Riding bikes is more of a fashion statement and style now than any time in the past. Men riding motorcycles are considered more masculine by both men and women, and women riding bikes are symbols of beauty, brain and brawn, as many fashionable people feel. There was a time when bikes were considered useful only in certain busy roads or as the mode of conveyance for not-so-rich. But it is no longer so.

However, to make bike-riding more stylish possession of a bike is not enough. Stylish accessories for the rider, like motorcycle helmets, saddlebags, vests, leather jackets, and motorcycle boots are also essential. These not only have to be fashionable and add to your personality and style, but they have to take care of the riders’ safety, protection from harsh weather, etc. Some of the top brands like Xelement manufacture these accessories for motorcycle riders, but they are often sold at sky-high retail prices in many stores. But the topmost online store LeatherUp.com combines style, the latest fashion, top quality and unbelievably their prices are about 50% or more less than the prices at most online or other stores.

You can find hundreds of high-fashion motorcycle saddlebags in their online stores. The designs are superb, and you get the top brands, for men and women, and also in all sizes. So is the case with leather vests. The high volume sales of these brands not only helps them sell at the lowest prices, but also brings in much more repeat customers than any other online stores.

It is quite unbelievable that they sell these high-fashion motorcycle gadgets at about half-price or less. They are able to offer such low prices because they do not have any middlemen, most of their sales are generated by word-of-mouth advertising by satisfied customers, high volume direct purchases from the original manufacturers, top-grade customer care and high level of customer satisfaction.

It is no surprise to find the results of the new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing more Americans are going hungry now than ever before in the past. In fact poverty existed in USA for a long time and the victims of poverty being some sections of society who were considered insignificant by the “consumptive US” who were obscenely rich and the political decision making being underplayed by them, no one cared. But now the problem is acute, and it is worsened by the increasing number of jobless, crossing double digit, as a direct result of recession, everyone seems to be concerned. In fact, no one can live happily after keeping one in six people hungry. Also it is worthwhile to note that on Monday, President Obama called the food security report unsettling.

This USDA study showed that 49.1 million Americans in 16.4 million U.S. households experienced “food insecurity” in 2008. This is definitely a cause for worry as it was only 36.2 million people who were victims of hunger in 2007.

Headlines in the leading media read, “49 Million Americans report a lack of food”, “1 in 6 went hungry in America in 2008”, “America’s economic pain brings hunger pangs”, and similar equally unsettling headlines followed by full-length stories. ‘Food-stamp’, promise of ‘more jobs’, ‘stimulus packages’ and assurances do not seem to have any effect on the worsening situation.

There is a paradox too, as if you look at the people seen around on the street today; you will be tempted to ask, “Has America a hunger problem or an obesity problem?” Interestingly, on the day of USDA report, Kenneth Thorpe, chairman of the department of health policy and management at Emory University in Atlanta, released a survey that showed ‘if the present trends continue, 43% of Americans will be obese by 2018’.

A past USDA report, Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, said “38.2 million Americans live in households that suffer directly from hunger and food insecurity, including nearly 14 million children. That figure is up from 31 million Americans in 1999”. This in fact shows that food in security is not a direct result of recession but it has been building up over the years in the US.

Watch the video above, and form your own opinion on hunger!

Every season has its own charm. As seasons change, we make many changes in our lives, including lifestyles, clothing, planning vacations, and even in our work environments. But every season brings along with it its own challenges to homeowners as regards home security and safety of the family.

As we plan everything according to seasons and other situations, burglars too plan their victims according to the changes in seasons. So, it is very important that we plan home security and take appropriate actions to protect ourselves, our homes and families.

Most people like winters, with that fluffy stuff, snowflakes flying around and getting deposited everywhere. But it can also get piled up several feet thick on rooftops and affect structural strength of our homes, and at times cause roof collapses. A real emergency, when we do not expect anything untoward. It can be lethal or potentially dangerous for life and property. Are we prepared for such winter security? In situations like this a home security system like ADT alarms becomes indispensable.

In winters, many people plan their vacations, or plan their trips to visit friends and dear ones. And most often their homes are kept locked, unattended and without home alarm systems. For example, a driveway left unplowed while you’re on vacation is like a neon sign to burglars. What happens if they break in while you are away? If your home is protected by installing latest systems like ADT monitoring, the moment someone breaks in, you and the local security agencies, including police, are alerted.

