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U.S. bank failures almost certain to increase
http://www.cnn.com/ 2008/ US/ 10/ 05/ shaky.banks.ap/ index.html
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No Bailouts for Jobless or Homeless
http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/budget/23247/no-bailout...No Bailouts for Jobless or Homeless October 6th, 2008 By ROBERT STEIN In the porkathon to pass the bailout bill, Congress balked at two measuresto extend jobless benefits for the unemployed and allow bankruptcy judges to reduce penniless homeowners
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No Bailouts for Jobless and Homeless
http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-bailouts-for-joble...In the porkathon to pass the bailout bill, Republicans balked at two measures--to extend jobless benefits for the unemployed and allow bankruptcy judges to reduce penniless homeowners' mortgages. So much for Main Street, where signs of a 1930s Depression
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How to Refinance Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage
http://refinanceadjustableratemortgages.blogspot.com/2008/10...Welcome to How to Refinance Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage. This site provides resources and tips for folks with adjustable rate mortgages that are looking to refinance. If you have any find you have any further questions about how we refinanced ours please feel free to email us at gilmantonnh@gmail.com Read on if your dare: "SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Here's a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won't survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government's $700 billion rescue plan to restore order to the financial industry." CNN 10/05/08 or (Cringing about your adjustable rate yet?) "AIG hits up Fed for more money Three weeks after an $85 billion bailout, AIG is turning to the New York Fed for additional funding." CNN 10/08/2008 Oh, oh, and don't forget these great headlines: MORE NEWS • GM plunges 31% as outlook dims • National City mum on sale talk • Answers voters deserve • Jobless claims fall from 7-year high • For states, it's a 'worst-case scenario' • Lenders still on edge • Dow tumbles 7% • Iceland suspends trading for 2 days • OPEC to hold emergency meeting • U.S. mulls buying bank shares • Gas drops 4 cents a gallon • Oil hovers around $89 on recession fears • Euro banks add more liquidity Doesn't make the idea of refinancing your mortgage exactly enticing, does it? You just have to love the boys in 'ol DC. They sure know how to fix a financial mess. Inspiring I know. Our "Calculated" Rate Search An adjustable rate mortgage was anywhere near our thoughts when, about two and a half years ago, we found a house on a lake we thought we'd like to buy since for the past 20+ years we'd been walking into the bathroom once a month to flush several hundred dollars down the commode in rent. THAT was a fixed rate and that needed some adjusting! We start looking around and doing the "couples" thing by getting going online to a mortgage site. We used a mortgage calculator and some of the online sites to see what we could be pre-approved for and then submitted ourselves to the task of house hunting. Funny, "adjustable rate" hadn't weaved it's way into any conversations we'd been having. I'll write later about the whole "roaming the countryside for eternity looking at properties" story for another day since I hate to see anyone cry. Since we had gotten pre-approved we suddenly became the proud receivers of offers from all types of financial institutions that wanted to help us finance our mortgage. Washington Mutual eventually won our hearts and ultimately our ARM. We didn't know a whole lot about ARM's except that they could "potentially" cause problems. They handled everything for us so that all we had to do was show up at the closing, sign a few papers, eat Godiva chocolates and dream dreams. The signing process went smoothly. Unfortunately, being the typical naive and ignorant consumers we were, we didn't pay too much attention during the signing. Any mention of the need to refinance was couched in future talk. And that was all very "matter of fact"/"we'll review it later if we need to" kind of speak. Nobody seemed too concerned with anything "adjustable". Maybe it was the fatigue from the hours of all the signatures we had to sign, but, all we came away from it was that we were in an ARM that would adjust in two years at which time, we were assured, everything would be re-visited and then changes could be made. Rate Reality Ravages Well, after about a year we figured we'd re-read the paperwork and use a mortgage calculator to get ready for the upcoming meeting and that's when realized we had a 40 yr. (yup, it says 40), (8.5% first and 10.5 second) adjustable rate mortgage that would balloon up in 12 more months to an amount close to what the Congress is debating for the AIG bailout right now and an interest rate only given by guys specializing in broken legs with a penalty if we tried to dislodge ourselves from it "prematurely". Yipes! After the panic and vomiting blood stopped, we thought "Maybe we should do a little MORE research and see if there's anything we can do about