Materialism

Like I always say we are all materialist in a way but on different levels, we all like the cool and nice stuff but when some of us will go to extremes to get what they really really like by any means necessary, others will just choose not too get what they can't afford.

A look at materialism, and how it's destroying the American Dream.

Living in America made me realize that in this land of opportunity you could easily become whathever you wanted to be as long as you put your heart into it. But that American dream has changed I must sadly say. Nowadays to show the world how succesful you are you ''must'' have a Lavish home and drive an expensive car. Spend every last dollar till you can't spend anymore. It's the common myth that if you hold on to money too long, it'll burn a hole in your pocket. Not only is it enough to relinquish every dollar in your possession, but to take loans out on your future earnings.
Money is so present in our society, that when the financial crisis hit us, some people were literally jumping out windows and Grown men fell to their knees and wept like a grieving widow as their 401 k's dropped alongside the stock market.
Summer house, winter house, beach house, town house, house in the Swiss Alps, while homeless people stagger around in each major city in this country. There's never enough, and you can always have more.
We're constantly bombarded by commercial after commercial on TV, radio, and even the internet trying to get us to buy whatever. There's always something better and faster.
House mortgage, car loan, utilities, cell phones, and insurance. What do all these things have in common? You're going to pay them every month. Month after month, with no vacation in sight. You spend your entire life working, to only have to continue working to pay off the debts you've amassed through your small lifetime. You might make more, but you also spend more.
There was a time, that a family could live fairly well with just one parent working. Now it takes two to just break even.
It's not enough in society to just survive anymore, it's now a bitter sweet war to the top of the mountain. It's such a fight between the have's and the have nots, that it's taken on it's own literary term. Class Warfare. It is not a matter of age, religion, sex, and even race. Society picks it's winners and losers based on economic status.
We should cherish what we have, instead of focusing on the things we don't. There's no better time than right now to look back on the mistakes we've made, and move forward with a new attitude towards ourselves. Men and women alike are losing their jobs at an alarming rate. Right now is the future, and future looks grim if we consciously snub our nose at anyone who doesn't have it as good as we do.

I know it's time for a change in our daily life.

How to Move on After a Layoff

With this never ending economic crisis, nobody's job is safe, we are all experiencing the same daily issues. We have either heard or know somebody who has been layed off in the past few months. While a layoff may seem to be void of a silver lining, blessings can often come in unpredictable disguises. There are many ways to handle a lay off so it won't seem like the end of your world. Embrace the opportunity to not just move on, but to begin something new.

The Best Way to Move on After a Layoff

Leave gracefully
If your time to leave the office comes, make sure you do so graciously.
You don’t want to be remembered for making a scene or doing something worthy of office gossip that will survive long after the current economic downturn.
Write a polite email to coworkers wishing them well, make sure they have your personal contact information, and ask them to stay in touch.

Don’t drop off the map
Keep in touch with your former coworkers.
Send them updates on how you are doing, and ask how they are doing.
Remaining on friendly terms with people is a great way to maintain relationships, but it is also a great way to foster valuable networking relationships.
A friend of a friend could be your next best job lead.
Send out regular e-mails, mail holiday cards, and remember birthdays.
Just staying in touch could land you your next job.

Reevaluate
It’s possible that being let go could be what you’ve actually been hoping for whether you have realized it or not.
Have you dreamed of starting another career or business venture, but just never had the time? Want to go back to school? Now is your chance.
Embrace the opportunity to not just move on, but to begin something new.

Use your time well
After a layoff, people tend to have a lot of time on their hands.
Use this time not to feel sorry about yourself, but to be productive.
Don’t just spend your days just cruising job postings online—hunt for jobs out in the real world with real people.
Join a professional association and attend meetings.
Volunteer for a local charitable organization. Attend alumni events from your school.
These tasks could contribute to your job search in a big way because they all involve networking, which is the best way to find a job.

Take a break
Don’t let yourself get obsessed with job hunting.
Take a break every so often and do something fun or something that renews you.
Go for a walk, get some exercise, cook something new, or visit with friends.
Celebrate the great things in your life instead of dwelling on what’s over.
Move forward with your head held high.

Life in the Cubicle

Victims of a layoff rightfully experience a range of emotions, often retreating from the world of work only to ultimately re-emerge back into reality. Most of all, remember that a layoff isn’t the end of the world, regardless of where you are in the Layoff Cycle, remember that you will survive, you will move on, you will find something new.

