Obama's On a Roll

Obama scores 10th straight victory

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama added Wisconsin and Hawaii to a primary season winning streak that now totals 10 and has put Hillary Rodham Clinton into a virtual must-win scenario in Democratic contests coming early next month in Texas and Ohio.

China media, public angered by Spielberg

BEIJING - Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's decision to quit the Beijing Olympics over the Darfur crisis is drawing condemnation by China's state-controlled media and a groundswell of criticism from the Chinese public. Last week, the American director withdrew from his role as an artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Games, accusing China of not doing enough to press for peace in the troubled Sudanese region.
Officially, the Chinese government has not directly criticized Spielberg by name, expressing only "regret" over his decision. But the state-run media and the public have been far less restrained.

Proud Mary- Tina Turner

Wow!!! Energetic!!!
You don't have a lot of singers today who can put down a performance like that.

Show Love everyday, not just today

But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.- William Shakespeare

BlackBerry service out in N. America
NEW YORK - A major service outage afflicted users of the popular, addictive BlackBerry smart phones across the United States and Canada on Monday, wireless carriers said. Officials with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless said BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. told them customers of all wireless carriers were affected. It was not immediately clear how many BlackBerry subscribers had problems, as some users reported being able to access their service normally Monday afternoon. The BlackBerry service, which lets users check e-mail and access other data services on their handheld devices, has become a lifeline for many business executives and is increasingly popular among consumers with models like the BlackBerry Pearl.
Things happen. Technology isn't foolproof. Hopefully it was "too much of an inconvenience" to the hoards of Wall St. businessmen & women.

Doctors use Wii games for rehab therapy
CHICAGO - Some call it "Wiihabilitation." Nintendo's Wii video game system, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, is fast becoming a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries.

I have heard so many people talk about of much fun the Wii is and it's a good thing where you can find a way to make exercise or in this physical therapy enjoyable.

Macy's to cut about 2,300 jobs

CINCINNATI - Macy's Inc. said Wednesday it will cut about 2,300 management jobs as the department store operator consolidates three regional divisions and decentralizes buying in a bid to reduce costs and boost sales. The announcement came as Macy's announced separately that it had a steeper-than-expected drop in sales in January at established stores and that earnings in its fiscal year would be below Wall Street estimates. Shares fell almost 5 percent on the news. The Cincinnati-based retailer has been struggling with disappointing sales and resistance from shoppers in some markets where the Macy's name replaced local favorites it absorbed as part of its acquisition of May Department Stores Co. in 2005 amid efforts to build a national brand.

I guess Macy's isn't the same everywhere. Macy's Herald Square is a nightmare on most days. I wish I knew where all those people cam from. A little reorganization to their current business structure may be what this company needs to improve on its sales. It is never good when jobs are lost to it though.

Monster.com commercial Guy with Big Legs

I just love this commercial for some reason.

BUS200- Chapter 1 Review

Management is the process of working with & through other to achieve organizational objectives in a changing environment. It involves managing people, finances, technology
Management is said to be a social process.

Some managers fail in areas such as communication, skill level, adapting to change, meeting business objectives and/or spending too much time micro managing employees.

The difference between effectiveness and efficiency is that effectiveness entails achieving a stated organizational objective whilst, efficiency refer to the resources used to achieved an objective against what was actually accomplished. There must be a balance between the two in order to receive the best outcome.

Managers are required to be able to make the best of limited resources such as land, labor and capital, as well as adapt to a changing environment( being able to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances).

Offshoring or outsourcing is the practice of sending jobs to low-wage countries.

5 sources of change affecting managers today

Globalization- international business. This forces managers to become more culturally diverse and more competitive within the international market.
Product quality evolution- The fix-it approach to quality & The inspect-it-in approach to quality which basically dealt with addressing and fixing problems after they have occurred. Whilst The build-it-in approach to quality and The design-it-in approach to quality more effectively tries to foresee and address problems before they occur.
Environmentalism- in the past it was jobs versus the environment. Now a healthy environment is helping to create jobs. Finding a better way of doing business without harming the environment.
Ethical Reawakening- managers are under heavy attack and scrutiny by the public and other groups to maintain certain standards.
E-Business & the Internet- the internet has become an outlet for businesses/ managers to conduct business transactions, as well as buy and sell goods/services to potential consumers.

