Oprah's Giveaway's Have More Meaning This Year...

We've all seen the shows where Oprah seems to be the Santa of real life. She surprises her viewers, as well as guests with outrageous gifts with no expectation of returned favor. The most popular of these episodes was titled, "Oprah's Favorite Things". However, instead of just giving away gifts this year, Oprah presented her audience with $1,000 debit cards in a "Pay It Forward" and explained their assignment to spend the money on whatever charity they wished.
"I can honestly say that every gift I've ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I've given it to," she said. "Thats the feeling I want to pass on to you."
Oprah's idea triggered ideas for holiday shoppers which put specific products/items on demand as well.
The goal is for audience members to give to others, and they were rewarded with a Sony DVD Handycam to record their charitable activites.
"You're going to open your hearts, you're going to be really creative, and you're going to spend it al at once on the one stranger or spend a dollar on every person. Imagine the love and kindness you can spread with $1,000." Oprah encouraged.
In my opinion, this is the best idea Oprah has had in some time. Many people have been debating as to whether her information/coverage was getting just a little bland. I think this is just enough to add a little excitement. Plus, the audience interaction, is quite the "feel good" activity, and I think that it is a great alteration made to her possibly most popular program aired from year to year.

Invisibility a Posibility??

An invisibility cloak that works in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum has been unveiled by researchers in the US. The cloak works by steering microwave light around an object, making it appear to an observer as if it were not there at all. Earlier in 2006, John Pendry, a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues showed how such an invisibility cloak could, in theory, be made. Now David Smith and colleagues at Duke University in North Carolina, US, have proved the idea works. The device only works under one type of wavelength and only in two dimensions. It has been shown to make copper rings simply disappear but hasn't quite gotten the shadow of the rings to disappear with it. Scientists working on this project are hoping to cloak 3d objects soon. What problems could arise from the creation of the invisibility? Do you think the creation of something such as an invisibility cloak would be helpful to society?

Holidays = More Faked Sick Days

Although roughly one-third of workers calls in sick when they are not really sick during the course of a year, the number spikes during the holiday season. This increase is likely due to people spending time with family, shopping, preparing for the holidays, and taking sick days because they ran out of their annual allowance of vacation days. A survey shows that 32% of workers called in sick when they were not at least once in the last year, while 10% did so three or more times. Additionally, men were found to be less likely to take fake sick days than women (26% compared to 37%).

How much of an impact do you think employees taking fake sick days has on society in the form of external costs?

Airline Instability

Last month, there were attempted hostile takeovers of major airlines by smaller competitors. This signals that the airline market may become even more unstable in the near future. The consolidation of Delta Airlines with AirTran will cause a shortage of air travel, and also an increase of air fare from destination to destination. This same thing has happened in the past with the dissolution of TWA and Pan-Am, two airlines that people thought would be unstoppable. We could see a Pigovian governmental intervention, in order to protect the aviation industry and try to keep it affordable for the consumers.

This will be an interesting news story to watch, with many real world applications of the various economic principles we have covered in micro economics.

PlayStation 3 even scarcer than predicted

The new Playstation 3 was supposed to ship 400,000 systems to The United States, however for some reason there were only 125,000 too 175,000 shipped to the US. Sony says its pleased with the launch in the US so far, but don't have any explanation as to why the number of PS3's have been launched in the US. Why do you think there have been less than half the estimated PS3's in the United States released this year?

Steriods in Sports

There have been many cases were pro athlites are being accused of and caught for using steriods. Me personally believe that this is a big problem and is discracing the game. Early in sports where most of the records were set people didnt know what steriods were and still set high records which some still hold today. Yes I would always like records to be broken but not in illegal ways. i believe that if you can't break a record naturally than you shouldn't be able to break it at all. If you are caught using steriods then you should have all of your records if any cleared and not be able to be in the hall of fame. This may seem like a harsh punishment but if you don't believe in yourself enough to do the things you do naturally then you shouldn't be on the feild because you are making the game not fair. What are your thoughts with steriods in sports.

Gun Control In USA

I belive that this has become a big issue in the US today. The government is trying to make it where the people are not allowed to own guns in there homes. I believe that if they plan to do this then they should change the second admendment which says "the people have the right to bear arms". They have already chose to banned assualt weapons to reduce crime which of now it has not helped any. Many people are even still getting caught with these types of weopons. So this should tell the government that no matter what they do people will still be able to find guns. To all of the hunters what do they want us to do, not hunt, which then would result in deer population grow dramatically then there would be more accidents caused by deer. What is your thoughts on the government wanting to take guns out of our homes and live us with no high powered protection.

abstinence education

A new study reveals that abstinence only programs can be effective in reducing teen sex and in delaying their first sexual experience without discouraging the use of condoms during future encounters. This caught my attention because when I went through middle school health and high school health classes, teachers always seemed to urge the importance of using a condom first and preaching abstinence second. It was like they almost gave up on us not waiting until we were married to have sex so they might as well teach us to be safe instead. I think this abstinence only education is a good way to go when teaching teens about sex. Does anybody think that this method would not work and you would do it anyway?

Jay-Z tops charts

The previously retired rapper, Jay-Z has come out with a new album entitled "Kingdom Come". The album has already skyrocketed in terms of sales, tallying over 680,000 copies already sold. What I am wondering is that with all of the music piracy that goes on in our country, how much of an impact does it really have on record sales. I feel that album sales would be considerably higher than they are now because people would not just wait for the album to come out and download it off the internet illegaly. They would actually have to make the purchase. What are everybody's thoughts?

60's Are The New Middle Age

These days with many possible plastic surgery procedures, plus the fact that American's are starting to live longer and longer, we are now sliding the scale of middle age. 60 percent of Americans surveyed believe their 60's are the new middle age and globally, three out of five consumers surveyed believed the 40's are the new 30's. With these new statistics, people are showing that age is nothing but a number. Age is more about how you feel these days then what your birth certificate says is your DOB. There is a surgical procedure to fix or alter almost all of the body's imperfections, to keep us looking younger and younger. Because of factors like this, American's are starting to refer to older ages as middle aged.

Microsoft Vista For Sale

Microsoft Vista went on sale Thursday 11/30 for businesses only; it was the first time in five years that Microsoft had released a new system for their personal computers. Beginning January 30 consumers will be able to purchase the new system. Microsoft believes that Vista will make PC's more secure, powerful and graphically dynamic. Also new back-end server software for businesses, as well as Office 2007, will be released the same day for consumers to purchase. PC makers say Vista will enable computers to do things that previously were difficult or costly. Lenovo Group believes that Microsoft Vista will greatly enhance data-backup tools that it builds into its machines. So go out there and get your Microsoft Vista as well.

Texts When Love is Close

"Match-making companies are creating new services that allow people to post their dating profile online and then automatically receive a text message on a GPS-enabled phone when a match is nearby, say, at a coffee shop around the corner." As the article opens up by saying, online dating has evolved again. As if resorting to finding a date online wasn't bad enough, now there are mobile phone alerts for when a romantic match is physically close by you. I think that this sort of technology will open up many doors for misuse and even abuse. For me personally, I think it would make me uncomfortable to know that someone knows that im their potential romantic match, and im sitting at Starbucks around the corner from them. To me, this would seem to be a sort of invasion of privacy!

Reckless Driver Caught on YouTube

The police have so many resources to catch crime now a days. The lastest in their arsenal is via the internet. Police in Norway got ahold of a video on YouTube of a reckless driver speeding nearly up 150 miles per hour. This young Norwegian posted a video called "Driving in Norway on the most popular video-sharing site called YouTube. He was driving on a public highway near Oslo. After making national news, the website took his video off the internet. Now what the police did was they followed an electronic trail he left online. This makes you question the privacy the internet provides you. Is it fair that this young guy got caught and will have to pay $1300 when he was not caught in the act? He did speed and he did endanger other drives on that particular highway. I feel that YouTube should censor more of what they provide so this does not happen anymore. At least no one got hurt in the filming of this video joy ride. I find it ridiculous that people mess around when they are in fast moving vehicles. Do they really need to speed? Is it the thrill they get out of it or is it the danger they seek?

The Hidden Dangers of Seatbelts

My mom has always told me to wear my seatbelt in the car, ever since I was old enough to hear it. Even the family doctor asks me if I always wear my seatbelt when i ride in cars. Obviously there are many beneficial pluses to wearing a seatbelt. There also seems to information on how seat belts can be potentialy damaging as well. In this case we have to weigh the gains and losses and continue to wear seat belts. " [A] driver will also be adjusting his behavior in response to what he perceives are changes in risks. If he is wearing a seat belt and his car has front and side air bags and anti-skid brakes to boot, he may in turn drive a bit more daringly. " This is the point that the article is making. Seatbelts give people a false sense of security that they should not take for granted.

What Hurricane Season?

