Discussions in Congress have reached an impasse on the budget cuts, Democrats opposing large reductions that will be adopted by Republicans and increasing taxes. Standard & Poor’s, which downgraded the U.S. in August, believes that for now no longer appropriate to consider a second relegation.

Almost half of the reductions would be 1.2 trillion on defense, and some politicians seek to identify alternatives to the drastic cuts that would support the Pentagon.

The current program budget cuts introduced by the Bush administration to expire at the end of 2012. Adoption of a new program is the most important for the U.S. economy over the medium term, Moody’s believes, because it would limit the growth of state debt and GDP, it can enter a downward spiral in the middle of the decade.

“High interest rates of loan over an extended period may increase the fiscal challenges facing the French Government amid weakening growth prospects, with negative implications of credit,” Moody’s warned in its weekly perspectives.
The Agency rating referred to the French bond risk premium rising to ten years behind the Germans, whose differential reached the 200 basis points last week and pointed out that this is “a record of the era of the euro”.
The situation threatens the stable outlook of the France of AAA debt rating and even their level, warned Moody’s, according to the DPA news agency.Upon hearing the words of the rating agency, the French stock market benchmark index, the CAC 40 fell 2.41 per cent.
Moody’s had already threatened to France in October on a negative note in the review of next January, and now the French public debt amounts to 86 per cent of GDP, the highest level of the euro area countries qualified with AAA.
This adds the “error” of Standard & Poor’s last week that sent a statement communicating the cut to the France note, to then roll back. The damage was irreparable because markets discounted that, sooner or, the rating will remove you the rating AAA (zero).

Anne Moody recalls her childhood experience in Centerville, which reveals the full extent to which racism was widely spread in her community. Basically, the racism was a norm in her community. Therefore, cases of violent attacks on African Americans were not rare and Anne Moody recalls the lynching of teenage black boy who was lynched for presumably whistling at a white woman. The lynching evoked the protest in the mind and soul of Anne Moody but when she attempted to find the explanation or reasons why the boy was lynched no one could answer her. Moreover, even when she asked African Americans about the lynching and its causes, they avoid to answer her because this subject was a sort of taboo that reveals the deep-rooted fear of African Americans in face of possible punishment from the part of the whites who held the dominant position in the society. In addition, the police was under the control of the whites and often police officers used violence to oppress any attempt from the part of African Americans to stand for their rights and human dignity. Remarkably, even Anne’s mother refused to help her daughter to understand what actually had happened. When Anne asked her mother about the NAACP she got the only answer that she would better never mentioned this word in front of any white person.

Anne Moody describes a paradoxical situation, when African Americans were oppressed severely but they did not even attempt to rebel against the existing social order. In this respect, the recall of Anne Moody about the attempt of two African American women to violate the rules when they waited for a bus in the whites-only area they were about to be beaten by the mob of whites. Obviously, African Americans could not afford such a pressure and only a few civil rights activists such as Anne Moody could rebel and lead the civil rights struggle.

The problem of interracial relations was traditionally one of the most serious problems that persisted throughout centuries in relations between different races and ethnic groups. The essence of this problem heavily relies on the existing inequality between races, which lead to the gap between socio-economic position and opportunities of the dominant race compared to other races within society.

In this respect, it is possible to refer to the contemporary system of education which proves to be absolutely ineffective and unequal. Today, the overwhelming majority of African-Americans, Latin Americans, and other deprived groups have little opportunities to get a normal education, while the perspective of the higher education is extremely vague and it is practically an unachievable goal for an African-American from the inner city. Moreover, the existing system of public schools is absolutely ineffective because it cannot provide students with a good education of a high quality.

At this point, race plays a very important role because, speaking about contemporary public schools, it is hardly possible to avoid the question of segregation. It is not a secret that many public schools are predominantly non-white. What is meant here is the fact that students attending publics are basically representative of African-American community.

The development of Civil Rights movement became extremely powerful in the 1960s, when the movement had united minorities, especially African American community. The oppressed population raised the civil movement against the violation of basic human rights and limitation of liberties of minorities. People could not stand the permanent discrimination and oppression from the part of the dominant group, which was represented by white Americans. In such a context, mass media and leaders of the Civil Rights movement played a particularly important role in the emergence and success of the movement.