this?" To my wifes credit, she found a company called TopDot Mortgages which deals with scenarios such as ours that needed serious refinancing and she began a relationship with them that eventually ended up with us landing a real live fixed mortgage. TopDots customer service was exemplary. Constantly checking in with us, they hand held us all the way. They phoned us often for updates and to see where we were in our part of the process. They even went so far as to have a copy of our paperwork sent by FedEx to Florida where I had gone on some business so that I could sign it after my wife had done so in New Hampshire. Top rate! Our treatment from them was unexpected. The payment (which is the same as we had with the ARM) now includes the principal, interest AND taxes. And, is shorter in time. Now, they're working with us on an accelerated payment schedule so we can retire the mortgage in about 17yrs. Sure, there were some more costs involved. And a few headaches since we had to gather MORE paperwork. But, we didn't lose the house, get stuck with outrageous payments and we sleep better. How's Your ARM Feel? Soooo, just how comfortable do you feel about YOUR adjustable mortgage? Take a look at some recent headlines and links I've provided and then try to sleep good tonight: U.S. bank failures almost certain to increase in next year (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/05/shaky.banks.ap/index.html) Wondering Which Bank is Next (http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/news/companies/bank_failures/index.htm) http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html Wells Fargo to acquire Wachovia for $15.1B Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets Bank of America Buys Merrill U.S.News & World Report%u2028What the Bailout Means for Mortgage Rates As Big Banks Converge, Depositors Find Deals at Smaller Institutions How Lehman Brothers Took Out Washington Mutual The downfall of the $307 billion-asset WaMu represents the largest banking failure in U.S. history, dwarfing the 1984 failure of the $40 billion-asset Continental Illinois, which had previously held the distinction. Disclaimer: I am NOT a financial advisor and none of the information contained in this article is to be viewed as advise. Also, we don't work for TopDot and have no relationship with them except that they hold our mortgage and we just happen to like them. So, that's how to refinance your adjustable rate mortgage.
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Notes on the Bank Bailout Bill, Economy & Other News
http://mlnmm.com/notes-on-the-bank-bailout-bill-economy-othe...Last Friday the House of Representatives went against my advice and not only did they pass a bank bailout bill, they did so from a trickle down perspective, which has been proven over and over to be a faulty money distribution system. Instead of providing homeowners relief from the massive tide of foreclosures, the federal government instead chose to hand over hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the very banks responsible for causing this credit freeze. Do not worry though, faithful taxpayer. President Bush reassured everyone that the bailout will work, though it will take time to re-grease the gears of the economy, going so far as to emphasize “that the program must be effectively designed and not rushed into action.” Keep in mind, this is the same President Bush who just last week urged swift action to push the bailout through. Apparently, we now have more time. Meanwhile Barney Frank, head comrade in charge of the bailout bill, continues the double speak of comrade Bush and rails against the free market. He believes the free market is to blame, unfortunately for Frank, that is only half true. Sure, the greed of the market helped create this credit crisis, however the marketplace was enabled by the government’s push for homeownership, and the lax eye of the SEC and its loosening of existing regulations. If anything, Frank should be lambasting the SEC for allowing firms to provide oversight on themselves. If left to their own devices, of course firms will take ever exceedingly dangerous risks to pursue profit, it is literally their life goal to do so. To blame firms for pursuing profit is like blaming a child for going after candy. It is irresponsible and shows Frank’s poor understanding of our economy. Increasingly, Mr Money believes the global credit crisis is being purposely manipulated by the government to decrease bank values in order to allow the federal government cheaper acquisition prices and make consolidating economic power under the federal government easier. The Boston Globe reports: The Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks after emergency interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and central banks around the world yesterday failed to end a global panic in financial markets. Pretty soon the U.S. economy will resemble the one in Iceland, where every bank is now under government control. The unfortunate truth is that more banks will fail. Despite the bailout, or perhaps more correctly put, inspired by the bailout more banks will fail next year. We’ve created an economy where banks are rewarded for failing and we should thus expect more banks to fail. The bailout simply delays failure