Author : Ki GrayCNN’s Ali Velshi and Erica Fink recently did a comparison of what they considered to be five key measures of the economy Using what they call the “CNN Real Feel Economic Index,” they looked at jobs, personal income, personal savings, industrial production, and home prices

According to Velshi and Fink, “the U S economy, more so than other worldwide economies, is dependent on spending decisions made by consumers Consumer behavior drives spending habits, spending habits drive corporate profitability, and corporate profitability drives the stock market ”

Looking at this interconnectedness, they wanted to see if the consumer’s perception matched the reality of the U S economic situation Charting their five indicators on a scale of 0 (the worse) to 10 (the best) to see how the indicators have changed since 1980, they wanted to see if all the “fears and concerns are justified ” Their ratings of the current situation were as follows:

Jobs: 4 6 - The worst was in November 1982 with an unemployment rate of 10 8% and the best was in April of 2000 with an unemployment rate was 3 8% The current national unemployment rate is around 7 6%

Personal Income: 3 2 - “Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project found that looking at the period 1974 to 2004, salaries actually went down 12 percent, from $40,210 to $35,010 (in inflation-adjusted dollars) ”

Personal Savings: 3 3 - Economists fear that although the saving rate has gone up in the last few months to 3 6%, it is not because Americans are earning more It appears that most Americans are hunkering down and spending less The highest savings rate was in 1981 at 12 2%

Industrial Production: 0 - The harsh score for this indicator of what the U S produces in tangible goods is due largely to the troubles facing the Big Three automakers

Home Prices: 0 - This other harsh rating is due to the 6% annual drop in home prices, the biggest drop in the history of the index going back to 1975

Obviously Velshi and Fink paint a grim picture The numbers don’t look good and the bad news continues to dominate the headlines This week began with the stock market dipping into the lowest numbers since 1997 But the CNN correspondents also point out that the unemployment rate during the Great Depression was 24% and fortunately America is far from that number They also point out that the plunge in home prices is largely due to the unprecedented rise in home values over the last five years

Austin-American Statesman financial columnist Scott Burns recently challenged that things aren’t as bad as the numbers indicate He used the comparison of wealth and income While he concedes many Americans have seen their wealth decline, their actual standard of living may not be as compromised as they think While many Americans find themselves “upside down” in their home value, he doubts the average American’s standard of living has dropped by 20 percent

He uses retirees as an example of how the balance sheet looks bad, but their actual day-to-day living circumstances remain mostly unchanged ” before you allow fear to run free, check the income that supports your actual standard of living “Ki works, and lives, in Austin Texas. His website has thorough descriptions of Austin real estate. The site also presents a graphical search of the Austin MLS along with a free mortgage calculator.

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Author : Shawn WilsonHaving compatible views and opinions on how to live your lives is an important part of making a relationship work After all, when you’re always on the same page about your lives and the world around you, you don’t have too much to argue about in the first place But for most relationships, that’s a lot to ask With different backgrounds and different basic perspectives on the world, it doesn’t often happen that a person’s every opinion coincides with his or her partner’s

And in few places is this more dramatic than with politics When you’re on the left and she’s on the right (or vice versa!) it can sometimes create a lot of strain between you Some people believe that that bit of strain adds spice Others think it’s a sign that the relationship has little chance of working out But what, really, is the truth? Will differences in your political opinions get in the way of your relationship?

Politics Polarize

In most relationships where each individual has a different political perspective, it’s easy to see that politics can get in the way Why? Because what a person believes politically has a lot to do with their personal and moral values If somebody is on the conservative side politically, they may be there for religious or moral reasons, or just because their basic values match up with conservative opinions And the same for the left

The truth is, politics in and of themselves aren’t important But values are And when your politics are simply a reflection of your values, having a partner with opposing feelings can cause a lot of fighting and frustration There are even practical concerns to keep in mind If, for instance, a pro-choice liberal marries a pro-life conservative, their differences in opinions may cause big problems when it comes to family planning

In short, political differences can seem small and unimportant at the beginning of a relationship But as time wears on, those differences can become bigger and bigger And if you’re not careful, they may even take over your relationship

Political Differences Add a Spark

Does all the doom and gloom above sound a little scary? Fortunately, there’s also a positive side to political incompatibility While having very different political points of view won’t necessarily make things easier, it can make things a little more fun After all, where’s the fun in agreeing all the time?