After the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina last summer, I'm sure every one in the United States was more than relieved to end the slated "hurricane season" of 2006. After a devastating hurricane season in both 2004 and 2005, this year there was not a single hurricane to hit the shores of the United States. "Only three tropical storms made landfall, a welcome relief from the previous two years, when nearly a dozen hurricanes battered the country." I think that tensions were high in the south this year because of the forecasted amounts of hurricanes for 2006, and because of the unthinkable fury of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was an almost unthinkable phenomenon that utterly destroyed the heart of Louisiana and the south. New Orleans was thrown into complete shambles and the government was completely unprepared. FEMA was tested in a way it had never been tested before, and proved to be a failure to most of the victims of Katrina. Not only did Katrina hit Louisiana hard, but it also smacked the government in the face as well. The government was exposed, and the common citizen realized that we are not as prepared for disaster as the government would like us to believe.

On another note, I spent my spring break in Houma, Louisiana last year helping to repair and rebuild the community from hurricane Katrina. I spent two weeks cleaning houses, painting houses, and even filing paper work for the sommunity relief center. Since we were staying on a modern indian reservation of the Houma Indians, we helped run and stock the relief center for the community. It was amazing to see the outpouring of donations that came into the center. From donated clothes, to diapers, to backpacks, to canned goods; it was all stocked in that relief center. The amazing part was, that all of the patrons of the center were rationed a certain amount of goods per visit, and paid nothing for them. As long as they brought their tribal card to the relief center, they were provided with free food for the week, from a government grant post-Katrina. It was amazing to me to see the unthinkable destruction that Hurricane Katrina left even many, many months after the initial impact. It was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and i realized that it will take many many years to rebuild and recover from the disaster of last year.

A Decline in Toy Sales?! Around Christmas time?!

According to MSNBC.com, even though factories have produced a life size pony, a laughing Elmo, and a digital camera for three year olds, it will not be enough to pull the industry out of a slump. This year, through October, the industry has been able to ring up $12.7 billion in sales there, but it is down by 2% from last year. That in return, puts November and December in the "hotseat" to pull in a whopping $9.1 billion in sales if the industry even atleast hopes to match last years $21.8 billion. This could be stretch considering those two months only generate 33-37% of total sales, not the 42% the industry needs. The reason the revenue is lower than past years it due in part to retailers such a Walmart and Target. Because they are able to sell the toys so much cheaper, it pushes more pressure on the toy companies to raise prices. Also, video games and systems were launches right before Thanksgiving which actually took money away from the more traditional toy stores. It seems that children are losing interest in the traditional toys and turning towards video games, dvds, IPods, websurfing, MySpace, and AOL as a way of entertainment. The traditional toy industry has been in a slump in 2002 and video games will be permanent competitive pressure.

So what do you think? Do you feel that the traditional toys should be made more electronical? Or maybe the electronic stores should buy out the traditional toy stores and monopolize? That sounds crazy enough, but it could happen at this rate.

Minimum Wage and Work Study

Earlier this month Ohio voted to pass a minium wage law that raises all jobs, including the most common job for a college student, work study. If you are not familiar with the work study system the Federal government as a part of certain student's financial aid allows these students to make a certain amount of money each year. For myself this amount is $2,000. I can work at a position on campus to make this amount. Also, many of the programs (academic and administrative) depend on these student workers to make the offices flow with the limited staff that they have. Before the election earlier this month I attended the all-campus meeting of the Student Senate and posed a question the the high ranking officials of the college, what would happen to work study if this law passes? Amazingly enough they did not have a response for me. The impression that I recieved from them was that this was an issue that they should consider. Yet nothing was published or available to students, the people this would effect the most. Now we sit with one week left (exams?!?!) and still nothing has been told to work study students. This change in minimum wage will take effect on January 1st, before we come back from break, so when we come back this will be in effect.
I have two questions to pose at this point. How many students knew about this change before the election and the possible affects it could insitute? As we learned in class a minimum wage law creates a shortage of jobs, something any student knows is already a problem. The second question is, how do you think you, as a student, will be affected?

Just Relax!

I found this article very interesting, because i felt that i could relate well to it. It starts off by telling us about a lady who is trying to manage a stressful life. She goes all the way as to buy $300 dollar relaxation tapes to help her out. It later goes into the many different products and treatements that people can and have paid for to get rid of the stress in their lives. The big question in the article is whether or not these methods that we spend money on really work. To some people they do, whether it be the placibo affect or that they actually work. It seems that people will try anything just so they are stess free. Different methods consist of aroma therapy, acupuncture, talk sessions, yoga, and different types of tapes. Other people say that you don't need to pay to relax, that there are other ways to relax. Simply working out could relax a person, or making something relazxing that once was stressful: for example rush hour, that is perfect time to learn a language.


I find it very interesting how stressful we make our lives. Some people think that they have to fill up there plate or else they are wasting their time. In the end they become more stressed out then productive. I've heard of certain companies over seas will take time out of the work day so their employees can meditate. I find that a good workout does a good job getting rid of my stress. It seems that everyone just has to find what suites them, whether it costs money or not.

Consumer Spending Advances at Cautious Pace

With a decline in spending was down for the U.S in September and August economist didn't really know what to expect in October. Some economists had expected stronger spending in October, considering the sharp drops in gasoline prices in recent months. Wages and salaries, which account for a large share of personal income, climbed 0.6% in October, matching September's advance. Economists said wages are rising because companies are finding that they must compete for qualified workers in an increasingly tight labor market. Analysts said some consumers remain guarded about spending because the struggling housing market makes them feel less wealthy and there's a concern that energy prices could escalate. Even thoough October was slow with consumer spending you can expect things to pick up with the holiday season coming.

Borat

I personally saw the movie Borat and had mixed feelings. I feel that America should be more angry than Khazakstan. Borat ripped apart America as a country and every race it possesses. There is all this talk about how Borat embarassed Khazakstan, but really America was embarassed by how our people were portrayed. He exposed racism towards all races by all people, it was quite shocking. I can see where Khazakstan would be weary of the film, with all the controversy around the film. Borat was jsut an actor, and the fact that he was from Khazakstan really meant nothing to the film. The fact that America was embarassed shoudl really be what everyone should tal about.

Economy is Growing Faster than Predicted

The economy is growing much faster than predicted by the government a month ago. Gross Domestic Product increased by 2.2% rather than the 1.6% predicted. These number are being watched very closely because the Federal Reserve might change the interest rates. What is the cause of the increased GDP and why will the interest rates change?

Arby's Plans to Cut Trans Fat

Obesity is becoming a major problem in the United States. Too many people resort to fast food because of their fast paced lives. Arby's plans on cutting trans fat from their french fries. No longer will consumers of this fast food chain will have clogged arteries due to their fries. As a matter of fact, Arby's is one of the last of the 3,500 restaurants worldwide to do so. KFC and Taco Bell have also done this to their menu's . I really feel that this is a good idea because our country is experiencing so many heart problems. By doing this people's bad cholesterol levels will be lowered and good cholersterol levels will rise. It makes sense for fast food restaurants to do this. Everywhere you go you see fast food places trying to make their menu's more healthy. From salads, to South Beach Diet foods, these restaurants are finally seeing the problem with America's obesity. Now mind you fast food in general is not the best thing to be eating, but they cannot be eliminated. The only thing they can do is make their foods the best they can with still making a profit. I believe that more foods will be cut of trans fats in the future in most fast food restaurants. However, will this ulimately cause obesity levels to drop? I mean, they are still eating fast food.

Reasons to drink

I grew up in a town where many of the parents drank alot. Not to say all parents did, but in all honesty, whether it was the rich adult trygin to get away from their problems, or the firefighter at their personal bar children aroudn my town were exposed to alchohol. My feeling towards this exposure was that the overall alchohol use not only effected the adult's personal children, but children all aroudn the town. Kids thoguht that to be cool and seem rich and adult, they had to drink expensive liquor. It was all about status for these people, not exactly because of lack of talk or attention as said in the article. Others drank to get away from problems as many alchohol abusers do. I believe that drinking is more of a follow the leader thing, rather than a lack of attention thing.

$51.1 Million Bid

The Boston Red Sox recently had the winning bid on star Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The amount was an astonishing $51.1 million, outbidding the New York Mets $40 million and the Yankees $33 million. But this bid wasn't a contract offer for the Japanese ace. It was merely a bid to talk to the player. Now the Red Sox have to sign Matsuzaka within 30 days or he will continue to play in Japan.
Have baseball owners and general managers lost their minds? If teams are willing to pay half a million just to talk to a player, how much will players' contracts be? It seems very ridiculous to me that one player can generate so much attention from MLB teams who hasn't even played in the majors, and probably has not even been to the US. I guess things just cost alot of money today, including the rights to talk to someone.

