Housing boom?

 
Bernanke said "I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so." the audience laughed, Bernanke responded: "I'm not making that up."

Banks and regulators tightened lending standards and they might have swung too far, especially for first-time home buyers, and that is "probably excessive."

Records show that Bernanke bought a house in Washington, D.C. for $839,000 in 2004, valued at $965,468.

He was paid $200,000 as chairman of the Federal Reserve, is now commanding as much as $250,000 per speech. He is also a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.   He had assets worth between $1.1 million and $2.3 million when he left the Fed chairman post, making him one of the least wealthy members of the Fed's Board.

So expect loosening of the rules and another bounce in housing.

Just a thought.

A costly lie ....??

 

The Liberian man infected with Ebola who brought the disease to the United States will be prosecuted when he returns home for lying on his airport screening questionnaire, Liberian authorities said.

 

With an Ebola crisis raging in West Africa, passengers leaving Liberia are being screened for fever and are asked if they have had contact with anyone infected. Neighbors say he had days earlier helped carry to a taxi a pregnant woman who later died of Ebola.

 

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins says his office is considering whether to press charges against Eric Duncan, the first person with Ebola in the U.S.

 

Duncan, who traveled to Dallas to visit relatives, wasn't diagnosed with Ebola until several days after he arrived. The Dallas family he stayed with is under quarantine and their apartment was decontaminated. The range of people under observation is close to 150 but fear is all around us.

We expect people to do the honorable thing," said Kesselly of Liberia Airport Authority. He said that people like Duncan and Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American with Ebola who traveled to Nigeria and infected people there, have brought a "stigma" upon Liberians living abroad.

Just a thought.

Big Yawn...!

                      

  

It’s a conventionally accepted notion that any attention is good attention, and that brazen tactics are justified if they’re in the name of a good cause. But new research says that may not be true. 

Aside from all the other negative effects of unrealistic, oversexualized advertising, it is just ineffective when you’re “selling ethics.”

Two new University of Queensland studies on “Using Sexualized Images of Women” have found that when subjects view sexy PETA ads, “Intentions to support the ethical organization were reduced for those exposed to the sexualized advertising” and “that behaviors helpful to the ethical cause diminished after viewing the sexualized advertisements.” In one of the studies, researchers found that men who viewed the ads were likely to report (shocker), but that they were no likelier to support the cause itself.

The lead researcher on both studies, says, ”There’s a negative link between dehumanization and the treatment of others, it reduces concern … If you are using images that are dehumanizing, it’s likely to backfire.” So, bikini girls making out with vegetables doesn’t end slaughterhouse abuse?

It certainly back fired. see the image.

Oil Prices-Good for some !!

 

 

Global oil prices have fallen to their lowest level in more than two years after Saudi Arabia cut its official selling price in a move to protect its market share, analysts said.

Higher output in the US, together with forecasts of lower global demand by IEA, are driving prices down. Brent crude fell to $93 a barrel, its lowest since June 2012. US light crude fell to $85 for the first time in 17 months.

"This is a structural change in the oil market, with Saudi Arabia explicitly stating that they are to compete on price," said Bjarne Schieldrop, an analyst at SEB.

The extraction of shale oil in the US has increased the country's production of oil significantly - the IEA has forecast that the US will soon overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's biggest oil producer.

Analysts suggested that the price lowering is intended to bankrupt ISIL in Syria.  ISIL  can't sell oil to Turkey so revenue decreased and Air strikes prevent their parade of armored vehicles in the open as a result.  The Air Campaign caused ISIL big imbalance and have no way to recover.

Just a thought.

Doesn't Pay...

Prosecutors argued that Curry, 57, poisoned his wife in order to collect more than $500,000 in insurance money and other benefits. “This man took Linda Curry for a paycheck,” This occurred 21 years ago.

He sedated his wife with the sleep drug Ambien before injecting her with nicotine, Deputy district attorney, said during the trial.

They were married for 21 months when Linda died mysteriously in their Orange County home. She was a nonsmoker, but tests revealed fatal levels of nicotine in her system.

Jurors in Calif. Superior Court reached the verdict after a day of deliberations – guilty of first-degree murder, with special circumstances for poisoning and murder for financial gain. He was also convicted of insurance fraud.

So you live your life with fear of being discovered, looking over your shoulder every time a policeman passes by and then your done. Crime doesn't pay. 

Just a [repeated] thought. 

Eye seeing Dog.

Jogging Buddy.

Guide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.
Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially (red–green) color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs. The human half of the guide dog team does the directing, based upon skills acquired through previous mobility training. The handler might be likened to an aircraft's navigator, who must know how to get from one place to another, and the dog is the pilot, who gets them there safely.
In several countries, guide dogs, along with most service and hearing dogs, are exempt from regulations against the presence of animals in places such as restaurants and public transportation.