and magnifies its effect on the economy via hyper-inflation. Mr. Money can’t wait until President Obama is blaming the huge crisis to come on Bush and company, even though Obama was at the same table as Bush and McCain and promoted this bailout as much as any other corrupt politician. Allison describes the Federal Reserve as the Third Bank of the United States, however unlike previous central banks, this one does not use sound money to back its currency, thus leading to our over-inflated and under capitalized economy. The first step of righting this ship is to promote sound monetary policy and to reign in the excess of our current fiat currency. The refusal of Bush, Obama, McCain and their comrades in congress to end the Federal Reserve and set our country’s currency right shows their true colors. We have not seen the credit markets become unclogged, as the politicians promised they would, rather banks continue to hoard cash and assets as they’re still afraid of market valuations. The Federal Reserve is now sending out $900 billion in loans to the petrified banks in an attempt to open up the credit lines. Our consumer credit based economy is literally fading away as the credit dries up. Why the government does not simply begin sidestepping the banks and loaning out money on its own is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it’s just too logical of a move for this cowboy government. Faithful readers of my personal blog will know I’m no fan of President Bush and his unique brand of economics, but I’m optimistic that there is hope yet for this economy. Why is that? Well, the very corporations who so desperately needed a bailout to stay afloat are now having second thoughts. That’s right, the corrupt corporations may save us all from the corrupt congressmen, for once. Apparently, many bank CEOs are scared to accept the newly approved bailout because they do not want to forego their massive bonuses and restrict their salaries. James Doran of The Observer writes: Sources close to Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch indicated the banks might choose not to participate in the bail-out as there is a growing view on Wall Street that the market may be bottoming out. Two weeks ago we were on the brink of economic apocalypse but everything is OK now! Mr. Money does not like these shenanigans and considers it further proof that CEOs should never earn as much as they do, for they simply cannot have a big enough positive impact on their firms to justify their extravagant salaries. Popular sentiment amongst Fortune 500 CEO’s might ride against Mr. Money, but academia and common sense is on his side. Most of the time, removing leaders from the equation will only serve to strengthen the group and improve the quality of work! In other Federal Reserve news, the pseudo government agency is now planning on buying up unsecured short-term debt in order to prod companies into lending commercial paper again. Mr. Money mentioned last week that the bailout bill was a slippery slope and we’re already tumbling down that slope as the Fed tries to buy anything and everything in sight in order to squeeze a little bit of credit out of the economy. Again, why not supply the credit directly? Many economists now think we’re already in a recession or will be in one by year end. Mr. Money is on the side that believes we’re already in a recession, as he’s seen steady decreases in consumer confidence and spending over the past months, which is bad news for a U.S. economy heavily dependent on consumption. Even amongst my friends and family, the tightening wallets are in plain sight. Overall, a decrease in consumption, if accompanied by an increase in savings (which is not certain due to the risk of hyper-inflation), will lead to a stronger economy than the one we’re presently mucking about in. Speaking of getting stronger, it seems the American public is now taking matters into their own hands. Numerous sources are reporting that former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld was punched in the face while working out at a Lehman Brothers gym after the bankruptcy news broke. Apparently Fuld was on a treadmill when an individual put down his weights, walked over and knocked Fuld out cold. Speaking of getting knocked out (are you loving these segues?), over the weekend our national debt grew to such epic proportions that the national debt clock in New York City could no longer handle the massive number. Two digits are being added to the clock to accommodate the ever expanding federal debt. As I said Friday, bailouts beget bailouts and AIG is racing to prove me correct, as it already spent $61 billion of its $85 billion federal loan, without selling a single distressed asset. AIG will no doubt soon be back before the federal government asking for another dose of taxpayer funded handouts. While we’re talking about AIG, did you hear top executives at the failing firm went on a week long company paid retreat. The Business Sheet tries to justify the luxurious paid vacation by pointing out these executives need a break from their bruised and battered business. Worse yet, AIG plans another getaway at a $400 a night hotel and instead of cutting back on spending actually considered running an ad campaign to explain why they were having