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Ten Observations of Causes and Solutions to the US The April 21 edition of Investment News reported on a United States Senate Banking Committee hearing: “It’s a vicious cycle,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a Feb. 28 Senate Banking Committee hearing. “How do you mark to market when there is no market?” Mr. Schumer suggested that it might be better if companies just delayed mark-to-market accounting for six months. “If you undervalue it, you may be hurting things as much as if you overvalue it,” he said. Even Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said that circumstances make it...

John McCain called this morning for a government trust to work with the private sector and regulators to spot faltering financial institutions... ---------------------------------------------------- The speech...below.

Mike Huckabee on Morning Joe, January 11, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk3pSiOqSwU Mike Smuckabee . Watch^^^.

So we might have Myth as our nominee. We don't know yet, but lets consider that a possibility. If one rewinds time back a bit, you'll remember a vague threat from Michael Bloomberg. He warned that if an 'extremist' like Mitt Romney was the nominee, he'd consider running. As much as Michael is a liberal (and he is), he's shown to take away from Republicans slightly more than democrats. He could be a modern day Perot for the democrats, and the cash to handle an expensive campaign. Will this happen and in this particular manner? We don't know yet. Although...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Hispanic activists who viewed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a voice of moderation on illegal immigration say they've been taken aback by the hard-line stance he's adopted as a presidential candidate. While governor, Huckabee gained favor with Hispanic leaders by denouncing a high-profile federal immigration raid and suggesting some anti-illegal immigration measures were driven by racism. He advocated making children of illegal immigrants eligible for college scholarships. Huckabee's Republican presidential rivals have tried to make an issue of the scholarship plan, portraying him as soft on illegal immigration, an important issue for many GOP voters....

CHICAGO (AFP) - US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel, according to a study released Monday. The technology offers a way to cheaply and efficiently generate hydrogen gas from readily available and renewable biomass such as cellulose or glucose, and could be used for powering vehicles, making fertilizer and treating drinking water. Numerous public transportation systems are moving toward hydrogen-powered engines as an alternative to gasoline, but most hydrogen today is generated from nonrenewable fossil fuels such as natural gas. The method used by...

Thompson may enjoy an edge in any drawn-out delegate slugfest due to his Sun Belt roots and “red state” strength. That’s because the way delegates are allocated to the Republican National Convention, which picks the White House nominee, gives disproportionate clout to states that President Bush carried in 2004 above what their population would otherwise dictate. ....... The Republicans have not nominated a Northeasterner for president since Thomas Dewey in 1948. Only two of the past 13 GOP presidential nominees since then — Gerald Ford in 1976 and Bob Dole in 1996 — have not been from the Sun Belt.

(AP) -- With authorities promising tighter borders, some farmers who rely on immigrant labor are eyeing an emerging generation of fruit-picking robots and high-tech tractors to do everything from pluck premium wine grapes to clean and core lettuce. Such machines, now in various stages of development, could become essential for harvesting delicate fruits and vegetables that are still picked by hand. "If we want to maintain our current agriculture here in California, that's where mechanization comes in," said Jack King, national affairs manager for the California Farm Bureau. California harvests about half the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables, according to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The huge backlog in US immigration visas is leading to a "reverse brain-drain" that will force skilled workers to return to their home country, a report released Wednesday concludes. The study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found that more than one million potential immigrants, including scientists, engineers, doctors and researchers, are competing for 120,000 permanent US resident visas each year. The report said some applicants must wait several years, in part because the number of employment visas issued to immigrants from any single country is fewer than 10,000 per year. "The United States benefits from having...

In those states, the percentage of Mexicans sending money home fell to 56 percent from January to June, from 80 percent in 2006... Bank officials, pointing to a survey of Mexican immigrants in the report, said the decline reflected a rising sense of insecurity and uncertainty about whether they would stay in the United States. Anticipating a possible move back to Mexico, these immigrants appear to be saving more. “They have decided because of the uncertainty of the future that they need to step back and save a bit,” said Donald F. Terry, general manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund...

