| McCain’s life experiences will suit road ahead
John McCain was not my first choice. Or even the second or third. He'd be far more appealing with a Southern conservative as a running mate — former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, or Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, to name three. But conservative running mate or not, Mitt Romney's class-act exit leaves McCain without serious challenge for the nomination. And as both Romney and McCain noted in same-day speeches to the Conservative Political Action Conference, this election is not about shades of gray. "Elections in this country are fought within margins of small differences," said McCain. "This one will not be. We are arguing about hugely consequential things." Romney's departing words defined the immediate course for conservatives.
Economy-Economics- World
Stock Markets Plunge Worldwide (5 comments) Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession. U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and the Americas. Wednesday, January 16: NEW WORLD DISORDER: 7-year plan aligns U.S. with Europe's economy Rep Jim Costa, D-Calif, a member of the TPN advisory group, affirmed the target date of 2015 for the creation of a Transatlantic Common Market. The infrastructure would not require congressional approval and would integrate and harmonize administrative rules and regulations between the U.S. and the EU "in a very quiet way," without introducing a new free trade agreement to Congress.
Right to save Afflecks?
AFFLECKS Palace was good to David Mallon. It gave the streetwear supremo, from Stretford, an affordable base to start his career in fashion, selling rock band T-shirts. Like many who set out their stalls in Afflecks in the late 1980s early 1990s, Mallon, the man behind trendy fashion labels Ringspun and Elvis Jesus, reflects fondly on the time when it was synonymous with all that was cool about Manchester. "Those were the halcyon days. That was the time when Manchester was at its most influential thanks to the Hacienda and the music scene. You had a huge influx of people visiting from all over the country because they'd heard Manchester was the place to be and Afflecks was a symbol of that moment." But now as he looks across at the eclectic shopping emporium from his offices in Oldham Street he sees something faded, ramshackle, increasingly irrelevant.
Immigration drive hijacked
This was open to abuse from the beginning. I don't agree with McConnnell's idea of send us more and more immigrants. Migrant workers who willl eventually return home are considerably different from being suddenly swamped with people who are not even of our continent and our economy and infrastructure which cannot support a booming population or mass exodus out of third-world countries in the long-term. Now McConnell and his type think they can get around the pension fiasco, by importing more and more people to pay into it, but really what looks like a solution in the short-term will be a much greater problem in the long-term. Many of these people will milk the benefit system and take from it rather than give anything. There are unemployed people native Scots living in Scotland, so why are they not being trained or utilised FIRST? Don't tell me it's because they are lazy or untrained, because I have been in that very position and couldn't get a job, despite holding a 1st class Honours! Nigeria is the home of scamming.
Transit lines seeking smartest 'smart card'
As public transit authorities move from tokens and tickets to "contactless" cards, two possible futures await riders. One is a plastic version of the present, where each agency has its own fare card, usable only on its own system. The other future involves mutually acceptable cards, sort of an E-ZPass for transit riders. Smart cards typically have a computer chip and radio antenna that allow passengers to wave the card at a turnstile and be on their way. The fare is automatically deducted from a preloaded sum or from a bank account. With widespread interest in smart cards that can work in multiple cities, the fight now is over the best way to do it - bank cards or transit cards. That battle is shaping up to be the transit version of VHS vs. Betamax.
Capitol Watch: Budget Brawl
Earlier this month, President Bush sent his proposed budget for FY 2008 to Congress. At this point, the proposed aspect of the $2.9 trillion, 2500 page document should be emphasized. By the time Congress gets done with it, the federal budget will likely bear little resemblance to what the Bush administration has composed. Even so, the president's budget for the fiscal year starting on October 1 is a useful guide to his foreign policy priorities, and it will form the starting point for much of Congress' foreign policy activity in the coming months. The 2008 budget is the first to include spending requests for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; in previous years, funding for these wars took the form of emergency supplemental requests that were separate from the administration's formal budget requests.
SEC to consider CBOE rule on trading rights
U.S. securities regulators plan to consider this week a Chicago Board Options Exchange rule aimed at eliminating trading rights held by certain members of futures exchange CME Group Inc. Settling the issue is critical for the largest U.S. options market to complete a year-long process of converting from a member-owned organization into a for-profit, shareholder company, which would pave the way for an initial public offering. CBOE has been in legal dispute over the trading rights issue with CME, which was formed last summer after Chicago Mercantile Holdings merged with Chicago Board of Trade's parent CBOT Holdings Inc. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to decide on Wednesday on whether to approve a proposed CBOE rule change that would eliminate eligible Chicago Board of Trade members from trading at the options exchange, according to a SEC meeting notice on its Web site late last week.
|