TBC

Chrysler supplier files for bankruptcy

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Chrysler LLC scrambled to maintain its inventory of plastic parts after a supplier filed for bankruptcy protection.
Engineered Products Inc. apparently failed to negotiate a bailout package with its customers,The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Dearborn-based Plastech agreed to supply Chrysler through the weekend, spokeswoman Michele Tinson said.
The bankruptcy filing had not forced Chrysler to shut down any plants, Tinson said. "But it could potentially," she said. "It could impact a number of plants."
Calls to Plastech headquarters were not answered late Friday.
Chrysler was Plastech's fourth-largest customer, The Journal said. The company has 8,000 employees at more than 30 plants in North America.

I hope this doesn't lead to layoffs.

Edwards to drop out

DENVER - Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

Why are textbooks so darn expensive??

I made it through my second day of classes and, like my two previous semesters I am lamenting over the cost books. The thought of shedding out over $200.00 for books is ridiculous.
Something has got to give here.
Schools need to adopt a rent-a-book system where u can rent a textbook for the semester.
Hmmm....I think I need to put a bit more thought into this and come up with a plan.

Millions in cold, so China suspends coal exports

SHANGHAI, China - The coldest, snowiest winter in decades has left millions of Chinese without heating and running water, leading the government on Friday to order a suspension of coal exports as the country struggles to meet its power needs.

The Transport Ministry's emergency notice, posted on its Web site, warned of "severe" consequences for failing to comply with the order, which will stay in effect through the Lunar New Year holiday in February and the annual session of the national legislature in early March.

The notice ordered railways and other transport networks to make hauling coal and food a priority over coming weeks. Ocean shippers should stop loading coal for export and divert shipments "for domestic thermal coal requirements," if needed.

Mother Nature is at it again.

30-Yr-Old Jerome Kerviel Is -$7 Billion Man

French bank Societe Generale disclosed one of the biggest alleged frauds in financial history on Thursday, adding to a wave of gloom surrounding world markets battered by credit market losses. SocGen, France's second-biggest listed bank, said it had uncovered an "exceptional fraud" by one of its traders. It said this would cost the group 4.9 billion euros ($7.16 billion) and announced plans to raise 5.5 billion euros through a capital increase to shore up its balance sheet, also reeling from a crisis in global credit markets.

This sure is something else.

Virgin Galactic unveils spaceship
NEW YORK - Within a few years, a handful of rich tourists may be blasting into space in a craft that looks a little like a cross between the space shuttle and a corporate jet.

British billionaire Richard Branson and the aerospace designer Burt Rutan unveiled a model Wednesday of Spaceship two, the vehicle they hope will be able to take passengers on suborbital joy rides, sheerly for the fun of it, with test flights beginning as soon as this year.

This is really interesting but I'm too much of a coward to enjoy such an experience. I am curious how much a trip to outer space costs though.

Heath Ledger Found Dead in NYC at Age 28

NEW YORK (AP) — Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence, and police said drugs may have been a factor. He was 28. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be

This is so very sad.
My only question is, "Is an early demise one of the many prices paid for fame?" There are too many young celebrities in trouble and in pain (some secretly, others out loud) out there today.

Wall Street joins global equity plunge

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slid sharply on Tuesday, joining a global equity rout on fears of a U.S. recession and pushing the Nasdaq into bear market territory. Investors dumped equities even after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 75 basis points iSave Nown a surprise intermeeting decision.
The move from the U.S. central bank follows two days of sharp losses in Asia and Europe on worries a deteriorating U.S. economy would drag other regions down with it. The U.S. stock market was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

I wonder how worried we should be about the state of the economy at this point?

EBay CEO Meg Whitman to Retire

EBay CEO Meg Whitman is planning to step down from the company she has led for the past 10 years, The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday. Whitman has been delegating more tasks to deputies over the last few months and is expected to decide on her retirement in the coming weeks, the newspaper said quoting "people familiar with the matter." John Donahue, who leads the company's auction business, is the leading candidate to succeed her, according to the newspaper. EBay, which also operates the PayPal payment system and Skype Internet telephony service, is due to report earnings for the fourth quarter Wednesday. The quarter includes the traditionally-strong year-end holiday period and estimates see eBay reporting earnings per share of US$0.38. The company reported a net profit of US$1.1 billion in 2006 on the back of US$6 billion in revenue. For 2007 eBay expects revenue to jump to US$7.6 billion.

I think this is one of the most successful online businesses in the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. KING

Culture Fundamentally Alters the BrainIt's no secret culture influences your food preferences and taste in music. But now scientists say it impacts the hard-wiring of your brain.
New research shows that people from different cultures use their brains differently to solve basic perceptual tasks.

I agree that cultural differences impact our tastes and preferences but I think the genetic makeup of each race plays an important role as well. Then again, I'm not a scientist. It's amazing how they find a way to have science explain almost everything.