Harry Tran’s Daily 101

Wind power brings prosperity, anger
Kurdish Control of Kirkuk Creates a Powder Keg in Iraq
As Oil Giants Lose Influence, Supply Drops
Congress takes on gasoline prices
Oil ends at 3-1/2 month low

Gulf ‘dead zone’ suffocating fish and livelihoods
Troubled waters for ocean ‘dead zones’

The Fannie Mae Gang
A Better Way to Support Home Buyers
Economists Bet on Aid for Fannie, Freddie
Is Housing Bottoming? Don’t Bet On It
How Could My Big, Beautiful Loan Go So Bad, So Quickly?
What is Equity?
Bay Area median price dives below $500K; sales near record low
Washington offers no relief for savers
‘Liar loans’ threaten to prolong mortgage crisis
No Docs

AP IMPACT: Weak rules cripple appraiser oversight
A rarity: Silicon Valley posts job losses in July
Inflation or Deflation?
Bracing for Inflation - Despite the recent softening of oil prices, the U.S. could be looking at double-digit inflation as early as 2009
Second Mortgages: Why Absolve Consumers for Stupidity?
Second Mortgages Undermining New FHA Bailout Law
America’s Fiscal Crisis: Tough Decisions Needed Now
Home Equity Frenzy Was a Bank Ad Come True

How Fuel Subsidies Drag Down a Nation
France Reaffirms Its Faith in Future of Nuclear Power
Shares Rise Modestly on Lower Commodities
Gas prices down another penny
Saudi Arabia’s new gold mine
Turning Glare Into Watts
Crossing a Threshold on Energy Legislation
Pelosi signals further offshore drilling shift
DNFSB Raises Red Oil,Hydrogen Concerns At MOX-Related Project

I just don’t get China, they’ll spend $40 billion to impress the world with theatrics, only to break three promises that they made as reported by CNN.

Does China really want the whole world watching them right now because it is just one awfully bad publicity stunt to have had the Olympics held in Beijing this Summer. I know having the Olympics held in your country is held with the highest of esteem but if you don’t take advantage of the cost of holding the Olympics there than there is no gain in being seen by the rest of the world.

They had an awfully harmful pollution problem. This shows the rest of the world that they have yet to put themselves into the spot of a world power. They still have poor factories which are not regulated effectively. But on the one hand they are not fully to be blamed for the pollution for what they have sacrificed to breath in the bad pollution would be pollution an American would be breathing had they not taken away all the manufacturing plants. And it is definitely a sacrifice because as China gains their wealth our companies will begin to pull production from their factories and contract over to cheaper countries. They’ll be left with some unused factories and a sky full of smog when we pull out.

They have limited human rights which isn’t anything new, and when it comes to a game that is meant for the entire world to see, they decide to continue blocking off the freedom of the internet and the press. What is it with them and having to constantly hide certain stories from the eyes of the citizens, they think that because people read a few stories that China’s entire nation will crumble, and maybe so. But at the same time with all the commotion going on about China their people are probably fed up with how things are being run but they cannot speak out for themselves in regards to the issue. And once again this was a promise that they offered the committee in bidding for the games, that they would allow freedom of information, promises broken are hard to forget especially when there are a good part of the Earth watching. They will remember it all, and not everyone will forgive and just forget it.

China has had a bad string of news lately leading up to the Olympics. With the three issues aside, they have had problems with their toys, poisonous ingredients in their pet food, and of course the whole issue with Tibet. They could have definitely used the Olympics and the $40 billion dollar price tag on the publicity to let the world know that they care to make change rather than take their traditional short cuts instead of finding a real cure for their problems. People don’t like broken promises especially if they were the reason why you were chosen as the hosting country, so just because the Olympic committee has already been stuck with holding the Olympic games there doesn’t mean that they will forget the next time deciding the country comes up again.

China seems to have a very myopic view of how people think. They think that they can create an image out of art when real planning, organization, and commitment is necessary to develop a positive public image. They had the nerve to go and switch out a child singer because of her looks. What kind of image does China want to send to the rest of the world, not to mention their own people, that a girl who can sing well will never be successful unless she looks great at the same time?

When all of the world is watching they decide to mess things up pretty badly. There probably won’t be another Olympic games in China again so take heed that this is your one good chance to clear up the world that China is ready for the big boys table.

Top 10 Everyday Car Technologies that Came from Racing

Check out this neat article that HowStuffWorks put together which details ten technologies that were originally created by the minds of race car engineers and designers which have lent themselves into production car models which many of us use daily.

These include brakes, tires, intakes and design. It is definitely an interesting read.

Gas down 35 cents in 30 days
Cars that cut your gas bill in half
11 mileage-obsessed questions
Oil Declines Along With the Dollar
Where to ride out a gas crunch

It may appear that while gas prices were soaring like steam from a tea kettle that the news couldn’t come faster, families running out of money and having to make decisions of whether to buy food or buy gas, whether to stay home or go to the movies, and how to plan their routes to run errands while saving as much gas as possible. Well oil has as you know it been going down in price for a month now, and it may have to do with the Summer demand coming to and end soon, or the speculators no longer need to hide their money in oil trade, but we have to remember that we still need to curb our consumption of oil even though prices are seen to be falling or we will be back at this situation again in a week. Families are still making those tough choices and I’m sure that habits must change or we’ll need to make these choices again and again for years.

Ed McMahon’s mansion saved by ‘The Donald’

I am surprised that The Donald still has money in his coffers to cough up at this time to help someone else get out of foreclosure. Of course I can’t forget how he has multiple income streams coming in from television, book sales, and he still has that Trump brand name.

But I want to take a second to touch on a subject about book sales, and this doesn’t just go to Trump but all those books that you find walking through a Borders bookstore in the real estate aisle. Books like getting rich quick through real estate, or Trump’s Real Estate 101 books, or Real Estate for dummies. I mean if there is a demand for these books, which there definitely was, but these books and their authors literally fueled much of the housing bubble. They wrote about how you can make sound investment by putting your money into real estate and many of them barely touched up on the downsides. That makes them very socially irresponsible.

Ocean ‘dead zones’ becoming global problem

It appears that there are more than 400 dead zones in our oceans, which are areas that do not have enough oxygen in the water to sustain life. This is seriously going to become a problem as our oceans are becoming more polluted with garbage and also oil spills and now dead zones. There may not be enough safe places for fish and other aquatic animals to survive, meaning no more fish for us.