So, every season requires special consideration when it comes to home safety. Therefore, instead of leaving anything to chance, it is better to take the time to prepare, and help your family remain protected 365 days a year. ADT systems are fully monitored, 24 hours, throughout the year. They monitor your home with the help of state of the art technology, highly trained security professionals and a whole network of security arrangements. The ADT home alarm is simple to operate and maintain and highly trained installers and technicians install them and keep them running flawlessly for you. And it is so affordable that it easily comes in your monthly budget. So, don’t take a chance this winter!

General Motors Co (GM) sources said in Detroit that it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection through September 30, 2009, but they say it is far better than in previous quarters.

GM said it will begin repaying $6.7 billion in US government loans with a $1.2 billion payment in December 2009. GM is expected to pay back the loans only by 2015, but the current GM management says it can pay off the full amount by 2010. GM generated $3.3 billion more cash than it spent for the third quarter, far better than the $10 billion the company lost in the first quarter of 2009.

However, the third quarter financial results of General Motors do not comply with US accounting standards, but GM expects to meet the standards when it reports full-year results for fiscal 2009. GM accountants are now revaluing assets and liabilities, pension and health care costs that came from bankruptcy and the new contract with the United Auto Workers union.

GM entered bankruptcy protection with $94.7 billion in debt, but in a very short period the debt was reduced to only $17 billion, including the $6.7 billion it owed to the U.S. government. The US government has given GM a total of $52 billion, including $45.3 billion in exchange for a 61% equity stake in the company.

On July 10, 2009 GM emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and is now majority owned by the United States Treasury and Canadian government, with the US government investing in GM under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In the first and second quarters of 2009 customers stayed away from GM products on account of doubts about the future of the company as they feared GM wouldn't be around to honor warranties and service their vehicles.

Its third-quarter revenue totaled $26.4 billion, an improvement over the first quarter when revenue dropped nearly 50% from the same period in 2008 to $22.4 billion. Revenue increased due to sales boosts in July and August from the US government's "cash for clunkers" incentive scheme. The revenue increase is also due to GM’s higher sales in China.

The better showing of financial results also was because of lower debt payments. GM paid $250 million in interest for quarter three, much lower than in previous quarters when the company was weighed down by a huge debt of almost $95 billion that has since been cut by more than 80%.

Although the company reported positive cash flow for the third quarter, it does not expect that to continue into the fourth quarter because of the government loan repayments and other commitments. "We have significantly more work to do, but today's results provide evidence of the solid foundation we are building for the new GM," CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

GM plans to focus its business on its four core US brands - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. In Europe, following a period of negotiation to sell a majority stake in its Opel and Vauxhall brands, GM decided to retain full ownership of these operations.

GM's global presence helped the company to show better results, especially in China, where its sales of 478,000 in the third quarter increased 6% over the second quarter. GM said its global market share was 11.9 percent in the third quarter, up three percentage points from the first half of the year. The US share stayed flat for the quarter at 19.5%.

GM previously led in global sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 to 2007, longer than any other automaker. The global economic slowdown hit just as Japan's car makers were taking market share from US firms. Toyota overtook GM as the world's biggest car maker by sales in 2007. GM is now predicting "modest growth" in the global car industry in 2010.

General Motors was founded on September 16, 1908, in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for Buick, and then controlled by William C. Durant. It was on a growth ladder through acquisitions and tie-ups, though Durant lost and regained the company and changed hands again. There was an unprecedented growth of GM into the early 1980s when it employed 349,000 workers and operated 150 assembly plants. In 2008, GM sold 8.35 million cars and trucks globally.

GM said its improved performance was due to new products including the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car, and the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain midsize crossover vehicles. The company's top selling brands through October were the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and Impala full size car.

GM also has paid $700 million on a $1.3 billion loan from the German government to keep GM's Opel division in operation. A large part of the Opel repayment came from GM's US-generated funds, while the remaining came from Opel funds. Incidentally, GM changed its mind over the sale of Opel division earlier this month.

GM has been working for long on alternative-technology vehicles, and has recently led the industry with ethanol burning flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on either ethanol (E85) or gasoline. GM has also been in research and prototype development of hydrogen powered vehicles, to be produced in early 2010 and it was the first American company to release an all-electric automobile. GM's largest overseas subsidiary, General Motors do Brasil, started producing flexible fuel vehicles since its inception in the Brazilian market in 2003. Like other flex-fuel vehicles, GM's flex fuel cars and light-duty trucks are optimized to run on any mix of E20-E25 gasoline and up to 100% hydrous ethanol fuel (E100).