In some couples, political polarization works for them rather than against them It gives them something to debate and argue about that has nothing to do with their relationship Because it’s not personal –it’s not about either of the individuals who are actually in the relationship– politics can be a way to blow off steam without damaging your relationship or hurting each other

And then there’s the fun you’ll have after the argument is over When you’re feeling hot and passionate at the end of a conversation, who knows where that might lead in the bedroom? A little extra passion is, after all, never a bad thing

Keeping Politics from Getting in the Way

Unless you specify party affiliation requirements on your internet dating profile, you’re not always going to end up with somebody with whom you see eye-to-eye Fortunately, even if politics are more about your values than your political opinions, your differences in perspective don’t have to break your relationship To keep politics from becoming a problem it’s important to remember to:

Take things lightly If you find that your political conversation is getting a little too serious, look on the lighter side Making a joke is the best way to break the tension And to make political discussions fun rather than frustrating

Respect their opinions Listen to what the other person has to say, and be open minded about their perspective Your opinion on the basic issue might not change, but that doesn’t mean your partner might not have a few interesting ideas, too

Don’t try to change them This is probably the most important of the three Sharing political views with your partner isn’t about trying to win them over to your side Chances are, you’re never going to be able to covert them, so don’t even try Instead, simply exchange ideas and listen to one another It’s the most you can ask for This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where we always offer free internet dating. Datepad has a massive directory of informative free dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on our dating blog.

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Author : Ki GrayMortgage Rates moved up slightly this week The 30 year rate moved up the most going from 5 07 to 5 15 The other three major mortgage products (15 year fixed, 5 year ARM and 1 year ARM) all moved up less the 05 points What is interesting is this makes the other mortgage products all more viable For the last few months it seemed that the 30 year mortgage was the only product worth considering While that still remains the case the 5 and 1 year ARMs are moving closer to being relevant The 15 year fixed mortgage is a pretty attractive option at 4 72 This is 43 points lower than the 30 year mortgage A month ago it was 33 points less than the 30 year mortgage

The 5 year ARM is now 5 08 so while the difference between it and the 30 year doesn’t make it an attractive option we might start seeing some activity again with the 5 year arm if the difference grows to over 3 points Personally with interest rates this low I would not consider the 5 year ARM unless the difference between it and the 30 year mortgage was greater than 6 points It’s simply too attractive to lock in for a long period of time with historically low rates Below are rates on the major mortgage products from February 5 to March 5

Mar 05, 2009
30-yr 5 15 15-yr 4 72 5-yr ARM 5 08 1-yr ARM 4 86

Feb 26, 2009
30-yr 5 07 15-yr 4 68 5-yr ARM 5 06 1-yr ARM 4 81

Feb 19, 2009
30-yr 5 04 15-yr 4 68 5-yr ARM 5 04 1-yr ARM 4 80

Feb 12, 2009
30-yr 5 16 15-yr 4 81 5-yr ARM 5 23 1-yr ARM 4 94

Feb 05, 2009
30-yr 5 25 15-yr 4 92 5-yr ARM 5 26 1-yr ARM 4 92

In addition to rates let’s look at mortgage payments We took today’s rates and translated them into mortgage payments for a 200k loan We also translated rates from February 5th and February 26th As we can see after falling rapidly rates and their corresponding mortgage payments for the last month have remained pretty steady

Mar 05
30-yr 1092 05
15-yr 1552 56
5-yr ARM 1083 44
1-yr ARM 1056 59

Feb 26
30-yr 1082 21
15-yr 1548 44
5-yr ARM 1080 98
1-yr ARM 1050 53

Feb 05
30-yr 1104 4
15-yr 1573 26
5-yr ARM 1105 64
1-yr ARM 1063 88

So what is going to happen over the next month and the next 2 years? The second question is easier I expect over the next two years that mortgage rates will rise It’s hard to know how much they will rise but some people expect mortgage rates to jump to 10-13 percent It’s a little harder to determine what rates are going to do over the next month It seems that unless the economy makes an unexpected recover the 30 year rate will stay below 5 5 The last question is what the government will do There have been plans for the government to unveil a 4 5 interest rate for new home buyers But we will have to wait to see if that program will come out and what kind of restrictions will be attached to the 4 5 interest rate Ki works in Austin Texas. His site has information about historical mortgage rates. In addition it provies statistics on Austin Tx real estate along with a free Austin home search.

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Author : Ki Gray30 Year Mortgage Rates dropped from 5 15 to 5 03 With the exception of the weeks of January 8th, 2009 and January 15th 2009 this is the lowest rates have been in over 40 years The other 3 major mortgage products dropped as well with 15 year arms moving down from 4 72 to 4 64, 5 year arms going from 5 08 to 4 99 and 1 year arms moving from 4 86 to 4 80 Although the 5 year arm has moved below the 30 year fixed for the last few weeks there is still no real reason to get a 5 year arm at 4 99 when you can lock in for 30 years at 5 03 at historically low rates Below are mortgage rates for the four major products for the last few weeks