these lavish retreats. No, I’m not kidding, AZcentral writes: AIG considered buying advertisements to explain its position, only to be told by its public-relations consultant, George Sard, that it would be “a really bad idea.” See how incompetent some of these top executives are and why their companies would run smoother without them? The idea of Michael from the TV show The Office immediately springs to mind. The good news is that AIG decided to cancel the second retreat, though only through fear of the huge public outlash that would have occurred, not because it made financial sense (which it did). In completely unrelated news, it’s time to “tone things down”, according to the Boston Globe. For financial executives who are used to casually shopping for “$18,000 watches and $90,000 BMWs”, a return to conservative money practices will be needed. Let’s all feel bad for the super-rich for just a moment. Moving on. The Boston Globe also reports businesses are spending less and saying no to new purchases. Mr Money believes it’s about time everyone, consumers and businesses took a look at their spending habits and realized that credit consumption is dangerous. Unfortunately, we live in a debt based economy, where saving is not rewarded either. CNN reports that 80% of Americans are reporting stress due to the economy. Who would have known that economic apocalypse could be so stressful? Oddly enough that leaves 20% of Americans who are not stressed out. I imagine these are the top and bottom 10% in terms of income. If you’re already at rock bottom, nothing seems worse than your current spot, and if you’re literally swimming in dollars, you probably could care less that hyper-inflation is right around the corner. Perhaps we should stop stressing and learn to embrace these gloomy economic times, as the New York Times found out that our health actually improves during economic downturns. Apparently, as economies decline more and more citizens spend time doing healthy things like cooking their own food, exercising, and taking their kids to the doctor instead of working and eating out. So not working so hard can be good for your health and Ron Paul argues, Congress doing nothing would have been great for our economy too. In his weekly column, Dr. Paul, states that: Sometimes doing nothing is much better than thrashing about aimlessly. When one is caught in quicksand, for example, or when one doesn’t understand economics and finds oneself in the position Congress was in for the past two weeks, with decades of irresponsible monetary policy coming to a head. Why should we trust the same people who said just a few months ago that the economy was perfectly sound? Thank you congressmen Paul for being a voice of reason during this chaotic time. If only our government listened to the great economic mind we have working for us we’d be multitudes better off than we are now. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the bumbling, clue-less Barney Frank running around coercing his fellow congressmen into the fleecing of America. Not satisfied with throwing $810 billion at the banks in an attempt to coerce them to lend money, Frank looks forward to see if there are any other places he can throw billions of dollars and tons of regulations in an attempt to fix problems. At issue here is that the federal government encouraged banks to violate sound business practice and lend money to risky people. Of course a lot of those loans were going to fail, and regulations actually created the issue. Sure, regulations could be used in other parts of the industry to ensure we are not over leveraging assets, as we currently are but regulations and money are not the catch all solutions that Frank believes they are. Though home prices are dropping in nearly all parts of the United States of America, here in Boston they’re still sky high and don’t seem to be dropping anytime soon. Boston is slightly unique though, in that it is a tiny city physically with a large population and very well educated workforce. Our specialties in technology, health care, and education seem well primed to ride the city through most economic downturns, though a severe depression would obviously impact everyone negatively. Ira Jackson of the Boston Globe sums up this notion nicely: Or maybe Boston is best explained as motive combined with opportunity: the need to constantly innovate, invent, and reinvent has long been tied in Boston to resources (both intellectual and financial) and a community that exists largely to nurture and protect that powerful combination. