In school probably everyone might have heard about the “principle of communicating vessels”. In case not everyone remembers, let’s recapitulate: when you join two pipes and fill one with water, no matter how much and how fast you fill in on one end, you will notice the fluid level to be exactly the same at the other end too.

Imports and exports are actually a bit like these communicating vessels, meaning that if you curtail one you will, all other things being equal, also curtail the other and vice versa.

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Since 9/11, traveling by plane is a nightmare. It is amazing how Americans have allowed themselves to be humiliated, strip searched, wanded, puffed, etc. so the politically correct Homeland Security can show they’re not racist by profiling the very people who should be profiled…Muslims!

By Aaron Smith and Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer. November 27, 2009

Dubai World’s hesitancy to pay off its debt sparks a selloff in Asia. European markets pare earlier losses.

Are things really getting better? Last quarter, the economy grew by the largest amount since the summer of 2007, but there are signs that things are still getting worse.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. stocks were set to open lower Friday, following sharp declines in Asian markets, as Dubai World and its debt woes threatened Wall Street’s confidence.

Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures plummeted, with Dow futures down 222 points, hinting that stocks could take a dive during their abbreviated session on Black Friday.

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer Vijay Joshi
SINGAPORE – President Barack Obama on Sunday told Myanmar’s junta to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during an unusual face-to-face interaction with a top leader of the ruling military.

Obama delivered the strong message during his summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, which included Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama called on Myanmar to free his fellow Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and end oppression of minorities.

“Obama brought that up directly with that government,” Gibbs said, indicating that the president addressed Thein Sein.

Nov 9, 8:35 AM (ET) By JANE WARDELL

LONDON (AP) – Kraft Foods Inc. made a 9.8 billion pound ($16.4 billion) cash-and-stock offer for Cadbury PLC on Monday – an effectively lower bid than one previously knocked back by the British candy maker.

The hostile offer values each Cadbury share at 717 pence, less than Kraft’s previous rebuffed approach of 745 pence.

Kraft said the new price “represents a substantial premium to the unaffected share price of Cadbury,” referring to a surge in the British company’s stock since the U.S. company’s previous bid was made public in September.

Analysts had said that Kraft, the maker of Oreo cookies, Nabisco crackers and its namesake cheese, needed to sweeten that offer to have any chance of success.

Oct 11, 3:47 PM (ET) By RICHARD LARDNER

WASHINGTON (AP) – It was chaos during the early morning assault last year on a remote U.S. outpost in Afghanistan and Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips’ M4 carbine had quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn’t work either.

When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a “critical moment” during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of being overrun by nearly 200 insurgents.

Jul 8, 8:16 AM (ET) By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) – A widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and other U.S. government agencies, according to officials inside and outside the government.

Sites in South Korea were also affected, and South Korean intelligence officials believe the attack was carried out by North Korean or pro-Pyongyang forces.

The U.S. government Web sites, which also included those of the Federal Trade Commission and the Transportation Department, were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week. South Korean Internet sites began experiencing problems Tuesday.

U.S. officials refused to publicly discuss details of the cyber attack.

Jul 7, 11:14 AM (ET) By BEN FELLER

MOSCOW (AP) – Working to turn Russia from antagonist to ally, President Barack Obama asked the Russian people Tuesday to “forge a lasting partnership” with the U.S., but he acknowledged after talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that on divisive issues there won’t be “a meeting of the minds anytime soon.”

Obama was wrapping up a two-day stay in Russia, during which he and President Dmitry Medvedev said they were determined by year’s end to negotiate a new nuclear arms treaty that would slash both country’s arsenals by about one-third.

After breakfast at Putin’s country home, Obama sped back to central Moscow to tell the graduating class of the prestigious New Economic School that the U.S. and Russia were not “destined to be antagonists.”