Mar 12, 2009
30-yr 5 03 15-yr 4 64 5-yr ARM 4 99 1-yr ARM 4 80

Mar 05, 2009
30-yr 5 15 15-yr 4 72 5-yr ARM 5 08 1-yr ARM 4 86

Feb 26, 2009
30-yr 5 07 15-yr 4 68 5-yr ARM 5 06 1-yr ARM 4 81

Feb 19, 2009
30-yr 5 04 15-yr 4 68 5-yr ARM 5 04 1-yr ARM 4 80

Feb 12, 2009
30-yr 5 16 15-yr 4 81 5-yr ARM 5 23 1-yr ARM 4 94

So we also wanted to look at mortgage payments We took today’s rates and translated them into the payment on a 200k loan We also translated the rates from January 15th, which was the lowest rates we have seen, and from October 16th which is the highest rates we have seen in the last few months

Mar 12
30-yr 1077 31
15-yr 1544 33
5-yr ARM 1072 42
1-yr ARM 1049 33

Jan 15
30-yr $1068 75
15-yr $1545 36
5-yr ARM $1104 4
1-yr ARM $1060 23

Oct 16
30-yr $1258 87
15-yr $1702 87
5-yr ARM $1217 16
1-yr ARM $1093 28

Looking above its obvious anyway getting a loan today didn’t lose out all that much by not catching rates at their absolute lows on January 15th Payments for a 200k 30 year mortgage today are less than $10 dollar more a month But their are substantial savings compared to what we saw a few months ago Payments would be $181 56 less today compared to getting a 200k loan on October 16th

That relates to our next point of where mortgage rates are going I can’t say for certain what they are going to do over the next 2 months I would guess as long as the economy stays weak they are not going to move around too much Mostly likely they will hover between 4 5 and 5 5 Basically they can’t fall too much considering they are already abnormally low And as long as the economy stays down I don’t see them rising too much

But once the economy recovers most people expect that rates will rise Some have speculated that rates could jump up to 12-15 percent Basically so much money has been poured into the economy during the recession to stop things from getting worse Normally that would cause inflation But the weak economy has kept inflation in check When the economy finally does recover the billions poured into the financial system by the government will lead to high inflation which will in turn lead to high mortgage rates Ki writes updates on mortgage rates. His site has information on Austin Tx real estate along with a tool that graphs mortgage interest rates.

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Author : Norma HickoxCrime is becoming rampant due to drug usage Drug usage is becoming rampant due to those wanting to escape from responsibility Escape from responsibility is becoming rampant because of the tyranny of the law and legal system in our country The legal system and the laws and lawyers are becoming more active and domineering because of crime It is a self-feeding system and as all self-feeding systems it needs to have a brake put on it at some point

The things that have been tried in the past won’t work It needs to have some innovative thinking brought to bear on the problem Different ideas need to be brainstormed as to what place in the links between these factors the stopgap should be put

Let’s take the first problem, that of crime becoming rampant because of the need for drugs People are using drugs to replace God in their lives They have lost the ability to trust society or religion for any answers to their problems and to answer their unanswered questions for them

By using the drugs, they feel powerful enough that they do not need to be dependant on society and its educational practices or the churches and their educational practices They simply determine, then to create their own society The more that fall into this drug culture, the stronger it becomes If not stopped it can become a culture of great power, as the taking of drugs eliminates the conscience which is what the spiritual path is all about, you remember When the conscience is eliminated and in most cases destroyed by the taking of drugs, then crime is rampant within the culture, even against other members of the drug culture They do not just commit crime against those not taking drugs, but the elimination of the conscience allows them to commit crime even against their own, be it mother, father, brother, sister or friend

The taking of drugs destroys any hope of their soul having any influence over the form The drugs themselves actually kill off brain cells The same is true of all drugs, be it nicotine from tobacco or alcohol or any other of the drugs now in use They all will prevent clear thinking

Our government has tried every way they can think of to stop drug trafficking Nothing has worked Perhaps the answer is legalization This would certainly stop the huge amounts of money that exchange hands This would stop the high street cost and therefore the need to commit crimes to get the money to buy drugs

It is a known fact that when something is out of reach it becomes very desirable This is true for all humans Perhaps this is the only way to gain control of the drug problem is to lose control Sometimes this is what it takes This would put the problem directly where it belongs, each person taking direct responsibility from the age of twelve on as to whether he wanted to live his life in a drug haze, or to be completely free of mind altering contaminants There hasn’t been an aggressive enough campaign from the correct angles on this subject It needs to be approached from an educational and spiritual viewpoint combined

The next link in the chain is that of crime to obtain the money to buy the drugs Drugs are slave masters They entail loss of freedom because of the ability to be addictive Crime can also be addictive Once a person “gets away with a crime” it becomes a powerful stimulus in his mind to know or think, anyway, that he has outwitted those seemingly much more mentally powerful than he is

Therefore, those trying to stop crime need to learn to think like a criminal There needs to be schooling given that gives the law enforcement officers the ability to think like a criminal

