Why Students Aren’t Going to College Football Games

With college football ticket prices soaring and expanded conferences leading to less exciting matchups, fans—students in particular—are more likely to watch games from home.

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How College Football Sacked the NBA and MLB

How This Weekend’s College Football Rivals Stack Up as College Values

NFL Preseason Tickets Aren’t Even Worth $10

There’s no denying that college football is a hugely successful business enterprise, arguably the second-biggest, most popular sport in the U.S. right now (after pro football in the NFL). But there’s one glaring crack in the armor that college football conferences and storied college programs have been struggling with for years: Fewer and fewer fans are actually buying tickets and attending games in person.

Scientists: Solar system inside a searing gas bubble

(CNN) -- Ever feel like you live in a bubble?

You do. We all do.

Our whole solar system appears to, say space scientists, who published work last month corroborating its existence.

And, oh, what a bubble it is: About 300 light years long (about 1,764,000,000,000,000 miles), and its walls are made of hot gas. How hot? About a million degrees.

It's called the "Local Bubble" or "local hot bubble" and is shaped a little like a peanut.

Scientists believe it was formed by supernovas, the largest explosions in space, as NASA calls them, that occur when a large star blows up.

One supernova blasts out more energy in less than a second than our sun gives off in a million years, NASA says. A single explosion can outshine an entire galaxy.

Qantas feels the squeeze (*Airlines a Canary in the Coal mine, for the health of the Economy?

Turbulent times for ailing Qantas after record loss

(CNN) -- Australia's ailing flag carrier was sent into a tailspin Thursday, as the airline reported its biggest ever loss.

In its latest report, Qantas revealed an after-tax net loss of $2.6 billion (A$2.8 billion) for the year to June 30, with the cumulative effect of high fuel costs, falling demand, and a massive writedown of its international fleet blamed.

"There is no doubt today's numbers are confronting, but they represent the year that is past," said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who added that he predicted a return to underlying profitability in 2015.

"We have now come through the worst. With our accelerated Qantas Transformation program we are already emerging as a leaner, more focused and more sustainable Qantas Group."

Malaysia Airlines slashes 6,000 jobs in major restructuring

Malaysia Airlines has cut 6,000 jobs as part of a wide-ranging overhaul that follows the loss of two aircraft earlier this year.

State investor Khazanah, which owns nearly 70% of the carrier, revealed the 30% workforce reduction on Friday. Khazanah also announced the creation of a new corporation that will absorb the majority of the carrier's assets.

CNBC.com = fine story worth reading:

Investors Battle Fear, Fear and Fear

France - Italy BAN Short Selling.

Senior government sources tell Class CNBC, CNBC's Italian partner, that a short-selling ban will be imposed in France and Italy after Thursday's market close.

The report conflicts with what CNBC has been told by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The independent European Union body, which provides a forum to national financial European regulators, told CNBC on Thursday that it is increasing its market surveillance following the rumor-led drop in French banks' shares that took place on Wednesday and then again Thursday.

While he couldn't comment on whether a ban on short-selling was to be carried-out, a spokesperson at the ESMA told CNBC there were talks about such a move but that such a move wouldn't be "today, or tomorrow, or next week."

The ESMA is aware of the speculation problem, he said, and that markets have become jittery about it. "Today it's about France; earlier, it was about Greece," he said.

Being a coordination organ, the ESMA cannot enforce such a ban, but what they can do, the spokesperson said, is offer a table around which European regulators can meet and agree on a coordinated action.

Meanwhile, the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), told CNBC.com on Thursday that it had no plans to ban short selling in Britain.

Riots and more

I have held off making any hasty comments about the latest Market carnage and the very troubling riots in the United Kingdom - until I got the facts.

Facts are: Youth unemployment in Britain is endemic and getting worse. Food and shelter are expensive in the UK, like everywhere else, and a lot of young folks realize they will never have a decent life. No jobs - no future. Bleak would be the word.

The whole world has been watching the gyrations on the Stock Markets and this stems from too many years of fiscal stupidity from Central Governments.

We have a QUADRILLION dollars worth of CDS (*look up Credit default swap) off books around the planet - and no one knows who owns or owes what.

The Credit system came close to seizing in 2007-8.

Once again, we are close.

Nervous times.

Downgrade - cancelled?

Now word from Washington is that S and P might have to change it's mind on US downgrade.

OK. What's the deal. Faulty math is the reason - yeah, right.

US Downgraded = now what?

Bill Bonner, Martin Weiss, Sean Brodrick and some of the big thinkers have warned that the US could lose AAA status and now. according to Standard and Poors - it HAS.

What does this mean.

In a word. FEAR, and losses.

My portfolio tanked so bad, I got an e-mail apology from my money guy.

Rates are going to go to the moon on US paper.