Blistering Blizzard

Only a short while ago I was wearing shorts and t-shirt, there was leaves on the trees not the ground, but all that has changed as well as the weather. As December is upon us so is the first snowstorm of the year. The first storm to hit the Midwest this year closed down many schools, grounded planes and caused its fair share of car accidents. Which brings me to my point about driving in the snow. It is a known fact the more accidents are caused by snow than anything else, so why doesn't anyone do anything about it. I think that as a cause of so many accidents caused by the snow there should be more training of drivers in the snow. I think that the main reason why people get into accidents in the snow is because it really only snows 3 or 4 months of the year meaning that it is hard to practice driving in the snow. With more practice driving in the snow the number of accidents will decrease and overall drivers will be safer.

Physical Plant charging fee for AC

If it isn't already ridiculous that we all pay 30,000 dollars to attend Marietta College per year, it is absolutely ridiculous that the college can give you these littles charges to boost your yearly bill. Last year I decided to buy a parking pass for 40 dollars to park in the IGA lot. Well if any freshman has done this and received a red sticker, they know how I feel. Numerous times there were no parking spots on the red side, but 5 ft. from where I was supposed to park sits the blue lot. The blue lot always had about 10-15 open spots. If I decided to park in these spots I would receive a 30 dollar parking ticket. If I wanted to spare myself 30 dollars, I had to park about a mile away from my dorm. Now this year I received a bill in the mail, which is nothing new. However, on that bill I was charged for AC installation. Which would be fine if they actually installed my AC unit. The only thing they installed on my unit was a blue sticker that says something like property of Marietta College. I guess the Physical Plant decided that putting that little sticker on my unit was worth 25 dollars of their time, because that is the ridiculous price I was charged. Where does all this money the college makes off us students go?

Nintendo Wii, a blast from the past?

Recently the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii were released in retail stores. The Playstation 3 has been the hot topic for most gamers. People who could get their hands on a PS3 were able to either keep the system, or sell it on ebay for an average of $1200. However, as a 20 year old male, I was introduced to the Nintendo when I was just a young boy. The nintendo released several great titles like Mario Bros, Zelda, and Excite Bike. Todays Nintendo Wii is bringing a combonation of old school games with an exciting new controller that is very interactive. The new controller almost takes the resemblance of the game you are playing. For example, if you are playing a tennis game, the controller becomes your raquet and you must swing the controller in attempt to return the ball. For a much cheaper price of $250, compared to the ridiculous price of the PS3 ($600), I feel like the Wii is a better buy right now. I believe that the Wii will grab the attention of old school gamers and also pick up some of its younger audience because of their pg titles that contain alot less violence.

HP faces a lawsuit

HP has been accused of spying on board members and selling stock at inflated prices.
I’ve had an HP printer for several years now and have always been pleased with it, but following these alleged practices, I’m not sure I would buy from HP again. Between the legal costs and customers like myself, it makes me wonder how economically wise this move on HP’s part was and if the long term costs will outweigh the short term profits. What do you think?

Ohio State versus.........

Who will play Ohio State for the National Championship in college football? The National Championship may have been played on November 18 when Ohio State beat Michigan 42-39, but the BCS will try and match up the "right" school to play them with a ridculous system. This system is more confusing than quantum physics because of all the computer rankings, team's strength of schedule, team's win differential, and of course much debate by schools and coaches. Going into the final week of college football there are literally 10-20 scenarios for the five BCS bowl games which would effect the remaining bowl games. One thing that is for sure is that Ohio State will be playing for the National Championship, but who will they play. If USC beats UCLA most likely it will be USC, but USC has one loss to Oregon St., not a powerhouse at all. But a school like Florida's only loss is to Auburn, a team ranked in the top 20. What about the other one-loss teams?

Michigan, Wisconsin, and possibly Florida, Louisville, and Rutgers will all have a claim to play for the National Championship because each one will only have one-loss as well. But wait, what about the little school out in Idaho, Boise State? They finished their season last week capping off an undefeated season, shouldn't they have the chance to play for the National Championship? It has happened before that an undefeated team has not played in the National Championship game, twice in the last three years, TCU in 2003, and two teams in 2004 Auburn and Utah. Maybe a playoff system doesn't sound too bad.

Divison I AA, II, III all use a playoff system and it has been working sufficiently for many years. Also, look at college basketball and how successful March Madness is. So the question has been brought up over the past three years, should college football break away from the BCS and go to a playoff system? If not, should they just keep it the way it is with the BCS and have controversy every year?

Live T.V. in Cars?

Chief Executive of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Mel Karmazin is digging deep for the new big thing to top his competitors. He plans to introduce an in car live television as of 2007. The idea behind all of this is to provide the people in the backseat with the latest in technology and entertainment. This is guided toward younger viewers because they are most likely riding back there. Sirius has been wanting to do this for years now. They are hoping it will be available for 2008 models. All that subscribers to Sirius would have to do is pay a new video service plus their $13 they pay monthly for its basic services. The goal Sirius is hoping for is that if they implement new services they will get more users and ultimately making more money. This is an amazing idea. Many cars can get video games and T.V. sets in the head rests if thats what you really want. The people at Sirius are helping those parents that want to keep their children in the backseat under control. Instead of fighting and being a distraction to the driver, these young viewers can be entertained by the latest technology.

Christmas gift from an ‘Angel’

For Christmas this year most kids will, as usual, ask for toys, DVDs, CDs, and maybe something they want for a hobby or passion. However, there are kids out there who are asking for nothing more than the basics. They ask for shoes, towels, slippers, clothes and many more necessities. Most of these kids are foster kids who have nothing of their own and move from one household to another. Many of these children have been abused or neglected and they only want something they really need. A non-profit group called Adopt An Angel is one organization that tries to make sure that these children receive something for Christmas. It is time for people who can afford it to donate something for these children through such a group. In my family we always donate something to children who don’t have anything. Last year I donated upwards of 5 trash bags full of stuffed animals, including six gigantic stuffed animals, to children who have nothing. It is time that we give more. I know when I was in high school, 13 students would “adopt” a child at Christmas and buy them clothes and educational items for Christmas. It is time that everyone does the same thing, because there will always be someone who is not as fortunate as those with money.

Would it have a positive effect on our economy if people who could afford it donated some of their extra cash to an effort like this instead of spending it on luxury items? Would we as a society end up spending more on basic necessities and less on luxury or nonessential items?

Beaware of your medicines

Counterfeit medicines are fake medicines that may be contaminated, contain the wrong or no active ingredient, or be packaged in phony packaging. Medicines that are counterfeit may not help the condition that the medicine was intended to treat, and may lead to dangerous side effects. However you can avoid counterfeit medicine by purchasing only from state-licensed pharmacies that are located in the United States, where FDA and state authorities can assure the quality of drug manufacturing, packaging, distribution and labeling. There are many of thousands of people who buy their medicines from off the internet because they are cheaper; however, try not to buy your medicines from off the internet, because it is a good possibility that it has been counterfeited.

Breast Cancer May be Prevented by Abortion Pill

New research has discovered that the abortion pill might prevent breast cancer in women who are very susceptible to the disease. The chemical compound found in the abortion pill, RU486 (Mifepristone) has been injected in mice that genetically carried the BRCA1 breast cancer gene. The RU486 has an antiprogesterone effect by blocking the production of progesterone. The new research shows that this effect may have inhibited the growth of breast cancer tumors. In this study, half the mice were treated with RU486, and the other half were not. The mice that received the chemical did not form tumors after one year. However, the mice that did not receive the chemical developed breast cancer tumors after 8 months. This study shows promising information about the prevention of breast cancer, although there still needs to be many more studies to confirm the safety of this drug. Also, researchers are testing more specific antiprogesterone drugs to see if they have the same effect. I was very excited to read this article. What do you think? Do you think breast cancer could be a thing of the past anytime soon?

Economics of 'Obvious'

According to a New York Times article, the meaning of ‘obvious’ has caused disagreement in the Supreme Court. A patent is defined by “an invention the must be novel, useful and, not obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the field.” KSR International has a patent for an adjustable gas pedal in vehicles with electronic engine controls claims. The rival company, Teleflex Inc., considers “the combination of the two elements was obvious.”
A complex process of jury trials, litigations, and expenses result from this struggle of what is considered an obvious invention. I wonder if the economic principle of self-interest comes into play. Is Teleflex jealous that they were unable to come up with such an “obvious” invention? In hindsight, it may seem simple, but doesn’t that thought apply to patents for the bumper dumper? What do you think? Is it that this battle of “obvious” is a scapegoat for the real reasons these cases are being brought to the Supreme Court?

Selling Body Organs

Many people today get into accidents, or their health gets so bad to where they have to resort to organ transplants. For most people they are put on a “list” to receive a transplant. Some of the patients family members get tired of watching their family member wither away to death and they resort to finding body organs over the internet, but are that the right thing to do. Buying someone else’s body organs over the internet is a risk; you do not know if they are real, or if someone is just trying to get money in a sick way. If an organ donor dies and their organs are donated, where will they actually go? Do you think that it should be illegal for someone to sell his or her body organs over the internet?