Everything is going to work out if you keep a clear head, a positive attitude, and an optimistic spirit.

Source: Todays Office Professionals

Consequence of the Economic crisis

With this economic crisis this is how I feel about my savings these dayz 4 real.

Stimulus breakdown

At $787 billion, the federal stimulus package passed into law this month is enough for $2,500 for every man woman and child in the U.S., give or take a few thousand people.

You won't be getting a check like that, however. But even if you don't get a new "green technology" job or work on an expanded passenger rail capacity or any of the many other trickle-down spending aspects of the package, that doesn't mean you're out in the cold.

So, what's in it for you?

Here are some the parts of the stimulus package that you may see a piece of:
(Note: Links go to search results for more information on each.)

In your paycheck.
Thirteen dollars a week extra in their paychecks courtesy of a tax credit that begins, and this is true, on April Fools' Day. More for couples. No foolin'.

Low-income families that don't make enough to pay income taxes will get a $1,000 tax credit.

At the Realtor.
First-time home buyers who buy before Dec. 1 will get an $8,000 tax credit.

At the dealership.
Car buyers who buy this year can write off the sales taxes.

At the grocery.
People who get food stamps will get more, and the unemployed will see an extra $25 a week.

In the house.
There's a 30 percent tax credit up to $1,500 for those buying high-efficiency air conditioners, heat pumps or furnaces, replacing leaky windows or insulating their attics.

After that, it's all a billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon, it adds up to real money.

Other Links

How the stimulus bill affects you;
Jubak: Feds' plan could work after all;
8 money lessons from the meltdown;
Will the housing bailout help you?

I feel less and less confused about this bailout thing, am tellin' you.

Source: AOL news

How the economic stimulus plan could affect you

An examination of how the economic stimulus plan will affect Americans.


Taxes:

The recovery package has tax breaks for families that send a child to college, purchase a new car, buy a first home or make the ones they own more energy efficient.

Millions of workers can expect to see about $13 extra in their weekly paychecks, starting around June, from a new $400 tax credit to be doled out through the rest of the year. Couples would get up to $800. In 2010, the credit would be about $7.70 a week, if it is spread over the entire year.

The $1,000 child tax credit would be extended to more low-income families that don't make enough money to pay income taxes, and poor families with three or more children will get an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.

Middle-income and wealthy taxpayers will be spared from paying the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was designed 40 years ago to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay at least some tax, but was never indexed for inflation. Congress fixes it each year, usually in the fall.

First-time homebuyers who purchase their homes before Dec. 1 would be eligible for an $8,000 tax credit, and people who buy new cars before the end of the year can write off the sales taxes.

Homeowners who add energy-efficient windows, furnaces and air conditioners can get a tax credit to cover 30 percent of the costs, up to a total of $1,500. College students — or their parents — are eligible for tax credits of up to $2,500 to help pay tuition and related expenses in 2009 and 2010.

Those receiving unemployment benefits this year wouldn't pay any federal income taxes on the first $2,400 they receive.


Health insurance:

Many workers who lose their health insurance when they lose their jobs will find it cheaper to keep that coverage while they look for work.

Right now, most people working for medium and large employers can continue their coverage for 18 months under the COBRA program when they lose their job. It's expensive, often over $1,000 a month, because they pay the share of premiums once covered by their employer as well as their own share from the old group plan.

Under the stimulus package, the government will pick up 65 percent of the total cost of that premium for the first nine months.

Lawmakers initially proposed to help workers from small companies, too, who don't generally qualify for COBRA coverage. But that fell through. The idea was to have Washington pay to extend Medicaid to them.

COBRA applies to group plans at companies employing at least 20 people. The subsidies will be offered to those who lost their jobs from Sept. 1 to the end of this year.

Those who were put out of work after September but didn't elect to have COBRA coverage at the time will have 60 days to sign up.

The plan offers $87 billion to help states administer Medicaid. That could slow or reverse some of the steps states have taken to cut the program.


Infrastructure:

Highways repaved for the first time in decades. Century-old waterlines dug up and replaced with new pipes. Aging bridges, stressed under the weight of today's SUVs, reinforced with fresh steel and concrete.

