Statement by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke May 2, 2008We are meeting today to discuss proposed regulations for banks under the Federal Trade Commission Act. These rules are intended to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive practices, and would address credit card accounts as well as banks’ overdraft protection plans on checking accounts.Twenty-five years ago, less than half of all American families had a general purpose credit card. Since then, the number of consumers holding such cards and the amount of outstanding credit card debt has grown significantly. The development of credit scoring and implementation of risk-based pricing have made credit cards available to more people. In addition to serving as a source of needed credit, consumers benefit from the convenience credit cards offer
Ross Brawn believes the new rules for next season will allow a lot more possibilities for overtaking.
There will be new aerodynamic rules plus the ban on tyre warmers. The Formula One cars are too have the downforce levels dramatically reduced to enable the drivers to run closer together and allow overtaking.
Mr Brawn said to autosport [...]
Continuing on with my new rules series, here is another dose of fun:New Rule... Couples in Vegas must take Breathalyzer test to determine eligability for marriage.New Rule... Arizona Ice Tea must make their gallon containers recyclable. Any company that talks about how natural they are, should at least be able to use the same materials as coke.New Rule...Websites must have a maximum 50% of content be adds. Seriously!New Rule... Celebrities can only have two shows trying to find 'love'. After that you are just annoying.New Rule...Emo people need to have a wining warning at the top of their blogs.Thats all for this addition of New RULES!Your favorite blogger-Nut Job
REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-New Rules for Borrowers With Foreclosures: "At the end of the month, Fannie Mae will adopt higher minimum down payments and credit scores for borrowers with a past foreclosure."Albuquerque Real Estate Rio Rancho Real Estate News Albuquerque Real Estate News
WASHINGTON — Automakers will have to meet a fuel economy standard of 31.6 miles per gallon for cars and trucks by 2015 under a proposal to be unveiled today by federal regulators.
The standards for vehicles built between 2011 and 2015 are more aggressive than some observers expected, and raise the possibility that the government could require U.S. automakers to meet the 35 m.p.g. target they agreed to last year ahead of the 2020 deadline.
Under the proposal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will raise fuel economy rules to 35.7 m.p.g. for passenger cars and 28.6 m.p.g. for light trucks.
The 31.6 m.p.g. goal assumes the fleet of 2015 resembles what’s on the road today; should consumers choose smaller vehicles, the number will be higher.
The fleet of new passeng
As it normally does after each controversy laden season, the NFL decided to tweak a few rules. What does it all mean? I shall tell you.
Rule change #1: No more force out
This is a rule change that had to be made, but mark it down now—it’s going to be problematic. The league’s goal [...]
The National Environment Management Authority has introduced new regulations on gas emissions, signalling a possible rise in the cost of producing industrial goods.Under the rules, industrialists will be required to operate within set emission limits or face heavy penalties for failing to comply.Although Nema, the environment watchdog, says the aim is to curb rising levels of industrial pollution in the country, the rules will require industrialists to acquire new production techniques at a heavy cost.
okay, so I decided that I am stealing the New Rules thing, from Bill Mahar, so THERE!New Rule...Jay Leno and Conan O'Brian have to stop using the same jokes. (honestly, how many kristy ally eating diet jokes can you do in ONE HOUR!)New Rule...Ann Coulter has to become a man.New Rule...Libraries have to stop letting video games corrupt the premises!New Rule...Old men including Karl Rove, should be muted when trying to rap, anything.New Rule...No one in the Bush family can ever write a book, especially when you dad is George Bush.Thats all folks!-NutJob
(The "What Was Willy Thinking?" caption contest will officially close soon, so for those of you who participated, thank you!! For those who haven't yet, hurry!!The voting begins this weekend on the Weekender Offender post which will be up sometime tomorrow so make sure you come back to cast your vote, and may the Best Willy Win!! ) From the upcoming "2008 Guide to All Things Offensive" by Chelle B.:Rule #1 - Pandas are no longer allowed to be Chinese.Rule #2 - This naturally means that Jesus, my taco truck guy can no longer be Hispanic. :*(Vinod Gupta, the chairman and chief executive of InfoUSA in Omaha, the parent of Salesgenie.com, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that a commercial featuring two animated pandas speaking with what were intended as Chinese accents would be withdrawn.
For those of you already up to your necks in trouble, this post is not for you. The federal reserve has put together a piece of regulation to prohibit lenders from offering loans that consumers will have troubles paying off. This regulation is in the commenting phase, after which we’ll assume a few [...]
It’s such a spin-dizzy time in the blogosphere right now. Who’s a friend and who’s not? Which way should I bet? Who’s got the scoop and who’s just pretending to? In these times of shifting alliances and uneasy power balances, I’d like to use this issue of New Rules to clear up some recent confusion.
