Category: News

Japan declared a surprise central bank meeting today, in response to crushing deflation and a strengthening Yen.

Japanese exporters rallied on the news, hoping for action against a strong Yen. Check out the dollar/yen move in response to the emergency meeting news:

Basically, expect Japan to throw more money at its banks and prod them to blow it on something.

WSJ: With its key policy rate already at a rock-bottom level of 0.1%, the BOJ has few options to consider.

One is to implement a quantitative easing plan to inject additional liquidity into the financial system, possibly through the purchase of Japanese government bonds. But members have been reluctant to take that step, because it reduces the bank’s options if the economy weakens further, and such steps are believed to have contributed to the global financial crisis.

It’s a sad story, Japan. Rather than focusing on effective allocation of capital, fanatical support for exporters has created perverse economic policies and massive debt.

Japan should just let deflation happen and learn to be less dependent on exports, instead focusing on efficient use of capital. Ride market forces, don’t fight them. For example, a strong yen means that foreign assets are suddenly cheaper for Japan to own or use, which means higher potential domestic returns from cheaper foreign inputs into production. Imports aren’t bad if you earn more value off of them and a strong currency doesn’t have to be feared.

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See Also:

• Japan: Deflation Is Roaring Again, A Double-Dip Back On The Table
• DEFLATION LIVES: Cost Of Thanksgiving Dinner Drops 4%
• Japanese Deflation Is Relentless

Katie, the receptionist has got a bit of a crush on Dizzle. But she’s a bit of a tough cookie and she’s not sure how to express her feelings for him. So Katie decides that the best way to win his heart is to pin him down, literally.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Wed Aug 02 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Carey is ready to expand the H&H empire–to the sunny island of Hawaii. But when he and Murph hit Honolulu, Carey’s patience is tested when he starts to question whether Murph is more interested in the beaches than the business.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Wed Aug 09 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Carey decides to put on a fashion show of the new H&H merchandise, but just as he’s about to roll out the big night he discovers that someone has dropped the ball. The big question–is who?

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Wed Aug 23 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Dizzle is the "Old Faithful" of H&H–always there, always apprenticing, and always likely to erupt in a fit of push-ups at Twig's command at any moment. But this time he pushes his mentor a little too far.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Wed Aug 23 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:13

Some people are so grateful for the opportunity to start over or get a second chance that they want to memorialize their gratitude with a tattoo.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Tue Sep 19 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Paying respects can be more than remembering the deceased. A father turns to Twig to help him further prove his love for his young child, and a lady gets a tattoo to honor the pet that saved her mother from a serial killer.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Tue Sep 26 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Pro skateboarder Jason Ellis stops by for a tattoo which symbolizes that he is now a changed man, Clark’s "canvas" comes in for more work on one of his proudest "bodies" of art.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Tue Oct 03 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Sometimes people get inked to symbolize a moment or idea. Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony hits H&H and gets put through his paces when Jerome inks a one-of-a-kind on his back.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 06:07:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Tue Oct 17 00:00:00 UTC 2006
Duration: 22:12

Slowly, but surely, we’re seeing some regional newspapers try out a paywall. We’ve already seen Newsday, on Long Island, put up a paywall, but it’s more about reducing churn than actually getting people to pay (and early reports are that not many are paying). Now, as a bunch of readers sent in, Johnston Press, in the UK has announced a paywall as well, asking £5 for three months of access (which certainly beats Newsday’s ridiculous $5/week plan. I’m glad that some newspapers are actually trying this out, as it was getting a bit tiresome hearing them all threaten to do so without any actual action. Now we can actually see what happens. Of course, my opinion on the matter has been clear. I think it will be a lot more difficult to get people to pay than these publishers believe, and it will be a lot more expensive to manage than they believe. Also, the writers for the papers behind paywalls might not like the fact that no one knows who they are any more. At the same time, it will only serve to open up the competitive market for others to come in at a better price point (i.e., “free”) and scoop up a significant percentage of the advertisers who are seeking to reach a larger audience.

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The Aussie dollar has bounced back from the Dubai Debacle (whereby the U.S. dollar strengthened on financial crisis fears) last Friday.

