130 area.

$130 for a pair of jeans is not inexpensive or even practical.The most annoying part is that he is calling it is being referred to as the “Recession Collection.”

This is from the article:

The Recession line, to be offered at Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, will be sold alongside the premium denim collection.

But Ball plans to end the Recession Collection when the economy recovers. For now, he believes he’s doing his part to keep the economy rolling and help shoppers “open their pocketbooks.” - AP

“I want to thank all the speakers and performers for reminding us, through song and through words, just what it is that we love about America. And I want to thank all of you for braving the cold and the crowds and traveling in some cases thousands of miles to join us here today. Welcome to Washington, and welcome to this celebration of American renewal.

In the course of our history, only a handful of generations have been asked to confront challenges as serious as the ones we face right now. Our nation is at war. Our economy is in crisis. Millions of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes; they’re worried about how they’ll afford college for their kids or pay the stack of bills on their kitchen table. And most of all, they are anxious and uncertain about the future — about whether this generation of Americans will be able to pass on what’s best about this country to our children and their children.

I won’t pretend that meeting any one of these challenges will be easy. It will take more than a month or a year, and it will likely take many. Along the way there will be setbacks and false starts and days that test our resolve as a nation.

But despite all of this — despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead — I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure — that the dream of our founders will live on in our time.
What gives me that hope is what I see when I look out across this mall. For in these monuments are chiseled those unlikely stories that affirm our unyielding faith — a faith that anything is possible in America. Rising before us stands a memorial to a man who led a small band of farmers and shopkeepers in revolution against the army of an Empire, all for the sake of an idea. On the ground below is a tribute to a generation that withstood war and depression — men and women like my grandparents who toiled on bomber assembly lines and marched across Europe to free the world from tyranny’s grasp. Directly in front of us is a pool that still reflects the dream of a King, and the glory of a people who marched and bled so that their children might be judged by their character’s content. And behind me, watching over the union he saved, sits the man who in so many ways made this day possible.

And yet, as I stand here today, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you — Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.

It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everybody together — Democrats, Republicans and Independents; Latino, Asian and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not — then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office — the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans — that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.

It is this thread that binds us together in common effort; that runs through every memorial on this mall; that connects us to all those who struggled and sacrificed and stood here before.

It is how this nation has overcome the greatest differences and the longest odds — because there is no obstacle that can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.

That is the belief with which we began this campaign, and that is how we will overcome what ails us now.

There is no doubt that our road will be long. That our climb will be steep. But never forget that the true character of our nation is revealed not during times of comfort and ease, but by the right we do when the moment is hard. I ask you to help reveal that character once more, and together, we can carry forward as one nation, and one people, the legacy of our forefathers that we celebrate today.

Thank you, America. God bless you.

Source

Jane Wellman authored a report from the Delta Cost Project to find out why and here’s what the report had to offer:

–The main reason tuition has been rising faster than college costs is that colleges had to make up for reductions in the per-student subsidy state taxpayers sent colleges. In 2006, the last year for which Wellman had data, state taxpayers sent $7,078 per student to the big public research universities. That’s $1,270 less (after accounting for inflation) than they sent in 2002.

–Public universities have been reining in overall spending per student in recent years. Flagship public universities’ spending per student has risen from about $12,400 in 1995 to $13,800 in 2006 after accounting for inflation. But since 2002, spending at public colleges has generally not exceeded inflation.

–Increases in spending were driven mostly by higher administration, maintenance, and student services costs. Public universities spent almost $4,000 per student per year on administration, support, and maintenance in 2006, up more than 13 percent, in real terms over 1995. And they spent another $1,200 a year on services such as counseling, which was up 23 percent. Meanwhile, they spent about $8,700 a year on classroom instruction for each student, up about 9 percent.

–Big private universities, powered by tuition and endowment increases, have increased spending dramatically while public schools have languished. Total educational spending per student at private research universities has jumped by almost 10 percent since 2002 to more than $33,000. During that same period, public university total spending was comparatively flat and totaled less than $14,000 a year.