Japanese National TV program sue consumers

In the article “NHK takes legal action against non-payers”, NHK, a national television company, decided to sue 33 households in Tokyo for unpaid subscription fees. NHK is one of the many TV stations and programs which contributes to the media in Japan. NHK broadcasts daily news, weather, and at times educational programs for both adults and children. NHK used to control the media industry in Japan but today they face competition with other media programs due to the improvement in technology. In the past few years the demand for NHK has decreased because of scandals the workers caused by using the fees collected by consumers for his personal use. Also, the way NHK operates is unfair to the consumers. For when connecting media line into a household, consumers have no choice but to sign a viewership contract with NHK. There is no way out of this contract. When the viewer contract is signed there is no specific law which states the viewers are obligated to pay the fee. NHK makes an assumption that it is an “mutual understanding” the viewers will and should pay. Most of the time, many of the Japanese families do not even watch the NHK, yet are still demanded to pay the fee. These people who come to collect bills continuously come to the house until the bill is paid.
Is NHK allowed to sue the viewers who have refused to pay for the “subscription” even if there is no official contract but just a “mutual agreement”? It just seems unfair to me. What do you think? Do you think the 33 households being sued should be guilty? If you were a consumer, would you pay the fee?

AirTran CEO interested in US Airways and Delta Assets

AirTran CEO Joe Leonard is now interensted in purchasing airport gates sold by US Airways or Delta. Airlines are looking to get long-coveted assets. US Air and Delta may merge if the $8.5 billion takeover bid succeeds. The meeting on the issue was held in Manhattan. "We reviewed our offer and had a chance to engage in discussions on the many facets of this proposal," Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of US Airways. US Airway says that that must sell assets to satisfy antitrust concerns if its purchase of Delta happens. Mr. Leonard beleives that there is a 50% chance of it succeeding.

The Economics of the Internet

Economists have found that the internet as an experiment to test the limits of a free market. Now, with the internet there are thousands of services, products and information at hand with just a click of the mouse.
Here are some statistics to ponder upon:
35% of the US population is expected to be on the web in 1998.

Total online commerce is expected to exceed $30 billion in five years.

Online retail sales alone are expected to exceed $500 million this year(1998) and increase to nearly 6 billion by 2000.

Web advertising expenditures are expected to reach 2.5 billion over the next two years.

(Sources: SIMBA and Gartner Group)

http://www.lawyerviews.com/lawsite/basicinfo/econ.html

November retail sales rise, but growth slows

The Christmas season is looking different this year for many retailers. Growth is not as high as it was expected by many companies or Wall Street. Retailers are claiming many reasons for the slow growth. The unusually warm weather or rain has impacted stores, varying by location of course. The longer shopping season this year is often citied as a cause of lower then expected November growth. Thanksgiving was earlier by a day or so this year, and Christmas day falls on a Monday, giving shoppers a whole extra weekend that was not always there before. Retailers are still hopeful for December shopping trends and realized that there December sales will have to be excellent to compensate for slow November sales, which included Black Friday.

Cheap Drugs

Wal-mart has done it again, this time offering 4$ prescription drugs to customers. Although these cheap generic drugs seem to be great, some say that the facts are the people who have any sort of health insurance will not buy them. With there co-pay being 5$ and some change it is unlikely that they will go to Wal-Mart to purchase generic medicines but rather stick to local drug stores. Many people though for example, anyone who does not have health insurance, will benefit greatly from costly drugs that they need and can now buy for 4$. But, what happened with the extra money that they save on prescriptions , more say they will probably spend it somewhere else in Wal-Mart. This is why Wal-Mart is continues to be such a superstore as they like to call it. One may wonder who can compete with these prices , well Target one of Wal-Mart's biggest competitors has already matched this price in 47 states. But, what does all of this mean, are these cheaper drugs ultimately helping or hurting society? Or maybe that is not the issue, maybe this is just one more way for Wal-Mart to gain control of yet one more part of business. What do you think?

Rise in Income, Rise in Spending?

According to The Commerce Department, spending rose .2 percent in October which was better than the previous three months. Spending fell .2 percent in September and spending only rose .1 percent in August. Incomes in the United States rose .4 percent in October which has contributed to this rise in consumer spending. Do you think the increase in incomes will result in a record rise in spending for this holiday season? MariettaEcon

Vista is Finally Here

After the long wait Microsoft's new operationing system is finally here. After the five year time difference since their last release they say that this is the biggest one yet. Although Vista will not be avalibe in the home till the end of January, Microsoft says that this could not come at a better time because people need a better more useful system to organize all of their growing information. Not only will this new program make PC's more secure and graphically advanced, but will also include the Microsoft Office 2007 edition. Even though it is predicted that Windows XP will not be overtaken by Vista until 2010 the arrival still holds great anticipation. For home owners though it is believed that Vista is thought of as nice to have, but not a must have on PC's. The real question though is how will this effect the rest of the programing industry? Also, "How will top competitor Apple respond to the new, bigger and better, Windows program Vista?

New Technology

How would you like to have a:

1. Ultra-Moble Windows PC big enough to fit in your pocket.

2. Robot Boombox that dances when it plays music.

3. Personal iPod Theater that can be hooked up to your cell phone or your iPod.

4. Mobile Video Telephone, that has a 2.6 inch widescreen perfect for watching live broadcasting.

5. Motion-sensing Game Gear, that moves with your every move.

6. Blu-ray Prototype Camcorder, that allowes you to make a video straight to a mini-dvd.

Well it would be nice to have all of these divices, but they are not avaliable to us here in the Unitted States, YET!

PS3

Sony announced Thursday that their will be a new chairman. Ken Kutaragi (Sony's game unit President) will take over December 1 as the new chairman. The reasoning behind this is to make more money. Ken took sony to the top of the gaming world with the Playstation and they have been there even since. Sony hopes for the same with their whole company. Just released November 17 was Sony's newest version of Playstation the PS3, which is estimated to actually lose the company money. 1.7 billion dollars to be exact. So why would a company sell a product that loses money. I don' t know maybe it is a long run type deal.

Is Bigger Better?

T. Rowe Price, one of the world's largest management firms, claimed that in 2007, economic growth is likely to slow down, but not stall. This year, the job market has improved and if it continues to do so in 2007, U.S. consumers would be more likely to be able to keep spending. The values for the largest 100 stocks are at their lowest levels since 1983 and T. Rowe Price thinks that now is a good time to buy some of most well-known companies. Larry Puglia, manager of the T. Rowe Price Blue Chip fund, said that investors should put more money into big-cap stocks, particularly those in areas like technological, financial services, and biotech. Buying up these stocks now might be good, but is that just for now? Is bigger better?

How much is your future worth?

A 19 year old college student from Anaheim Hills,California has put his future up for bid on Ebay. In August 2006 Ron Steen put himself on Ebay to pay for his college education, offering 2 percent of all future earnings to the highest bidder, with a minimum $100,000 bid. Ron Steen claims that he will earn "way more" than $125,000 a year until he turns 65, at which point his investor would break even on a $100,000 investment. Ebay has pulled the auction off the site and many other bloggers have noted many spelling errors in his ad. So this brings up the question "How much is your future worth?" Is it reasonable to say that you can make enough money a year to pay back your investtors? It seems to me that these days college is becoming more of a business transaction instead of the transaction of life.

A World Full of Fakes

Whats the big deal with counterfeit goods anyway? If you can get your hands on a new pair of air force ones for $40, then go ahead and buy them. Sounds good and easy, but problems occur all the time with counterfeits. You will read in the article linked that our government loses $200 billion in counterfeit goods each year, that makes it sound like a bigger problem than what we thought. Buying fake Rolex's, Oakley's, and Jordan's may seem harmless, but if everyone does it then it will add up to a hefty chunk of change. Fake goods are made to be sold at cheaper prices than the original, but when you buy the goods they may not stay together as well as the original. You will find Rolex's breaking within the hour, kind of like a County Fair goldfish. If our government was not losing all this money then so much more could be done like lowering taxes, or better schools. We have to put into thought before we buy those rip-off shoes, or jersey. It may seem harmless to buy one, but what if everyone buys one harmless thing. It's not to harmless anymore is it?

Prostitution: Should It Be Legal?

One question always brought up in questions reguarding the legality of topics is, Should prostitution be legal? Well when you look at it from both angles the one side says... Who cares if someone wants to buy another person so they can get pleasure, then so be it. These people believe that it is your own choice to do so, and if you get into trouble with pregnacny or std's then that would be that persons fault. The opposite side of the spectrum says that prostitutes should be stopped due to the fact they give std's and/or have a very high risk for pregnancy. When one prostitute gets an std then they will still have sex, and more and more people will get infected, which just adds to our problem. On top of that more women are getting pregnant, and usually these ladies are not great mothers. The problems with prostitution are numerous, and no matter what happens people will have their opinions, where do you fall?

