Business Plan Systems

U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated in early July to the lowest level since March 2009 on increasing pessimism over falling income and rising unemployment, a survey released Friday showed.

Confidence in government economic policies also curdled, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed. U.S. lawmakers are wrangling over a budget deal that would allow the government to raise the debt ceiling — needed so the United States can fund its obligations next month.

The preliminary reading for the consumer sentiment index dropped to 63.8 in July from 71.5 the month before, falling far short of expectations of an increase to 72.5, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions fell to 76.3, the lowest since November 2009, from 82.0. Read full post…

Tags: Consumer Sentiment, July

WASHINGTON — How many government bureaucrats does it take to screw in a light bulb? A lot of House Republicans think the answer should be “none.” They say the government should just stay out of it.

To them, those newfangled curly fluorescent light bulbs are the last straw, another example of an overreaching government that’s forcing people to buy health insurance, prodding them to get more fuel-efficient cars and sticking its nose into too many places it doesn’t belong.

For most Democrats, it’s an exasperating debate that, just like the old incandescent bulbs being crowded out of the market, produces more heat than light.

Republicans in control of the House moved toward a vote late Monday on legislation that would seek to overturn light bulb energy-efficiency standards and keep the marketplace clear for the cheap, energy-wasting bulbs that have changed little since Thomas Edison invented them in 1879.

The standards in question do not specifically ban the old bulbs but require a higher level of efficiency than the classics can produce, essentially nudging them off store shelves over the next few years. Read full post…

Tags: House Republicans, Say

If I told you that I owned a profitable business with 2.6 million regular customers and a turnover of £175 million you might well think me a lucky man. If I then told you I had made a decision to completely shut that business down, you would probably think I had gone utterly, comprehensively, mad.

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Tags: Business

The editor’s message in a recent Dwell issue has an insightful comment about ideas that makes me think — hard. He suggests that a good place to store your ideas is in the real world. Meaning you create and envision and idealize and thoroughly understand something in your mind, and then you physically bring that into reality.

As a web developer, I feel a lot of kinship with architects and designers who must configure something in their mind and then “get it out onto paper” and from there move it into a physical object. I believe that the same skills to move ideas into reality can be applied to life and personal development.

Looking for a great place to live? Identif

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Tags: Idea, Idea Reality

Fox News has now joined the list of victims of hacking as a group of hackers called “Scriptkiddies” broke into one of its Twitter accounts and spread fake news about the assassination of president Barack Obama.

The hacker group gained access to  and started tweeting the fake information to 33,000 followers at about 2 am local time, IBNLive reported.

The false tweets of Obama’s murder, coupled with specific details about his injuries, appeared to begin after the notorious hacker group sent a message telling Fox had just “regained full access to our Twitter account”.

Fake Tweets said President Barack shot dead. S Read full post…

Tags: Fox News, President, Twitter Account

A new Indiana gun law takes effect Friday that prevents local governments from enforcing their own firearm restrictions.

The new law means localities no longer can block licensed gun owners from carrying their weapons into most public buildings, though there are exceptions for courthouses, schools and hospitals.

In St. Joseph County, officials have decided the courthouse exemption will apply to the County-City Building in downtown South Bend as well as the county courthouses, the County Services Building in Mishawaka and the Juvenile Justice Center in South Bend.

An underground walkway connects the County-City Building, a 14-story tower that houses offices for both the county and South Bend, with the two neighboring county courthouses. Read full post…

Tags: Effect, Gun Law