What happened when the reverse occur? The dog gets old and is blind? a dilemma.

Just a thought.

Netanyahu's UN....

Kids playing around rocket launcher.

Hamas' immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but has a wider goal the same as ISIS," the prime minister said. "ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree. When it comes to their ultimate goals: Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas."

Israel “was doing everything to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas was doing everything to maximize civilian casualties” by placing its rocket launchers in homes, schools and children’s playgrounds, he said.

The PM also blasted the UN Human Right Council, which sends “a clear message to terrorists to use civilians as human shields” by condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.  

Israel's fight against Hamas is world's fight against militantism,". "The fight against militant Islam is indivisible. That's why Israel's fight against Hamas is your fight. Israel is fighting what your countries might be force to fight tomorrow."

Hamas, Islamic State, Hezbollah and other militant Islam organizations "all share a fanatic ideology. They seek to create ever expanding enclaves of militant Islam. Where there is no freedom or tolerance," Netanyahu warned.

"The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith."

Netanyahu enjoyed applause when he reiterated Israel's position that "Iran's nuclear capabilities must be fully dismantled."

The Image speaks for itself.  Just a thought.

Obama's New Plan...

President Barack Obama delivered a call to the peaceful Muslim world to be more forceful in countering the violent extremism of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

“It is time for the world – especially Muslim communities – to explicitly, forcefully, and consistently reject the ideology of Al Qaeda and ISIL,”. “It is the task of all great religions to accommodate devout faith with a modern, multicultural world.
No children – anywhere – should be educated to hate other people.”

“There should be no more tolerance of so-called clerics who call upon people to harm innocents because they are Jewish, Christian or Muslim,” Obama said. “It is time for a new compact among the civilized peoples of this world to eradicate war at its most fundamental source, the corruption of young minds by violent ideology.”

“That means cutting off the funding that fuels this hate. It’s time to end the hypocrisy of those who accumulate wealth through the global economy, and then siphon funds to those who teach children to tear it down,” Obama said. “That means contesting the space that terrorists occupy – including the Internet and social media. Their propaganda has coerced young people to travel abroad to fight their wars, and turned students into suicide bombers. We must offer an alternative vision.”

Obama said people of different faiths should come together to speak out against this worldview.

He stressed that there is no way to negotiate with the Islamic State, murders innocent children, rapes women and young girls, starves religious minorities to death and beheads hostages on camera.

“No God condones this terror. No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning – no negotiation – with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force,” Obama said.

This is rather a warning to many oil rich nations that support terrorism.

Just a thought.

Simple...*!

One-third of US adults are currently obese. Japan and India's, obesity rates fall below five percent.

While national obesity rates depend on many factors, they probably have a lot to do with lifestyle and culture, including what people eat and how they eat it.

With globalization, some foods and eating habits have migrated around the world (for better or for worse). For example, les steaks hachés sounds like a typical French food, but it’s actually the meaty part of Le Big Mac (and hardly part of traditional cuisine).

Japan- It’s all in the presentation. We all know about the health benefits of seafood (omega-3s!) and veggies. One unexpected habit to steal from Japanese eating culture is the emphasis placed on food’s appearance. Small portions and colorful, seasonal vegetables make for a visually appealing and healthy plate. The small portions may help to keep calories in check, while bright veggies provide a range of healthy vitamins and minerals.

Mexico- Traditional Mexican culture includes, a mid-day feast that’s the largest in the day not dinner. 

Beans definitely deserve the title of “superfood” due to their high levels of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Go for dried or low-sodium canned beans for a healthier burrito.

Just A thought.

Cosmetic-2...



America is a country obsessed with plastic surgery. Americans dished out an estimated $12 billion on cosmetic enhancements last year alone.

Seoul, South Korea is a foreign city where plastic surgery is even more extreme than here in the U.S.     Roughly 7.5 million people have traveled to this plastic surgery mecca to get work done, where there is an entire district filled with plastic surgery clinics.

A staggering one in five South Korean women has had cosmetic work done, compared to about one in 20 American women.

Jessica, a 33-year-old property manager for a real estate company 6,000 miles away in Los Angeles, flew to Seoul to undergo her own plastic surgery overhaul.

“I just always feel like my eyes were never big enough. I used to even get made fun of when I was little for having ‘Asian eyes,’” Jessica said. “I think the results will be better in Korea because they know the Asian face better.”

“In high school, my first procedure was getting this double eyelid crease put in, and it made my eyes so much bigger. I remember how exciting that was,” she said. “Just recently, I had my nose done by a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, sort of a plastic surgeon to the stars ... but it’s still not what I’m looking for.

It is very hard to realize that you can't live your life as you... but you feel the desperate need to continue changing your features.  Just a thought.