MONEY: Thinking about your paycheck

Saturday, October 17, 2009

http://dailyreckoning.com/your-salary-not-slashed-yet-just-wait-it-could-still-be-offshored/

Your Salary Not Slashed Yet? Just Wait, it Could Still be Offshored
By Rocky Vega

*** begin quote ***

It’s not an isolated occurrence, as former White House economist Alan Blinder points out, 38 percent of American jobs could ultimately meet this fate. He recommends that measures be immediately taken in anticipation of these extraordinarily tough times.

*** end quote ***

In the formula of how much of an emergency fund you need, you better reassess how stable your job is.

The answer is “not very”!

# # # # #


POLITICS: “Climate Change”?

Saturday, October 17, 2009

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/blog-action-day-how-bloggers-can-combat-climate-change

Blog Action Day: How Bloggers Can Combat Climate Change
by Daniel Scocco

*** begin quote ***

Today is Blog Action Day, and I want to talk about how bloggers can act to combat climate change.

But first things first, what is climate change? It is the change in the average weather around the world. In our specific case the weather is getting hotter (hence why people talk about global warming). This charge is partially caused by natural factors (e.g., changes in Earth’s orbit), but the human factor also plays an important role, with the increasing concentration of greenhouses.

*** end quote ***

“Climate change”? How have we gone from “Global Cooling” in the 1970’s to “Global Warming” in the 2000’s and end up at “Climate Change” in 2009? Unfortunately, I don’t know if the climate is changing. It has in the past (i.e., Greenland was green). It may in the future. In the cosmic scale, we are a fly on the elephant’s butt. I do know that the same folks who did the “chicken little” on “global cooling” had the same litany of “cures” — higher taxes, more regulations, limitation on freedom. I think that it’s “sensible” to use less of “stuff”; sensible is a synonym for “cost effective”. It’s irrational to think that “I am saving the planet”; it’s smart to cut the electric bill by eliminating wasteful “phantom loads”. I think that bloggers can bring “common sense” to the discussion. We certainly don’t see common sense in the “old media”, politicians, or bureaucrats. Hypocrites abound (e.g., Gore’s carbon footprint; Prince Charles’ jet set life; UN in everything it does). We need to be “smart”!

# # # # #