But the $90 billion is a mere down payment on what's needed to repair and improve the country's physical backbone. And not all economists agree it's an effective way to add jobs in the long term, or stimulate the economy.


Energy:

Homeowners looking to save energy, makers of solar panels and wind turbines and companies hoping to bring the electric grid into the computer age all stand to reap major benefits.

The package contains more than $42 billion in energy-related investments from tax credits to homeowners to loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and direct government grants for makers of wind turbines and next-generation batteries.

There's a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1,500 for the purchase of a highly efficient residential air conditioners, heat pumps or furnaces. The credit also can be used by homeowners to replace leaky windows or put more insulation into the attic. About $300 million would go for rebates to get people to buy efficient appliances.

The package includes $20 billion aimed at "green" jobs to make wind turbines, solar panels and improve energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings. It includes $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects as well as tax breaks or direct grants covering 30 percent of wind and solar energy investments. Another $5 billion is marked to help low-income homeowners make energy improvements.

About $11 billion goes to modernize and expand the nation's electric power grid and $2 billion to spur research into batteries for future electric cars.


Schools:

A main goal of education spending in the stimulus bill is to help keep teachers on the job.

Nearly 600,000 jobs in elementary and secondary schools could be eliminated by state budget cuts over the next three years, according to a study released this past week by the University of Washington. Fewer teachers means higher class sizes, something that districts are scrambling to prevent.

The stimulus sets up a $54 billion fund to help prevent or restore state budget cuts, of which $39 billion must go toward kindergarten through 12th grade and higher education. In addition, about $8 billion of the fund could be used for other priorities, including modernization and renovation of schools and colleges, though how much is unclear, because Congress decided not to specify a dollar figure.

The Education Department will distribute the money as quickly as it can over the next couple of years.

And it adds $25 billion extra to No Child Left Behind and special education programs, which help pay teacher salaries, among other things.

This money may go out much more slowly; states have five years to spend the dollars, and they have a history of spending them slowly. In fact, states don't spend all the money; they return nearly $100 million to the federal treasury every year.

The stimulus bill also includes more than $4 billion for the Head Start and Early Head Start early education programs and for child care programs.


National debt:

One thing about the president's $790 billion stimulus package is certain: It will jack up the federal debt.

Whether or not it succeeds in producing jobs and taming the recession, tomorrow's taxpayers will end up footing the bill.

Forecasters expect the 2009 deficit — for the budget year that began last Oct 1 — to hit $1.6 trillion including new stimulus and bank-bailout spending. That's about three times last year's shortfall.

The torrents of red ink are being fed by rising federal spending and falling tax revenues from hard-hit businesses and individuals.

The national debt — the sum of all annual budget deficits — stands at $10.7 trillion. Or about $36,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

Interest payments alone on the national debt will near $500 billion this year. It's already the fourth-largest federal expenditure, after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense.

This will affect us all directly for years, as well as our children and possibly grandchildren, in higher taxes and probably reduced government services. It will also force continued government borrowing, increasingly from China, Japan, Britain, Saudi Arabia and other foreign creditors.


Environment:

The package includes $9.2 billion for environmental projects at the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. The money would be used to shutter abandoned mines on public lands, to help local governments protect drinking water supplies, and to erect energy-efficient visitor centers at wildlife refuges and national parks.

The Interior Department estimates that its portion of the work would generate about 100,000 jobs over the next two years.

Yet the plan will only make a dent in the backlog of cleanups facing the EPA and the long list of chores at the country's national parks, refuges and other public lands. It would be more like a down payment.

When it comes to national parks, the plan sets aside $735 million for road repairs and maintenance. But that's a fraction of the $9 billion worth of work waiting for funding.

At EPA, the payout is $7.2 billion. The bulk of the money will help local communities and states repair and improve drinking water systems and fund projects that protect bays, rivers and other waterways used as sources of drinking water.

The rest of EPA's cut — $800 million — will be used to clean up leaky gasoline storage tanks and the nation's hazardous waste sites.



Police:

The stimulus bill includes plenty of green for those wearing blue.

The compromise bill doles out more than $3.7 billion for police programs, much of which is set aside for hiring new officers.

The law allocates $2 billion for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, a program that has funded drug task forces and things such as prisoner rehabilitation and after-school programs.