A career, a profession or a job is very important for every one of us. Even the royals or people with huge inheritances to their credit have to work, simply because if they do not manage their assets efficiently, they will be hopeless losers in no time. But for the rest of us, including those who hunt for jobs, finding not only the right job, but a job that we enjoy performing is important. If we do not like what we do, no matter how paying the job might be, we would soon become insincere to our jobs and, as a result, possibly fired by the employers. So the most important key is a job that we love performing, and at the same time paying well for what we do.

A better insight into the above aspects can be found by reading career advice articles written by A. Harrison Barnes, the founder and CEO of CareerMission.com, that owns over 100 job search websites and various other professional companies and services. Whether you need a job right now or not, whether you are looking for a change or not, it pays to read each and every word written by Barnes, simply because he writes with a rare insight about the whole concept of jobs and professions, enriched by his commendable educational, professional and entrepreneurial backgrounds.

It appealed to me greatly when Barnes wrote about people who resent their jobs just because they have to do their jobs. Then what about people who are worried because they are unemployed, or fired out of their jobs, and are desperate to find a job? The unemployment or underemployment is one that many people are either already facing, or are afraid of facing sooner or later, especially because of continuing retrenchments caused by recession, even though the media supported by government statistics tell us the economy is looking up.

I would like to mention that the whole concept of careers and jobs Barnes write about are not for only times of recession, but for all times. Additionally, Barnes being an entrepreneur himself with over 100 websites related to careers and job search in all perceivable spheres of jobs and professions, it is highly recommended to visit his sites, read his articles, subscribe to his newsletters, etc.

In one of his articles in his personal blog, Barnes asks the pertinent question whether you should be waiting for announcement of jobs, or is it better that you should search for jobs. He explains that the beaten path of waiting for jobs to be announced and then applying for it makes you face more severe competition as most job hunters will be applying for it. In contrast, if you search for jobs, it is more likely that you will find the perfect job that suits you and pays you well. Barnes’ blog contains lots of highly useful career advice about job search and how to find a job that really suits you and you enjoy doing.

In 1971 US military scientists detonated Cannikin, a five megaton nuclear bomb, beneath the Alaskan island of Amchitka to test the geographical impact of a huge underground nuclear blast. As this video clip shows the explosion caused the ground to rise 20 feet and led to the formation of a new lake.

Amchitka is a volcanic island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It was selected by the US Atomic Energy Commission as the site for underground nuclear tests. Out of three such tests, Cannikin in on November 6, 1971, estimates for the precise yield ranging from 4.4 to 5.2 megatons, or an explosive force equivalent almost 400 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. The explosion created a new lake, over a mile wide and a seismic shock of 7.0 on the Richter scale, causing rock falls and turf slides of a total of 35,000 square feet (3,300 square m). A number of small tectonic events occurred in the following weeks, some as high as 4.0 on the Richter scale. According to wildlife surveys by the University of Fairbanks, 700 to 2,000 sea otters were killed by overpressures in the Bering Sea as a direct result of the explosion.

The note at YouTube says, “Nearly three hundred deceased rock greenling fish were found offshore, and subsequent catches of rock sole declined substantially. The remains of over 10,000 three-spined sticklebacks and 700 Dolly Varden were found in the island's lakes, streams, and ponds. Perhaps 1,000 sea otters were killed, their skulls fractured by the force of the blast driving their eyeballs through the bones behind their sockets. Harlequin ducks were found with their backs broken and their legs driven into their bodies by the force of the explosion."

With the US Geological Survey (USGS) reporting that a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake hitting the Banda Sea, near the Maluku islands to the east of East Timor, it calls for more urgent steps for earthquake preparedness on the part of the Indonesian government as well as the governments of the nations of the area of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Such measures are more urgent for Indonesia as the country lies between the Pacific Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores and Timor. It may be noted that the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake just off the coast of Sumatra was located within the Alpide belt.

The Ring of Fire is a 40,000 km horseshoe shaped area with a series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs and volcanic belts that was rocked regularly by tectonic plate movements. The area has 452 volcanoes, and over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes are situated here.

About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 80% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. More disturbingly, the next most seismic region, with around 6% of earthquakes and 17% of the world's largest earthquakes, the Alpide belt, starts from Java and Sumatra and extends through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic.

The combined effect of Ring of Fire and the Alpide Belt, coupled with seemingly more frequent occurrences of quakes in the region (in September dozens were killed by a tremor off Java, while a quake which hit Sumatra left more than 1,000 people dead) is a strong indication that the government should implement policies to construct quake-resistant structures, build infrastructure to reach quake hit areas immediately with emergency rescue services, and review the existing high-rise and other vulnerable buildings to see how far they can withstand major tremors.