Perhaps at other colleges this is the norm, but I just can’t find out where my college spends $4,000 a year on me for administration, support and maintenance, unless they are talking about keeping the lights on at the giant football stadium all night, when there is no football game going on…I get emailed from my student advisers and the administration at my college processes my financial aid every year…And some of my teachers aren’t worth the paper that their pay stub is printed on. To cut costs perhaps a university should start re-evaluating their tenured professors according to the student evaluations that are published every semester.

Source

In an interview at the International Consumer Electronics Show here, FCC chairman Kevin Martin said it’s important to make sure that the converter box subsidy program gets back on track, but that doesn’t mean delaying the analog turnoff is necessary.

“There are options they can do without having to delay to get coupons flowing immediately,” Martin said. Congress could give the program additional funding, or eliminate the 90-day expiration deadline on the coupons, he said.

“I’m concerned about a delay in the sense that if you can solve that issue other ways, a delay has actually the potential to confuse consumers,” said Martin, a Republican. “All of our messaging has been about Feb. 17 — not just ours — the industry’s.” – AP

Source

Larry Flynt and Joe Francis sent out a press release saying that the porn industry is losing money and that jobs are going to be lost unless they are bailed out. So, how much are they asking for? $5 billion.

I can’t honestly think of one good reason why the government should bail out the adult entertainment industry. You don’t see Harrah’s going and asking for money…I just think this is an obvious an ridiculous publicity stunt.

Sure it works, my cable company has changed it name about 3 times in five years. It holds about 80% of the market and everyone knows that its service is sub par. Your cable or internet can go off at random for days. Add to the fact that when this company decides to do maintenance work it basically shuts down the whole town of an internet connection for a few days. It has no multinetwork line backup, nothing, they are in fact a simple reseller of Quest Communications services.

You’d think with all this someone would come and knock the king off his hill. Well even though everyone in town knows that there service isn’t the best, newcomers to the town simply do not know and are force feed advertisement after advertisement from this company. It also helps that they own one of the local broadcasting channels and stream free real estate listings to your tv, with the only commercial between house listings are ads for there services. When enough people get mad, it seems that the company just changes it name, and then relaunches itself and goes on an even bigger marketing campaign in the local market to newcomers. However, I have as of yet to see a change.

So why do companies just change the name and never upgrade there level of service or product. The are many reasons some simple some complex. For starters it is easy to do a corporate name change, this might not do anything but change your name on paper, but for a simple filing fee to your local secretary of state you can now call yourself something new. It’s not quite like getting a new slate, more like pulling the cover over your potential new customers eyes. Some companies simply cannot upgrade there product/service b/c they are in fact dependent on someone or something else. If you are a reseller service and your core product has issues you can either choose to drop it or just keep relabeling it in order to keep up with the customer drop off rate by bringing in new customers.

In some cases companies rename something not because the product is bad but because they hope to increase consumer awareness by adding all sorts of marketing flare to drill into the minds of there hopeless victims(I mean, customers.) Take Wendy’s for example, a few months back Wendy’s started renaming itself in wake of slowing sales growth and a new consumer shift towards healthier eating habits. It tried to promote itself as a new better fast food place a valid start by any means, but what really stands out is it’s slogan for this marketing twist, “It’s not fast food, it’s Wendy’s”.

That’s kind of like saying a car is what people from New York drive and a vehicle is what someone from the south drives. A car/vehicle is the same thing, it’s a ford, a Honda, a shiny compact/large piece of equipment that we use to get from point A to B. There is no difference here than Wendy’s saying that they are not fast food. By fast food standards, “fast food” is defined as a drive thru restaurant one can order and receive food from in under 3 minutes. Nationally McDonald’s holds the fastest time for this with an average wait time of under 1 minute, but how can Wendy’s set itself apart.

