Earth: Local Headlines For Global Green Community
Norristown, PA — Local community groups are taking a global position on the environment. Meetings and events for Spring Clean-up are underway.
Full Article: Norristown, PA Community Clean-up Meeting
Full Article: Norristown, PA Spring Clean-up
Ambler, PA — The Main Street Green Committee released minutes from their last meeting. The initiatives include developing a model environmental policy for local businesses and orginizations.
Treasury,Fed Save Universities
$60 B from Treasury. $200 B from Fed. Universities rejoice.
And the same guys who gave toxic MBS wonderful ratings have now blessed the new Treasury plan.
“Fitch Ratings gave debt to be issued by the unit, formally known as Straight-A Funding Student Loan Short-Term Notes, a preliminary rating of F1+, the highest grade.”
What could possibly go wrong ?
Read the whole thing at
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTirMHvhiujY&refer=home#
Entertainment Headlines: American Idol, Elvis and Ali
by RomBox.com
CKX, Inc. owners of American Idol, Elvis Presley, Graceland, Muhammad Ali, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood announced their director had resigned.
CKX, Inc. (Nasdaq: CKXE) and 19 Entertainment Limited announced today that last night’s Wednesday premiere of American Idol drew approximately 30.3 million viewers, retaining 100% of the Tuesday night audience for the first time in five years, and for the first time ever, surpassing the Tuesday night season premiere in the key 18-34 adult demographic. In addition, this is the first time in five years that American Idol’s Wednesday premiere has increased over its Tuesday debut in Adults 18-49. The Wednesday show was the highest rated telecast of the season on any net among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.
No More Naked Hiking
Apparently some in Switzerland are not amused.
From
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,604273,00.html
“”We have do something to prevent this objectionable behavior before the weather gets warm again,”
Putin:”We are not invalids”
“We don’t need help. We are not invalids. We don’t have limited mental capacity.”
Loosely translated:
“Stop patronizing us, capitalist-imperialist pig man. Go away or I shall taunt you again.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/28/news/companies/dell.davos.fortune/index.htm
Security Update: White House’s Microsoft Outlook Email Outage
by The Membrane Domain
Full Article
Headline: The President gets to keep his Blackberry, but the White House can’t keep their Microsoft server running for email.
Federal Reserve’s Position on the Housing Crisis
The Federal Reserve continues to offer plans for owners of distressed real estate.
“The goal of the policy is to avoid preventable foreclosures on residential mortgage assets that are held, owned or controlled by a Federal Reserve Bank,” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote in a letter Tuesday to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
Under the program, homeowners would be offered lowering the amount owed on the mortgage, reducing the interest rate or lengthening the term of the loan.
Interest Rates: Federal Reserve Auction Yields .25% Rate
by Widgette.com
On January 26, 2009, the Federal Reserve conducted an auction of $150 billion in 84-day credit through its Term Auction Facility. Following are the results of the auction:
Stop-out rate: 0.250 percent
Total propositions submitted: $136.051 billion
Total propositions accepted: $136.051 billion
Bid/cover ratio: 0.91
Number of bidders: 102
The awarded loans will settle on January 29, 2009, and will mature on April 23, 2009. The stop-out rate shown above will apply to all awarded loans.
Institutions that submitted winning bids will be contacted by their respective Reserve Banks by 11:30 a.m. EST on January 27, 2009. Participants have until 12:30 p.m. EST on January 27, 2009, to inform their local Reserve Bank of any error.
How low can interest rates go?
Real Estate: Toll Brothers Builders Offers 3.99% 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage
The Philadelphia area builder Toll Brothers announced an in-house financing plan on the purchase of their new construction houses. The APR is 4.05% 30-year fixed for loan amounts up to $417,000. The rate can be locked in 270 days prior to your closing.
An Old Killer Strikes Anew
The malaria parasite finds new tricks. Artemisin is the best drug against malaria, extracted from the annual wormwood plant (Artemisia annua) known to the Chinese herbalist for a millennium or two. From the New York Times, we find that the malaria parasite is evolving resistance to artemisin. A resistant strain of the parasite has been found along the Thai-Cambodian border.
The full article may be found at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27malaria.html