I don't think an ebook reader will be my choice for Christmas.
Actualy I don't have an e-book reader.
Whould I buy one? - No, I don't like reading on screen. I love having the book in my hand, and have my notes in it. It helps me build my long term memory.
Sorry I got to pass this one.
Protesters in Rome torch cars after Italian Prime Minister narrowly survived two confidence votes Tuesday. (Giampiero Sposito/Reuters)
Violent protests have erupted in Rome after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won back-to-back confidence votes in parliament, narrowly surviving one of his toughest political challenges yet.
Riot police used tear gas to try to stop angry demonstrators from torching cars, smashing windows and clashing with police.
Inside parliament's lower house, tensions boiled over as lawmakers pushed and shoved each other, forcing a brief suspension in the voting.
Berlusconi won Tuesday's votes in the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
In the Senate, he won by a vote of 162-135. In the second and most dramatic of Tuesday's votes, Berlusconi survived a confidence motion in the lower house by three votes.
If he had lost, Berlusconi would have been forced to resign, halfway through the five-year term of parliament.
The parliamentary showdown followed a spate of sex scandals and a dramatic fallout with his one-time closest ally, Gianfranco Fini. The breakup could have deprived Berlusconi of a majority in the lower house, where the outcome was expected to hang on a few undecided lawmakers.
Fini, the co-founder of Berlusconi's centre-right People of Freedom party who abandoned the coalition last summer, predicted the premier would lose.
Berlusconi had said he was confident he would win both votes.
© The Canadian Press, 2010
Berlusconi's time is over. He should resign and leave the torch to someone that can bring italians's confidence back.
EDMONTON — NDP leader Jack Layton used a downtown Edmonton eco-boutique as the backdrop Sunday to illustrate the “predatory” nature of credit card companies he accused of taking advantage of Christmas shoppers and business owners.
“We’re here because consumers and small businesses are under attack from predatory credit card companies,” said Layton, who made a swing through Edmonton to attend a Christmas party for supporters of NDP candidate Lewis Cardinal.
Layton said retail sales during the Christmas season can make or break many small business owners, who face a list of fees and charges from credit card companies that affect both their profitability and viability.
Allison MacLean has experienced the impact of such charges first-hand. She owns Carbon Environmental Boutique, the site of Sunday’s news conference. The store has been open for two years now and sells environmentally-friendly products that include everything from paint to flooring to bed linens to toys. MacLean said the store actually stopped carrying one credit card because the fees were so high.
“We get charged when we ring a purchase through on a credit card and we get charged again when we have to do a refund,” said MacLean. “Honestly, credit card fees and merchant fees and rental fees for the unit are my second biggest expense. It’s not in the hundreds of dollars, it’s in the thousands, so anything that can be done to lower the fees will help small businesses.”
Canadian consumers, meanwhile, says Layton, are carrying more personal debt than at any point in the country’s history, yet many are unable to pay even the monthly interest fees on their credit cards and end up accruing penalties which send them deeper and deeper into debt.
“Coming out of this Christmas season, it’s going to be even tougher for families,” said Layton.
In the meantime, says Layton, banks and credit card companies are making record profits and giving away half of those profits in bonuses to CEOs and managers. He also accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government of giving “massive tax cuts” to these same companies, while at the same time putting a federal tax on products Canadians need.
“He doesn’t get it,” says Layton. “The banks alone are going to get $800 million of tax breaks on Jan. 1st of this year and the consumers are going to find themselves with bills that have interest rates at 18 per cent, even higher if they’re penalized for missing a payment.”
Layton says the NDP wants every credit card company to be required to offer a “basics” credit card at five per cent above prime to allow Canadian consumers a better chance to get out of debt. For retailers, the party wants to see a more open process so that small businesses wouldn’t be “gouged” by contracts and penalties.
“I think it’s important for consumers to know that when these banks send you these fancy credit cards, it’s often the small retailers in your neighbourhood that end up having to pay extra to the credit card company for you to get these various bonuses and points,” said Layton. “I think if people knew that they wouldn’t want them.”
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
When it will ever stop? None is ever thinking how to relief the end buyers. Canadians are increasing the debt cause we can't give up on our "entitlements". As Layton said, Canadians need credit cards with lower intererst rates.
We need to change our spending habits and spend what we can afford, so that the CEOs and managers of credit card companies feel the pinch.
Olgen
Carney warns cheap money won't last forever
Bank of Canada governor warned Monday households and businesses could face a “brutal reckoning” if they don’t prepare for a return to higher interest ...
1 hour ago
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Word of wisdom: "Rivers don't always bring stones", meaning save some money for emergency times, and don't go crazy during Holidays!!! I find it hard to recover after this time until summer time comes...
Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
Well my answer is - Yes - better have loved and lost and feel alive.