An additional $1 billion is set aside to hire local police under the Community Oriented Policing Services program. The program, known as COPS grants, paid the salaries of many local police officers and was a "modest contributor" to the decline in crime in the 1990s, according to a 2005 government oversight report.

Both programs had all been eliminated during the Bush administration.

The bill also includes $225 million for general criminal justice grants for things such as youth mentoring programs, $225 million for Indian tribe law enforcement, $125 million for police in rural areas, $100 million for victims of crimes, $50 million to fight Internet crimes against children and $40 million in grants for law enforcement along the Mexican border.


Higher Education:

The maximum Pell Grant, which helps the lowest-income students attend college, would increase from $4,731 currently to $5,350 starting July 1 and $5,550 in 2010-2011. That would cover three-quarters of the average cost of a four-year college. An extra 800,000 students, or about 7 million, would now get Pell funding.

The stimulus also increases the tuition tax credit to $2,500 and makes it 40 percent refundable, so families who don't earn enough to pay income tax could still get up to $1,000 in extra tuition help.

Computer expenses will now be an allowable expense for 529 college savings plans.

The final package cut $6 billion the House wanted to spend to kick-start building projects on college campuses. But parts of the $54 billion state stabilization fund — with $39 billion set aside for education — can be used for modernizing facilities.

There's also an estimated $15 billion for scientific research, much of which will go to universities. Funding for the National Institutes of Health includes $1.5 billion set aside for university research facilities.

Altogether, the package spends an estimated $32 billion on higher education.



The Poor:

More than 37 million Americans live in poverty, and the vast majority of them are in line for extra help under the giant stimulus package. Millions more could be kept from slipping into poverty by the economic lifeline.

People who get food stamps — 30 million and growing — will get more. People drawing unemployment checks — nearly 5 million and growing — would get an extra $25, and keep those checks coming longer. People who get Supplemental Security Income — 7 million poor Americans who are elderly, blind or disabled — would get one-time extra payments of $250.

Many low-income Americans also are likely to benefit from a trifecta of tax credits: expansions to the existing Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and a new refundable tax credit for workers. Taken together, the three credits are expected to keep more than 2 million Americans from falling into poverty, including more than 800,000 children, according to the private Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The package also includes a $3 billion emergency fund to provide temporary assistance to needy families. In addition, cash-strapped states will get an infusion of $87 billion for Medicaid, the government health program for poor people, and that should help them avoid cutting off benefits to the needy.


I think now that we know all of this , it is more clear in our mind, right? 'cos I was getting a lil' confused.

Source: Yahoo News

They're hiring!

As many big companies are announcing mass layoffs, these 20 top employers have at least 350 openings each right now. Which Best Companies to Work For are doing the most recruiting and what kind of candidates are they looking for?

Edward Jones
2009 Best Companies rank: 2
Top 2 locations: St. Louis, MO; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 1,040What they're looking for: Financial advisors and branch office administrators.

Google
2009 Best Companies rank: 4
Top 3 locations: Mountain View, CA; New York City, NY; San Francisco, CA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 350What they're looking for: Engineering, marketing, product management, people operations, legal, sales.

Wegmans Food Markets
2009 Best Companies rank: 5
Top 3 locations: Rochester, NY; Buffalo, NY; Syracuse, NY
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 2,000What they're looking for: Store positions. In addition, three new stores are scheduled to open this year (in Fredericksburg, Va.; Collegeville, Pa.; and Leesburg, Va.).

Cisco Systems
2009 Best Companies rank: 6
Top 3 locations: San Jose, CA; Research Triangle Park, NC; Boxborough, MA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 500What they're looking for: People in engineering disciplines and customer advocacy.

Genentech
2009 Best Companies rank: 7
Top 3 locations: South San Francisco, CA; Vacaville, CA; Oceanside, CA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 585What they're looking for: Commercial, product development, manufacturing, CFO group and legal.

Methodist Hospital System
2009 Best Companies rank: 8
Top 2 locations: Houston, TX; Baytown, TX;
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 400What they're looking for: Management, nursing, clinical professionals, non-clinical professionals (such as IT and HR), entry level support services (such as housekeeping and dietary) and administrative/clerical jobs.