The attitude of the American society toward the Civil Rights movement evoked a strong opposition, from the dominant white majority. In this respect, mass media played a particularly significant role because prior to the 1960s, they supported the position of the white majority, while problems of minorities, including African Americans were ignored. In such a context, it was quite difficult to develop the Civil Rights movement under the permanent pressure of the authorities and media which criticized severely any attempt of African Americans and other minorities to defend their basic human rights and liberties. Their struggle for equal rights and liberties was presented by media as the threat to the existing social order and the organized Civil Rights movement was presented by media as an attempt to organize the movement against the legal order established in the USA.

However, the Civil Rights movement was not viewed as a radical, revolutionary movement. Instead, its representatives were positioned as marginalized people, who attempted to get some personal benefits from the organization of civil resistance to existing laws and social order. At the same time, often representatives of the Civil Rights movement were positioned as potential offenders who claimed to the violent counteraction.

The 1960s became a turning point in the Civil Rights movement. The American society and authorities understood that changes were needed to avoid the ongoing social tension and potential outbreak of riots and mass social disobedience. In this regard, the contribution of Anne Moody can hardly be underestimated because she carried on her civil rights activities in spite of pressure from the part of the public and her own family. To put it more precisely, Anne’s mother attempted to persuade Anne to stop her civil rights activities but her mother acted apparently on the ground of her fear of the oppression from the part of whites. Like many other African Americans, Anne’s mother just did not believe in the possibility of winning the struggle against the whites. At the same time, her fear was justified by her experience and Anne Moody had learned why her mother was so afraid of whites. In fact, Anne Moody knew of Ku Klux Klan black lists which were a sort of sentence to African Americans and proponents of the Civil Rights movement. In actuality, that meant that Anne Moody being on the black list of Ku Klux Klan could be lynched exactly like a fourteen-years-old boy whom she saw being lynched in her childhood. Moreover, there were instances, when political and civil rights movement leaders were assassinated as was the case of Kennedy, Medgar, Evers, and others. Hence, the risk of being assassinated was real. Nevertheless, Anne Moody carried on her struggle.

Thus, in her book “Coming of Age”, Anne Moody reveals the fact that African Americans, especially the elderly generation were vulnerable to the overwhelming fear which simply paralyzed them and prevented them from undertaking any civil action against the discrimination and oppression from the part of the whites. At the same time, Anne Moody was a representative of the new, younger generation of African Americans, who were ready to challenge conventional norms, to challenge the existing social order and to struggle for their rights until the end. In such a way, Anne Moody had shown that the Civil Rights movement had a great future ahead.

1. A Certified Gossiper

            Even during official meetings, they are the ones who spend more time talking about negative things outside of agenda. It could become an unstoppable habit. If your boss has tendencies to become an extreme gossiper, you better tell him in advance before he gets worse. It may be a risk on your part buy letting him to get worse is a lot more dangerous. Being an extreme gossiper could ruin his credibility. So, telling him about that has a good impact on you and your boss.

2. Indecisive

A boss is supposed to have excellent decision-making skills. If you are not so lucky to have that kind of boss, how annoying it could be. They are the ones who have no definite stand on any particular issue concerning the team as a whole. They easily get satisfied with what other people would tell them. How did they even become a boss if they are not good at making decisions?

3. Very Messy

            Bosses who are messy are as annoying as rats. Their tables are covered with piles of untouched papers, leftovers, etc. They tend to accumulate more on their tables until they could no longer find immediately those files they need. Maybe they depend much on the janitors but they need to at least learn to discipline themselves to pay a little attention on fixing their table top. Otherwise, they have to start finding their own dirty dungeon rather than working in the office.

4. Attention Graber

            They are head turners who always want the attention from other people including the higher bosses, his colleagues and even his subordinates. It is very easy for them to criticize other people’s faults. Their favorite hobby is stirring the clear water. And most especially, they are the ones responsible of making unnecessary noise in the company.

5. Super moody

            Sometimes they greet you with morning sunshine; sometimes they slam the door in front of you. You can’t expect where their mood brings them. A few times they seem to be so kind. But most of the time, they are extremely devilish. Performance wise, they too are inconsistent.

Your boss is a human too. Thus, it is just normal that they behave like humans. They too are not perfect anyways. But considering that many people are expecting their leadership, they need to trim down their bad habits to become a better boss.

You are not alone, but a lot of us, be it teenagers or adults, suffer from mood swings in recent days. And trust me, this is not your fault alone. With increasing competition, constantly fighting for surviving in the race and reaching the top, the tension about meeting deadlines and with many more complexities of life, we sometimes loose control over ourselves. As a result we behave in a way which we ourselves know is wrong and our partners or companions would suffer from that. But if we give a little thought over our mood swings, we can take control over it rather than letting our mood taking control over us. Too frequent mood swings is also not good for our mental well-being. Here are few tips which you can practice in case you suffer from this syndrome.