Male Circumcision and AIDS

There have been many theories as implying that male circumcision and AIDS have macroeconomic impacts on African countries. There have been few studies done. The impact of the AIDS epidemic on African nations through 2002 using the male circumcision rate to identify plausibly exogenous variation in HIV prevalence. Medical researchers have found significant evidence that male circumcision can reduce the risk of contracting HIV. We find that national male circumcision rates for African countries are both a strong predictor of HIV/AIDS prevalence and uncorrelated with other determinants of economic outcomes So what do you think? Do you think AIDS can be a macroeconomic deterant or catalyst?

Expanding U.S. Economy

The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter of this year at 2.2%, far high than was expected. This comes as a great relief to the Federal Reserve and the Department of Commerce. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke attributes the recent slump in the economy to the fall of the housing market. According to the article the Federal Reserve believes that the slump in housing has yet to spill into any other market. In good news though the Federal Reserve is planning to leave the current interest rate as it stands at 5.25 percent. The Reserve in doing so shows a belief that the current interest rates will continue to prevent inflation in the U.S. economy. Also in the spotlight according to the Post article is the average price for an existing house. The price value is up nearly 2 percent over last year, meaning that it could possibly be a good time to sell. While the rate of selling a new home is down

It’s been five years since the attacks on 9-11 and yet the U.S. economy seems to still be lacking. With the arrival of the Democrats on the Hill and the War on Terror is it possible to revive our economy? Will the expenditures that our nation is now making trigger a development of the economy similar to that post World War II?

The Ultimate Showdown

It seems as if Microsoft is trying to put Apple out of their misery, once again…

Introducing the Microsoft Zune! This is the newest mp3 player from Microsoft aimed at stealing some of the 70% market share that iPod currently has in the business of mp3 players. Despite the Zune having several technologies that Apple’s iPod lacks, such as FM Radio and WiFi based song sharing, it seems that for now, people are staying true to the iPod. Many are saying that the Zune is too big and that downloading mp3 songs off of the “Zune Marketplace” is too big of a hassle. Further complicating the sales of Zunes, the Zune Marketplace is rather tricky. Microsoft uses Microsoft Points rather than cents to calculate the price of every song downloaded. For example, 79 Microsoft Points is equivalent to 99 cents. This can be confusing for some people who are unfamiliar with the system.

Continuing the discussion in class about monopolies, is Microsoft trying to dominate the market share for mp3 players as they have done with computers and operating systems? Or, on the other end, is Apple acting in a monopolistic way by controling 70% of the total market share for mp3 players?

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Zune in the future. Will the iPod hold up, or fade away like Apple computers... What do you think?

A Hefty Break

Recent studies show that college students gain more than a pound during the short Thanksgiving break. For students who are already overweight, the average gain is more than two pounds! Some say a pound isn't much, but it is a big deal when gained over that short amount of time. We also have to consider this isn't a year round thing, just a special occasion in which a college student gets a break from cafeteria food and a chance at a home cooked meal. Besides, who wants to start a diet around the holidays? Experts suggest that you want to go with a normal appetite to Thanksgiving dinner, without having filled up on snack mix or appetizers beforehand. That way you will have room for reasonable portions of each relative’s contribution to the meal without hurting someone’s feelings. If weight is gained in the short Thanksgiving break, one can only imagine about Christmas break. This gives you something to think about when you sit down for your holiday meal!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15853465/site/3000001/from/RS.2/

What can we get besides a bottle of wine?

Two years ago, Saverio Lo Leggio, Milazzo winery’s owner, agreed to put his vintage to an unusual test: he allowed a team of researchers from the University of Palermo to figure out the cost to the global environment of producing a single bottle of red wine, and the result is surprising.

The production of a bottle of Terre della Baronia created more than a pound of waste and put 16 grams of sulfur dioxide into the air. Producing the 2004 vintage of 100,000 bottles generated 22,000 pounds of plastic waste, 11,000 pounds of paper and oceans of wastewater.

Traditionally, larger industries and their factories are main targets of environmental regulations, but according to the European Environment Agency, smaller businesses like Milazzo generate about 60 percent of the world’s commercial waste and cause more than 50 percent of environmental damage.

The European Union is adapting the techniques used by Cellura and his team to study the global environmental cost of many other small companies in Europe. And hopefully, small companies can be aware of the situation and lessen their environmental impact.

At Milazzo Winery, the study’s findings have already reduced pollution. “We discovered we were throwing away a huge amount of plastic, mostly little things.” Mr. Lo Leggio said. “We used to pay to send it to landfill. Now, we sort it and a recycling consortium takes it away. We’re recovering a lot more raw material.”

From economic point of view, this is so called externalities, which means wine makers also generate something that we do not expect. To make a balance, I think besides economic control, the more important thing is that we should try to eliminate the pollution. That should be the most effective way to solve such environmental problems.

30,000 Union Workers Accept Buyouts at Ford

Workers from the Ford Motor Company have recently decided to leave their jobs in exchange for a buyout of early retirement benefits, lump-sum payments, tuition reimbursement, scholarship money, and cash payouts. Workers will begin to leave the company in January and must be gone by September 2007. The Ford workers are represented by the United Automobile Workers union and were offered up to $140,000 to retire early. Of the 75,000 workers around 38,000 have agreed to the buyouts which were available to Ford Motors entire hourly work force. This will leave Ford with its smallest workforce in decades.

Ford needs to eliminate 25,000 to 30,000 jobs as they close plants in order for their Way Forward overhaul plan to work properly because of their decrease in market share. The take on the offer was surprisingly high for the 15,000 that was estimated. “While I know that, in many cases, decisions to leave the company were difficult for our employees, the acceptances received through this voluntary effort will help Ford to become more competitive,” said Alan Mulally, Ford’s new chief executive. After the buyouts Ford does not expect to begin making a profit again until at least 2009.

This proves people will do almost anything for money and I can see this decrease in employment hurting our economy in the long run because the buyouts have put 38,000 workers out of a job. These people although they received good benefits from Ford are most likely going to need some other source of income or will resort to welfare. Do you think this will result in the free rider problem? What are you thoughts on the situation?

San Diego to ban Wal-Mart Supercenters?

San Diego's City Council recently voted 5-3 to ban stores which have a square footage of 90,000 or more and uses 10 percent or more of their store to sell groceries. This ban mainly targets on Wal-Mart and their recent plans to build a 225,000 square foot supercenter in San Diego. The mayor may veto the vote, but the council can overturn it with a vote of 5. The mayor said that he doesn't feel its the council's decision to dictate where the people of San Diego buy their groceries. The council argues that they are just trying to keep San Diego a walkable, livable place without being inhabited by huge supercenters. Supporters of the ban argue that supercenters such as Wal-Mart kill local business, pay their consumers poorly and add to pollution. On the other hand, opponents say that supercenters provide jobs for the community as well as low prices. How do you stand on this issue? What if Marietta placed such a ban on stores? Do you agree more with the supporters or opponents of this issue?

Are Warehouse Buys Worth It?

An article on SmartMoney.com discusses reasons why we shouldn't purchase products at warehouses such as Sam's Club, and how we could receive more for our money if we just shopped at our local stores. The article brings up the point of using coupons along with local sales to save money. Also, many warehouses don't sell a large selection of name brands, so you will often end up purchasing a brand you don't like or that you're not familiar with. What if you don't like it once you buy it? Then you're stuck with a ton of that item. Lastly, think of rationality. Are you actually going to go through 200 fish sticks before they expire or get frost bit in your freezer? Many people could just products by buying in more rational numbers instead of throwing away a bulk of un-used product. So are warehouses having a negative effect on consumer purchase decisions? Do you think comsumers are losing money and wasting products by purchasing at warehouses?

Class Experiment Comes to Life

On Monday of this past week, we did an experiment concerning emissions for factories, cars and utilities. In California, the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state government have passed a bill that requires factories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. Not only do factories have to reduce their emissions, but so do half the cars and light trucks in the state registered. Half the cars and “light trucks” in the state must use alternative fuel sources besides gas by the 2020.
Is this a smart idea by the state of California? If other states do not pass similar bills, one has to wonder if companies and businesses will be able to compete with competitors in other states that do not have to obey this costly law. Sure, passing a bill that will reduce total greenhouse gasses and emissions is a noble bill, but do you think that California can cut back their emissions at a great cost and still compete with the rest of the country?

Oil drilling in the ANWR

How would you feel if you were forced to move from property that has been in your family for centuries because someone wanted to dig holes in it? This type of situation is currently a reality for some individuals in Alaska. Many Americans are trying to convince Congress to pass a bill sanctioning oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Although this would make America less dependent on foreign countries for our oil supply, it would endanger many species that live on the vast tundra.

After numerous studies, researchers have estimated that by tapping oil reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, our nation's dependence on foreign oil reserves would only decrease by about four percent. It has also been concluded that gasoline prices would drop by one cent or less per gallon and that none of this would take effect until the year 2025 or later. Another study conducted by the U.S. Geological Services established that there are about sixteen billion barrels of oil under the coastal plain. This seems like a lot, but it would actually only supply the United States for less than a year.