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, was the first to understand that we live in a knowledge economy. Drucker might have seen Boston today as the equivalent of a factory of the future, where smart people use their minds, fueled by investors who match ideas with market needs, producing green, clean, and sustainable products for the world. Hopefully Boston can lead the way into an economy of the future, where we rely on local, environmentally friendly energy to power our homes, cites and transportation. Now, after passing an $810 billion bailout bill, Congress decides to hold hearings on the financial crisis. It seems odd for Congress to even waste time holding these hearings, after already passing the bill. Perhaps they’ll decide that the overwhelming majority of Americans are right after all and this bill should be rescinded. Doubtful put certainly possible. As the mainstream media continues to be outed for their sheer incompetence by those they once mocked, take a look at this article by The Register, in which Cade Metz writes about Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne who we repeatedly tried to warn us that naked short selling, amongst other over-leveraged stock schemes would lead us to economic ruin. As I’ve written about on my personal blog, AIG is a corrupt corporation. Congress is now looking into AIG’s part in the the global credit crisis. It truly boggles the rational non-conspiracy focused mind as to why we’re holding these hearings and investigations after lending these corporations billions of taxpayer dollars. A great article on how the federal government essentially encouraged the current credit crisis to occur. Essentially the government forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give out ever increasing percentages of their mortgages to low income individuals with doubtful payment potential. As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pawned these mortgages off on other banks, we ended up in our current crisis where a ton of banks hold liabilities with little chance of payment. Next up on the crisis plate will be overwhelming energy demand taxing our aging infrastructure. It’d be great if our government invested in reducing our demand on foreign energy while taking the heat of the environment, but instead we throw the big banks a bone. As the BBC writes, our environment and the heavy damage it is taking right now makes this economic crisis seems insignificant. According to a study paid for by the European Union, the loss of forests worldwide is costing us between $2 to $5 trillion a year. The number is derived via economists who studied how much it would cost to implement the good benefits of forests on our own. The number is startling and further shows why we need to stop wasting money supporting failing businesses. At least the bailout bill did take a small step towards righting our economy and environment, by including a $20 monthly tax credit for employers per each employee who rides a bicycle to work. It’s not a big credit, and it certainly isn’t going to motivate employees nor employers to switch their whole workforce to bicycle transportation, but it’s a step in the right direction. We need to snap our oil dependence and find new or, as is the case here, old ways of moving ourselves that does not involve fossil fuels. Next week we’ll discuss a few tips on what items to buy now before hyper-inflation sets in. Enjoy the weekend everyone and please do not panic, Mr. Money will help you ride out these tough economic times so remember to subscribe to the Money feed to stay updated.
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World News Updates
http://sonomanewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-news-updat...Tuesday Oct. 7, 2008 http://www.thebereanchronicles.com/ 7 Palin aides to testify in trooper investigation Seven aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her power by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law. U.S. bank failures almost certain to increase in next year Here's a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won't survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government's $700 billion rescue plan to restore order to the financial industry. ‘Gay Day’ Bill Vetoed in California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have designated May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day," named after the homosexual San Francisco supervisor who was murdered in 1978. Yoga at NY high school causes stress among critics A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state. New law cracks down on child soldiers Under a new law signed yesterday by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch has said. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts. Mormons told to avoid faith-related arguments Mormons should never respond with arrogance or hostility to attacks on their faith, but be peacemakers among themselves and in the community of faith, said several speakers at the 178th Semiannual LDS General Conference on Sunday. Your contribution to the Bible More than 31,000 Americans will have a hand in publishing a new Bible. Zondervan, one of the world's largest religious publishers, is launching a cross-country tour by motor coach to mark the 30th anniversary of its New International Version of the Bible. The 135-day Bible Across America tour will give people an opportunity to write a Bible verse by hand. Copies of the handwritten Bible will then be published and sold. French PM says world 'on edge of abyss' French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Friday the world stood on the "edge of the abyss", gripped by a global financial crisis now threatening industry, trade and jobs worldwide. Maybe We Should Blame God for the Subprime Mess Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes. US congressman: “If we don’t pass this bill, we’re going to have martial law in the United States” In the wake of Monday’s vote in the US House of Representatives