Eight is Enough....

especially after already giving birth to six children.  In Whittier, California, Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets on Friday. That's a lot of babies. I look at my girlfriends and family members with their children and see how hard it is to juggle everything and can't imagine what it would be like to manage 14 children.  Good luck to you, Nadya.

Day 131

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil's 4Q profits dropped 33%, but they still managed to win the title of most profitable American company with earnings of $45.2 billion in 2008.  It is all relative, I guess.  

Day 130

Day 129

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The House passed an $819 billion economic stimulus package yesterday with a 244-188 vote. The act is broken down to $544 billion for spending and $275 for tax relief.    

The Golden State

The state of California is not looking too good.  Consider these statistics:

• Unemployment rate of 9.3% as of December (projected to be higher now)
• one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation: 236,000 homes
• home prices down a whopping 42% from December 2007

Day 128

Iceland Iceland Baby

Iceland sounds like such a magical place- a snowy, wintery, amusement park.  Truth is, like every other country, they are not faring well.  It went bankrupt in October and yesterday Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced his resignation amidst much pressure for not handling the financial crisis with enough force and swiftness. 

One of the things I noticed from the article is a strong emphasis on a government lead by a coalition of parties.  I looked on the great wiki of knowledge and found this blurb: 

"The governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more parties involved, as no single political party has received a majority of seats in Althing during the republic." 

Imagine the Democrats and Republicans NOT vying for power and majority standing.  

Day 127

Year of the Ox

Happy Lunar New Year!  I need to work a trip to Boston's Chinatown to get some Chinese food today.  When I was younger, I always looked forward to the New Year's Day feast.  My Grandmother would  spend days preparing dishes: a vat of braised chicken with taro root, dozens of  Chinese tamales, a slew of dumplings, several types of bao..... always delicious. I would constantly be right there in the kitchen with her trying to pick-up on her techniques and recipes.  But, I have to admit the best part of the Lunar New Year was getting red envelopes. $5 here, $10 there, and the  occasional $20, it was a lot of money for a little kid- money I could use a little of right now. I can't for the life of me remember what I spent it on.

Day 126

Day 125

Influenza A Virus Subtype H5N1

A bird flu case has been found in a 29 year old man in southwestern China, the sixth case to be documented in China this year. It is reported that he had contact with live poultry markets.

TARP Funds Revisited

Here is an interesting article about where how and where TARP funds are being allocated.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/24/BUMI15FFNL.DTL