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"Lacrosse has taken off because it combines the hitting of football, the speed of basketball, and requires the endurance of soccer."
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ELKHART, Ind. - In the same way that people might speculate about a couple that could be heading for divorce, business leaders in Elkhart, Ind., sometimes talked about what could happen if the recreational vehicle industry took a serious turn for the worse.
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On Wednesday, the Labor Department released unemployment data ... and it wasn't good for Elkhart: Unemployment rates rose in all of the nation's largest metropolitan areas for the second straight month in February.
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Nice to see a retailer finding its soul.
Starbucks Corp, the chain that introduced upscale coffee drinks to the masses, said on Thursday it hopes to do the same for instant coffee.
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Clearly, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are poster children for the economic meltdown. You can add Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual to the list. As for the winners, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan appear to have emerged.
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Next year, the penny will be getting not just one new look but four of them, the first changes to the 1-cent coin in 50 years.
The recent economic turmoil could spell more bad news for retailers as they head into the all-important holiday shopping season later this year.
Sports equipment. Uniforms. Team fees. Travel costs. Who would have guessed it could be so expensive to let your kid stay in shape and learn about teamwork by playing a team sport?
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Unless it’s already happened where you live, the new school year will descend upon you any minute now. Are you and your kids ready?
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Ah, life with a newborn baby — admiring those cute little hands and feet, picking out those cute little outfits … and changing as many as 10 diapers a day?
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For Dollie Kinkead, the economic turmoil gripping the country translates into an 80-mile drive each work day from a house she can't sell to a job she thinks she's lucky to have.
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Here's a great piece by my msnbc.com colleague Alex Johnson that could be a jumping off point for a discussion on our net Gut Check America topic. As soaring gas prices push Americans out of their cars and into buses and trains in record numbers, the system just ain't ready.
When Katherine Gray takes her kids to the grocery store, they can pick out as many apples and pears as their hearts desire. But bananas? Pineapples? Mangoes? Sorry kids, if they weren’t grown within 100 miles of Gray’s house in Portland, Ore., chances are they won’t make it into the grocery cart.
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It’s an unseasonably cold day in Seattle, and Rebecca is standing in her kitchen, preparing for her regular Sunday afternoon outing. As she gathers her backpack and grocery bags, her dog sniffs around excitedly, anticipating the long walk and treats that await.
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Dunkin' Donuts pulled a television spot featuring talk show host and Food Network personality Rachael Ray this weekend after a Fox news commentator associated it with terrorists.
Here’s the type of conundrum that Wendy Richardson often finds herself debating: If she is three miles from her office and realizes she has forgotten her reusable water bottle, is it more environmentally friendly to drive her Toyota Prius hybrid back to get it, or to walk 100 feet to a convenience store and buy a bottle of water?
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When you buy a new washing machine, you don’t expect it to stink up your house. But that seems to be a common problem for people who own high-efficiency front-loading washers.
As far as consumer issues go, underwear is not a hot topic of debate. We just put them on in the morning and go. But when this Newsviner bought a pack of Fruit of the Loom, and they promptly started falling apart, she took action.
If you find yourself taking the long way around to avoid passing by the corner office, you may just be working for a TOT, that is, a "Terrible Office Tyrant."
Female managers are 137 percent more likely to experience sexual harassment than their rank-and-file counterparts, according to a new study.
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Dear Mr. Olson
I have been an armchair politician for many years, specially taking time to follow the actions of our congressional leaders in times of crisis, exaggerated or not.
I have witnessed the concerns and indifference to issues of extreme importance to our well being as a country, issues brushed off or sidelined, almost as if our government leaders, including the media were so directed. Please don't take this as another attack on the media. I am an avid viewer of Chris, and Hardball, Keith, and Maddow. I also watch CNBC and some of the BS hype, that comes out of the Squawk morning series, and Kudlow, with his somewhat radical conclusions as to market conditions, and his recommendatios. "Drill,Drill,Drill".
I ask myself, what is going on in our country that we seem to be losing direction becoming so complacent, confident, and continue to be so trustworthy with the status quo. Where has the notion of, government of the people, for the people and by the people gone? Once in office our government seems to forget they are elected officials, they proceed with contempt for the public views and opinions. Not mentioning the decisions made resulting in lose of life, and our sovereignty.
