Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

20 Sep 2011 00:33

tags

U.S.: Good news: Gas prices are down, but not from a year ago

  • $3.60 the average price of gasoline in the U.S.
  • -35¢ the decrease in price from May’s peak
  • +87¢ the increase in price from a year ago source
  • » What caused the increase? To put it simply, many analysts point to the civil war in Libya for inflating the price of gas, as it took 1 million barrels of oil out of the supply chain each day, raising the price of oil by $20 per gallon at its high point. The recent successes the rebels have had since NATO started its air strikes exactly six months ago tonight have helped to bring the prices down to more manageable levels. Seasonal factors are also at play, and with Labor Day behind us, gas prices should continue to decline through Christmas.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Sep 2011 10:49

tags

U.S.: U.S. poverty rate: Nearly one in seven people live in poverty

  • 15.1% the poverty rate in the U.S. back in 1993 — the highest level in 20 years
  • 11.3% the poverty rate in 2000 — the lowest it’s been in the modern era
  • 15.1% the poverty rate in 2010 — MATCHING the 1993 high source
  • » What these numbers mean: The current poverty line in the U.S. is $22,314 a year for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual, so anyone making less than that falls into these numbers. To put this into hard numbers, that means 46.2 million people are living below the poverty line. As for the middle class, their median income is $49,445 — actually down just a little bit from the year before. (Editor’s note: We just clarified the poverty line numbers.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Aug 2011 23:28

tags

U.S., World: Never fear, Captain Biden is here, and he’s a Big #(&@(&% Deal!

  • When in Mongolia…: Vice President Joe Biden visited Mongolia as his latest stop on his Asian tour. Mongolia is expected to open its natural resources to foreign investors soon. While we’re not sure if Biden makes the best diplomat, he’s definitely the one we trust the most with a bow and arrow. (You might’ve heard that the guy who preceded him in the job had some trouble handling weapons properly.) On his trip, he was also presented with a horse, which Biden named “Celtic”. Can you say “live-action ‘Mulan’ remake”? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2011 17:24

tags

World: Pro-Assad protesters confront U.S. and French embassies in Syria

  • Embassies in Syria beset by protests: Throngs of protesters loyal to the embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad descended on the embassies of both France and the United States today, ostensibly to protest ambassadors visiting the violence-stricken city of Hama over the weekend. We say ostensibly because there’s little reason to doubt this was organized by the Syrian government, which has been using violence, intimidation and torture on its citizenry for months — rounding up a posse isn’t as hard when you wield that sort of brutal muscle. The U.S. thinks so, at least: “The Syrian government can organize protests at our embassy if it wants, but the world will not be distracted from the fact that it is the Syrian government that is imprisoning, torturing and killing people who want to peacefully protest,” said press attaché JJ Harder. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 13:47

tags

U.S.: Living in the U.S. takes a toll on your life, apparently

  • 75.6 average life expectancy, in years, for a man in the United States
  • 80.8 average life expectancy, in years, for a woman in the U.S. source
  • » Not so bad, right? It doesn’t seem like it — until you start comparing us to other countries. Compared to an average of the countries with the 10 best life expectancies, American men live roughly 13 years less and women live 16 years less. Not only does living in the U.S. mean you may not live as long, but if you live in Appalachia, the deep South, or in northern Texas, you can expect a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in the country. People tend to live longest on the Pacific coast and the Northern Plains. What is ironic about all this is that the U.S. spends more money on health per person than any other country in the world — so what’s wrong?
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 18:07

tags

World: Bloody day in Iraq for Iraqis, U.S. military

  • five American soldiers killed by a rocket attack on a joint Iraqi-U.S. base today, the single deadliest incident for the U.S. military in two years
  • 18 Iraqis killed today in a series of violent incidents — a car-bombing and suicide bombing feared to be the work of al-Qaeda in Iraq source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 15:45

tags

Biz, U.S.: Moody’s threatens U.S. credit rating downgrade over debt crisis

  • Full faith and credit: Moody’s Investors Service warns that a failure by the U.S. Congress to come to an agreement on raising the debt limit could imperil the country’s AAA credit rating: “The heightened polarization over the debt limit has increased the odds of a short-lived default. If this situation remains unchanged in coming weeks, Moody’s will place the rating under review.” You may remember a similar warning from Standard and Poor’s last April — it’s becoming increasingly clear that the debt limit struggle, in addition to the gaping chasm between what Democrats and Republicans would care to do on spending and deficit issues (such a chasm usually means gridlock), is causing angst for financial agencies. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Jun 2011 17:55

tags

Biz: U.S. auto companies beat foreign competitors in May, with a caveat

  • USA! USA! May was the first month in five years that Detroit’s Big Three automakers beat their foreign competition in total sales, likely welcome news to those who rely on the domestic auto market to make their livings.
  • easy there The Big Three’s big win came on the backs of a terrible month for foreign competition — Toyota was down 33%, and Honda 23%. This allowed U.S. auto companies to take the lead, despite actually seeing a drop in sales. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2011 16:44

tags

World: Pakistan, China eyeing stealth chopper used in Bin Laden raid

  • The perils of leaving footprints: During the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, one of their top secret new stealth helicopters clipped a rotor against the wall surrounding the hideout and was left apparently inoperable. The SEALS tried to burn and destroy it on their way out, but what was left were still large portions of a secret, cutting-edge aircraft downed on foreign soil without permission. As such, Pakistan would like a peek — their officials have already said that they’re “very interested” in examining the remains, and added that they might let the Chinese check it out, too. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2011 14:03

tags

World: Pakistan pushes back against bin Laden insinuations

  • We didn’t know! In the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan last week, one pressing question has been this: how on earth could a U.S. ally (made so by the billions in aid America gives them each year) acting in competent good faith not have known that bin Laden was living less than a mile from a huge military academy? In a town swarming with retired military officials? Pakistan denies any knowledge or wrongdoing here, but that’s just it — this is a situation in which any admission of wrongdoing is so diplomatically catastrophic that no government would ever cop to it, regardless of how it would make them look. What do y’all think? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>