Over the last several years many Americans have looked to save money by locking into today’s lowest FHA mortgage rates. It is very important to understand that FHA mortgage rates are very close to all-time lows but it is the case that an FHA mortgage comes with insurance obligations. Some of the largest mortgage lenders in the country that are offering low FHA rates include Bank of America and Countrywide as well as Wachovia and Wells Fargo.

It is important to note that Wells Fargo gobbled up Wachovia during the credit crisis and Bank of America did the same thing with Countrywide. With that being said two of the largest financial institutions in the nation are now Bank of America and Wells Fargo but remember they are not the only options when it comes to locking in low rates.

As we get deeper into 2011 many analysts have predicted that interest rates are likely to move up due to the fact that the 10 year treasury rate yield will increase with an improved economy. The 10 year treasury rate yield and 30 year fixed mortgage have had a very strong correlation since 1971 and this is not likely to change in the near future as the 10 year yield often dictates interest rates.

With this in mind it may be a very wise decision to take advantage of the low interest rates while they are available. But doing research online most will find that there are local, regional and national mortgage lenders that can help when it comes to refinancing home loan.

By accessing the HUD website Americans will better understand what options are available when it comes to reducing costs and fees on a home loan. Remember that these costs and fees can often be negotiated much lower so it is always advisable to understand each and every step of the mortgage refinance process.

Gilbert Gottfried, a comedian who has been doing commercials for insurance company Aflac for over a decade has been fired after making a bunch of jokes on Twitter about the Japanese earthquake.

The Jokes Are:

• "I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, 'There'll be another one floating by any minute now.' "
• "Japan called me. They said 'maybe those jokes are a hit in the US, but over here, they're all sinking.' "
• "What do the Japanese have in common with howardstern? They're both radio active."
• "Japan is really advanced. They don't go to the beach. The beach comes to them."
• One can laugh about anything, but Gottfried shouldn't be surprised that a corporate sponsor would fire him for publicly joking about an unfolding tragedy. This is particularly true here because, as the AP notes, Aflac does 75% of its business in Japan. But what's really shocking about those jokes isn't just how offensive they are, but how bad they are.

A very regretful disaster has been occured in Japan. In this tragedy at least 613 people have been confirmed killed in the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan but the government voiced fears that more than 1,000 had died.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s right-hand man and top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, said “it is believed that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives”.

Amid a mass rescue effort there were grim updates indicating appalling loss of life from along the hard-hit east coast of northern Honshu island, where the monster waves destroyed more than 3,000 homes.

On Saturday, the day after the devastating catastrophe, the National Police Agency said 413 people had been confirmed dead and 784 missing, with 1,128 injured in the massive quake and tsunami disaster.

Police in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, separately said Friday that at least 200 and up to 300 bodies had been found on the shore. The defence ministry said about 1,800 homes in Minami Soma, Fukushima prefecture, were destroyed, while in Sendai authorities said 1,200 houses were toppled by the tsunami.

Thousands more homes were destroyed in a string of coastal towns including Ofunato, which on Friday reported 300 houses collapsed or swept away. The monster quake was the strongest recorded in the seismically unstable archipelago, located on the “Pacific Rim of Fire”.

In the quake hit areas, 5.6 million households had no power Saturday and more than one million households were without water.

Johnson, 34, of Jackson, is a senior aide to Sen. Thad Cochran. She is in Japan as part of the Mansfield Fellowship Program, which enables federal government employees to develop an in-depth understanding of Japanese government.

Japan is most famous country in earthquakes because Japan is located on the edge of the Eurasian Plate near its boundary with the Pacific Plate, Japan has been struck by many earthquakes. The country has even been called the world's earthquake factory. On September 1, 1923, at two minutes before noon, a tremendous quake shook Japan's Sagami Bay region, near the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama.

Japan’s meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as 20 feet could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre. Smaller tsunamis of up to 50 centimetres reached some coastal communities, the agency said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and US state of Hawaii.

The quake struck at 2:46 p.m. at a depth of 10 kilometres, about 80 miles off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said. The area is 240 miles northeast of Tokyo. In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety.

Footage on national broadcaster NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks.

Police and coast guard officials said they were assessing possible damage from the quake.

There are many quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.

Many people refer to the internet when finding swift car insurance. They are looking to get insurance for their car in a hurry because of different reasons, but turning to the internet can really help people tremendously.

For one, the convenience of shopping for anything online is always favorable. Some people do not want to shop around with different insurance providers and they don’t want to spend the time to get on the phone with insurance provider after insurance provider. This is why the internet has become the number one place where people who are looking for swift car insurance will go for information as well as insurance quotes.

The fact that you are online right now means that you are already ahead of most people when it comes to attaining swift car insurance. You will be able to immediately go to different websites and get a number of quotes within minutes. This will allow you to look at all of the proposals and it will help you choose the best swift car insurance that is the most favorable to you.

Depending on what your driver’s license record looks like, your results may vary from others. A lot of people that want swift car insurance are unaware of how quotes are calculated; therefore you should try to understand that before you are expecting a ridiculously low quote.

For example, if you have accidents in your driving history that were due to your driving negligence, or whatever the case may be, but if it was determined by your police report and your insurance provider that you were at fault, it means that your insurance will be going up. The reason for this is because now you are considered a liability to the insurance company and in order for them to be on the safe side with your driving record, they will need to charge you a higher premium, just in case.

Another thing that affects the premium of your swift car insurance is the amount of points that you have on your driving record. The more points you have means that you received tickets and they were not settled in court. This lets them know that you are more vulnerable to get more speeding tickets or even have an accident because your history shows that you have several points on your license. If you received those points from speeding tickets, they will be able to see that because once they pull up all of your information for your swift car insurance quote it will show them why you received those points. If you are a speed demon in the streets then you are more apt to getting another ticket and even hitting someone in the street, so your insurance will reflect that.

Whether or not your driving record is clean, you should definitely check online for swift car insurance quotes and shop the best deal possible for yourself and for your family. There are so many companies online that are fighting for the next customer that they are willing to offer better deals online than they would to a regular person who would walk into their office.