New Rule - Google can be the new Microsoft if it wants to. - Every day there’s a new post on a news site with some blogger wringing their hands about how powerful Google is getting. What if they become the new Microsoft? What if they get mean? What if they become the new monopoly? Here, ponder this image of Pamela Anderson marketing Google:
Now, what were you worried about again? You see, Google has become powerful because of one simple practice: they look at what Microsoft does wrong, and then they do it right. That’s why Google, and not Linux, is Microsoft’s worst nightmare. Express love for Linux in Microsoft and they’ll
The Department of Agriculture has announced standards that would for the first time allow meat to be labeled as grass fed only if it came from animals that ate nothing but grass after being weaned.Grass-fed meat has become more popular and widely raised in the past few years. Many of those who buy it consider it better for the environment than meat from animals raised on grain in huge lots, and healthier, because it is believed to have higher levels of Omega-3 fats. Some people also find it tastier.Sources:The New York Times October 19, 2007
Every now and then, I check the news feeds and see several sites out there that desperately need a dose of me. This is one of those mornings. Hail and hear well, oh denizens of the Internet, as I mete out a king’s measure of wisdom to your sorry selves….
New Rule: Accept that stupidity is a part of life. - This site introduces a project to build the world’s first “stupidity filter”. That’s a nice thought, but, like perpetual motion, if it were that simple, we would have done it a long time ago. You couldn’t bring a stupidity detector anywhere near the Internet without having it light up and beep insanely. And half the time, it would be tripping off of the user, even with the Internet turned off.
New Rule: Quit pretending your common software tool is top secret technology. - Graphics geeks have been following the story about Interpol, who unscrambled a distorted picture of a child predator suspect in order to get his clear picture. As th
Ah, what’s that I sense in the air? Is it Fall already? Good, let’s do some web-cleaning:
New Rule: Japan and tattoos don’t mix. - Tattoos are a hallmark of Western culture, originally to show what a tough, punk rebel you are. The only time Japanese culture should be involved in tattoos is when they’re inking Kanji symbols on the back of some hipster American teenage girl who thinks she’s getting a haiku but is actually getting “beef with broccoli”. That’s hilarious. And dragon tattoos are great. But a Nintendo sleeve is enough to make Mom kick you out of the basement.
New Rule: The media has to stop selling us on the idea of chip implants. - Every time you turn around, there’s another talking head touting the benefits of having an RFID chip implanted in our bodies. That’s great to look forward to, but first we have to become a civilized world where we could handle this kind of technology without going nuts. Give us som
New Rule: When Role-Playing Gamers finally take our advice and get out more, they have to leave their fantasy world at home. We’re all very glad for you that you have at last found your place as otherkin in the land of hobbits, but when you’ve played Dungeons and Dragons so much that it starts to change your religion, that’s about as far as you need to share it with the rest of us. You may think you’re wearing a +6 Wardrobe of Coolness, but the rest of us are reaching for our -2 Barfbag of Nausea.
New Rule: John C. Dvorak could use a testosterone injection and a Viagra cocktail, pronto. I can remember when Dvorak was the rottenest, meanest technology scrooge around. Dvorak alone could get so many people hating him at once, he could start a riot at Comdex just by walking in the door.
But after 25 years of being the loudest troll to thunder across Silicon Valley, he has now decided that he’s a 14-year old girl on MySpace. His blog - did you click that
New Rule: When Role-Playing Gamers finally take our advice and get out more, they have to leave their fantasy world at home. We’re all very glad for you that you have at last found your place as otherkin in the land of hobbits, but when you’ve played Dungeons and Dragons so much that it starts to change your religion, that’s about as far as you need to share it with the rest of us. You may think you’re wearing a +6 Wardrobe of Coolness, but the rest of us are reaching for our -2 Barfbag of Nausea.
New Rule: John C. Dvorak could use a testosterone injection and a Viagra cocktail, pronto. I can remember when Dvorak was the rottenest, meanest technology scrooge around. Dvorak alone could get so many people hating him at once, he could start a riot at Comdex just by walking in the door.
But after 25 years of being the loudest troll to thunder across Silicon Valley, he has now decided that he’s a 14-year old girl on MySpace. His blog - did you click that
New Rule: Linus Torvalds must grow some eyebrows. With his squint (what’s with the squint? is it that bright in Finland?), he looks like somebody Photoshopped Gimped a second pair of eyes onto his forehead.
New Rule: FOX News is no longer allowed to edit Wikipedia. Recently the story broke on O’Reilly Radar about how Wikipedia entries were being changed by FOX News (caught by the Wikiscanner tool) to show the FOX network in a more positive light. This information was later dutifully reported in the Wikipedia entry on the FOX News channel, according to the Google cache; look for the paragraph under “Controversies Wikipedia edits”. However, mysteriously, it is gone now. Gee, I wonder who wanted that incident stricken from the record?