Whole Foods Market
2009 Best Companies rank: 22
Top 3 locations: New York, NY; Austin, TX; Chicago, IL
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 800 What they're looking for: Retail and non-retail. Positions range from administrative jobs like accounting and IT to store-specific jobs in all departments.

Microsoft
2009 Best Companies rank: 38
Top 3 locations: Redmond, WA; Issaquah, WA; Mountain View, CA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): ThousandsWhat they're looking for: Microsoft announced Jan. 22 that it would be cutting up to 5,000 jobs in the next year and a half. But it's still looking for software design engineers, financial analysts, human resources, administrative and marketing and sales talent, particularly in online ad sales.

Burns & McDonnell
2009 Best Companies rank: 50
Top 3 locations: Kansas City, MO; Downers Grove, IL; Houston, TX
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009):
400What they're looking for: Engineering, architecture, construction management.

Ernst & Young
2009 Best Companies rank: 51
Top 3 locations: New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 2800What they're looking for: The firm plans to hire around 2,400 experienced professionals and nearly 5,000 students from campus for opportunities in the U.S. and Canada (roughly 2,800 full-time staff hires and 2,100 interns) for fiscal year 2009. Openings are in assurance, tax, and several of the advisory practices.

Booz Allen Hamilton
2009 Best Companies rank: 52
Top 3 locations: McLean, VA; Herndon, VA; Arlington, VA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 1,046What they're looking for: Software and systems engineers, information assurance and security engineers, and intelligence analysts with access to classified information.

KPMG
2009 Best Companies rank: 56
Top 3 locations: New York, NY; Montvale, NJ; Chicago, IL
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): ThousandsWhat they're looking for: Positions in a wide range of areas, from administrative assistants to IT associates to tax and audit managers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers
2009 Best Companies rank: 58
Top 3 locations: New York, NY; Boston, MA; Tampa, Fla.
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 500What they're looking for: Talent in assurance, tax and advisory. In the process of hiring 2,000 students on campus for winter and summer '09 internships in firm's three core business units. Also PricewaterhouseCoopers' goal is to hire approximately 3,000 undergraduates this year.

Scripps Health
2009 Best Companies rank: 59
Top 3 locations: La Jolla, CA; San Diego, CA; San Diego County, CA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 442What they're looking for: Executives, managers, staff nurses (RN), imaging techs, pharmacists, IT, and service and support people.

Mayo Clinic
2009 Best Companies rank: 63
Top 3 locations: Rochester, MN; Jacksonville, FL; Phoenix, AZ
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 1,000What they're looking for: Nursing, laboratories (e.g., research and lab technicians), health-care professionals (e.g., pharmacists and therapists).

Baptist Health South Florida
2009 Best Companies rank: 79
Top 3 locations: Miami, FL; South Miami, FL; Coral Gables, FL
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 728What they're looking for: Talent in all areas, especially RNs, allied health professionals and clerical/administrative staff.

Bright Horizons
2009 Best Companies rank: 80
Top 3 locations: Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; Watertown, MA
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 387What they're looking for: Center and school staff, center and school leadership positions, benefits, client services (sales), payroll, property management, information technology, marketing.

Publix Super Markets
2009 Best Companies rank: 88
Top 3 locations: Lakeland, FL; Miami, FL; Jacksonville, FL
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 900-plus What they're looking for: People for retail grocery stores, information systems, manufacturing, distribution and other support offices.
T-Mobile
2009 Best Companies rank: 96
Top 3 locations: Bellevue, WA; Houston, TX; Austin, TX
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): 2,163What they're looking for: Retail sales, customer service, sales, engineering & operations, EIT, finance, product development, legal affairs, business operations, human resources, marketing, integrated customer experience, corporate communications.

Accenture
2009 Best Companies rank: 97
Top 3 locations: Chicago, IL; Reston, VA; New York, NY
Number of job openings (as of Jan. 13, 2009): ThousandsWhat they're looking for: Specific IT skills, such as Java, J2EE, industry expertise and government secured clearances. Also hiring for corporate roles that include finance and sales development.

If you live in those areas and are lookin for a job, try to contact the companies listed above. Good Luck.

Souce: CNN

Bloody Monday: Over 71,400 jobs lost

The final week of January began with a bloodbath for the job market, as over 71,400 more cuts were announced on Monday alone.

At least six companies from manufacturing and service industries announced cost-cutting initiatives that included slashing thousands of jobs.

