GRRRR General Motors

My car was one that caught on fire under the recall (Pontiac Grand Prix). I had to talk to two different agents, send it all the information, pictures, title... and then wait. After a month, I called to check, and it's protected under bankruptcy.

Businesses without ethics, adaptability, and accountability should fall victim to the market. I just graduated from college, and have my first job. I'm starting to pay back student loans, paying for my own rent, and all the bills that come with. I have had to borrow a car for the last 4 months. I worked through college to pay off my car-- and now it looks like I'm going to have to start from scratch and try to squeeze in a new car payment, as well.

This poor service from GM makes me certain that my next car will NOT be a GM. I hear that Honda has great warranties, and customer service.

More economics as we prepare for debate

9:50 pm Tuesday September 23

This Friday is the first presidential debate that is supposed to be focused on foreign affairs. We know that this is where McCain is supposed to shine; we also know that public speaking is Obama's thing. The BBC reports that the Obama campaign, though, is not pumping up this debate. Instead of setting Obama up for success, they are setting McCain up for failure. The BBC reports, "This debate offers [Mr McCain] a major home-court advantage and anything short of a game-changing event will be a key missed opportunity for him."

They couldn't ignore the still growing concern of the economic crisis. They actually touched on something that I hadn't been hearing in the news. they said, "The two candidates - whose campaign plans have both been knocked off course by the crisis - have taken increasingly divergent paths on the bail-out, although both are moving gingerly lest they be blamed for blocking the rescue."

Yeah, they'll comment, but they won't have a discussion about it. They tend to attack the other candidate, rather than talk about the issue.

And we can't forget about our favourite* female vice-president. Sarah Palin has managed to stay in the headlines. Someone had hacked into her email-- but the story got juicy. It turns out that invesigators believe that it was the 20-year-old student David Kernell, son of state congressman Mike Kernell.

They also have a special editorial that I found interesting; it was about the view the rest of the world will have of the United States if we face, again, what we did in 2000. The author talks about the chances that we get a 269 to 269, and how that would make America appear weak. They also provide a new electoral map, showing exactly how this could happen; and also how this provides a much better chance to see our first women presidet; Nancy Pelosi.
They sum up what is important with one article. They said, "The candidates continue to give their responses to the US Treasury Secretary's $700bn economic bailout plan. McCain campaign managers lay into the media in general and the New York Times in particular."

This is what is important so far this week, but we'll certainly see how this changes as we grow closer to the debate, and election.

It's that time of year again...

That's right. September 11, a day that anyone over the age of 17 will remember for the rest of their lives. It's because that is the day that America changed. It was like the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century.

It is the time when the world came together to mourn the loss of thousands of lives. It was the day that it didn't matter if you were Republican or Democrat. Well, again this year, in what looks to be the one of the the most heated elections in decades, the candidates are taking the day to come together to demonstrate unity; something that both candidates are saying must happen if we want to 'change' or 'reform' America.

On Sunday September 7 around 10:00 pm, this was the big story as far as the election on BBC. It comes after a week of McCain's campaign being in the spotlight. Other than that particular article, others still surrounded McCain's speech at the RNC and the American economy.

The American economy is hurting right now. The headline on BBC is about the save that the US government just made to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you're in America, of course that would be a big deal. Those that live here in America have always heard that we're the leaders of the free world, but it shows no better than on a site where the target audience is Europe.

What happens in the American economy affects the rest of the world. In the article, they don't mention the election, but in the box designed for the election, there is an article about John McCain's speech. In that they do mention that McCain did not mention his lack of knowledge when it comes to the economy.

My question is, however, I know that McCain doesn't have the best history with the economy-- but no one has ever talked about how Obama does. Obama is known as a community activist, a young guy with lots of energy-- not experience--with the economy or otherwise.

I believe that the economy is a tough topic because there aren't a lot of people who really do understand how it works. The average American doesn't understand stocks or bonds, or what it means when the Dow Jones is down 2 points. I feel that this will be an issue that will continue to resurface throughout this election.