rejecting the $700 billion bailout package for the American financial industry, prominent voices in the US and international media have responded by denouncing the lower house of Congress and complaining that the American political system is too susceptible to popular opinion and insufficiently obedient to the will of the corporate and political elite. Boy, 7, goes on killing spree in zoo, feeding reptiles to crocodile When keepers arrived for work at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre they thought there had been a mass break-out. Thirteen animals, including a large turtle, bearded dragons and various lizards had apparently escaped from their outdoor pens. VP Debate: McCain's Big Gamble Comes Up Snake Eyes I watched the vice presidential debate in a ballroom at the Four Seasons hotel in Aviara, just north of San Diego, along with a couple of hundred women attending Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit -- a receptive audience, you would think, for a debate featuring a woman who might become the most powerful in the land. It was an ideologically mixed crowd, including representatives of ExxonMobil, a major sponsor of the conference. Miraculous Physical Recoveries Nearly a quarter of American adults report having witnessed a “miraculous, physical healing,” and, perhaps more surprisingly, 16 percent say they have actually experienced such a miracle themselves.
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World News Updates
http://sonomanewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-news-updat...Tuessday Oct. 7, 2008 http://www.thebereanchronicles.com/ 7 Palin aides to testify in trooper investigation Seven aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her power by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law. U.S. bank failures almost certain to increase in next year Here's a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won't survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government's $700 billion rescue plan to restore order to the financial industry. ‘Gay Day’ Bill Vetoed in California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have designated May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day," named after the homosexual San Francisco supervisor who was murdered in 1978. Yoga at NY high school causes stress among critics A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state. New law cracks down on child soldiers Under a new law signed yesterday by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch has said. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts. Mormons told to avoid faith-related arguments Mormons should never respond with arrogance or hostility to attacks on their faith, but be peacemakers among themselves and in the community of faith, said several speakers at the 178th Semiannual LDS General Conference on Sunday. Your contribution to the Bible More than 31,000 Americans will have a hand in publishing a new Bible. Zondervan, one of the world's largest religious publishers, is launching a cross-country tour by motor coach to mark the 30th anniversary of its New International Version of the Bible. The 135-day Bible Across America tour will give people an opportunity to write a Bible verse by hand. Copies of the handwritten Bible will then be published and sold. French PM says world 'on edge of abyss' French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Friday the world stood on the "edge of the abyss", gripped by a global financial crisis now threatening industry, trade and jobs worldwide. Maybe We Should Blame God for the Subprime Mess Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes. US congressman: “If we don’t pass this bill, we’re going to have martial law in the United States” In the wake of Monday’s vote in the US House of Representatives rejecting the $700 billion bailout package for the American financial industry, prominent voices in the US and international media have responded by denouncing the lower house of Congress and complaining that the American political system is too susceptible to popular opinion and insufficiently obedient to the will of the corporate and political elite. Boy, 7, goes on killing spree in zoo, feeding reptiles to crocodile When keepers arrived for work at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre they thought there had been a mass break-out. Thirteen animals, including a large turtle, bearded dragons and various lizards had apparently escaped from their outdoor pens. VP Debate: McCain's Big Gamble Comes Up Snake Eyes I watched the vice presidential debate in a ballroom at the Four Seasons hotel in Aviara, just north of San Diego, along with a couple of hundred women attending Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit -- a receptive audience, you would think, for a debate featuring a woman who might become the most powerful in the land. It was an ideologically mixed crowd, including representatives of ExxonMobil, a major sponsor of the conference. Miraculous Physical Recoveries Nearly a quarter of American adults report having witnessed a “miraculous, physical healing,” and, perhaps more surprisingly, 16 percent say they have actually experienced such a miracle themselves.
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