Should we now assume that because they are no longer fast food they will take longer. No Wendy’s knows there customers don’t want to wait longer for there food to get to them. What about the salads and other “healthy” options on there menu. Wendy’s has been selling salads for years, other fast food chains had added more healthy options than Wendy’s as of late. So what has Wendy’s basically done. They basically called there car an automobile, a republican a GOP member, it’s all the same.

I like Wendy’s, some of there food is quite tasty, but if you are going to rename yourself, do it with a little more passion. Don’t put yourself in a class of other companies that simply pull the cover over the eyes of their customers. Consumers are smarter than that. The short sales spike to your bottom line, is not worth putting your corporate reputation at risk by simply putting a big shiny bow on the same old thing.

The happy ending to the story is that when Target heard about this story, they contacted him and told him that he could trade in his Wal-Mart cards for Target cards and pass them out at their store.

It lost $4.97 per share in the quarter ended Nov. 30, last year in the same quarter it earned $3.17 billion or just over $7 a share.

Other investment and banking firms are expected to report losses this week also. Amid the current financial crisis, there isn’t a lot of good news floating around on Wall Street, or any financial sector.

Goldman Sachs posts first loss since going public – Yahoo! News

The video below also explains how the Republican Party is attempting to tie president-elect Obama to the scandal.

Today the UAW, “lashed out” at Southern politicians over the failure of the bailout bill.

I’m not sorry to the UAW about the Republicans shooting down the bailout bill in the Senate. I don’t agree that a company who makes sub-par products should be rescued by tax payer dollars. I don’t often agree with Republicans, but I’m siding with them this time. THEN the United Auto Workers Union won’t take the pay cut concession???

Mississippi, as well as many other southern states, have auto companies producing cars here, and the facilities are NON UNION! When the UAW tried to form in these areas, it failed. It’s no surprise that the senators from these areas are against the bailout bill. After seeing auto companies not asking for bailouts in their home states, how could they give bailouts to the Big 3?

Angry UAW Members lash out at Southern Senators

It may come as a surprise to some, but I actually agree with him. I don’t think the auto industry needs a bailout for all the same reasons he lists. If you hand over a check to them, it will not force them to “get it together” and restructure, but they will continue down the current path and most likely fail anyway.

Handing the auto makers is like handing someone a leaky boat and sending them out to sea. Sure, they will stay afloat for a little while, but eventually that boat will sink.

What would they do with the money? I sure hope it would go into something like R&D to find some new ways to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions.  I still wouldn’t buy a GM.

The bailout would give the automakers the money to retool their companies and create more fuel efficient cars “of the future.”

In hard economic times, more people will go to college to get an education so they can find the better job. People will always need other people to educate them.

I know this first hand…I am still a senior in college after all. I went to college thinking that it was the way to go after high school to “land a great job.” Now, I’m looking at graduating and not being able to find a job myself…perhaps more college is in order?

I can’t forget K-12 either. Public schools will always need teachers and administration…Most districts enforce truancy laws, so kids HAVE to go to school.

Today, the final blow for the Republican party happened…North Carolina’s electoral votes went to Barack Obama. It a state that hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1974. Until today the race was just too close to call. Obama won by around only 14,000 votes, just over 4.2 million votes were cast (and counted as of today).

Somewhere I read online yesterday that 1 in 7 voters can still be persuaded. I don’t think the 2 percent of the population that CAN be persuaded are watching SNL, I think those potential voters are the ones who do not watch a lot of news or don’t really care about politics at all.

Last time John McCain was on SNL, he made me laugh a bit, only because he made fun of how old he is. Maybe tonight he can even make me chuckle a bit.

Many independent colleges, like Antioch, are starting to see fewer students because both students and parents are seeing the benefits of attending lower priced schools. So, the schools are having problems making ends meet.

I would be devastated if my college decided to suspend operations, however, I go to a public university with an enrollment of over 10,000. I just think perhaps these private colleges should limit their satellite campuses and focus on their main campus. If Ole Miss focused on their "DeSoto center" a satellite campus 5 minutes or so south of Memphis, TN, rather than on its main campus in Oxford, MS…there would be some issues.

