US Consumer Debt Statistics

riseofdebt 745x1024 US Consumer Debt Statistics

These are not happy statistics.  Debt can help the economy and even consumers when used properly, but unfortunately these numbers are instead scary. Statistics of a recent Consumer Reports survey: • One-third of Americans do not own a credit card. • 54% pay their balance in full each month • 33% carry balances up to $10,000 (median balance: $2,254) • 13% carry balances over $10,000 (median balance: $17,366) • 21% of consumers said they were treated unfairly by card companies and 32% have paid off and closed a card since January 2008. Half of those that canceled did so in direct response to the actions of credit-card issuers, such as cutting limits, hiking rates, or imposing fees. • 45% of survey respondents say they are charging less • 11% are charging more than they did a year ago (source: Consumer Reports Magazine, November 2009)

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Keep Up With the Supreme Court With SCOTUSBlog

Much attention is focused in the news every day on Congress and especially on the President of the United States.  Many news networks often seem to forget the third, yet equally important branch of the United States, the Supreme Court.  SCOTUSBlog is a blog dedicated to covering the daily happenings in the Supreme Court, both in legal terms and everyday terms.  For people interested in the law, politics, their rights, or how the government works it is a very useful and informative site.  Also very useful for research into cases and proceedings. SCOTUSBlog Also provided is a wiki about cases and statistics. SCOTUSWiki
 Keep Up With the Supreme Court With SCOTUSBlog

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How to fix iPhone - Outlook - Sync Problems

A few people I know (not me personally, I don't currently own any Apple products) have had problems sync'ing their Outlook and iPhone calendars.  Below are the fixes that I've found have worked depending on the specific causes.  I suggest trying them in this order.

Fix 1:

1) Open iTunes
2) under "edit" open "preferences"
3) under the tab "Devices" click the button "reset sync history"
4) sync

Fix 2: Many people have reported better luck when their Outlook PST was in the newer Unicode Format.

Determine the format of your PST file: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/out...

Convert your PST file: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/out...

Fix 3:

Download the Microsoft Live Maps Add-in for Outlook via the following address:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/de...

Then once completely installed,  immediately go into Add/Remove Programs and remove it.  Attempt a re-sync with iTunes.

Fix 4:

Export your calendar into a comma separated values file and import into another calendar.  Sync to the new calendar.

If you know of, or find an additional possible fix, leave it in the comments.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Top Major Shipping Lanes and Ports in the World

shipping 2 1024x385 Top Major Shipping Lanes and Ports in the World

If you've ever wondered how busy the oceans are, or where things are shipped to/from over the oceans, this is a fascinating map.  It lists the top 20 ports, as well as showing the top shipping lanes on the world's oceans.  You can also easily see the connection between wealthy nations (the US, Western European nations, China) and the number of ports/trade routes between them as opposed to South America, and Africa.

If you're gonna be lost at sea, and want the best chance of being found, the North Atlantic is definitely the place to do it.

Source: Pablo Kaluza et al., “The complex network of global cargo ship movements,” 1001.2172 (January 13, 2010), http://arxiv.org/abs/1001.2172.

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  Busiest Shipping Ports in the World  

Popularity: 100% [?]

Government Types - The Cow Version

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk. PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need. BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need. FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk. PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk. RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you. DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you. PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk. BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows. PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you. LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Popularity: 3% [?]