The Wall Street Journal editorial-page editors are upset that Wisconsin's state Senate passed "Healthy Wisconsin", which will give health insurance to every person in the state.... In addition, as the Journal put it, "Wow, is 'free' health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes."... As usual, most of the new taxes will be imposed on employers. Progressives believe money taken from them doesn't cost anything... The WSJ writes about a "last line of defense against" Healthy Wisconsin, but I say,...

Barack Obama wants you to drive a car that gets over 40 miles per gallon, but it's a case of "do as I say and not what I do." Obama was one of the 65 senators who voted in late June to raise federally mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars, minivans and SUVs to 35 miles per gallon. In a May speech to the Detroit Economic Club, the senator said his goal is "to help bring [the auto industry] into the 21st century." He proposed requiring automakers to increase their fuel economy standards by 4 percent --...

In the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, a team of researchers has discovered a novel bacterium that transforms light into chemical energy. _______________________________________________________ In the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, a team of researchers has discovered a novel bacterium that transforms light into chemical energy........ Remarkably, the new genus and species Cab. thermophilum also belongs to a new phylum, Acidobacteria. The discovery marks only the third time in the past 100 years that a new bacterial phylum has been added to the list of those with chlorophyll-producing members. Although chlorophyll-producing bacteria are so abundant that they perform half...

WASHINGTON, July 20 Technology to draw oil from rock in Rocky Mountain states and other unconventional sources is getting another look from companies and the government as the demand for energy increases and supply tightens, especially in the United States. Oil was more than $78 per barrel Friday, nearing an all-time high. According to a National Petroleum Council report, commissioned by U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and released this week, demand will exceed supply by 13 million barrels per day by 2030. One potential major source of domestic oil is found in shale rock in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Interest...

President Bush sharply challenged critics of his stalled immigration-overhaul efforts on Thursday, suggesting that failure to pass a guest-worker program could trigger a labor shortage in the United States. At a town-hall style meeting, Bush also rebuffed a question about whether he would consider pardoning two Border Patrol agents in prison for the cover-up of the shooting of a drug trafficker in Texas. "No, I won't make you that promise," Bush told a woman who asked about a possible pardon. ............... "I know it's an emotional issue but people need to look at the facts. These men were convicted by...

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, a proponent of abortion rights, said Wednesday he would not use a judicial nominee's stand on the issue or the landmark Supreme Court decision as a litmus test............... "Abortion is not a litmus test. Roe v. Wade is not a litmus test. No particular case is a litmus test. That's not the way to appoint Supreme Court justices or any judge," Giuliani said. Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. Giuliani favors abortion rights though he has said he personally opposes the...

By Gazette News Services RAWLINS - Construction of a proposed plant in eastern Carbon County to turn coal into diesel will take three years, $2 billion and 2,000 temporary workers, a company official said. Kate Perez, spokeswoman for Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC, said the proposed plant is pegged to sit at the mouth of an underground coal mine that is located seven miles north of Interstate 80 between Hanna, Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain. Medicine Bow Fuel and Power is a subsidiary of DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC, the main company behind the plant. The coal would be converted...

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain struggled to keep his deeply troubled campaign afloat Monday, laying off dozens of staffers after lackluster fundraising and excessive spending left him with just $2 million for his second presidential bid....... Officials with knowledge of the reorganization said more than 50 staffers, and perhaps as many as 80 to 100, in every department of the campaign were being let go, and senior aides will be subject to pay cuts. These officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the campaign would not publicly discuss specifics....... The financial difficulties have fueled speculation that McCain would drop out...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama outraised Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by $10 million in second-quarter contributions that can be spent on the Democratic presidential primary contest, aided by the contributions of 154,000 individual donors.

An Alabama energy exploration company likely will transport Utah oil shale to Canada to test whether a new technology would allow the economic and environmentally acceptable extraction of a substance that could be turned into motor fuel, federal officials said Thursday. The Bureau of Land Management has issued a research development and demonstration lease to Oil Shale Exploration Co. (OSEC) that allows the company to submit a detailed plan on how it would remove the rock left over from a 1980s mining operation near Vernal. The company hopes a horizontal-kiln process developed in Australia to extract contaminants from soil will...