With the huge threat to wildlife and small amount of benefits from drilling for oil in the ANWR, is it really worth it?

Spoiled Kids Can Get Even More Spoiled at Christmas Time

It seems that parent's now a days do not care about what they spend on their children. The rich and affluent people can buy their kids the top of the line. The more extravagant the better. Now I do not come from a rich family in which my parents can drop thousands of dollars on me and think nothing of it. This does not mean I am not grateful for the things I get on Christmas. So with that being said, there are things new to the market this year that can make a spoiled childs Christmas the best one ever. Available now are play size Grand Victorian Mansions starting at $22,000. Included in these are fireplace mantel, simulated hardwood floors, and even wrap-around porches. Now this is not the only play set children can get spoiled with. There is now ever a Scallywag Sloop Pirate Themed Club House going for $18,499. However, if these toys are too cheap for your spoiled child, you can buy them a $50,000 7-foot Robby Robot. This is a life sized replica from the 1956 classic "Forbidden Planet." A life size Lego Batman is also on the market for those only wanting to spend $27,000. Keep in mind, most of these parents purchasing these toys are not buying just one. Their children are getting numerous gifts plus these extravagant toys. It is apparent that the rising income levels of individuals is helping the toy markets this year. One must question whether this is a good thing having these toys so expensive and only the elite can have them. Personally, I feel if it is helping industries during the holidays, why not. The people of America can spend their money any way they want to. Or maybe is there a line that should not be crossed when it comes to presents for their children?

European Energy Monopoly

Europe is consolidating.... energy that is. The European Union is trying to establish a national market for energy. The problem: monopolies. Because of the scarce energy resources, a few companies are trying to take over the entire market. They are taking over the market because they are the only companies who can afford large supplies for a cheaper cost. Also, most of the natural gas in Europe comes from a Russian monoply. The EU is trying to figure out a way to stop this progression. However, what can they really do?

Nicotine Drink Touts Alternative to Smoking

Now smokers can receive their fix through a lemon-flavored drink with nicotine in it. The drink is called Nic Lite which is made by the company called Nic Time. The drink is made to help smokers deal with a situation that they are in where they cannot light up. For example, being on an airplane or in a bar where smoking is prohibited. Critics state that this could be another way for teenagers to get addicted. An 8-ounce bottle holds the same amount of nicotine as two cigarettes. What is interesting about this is that nicotine gum and the patch are intended to aid people in quitting, but Nic Lite is a way for someone to get through until they can smoke more. The FDA examines the gum and patch as drugs, Nic Lite is classified as a dietary supplement. What this means is that the FDA can only take action against Nic Lite if it promotes some kind of danger. I feel that they need to take action against this product right away. Smoking is a danger to society today as more and more people die from it. It is even said that a smoker can die ten years earlier then a non-smoker http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/pressreleases/2004/june/38863. I totally disagree with this product called Nic Lite and I believe it will cause more harm then good to our society today.

Unemplyoment Falls

In October the unemployment rate fell from 4.6% to 4.4% since September. This is the lowest unemployment rate seen since May of 2001. Economists say that this low unemployment should hopefully stay constant. One reason for this is in October 92,000 jobs were added by employers and 148,000 in September. So far this year 1.5 million jobs have been added into the job market. This is excellent to hear especially with the holidays around the corner. Also with the war going on, a decrease in unemployment means there are more people working which will hopefully be helping the economy.

The Memory Pill

If you have encountered an agonizing or disturbing event in your life and you would like to rid the bad memories that go along with it, there may be an answer for you. There is a memory pill that is being researched that helps a person get rid of terrible memories. The drug that is located in the pill is called propranolol which is already used to prevent high blood pressure. If this invention does work out, I believe it will be a great thing for people who have some really bad memories in their lives. I also feel that it will give people the hope that they are looking for.

The Dangers of Exotic Animals and Food

Although most people look at exotic animals as something beautiful, there are many dangers to them. The smuggling of animals is becoming huge, especially birds, now with the threat of bird flu. Smugglers are finding new and inventive ways to smuggle exotic birds into the country, which could potentially carry the bird flu. Most exotic animals can not be brought into the United States, and those that are allowed must be quarantined first. But many smugglers don’t want to run the risk of their animals being illegal or sick, so they sneak them in.
The risks also lie in food that can be smuggled into the country. Many things in other countries are considered delicacies such as duck eggs or certain meats that are hard to find in America. Yet people that may be from those countries want a taste of home. So they buy these delicacies from the black market. Not realizes that what they are eating could contain anything from Ebola to the bird flu.
The illegal smuggling of these types of things is becoming a huge problem for the health of the nation. And although inspectors are trying hard to find these smugglers and stop them, new ways of smuggling are being found. Anywhere from putting sedated birds into a hair curler to putting them into small tubes and taping them around their legs. This problem needs to be stopped in order to keep unwanted diseases out.

Diamond Smuggling

It is said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. They typically represent beauty and class. However, behind the scenes there is the smuggling of diamonds, which is turning into a very large problem that is anything but classy. In many places in Africa it is very typical for miners to look through the banks of rivers all day in hopes of finding a single diamond so that they can maybe feed their selves and their family. But what if they never find a diamond? Even though smuggling has dropped by 10% in the last year, it is suggested that this has only happened because larger diamonds are now being smuggled. With the new Blood Diamond coming out, this movie shows the controversy and dangers of smuggling diamonds out of Africa to be sold.

iPods on Planes

Recently Apple has made a deal with four major airlines to let their passengers be able to connect their iPods so that they may charge, or watch movies on the screen in front of them through their iPod. The four airlines are Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Dubai's Emirates, and United Airlines. Also there is talk that apple will make deals to put iPod ports in new model cars. All of these new plans were released when Microsoft introduced their new music player Zune. iPod has sold almost 70 million iPods, and over 1.5 billion songs through iTunes. However it seems as if by Microsoft coming out with a digital music player Apple feels it needs to step up in the game to make iPods more becoming to the consumer than the Zune.

Out of This World

Over 65,000 people have tried to get tickets for the ride of their lives. They want to go to outer space and become an offical space tourist. So far, only four people world wide have toured outer space each paying roughly 20 million dollars. A Chinese business man has paid $200,000 to become the first man from his country to become a space tourist. Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures travel agency are two of the companies that take private individuals into space. The journeys last around 2.5 hours and carry six passengers and two pilots, says the Virgin Galactic company. The company plans to launch ships from ports in New Mexico and California. The Space Adventures company plans to build spaceports in Singpore and the United Arab Emirates. Are people out of there minds to pay $20 million for a 2.5 hour tour? Is this business really going to be a success in the future?

Beatles: only on iPod?

If you were to visit iTunes Music Store and typed in “The Beetles,” more than 50 albums would pop up; however, none are the real deal. Fans wishing to download the actual Beetles in MP3 format have to search peer-to-peer sites like Limewire or Bearshare for unlicensed songs they can listen to free. While details remain to be worked out, Fortune has learned that iTunes is close to a deal to bring the Beatles catalog online. Apple Computer is said to become the exclusive online music store for the Beatles for a limited window of time.
If the deal goes through, it will mark a Nixon-Brezhnev-worthy truce - with the band's record label, Britain's EMI Group, serving as a peacemaker - between Apple Computer's Steve Jobs and Neil Aspinall, the onetime Beatles road manager who is now guardian of the band's business interests under the rubric Apple Corps. Even though Apple Computers is pushing for this truce, the deal could well fall apart for any number of reasons, including the long-running legal feud between Apple Corps and Apple Computer. Knowing of these incarnations, the Beatles have lodged an appeal, which is slated to be heard next February.
During Apple’s process, a lawyer for the band said that “The Beatles' position is that they don't sing jingles to peddle sneakers, beer, pantyhose, or anything else.” Notice he didn't say iPods.
Do you think Apple should control the Beetles catalog online? Should other peer-to-peer sites should be considered when making the decision?

Peer Pressure: Inflating Executive Pay

This New York Times article discusses the problem of inflated executive pay, due to unequal comparisons between different corporations. The “peer group” is a collection of companies that corporations measure themselves against when determining compensation. However, many experts say that these peer groups are anything but equal. Especially since corporate managers (who naturally want higher pay!) are the ones that select what corporations to compare themselves against. One of the key problems with this practice is that CEOs of poor corporations are often making as much as their more profitable peers. Some corporations use different poor groups for different purposes- for example Ford used one peer group for their compensation section and one for their stock performance portion. However, this ambiguity will hopefully change when the SEC disclosure rules go into effect on December 15, and investors are given more insight into corporate pay practices. The new rules require a corporation to reveal what companies it includes in its peer groups and provide extensive reasoning for their decisions. Do you think the new restrictions will have any real impact? Will this prevent gilded paychecks for executives? What is a fair standard for peer groups? Should they be created by size, profit margin or the complexity of a corporation?

