- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by David-fipp

Consumers, inflation weaken as slowdown drags on

David — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:27:11 +0000

Consumer confidence fell further into recessionary territory in March, hitting a 16-year low, even as other data showed incomes rose and inflation dipped in February, which should support the Fed’s efforts to bolster the economy.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final index of confidence fell to 69.5 in March — its lowest since February 1992, when it was at 68.8 — from the previous month’s reading of 70.8.

Mexico sends troops to U.S. border

David — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:45:11 +0000

The Mexican government has ordered 2,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to a wave of drug-related violence that is blamed for 200 deaths since January, officials announced Thursday.

Mexico has ordered troops to move near Juarez, shown here with El Paso, Texas, in the distance.

The troops are expected to depart Friday. The majority will be near the northern border of Mexico, in Juarez.

Juarez sits across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

Officials said the violence in Mexico has increased in large part to competing drug cartels.

“In this battle we will show that no criminal group is capable to resist the strength of the Mexican government,” Interior Minister Juan Mourino said at a news conference Thursday.

Defense Secretary Guillermo Galvan said 2,026 soldiers, 180 military tactical vehicles, three airplanes and more than a dozen drug detection devices would be employed in the military operation.

650,000 American teenagers have exchanged sex for money or drugs

David — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:17:55 +0000

A first-of-its-kind survey published in August 2006 found that about 650,000 American teenagers — girls and boys — have exchanged sex for money or drugs. The survey, published in the Journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections, surveyed...

The 5 Most Ridiculously Over-Hyped Health Scares of All Time

David — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:12:27 +0000

Fear is our national pastime. As a society, we have a long history of getting whipped into a collective frenzy over threats to our health or children that are nearly (or completely) non-existent. No danger is too small or remote to be exaggerated...

Tooth Tattoos What Would the Tooth Fairy Think?

David — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:06:40 +0000

The tooth artists at Heward Dental Lab can create custom handpainted artwork on your teeth. They have been in business for over 30 years and state “We have found that there is a lack of true artists in our industry. Our technicians were...

US Media Coverage of Iraq Disappearing

David — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:35:02 +0000

Five years later, the United States remains at war in Iraq, but there are days when it would be hard to tell from a quick look at television news, newspapers and the Internet.

U.S. media attention to Iraq began to wane after the first months of fighting, but as recently as the middle of last year, it was still the most-covered topic. Since then, Iraq coverage by major U.S. news sources has plummeted, to about one-fifth of what it was last summer, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism.