| Minutes and projections from Fed meeting
Following are the minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting, held Oct. 31. By unanimous vote, the Federal Open Market Committee selected D. Nathan Sheets to serve as economist until the selection of his successor at the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee in 2008. The Manager of the System Open Market Account reported on recent developments in foreign exchange markets. There were no open market operations in foreign currencies for the system's account in the period since the previous meeting. The manager also reported on developments in domestic financial markets and on system open market operations in government securities and federal agency obligations during the period since the previous meeting. By unanimous vote, the committee ratified these transactions.
Work with people
The yearly progress report just issued by James City County presents a six-page scorecard of government accomplishments in the past year. It also takes credit for three initiatives in customer service.
Conspicuously absent is any mention of customer service to business or anyone trying to do business in the county. While nine new enterprises came to the county in the past year, it's pretty much biz as usual when it comes to turning the screws.
That's evident in another new report, which found that the business climate in the county is pretty bleak. Some reasons (wages, labor shortage, traffic, housing) are not the county's fault. Lack of affordable housing is something that officials have seriously addressed over the years, for which they deserve credit.
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GCC Official Denies Studying Dollar Peg
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- A Saudi Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council official Tuesday denied a newspaper report quoting him as saying that Saudi Arabia and the GCC are studying the possibility of revaluing their currency pegs to the U.S. dollar. Saudi Arabia's Al-Riyadh newspaper quoted Abdel-Aziz Aluwaisheg, Saudi Arabian head of studies and economic integration at the GCC, as saying that Saudi Arabia was studying a revaluation of the Saudi riyal and that there is a common desire in the GCC to revalue member currencies and shift from a dollar peg to a currency basket, although views diverged on how to implement this. "They must have mixed up statements from several people," Aluwaisheg told Dow Jones Newswires. "All I said is there's a decision by the supreme council of the GCC in 2001 to use a common peg - the U.S.
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Porn star and former California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey gets blocked. So do circumcision critics. But a pantyless Britney Spears? Not always. Internet filtering has come a long way in the 10 years since San Jose rejected it for city libraries, calling it ineffective and an infringement on free speech. But as a test drive of the optional filtering system at Santa Clara County libraries shows, it's still not perfect. That doesn't bother San Jose City Councilman Pete Constant, who has asked the city to reconsider Internet filtering, citing reports of lewd acts involving people cruising pornography on library computers. "A seat belt won't save your life in every situation," Constant noted, "but it will 98 percent of the time." City library and technology staffers have been asked to research how modern filtering systems work, what they cost and how they might impose on free-speech rights.
Leukemia Survivor Takes on Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, and CRAs with Landmark Lawsuit in ID Theft Case
Five years ago, Eric Drew was on his death bed with leukemia when his identity was stolen by a worker at the hospital where he was being treated. Drew survived cancer, but has taken on another battle; he has filed suit against some of America's largest banks and credit reporting agencies in a case of identity theft. .
Cruel defeat snuffs out European dream
IN THE end, the emotions were not so much mixed as scrambled to the four corners of Hampden. We had seen Italy score in 70 seconds, we had seen them dominate the early minutes with some chilling football that not only took the fire out of the home support but also shocked Alex McLeish's team to the core. But in the final stages of the game it was the world champions who had the heat coming on them, their lead wiped-out by a scrambled Barry Ferguson goal just after the hour, their assurance of before in danger of being stripped away. With ten minutes remaining, Scotland drove forward once again, the substitute Kenny Miller linking with James McFadden and sending the most delicious ball across the Italian penalty area. The Azzurri were at sixes and sevens, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta, two of the game's pre-eminent defenders from two of the world's most glamorous clubs, were over-run.
UM Proposes More Wheelchair Accessibility
The University of Michigan on Monday proposed offering more wheelchair accessible seating at its football stadium following a federal report saying the facility violates the law. If the school's proposal is accepted, the number of accessible seats would increase to about 592 by the 2010 season. That includes the current 90 accessible seats, 207 seats as part of its expansion project and 295 additional seats. "The university will supplement current platforms in the stadium for wheelchairs and companion seats by constructing and installing in the bowl of the stadium the maximum number of places for wheelchair users and companion seats that are structurally feasible," the school said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education. .
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