The Bond Vigilantes must be carrying AK-47's, and banana clipped.

Watch the Markets in Asia on Monday.

Very close eye on silver and gold.

Standard and Poor's Downgrades the United States!

The ratings agency Standard & Poor's has reduced the United States' credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook, the company announced late Friday.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics," Standard & Poor's said in a statement announcing the move.

"More broadly," the agency added, "the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

The Market Meltdown today

Cash is becoming the name of the game again.

Markets around the World, tanked today.

The DOW and S&P, Canada's TSX, and VSE = squat.

The VIX has risen 35% in the last three days - now at it's highest point in 5 years.

There is something nasty out here and I think that people are waking up to the fact that QE3 has begun in the States.

This is an awfully scary time.

Think the American electorate will fire the entire Congress and Senate - it's happened before.

Obama has dropped the ball, worse than a third grade, Little League, duff.

Prudence and patience. Those are the bywords.

Budget Shenanigangs

I am watching the stuff going on in Washington, I shake my head.

Don't people get it?

The USA and just about every country has debt problems.

Print more money>? Raise the debt ceiling>? Stiff Bond holders.

What a time.

Jobs, the future and failure and option?

Too many part time jobs.

Men of a certain age, out of work now, will never work again.

The Movie Industry, about the only engine in the Vancouver economy, sucks.

The Tea Party loonies have screwed the USA into a credit downgrade.

That will be fun.

Seen the stock markets lately?

I have no one in a good mood.

My owner, that I told I was moving.

The new owner, landlord, that had to spend thousands to remediate from a punk.

It's a weird time and much angst in the air.

Watch Obama - something up his sleeve?

The CA$D is doing great things against the US buck - and that hurts Canadian exporters.

Americans are not much on touring, and they are so broke, they aren't coming - in droves.

The Pacific Northwest and BC has been very cold and weird this summer.

Now. We wait for the junk for Fukushima to destroy our Beaches and way of life.

Greek Bonds are two steps from Default

The folks in Greece will be paying through their Drachmas, for the next thirty years, as their Bonds crashed today.

Consider:

Bank of Montreal's Sherry Cooper wondered aloud last week whether we'll all look back at this some day and "see this as a period of global economic mismanagement of historical proportions." Only time will tell of course, but I'm sure BMO's chief economist is right

Austria and Italy cancelled a bond auction.

Bond Vigilantes are mounted up and are heading to Washington.

What the heck is going on with the US? (* Impeach Obama?)

Will the World Reserve Currency, the US Dollar, lose that role?

So many questions, and so many answers about to come to the fore.

What a day! Gold and Silver could go to the moon.

Rick Rule (* a genius) - expects good Jr Companies in gold and silver might be takeover targets.

We shall see.

I just have this sinking feeling.

The US will default.
It is going to happen.

As improbable as another Hurricane Katrina - this could actually happen?

Most of the smart people I admire have pooh poohed -and said this is posturing for 2012.

Obama s done anyway. But why are the Republicans playing high wire>?

This has catastrophic consequences.

God Help Us.

On a side note.

Amy Winehouse.

Alcohol is not the only dangerous drug out there.

Capiche?

Canadians not using their cars as much (*Gas too expensive?)

Canadians are putting off summer vacations, new car purchases, and are becoming more strict with budgets so they can better handle higher gas and food prices and reduce their debts, according to a survey by Royal Bank.

The Canadian Consumer Outlook Index released Wednesday suggests Canadians are looking for ways to save as they grapple with gas prices that rose 29.5 per cent in May alone and food prices that grew 4.2 per cent that month.

"Canadians are continuing to focus on managing their debts - a very good sign as we enter the second half of the year," Richard Goyder, vice-president, Personal Lending, RBC said in a statement.

"It's encouraging to see consumers are trying to live within their means and seeking out very practical ways to not only pay their bills but also to save and invest."

The survey was released the same day Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney warned in a speech that agricultural product prices are up substantially since interest rates last went up, and will continue to rise.

"As we tried to explain in April, our expectation was that these food prices would come into the economy over about a six-month period. That's been the historic experience and that's exactly what's happening."

"So there's a bit more to come, given the recent rises in food. Food, unfortunately, is going to remain relatively expensive and get a little more expensive in the coming months."

Canadians Hooked on the Internet - TV and Phone fading.

One-fifth of Canadians polled in a new survey said they would turn down a million dollars in order to keep their Internet access - a possible sign that our reliance on the World Wide Web is slowly catching up to the television and phone, telecom experts say.
The survey conducted by Angus Reid Forum for Primus Canada, showed that almost half of those polled would give up watching television before they would give up surfing the Internet or using their phones.