It may be noted that in the recent quake that hit Sumatra killing over a thousand people, rescue workers could not reach even the worst hit areas in cities for weeks. Equipments for removal of collapsed structures and rubble were ridiculously inadequate.

Luckily, in Saturday's earthquake that struck mostly uninhabited areas there were not immediate news of injuries or damage. According to Seismologists the earthquake was too deep for there to be a tsunami risk, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4% between July and September, according to official figures released by the British Government, indicating that UK is still in recession. There was a contraction by 5.2% compared to the same period in 2008, and the net figure would be 5.9% from its peak before the recession began.

Since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1950s, it is the first time that GDP (gross domestic product) of UK has contracted for six consecutive quarters in a row. Analysts consider that the recession in the UK is the longest since modern records began in the 1950s.

A quarterly GDP growth of 0.2% was expected as figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. But the bad performance in retail sales in September and a 2.5% decline in industrial output in August made the situation worse.

soon as the GDP figures were released the pound (£) fell sharply in the market. It was down by 1.6% against the dollar at $1.6339, and down 1.7% against the Euro at 1.0878 Euros.

The sharp decline in the services sector was to blame, with the distribution, catering and hotels sectors performing badly. UK's reliance on service sector, financial services in particular, may be the reason why it is still in recession. Many millions of people are deeply concerned to see that Britain is still in recession six months after Germany, France and Japan have all come out of recession. But the decline in UK continues, with no immediate recovery in sight.

From the times of the Industrial Revolution, with a boost in heavy industries, particularly shipbuilding, coal mining, steel production, textiles and general manufacturing, the British Empire created an overseas market and continued to dominate international trade in the 19th century. But with industrialization in other countries and the economic decline after two world wars, UK began to lose its competitive edge throughout the 20th century.

Manufacturing still remains a significant part of UK economy, but accounts for only a minor part of it with the service sector now giving over 70% of GDP. The service sector is dominated by financial services, especially banking and insurance which are the worst hit by global recession. It becomes more pronounced as London is the world's largest financial centre with the London Stock Exchange, and other major international business and commerce entities based in London.

The UK government’s quantitative easing program of £175 billion will have been spent by next in the next week at the current rate of disbursal. In this context, David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce said, "Continued intervention - including help for businesses to access finance, and incentives to promote investment - is still needed." Financial analysts were worrying that the decline has continued despite the stimulus measures that the Bank of England have introduced.

Interestingly quantitative easing is the British central bank's policy of printing money to buy bonds from banks and other companies to stimulate the economy. The worst GDP figures may compel the Bank of England to extend quantitative easing for some more time.

On 23 January 2009, UK Government figures showed that the UK was officially in recession for the first time since 1991, starting in the final quarter of 2008. It was accompanied by rising unemployment which increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009. The unemployment rate among 18 to 24 year-olds has risen from 11.9% to 17.3%.

The UK has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world, total defense spending currently accounting for 2.5% of total national GDP, and as of July 2009, UK's government debt was 56.8% of GDP, unusually higher figures for a healthy economy.

One of the measures expected to be a particular help in the final quarter of the year is the change in VAT. It is due to return to 17.5% from 15% at the beginning of January.

Based on market exchange rates, the UK is today the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Europe after Germany and France. There is every indication that there is no fast route to recovery for the British economy, and it is a cause of worry for all, even outside UK.

As you are aware there were a series of natural calamities and disasters in the Asia Pacific region recently. There are thousands of families who have lost everything. You can help them with whatever little money you can. For this, the British Red Cross has launched an appeal to support emergency relief operations.

• Typhoon Ketsana slammed into the Philippines on 26 September, killing at least 240 people and affecting more than 1.9 million.
• On 29 September, the typhoon moved west to Vietnam.
• Typhoon Ketsana has also affected Cambodia and Laos.
• On 29 September, a strong earthquake followed by a tsunami hit the Samoan islands, in the Pacific. This was shortly followed by another earthquake on 30 September off the west coast of Indonesia.

Your small donation will support Red Cross National Societies responding on the ground. Please give what you can today to help families who have lost everything.

This is how your donation helps:

• £10 could provide three blankets for people left without shelter
• £25 could provide a family of five with food parcels for one month
• £35 could provide two families with kitchen sets to prepare food

CLICK here to learn more and to donate to British Red Cross.