Wednesday, December 1, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 13
Nation/World
Consumers resume spending in time for holidays
The Associated Press.
NEW YORK—It's full speed ahead for the holiday shopping season: Americans' confidence in the economy surged in November, thanks to a sharp rebound on Wall Street, low unemployment rates and growth in personal income.
The sharp rise reported yesterday by the Conference Board came after four straight months of declines in the index that measures consumers' willingness to spend.
"Consumers got over being pessimistic earlier in the fall and are feeling better now, particularly about the future," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G.
Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis.
Consumer sentiment is an important economic indicator because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the nation's overall economic activity.
The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence rose to an unexpectedly strong 135.8 in November from a revised 130.5 in October. The increase left the index only about 4 points below its peak of 139 in June, which was the highest reading in more than 30 years.
Prior to the report, economists had fretted for months that confidence was sinking on fears that the economy was slowing.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates three times this year to try to
keep the economy from overheating and to head off a resurgence of inflation. The rising interest rates shook Wall Street and made buying on credit more expensive.
But during the last month or so, the stock market rebounded. The Nasdaq composite index hit 16 record highs since late October. The Dow Jones industrial average is up almost 10 percent from its low of 10.0197 on Oct. 15.
Also boosting confidence is a strong labor market, with unemployment levels at 29-year lows. And Americans' personal income vaulted ahead in October at the fastest pace in more than five years.
Consumer optimism is good news for
retailers, especially this time of year. Many merchants panicked this fall when confidence was on the decline.
The Conference Board survey said consumers were in a confident, freepending mode, said Lynn Franco, the board's director of consumer research
So far, the holiday season has gotten off to a promising start. Store owners reported big sales gains during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Sales at malls rose a healthy 6.3 percent during the weekend, said the New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers. Online merchants saw sharp gains in sales, some taking five times the number of orders than a year ago.
France makes morning-after-pill available in schools
The Associated Press
PARIS—The French government's decision to make the morning-after pill available to teen-age girls at schools has unleashed a fierce debate in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
Parents and health officials are divided about whether the action will usher in a dangerously nonchalant attitude toward unprotected sex or provide teens with the support some contend is missing at home.
Deputy Education Minister Segolene Royal, a Socialist, said teen-age pregnancies were not just a family matter
but a public health problem that affects 10,000 girls under 18 each year.
Royal said she wanted to respond to the distress and urgency by asking adolescents to go through a school nurse should they fear an unwanted pregnancy.
Once the measure takes effect, in a few weeks, the morning-after pill, NorLevo, will be available through school nurses. The treatment consists of two pills, one taken within 72 hours after sexual intercourse and the second 12 to 24 hours after the first pill.
The pills work by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus — which opponents contend
amounts to abortion by blocking development of a viable embryo.
In the United States, two forms of morning-after pills are available. But while teens can get them at most health or family planning clinics, they need a prescription and, depending on the state, sometimes also must obtain parental permission. Any attempt to distribute them in schools would most certainly face strong opposition.
The NorLevo pill has been available without prescription in France since June, but supporters of distribution in schools argue that young girls may be loath to ask for it in drugstores.
Some French teens welcomed the decision to distribute the pills at schools, saying it bypasses the home and the moral debate surrounding the issue.
"You can't talk to some parents about these things," said Charlotte Reibell, a 15-year-old student at the Lycee Carnot in western Paris. "Going to the school nurse will be like talking to someone anonymous."
"I'm not advising young girls to go out and have sex and then take the pill," said Laure Sauvagnargues, a 19-year-old university student. "But if they are going to make a mistake, then it's better that they can fix it."
Pro-reform students in Iran defy government orders by showing official's speech
The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran—A pro-reform student group defied Iranian authorities yesterday and showed a videotaped speech by a former intelligence official said to have committed suicide after being arrested for the 1998 killings of five dissidents.
The Society of Islamic Students said the Intelligence Ministry and the Office of Military Justice opposed showing the 1996 speech by Saeed Emami, a former deputy intelligence minister.
"We've been receiving calls all day long from Intelligence Ministry and Military Justice officials threatening us and ordering us not to show the film," said a student leader who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We don't care about what they want."
Ministry officials could not be reached for comment. About 500 students gathered at an auditorium at the Science and Technology University in Tehran to watch the videotape of the speech.
Student leaders would not say what they wanted to achieve by showing the video, which shed no light on the killings. Still, so much about Emami is shrouded in mystery that Iranians are interested in anything about him
"It is said that once a mullah gets on a donkey it's impossible to get him off. We supporters of the mullahs have seized power now, and we aren't letting go," he said in one part of the speech, prompting laughs from many in the audience.
Iranians have been demanding to know the full story behind the killings since the government admitted intelligence agents had been involved. Parliament announced yesterday that it would open a probe into the killings next week.
Live365.com
s is not your father's radio It's Big Brother's!!!
*****Wake up, freedom loving citizens!!!*****
It's a new dawn, the thought police are at the door and all they want you to do is visit a nice little web site called Live365.com. Just type in the URL and what at first seems a pleasant diversion is soon an all-consuming sonic passion. Your night, your day, Your wrong your right. And before you know it, you're hypnotized in front in your computer speakers for the umpteenth day in a row and little Joey and Jane America are pledging allegiance to the Canadian flag. Resist temptation! Read on!
Darryl Jackson aka DJ Darryl
aka
THE DONKEY-ATOR aka Rasta D
THIS unlicensed DJ's (Death
Jockey!)
raggae show now has 100,000
desperate addicts.How many more
must fall under his spell before
we awaken from our slumber???
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MYTH 1
"All you're gonna feel is good." Sure, the "tunes" seem good, the DJs seem good, it's all good. !!!!At FIRST!! But then you're hook ed and the turntables turn. Just how "good" are you gonna feel when you have to move what's left of your belongings into a box car?!?
*******Ignore the follow-
ing at your
own perll******:
MYTH 2
"I can quit listening any time I want."
Nail biting, slouching,
"close" dancing--these are things
you can quit. Live365.com is not.
Pretty soon, you'll be skipping work.
Kids will be playing hooky. And
who's that sitting in your barca-
lounger? Why it's Saddam Hussein!
Intelligence sources will "neither confirm nor deny" the so-called insidious insidious Brain-Devolution associated with repeated exposure to said "broadcasting' procedure(Live365.com.)
MYTH 3
"Free music on the Internet is good."
That's just what the Tri-lateral Commission (aka the Illuminati aka the Bilderbergers) wants you to believe. Wake up, Nancy! Free music leads directly to Free Love... and next thing you know you're keeping time to the music with a big dose of the Clap!
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841-4611
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4pm
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Council Travel
622 West 12th Street
Paid for by the citizens against live365.com
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0.