Black Friday is the super bowl of shopping.

Today is the day, the day that all shoppers have been waiting for, Black Friday. People have been comparing Black Friday to a football game. Customers rise early to be the first in line to stores like Walmart and Macey's and when the doors open the customers take a 40 yard dash that would impress most nfl scouts. While there will be elbows flying, the use of complete stangers as blockers the only missing part is a referee. Any shopping day before Black Friday is pre-season, but today isthe superbowl. Many stores are competing for the best bargain to bring in the costumers who even game plan down to the minute for how long they will spend at each store. It is expecteed that consumers will spend 20 billion dollars on Black Friday. In a society that is increasing in levels of obesity today will be the day the most people will get their yearly exercise. Black Friday has become quite a tradition in a society that lives and breathes for the best bargains. Has Americans gone too far, getting up at the early hours of the morning to put hundreds on the their credit cards? Do any of you guys participate in this American Tradition?

Liberty and Reason Loses a Voice

Milton Friedman, a champion of liberty and reason, has died at the age of 94.

A Nobel prize-winning economist, Friedman was an intellectual giant whose ideas spanned a number of fields within the economics profession. Known for his fervent belief that free markets would best serve society's interest, Friedman argued for school choice, a volunteer army, drug legalization, and the negative income tax. A tireless educator in and out of the classroom, Friedman and his wife, Rose (also an economist), popularized many of their ideas in their book Free to Choose (later made into a multi-episode video series).

I am truly saddened by the loss of one of my heroes.

Sex Parties Lead to a Rise In STD's

WBAL TV 11 News did a report on sex parties and it's aid to the growing percentage of pregnant teens and higher risks of getting an STD. Females were questioned about these so called "Sex Parties." They basically proceeded to mention that the party took place on mattresses, several of them placed throughout a room. This brought across a great concern to Cindy Marucci-Bosley, the manager of the Carroll County Family Planning Clinic. She reportedly mentioned that women who would come into her clinic would often tell her that they have had over 30-40 sexual partners. It has been statistically proven that you have a one in four chance of contracting an STD. Therefore, if you have sex with four people, one of them could possibly have an STD. Emergency contraceptives are on the rise every year, since more careless people are just hoping into bed with random strangers. Yes alcohol and drugs have something to do with this, but they choose to do the drugs and alcohol, they chose this lifestyle. This lifestyle is causing them to cause harm to their body. So if you ever get caught in this situation, you have to look at your positions. Is one night of partying and going out of control worth contracting an STD that you will have to deal with for the rest of your life, or are you going to be smart about controlling not only the substances you take in, but also the atmosphere and people you hang around with? Living with a disease or living clean what would you rather do? Would you even go to the steps of asking your partner to get an STD check before you slept with them or would you take that chance?

Healthier Junk Food Ads

On November 14, 2006, the advertising and food industries announced a decision that they believe will greatly affect the amount of junk food advertising that is directed towards children. Immediately, critics stated that they question the amount of impact, if any, their decision will have on advertising. The announcement came as a result of numerous criticisms from concerned parents, politicians, and consumer advocates, who worry about the amount of foods marketed towards children. As a result, ten of the largest food and beverage manufacturers vowed to make at least half of their advertising directed towards children under age twelve contain messages that encourage healthy lifestyles. Some of the companies to make the promise included McDonald's, General Mills, and Coca-Cola. In addition, these companies agreed to not advertise their food or beverages in elementary schools, but to promote nutritious foods through healthy messages and interactive games and reduce the use of licensed characters in junk food ads.

Still, food and beverage excutives who participated in the conference found themselves hard pressed to discover specific changes that would result from the new guidelines. Nutrition experts found the proposals to be full of loopholes, believing that new laws, rather than self-regulation, would be more effective. For instance, these so-called "healthy ads" could include ones for sugar-coated cereal, since it meets the industy's and the FDA's definition of "healthy", which does not account for sugar.

The Market for Kidneys

A few years ago someone tried to auction off a kidney on Ebay. The price rose to $5.7 million before Ebay discovered the auction and closed it down. Selling human body organs for money is illegal in the United States and most parts of the world.

Word now comes from Pakistan that a thriving market for kidneys is out in the open.

A kidney nets the donor $2,500, sometimes less than half that amount, while recipients -- some 2,000 a year -- pay $6,000 to $12,000, compared with $70,000 in neighboring China.

Critics blame an economic system that enmeshes farmers in chronic debt, forcing them to sell their kidneys, and say the trade should be banned. The government says it is taking action.

I have long thought that our current system of allocating kidneys (and other body organs) is both inefficient and quite unfair. Over 90,000 Americans are currently on a waiting list for an organ transplantation. A good number of them will die before making it to the top of the list.

Why not allow some form of monetary inducement to potential donors?

Federal Minimum Wage is Rising

The federal minimum wage is set to increase for the first time in almost a decade after the Democrats took the House. According to the most recent CNN poll on this issue, approximately 86 percent of people support for an increase.
The last increase in federal minimum wage was on September 1st, 1997. During the past nine years, the average price has jumped 26 percent but minimum wage stays constant all the time. The Democrats proposes to raise the minimum 41 percent, from today’s $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by 2008.
Opponents against the increase argue that the higher minimum will hurt small businesses, which will be forced to raise prices, cut hiring or slash the hours of the low-wage workers. Some economists suggested a tax break for small businesses in order to help offset the side effect of increasing minimum wage. Economists also mention that indexing the minimum wage could be inflationary. Investors are not especially concern that a higher minimum wage would hurt profits at big employers such as Wal-Mart Stores, which pay more employees above minimum wage.
What’s your opinion about the rise in federal minimum wage? How do you think the rise will influence the overall economy? Do you think that the Democrats is doing the right thing to boost the sluggish economy?

Domestic Cars Make Gains in Reliability

According to Consumer Reports' annual Car Reliability Survey, some domestic cars have become as reliable as Asian Cars. Ford's newest three models; the Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr all earned most reliable rankings, which is unusual for models in their first year of production. The Fusion and Milan even scored higher than Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry.
Even though some domestic models were as reliable as foreign models, 39 out of 47 vehicles earning the highest reliability score were Japanese, while only 6 were domestic.

Modern Classic Toys

Remember playing with your red framed, black and grey Etch A Sketch as a kid? Back then it was pretty awesome. But now toys are becoming even more exciting. The Ohio Art Company is beginning to replace Etch A Sketch's familiar red rectangle case with Nickelodeon's most popular cartoon characters. The goal is that this "update" will make the iconic baby boomer toy more appealing to kids and young mothers. But this is not the only toy on the shelves being changed.
Monopoly is out with a new version that replaces the Atlantic City Boardwalk with Times Square. And just a few years ago, Barbie ditched her longtime beau Ken.

"Our challenge is to continue to make Etch a Sketch exciting for the next generation of kids," said Martin Killgallon, marketing director for Bryan-based Ohio Art. This month SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer versions of Etch A Sketch will hit the shelves. A picture of the new look can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15628914/. The new editions include screen overlays with puzzles and mazes, which differ from the plain original verison.

However, there are still a handful of classic toys that remain unchanged such as the Wiffle Ball and the game "Operation". But with the new tastes of society, I'm sure that even more advances and improvements will be made to original verisons of toys and games.

Capital Punishment

Should the United States change its capital punishment policy? Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. In the United States, these crimes include things such as premeditated murder and treason. In some Muslim nations crimes worthy of the death penalty include some sexual crimes, sodomy, and the formal renunciation of one's religion. Many European countries have all ready banned the death penalty as a means of punishment. Opponents of capital punishment argue that it does not stop criminals more than life imprisonment, violates human rights, leads to executions of some who are wrongfully convicted, and discriminates against minorities and the poor. What are the costs associated with all this. Is it more economic to just execute criminals who commit capital crimes rather than keeping them in our prison system for life? Our prison system is also over-crowded, would the more succinct action of the death penalty help with that? Or is this not even a matter that economics should play a role? Is the preservation of human life worth more than any cost, even though they've committed a capital crime?

Windows Newest Software

On November 30th the new Vista software by Windows will be launched to corporate customers; Home users can get there’s in January 2007. This software has been under development for more than five years. New features include improved security, improved 3D interface, plus new sound and networking technologies. The price is undisclosed at this time for the six different versions of the software. The six versions will be able to match the different needs of computer users. Will the new software be a better substitute for computer users? Will it be a complement with computers, increasing sales in new PCs so they are more compatible?

