Current Affairs Articles

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Thomas Pretty @ Monday, 25th February 2008 @ 10:49 AM

In 2007 there was a myriad of high profile cases in which young people lost their lives as a result of gun crime. The most infamous of these incidents was the shooting of Rhys Jones aged eleven. In the UK gun crime is increasingly becoming a problem and the media are keen to give maximum exposure to firearm incidents. During 2007 the Home Office have reported fifty nine gun related homicides, ten more than the previous year. The figures also record over five hundred serious incidents over... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Monday, 25th February 2008 @ 9:21 AM

The US appears to poised on the very brink of recession. Investors are reacting as news of a contraction within the service sector for the first time in five years, an FBI investigation into predatory lending, and increasing unemployment statistics, has sent shock waves of panic through stock markets worldwide. Who wins out in a crisis of this magnitude? And how can an individual take advantage of such a difficult scenario? While volatility in recent months is hardly a comforting phenomen... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Amy Nutt @ Monday, 25th February 2008 @ 12:19 AM

At the time, there happened to be large amounts of devalued currency printed by the Confederates during the American Civil War and Mexican Money printed during the Mexican Revolution. Both failed governments had issued a lot of money, hoping the volume would help stave off the money's declining values. Of course, they failed and the money was useless until Hollywood bought up caches of both types of cash, and the first Hollywood prop money was created. Over time, the Confederate and ... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ed Lathrop @ Sunday, 24th February 2008 @ 9:48 PM

Trying to figure out what time it is in different parts of the world can be very confusing. Especially, if it's one of those times during the year when you are on daylight savings time, and the place whose time you're trying to calculate is not. A situation like this happens because different countries make their daylight and standard time changes on many different dates. In fact, there are only a relatively few countries, like most of the European countries, that make these time cha... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Monday, 4th February 2008 @ 8:16 PM

As the sub-prime mortgage scandal continues to play out badly for many US companies, more and more questions have been raised as to whether the impact of a slowdown in one area will translate into a nationwide, or even global, recession. Growth prospects within the US are limited for this year by the unprecedented scale of bad securities that have become investments for many companies around the world, exposing them to grave losses and destroying investor confidence. According to polls, more and... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Wednesday, 30th January 2008 @ 6:26 AM

On January 22nd, the Federal Reserve cut their most important interest rate for the fourth time in the past six months, in an attempt to stem the widespread sentiment that the US is in, or headed for recession. Their cut comes at a strange time, because they were rumored, nay, expected, to deliver the cut at their monthly rate-setting meeting next week. But after stock and commodity markets suffered their largest losses in one day since the September 11th attacks, it seemed as though no amount o... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Monday, 7th January 2008 @ 7:53 AM

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Dec. 11th on hopes that the credit crisis would be tempered from 4.5% to 4.25%. Markets were on the upswing up until the cut was announced because many investors were under the impression that the central bank, under pressure from all sectors of the economy especially real estate, would deliver a heftier half-point cut, which would have made it significantly less difficult for banks to borrow money from the Fed for their day-to-day transactions. ... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 @ 9:51 PM

The M-LEC, as it is called, has been created in order to restore investor confidence in some areas of the economy that are neccesary for credit to maintain its liquidity, or ease of transference from one entity (a bank) to another. This loss of liquidity comes in the wake of the discovery of high-risk, sickly subprime mortages that have been sold off in pieces, often in the form of supposedly secure money market funds to thousands of investors. Over the past several years, those funds have chang... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Jonathon Boundy @ Monday, 31st December 2007 @ 3:21 PM

We send flowers to our mothers, sisters, our grandmothers and best friends. Why can't we send flowers to the men in our lives? Everyone loves to feel special, even when they're part of the male species. What better way to show our dads, brothers, and boyfriends that we care for them other than through flowers? Some women might be apprehensive at the thought of sending flowers to a man. They might think it's too aggressive a move or that it takes away their femininity. Fort... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Jim Brown @ Monday, 24th December 2007 @ 10:33 PM

When homeowners in California viewed videos of the arson fires that plagued their neighborhoods, some could see that their homes were burned to the ground. The videos that provided these images were taken by news groups in helicopters and from people that lived on hills that were quite a distance from the fire. Without video tape, the police would not have had images of the people who set the fire. All sorts of monumental moments have been captured on video tape. These video tapes keep vi... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Ki Gray @ Friday, 14th December 2007 @ 3:48 AM