We are facing multiple crisis not only in the financial sector, but in every other sector of importance to our nation. We are in two wars, our veterans are having trouble, we are rated at the lower end with regard to education, and health care of the industrialized nations, etc., but it seems that we have managed to move the bar further and allow "some" to test the strength of our economy. Not someone's economy but our nation's economy for the monetary gains of a few
Still our confidence and trust as a people continue to be tested further by the way our government is handling the present crisis," the financial, and economic crisis". We must stop, and be still for a moment and think, what has transpired in the past two weeks. Sec. Paulson of the Treasury goes to Washington and said he needed 700 BILLION DOLLARS immediately to resolve a credit crisis in the financial markets to prevent a complete meltdown of our financial institutions which would result in damage to the world markets, that the money had to be given with carte blanche. That people were not going to be able to buy cars, get payroll, buy goods, get loans, including student loans, buy gasoline, buy back the toxic assets sold to banks in other countries, and attempt to wipe away all the burden affecting Wall Street, but guess what, this does not really have to do with Wall Street, it's for the benefit of Mainstreet, so that we can continue spending money and buy things. People buying automobiles, "cars", seems to be of great importance to Sec. Paulson, and Chairman Bernanke.
We as a people, and maybe our government?, have been led to believe that there is no other solution but that proposed by Sec. Paulson and Chairman Bernanke of the Federal Reserve. Once again we have been subjected to the shock and awe, approach typical of this administration, knowing that we have been conditioned to react haphazardly, demanding little or no accountability. Further contempt by our government for the will of the people continued in the manner in which the House and Senate held the committee hearings limited participation to just the applicants of the 700 BILLION DOLLARS, four members of our present administration , forgetting that we have leading economists, academics, Nobel Laureates, that are also citizens and might have an alternative solution, possibly even better than what Sec. Paulson proposed.?????
Leading economists, and experts in finance have such as Prof. Nouriel Roubini, New York University, Stern School of Business, and The RGE Monitor, Dr. Allen H. Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon University, Prof. Charles Calomiris, Columbia University, and numerous others have seriously questioned the bail-out plan's intentions citing it's many deficiencies including not providing sufficient taxpayer protection, and not addressing the full scope of the financial problems which should be at the forefront of all concerned. The financial crisis we are enduring did not begin yesterday. In January 2008, Citigroup was first in line with the write-down problem estimated at the time at 5-15 billion dollars, now having reached 55 billion dollars. These write-downs are probably part of the bad assets which will be bought by Sec. Paulson if the bail-out bill goes thru congress. Needless to mention the 50-100 billion dollars which JP Morgan will be passing on to Sec. Paulson, therefore taking over a WAMu, a Wachovia, was not such a bad business deal for their respective buyers, JP Morgan, and Citigroup. We also have less competition now in the financial markets, specially that in banking. Are we to think that less competition is good for the consumer??
The most important issue at hand is the 700 BILLION DOLLAR loan the government is asking the PEOPLE OUR NATION to grant the treasury to do with as it sees fit , without considering other alternatives, nor further public hearings, by both the Senate, and House of Representatives. To prevent expert testimony to address the financial crisis at hand is one more sign of contempt for transparency and accountability by our government for the people. This process should completely transparent and alternatives taken into consideration, and not wary about the world watching us as if we will be bailed-out by the world if those assets witch Sec. Paulson wants to buy with the people's money turn out to be another bust.
I am imploring, begging, I'll get down on one knee like Sec Paulson supposedly did to ask MSNBC, Keith, Chris, Maddow, and the rest of the smart guys and gals to educate the people about what is going on. THe world and life as we know it will not stop if we take another 2-3 weeks to get proper hearings, and do this right. If Sec, Paulson is so desperate, he can authorize loans, thru the Fed and take an equity stake in the participants, similar to AIG, until we the people have a better understanding of the mess, putting aside the fact that the Nation is not in favor of the bail-out anyhow.
Thanks For Your Time, the way we're going May God Bless Us All.
James.
Al Olson is a member of the following groups:
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