More than 200,000 job cuts have been announced so far this year, according to company reports. Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost over 2008, the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945.
"It's all about the consumer, and the consumer's been hit hard," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics. "It's a vicious circle as weakness begets layoffs, which beget more spending weakness."

Construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) said Monday it will cut 20,000 jobs amid a "very challenging global business environment." The company had already planned to cut 15,000 workers since the fourth quarter of 2008, but added another 5,000, bringing the total to 20,000.

Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) said in an earnings report it would cut 10% of its staff of 81,900 and close five of its manufacturing plants. And a second round of cuts will shed about 15% of employees from the combined Pfizer/Wyeth staff of 120,000. That makes a total of 26,000 jobs lost. The company already cut 4,700 jobs in 2008.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S, Fortune 500) will cut a total of about 8,000 jobs by March 31, the company said in a release. The telecommunications company's plan is to reduce internal and external labor costs by about $1.2 billion on an annual basis.

Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), the world's largest home improvement retailer, announced Monday it will eliminate its EXPO design center business and cut 7,000 associates, or approximately 2% of the company's total workforce. The company blamed a lack of demand for big ticket design and decor projects.

Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500) said it will slash its workforce by 3,400 employees to cope with weak demand and the slowing economy. More than half of those cuts will be layoffs while "voluntary retirements and departures" will make up the rest.

Dutch financial group ING said Monday it will take a 2008 loss of $1.3 billion and cut 7,000 jobs. The company could not comment on where the cuts would take place. ING employs around 130,000 people across 50 countries.

Deere& Co. (DE, Fortune 500) , the world's top farm-equipment maker, said it would cut nearly 700 jobs between factories in Brazil and Iowa.

The job cuts across sectors didn't surprise Brusca, as nearly all are weak, he said.
"The services sector is shedding jobs at a horrific pace, because that's where most of the jobs are," Brusca said. "When the consumer is in tough shape it's hard for business to do well, because it all depends on consumption or investments."

Continuing the scary trend
The cuts mark a horrific start to the week, and a brutal start to 2009. In the previous week, around 40,000 cuts were announced across multiple industries.
Wednesday, in particular, was littered with a slew of job cuts: BHP Billiton, Clear Channel Communications, Intel, Rohm and Haas Co., UAL Corp. and Williams-Sonoma all announced job cuts totaling over 27,000 positions.
Schlumberger said Friday that it will cut 5,000 jobs worldwide, with 1,000 of the cuts taking place in North America.
Also last week, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment said it would cut about 800 jobs, or 10% of its worldwide staff in the upcoming weeks, while Microsoft unveiled its plan to cut up to 5,000 jobs - 5.5% of its global workforce.

Outlook: A recovery in sight?
Brusca said he agreed with many economists' predictions that the recession will end after the second quarter of 2009. Americans might feel the job market start to bounce back a bit sooner than expected, he said.
"These recessions are like geometry," Brusca said. "It looks like we'll have a V-shaped cycle, in that we're going into this with very sharp losses. This intense-phase recession will probably recover fairly quickly, with the job market coming out it at the same angle it came in."
In the short term, the economy and the job market are in trouble, Brusca said. But "it doesn't look like the bottom is falling out of the economy," he said.
And there's a silver lining to the gloomy clouds over America's economy.
"The good news is it's so bad right now that we will have a definite, noticeable recovery when it comes," Brusca said. "We're getting a lot of adjustment out of the way early."

The economy's on strike - but for how long?Economists: Recession getting worse
California jobless rate hits 9.3%
Caterpillar to cut 20,000 workers
Home Depot cutting 7,000 jobs
Sprint job cuts to total 8,000
ING loses $1.3B in 2008

Source:CNN

Picture of the Day

By seeing this picture you already know that crime is about to start picking up.

No comment for Reeeeaaaaalllll on this one.

I am just speechless.