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Dec. 11th on hopes that the credit crisis would be tempered from 4.5% to 4.25%. Markets were on the upswing up until the cut was announced because many investors were under the impression that the central bank, under pressure from all sectors of the economy especially real estate, would deliver a heftier half-point cut, which would have made it significantly less difficult for banks to borrow money from the Fed for their day-to-day transactions. ... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Bob Alexander @ Thursday, 13th December 2007 @ 7:48 PM

My diminutive, white haired, 88 year old mother-in-law drives a red sports car and is now being threatened with prison time. Well, maybe not prison, because no one in their right mind wants to envision a little old lady pushing a walker and being led to the hoosegow by burly armed sheriff's deputies. The whole thing started a few weeks ago when she got a ticket because she parked her car in a handicapped zone just as she does every time she drives to the mall. This time though, her... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Paul Johnson @ Tuesday, 11th December 2007 @ 11:19 PM

There, now it's out there; the "C" word, Christmas. Somehow it's become politically incorrect to wish others Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or anything that suggests a belief system. Well, I've decided to forgo political correctness at the risk of being labeled "politically inept" this holiday season. Be Different in December I choose to celebrate in December because Christmas is in it. You may celebrate in December for a different reason.... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Madison Greene @ Thursday, 6th December 2007 @ 9:38 PM

Like most people you probably know that now more than ever we need to find alternative energy sources. Solar, nuclear and wind power are all viable options, but solar power is the most popular alternate energy source for residential homes. Beyond knowing that it turns the sun's rays into electricity, do you really know how it all works? If you're interested in learning more about solar energy and are considering having it installed in your home, call a company that sets up sol... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Tim Larkin @ Thursday, 6th December 2007 @ 1:28 AM

Since the events of 9/11 we have been bombarded with scenes of violence. Terrorist attacks, two back-to-back wars and the ongoing war on terror have given the 24-hour news channels an endless supply of images to fill their screens. New warnings and color-coded alert levels only heightened this atmosphere of fear.Just when we thought we'd seen it all, things reached a saturation point with the video images of innocent contractors beheaded by hooded thugs in Iraq. As someone who's... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Amy Nutt @ Tuesday, 20th November 2007 @ 10:51 PM

There are hundreds of thousands of buildings, bridges, and structures that have been built in numerous locations around the world. Each one serves a specific purpose, whether allowing people to travel from one place to another or providing a place for individuals to live, work, or play. Out of all of the building, bridges, and structures in the world, only a few have the distinction of being the most popular ones in the world. There are many reasons why a building, bridge, or structure ... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Beth Butler @ Tuesday, 20th November 2007 @ 12:44 PM

There seems to be three specific categories of people directly affected by this 2007 'Outrage of the Lead Locators.' There are the moms controling most of the family's discretionary buying power who, when faced with screaming children and end-caps galore this holiday season,will surely succumb to the wails which imply there is no caring of the country of origin (just buy it!!!). Then there are the teachers. You know them. The ones who continually use their own ... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Jonathon Hardcastle @ Tuesday, 20th November 2007 @ 11:31 AM

Outside of the academic environment, a harsh and seemingly ever-growing debate has appeared, concerning how mass media distorts the political agenda. Few would argue with the notion that the institutions of the mass media are important to contemporary politics. In the transition to liberal democratic politics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe the media was a key battleground. In the West, elections increasingly focus around television, with the emphasis on spin and marketing. Democratic pol... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Linda Dipman @ Friday, 16th November 2007 @ 5:41 PM

The dry ground blew into the air destroying the last few inches of top soil to the fields where irrigation had once fed its land. Now the farmers had to abandon their fields, because the underground river beds that watered the wells were now all dried up. The fields of earth now abandoned looked towards the heavens praying for God to rescue them! The barren trees bowed low as if in prayer beseeching God for rain. The plants were gone and the people were leaving because there wasn'... more...

Culture and Society » Current Affairs | By Madison Greene @ Friday, 16th November 2007 @ 12:00 PM

Lately, windpower has emerged as one of the most popular sources of alternative energy. In fact, the popularity of windpower as an energy source has received a resurgence after many decades of minimal use. Much like the gas crisis of the 1970's ushered in the notion of a need for alternative energy sources the threat of global warming has prompted people to look for both increased domestic oil drilling and for the need to expand windpower potential. While domestic drilling may have ... more...