There also has to be a powerful goal to be obtained One suggestion would be financial bonuses for law enforcement officers for directly being responsible for catching criminals

If it isn’t always possible to determine who is responsible for solving the case, for instance in a case as big as the Oklahoma bombing, the reward money should go to the victims families

Where will the reward money come from? There are many sources One suggestion would be from minor traffic violations In other words, an increase in minor traffic offenses such as parking tickets, speeding, not wearing seat belts, etc This puts the responsibility right back into the hands of the people who will benefit from a reduction overall in crime It will come from the people who want to have a crime free country giving to the victims of crime or to the fund that will honor the people who catch the criminals

The next place in the linkage between all this is in the law and the lawyers, those making the laws and those hired to protect and defend people who have been accused of breaking the law The lawyers need to understand how the mind of someone works who is out to “get what they can” from situations that should never be defendable in a court of law These are the people who do not want to take any responsibility for themselves

One case I can think of are those who sue a restaurant over coffee that is too hot Every mother teaches her child to be aware of hot drinks What kind of a mother would she be if she did not do this? Have these people forgotten what they learned at their mother’s knee? The responsibility in this case is clearly their own There are many other instances where this is happening

Lawyers need to attend a school of drama where they act out many different roles of being in business or offering services where they are “sued” by other lawyers in the school for things that will immediately seem ridiculous and point up where all this is leading There needs to be much more control over lawyers by lawyers as to whether they take these shoddy cases They are, of course, after the money these cases will bring There needs to be a stop gap put into the rewards these lawsuits bring The profession of law needs to police itself Once again we come back to education through acting out the roles of those you are offering service to

This is a new direction that education needs to take at every step in our lives Walking a mile in the other person’s shoes, learning how the mind of a criminal works Those who sue for ridiculous reasons are just as much a criminal as those who rob a bank Those who take on these cases are just as guilty What they are all doing is hurting everyone and feeding, in a round robin manner, the monster of money Medical lawsuits are some of the worst Fraud is another big crime, almost as bad as murder Courses in responsibility need to be implemented in the schooling of our children because it obviously isn’t coming from the parents They didn’t get it themselves so cannot teach it This article was excerpted from The New Millennium NoteBooks by Norma Hickox. Learn more about Norma at my website which is at http://www.chrysalispub.com Norma is a musician. She plays & teaches 6 instruments & composes music. She has also done painting, writing, dance and theater.

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Author : Jim NewellWhat is solar energy? The earth has been receiving free energy from the sun for as long as there has been an earth If there was an affordable way to utilize all of the energy the earth receives from the sun in one day, it would supply all of the power needs of the earth

Affordable cost is the key to effectively using solar power The good news is that as solar technology advances the cost continues to go down The really good news is that as the need for clean energy sources climbs, those technology advances are happening much quicker every day

There may actually be a time in the very near future that a typical homeowner could look forward to supplying his entire household energy needs with free abundant solar power at very low cost

At present whole house solar power systems are available that can become cost free in 7 to 10 years, however the upfront costs for system components is still rather high Think of it as prepaying for your electrical needs for the next 25 years up front, and you start being paid back on that investment from day one

More good news, with the push to renewable energy, there are many sources of credits and rebates that can help drive the high costs down Your electric utility provider may even be required to buy the excess power you produce from you

The typical home solar system will last and continue working for 25 or more years That’s 25 or more years of low or no maintenance on a system that will eventually pay you back Just imagine the thrill of possibly cutting your electric bill down to about $10 00 a month! That’s a lot better than the average homeowners $100 00 a month bill

You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping the environment, solar power systems do not burn fossil fuels, or produce any pollutants The sun has been providing clean, renewable, solar power for millions of years, and will continue for millions more

Solar power systems do not have to be an all or nothing proposition, you can start with passive heating, a hot water system (saves up 30% of your power usage), landscape lighting, swimming pool heating, maybe you have an outbuilding that your to have lights in, but do not want to pay the cost of trenching a power line to it The point is you can start with what you need or want now, and add to your system as your needs evolve

Solar power systems, because they are straight forward, and use readily available components lend themselves very well to a do it yourself project Components can be built from readily available inexpensive parts, and then installed Complete step by step instructions are available that will help you find the parts needed, assemble them into quality working components, and then how to install them Be sure to check local building codes
Jim Newell a Security Professional, salesman and Consultant for over 40 years, writes articles covering many different topics, including home, business and property security, sales and marketing, health and fitness, golf and others. He operates web sites whos missions are to educate, and to bring additional information about these topics. The goal is to help you to make informed and educated decisions about securing your personal property, your home and your business property, and living a more healthy and properous life.

For more information Solar Power and other forms of Renewable Energy, please [http://www.renewableenergysources101.com]Click Submitted By ArticleUnited.com

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