Major quake hits Indonesia

Around 9:45 Monday night an earthquake hit western Indonesia. It was valued at a 7.5 magnitude. A tsunami warning was issued right after the quake, but didn't last very long. However, it still terrified residents and sent them towards high ground. One major reason why people were so cautious for this earthquake was because just a year ago Indonesia was hit with a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. This quake killed over 700 people and destroyed 180,000 buildings. Earthquakes are very common in this area because Indonesia lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

I'm really glad to live in a place where earthquakes aren't a problem. It would be really scary to experience that, but I'm thankful that it wasn't too bad in Indonesia. There were no casualties and property damage wasn't all that high either. Safe to say it could have been a lot worse.
http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39831929/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Economists see weak growth through 2011

The National Association of Business Economics did a recent survey that concluded the economy will grow at a slower rate than expected. Another one of their predictions is that the unemployment rate won't get less than 9.2%. They also don't think that home prices will rise or the deficit will decrease. However, they aren't worried about inflation, deflation, or stagflation. And on a lighter note, they expect businesses to keep up demand for goods.

While I know that this is only a prediction, the next year doesn't sound too promising with our economy. Our population is growing and more people are in need of jobs. Since there won't be very many more offered this next year, how is that going to work? Our country is severely in debt and it doesn't sound like that will change in the next year. It's time we make some drastic changes to hopefully better our economy and get out of this mess. http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39617204/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/