It’ll no doubt be further helped by news that Australia has hiked interest rates yet again, to 3.75%. This marks the third hike in Australia’s latest rising interest rate cycle.

This third interest rate hike stands in stark contrast to most developed nations who are too scared to tighten ultra-loose monetary policy. Why is the economy so much better down under? See it here.

Australia’s latest move is the right thing to do given the relatively strong economy, and it appears to have been expected.

Bloomberg: Investors bet there was a 76 percent chance that Stevens would increase the benchmark rate by a quarter-point today, according to Bloomberg calculations based on interbank futures on the Sydney Futures Exchange at 11:51 a.m.

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See Also:

• Australia Hikes Interest Rates Yet Again
• Shock Rate Hike In Australia
• Why Investors Are Going Crazy For Australia

If you’ve ever seen someone in the Trader Joe’s parking lot, assembling a gift basket on the hood of their car, it just might have been me on the way to a holiday party.  It’s one of the easiest gifts to put together, it’s affordable, and it’s always happily received.  Who wouldn’t love a basket filled with Trader Joe’s gourmet goodies?  It’s a perfect do-it-yourself holiday gift, client gift, hostess gift, or housewarming gift.

The great thing about giving a Trader Joe’s gift basket is that you can customize it however you like.  Fill it with chocolate-themed products for your chocoholic friend, herbal teas and biscotti, or perhaps a margarita kit complete with pomegranate limeade, margarita mix, limes, tequila, and triple sec.  You can always add extras, for example a lime squeezer into the margarita basket or a pair of mugs into a basket filled with Sipping Chocolate or teas.  Visit our Amazon store to see some of our other must-have kitchen items. 

And of course, yes, our very favorite extra is to add one of our Trader Joe’s cookbooks to the basket!  At one of our bookstore signings, a customer told me that she was giving Trader Joe’s baskets as gifts this year – she was filling the basket with our cookbook and all the ingredients for one recipe, the “Peanutty Sesame Noodles” recipe.  Cute idea!  If you don’t want to do a basket, another easy gift idea is to fold up a few colorful Trader Joe’s reusable shopping bags (~ $1 each), put the cookbook on top, and tie it all together with a pretty ribbon.  Our cookbooks are available at bookstores everywhere (Barnes & Noble, Borders, independents) or on Amazon.

Here are some tips on making a fun, modern gift basket come together perfectly and easily. 

1.) Start with a simple basket sized for the amount of goodies you’re planning on getting.  Some Trader Joe’s stores carry gift baskets now and then.  For most of last year, my store carried nice square baskets in three sizes, making it very convenient to throw together a gift basket on the go.  You can also pick up inexpensive gift baskets at stores like Michael’s or recycle baskets that you may have received in the past.
2.) Go to Trader Joe’s and pick out your favorite goodies, themed or not.
3.) Add some crumpled kraft paper to the bottom of the basket to help lift up the items.  It will make the basket look fuller if the items are propped up and visible.  You can also add some raffia which will give it a nice look.
4.) Put in your items.  As a general rule, taller items go in the back and shorter items go in the front. 
5.) As an optional last step, use a cellophane bag to wrap it all up and add a bow if desired.

For the two gift baskets pictured here, the ingredients are listed below:

Asian Express:
“Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s” cookbook
Rice Sticks
Soyaki
Toasted Sesame Oil
Thai Red Curry Sauce
Lite Coconut Milk
Savory Thins Sesame Crackers
Thai Lime & Chili Cashews
Jasmine Pearls Green Tea
Cookie Thins: Triple Ginger

Il Italiano:
“Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s” cookbook
Organic Spaghetti Pasta
Organic Marinara Sauce
Pesto alla Genovese (Basil Pesto)
Mushroom & Herb Risotto
Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
Italian Roast Coffee
Toscani Biscotti with Almonds
Bottle of wine

Want to see a quick demo on how it’s all put together?  Wona recently did a TV segment on assembling gift baskets.  Take a look!   Just a note that we don’t sell or ship the gift baskets ourselves – they’re a do-it-yourself!