New Rule: People have to stop sticking up for Novell. When Novell recently announced that they have no plans to sue anybody over Unix (now that a court has ruled that they, not the SCO Group, own Unix), the story on Slashdot
Book Description
ISBN-0071417540
"As a former CEO and independent director of several corporations, I find Don Delves' discussion of executive compensation -- including detailed and insightful reviews of the issues involving stock options -- to be exceedingly instructive. This is a book that members of compensation committees, indeed all corporate board members should read." -B. Kenneth West,
You buy a cell phone, load any software you want on it, then choose your carrier. This vision of expanded consumer choices in the wireless world might be a little closer today than it has ever been, especially with reports that the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is circulating an "open platform" proposal for the upcoming auction of the 700-MHz band.
FCC Chair Kevin Martin told USA Today on Monday that "whoever wins this spectrum" will have to provide a "truly open broadband network -- one that will open the door to a lot of innovative services to the consumer."
He said an open network would mean a consumer could "use any wireless device and download any mobile broadband application, with no restrictions," except for illegal or malicious software. USA Today and other news outlets are reporting that Martin has sent or is about to send a draft proposal to his fellow commissioners.
Martin noted that, in some other countries, consumers usually take their unlocked d
On Monday, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly released a circular to further strengthen and regulate the supervising process of foreign-invested real estate, aimed at curbing excessive property speculation by foreign capital.
In prior years, if you wanted to donate your car or other vehicle to a charity, it was easy. All it took was to select the charity, give them a call and they would pick it up and the ownership documentation. This part is still easy and many charities advertise how easy this part is for you. If you want to claim a tax deduction for that car donation however, the tax rules have changed a little. The reason for the changes were because people were over-estimating the value of vehicles then taking the higher amount off on their income taxes. First, to even qualify for this tax deduction, you need to be itemizing deductions on your income tax. This effectively eliminates everyone using a 1040 short form, or 1040EZ or those who don't itemize. Further charitable deduction cannot be greater than 50% of your total income. I don't quite understand why this matters to the government but it's in the rules. Further, the amount you can deduct for the contribution depends on what the charity d
The Board of Directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), on the recommendation of its Development Technology & Trading Affairs Committee, has approved the procedure relating to corporate actions handling under CFS trading…the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) said that the approval was given in pursuance to the decisions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)…
a. The CFS trades shall not be forced released for its rollover on ex-benefit basis. However, the same shall remain locked from the date of start of spot trading till the date of commencement of the Ex-date. (Book Closure).b. During the period company is traded on Spot basis, no CFS release or open market CFS Sessions will be allowed.c. All exposure margins and mark-to-market differences shall remain applicable as per the new RMS regime.d. Members shall be responsible for settlement of dividend/Bonus shares/Right issue with the Clearing House of the Exchange on behalf of their Clients
- All teams will be supplied by one tyre manufacturer. Bridgestone will supply two specifications of its Potenza tyre at each grand prix, and each driver will have 14 sets at his disposal (seven per specification). A driver may use a maximum of four sets on the first practice day and the remaining 10 on the Saturday and Sunday. In dry conditions, both specifications must be used during the race. In the wet, a driver has a total of seven sets of tyres available - four wet-weather and three extreme-weather. - The two Friday practice sessions - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - have been extended from 60 minutes to 90. The teams can send out a maximum of two cars for each session, and they must be driven by either the two race drivers or by a nominated test driver. The identity of the drivers must be announced by 4pm the previous day. - The engines must still cover two race weekends, but this only applies to the Saturday and Sunday. The Friday is no longer subject to th
* New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates.com! There’s a reason you don’t talk to people for 25 years, because you don’t particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.
* New Rule: Don’t eat anything that’s served to you out a window unless you’re a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?
* New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here’s how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, you’re done.
* New Rule: There’s no such thing as flavored water. There’s a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That’s your
U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal...
This is a content summany only. Please visit Dee's-Planet! Blog for full contents, links and more....
But Rep. Pelosi’s new rules;
No House member may accept any gift of any value from lobbyists, or any firm or association that hires lobbyists.
No free travel, which means an end to the corporate jet line every Friday at Reagan National Airport.
No free tickets to Redskins games; or no meals of any value, even at a McDonalds; no front-row seats at entertainment venues. No, no and no.
Suck it Repubs!!!!! Your days of wining and dining at our expense are over!
Click these buttons to share this story:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Department of Homeland Security U.S has released new rules on chemical plant, which has created negative reactions from several parties.
The rules that were released last week, state that chemical plants do not have to report their stockpile of chemical, like chlorine, fluorine and hydrogen fluoride, less than 2,500 pounds, even it is stored near a [...]
