Gongol.com Archives: January 2008
Brian Gongol


January 22, 2008

Threats and Hazards Russian bombers try to spook UK
Two Russian bombers were intercepted and escorted away by British and Norwegian fighters. Relations between Russia and the UK have gotten icy lately, especially after Russia shut down the British Council office in St. Petersburg, and announced that it would use nuclear weapons pre-emptively if it felt threatened. Russia is also planning to test-fire missiles off the coasts of France and Spain.

Agriculture "Crown jewels" of agriculture to be stored in Global Seed Vault
The seeds of 200,000 crops are going to be stored in the side of a Norwegian mountain in case of environmental catastrophe

Health Heart Association study: 30 minutes of daily exercise cuts premature death rate in half

Water News Colorado legislators want to sacrifice a lake to keep up on water obligations to Nebraska

Business and Finance What's with the panic?
The Federal Reserve drops interest rates by the biggest margin since 1982 in a surprise move meant to cut off panic about a possible recession. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has dropped 13% in the last three months. Meanwhile, the President is proposing to drop more tax money into an "economic stimulus" package ($145 billion) than the entire state of Iowa makes in a year ($124 billion -- that's including all goods and services). Is it just that people in certain markets (like, say, New York and Washington) are so panicked about home prices that they think record-breaking action must be taken immediately? Something about this just doesn't make any sense.

The United States of America And now Fred Thompson's out of the race
That means there are still ten major-party candidates still in the race. Sadly, Sen. Thompson was the only one who pushed entitlement reform as a major campaign issue. Among the ten remaining, six have unacceptable plans for Medicare -- that is, they have no plans at all for real reform. Medicare is about to break the bank, and any candidate who isn't serious about bringing spending under control is recklessly endangering the American economy. We need Presidential candidates with serious economic platforms, not the intentionally ignorant.

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