OBAMA-RAMA & OTHERS

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT (2006) 12/25

20/ Walsh

OBAMA-RAMA is real. Obama has rock star status and hundreds follow him to his events in New Hampshire. Already, he has tied Edwards in Iowa for top spot. Has he peaked too soon?

The election is 2 years away. Further, his positions are probably too liberal. How many Blacks

(he is bi-racial so he could be defined as white plus other or trans racial) have not been elected in

general elections. All this should shake out this year and next.

100/ Zuckerman

The economy is rolling along and most people should be happy. However, they are anxious.
They are just one health problem away from financial disaster. Married people are twice as likely to apply for bankruptcy than singles.The job market has become more uncertain. Roughly as large

a share of people are losing their jobs as it was in the worst part of the 80's.How much does it cost when a woman leaves the workforce to have a baby? What happens when one of two parents loses their job?  Raising a child is now $200,000 WITHOUT college costs. How much does it cost to raise a chronic ill child? We need some form of universal health care.

BUSINESS WEEK (2006) 12/25

34/ Thornton

More businesses are being taken over by uninvited takeovers.The hostile bids continue.

37/ Der Havanesian

More houses are being taken over by "foreclosure factories." Families are out on the street. The usual case involves ARM's and aggressive servicing in taking over a family home.

64/ Cooper

58 experts say the economy looks good for the future. Really, does that mean that the business cycle is a myth.

114/ Coy

The housing slump is for real. When prices were shooting for the stars, that was a financial

bubble. Most of the time, a housing slump or financial moderation is the rule. A bubble comes along many get involved and most lose their shirt. If you need to sell and your are not getting much

interest from customers make steep sharp cuts.

THE ECONOMIST (2006) 12/23

16/ A law abiding man suddenly turned to child pornography and solicited kids on the internet. He was caught and charged. Before he went to prison, he had an fM RI. Doctors discovered a tumor on the brain. When it was removed, the individual returned to his civil ways.

A young reliable man had a nail accidentally driven into his brain.He turned from a happy go lucky guy to a mean and violent person. Another with brain damage, became extremely obsessive that he could not get out of bed.

(Before we go any further, there is not a choice between FREE WILL, actually in determinism, and

Hard indertiminism. Rather it slides along a continuum. Many believe that free will is flavored

by brain damage and environment. Religion starts with absolute free will, but allows for forgiveness.) To say that we are flawed sinners means that we do not exercise free will

to the cannons of that particular religion. The question in life is how you dealt with your pathologies.

Or is the demands made on an individual too much in a particular religion. In terms of environment,

lets go back to before Roth vs. USA  1957 in that decision, pornography was defined as free speech. Today, pornography is deemed such by each community's standards.) There is one study out that indicates that most children by the time of 10 have seen hardcore pornography. So that would suggest that one might be predisposed to porn when it is just a few clicks away on one's computer.

So, are we happy? It depends  on how we reflect back on an experience. Further, if we can mute

status anxiety.Does one like their job?

42/ Small towns need reviving. Those close to an interstate have the best chance on surviving.

Others that are not far from a major metropolitan area will okay too.

SPECIAL   SECTION ON NUEROSCIENCE

More and more it appears that pathological behavior is oriented from brain damage which is primary to secondary brain damage of an environment that desensitizes the brain. The blank slate

hypothesis is giving way to nature AND nurture. Many of the studies come from fM RI findings.

We appear to have six basic emotions. They are: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise.

A brain is also visualized.

One of the major problems is that the brain appears to be another biological organ. Do we have a

soul and or self? How much memory do we have? How accurate is it? It appears that language

still has a tremendous impact on who we are.If possible, we need to look even further into

consciousness.

106/

We are moving into postmodern retailing. Purchases are extremely heterogeneous. Counterculture

has been bastardized to new products. Niche marketing and related do not follow symmetry rather

are asymmetrical. The ideological king bin is Hayek. His last edition in 70' indicated a market system.

but with social protections. If anything, postmodernism indirectly or inadvertently a combination of

lite Marxism and social gospel. Hard rationalism, objectification and the like were opposed. So retail capitalism adapted.

119/ Stargazing is changing. Larger telescopes can have a bias built into the mirror. So now on mountain tops, there is a series of smaller telescopes that appear more accurate.

120/ Brain cancer appears to be related to parents. If a parent had brain cancer as a child, especially the 3rd and 4th children are likely to get it too.

121/ Japanese lab is trying to grow snow crystals. They are not alone.