So, how does this all affect the average American? Sure, if you?re completely invested in one of the failing companies it is easy to see, but for someone who isn’t in the market but perhaps has a 401 (k) they may be worried about their financial future.

Because banks are playing defensively, they are doing whatever they can to protect their assets. This causes them to not want to produce any new loans, creating sub-prime loans and mortgages is what got most of these banks into this dire situation to begin with. Even student loans will be harder to receive, which could in itself become a disaster, because college tuition will not be going down any time soon (or ever). If a potential borrower does not have great or perfect credit, loans are and will be very hard to acquire.

When the crunch is over, though, many banks will be able to lend again to those with good credit, and those with great and perfect credit will be able to get their loans at better rates. The hardest part is waiting. It is hard to wait for a loan when you need a mode of transportation and can’t get a car loan though, as not everyone lives where there is a method of public transportation or a place close enough to anything to ride a bike.

If you’ve been working and deducting some of your paycheck into a 401 (k) for any length of time, the financial crisis is something to take a serious look at. According to financial adviser Jill Schlesinger in a CBS interview, you should not stop payroll deductions into your 401 (k) just because of a sudden drop in the market, rather now is the time to be putting more money into the fund. Russell Pearlman from SmartMoney magazine also says that investors shouldn’t pull all of their money out of the market and to not panic. She states, ?As bad as things look today, they are just going to be a blip on the radar 10, 20 years from now.? As hard as it is to watch the stocks fall more every day, advisers and market analysts are saying to stick with it and that what is happening now could be the worst of it.

Not all news is doom and gloom however. Some of the brighter side of it is oil has fallen from $147 a barrel to under $70 in 3 months. When things start to shake up Wall Street, it appears that investors will begin looking for something more stable than what they are currently invested in (which probably lead to yesterday?s record jump in the price of an ounce of gold). The fall in oil definitely eases some of the financial burden facing the average consumer in the U.S. The lower oil prices will help ease inflation on all the goods that we buy.

Hopefully Russell Pearlman is right and we will all look back on what is going on now and say it is a blip. We can also hope that the worst of it is over. However you look at what is happening on Wall Street, the biggest thing to do is wait.

I recently read an article about how after the third presidential debate, when polled, those making under $50,000 a year bumped up John McCain’s numbers. Hmm. Given that no other variables exist, this really doesn’t make since. Under Obama’s tax plan, those families would be seeing more cuts from Obama than McCain. Was it the whole story about “Joe the plumber”? I sure hope not, because he was posing a hypothetical situation. The real Joe isn’t even a licensed plumber, and makes around $40k a year. He is in no position to purchase this company (which only makes $100k a year anyway, so it too would benefit from Obama’s tax plan more).

I do understand that there are more variables when it comes to political views than just money. I, however, do not believe that they should be decided by government. I strongly support gay marriage/unions. I hate some of my best friends being shunned by the federal government because of who they are. They deserve the same rights everyone else has. I don’t think this is an issue that should be decided by the government because of the “separation of church and state” issue in the Constitution. If the government decided what should be practiced and what shouldn’t, religion-wise, would it “banish” all of the Muslims, Jews, and other religions and non-religions out of the country? Could it ban atheists from getting married? When does the tampering in our personal beliefs stop? This is one of those “variables” I was talking about.

What about defense? You really have to try hard to convince me why we still need to be in Iraq and why some are looking to invade Iran??? Yes, our policies and those of Iran’s and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, kind of clash, but we need to be diplomatic. We see what happens when diplomacy fails and we go to war instead. Right now, Americans aren’t viewed so well in the eyes of the world. Our military should be used to keep us safe, not put us in harm’s way by being used to start wars.

There are several more “variables” when it comes to who you cast your vote for in the next election. Whether it be taxes, the economy, change, religion, defense, health care, education, etc…

More than likely, however, the clothing expense will be seen as nothing more than a necessary expense and won’t really affect the campaign one way or the other.