Microsoft completes Office 2007

Microsoft is planning to unveil their new Microsoft Office 2007 to corporate customers on November 30 and to will become widely available to consumers in early 2007. This new software was pushed back from its original release date due to a series of development delays. Also Microsoft is also planning on releasing the new Windows Vista operating system in early 2007 as well. Windows Vista and Office 2007 represent major improvements to Microsoft's two most vital products, which account for more than half of the company's total revenue and nearly all of its profit. This release comes as an answer to the critics who say question Microsoft’s ability to keep up with their faster-growing competitors, whom offer software over the Internet instead of on the desktop. The question is, will these new products help increase Microsoft’s profits and revenue? Will this new operating system work with out the major bugs and glitches that some of their previous software had? Finally will Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista allow for Microsoft to continue their strangle hold on the market?

What does the Wild Card do for Baseball?

Baseball has a shorter playoff than any other sport with less teams also. They also have a longer season. Some people question what the expanded playoffs and allowing the Wild Card in has done to baseball. In the past 5 years the Wild card, the team who wasn't good enough to win their division has made it to the World Series. People question why a team who didn't prove themselves in the 162 game season can then have a second chance for redemption in the playoffs. Owners have came to an agreement that letting them in is a good thing for simply one reason. More money. More teams in the race for the pennant is more ticket sales and gives them more money. Now the question is that do we feel that baseball is tainted now by owners wanting more money and letting some teams that may not deserve to be in the World Series be there rather than another team who proved themselves over 162 games, or is it fair to let second place have a chance at something that first place worked so hard for?

Lack of Voting Effects Economy?

Most college students don't think of voting as their number one priority when they are worried about many other things. Things such as calculus exams, dates with the girl/boyfriend, and what time practice is are all more important to the average college student than voting. These things may be more important for the here and now, but in the future your vote (along with the votes of many others) will highly affect lives across America. With this election, things could shift with the election of a new congressman or even governor. Things such as the economy. Different platforms want change in different areas of the economy, companies like Wal-Mart could see changes along with other larger companies. These things may not affect college students except for possibly complaining about the economy in one way or another, but in the future when people are invested in the stock market and other firms these issues will affect the common person greatly. So next time you're debating whether to vote or not, consider this possibility.

MISSING ELMO!!!

Attention all cars! Elmo has been stolen! If you see a red fuzzy monster about two feet high please report to the nearest Wal-Mart!
Recently a shipment of one of the hottest toys for this upcoming holiday season went missing! A shipment of 100 Elmos went missing in route to a Wal-Mart store in Bentonville, Arkansas. Since there is a suspected shortage of these toys this upcoming holiday season, getting the missing Elmos to the store is vital. Their value was already high because of the shortage, but if there is an illegal 100 Elmos running around they will have a significant effect on the sales this season.
Do you think that Wal-Mart is justified to be looking for these toys as much as they are? Could they be spending more money to look for 100 toys than they're worth?

Nintendo Wii on sale?

Toys 'R' Us and Gamestop are the only two stores that will be selling the new Nintendo Wii. The stores are selling the same product, and they have to be making a profit, so why doesn't one store have a lower price? If Toys 'R' Us were to cut there price slitely, wouldn't their demand for the Nintendo Wii go up? Eventually Gamestop would lower their prices to the same price and make the demands eqeal again, but Toys 'R' Us would have already made a much bigger profit with their price drop.

"Smart Cars" Come to America

Normally, big names in the auto industry avoid creating any type of small cars because of the small engines and small profits that go along with them. But, lately, "small" has been a term heard often at DaimlerChrysler. Come 2008, the eight foot long, 60 mpg Smart Cars will arrive in America for the first time. For those of you who have not been to Europe in the past eight years, the Smart is a sub-brand of "micro-class" cars available in basically every nation but the U.S. Even with today's gas prices, the Smart only costs $20.00 to fill up. This mini-car has been said to be "surprisingly roomy", with the passenger seat set back a few inches to make the driver's view more panoramic and the passenger's side a bit more roomy. When riding solo, you can also fold down the passenger seat to form a table top with built-in cupholders. While in the car, one is surrounded by an aluminum and steel safety cage. With a three-cylander, turbo-charged engine, the Smart is an "aluminum miracle" weighing in at 130 pounds. But, flooring it in this car will not do you too much good; the six-speed manu-matic transmission will carry you at a leisurely pace. The Smart Car is modeled after a Mercedes, but carries a much lighter price tag of only $12,500 in Europe.

Website Efficiency

Ahhh, the night before the exam. All of us, frantically posting blogs, searching for articles of economic relevance, and struggling to make blogger.com work for us. Granted, many have no problems. But I know, for a fact, I for one, as well as many others, have, or least have had some tremendous difficulty figuring out the site. I began to wonder, what is the economic cost of these sites? How many hours in a day are wasted, trying to make a site work? Searching for investor relations information is a wonderful example. The stockmarket moves at a very high speed, as fast as your Internet connection allows. For those unfamiliar, investor relations is found on many big-money sites, for big-name companies. Investor relations (usually found as a link at the bottom of a site) tells potential and current investors all of the important information needed for investment. According to the link seen above, even professional stock analysts had a success rate of 75% in searching for information. When people who are just average investors, a Joe Schmoe with an Internet connection, the success rate drops off to under 50%. Interesting figures, and this only pertains to stock brokers and investors searching for company information. Consider the economic costs of inefficient websites in your daily life. For example, just making blogger.com work for you probably cost a couple of hours of study time, not to mention the frustration and anger of trying to figure it out. Admittedly, I now know how to work the site (obviously), but I know there are still people who struggle with it. What about marietta.edu? Searching for information on that site can be a nightmare for those not well-versed in the site. I'm sure this blog could go on forever, listing sites that don't work well and cost us all time and money.

Man falls overboard and is still missing

During the annual Halloween cruise James Sylvestre, 45, fell overboard from the MS Mt. Washington cruise ship into Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire. This occurred around 10 pm during the last half hour of the cruise. The captain stopped the ship, turned on floodlights, and got help from the Marine Patrol, Fish and Game, and fire and police from the nearest towns. The initial search lasted four hours but was cut short due to high winds, driving rain, and darkness which endangered the rescue crews. The weather continued to be dreadful Sunday making a search for the man very difficult. The water temperature was in the 50s which meant that hypothermia would occur in only a few minutes. The search was continued on Monday but was only a recovery mission at that point.

Will this accident hurt the Flagship Corporation, which owns the cruise ship, financially? Will this impact the amount of people who take the cruise? Will the accident change safety rules upon the ship?

Football's Quiet Millionaires

The new apparent trend in the NFL these days is to pay the man that's protecting your QB quite handsomely. A study conducted by Michael Lewis, the Author of "Moneyball", the book that changed the way baseballs salary system works, has written a new book called "Blindside", which brings to light the importance of the offensive lines left tackle.
In the NFL the leagues 3rd and 4th highest paid athletes (per season) are both left tackles. This is because the left tackle protects the quarterbacks "blind side" or the side that his back is too when he drops back to make his pass. It's hard to believe that a position that doesn't appear in the boxscore's and receives relatively no praise, is the second best paid position in the league.

Job Growth Matters!!

Studies have shown that the cities that have the fastest job growth are in the southwest. The cities that are known for the fastest job growth arn't even big cities. You would have to move all the way down the list to the 18 spot to find the top city in the east which is Weston, FL. The job growth in the top city is more than 90%, thats outstanding compared to national averages. A list of the top 10 fastest growing cities for jobs is given below.

Top 10 Cities

1. Surprise, AZ
2. Allen, TX
3. Avondale, AZ
4. Frisco, TX
5. Murrieta, CA
6. Temecula, CA
7. Corona, CA
8. Mckinney, TX
9. Folsom, CA
10. Spring Valley, NV

Many factors may influence what it takes to have one of the best cities to live in. Personally, I feel that job growth is a big factor. Why would someone get a degree and not have the job they worked so hard for? Another question that one may ask is why is the southwest such a big job growth region?

Unreasonable Christmas Gifts?

Neiman Marcus recently released it's 2006 holidy catelog, and let me tell you, these gift ideas are completely outrageous. How often to do you spend $1.7 MILLION dollars on a gift? This year, one of the many gifts presented is a 63 mile from earth, space ride. This trip holds six passengers, and upon their return they receive an all inclusive four night stay on Virgin Chairman Richard Branson's British Virgin Island retreat.

Another of these outrageous gifts include a sports fanatics' package deal. This gift includes six tickets to large-scale sporting events, including Super Bowl XLI and dinner with many celebrity athletes as well. The cost starts at $250,000 and is auctioned to Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation.

How far is too far when it comes to Christmas presents? I don't know about you, but "wow" is the only response I have to this topic.

Going Green

With the price of gas still rising, new methods of fuel conservation have taken hold. The biggest advancement has been hybrid cars. Another big change has been the fact that many small third party companies have gotten in on the action, but that doesn't mean that the bigger car companies are not attempting to get in on the new wave. Research is being done in the field of plug in hybrid cars by Toyota. One such car promises to get gas mileage up to 100mpg. The draw back of these cars is that they carry less gas, more batteries and have to be plugged in to recharge. Car companies have said that the technology is still in development stages and it will be some time before these cars are on the market.