Six years ago, lawyer-banker-scholar Charles Morris wrote a prophetic book - 'Two-Trillion-Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High-Rollers and the Great Credit Crunch' - that foresaw the 2008 Great Recession before it clobbered America and the world. Now Morris has reversed course and sees good times ahead. His forthcoming book, 'Comeback,' predicts that surging U.S. energy independence will bring a buoyant rise in American manufacturing and jobs.

Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and gas). Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms (reducing or increasing the number of electrons in them), thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions.

Reserve Deputy Probation Officers are deputized volunteers who have received special training in order to assist Probation staff in a wide range of supervised responsibilities, that include direct involvement with juvenile an d adult probationers. Reserve Deputies are highly motivated, skilled, and caring people who want to serve their community as a part of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Reserve Deputies are not a replacement for or an alternative to paid staff, but are intended to be an enhancement to existing resources.

On this date in 1776, rebellious colonials launched the first modern democracy, an experiment in government controlled by the people themselves. America succeeded so well that virtually the entire world later adopted democracy with its guarantee of personal rights.

A rule change was enacted before the 1974 National Football League (NFL) season to add one sudden death overtime period (15 minutes) to all preseason and regular season games. If no team scored in this period, the game would result in a tie. This rule was enacted to decrease the number of tie games. The first ever regular season overtime, a September 22 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos, ended in a 35-35 draw. It was not until November 10, when the New York Jets defeated the New York Giants, 26-20, that an overtime game would produce a winner.