The Seattle Times recently ran a piece about green holiday shopping. The piece noted that in a recent survey about one-fifth of US consumers say they plan on buying more green gifts this year. That’s not a change from last year when about as many said they’d be going green for the holidays. Further noted in the study, about 55% of Seattle respondents (wow – a lot) say they’ll pay more for greener gifts. That’s pretty encouraging because people everywhere seem to be looking for greener gifts and less toxic toys for the kids.The downside is that not all folks are interested in going green for the holidays, and many of these people I’ve talked to say that it’s because it’s too darn expensive. With that in mind I thought we’d kick off December with some tips about how to have a greener holiday but without shelling out much more cash – if any more. In my opinion green living, even green products can be an inexpensive choice. Green doesn’t necessarily mean more expensive. Following are some links that offer inexpensive ideas to help you green your holiday season.

• Before buying a gift (or anything really) use a green-minded should you buy it flowchart. This will help you make more conscious purchasing decisions and you’ll spend less.
• 10 inexpensive green gifts for adults AND 9 inexpensive green gifts for kids – all of these gifts are $40 or less!
• Reuse your gift wrap for other things after the holidays.
• Eco-friendly stocking stuffers that are totally affordable.
• Send free green e-cards for the holidays vs. paper cards which cost both you and the environment more.
• Make your own green-minded holiday gifts – fun and thrifty.
• Learn how to save money on holiday organic food.
• Plan a re-gifting party.
• Use LED holiday lights which will save you more money on your energy costs than traditional bulbs.
• For more tips read the fab book, I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas which offers excellent tips and advice about keeping it green this season on a more meaningful level vs. a material one.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Have a less expensive green holiday

Are you looking for a special genealogy gift for a friend, family member or for yourself? www.FunStuffForGenealogists.com has some great things for you! Just added and in hot demand are Cotton Gloves for handling those precious artifacts and photos. Also added are birth charts for a boy, girl or a lovely generic tree chart. See Fun Stuff for Genealogists for lots of scrapbooking items as well as jewelry, pedigree charts, archival preservation materials and lots more!

A new report from the federal government looks at public defenders across the country in 2007 and finds a system with staggering caseloads — and some states handling the flood better than others.

More than six million cases flowed through the nation’s public defense offices in 2007, and they were handled by about 17,000 attorneys — that’s an average of 352 cases per attorney that year. Public defense systems are structured differently across the country, and the numbers released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics look only at state and county public defense offices, setting aside appointed and contract attorneys.

Looking at just felony and misdemeanor cases — eliminating civil cases and ordinance violations — public defenders in state-based systems averaged 88 felonies and 147 misdemeanors in 2007, still a hefty number of cases. And only half of the 20 or so states with statewide public defense systems reported that they impose caseload limits on attorneys. A few of the states without limits saw the greatest burden – Colorado, for example, has no limits and 229 felony cases per attorney.

Get all the data here. (PDF)

(more…)

A few folks have sent over some version of the story that the Kindle is outselling every other product on Amazon. Of course, that’s somewhat meaningless, as the folks at Gizmodo smartly point out. Because you can only get the Kindle via Amazon, and that makes the number completely different than other products:

When Amazon tells you that the Kindle is the highest-selling product on Amazon, you’re supposed to think of it as you’d think of anything else: as a strong, reliable metric in gauging how well a product is doing in general. The thing is, there is no “in general” for the Kindle. There is only Amazon. Anyone who wants a Kindle and doesn’t normally shop at Amazon has to make an exception. Anyone who wants a Kindle and doesn’t normally shop online has to make an exception. The Kindle didn’t outsell the iPod Touch–not even close.

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Activision has finally announced that Infinity Ward’s re-release of the original Call of Duty, titled Call of Duty: Classic, is finally heading to PSN…

Professional snowboarder, Marie-France Roy, relaxes during the off-season with a session at Camp of Champions, a surf trip to her Vancouver Island retreat, and some big wild mountain lions in the Andes.

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Added: Tue Dec 01 03:40:05 UTC 2009
Air date: Sun Nov 29 00:00:00 UTC 2009
Duration: 22:07

According to “Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009”, prepared for the UN Environment Programme’s, $250 billion was spent globally in 2008 constructing new power generating capacity from all sources.

Of that, $140 billion was for low carbon electricity generation.

That means, for the first time, investment flows into renewables have overtaken flows into fossil fuel power generation.

A big moment!