新的 daylight saving times WORKS !!

摘自 Popular Mechanics, March 2009

Since 2007, daylight savings times has started 3 weeks earlier and ended one week later each year, in a governmental bid to save energy. The first-year results are now in--and it worked. According to the DOE, the measure reduced U.S. energy consumption by 17 trillion BTU, enough to power 175,000 household for a year. Most savings resulted from slightly lower electricity use in the early evening. Southern states saw lesser savings, possibly because they were offset by more air-conditioner use.

要唸大學就要唸四年制的，不要先唸二年制，Here's why:

College study finds two-year 'penalty'
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-03-17-college-community_N.htm?csp=34

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

EARNINGS BY DEGREE Average annual earnings by education: Final degree earned No asso-ciate degree With asso-ciate degree Bachelor's $54,667 $52,022 Master's 61,323 56,997 Doctorate 71,246 62,906 Professional 79,491 70,349 Source: The Federal Bank of St. Louis, based on data from the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates

Most workers who have a degree from a community college can earn more than a person who had no formal training after high school. And even if they never complete a two-year degree, students who attend some community college can get higher-paying jobs.

But what if that student goes on to earn a bachelor's? A study being released today shows that people with a bachelor's degree who transferred from a community college earn less than those who start at a four-year school.

The pattern continues even for community college students who go on to earn a doctorate or a professional degree. And it holds for people of the same gender, race, education, experience level, field of study and type of college attended.

Natalia Kolesnikova, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, calculated the data based on the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates, a joint project of the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation. Her findings support previous studies suggesting a "community college penalty" for students attending Ohio public universities.

She says more research is needed to understand why that is. But she adds: "It is important for individuals to know both the benefits and the disadvantages of attending a community college when making decisions about education."

您看完之後，會不會跟我一樣覺得這個新聞很好笑？
這些記者不知是太笨還是太壞！

唸二年制 community college 是結果，不是原因。
不是因為唸了 community college 之後，薪水變少了；而是因為（各種原因）受教機會或是聰明才智比較差的人，只好先去唸 community college。所以當然也影響了他日後的收入！
要這樣推論才有羅輯麻！

Airline cutbacks hit convention cities

There are fewer airline seats available in October compared with October last year on flights scheduled to depart from the top 10 cities for business meetings: City Seats (Oct. 2008) Change New York 5,981,894 -3% Chicago 4,847,818 -8% Atlanta 4,714,474 -2% Los Angeles 4,334,891 -12% Washington 3,551,386 -6% Las Vegas 2,229,257 -13% Philadelphia 1,792,918 -2% Orlando 1,583,702 -14% Boston 1,466,404 -8% San Diego 975,501 -10% Sources: 2008 Meetings Market Report by Meetings & Conventions magazine, USA TODAY analysis of airline schedules data from OAG-Official Airline Guide

Fed bailout 這兩家房貸公司後對經濟產生的影響

我將 USA Today, Sept. 9, 2008, 2B 版的文章重點摘要

30-year mortgage rates will drop
It's because in taking control of the two companies, the U.S. Treasury will buy mortgage-backed securities, thereby driving their prices up and mortgage yields down.

Bond interest rate could rise if Treasury has to issue more debt

Penn State Enrollment at All-time High

根據 Sept 10, 2008 的 Daily Collegian

Freshmen
2008 7,350
2007 6,481
2006 8,025
2005 6,489

Total Enrollment
2007 42,294
2006 42,039
2005 40,709

聯邦政府否決了賓州政府在自己的地上徵過路費的要求

今天在 Daily Collegian 上看到的新聞，覺得很有意思，沒想到聯邦政府也可以否決這種感覺像是地方的事務。

Tolls on I-80 denied

By Mandy Hofmockel

Collegian Staff Writer, September 12, 2008
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/09/12/tolls_on_i80_denied.aspx

Concerns about the tolling of Interstate 80 were put to rest Thursday when the Federal Highway Administration denied an application to toll the road issued by state agencies.

The Federal Highway Administration announced in a press release the intended use of tolling funds did not meet government requirements and the application by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was not approved.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., said the state government will need to find another way to pay for its highways. He said the decision, which he received Thursday afternoon, is "a win for Pennsylvania."

Peterson said tolling on I-80 would have led to "very enormous rates" at tollbooths and curbed growth within Pennsylvania.

He said no state provides mass transit the kind of funding Pennsylvania does and the legislature needs to get its "fiscal house in order."

Patrick Creighton, Peterson's spokesman, said that 15 months ago the state legislature passed Act 44, a transportation funding bill. He said Act 44 would have increased tolling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and tolled I-80. Because I-80 is a federal highway, the state needed permission from the federal government to do so.

The application denied by the federal government was the state's second attempt at applying for I-80 tolling. The agencies' first application was returned by the highway administration in December 2007 seeking additional information.

The additional information was supplied to the highway administration in July, resulting in a denial announced Thursday.

Creighton said Peterson's district encompasses about half of I-80 and Peterson "fought tooth and nail" against the tolling.

"The game's over," Creighton said. "The tolling of I-80 will not happen."

The failure of Act 44 may now shift focus to the leasing of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which was awarded this summer to a Spanish-American consortium known as Pennsylvania Transportation Partners.

Gov. Ed Rendell is a proponent of the lease, but so far it has not been an easy sell among state legislators.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, who voted against I-80 tolling, said he was not surprised by the decision and state funds will have to be re-prioritized.

"They better get pretty creative in their budgeting," he said.

Benninghoff said good infrastructure is necessary to attract jobs in the state and transportation money should be mandated for bridges, highways and infrastructure needs.

Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, said it is up to the legislature to find another way to fund the infrastructure and ideas should not be discounted.

Corman said he voted against the tolling of I-80 and if the tolling had gone into effect, it would have had a dramatic economic impact. He said it would be more difficult to locate companies in the local area.

Tor Michaels, chief of staff for Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said hopefully discussions can begin to find the best solution for needed projects like bridge repair and mass transit.

"Representative Conklin voted against tolling Interstate 80 and this is welcome news," Michaels said.

U.S. households with less than $500 in the bank

U.S. households with less than $500 in the bank

Age group	Percent
Under 35	34.5%
35-44	25.1%
45-54	22.1%
55-64	19.0%
65-74	18.8%
75+	14.9%

Source: Federal Reserve Board's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances

2006年 世界最繁忙的機場排名

排名	機場城市名		旅客量 (million)
1	Atlanta	Hartsfield-Jackson	84.8
2	Chicago	O'Hare	76.2
3	London	Heathrow	67.5
4	Tokyo	Haneda	65.2
5	Los Angeles		61
6	Dallas / Fort Worth		60
7	Paris	Charles De Gaulle	56.8
8	Frankfurt		52.8
9	Beijing	Capital	48.5
10	Denver		47.3

source: USA Today

聯邦加油稅

你知道當你加油時，有多少錢是付給聯邦政府嗎？
Ans: 18.4 cents/gallon 1993年至今未漲過。