10 reasons for the High Price of Oil

I had to talk about the price of oil which jumped as high as $114.08 a barrel today. So let's try to understand why this is happening:
1. The quick development of some emerging countries, such as India and China, which has occurred faster than the increase in oil supply.
2. The increase in processing capacity has lagged behind the growth of gas and other fuels consumption.
3. Several existing oil fields have reached their extraction peak and now are on the decline and other new resources are slow to be found.
4. The dollar is very weak, due to the problems in the American economy, so the price of oil seems much higher in U.S. dollars than it actually is; stated in Euros it has increased less and its parity with the price of gold is almost constant.
5. Several large producers of oil have unstable political situations, like Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela.
6. Russia is using energy as a tool to blackmail the west in order to pursue its agenda, therefore the price for its oil is artificially increased.
7. Alternative energies and clean transportation systems have been developing too slowly, being underfunded, ignored by the politicians and discouraged by the existing energy corporations.
8. Some oil producers have formed a cartel, called OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries) by which they can forcibly increase its price by controlling production.
9. Most economies are too dependent on oil, because it was cheaper to implement technologies that use oil as a fuel than to develop green ones.
10. Due to the numerous conflicts related to oil in the last decades, the markets are very sensitive to any news in this area so the price of oil is extremely volatile; with the current tensions in Middle East, it is normal to “play it safe” by overpricing it.

"Unfortunately, the price of gasoline and probably diesel as well, are going to escalate as long as the price of oil keeps moving higher".

Hopefuly we'll find a solution pretty quick if not I'll just ride my bike or walk to anywhere I need to go to. LOL........)

Rising Global Food Prices

The facts
Lately I have been deeply concerned over the rising of global food prices.
Did you know that the poor in many developed countries spend up to 75 per cent of their income on food, a situation which puts them in precarious conditions.
According to a recent World Bank report, the increase in global wheat prices reached 181 per cent over the 36 months leading up to last February, while overall global food prices increased by 83 per cent. According to the report, food crop prices are expected to remain high throughout this year and 2009 and then begin to decline, can you imagine?
Let me tell you about the everyday struggle of people from Sénégal, West africa. Here are some facts:
*The gaz price is killing the pocket of every senegalese driver, the price has more than double in 7 years, from around 300F CFA ($0,70) in 2000 it has increased to almost 800F CFA ($1,80)
* The price of a bag of rice was around 9000F CFA ($20) it has increased to almost 18000F CFA ($40), now keep in mind that rice is eaten at every lunch and for some families even for breakfast as pudding (Sombi in Wollof).
Can you imagine having to think of daily how to feed your family, where to get the money to pay your transport or for those who owned a car how much to put in your gaz tank, how to pay your children school fees or your own if you are still in the University (which is in constant strike), how and where to get money to buy your medecine. Basically where to get the money to feed you family or how to pay your basic healthcare or shelter.
For those Living in the States and in Europe we all know that the price of gasoline have risen (currently they are paying the most)."In the US and Europe over the last year we've been focused on the prices of gasoline at the pump at $2.50, then $3.00, $3.50 and much more ( yes my people from California will agree with me on this one, riight?).
While many worry about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs. And it's getting more and more difficult every day."Let me give you just two examples:"In just two months, rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75% globally and more in some markets - with more likely to come. With little margin for survival, rising prices too often means fewer meals."Or take wheat, where in the past year the price has risen by 120%. That means that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled.

The solution
For the immediate crisis, the International Community said that they must fill at least $500 million food gap identified by the UN's WFP ( World food program) to meet emergency needs. Governments should be able to come up with this assistance.
We need to expand and improve access to safety net programmes, such as cash transfers, and risk management instruments to protect the poor.
We need to increase financial support for short-term needs, restructuring existing projects and fast-tracking grants and loans where needed.
We must make agriculture a priority. The Mundial Bank has announced it will double agriculture lending for sub-Saharan Africa over the next year from $450 million to $800 million.

My last word
This is not just about meals forgone today, or about increasing social unrest, it is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth.

Let's face it this a growing matter so we need to address this not just as an immediate emergency but also in the medium term.)

Are you stuck in a rut?

Are you better off today than you were five years ago? Well, after asking and noticing how people were living ( I should say struggling or trying to survive) around me, the majority of people believe they were stuck in a rut or falling behind.

Even when I asked the middle-class folks how things had been for them the last five years, I discovered that one in four respondents believe they hadn’t moved forward, while about one in three believe they’ve actually taken steps backward.

No matter where you live or where you from let's just say that nowadays it's hard everywhere, all around the world even in the so called "more developped countries" from the US, Europe, Asia, Australia to Africa.

We all face the same Economic Crisis.

Let's just hope that this nightmare will soon be over.)