• If you feel that you are in a very bad mood, then instead of hurting someone by your words, better you keep your mouth shut and let yourself cool down. You will not have a control over your words and would unknowingly hurt even may be someone you care for and would regret later. You can later explain the reason of your silence.
• Try to listen some soothing music. Music has been proved to have some calming effect on our brain and mind. Let all the negative energy go out of your mind and flow with the tunes. After this session you will wake up very refreshed.
• Go and get a relaxing spa treatment. Soak in the goodness of a head massage or a body massage. If your body gets relaxed and rested, your mind will be relaxed too because as it has been always said that a tired body can not have a fresh mind.
• Try and do something that you really really love and enjoy to do. It can be cooking, gardening, stitching or even vacuuming your house. Make the environment suitable for your job and start rolling!
• Try and think positive even when you feel that you are the least-loved and least-wanted person in the whole world. Push away all the negative thoughts coming your way and think about those people who loves you and really cares for you like your parents, your best friend, the love of your life. This will definitely make you feel good.
• If you can’t put your energy in doing anything while you are feeling extreme low, then try to get some sleep. While you will sleep, your body and mind both will be at rest which will help in refreshing both your body and brain. When you get up you will feel much more positive about life and yourself.  

These are the things that I generally do while my mood goes through a turmoil. And honestly, these have helped me a lot. That is why I thought of sharing this with you. I hope my friends here will also get benefited.

SAD is very common in the northern hemisphere, and the most extreme cases are in the north of Scandinavia, where is dark almost 24 hours a day. People near the Equator or in the south do not tend to have the disorder as there is no lack of sunlight. People who move from a warm country to a cold one, tend to have this disorder in the first years, they then get accustomed to the winter and shorter days, or are so affected by the disorder that they go back home. It is said that 12 million people are affected by the disorder in Europe, but the real numbers can be much higher as many people have never heard of this disorder before.

There is treatment for SAD. Artificial light is a simple solution. Doctors may also prescribe antidepressants for more extreme cases. When nothing works, the solution is to move to a place where there is sunny climate year round.

Then there are the rest of us. For us this time of year is pretty damn hard. There are many reasons the rest of us do not bubble at the thought of “holiday time”. Let me bore you with them:

This time of year is all about Christmas.

Not everyone celebrates Christmas. We all know about Santa but not many of us that aren’t Jewish know about Hanukkah. Even fewer know about Kwanzaa or Boxing Day. If you celebrate one of these other holidays chances are you are very annoyed with the whole *Christ*mas thing.

S.A.D.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, or winter depression. Feeling depressed due to lack of daylight exposure. Daylight exposure has been linked to seretonin production and melatonin synthesis. Many feel a slight downturn in their moods while others are deeply effected.

Some people just don’t celebrate Christmas.

For whatever reason. But you can’t just not celebrate can you? For many of the holiday-lovers, it doesn’t matter what you are festive about, just as long as you ARE festive. If you choose to bypass this holiday cheerfulness there must be something wrong with you. There is always many questions and sometimes hurt feelings.

As the time of year for family, it is also the time of year to be hyper-aware of missing family members.

That first “holiday time” after the death of a family member is the most difficult. You can’t help but stare at the place where they used to sit during dinner and tend to remember all the silly/wonderful things that person used to do with the holiday ornaments.

If you are like me, you are chronically depressed and this time of year is the hardest because everyone else is so damn happy and they can’t understand why YOU aren’t.

Constantly being assaulted by bell-ringers, fat men in red suits, well-wishers, and claustrophobia-inducing family members is really trying. Sure, you may put up lights and get a few gifts….because if you didn’t all the questions you would have to answer.

For the most part, the holiday-lovers far outweigh the holiday-dreaders. For a while I chose to not celebrate. I got a few presents for close friends and family and basically holed myself up. By buying the presents I alleviated the need for answering any tough questions, effectively buying my peace. I even joined the holiday-lovers camp for a few years. It is pretty nice over there actually. But this year I am fully in the dread camp. And I cannot afford to buy my peace. Yes, I’m depressed and lonely, and want “holiday time” to be over with. Everyday tasks feel so difficult.

And you? Where do you stand in all of this? Are you the one with the singing Santa on your front lawn or are you nailing your shutters closed and having your groceries mailed to you?