Top 5 Cities - Vacant Homes and Apartments in the City - Census Data

The Census Bureau released on Feb. 3 2009 the top cities with vacant homes and apartments based on fourth-quarter data. These rankings are a combination of rental and homeowner vacancy rates. Las Vegas is in the top spot followed by Detroit in 2nd. place. Atlanta came in 3rd., Greensboro, N.C. was 4th., and Dayton, Ohio 5th.
        Top Vacant Cities:
        1. Las Vegas
        2. Detroit
        3. Atlanta
        4. Greensboro, N.C.
        5. Dayton, Ohio

What does this mean to you? Well vacancy rates in these spots spell lots of empty neighborhoods in these cities. Las Vegas and Orlando, are largely victims of the recent housing bust. Other cities like Detroit and Dayton are casualties of the long industrial decline that has occured in America. The loss of manufacturing to the point that America is now a 2/3 service driven economy.

We need to get more manufacturing back to this country that will in turn create more jobs. The increase in jobs will in turn allow more people to buy homes and rent apartments.

United States National Debt tops $10 Trillion

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 4 Mar 2009 at 03:16:50 AM GMT is: $10,946,695,331,744.33

The estimated population of the United States is 305,750,788
so each citizen's share of this debt is $35,802.67.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.71 billion per day since September 28, 2007!

Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!

America’s Got Talent – Las Vegas has gone Nuts

I must admit that I do not follow the “America’s Got Talent” television series but I got curious about a story I read about a prior winner. The 2007 winner was a ventriloquist named Terry Fator. I made it a point to view a video of Mr. Fator and was surprised at his ability and talent. He is very, very good. That being said, the thing that caught my attention was the story that he landed a 5 year $100 million deal at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. That’s correct, $100 million for a talented ventriloquist. America is truly the land of opportunity or has gone completely nuts.

Is this another example of excess and misguided priorities in our society to go along with the overpaid athletes and Hollywood starlets? It is a shame that this country doesn’t financial reward other talented people as well. People like the fire fighters, policemen, nurses, teachers and other worthy professions that provide a valuable service. This is America 2009, a little shallower, a little more skewed and a bit confused in it’s priorities.

Don't rely on Stimulus Bill for a Job - Job Tips you need to know

There is no one surefire single resource to get that job.

You need to understand and use all of the resources available to you. Don’t let your biases get in the way. Everything makes sense.

Some good resources in addition to personal contacts are:
• third parties (employment agencies and executive search firms).
• help-wanted advertisements.
• management consulting firms.
• alumni placement services.
• professional and technical society placement services.

Be inventive and take initiative. It’s up to you to make the phone ring. Your results from any resource will be as worthwhile as your level of aggressiveness and persistence.

For more extensive job information visit Career and Jobs.

Valentine’s Day 2009 - What does a Girl get her Guy ?

I just amaze myself sometimes at how clever I can be. But
that’s what she loves about me. I can’t wait until Valentine’s day to see what she got me. Now the hard part is what do I get her?

Political Language – Words & Phrases that Mislead, Deceive, & Distort the Truth

A politician’s greatest asset is the “manipulation of the English language”. These politicians are a “wily” and “crafty” bunch. That is probably the main reason why the American public rate politicians consistently at the bottom of the barrel. The most important part of any “bill” is not the “content” but the title because with the proper “title” comes the passing or failing of that bill.

Let's face it, the average Joe is either too busy or too self absorbed to spend time in researching the content of a bill - a bill that will affect his very life. Don’t fool yourself either – many if not all bills affect our lives either directly or indirectly. What is left – the title? Yes, the title of a bill gives us a general idea and the crafty politician will use ALL the necessary manipulative words to convince us what he wants us to believe is in the bill whether it is or not.

Perception is all that matters to the politician in the end. The perception that he wants you to believe.

How about a current Example:

The current “Stimulus” bill before the Congress. Yes a “Stimulus” job creating bill.
It’s not a “Pork” bill filled with wasteful provisions.
It’s not a “Spending “ bill on useless projects.
It’s not a “Payback” bill to each congressmen’s folks back home.

Valentine’s Day - What does a Guy get his Valentine?

Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2009 is rapidly approaching guys. Did you know that the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. Who does all of that counting?

Finding the right Valentine’s Day gift is probably the most difficult shopping experience in a guy’s life. After all this is the “Day of Love”. After a few years I am all out of ideas. I did the flowers thing, then there was the candy year. Last year was the stuffed teddy bear. Two years before that it was the teddy bear with candy. That one was good - I sure know how to pick candy. Jewelry was a winner but I can’t do that this year I need to save that one for her birthday.

Oh, I give up - I guess it will be flowers this year!

Super Bowl XLIII - Winner of Worst Commercial Ad 2009

The winner of the Worst Superbowl Ad in our humble opinion has to go to the “Pepsi McGruber Super Bowl Ad”. MacGruber, from the Saturday Night Live sketches, appeared in a sixty-second spot for Pepsi that aired during Super Bowl XLIII. It featured the character drinking all the Pepsi he could get on an illegal supply ship while trying to diffuse a bomb in fifteen seconds. Though he denies that he is sponsored by the product in the commerical, he admits that he legally changed his name to “PepSuber”.

Beside the fact that this Ad was just plain stupid! What is it with all of that camera movement. Did Pepsi pay so much for the commercial that they had to use a hand held camera and get all of that shaking. What Advertising genius thinks that all of that movement adds to the drama of the commercial. It just made me want to vomit. How about the guy at Pepsi who paid for this Ad! What was he looking at when he signed off on this garbage.

Runner-up for the worst commercial has to go to Teleflora who ran an Ad for the first time in the company's 75 year history. If we are lucky it will be another 75 years before we have to see another of their Ads. Talking flowers in a box that begin to insult a girl when she opens the box. Enough already with this crude attempt at humor. Crude humor is just plain "crude" and not funny.

Super Bowl XLIII - Super Bowl, Super Commercials, Super Hype

It has been reported that Super Bowl 30 second advertisements will cost $3 million.

A huge favorite every year in the Super Advertising spectacle is GoDaddy.
The hype around Go Daddy's Super Bowl commercial started well before the Big Game! This year, visitors can watch TWO hot new ads on GoDaddy.com and vote for the one they want to see during the big game.

Look for the ETrade Baby commercial in the 2nd Quarter, the Castrol commercial in the 1st half, Go Daddy in the 1st Quarter, Audi in the 1st Quarter as well. The Pepsi Max commercial in both the 1st and 4th Quarters, and Bridgestone in the 1st and 3rd Quarters.

Budweiser will run different commercials in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Quarters. Clydesdale Romance and more. Other advertisements from Coca-Cola in 3rd Quarter, Denny's in the 3rd Quarter, Taco Bell in the 4th Quarter and many more.

Online Fashion News, Designer Interviews, Celebrity fashion trends and community chat

Couture Candy merges the convenience of e-commerce with the knowledgeable, personal service found in upscale boutiques to create a unique hybrid of the online/offline shopping experience. Apparel from the hottest designers all in one place including such prominent brands as Joe’s Jeans, Paper Denim & Cloth, J Brand, Raw 7, Susana Monaco, Da-Nang, Lotta Stensson, Stitch’s and Kasil Jeans.

The website offers a true lifestyle destination with the latest fashion industry news, weekly newsletters, designer interviews, celebrity fashion trends, style tips, denim fit guides, community chat and advice from personal stylists.