Of the 1,009 Canadians surveyed, one-third said they would rather give up their phone to keep online and television services. Only 20 per cent said they would give up their Internet access.
Western Canadians and senior citizens were more likely to give up the tube in order to keep their Internet or telephone, with 61 per cent of British Columbians and 58 per cent of Albertans saying they would live without TV.


The survey also found that higher income respondents, earning over $100,000, were also more likely to ditch their televisions to keep Internet and phone access.
The online poll was conducted between May 23 and 24 by 1,009 Canadians over 18. The margin of error was 3.1 per cent.

Read more:

Fiduciary Duty - The Ships that never were and cheaters?

They are the two ships no one wanted, almost constantly embroiled in one dispute or another for the past 25 years. The two Navy behemoths have never gone on a mission, were never even completed, yet they cost taxpayers at least $300 million.

Now the vessels, the Benjamin Isherwood and the Henry Eckford, are destined to leave Virginia waters for good and be scrapped at a Texas salvage yard, with no money coming back to the U.S. Treasury.

The Isherwood, stretching more than 660 feet, began its final journey this week, unceremoniously towed Tuesday from its mooring spot in the James River Reserve Fleet, also known as the "ghost fleet," near Fort Eus-tis in Newport News.

Its destination: International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas, just above the Mexico border. There, the vessel will be cut up, its innards removed and disposed of, and its steel and other metals sold as recycled products.

The Eckford, of equal size, is scheduled to follow next Tuesday, leaving behind fewer than 20 junk ships in the ghost fleet, the smallest number since its inception during World War I.

Once the two Navy oilers have departed, "it will close one of the saddest chapters in American shipbuilding and for that matter, federal fiduciary folly," wrote Joseph Keefe, a global maritime commentator, this week on the website MaritimeProfessional.com.

In seeing the two ships headed for a scrap heap, the U.S. Maritime Administration, which oversees ghost fleets in Virginia, Texas and California, also will close one of its most contentious disposal contracts - one that spurred environmental protests on both sides of the Atlantic, caused lawsuits over American toxic dumping, and drew condemnation by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In 2003, the Maritime Administration announced a $17.8 million contract with Able UK, a shipyard in northeastern England, to dismantle 13 ghost ships from Virginia.

Able UK, which had never demolished a ship before and did not have permits to do so at the time, also was to receive the Isherwood and Eckford as perks to sweeten the deal.

Only four ghost ships arrived at the yard in Hartlepool, off the North Sea, the rest blocked by legal orders and political maneuvering. There they sat for nearly seven years before finally being recycled in late 2010, according to company and government officials.

Able UK won title rights to the Isherwood and Eckford after completing the work and took ownership in June, said Kim Riddle, a spokeswoman for the Maritime Administration, a branch of the U.S. Transportation Department.

Uber Editor:

You wonder why the US Treasury is thin?

Before Canadians laugh and point - remember the 2 Billion buck Gun Registry?


Meanwhile > Atlanta cheaters in School? TEACHERS. 200 > LINK >


95% of American High School kids admit to CHEATING in recent study. Huh?

Could the US - DEFAULT?

Reading about the horrible numbers coming out of the United States = and if there is no budgetary deal by August 2/3rd = the US could default.
What would it look like?

UH, not nice.

No Social Security checks, food stamps (1/4 of US Population get some form of a check from Uncle Sam) - even the Troops would not get paid.

The loss of confidence in US Treasuries will gut the world Financial system.
Gut it, like a trout.

Canada does 70% of our business with the Broke States.

We have NOTHING to be smug about.

Watch interest rates in Euro Zone. 30% in Spain!!!

Things are getting tight.

Buy a house now? Lock in at cheap rates? Are you nuts?

Hacking of Phones and more - "The Age of Privacy" is DEAD.

The story that the Editor of the Sunday News of The World, and now that the Chief of the London Police, has resigned over 'the hacking scandal" - has raised the spectre of an era when there is "no privacy".

Cellphones are hacked - in London, there are so many cameras on the street, the Police can just about track your every move.

Facebook is AWFUL in it's privacy section. They are like the CIA. They want to know all about you and for FREE and then they OWN all your photos - imagine opening a magazine in a few years and there you are smiling, selling toothpaste.

Twitter. I hate Twitter. I used it and learned the ins and outs and all it is is a two lane black top of garbage. Bad language and the N word for the users that have Twitter as their messaging system, and thereby proving to the world they are idiots - and the other half is people trying to get their bot to sell you something.

The age of the SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN is here.

I refuse to add my name to sign up lists. Only reason I did the Census is because they phoned me three times and bugged me.

The end of the line is in sight and I am not really happy how all this is turning out.

I love my Mac's. Have a few of them - love IPads...and the Iphone....swell....but I am starting to get very uneasy.

Time to think about unplugging in some ways.

If that's possible.

The "Age of Privacy" is dead - long live snoops, hackers, creeps, and thieves.

Sheesh.