The Best Countries To Do Business In (PHOTOS)

The Best Countries To Do Business In (PHOTOS)

Environmental Protection and Politics : Per Capita Gasoline Consumption by State Correlates with Presidential Election Voting in 2008 with Republican States Using More Gasoline Per Capita and Democratic States Less

Take a look here at environmental protection and Presidential election politics from a different angle and with a new twist.

While testing the new "Google Reader Play" we ran across the Infrastructurist.com by Martha Kang Mcgill, who presents  a gasoline per capita consumption map of the United States by individual State, a map which looks curiously similar to a New York Times map of the 2008 Presidential election results by State in the United States, which we had archived in our memory.

So we compared the two maps.

On the whole, the "red states" (who voted Republican for McCain) use more gasoline per capita than the "blue states" (who voted Democrat for Obama), which can not be a function of wealth, since the Southern states are generally poorer. The colors show the per capita consumption, while the size of a state shows total consumption. Why would this possible per capita gasoline correlation exist?

FDA Regulation of Nanothech : Are Changes in the Offing?

Ricardo Carvajal of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. at the FDA Law Blog asks about FDA’s Regulation of Nanotech: a Change in the Wind?

A New Financial Culture of Stability Foreseen by Germany which Forges Ahead on Reforming the Eurozone

Germany Forges Ahead on Reforming the Euro - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International reports inter alia:

"Berlin means business. In addition to pushing for increased regulation of hedge funds and of the financial markets, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has drafted a list of proposals to revamp the European common currency. From suspending voting rights to national bankruptcy proceedings, the plan is far-reaching....

According to the document, Germany would like to see annual budgets in euro-zone countries undergo a "strict and independent check." Berlin proposes that the job be taken over by the European Central Bank or by a collection of economic research institutes. In addition, the draft proposes stricter penalties for those countries that transgress euro-zone rules. "Euro-zone member states that do not conform to deficit reduction rules should temporarily be disallowed from receiving structural funds," the draft reads. In extreme cases, that funding could be permanently eliminated."

Some of the changes may require amendments of the Lisbon Treaty.